Master the Simple. Become the Expert.

Mastering the Simple Starts Here

Posted on August 5, 2018October 1, 2018 by Caleb Bale in Uncategorized

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Mastering the Simple is where it all starts. If you are here, you probably want to become the expert in your field. What that field is, I don’t know, but in order to get there, we need to master the basics in order to become the leaders others want to follow.

The basics are the things with which we frequently get impatient. Like public speaking. Who wants to become immediately astounding at communicating to a lot of people? Or writing. Or habits and your use of time. Or your health and how it relates to success. These are the basics we need to master in order to become the expert that others will look to for guidance. Now, of course, we’ll never completely master these things, but if you work on them daily, it’ll make a big difference on the direction of your life and will help you become an expert.

That’s what I’m here for. I’m learning right along side you and that’s why I write this blog.

Here’s what you can expect from me in my blog posts:

My actions

I’m going to tell you about what I am actively doing to help myself grow everyday.

My insights

I’m going to tell you about what I’m learning that directly benefits my growth and how it’s applicable for you.

My resources

I’m going to give you tons of resources. These are resources that I’ve found helpful in many realms including personal, business, financial, career and relational growth. They may be books (probably a lot of these), podcasts or other blog posts.

My attention

I want to communicate with you. What are you doing to grow? In what areas do you want to grow the most? When you put effort into communicating with me, I will do the same with you. If you comment, I will respond because I want us to benefit from each other.

This blog is to help you become who you were made to be: an influencer. An influencer is someone who helps change people’s minds and impacts their actions. That’s how you change the world. And you have significant potential to do that. It’s just it takes intentionality. I’m certainly not an expert. I’m learning just like you are. Let’s be intentional about the direction of our lives together!

-Caleb

My Book Graduated and Clueless is Now FREE

Posted on February 3, 2020 by Caleb Bale in Uncategorized

Good Monday!

I want to let you know that as of today, my book Graduated and Clueless is now free! You can get the ebook from Amazon as a Kindle copy as well as from Barnes and Noble as a Nook copy. The paperback is also available from both locations.

This book was a real passion project for me. When I was nearing graduation from college, I had no idea how to handle anything from housing to retirement savings. So I wrote a book outlining my experiences combined with a ton of wisdom from those I know and those whose books I read.

My book contains chapters on housing, job searching, insurance, finances, retirement, time management, dating, marriage and more!

I truly hope that others learn from it and don’t experience the level of cluelessness I did when exiting the college atmosphere.

Till next time!

Caleb

I’m Co-Leading a Financial Peace University Class this September!

Posted on August 13, 2019 by Caleb Bale in Finances, Personal growth

Hello hello!

I’m pretty excited to share that in September, I will be co-leading a Financial Peace University class at our church! For those who don’t know, FPU is a 9-week class created by Ramsey Solutions. They designed it to help people pay off their debt, build wealth, become financially independent and be unbelievably generous.

A lot of the writing on this blog revolves around pursuing passion in a responsible way. Master the Simple to Become the Expert. That’s partly why I’m so excited about this class — I have passion for this.

Shortly after Bailey and I got married, we took Financial Peace University online and learned a lot about finances, budgeting, retirement, insurances, real estate, and mortgages. I’ve also listened to well over 100 hours of the Dave Ramsey Podcast. So I’m very familiar with the organization and the financial principles they teach.

To anyone who has read my book or followed this blog, it’s no surprise that I like Dave Ramsey and the resources his team has built to help people.

Here’s why I like Financial Peace University and why you should take the class.

1. It aligns with my beliefs

What FPU teaches it biblically based. Stewardship is a significant theme in the Bible and Ramsey’s program focuses on that as a goal.

What God calls us to do with our finances is to be stewards of the money He has given us to manage. Just take the parable of the talents. In Matthew 25:14-30, Jesus calls people to be wise with what God has given them.

Plus, the Bible clearly states in Proverbs 22:7 that “the borrower is the slave of the lender.”

2. It’s not a Get-rich-quick scheme

What Ramsey teaches is not a get-rich-quick scheme — he literally says it’s slow and steady that wins the race. He teaches that becoming wealthy comes from consistent saving and investment through intentional decision making.

