Health – Equally Happy

First 2012 Goal Accomplished!

February 13, 2012 By Gal Leave a Comment

Cliched but totally true!

If you recall my goals for 2012, one of them was all around health. Well, today I accomplished the first goal, a set of 10 bench presses with 305lbs! Feels awesome to reach this point, especially when, 8 years ago, I was unable to do 10 reps of just the bar (45lbs). I’m going to repeat here what I said in the 60 in 3 post:

Please note that I’m 38, I’m not a professional body builder and I spend less than 5 hours a week at the gym, and some of those are spent on cardio. I have no secret training technique, no super duper bench press method, I don’t use high priced muscle supplements and I don’t use a personal trainer. Also, I only started going to the gym when I hit 30 (and 30 hit back!). I say this because I keep hearing people tell me they’re too busy or too old or too tired or too lazy.

Trust me folks, it’s not that hard and you don’t end up looking like a body builder who uses too many steroids either. What you do end up with is a healthy body that will keep you mobile and independent well into old age (plus some impressed looks from your fellow gym goers).

All it takes is hard work and dedication.

Filed Under: Drive, Goals, Health Tagged With: 2012, Accomplishments, Exercise, Goals, Health

The Plan For 2012

January 9, 2012 By Gal 1 Comment

Earlier I wrote about my plan for 2011 and how that went, this post will be devoted to 2012.

Each of the items below is something I want to do or accomplish this year. I’ve gone ahead and created a project for each one of these (nothing fancy, I just use tasks in Microsoft Outlook to track these). Each project has various items under it that represent to do’s or tasks. Accomplishing these tasks may lead to more tasks. For example, when I figure out what I want to build from scratch I’ll have more to do’s around buying materials and making blue prints.

Each of these projects has measurements attached where possible. These measurements are used to indicate success or failure. for example, the blogging goal has a measurement of 1000 users per day to indicate success. I then take this measurement and figure out what I need to do in order to achieve it. Some goals, like children, have no measurements attached but in such a case I usually make a note to myself about why is it that I’m tracking this goal. For example “I want to be a good parent”. This will help me figure out what I need to do.

So, without further ado, let me introduce you to my grand plan for 2012! [Read more...]

Filed Under: Communication, Family, Goals, Losing Weight, Making More Money, Starting Out, Step 2 - Make A Plan Tagged With: 2012, Decision Making, Goals, Money, Planning, Relationships

How Did I Do On My 2011 Goals?

January 2, 2012 By Gal 1 Comment

Back in January I posted these goals as the things I wanted to accomplish in 2011. Looking through them now, I’ve accomplished a lot. Yes, some of these goals failed and some only partially succeeded, but I aimed really high in 2011. I also learned a lot about setting goals and creating plans; information which I am going to apply to 2012 goals. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Finance, Goals, Health, Jobs, Life Lesson, Perfectionism, Relationships, Step 2 - Make A Plan Tagged With: 2011, Accomplishments, Goals, Planning, Success

This Is Fantastic!

August 1, 2011 By Gal 1 Comment

One of the other things I do in my copious spare time is run a little fitness blog called 60 in 3. I do that for the same reason I run Equally Happy, because I love hearing myself talk! Well, plus I like sharing what I’ve learned with the world in the hopes that other people can learn from my copious mistakes

One of the most common things I try to get across on 60 in 3 is that being healthy is actually pretty easy. Eat less, eat healthier and exercise more. People always try to focus on the little things, the things that they think will give them an easy solution. They focus on eating slow carbs or eating less fat or doing some kind of insane cabbage only colon cleanse. However, the truth is that it’s not really that complicated. Eat less crap, eat less in general and move your ass a bit more than you are now. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Achieving Success, Confidence, Drive, Happiness, Losing Weight Tagged With: Diet, Motivation, Stress, Success, Weight loss

Be A Better Buyer or: “Why You Have A $1000 Home Gym Collecting Dust In Your Garage”

March 16, 2011 By Gal Leave a Comment

A few days ago I talked about the value of selling solutions from a seller’s perspective and I mentioned that you need to understand your buyer’s problem and solve it if you want them to buy. Since all of life is selling, this strategy is effective for anything from selling a product or asking for a raise, to getting a date or asking for a promotion. Always strive to understand the other party’s problem and present what you want as a solution to that problem.

