One of the biggest concerns I faced, when I became a new stay-at-home mom, was how to manage our finances. We were used to being a two-income household with no kids, to going down to one income with a new baby. But let me back up. When I got pregnant, I knew that I would […]
The post Saving Money For a Business When You Have a New Baby appeared first on The Work at Home Woman.
Writing checks: not really a popular pastime anymore.
We live in a world where we can pay with a debit card or credit card for just about everything — and in some cases, simply swipe a phone over a payment terminal before whooshing out the door. Sitting down every month with your checkbook to write out paper checks for your utility bills? A thing of the past.
But while we don’t exactly expect a resurgence of check writing, chances are good that the time will eventually come when you need to write a check.
Maybe it will just be a monthly rent check. Maybe it will be a down payment for something exciting, like a car or a house. Maybe you’ll be feeling benevolent and want to write up some snazzy-looking birthday gifts.
So we would still advise you to learn how to write a check. Many people don’t learn how until college, so don’t feel bad if you’re reading this while shielding your computer screen from passersby.
What are all these lines, boxes and numbers? Stop guessing. We’ll tell you!
Writing a check is easy if you know these steps.
Note the month, date and year in the top right corner. Usually, this will be the date you are writing the check.
If you want the recipient to wait until you have money in your checking account before depositing the check, you might post-date the check.
You might post-date a check if you’re paying ahead of time for a service. For example, if your rent is due on the first of the month, but you mail your check on the 15th of the previous month because you’re going on vacation, you would postdate the check for the first of the next month.
Write the name of the payee in the field labeled “Pay to the Order of.”
If you’re not sure of the correct title or business name, ask before writing out the check to ensure they can deposit it. Never leave this line blank when you write a check — you risk someone taking the liberty of finishing writing that check out to themselves!
This goes on the line directly below the payee name. You might write “twelve dollars and eighteen cents,” or “twelve dollars and 18/100” — either is fine as long as it’s clear how much you’re paying. If your writing doesn’t take up the whole space, draw a straight line through to the end of the field so no one else can edit what you wrote.
You’re doing this in pen, right? Pencil is too easy to alter. We used to be advised to write checks in cursive, but now, writing in pen is enough to indicate legitimacy.
Now write the amount of the check again, this time in digits. Noting the amount in two ways ensures it’s correct.
Be sure to fill the whole box so the amount can’t be altered. It’s more important to align your dollar amount all the way to the left side of the box so no one can change your $12.18 to $112.18.
In some situations, the recipient may ask you to provide identifying information on your check, like a billing account number.
Your recipient can’t deposit the funds unless you’ve signed!
Lisa Rowan is a former writer and producer at The Penny Hoarder.
This was originally published on The Penny Hoarder, which helps millions of readers worldwide earn and save money by sharing unique job opportunities, personal stories, freebies and more. The Inc. 5000 ranked The Penny Hoarder as the fastest-growing private media company in the U.S. in 2017.
Choosing a web hosting provider is a crucial step for website owners. Your hosting service and plan will have a major impact on the performance of your website.
But with so many options to choose from, this process can feel like an extremely daunting task.
The first thing you need to do is determine the type of hosting service that you’re looking for. Since you’ve landed on this page, I think it’s safe to assume that you’ve already taken care of this first step.
You decided that you want a dedicated server, instead of a shared, VPS, or cloud hosting plan.
That’s great! But now what?
All dedicated server plans are not created equally. But with that said, every website has unique needs as well. The best dedicated server plan for one website, might not be the best option for you. That was my inspiration for creating this guide.
The truth is, there are lots of amazing dedicated server plans out there. It would be irresponsible and impractical for me to name just one as the best.
Instead, I’ve narrowed down the best dedicated servers with every type of website in mind. So no matter what you’re looking for, I’m confident you can find it on this list.
As the name implies, dedicated hosting plans provide a dedicated server to a single client. This means that you won’t be sharing your server resources with other websites.
You don’t get this benefit with a shared, VPS, or cloud hosting plan.
Dedicated servers are essentially the top of the line in web hosting. Since you won’t be sharing resources like RAM, CPU output, and bandwidth, you can expect superior performance on your website.
Dedicated servers are not for everyone. So before you proceed and buy one of these plans, make sure that you’re in the right place.
A dedicated hosting plan is ideal for larger organizations or websites with high volumes of traffic.