This means taking responsibility for personal choices. No one can make your money behave but you.

3. It focuses on generosity

Something I love about the Ramsey plan is that it doesn’t focus on becoming filthy rich for the sake of having money. FPU focuses on creating flexibility in your life while being unbelievably generous.

Generosity is one way how we show God that we trust in his provision for our lives. And with wealth and no debt, you can do a lot of good through giving to others.

Live like no one else so that later you can live and give like no one else.
Dave Ramsey, Financial Peace Univeristy

4. It creates hope

One of the most inspiring parts of Dave Ramsey’s show is the “Debt Free Screams.” In these, normal people come into the headquarters and tell Dave about their story and how they worked their ways out of debt. In the last 17 years, people who have done the screams have paid off a combined half of a billion dollars. That’s just the people who have told Dave about it in studio. That’s inspiring and hopeful.

And that’s why I’m excited to help teach this class.

If you live near Columbus, Ohio, consider joining our class. I would absolutely LOVE to see you there!

Plus, if you use this link to sign up, you’ll get $20 off your registration!

If you have any questions, let me know in the comments or you can email me at cbtiger1@gmail.com!

From a Millennial: We Aren’t Entitled

Posted on July 18, 2019 by Caleb Bale in Personal growth

A couple of weeks ago, I mentioned to someone how I wanted more than 2 weeks of vacation from my job. I wanted more flexibility so I could help on youth group trips and still participate in family trips throughout the year.

This individual who knows me well was like, “I think that’s about the most millennial thing I’ve ever heard you say!”

Now, I know more vacation sounds very millennial of me to want, but I’m not entitled about it. I know that it takes a lot of work and preparation to create that kind of flexibility in my life.

Which brought up an excellent topic for this blog.

Entitlement: What is it?

Millennials are notorious for being the “entitled generation.” The word “Entitled” is what older generations tend to use when describing bratty and lazy youngsters.

“He thinks he’s entitled to free college. In my day, we had to work hard and pay for it ourselves!”

Being a millennial myself, I understand the frustration with the thinking of my generation. I suppose you could call me an old soul. I’m annoyed when someone says they “deserve” something great when they’re entirely average.

As a millennial, I’m here to say something:

Entitlement isn’t a real thing. At least not yet.

Entitlement is, however, a perceived thing.

Let me explain.

You don’t deserve anything.

Entitlement is real but only when you actually do something great. Aside from that, it’s entirely a perception of anyone who thinks they deserve anything.

I am not entitled to anything. I’m not entitled to a good job because I have an engineering degree. I’m not entitled to free education because I live in America and the student loan program is broken. I’m not entitled to a leadership position just because I’ve worked somewhere for ten years. I’m not entitled to salvation from hell because of good things I’ve done.

To start, you don’t deserve anything either. In America, you get life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. That’s about it.

Now, I’m a sucker for free stuff. Don’t get me wrong. I’ll spend more money in fuel to get free food than what it’s actually worth. However, the perception that we should be given things for free is ludicrous.

I am here to call out those who say they are entitled.

You’re ruining my generation.

You may think you’re entitled, but you aren’t.

Take responsibility and earn it.

You don’t deserve your family’s money. You don’t deserve the same size house as your parents because they’ve been working 30 years longer than you.

The way to get past this entitlement mentality is to work. Take responsibility for your life. Work hard at your job so you can provide value to your employer. Make something great that other people want and sell it. No one’s going to give you anything just because you think you’re different.

No one’s going to read this blog just because I like to write it. I have to earn readership.

You’re only entitled to what you’ve earned, so take responsibility for your life and go earn something.

And please Don’t play the victim.

When you play the victim, you rob yourself of your own dignity because you create an excuse for failure.

One of the simplest and yet profound things I have read was from a book called Building a Storybrand. In it, author Donald Miller made note of the victim in every story. He pointed out that heroes change because they have to. Victims don’t change at all. They only wait to be rescued.

Is that who you want to be? Are you merely waiting to be rescued?

There is hope for millennials!

Millennials are notoriously known for being the entitled generation and I don’t like it. In fact, I see a lot of hope for our generation. The majority of the millennials I know are go-getters. They don’t expect something solely because of their age, color, or beliefs. They know they have to work hard. They don’t make excuses. There is a lot to be hopeful about.