Today, I’d like to talk about that from a buyer’s perspective.

Have you ever paused for a second and thought, “why did I just buy that?” Do you have one of those giant home gym machines collecting dust in your garage even though you spent a good amount of cash on it? Are you spending too much on shopping for things you don’t need? Do you keep finding yourself in a relationship where the other person is not quite what you’re looking for? If so, read on. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Decision Making, Goals, Honesty, Losing Weight, Procrastination, Step 1 - Priorities Tagged With: Buying, Dating, Decision Making, Money, Relationships, Saving Money, Selling

Guest Post: Act Like A Kid to Find True Happiness

February 17, 2011 By Gal 1 Comment

Have you ever visited to a park and watched kids playing in the playground? They seem so free and so happy. Often if you look at the adults, they are happy just watching the children play. It’s contagious. Why does this make adults happy? Is it because they are remembering the pure innocence of children? Or perhaps it’s because they can see the beauty in the freedom from worry

Gal’s Note – Anytime I’m feeling a bit down I take my dog to the nearest park. Watching her play and watching the adults & kids there having fun, never fails to cheer me up. If it’s too cold for the park, try the mall or anywhere else where happy people congregate. Happiness truly is infectious. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Goals, Introspection, Losing Weight, Step 1 - Priorities Tagged With: Happiness, Kids, Priorities, Reducing Stress, Starting Out, Stress

You Miss 100% Of The Shots You Don’t Take

January 26, 2011 By Gal 1 Comment

2011 is off to an AWESOME start! I wrote about a couple of experiments a few weeks ago, one involving weight and the other involving money. Well, both experiments are going very well.

Don’t Use Skepticism As An Excuse For Inaction

December 21, 2010 By Gal 3 Comments

Last week Tim Ferris, of The 4-Hour Workweek fame, put out a new book called the The 4-Hour Body . In it he describes the variety of ways in which he’s hacked apart his body and put together a healthy lifestyle. It’s filled with a lot of tips, entertaining stories and a variety of pseudo science the likes of which every diet book contains. It’s even got a great section about sexual performance with a hilarious addendum on sperm donation. I picked up this book because I like Tim’s blog but I didn’t really have an intention to follow any of the ideas in it.

Do Frugality and Dieting Work?

July 16, 2010 By Gal 5 Comments

A few days ago over at I Will Teach You To Be Rich, Ramit talked about saving and compared it to cutting out various foods in your diet. His attitude seems to be that “frugality is for losers!” just like “cutting out all the good foods you love never works in the long term!” and in a way, I agree with him. If you’re going to feel deprived by your frugality or your diet then sooner or later you’re going to stop sticking to it. However, I think this answer misses something, and that’s what I’d like to talk about here. There’s a difference between scrimping and saving because you feel like you have to and making life changes that end up making you happier. Let me explain.

Last Resort Measures

Changes that make you feel as though you’re depriving yourself of something rarely work simply because your motivation is not going to last forever. Sure, it sounds good to cut all that candy out but are you really going to keep that up for the rest of your life? Sure, it sounds good to save money by never going out to a movie again but six months from now when that new Twilight movie (go Jacob!) comes out, are you really going to stick to your promise? Probably not. The only time these kinds of measures work is when something dire is on the line.

For example, people who have just had a heart attack usually have good motivation to stop eating steak every evening just like people who lost their job tend to save more. However, even here we all know that’s not always the case. How many of you know someone who had a heart attack and yet keeps smoking and never exercises? How many of you know someone out of work who still has cable TV and still goes out on occasion? Think about that. If these measures don’t work even for people in dire situations, why the heck do you think they’ll work for you when all you want is to look good in a bikini or to go on a nice vacation to Hawaii?

Heck, we’re still in the worst recession in multiple generations and people are already going back to their free spending ways. Check out this graph of American savings rates:

Notice that even as the economy was crashing all around them, people only increased their savings rate by a paltry 4%. That’s right, banks are collapsing, the stock market is taking a giant nose dive and we all react by saving an additional 4 cents per dollar. Oh, and one year later, even though banks are still collapsing, unemployment is sky rocketing and houses are still falling in value we already start seeing people go back to the low savings rate of 2008. Seriously, if we can’t even change our ways in the middle of this incredible economic crisis, what makes us think we’ll ever stick to our “no more morning latte’s” promise?