If you own a local restaurant or small business with just a few thousand visitors per month, you don’t need a dedicated server.
However, if your website has upwards of 50,000 or 100,000+ visitors per month, you should consider a dedicated hosting plan. Dedicated servers make it easy for you to scale your website as well.
Traffic alone isn’t the only factor that should be taken into consideration. There are other types of services, such as cloud hosting, that can accommodate scalable site traffic.
Dedicated hosting plans are for businesses that want complete customization and flexibility of their server functions. That’s why large ecommerce businesses and enterprises typically choose a dedicated server.
Websites that require strict security, such as ones that involve medical data or financial information should be using a dedicated server.
Finally, dedicated servers are for websites that can afford it. While most of you can find some great cost-effective options, there are dedicated plans out there starting at $1,000 or $2,000 per month.
Now that you have a better understanding of dedicated hosting, it’s time to dive into the best plans on the market today. We always keep this list refreshed, so you can be sure that the information is accurate and up to date.
Bluehost is an industry leader in web hosting. Their dedicated hosting plans are some of the most cost-effective options that you’ll find.
Other providers may offer cheaper hosting, but Bluehost gives you the best value while still providing exceptional service.
There are three dedicated server plans for you to choose from. Here are some of the highlights of each one:
Standard Plan
Enhanced Plan
Premium Plan
The best plan for your website will depend on the resources that you’re looking for. I think that the standard or enhanced plan will be more than enough for most websites that need a cost-effective dedicated server.
All dedicated hosting plans from Bluehost come with a free SSL certificate, free domain for one year, and 24/7 customer support.
For those of you who are more advanced and want to make custom installations to your server, Bluehost gives you full root access as well.
I doubt you’ll need it, but Bluehost offers a 30-day money-back guarantee. So you can always back out in the first month if you change your mind.
In addition to the quality and reliability of their server features, SiteGround makes our list because they have exceptional customer support.
Not only is their customer support quick to respond to inquiries, but they are also highly knowledgeable. This makes it ideal for relatively smaller sites that want to transition to a dedicated server. Easy access to friendly support is crucial during this process.
There are three dedicated server plans for you to choose from:
Entry Server
Power Server
Super Power Server
All dedicated hosting plans from SiteGround are fully managed. They set up your server, keep its software up to date, and monitor the server 24/7. If any issues arise, they’ll be able to react instantly.
While the Entry Server isn’t cheap, it still offers a good amount of bandwidth, RAM, and speed for an entry-level plan. The storage is a bit on the low side, which makes the Power Server my top pick of the three.
With the Super Power Server priced at more than double the monthly rate of the Power Server, it’s not likely that most websites will need that much storage.
HostGator is arguably the most well-known web hosting provider on the market today. They have exceptional uptime rates, also making them one of the most reliable web hosts you can choose.
However, their loading speeds fall a bit short of industry averages.
With that said, the dedicated server plans offered by HostGator are definitely ones that you should take into consideration, especially if you’re looking for a more affordable option.
If you compare that to the other plans we’ve looked at so far, HostGator is priced just slightly above Bluehost, but significantly lower than SiteGround.
So for those of you who are looking for a dedicated server in that low-to-mid price range, HostGator fits the bill.
The HostGator dedicated server plans offer 8 GB, 16 GB, and 30 GB of RAM, respectively. If you compare that to the other plans we’ve reviewed, it’s a great value for the price.
HostGator has unmetered bandwidth for all dedicated servers, which is another added bonus.
Overall, if you want a dedicated server that’s a step above the lower pricing tiers while still delivering exceptional uptime and quality customer support, HostGator has you covered.
A2 Hosting isn’t as well known as some of the other web hosting providers on our list. But they still offer some of the best dedicated servers on the market today.
If you want blazing fast speed, look no further than A2 Hosting.
In addition to the great performance of their hardware, A2 Hosting has a wide range of hosting options for you to choose from. This can’t be said for every other provider out there.
Here’s an overview of the pricing, features, and benefits of their dedicated hosting plans.
As you can see, A2 Hosting has a dedicated server plan for everyone. They offer unmanaged hosting and fully managed hosting options at an affordable rate.
Their Core Flex Server is fully managed and still provides root access to website owners who want that added level of customization.
I always like to recommend products and services from companies that stand behind what they’re selling. That’s why it’s always nice to see a web hosting providers offer something like a 30-day money-back guarantee.