Yeah, I want more vacation. I want a perfect job that’s flexible and fun. But I’m not entitled about it. In fact, I’m quite the opposite. It takes a long time of hard work to create that kind of job for myself. But I’m willing to put in the time and effort. I’m willing to take responsibility for that dream.

How about you?

-Caleb

Goal Planning and Strengths Finding

Posted on July 9, 2019 by Caleb Bale in Personal growth

This planning round we camped! Lots of mosquitos and humidity

This past weekend, my family had another goal planning day! We looked over the goals we made at the beginning of the year and talked about our successes and failures.

I had some pretty lofty goals and work ended up being more demanding than I had anticipated. Because of this, many of mine are way off and require some rework in order to make them attainable by the end of the year. But that’s why we look at them during the year.

I’ve talked about our planning weekend in January before. Basically, we reserved an Airbnb and spent an evening and morning asking some pretty deep questions about ourselves, our goals and how we can move forward with them.

We set new goals and prepared for the coming year. Some goals were personal, business, spiritual, and financial. It really helped by getting some dreams and strategies for achieving said dreams down on paper.

personality test time

This weekend, we changed it up a bit. After we analyzed our goals, we looked at the our personality types based on the Clifton Strengths Finder Test. Here were my top 5 strengths:

1. Individualization (which means I am good at looking at people as individuals)
2. Empathy (which means I am good at getting on the same level with people)
3. Developer (which means I love leading and developing people)
4. Harmony (which means I like to resolve problems with as little of conflict as possible)
5. Futuristic (which means I like to look ahead at what is possible in the future)

No surprise there on any of those! As a family, we’re talking about how we can make use of the knowledge about our strengths to help us in our goals.

Overall, it was an awesome weekend. Very insightful to say the least.

Goal planning is able to be done alone, for sure. However, I am finding more and more, if you do it with others and actually follow up on all of your goals together, it makes planning a lot easier. It adds in an extra level of accountability and I highly recommend it.

What are your strengths? How are your goals going this year?

I want to hear from you in the comments below! And as always, if you found this post was valuable in any way, give it a like and give me a follow!

-Caleb

Get Your Side Hustle Going in 27 Days

Posted on July 2, 2019 by Caleb Bale in Finances, Personal growth

I’ve talked about Chris Guillebeau before, specifically in my recent post about 8 audiobooks I listened to in 2018. He has a book called Side Hustle in which he outlines the process for taking an idea you have and developing a profitable side hustle in a mere 27 days.

And he’s got stories of person after person who have done exactly that.

Chris also has a daily podcast where he tells a story about a real person who brought their side hustle idea to a profitable business and how they did it. Through all these stories, he tackles strategies for developing extra income as well as common struggles and how to combat them.

I love his podcast because listening to a different story every day is super motivational. And understanding the shear vastness of side hustle possibilities helps get the ideas flowing. Chris has decades of experience in living off of side hustles and understands the process.

I highly recommend his podcast!

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My own side hustle

I have a side hustle, though I didn’t know about Chris and his resources until well after I started mine.

Mine is filmmaking.

I actually have a business called Hearthstone Films. The process of getting a video together for a client and them being excited about it makes me really enjoy the projects. This past weekend, I filmed a wedding! I actually figured out this was my 9th wedding I have filmed. Pretty cool!

I also finished another project this past weekend for a golf course. It’s a promotional video about Fling Golf. Here’s the video right here.

The thing I like about my hustle is it gives me a space for me to exercise my creativity. Sure, engineering needs creativity as well! It’s just not the same type in my opinion.

Do you have a side hustle? If so, what is it?

I want to hear from you in the comments below! And as always, if you found value in this post, give it a like and give me a follow!

-Caleb

3 Ways Giving Impacts Your Soul

Posted on June 25, 2019 by Caleb Bale in Faith, Finances

Growing up, my parents paid us kids for chores we did around the house. We always called it an allowance but now I understand it was more of a commission — we didn’t get paid unless we did the work.

Regardless, when the highly anticipated payday arrived (yay, $1.50 in the BANK!), my parents would use it as a two-fold learning opportunity.