I know we all want to think that we’re different and we’re not as weak willed as those fat/poor people but the truth is that we’re just like them. We’re wired to find gratification and the short term gratification of a chocolate cupcake is way better than the long term and nebulous gratification of good health. So, if these methods don’t work, why am I still talking about them?

Some Changes Actually Feel Good

The problem with Ramit’s argument is that he assumes any change which causes us to remove some foods from our diet or remove some spending from our budgets is one which will make us feel deprived. If his assumption is true then he’s 100% right, these changes are pointless in the long term. However, I’m going to challenge that assumption with a few examples from my own life.

7 years ago I moved and, mostly due to laziness, I never got my TV hooked back up to cable. I found out that I actually enjoyed my life a lot more without cable TV and had plenty of time to do other things. End result, I saved money and didn’t feel deprived. That change stuck and I’m still cable free.
5 years ago I stopped going to the movies every summer weekend and started hiking. I found out that I loved hiking! It’s an amazing past time that costs virtually nothing. Three weeks ago my girlfriend and I found this beautiful lake out in the middle of Point Reyes and spend an afternoon swimming and swinging off the rope swing. Thanks to this change I am now healthier and I’ve saved a lot of money. Note that I still go to an occasional movie, just not as often as I used to because I now prefer to go hiking instead.
Right after I started hiking, I also discovered that my legs were actually a great mode of transportation. So I deliberately chose my current home based on its proximity to stores, restaurants and bars and I now walk almost everywhere. I can’t tell you how much fun this is and I’ve found that walking is a great way to think through problems or just relieve some stress after a long day at work. I’m healthier and I save money (plus the added upside of never having to worry about having one drink too many, or is that a downside?)
Last month I stopped drinking caffeine (I had a 5 can a day coke habit) and now drink nothing but water. The first two days were hell! However, I now feel amazingly better. I no longer have energy swings nor do I fall asleep in meetings. I saved money and I’m healthier.

There are more examples but these four are enough to illustrate my point. In each example I made a change that Ramit might consider self depriving. I saved money and became healthier with each of these and the best part is that all of these changes seem permanent.

Why Does This Work?

The trick here is in finding changes that improve your life rather than making you feel deprived. The added health and money are then side effects or fringe benefits rather than the driving force. In other words, I stopped looking for ways to save money or be healthier and started looking for new things to do that I might enjoy more. I tried new things because it’s fun and exciting, not because I had to. As for you…

Don’t replace your cable subscription with Netflix and Hulu because you want to save an additional $50 per month, do it because maybe watching these shows on your own time and without commercials (<3 U NetFlix!) rules! If you like it, keep it. If you don’t, go back to your cable.
Don’t cut out the morning McMuffin because you want to lose 20lbs, replace it with some fresh fruit because a nice orange or banana in the morning (or even better, some berries in yogurt) tastes a lot better and doesn’t make your stomach feel like the second ring of Dante’s inferno by 10am.

See where I’m going here? Stop looking for ways to save $5 here and 10 calories there. Start looking for ways in which you can have more fun in life. Just don’t rule out something because it happens to be frugal or healthy. We’ve somehow gotten to a point where people assume that any habit which saves you money or makes you healthier must also be a horrible thing to bear and will take all the fun out of their lives. Stop thinking that way. Experiment with your life without any preconceived notions and see what works for you. If you happen to find something that you enjoy and saves you money / makes you healthier, that’s great! You’ll be surprised by how much fan you can have without spending a lot of money or eating two gallons of Ben and Jerry’s Phish Food.

***

Thank you to That Girl Is Funny for posting one of my articles in their TGIF Links and 20 Blogging Tips From Expert Bloggers and thank you to Blog Conduit for doing the same thing with their Blogging For Profit Carnival.

Filed Under: Losing Weight, Saving Money Tagged With: Budgets, Diet, Frugality, Health, Money, Weight loss

The Sunk Costs Idea

May 28, 2010 By Gal 4 Comments

I was going to write something on priorities when I realized I needed to explain costs first. So then I was going to write about costs but I realized I needed to explain sunk costs and opportunity costs first. So here I am, writing about sunk costs when I really want to talk about priorities. That’s ok though, sunk costs are still a worthwhile topic.