A2 Hosting takes that promise to an entirely new level with their anytime money-back guarantee.
Now, there are definitely some stipulations here. I’m sure you can’t use the service for a year and then call and ask for a refund. According to their site, accounts canceled within 30 days of use will get a full refund.
Accounts canceled after 30 days will be refunded a prorated amount of the unused service. There are even stipulations about how refunds will be issued for requests after 120 days.
While I’m not anticipating that you’ll want to cancel your plan, it’s nice to know that it’s an option and you’re not locked in if you’re unhappy.
Overall, A2 Hosting offers competitive pricing, service, support, and performance for their dedicated servers.
As I said earlier, dedicated hosting plans are not for everyone. With that said, Media Temple is not even for everyone who knows they want a dedicated server.
With plans starting at $2,000 per month, Media Temple dedicated hosting plans are made specifically for enterprise-level hosting.
So even if your small business website generates tons of monthly traffic, you should look elsewhere for a dedicated server.
Media Temple offers both managed hosting and self-managed hosting plans, depending on how much control you want over your servers.
With a whopping 128 GB of RAM, you’ll be able to run complex tasks on your site. Dynamic content, CMS, and high volumes of traffic won’t slow you down.
These dedicated server plans are best for enterprises who plan on reselling. You’ll have enough power and control to rent space your clients on one server.
If you want to save some money, Media Temple offers discounted rates for long-term contracts.
Annual plans start at $20,000, which is essentially two months free compared to the month-to-month rate. Two-year contacts and three-year contracts are priced at $38,000 and $54,000, respectively.
Again, these dedicated servers are not for everyone. But for those of you who have agencies and plan to resell your server space, this will be your best choice.
Liquid Web is another lesser-known web hosting provider. But their servers, performance, and support earn them a top spot on our list.
Pricing for these hosting plans falls within the same range as SiteGround. So it’s a great choice for those of you who are looking for a higher-end plan, without breaking the bank on unnecessary features.
Here’s an overview of the dedicated hosting plans offered by Liquid Web.
Intel Xeon 1230 v6
Intel Xeon Silver 4108
Intel Xeon Gold 6130
As you can see, there isn’t an upgrade in terms of storage or bandwidth from the Silver to Gold server plans. The biggest difference is that the Gold server has 16 cores, while the Silver server only has 8.
The Gold server can be used for big databases, large SaaS companies, and virtualization on your website.
If you’re going to use Liquid Web for dedicated hosting, I strongly recommend that you take advantage of their bundle pricing. Take a look at the value bundles and compare it to the specs that I’ve listed above.
As you can see, you get significant upgrades without spending too much more money. The value packs include all of the recommended add-ons at a more reasonable price than purchasing them individually.
So if you were willing to spend the $499 on the Gold package, you can double the RAM and bandwidth for just another $50 per month. It’s well worth it.
All Liquid Web dedicated servers include:
Another great benefit of Liquid Web is their transparency. Plans are month-to-month and rates won’t increase upon renewal.
There are a few more cost-effective hosting plans that are worth considering if you’re looking for a great rate. While these options are suitable, they each fall short in certain areas, which is why I grouped them in a category of their own.
The dedicated hosting plans offered by AccuWeb start at just $90 per month, which is a great rate for a quality service.
You’ll get a server in a location that’s close to where you are based. AccuWeb has servers located in the US, Canada, Australia, Singapore, the UK, and other areas throughout the globe.
For those of you who like lots of options, AccuWeb has the most dedicated server choices on our list, by far.
There are six different single-processor dedicated servers that you can configure, and nine dual-processor dedicated servers. That’s 15 different options!
While pricing for some of these configurations starts at more than $300 per month, the entry-level server pricing at just $90 per month is best for those of you looking at low-cost options in this category.
I consider AccuWeb Hosting a “cheap” dedicated server because their uptimes and loading speeds are inconsistent. So you’ll have to weigh the cost compared to the performance when making your decision.
Founded in 2010, Hostwinds is another lesser-known option on the market. They have dedicated server plans starting at just $79.50 per month as an introductory offer.
I like Hostwinds because their dedicated server plans are super easy to customize. Directly on their website, you can configure things like:
All dedicated servers are fully managed, have nightly backups, and 24/7 server monitoring.
Similar to AccuWeb, Hostwinds doesn’t have the best uptime and loading speeds. But with that said, it’s still a suitable option to consider for low-cost dedicated hosting.