They taught us how to tithe from our very first dollar earned.
They taught us how to figure out what 10% was ourselves (that decimal point is a tricky one).

For those who don’t know, the tithe is a form of giving that God commanded the Israelites to do back in the Old Testament.

Here’s the definition straight from the dictionary.

tithe | tīT͟H |
noun | one tenth of annual produce or earnings, formerly taken as a tax for the support of the Church and clergy.

My parents taught us that as Christians, we give 10% of what we earn to the church and then we give offerings as well. To be clear, the “tithe” and the “offering” are different. Tithe is the first tenth, and offerings are above and beyond the tithe.

Okay, but why give?

For one, God commanded it. Seems legit.

Giving started in the Old Testament and continued into the New Testament as a way to provide for the needs of widows, orphans, and church workers.

God has given each of us certain possessions that we value immensely. Some more, some less. It doesn’t even have to be money that we value; the point is that it all comes from God.

But what are some practical reasons we should give away what we’ve worked so hard to gain?

Here is why Bailey and I give and why you should, too:

1. Giving builds our trust in god to provide for our daily needs

What better way of surrendering your trust to God than by giving away something you need to live?

This act of faith is expressed very well in Mark 12 when a widow gives her last two pennies to the church of her day. Jesus makes note that she gave more in faith than all those who put bags of money into the treasury.

2. Giving Reminds us whose money it is that we hold

This may be difficult for some to understand but literally nothing we have is actually our own.

In the Bible, Job had everything anyone could have asked for at the time. He had a large family, servants, and an unbelievable number of livestock. The Bible describes him as “greatest of all the people of the east” (Job 1:3b). However, God allowed the devil to take away everything from Job, leaving him with nothing but a nagging wife and a horrible skin disease.

One of my favorite verses in the Bible shows his reaction at his weakest point.

And [Job] said, “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.”
Job 1:21

Job went from owning everything to nothing in less than a day. And yet, he understood the source of his wealth. He held everything he had with an open hand. What he had was taken, but if you read to the end of the chapter, you’ll find even more was given back.

Again, let me say, he understood the source of his wealth. Living with this kind of attitude honestly gives a lot more room for happiness in life. It’s a lot easier to give a friend’s Xbox back to him when you know it was only yours to borrow in the first place.

3. Giving creates the ultimate retirement account

We like to think that giving is an entirely selfless thing to do. It is selfless if it is done with the right intensions, however, there’s definitely a rewards system mixed in. Giving is kinda like a retirement account.

What is saving for retirement? In essence, it is delayed gratification.

You have to delay buying what you want in order that you will have money later in retirement. God created us humans to be motivated by rewards which is why he puts some motivation straight into the Bible.

Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
Matthew 6: 19-21

What is being said is this: Here on Earth, everything we have is temporary. Our money, our possessions — we will lose it all when we die. But by giving our money to God’s work and those in legitimate need, we are building for ourselves the ultimate retirement nest-egg — eternal treasure! The delayed gratification of not buying everything we want here on Earth is that we get much more in heaven.

P.S. This talk about good works is not to be confused with the work of Christ dying on the cross which is the only way to heaven.

I love what the famous missionary, Jim Elliot, had to say on the topic of giving:

“He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.”
~Jim Elliot

FOR BAILEY AND I, Giving is personal

I can honestly say that giving has influenced how Bailey and I handle our money. I am naturally materialistic.

Like, recently, I have had this fascination with the new Chevy Colorado. It’s a pretty sharp vehicle and I want one just for the sake of having one.

Giving, on the other hand, puts the money we have into perspective. And I find that as Bailey and I have increased our giving from just the tithe into the realm of offerings, it humbles me. And that makes it really personal for us when we put a check in the offering plate.

How does giving affect your view of your possessions?

I want to hear from you in the comments below! And as always, if you found value in this post, give it a like and give me a follow!

-Caleb

If you’re interested in reading an absolutely excellent book about giving and what it means from a Christian perspective, check out The Treasure Principle by Randy Alcorn. I loved this book and wrote about it briefly in a post about the books I read last year.