So what the heck are sunk costs? Wikipedia tells us:

“In economics and business decision-making, sunk costs are retrospective (past) costs that have already been incurred and cannot be recovered. Sunk costs are sometimes contrasted with prospective costs, which are future costs that may be incurred or changed if an action is taken. Both retrospective and prospective costs may be either fixed (that is, they are not dependent on the volume of economic activity, however measured) or variable (dependent on volume).”

Which is useful if you already have an MBA but not so useful if you’re trying to figure out what the heck I’m talking about. So, let’s try this one more time only this time without fancy economics terms.

Sunk costs are costs which you’re not getting back regardless of the decision you make. They’re gone, they’re spent, they’re sunk and you’re never getting them back. Therefore, sunk costs should have no impact on your current decision.

Notice how I bolded that last part? There’s a reason for that and that reason is because most people totally ignore that part and make one bad decision after another as they fail to recognize what sunk costs are. Let me give you an example.

My friend Bob started a business. He tried to make a go of it for 2 years. In those two years he spent around 50k of his own money to get the business started. The business hasn’t been going real well so now he faces a choice of staying with the current business idea or trying something new. If he wants to keep trying his current business (idea A) he will need to invest another 2 years and another 50k. He estimates his chances of making idea A successful with this additional investment at about 20%. His new idea (idea B) will also require a 2 year and 50k investment but this new idea has a 25% chance of success. So how does Bob look at his option set? Well, if Bob is like most people he thinks of it this way:

Option A – Invest an additional 50k and 2 years in Idea A. 20% chance of success.
Option B – Throw away the 50k and 2 years investment in Idea A. Invest 50k and 2 years in Idea B. 25% chance of success.

And thus, Bob choose to stay with Idea A. After all, idea B means investing the same amount of money AND throwing away all that past investment for only a slightly higher chance of success. Doesn’t seem worth it. This my friends is the sunk cost problem.

Sunk Costs Are SUNK and You Will NEVER Get them Back

Sunk costs are gone. They’re in the past. Nothing you do will get them back for you. Those 2 years and 50k Bob spent are gone. He will not get them back. He will not get a refund nor a rebate nor a credit for those years and dollars. They’re gone and sunk and therefore should not be used in decision making. The true options Bob is facing are:

Option A – Invest 50k and 2 years in Idea A. 20% chance of success.
Option B – Invest 50k and 2 years in Idea B. 25% chance of success.

Now which option should he pick? This time it’s obvious. Option B offers a higher chance of success for the same resources spent and so should be picked every time.

Sunk Costs Are Sunk

I want to emphasize this again because a lot of people are going to argue here. They’re going to say, what about getting a refund, or selling the business or blah blah blah. Whatever! If you can get some money back then those are not sunk costs and should be part of your decision. However, a cost that does not change regardless of your decision is a sunk cost and should not be a part of your decision criteria. Sunk costs are SUNK! They are gone, you will not get them back and therefore they should not have an impact on your decision.

Where Else Does This Apply?

Sunk costs are easily seen in financial issues like the above, but where else do people make mistakes like these? How about relationships? How often have you heard someone say “well, I’m not really happy but I’ve already put in so much time and effort into this relationship…” or how about in health “well, I’m not really hungry but I’ve already paid for this meal…” How about travel? “Well, I don’t really want to go but I already paid for the ticket and I can’t get a refund…” STOP! Just stop using this “I’ve already” excuse. Your decisions should not be based on the resources and time you already spent, they should be based on the resources and time you will need to spend to get what you want.
Is there a chance this relationship will work? Is the time and effort you’re going to need to spend worth it? Is there a better chance for you to find the partner of your dreams if you end this relationship now and move on? Those are the right criteria to think about, not time you already spent.

Are you hungry? Will you get pleasure out of eating this meal? Are you going to enjoy going to that show more than doing something else? Remember, either way you’re not going to get the price of your meal or of your tickets back, so why consider that in your decision?

I think the old saying “stop throwing good money after bad” says it best except I will also add “stop throwing good time after bad.” If there’s no chance of getting time, money and resources back then they should not be a factor in your decisions. Remember, sunk costs are sunk. Don’t sink yourself by going after them.

Filed Under: Costs, Health, Relationships Tagged With: Costs, Decision Making, Finance, Health, Relationships, Sunk Costs