8 Audiobooks I Listened to in 2018 (Part 2)

Posted on June 21, 2019 by Caleb Bale in Book Reviews, Personal growth

This post contains affiliate links.

Happy Resource Friday!

Recently, I wrote a post titled 8 Audiobooks I Listened to in 2018 (Part 1). This is a continuation of that post with 8 more books I listened to in 2018! It’s very similar to the one I made about the 21 impactful books I read last year. Because of my 45 minute drive to and from work, I have lots of time to learn in the car from audiobooks. I use Libby (which I have reviewed here on the blog), a library app that allows you to borrow audiobooks and ebooks for free.

Here are 8 of the books I listened to last year and the reasons I liked or disliked them.

Click on the title in order to find out more information on each book.

1. Crush it! by Gary Vaynerchuk

Gary Vaynerchuk is an incredibly intelligent marketer and an entertaining author. In his book Crush It!, he talks passionately about the new economy in which we live and how the markets change. It’s chock full of pointers for following your passion by working unbelievably hard and taking advantage of the tools we now have.

One thing I really like about his books is that he fills them with his own experiences selling wine online when no one else was. He speaks from experience and helps the reader (or listener for that matter) avoid the issues he faced.

2. One Nation by Dr. ben Carson

Ben Carson is an incredibly thoughtful individual and it’s made clear through his book One Nation. Carson tackles multiple aspects of American society and how we can all do little things to benefit the nation. Some of the topics include the government, health care, taxes, and the economy,

This was a particularly interesting book to listen to because of Dr. Carson’s presidential run back in 2016. It convinced me that Carson had a thoughtful and knowledgeable plan when he ran for president. From his book, I got to learn a bit more about his proposed strategies at the time.

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3. sprint by jake Knapp

I absolutely love business strategy. Jack Knapp’s book Sprint covers just that. Knapp argues that if companies complete a “sprint” for their new product or service before actually offering it, they’ll find out if the idea is actually viable or not very quickly.

Then time and resources won’t have to be wasted on a project. But the idea may move forward if the sprint reveals ways in which the product or service can be made better.

I got this book recommendation from my pastor who participates in a monthly book club. Right now, I’m using these principles with my sister to test some ideas for a business we want to run.

4. Onward by howard Schultz

I love coffee. I don’t think the caffeine does much for me because I can drink coffee in the evening and it doesn’t affect me. But I still love the coffee. That’s where my interest in this book came from.

Written by the founder of Starbucks, Howard Schultz, Onward is a captivating story about the difficult choices that had to be made to grow the brand, especially through the 2008 recession. I find books like this give me a special affinity to a particular brand because it connects me to their story. This book was no exception.

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5. Killing Kennedy by Bill O’reilly

I picked up this book partly due to my fascination with history and partly because of how much I’ve heard about the Killing ____ series by Bill O’Reilly. Whether you like O’Reilly or not, he’s an excellent historian who has a knack for telling historical narratives with as much accuracy as possible.

Killing Kennedy was a fascinating look at everything that was going on during Kennedy’s presidential term — civil rights, the space race, etc. That’s what I like about books like this. It gives reasons for why certain events happened and how they connected to other events. I enjoyed this listen. I’m not a big fan of Kennedy’s character, but there’s no question that he was an incredibly dynamic and well-liked leader at the time.

6. killing Lincoln by Bill O’reilly

As I began this book (and consequently when I listened to many other O’Reilly books), I realized how bad it would look if the NSA was watching me.

“What the heck? Now he’s listening to a bunch of books about historical leaders being assassinated. We better keep a better eye on him.”

Having said that, I wasn’t so much interested in the fact that these leaders were assassinated as I was in the events leading up to these assassinations. What events caused the assassins to break and how do all the pieces fit together? Killing Lincoln certainly did not disappoint as O’Reilly gave much background about the end of the civil war and the effect on the presidency.

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7. The Aviators by Winston Groom

I’m guessing it’s obvious I got into a history funk. This book was highly recommended to me by my cousin. Since I like airplanes, I was easily convinced.

I absolutely LOVED The Aviators. I loved it so much I listened to it twice. Groom covers in great detail the major impact each of three pilots had on aviation — Eddie Rickenbacker, Jimmy Doolittle, and Charles Lindbergh.

The reason I loved this book so much is because it not only tells a story about each pilot as they flew through the world wars — it helps the reader understand the significance of each contribution and how it affected other industries and events. The Aviators is a MUST read.

8. Side Hustle by Chris Guillebeau

Chris Guillebeau has a podcast called The Side Hustle School where he talks about the side hustles of thousands of people and how these hustles transformed the lives of their owners. I like variety in my work, so I like talking side hustles.

This book is practical if you are working a normal job but want to get into another space — maybe one in which you have a lot more passion. As the subtitle suggests, Guillebeau will help you start up your side hustle and create income in 27 days. I recommend it if you want to spice up life and gather some small business ideas!

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Learn every day

I want you to make an effort to learn every day. It takes work, it really does. Unfortunately for me, I am not able to read the number of physical books this year that I did last year. So audiobooks have become a necessary supplement. Plus, on 1.5x speed, you can blow through books like never before!

Check out Libby today and listen to these books for free!

What is your favorite book you’ve read?

I want to hear from you in the comments below! And if you found any value in this post, give it a like and me a follow!

-Caleb

this free email gives you an entertaining look into what’s happening every day

This is an email that I get every morning that updates me in an entertaining way of the happenings in the world. It’s a long form email but it’s easy to skim and pick up the information you find interesting or relevant. Plus it’s a great way to support the blog and won’t cost you anything!

The Truth About Marriage Two Years Later

Posted on June 17, 2019 by Caleb Bale in Faith, Personal growth

Ok, ok, I’m going off script just a bit today. Why?

Because Bailey and I have been married for two full years as of today!

First of all, it’s been so much fun being married to Bailey. She’s funny and quirky but also so caring and considerate. We’ve done all the cliched things together.

We’ve laughed together, cried together, fought together and learned together. So that’s cool.

I love her so much. Happy anniversary, Bailey Bug!

Throwback to our wedding day

In honor of today, I looked back at the post that I wrote on our wedding day. In my post “A Letter To My Bride On Our Wedding Day,” I love getting to see what was going on in my head just hours before we got hitched. Here are a couple of my favorite paragraphs:

Bailey, I love your heart. How you love the Lord and seek to follow him with your life. How you interact with people and truly show God’s love in how you treat them. I love your giggle but I love it best when I make it come out. You’re so thoughtful, mature and humble in your normal life. You are a true treasure!

This is still true. She is still a true treasure.

Bailey, I know I’m not perfect and I’m confident you’ll realize this more and more as we go into marriage! I pray that as your husband, I can learn to serve you and give myself to you as Christ has done for the church. When I hurt you, tell me. When I fail, forgive me. When I’m discouraged, uplift me. When I lose track of the goal, point me back to Christ. That’s what I ask.

This is also still true. I want Bailey and I to continually go back to Christ for the perfect example of a perfect marriage.

That day was so special. Bailey and I finally got to get married with all the people we love around us. We were surrounded by prayer (as you can see in the photo above) and I know that people still pray for us. It was awesome and a day to be remembered (though it was blazing hot outside).

Marriage is a promotor of growth

And here’s the connection to this blog — there’s been a lot of personal and relational growth in the past two years. I say this rather facetiously, but if you want to grow a lot, get married. Man, I’ll tell you what.

Marriage reminds you that you’ve got someone else to look after, not just yourself. It teaches you selflessness beyond what you may have expected (and I have not perfected this).

It causes you to realize that you’re not the only one losing out on hopes and dreams if you don’t work towards them now. It makes you more responsible because, once again, you aren’t the only one you have to look out for now.

Marriage is an incredibly humbling journey.

I joke about getting married for boosting growth. Of course that would be a horrible primary reason. But marriage will promote growth because when you get married, you can’t stay the same.

Trust me.

In what ways has marriage caused you to change and grow?

I want to hear from you in the comments! And as always, if you found any value in this post, give it a like and give me a follow!

-Caleb

click here for our wedding Music Video

I love our music video of our wedding day. A buddy of mine shot it and I edited it. I thought I’d share it here.

3 Tools to Help Guide You Towards Retirement

Posted on June 14, 2019 by Caleb Bale in Finances

Happy Resource Friday!

I love talking finances. The only thing I like more is having easy-to-use tools for making finances as effortless as possible. Personally, I believe that mastering finances is one of the building blocks of life. When we don’t have financial issues, stress is decreased in so many other areas of life — relationships, career, etc.

I think when we simplify finances as much as possible, it allows us to invest our energy into other areas that we care about. That’s partially why I haven’t used a credit card in two years. It’s so much easier for me to track my finances without something I have to pay off every month!

So today, I want to share a site with you that will make your finances easier to track. I’ve talked about Chris Hogan many times in blog posts and in my book. He’s a retirement expert who has written several books and has a podcast to help direct people in their future ambitions.

Hogan’s website has three great tools for you to use.

An Investment Guide
R:IQ Assessment
The Net Worth Calculator

1. The Investment guide

The investment guide is a great tool for learning some of the basics about investing today. It teaches you about some of the basics of investing: the amount you should invest, what diversification means or even what compounded interest is.

2. R:IQ assessment

This is a sweet tool for future planning. If you take the assessment, you will put in the amount of money you expect you will need per month in retirement, what kind of lifestyle you will want to have, as well as your age and when you’ll retire.

Then it spits out a number — your R:IQ or your Retire Inspired Quotient. This will tell you what amount of money you need by the time you retire and how much you need to save monthly to accomplish that.

The R:IQ is a tool to help you understand where you need to be and the Net Worth Calculator will help you understand where you’re at currently. Plug in some numbers and this tool will tell you how much your total assets are worth right now!

Check out these tools and tell me what you think in the comments below!

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Work Life with Adam Grant (Podcast Review)

Posted on June 7, 2019 by Caleb Bale in Personal growth

This post contains affiliate links.

Happy Resource Friday!

Today we look at another podcast! This podcast will help you master the simpler aspects of your job so you can become an expert in your field — all through the podcast WorkLife with Adam Grant.

Adam Grant is a psychology professor at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. If you’ve ever binge-watched TED Talks on You Tube, you might have watched his viral talk about what makes someone an original thinker. It’s a very entertaining watch.

Grant’s a multiple New York Times bestselling author. I have read one of his books, Originals, and thought his perspective and his research on what makes someone an original thinker was incredibly applicable. He not only breaks down original thinkers at their core, but he also gives his readers a list of ways they can become original thinkers themselves.

This all sets the groundwork for an excellent podcast.

WorkLife with Adam Grant

Grant’s podcast is called WorkLife with Adam Grant and tackles the how-to of loving the career you have. Here’s the introduction to the podcast straight from TED’s podcast page.

You spend a quarter of your life at work. You should enjoy it! Organizational psychologist Adam Grant takes you inside the minds of some of the world’s most unusual professionals to discover the keys to better work life. From learning how to love your rivals to harnessing the power of frustration, one thing’s for sure: You’ll never see your job the same way again.
From http://www.ted.com

In this podcast, Grant leads the listener through topics like “How to trust people you don’t like” to “Networking for people who hate networking.” He invites experts to give their opinions and research on the topics. He also gives the listeners specific action points for improving themselves in that area.

You won’t be bored

Grant is a researcher at heart, but the way he communicates his findings is just as important to him. I found his book, his TED talk, and his podcast very entertaining! He is certainly an original thinker himself and it shows through his creative method of communication.

The podcast is also in an easily-consumable format — around 30 minutes and perfect for the commute to work!

I highly recommend his podcast!

what podcasts do you listen to?

I want to hear from you in the comments below! And as always, if you found this post to have value in it, give it a like and give me a follow. I really appreciate it!

-Caleb

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this free email gives you an entertaining look into what’s happening every day

The best way to get physical books

If you like to read, I highly recommend Thriftbooks—and you can get Adam Grant’s book Originals there!. It’s a great way to get discounted books for a fraction of what you might pay on Amazon. I’ve bought over $150 of books from them in the past two years and have had zero complaints! Plus you can get 15% off your first order!

Perfect graduation gift

I’m really liking my Panda Planner. I’m learning how to use it to make my time more productive. It would make a great gift for a new graduate! Especially those who are heading into college and don’t know how to plan out their time accordingly.