Some of you might be surprised to see GoDaddy in the cheap dedicated hosting section of this guide. They are one of the most well-known and reputable companies in web-hosting.
I should clarify — GoDaddy is only “cheap” when you take advantage of their introductory offers. Their entry-level economy plan starts at just $89.99 per month, but nearly doubles when it’s time to renew.
Here’s a snapshot view of GoDaddy’s dedicated hosting plans.
GoDaddy has great features for the price, high uptime rates, and fast loading times. When it comes to performance, GoDaddy is right up there with the best in the business.
However, I found that GoDaddy falls short when it comes to customer support. It’s a bit inconsistent, which isn’t what you want if you need help in a pinch.
There have been instances where it’s taken me 15-30 minutes to get in touch with a support agent, which is long considering that some of their competitors respond in less than 2 minutes.
But if that’s not a deal-breaker for you, GoDaddy is definitely a top choice for a cost-effective dedicating hosting plan.
When it comes to dedicated servers, there is no shortage of options to choose from. But rather than scouring the web and searching through dozens of hosting providers, I’m confident that you can find what you’re looking for in this guide.
So what’s the best dedicated hosting plan? It depends on what you’re looking for.
My guide has something for everyone. What’s best for you might not be best for everyone else.
Here’s a quick summary of the best plans to point you in the right direction.
At the end of the day, the decision is yours. You’ll need to compare the plans to determine what’s the best value for the features your website needs.
Monica writes in (with a bit of editing and a link added so you can jump straight to the article she’s mentioning):
I’m in the “boring middle” that you wrote about the other day. Been trying to articulate what I’m struggling with and I think it’s that I don’t see any progress. It’s just a day in and day out grind toward my goal of retiring early. My life isn’t really getting better in any tangible way that I can point at, as having 5 years of living expenses socked away is much the same as having 10 years of it. It’s that endless repetition without visible change in my life that is wearing me down.
This is a challenge with almost every long term goal that people face. Once you start down the long journey of that goal, it can become very difficult to actually detect any sort of forward progress on that goal in your day to day life. You are making progress, but it doesn’t feel like you’re making any progress, and that can go on and on and on.
While much of the advice for handling the “boring middle” works well in terms of developing a sustainable pattern of behavior so that you can keep on moving forward even when it’s boring, it doesn’t help much with this very real issue. The only suggestion that really touches on this at all is developing milestones along the way and celebrating those milestones in a non-disruptive way.
What exactly can you do when you’re a third of the way or halfway to your big goal, the day to day progress is dreadfully boring, and you don’t actually notice any significant change in your day-to-day life, even after months and years of effort?
Here are some things that work well for me.
Sarah and I have a target number at which we can withdraw 3% of that amount each year for the rest of our lives and live a lifestyle similar to what we do now, plus with some freedom to do some low-cost travel without worry (as part of our retirement plan is to see a great deal of America and do some traveling around the world). We’ve already adjusted that target number for inflation and it’s roughly what we’d need if we reach that goal in about 2030-2032. That number is in the $2.5 million range, so let’s use that as a round number.
I took a piece of graph paper and counted off an area of 80 squares by 125 squares and drew a big box of that size on the graph paper. This contains 10,000 individual tiny squares.
Since our goal is $2.5 million in retirement savings, each one of those squares represents $250 in retirement savings.
Each month or so, I calculate the total balance of our retirement accounts and compare it to our previous all-time high. For every $250 that our current number bests the previous all-time high, I fill in a single square on that grid.
This is actually a very enjoyable ritual. On a really good month, where we socked away money and the stock market did well, I might fill in a whole bunch of squares. There are months, however, where I don’t fill in any at all (generally those are months when the stock market took a significant dive).
Another benefit of this is that I can see our overall progress by just glancing at that picture, which I have hung unlabeled in a place where I see it frequently. Over time, I can’t help but see how that grid is getting filled in.
Over time, the grid as a whole becomes darker. You can fill it in one square at a time, line after line, or you can come up with your own pattern, or you can just fill it in at random based on how you feel at the moment. You can use a color you like or even multiple colors. No matter how you do it, you’ll see that grid darkening over time, creating a visual reminder of your progress.
Whenever I start on a big goal, I usually make some kind of opening statement, usually in the form of a rather difficult entry in my daily journal. I outline the state of my life as it is right now, focusing in particular on all of the elements of my life that I’m wanting to fix by adopting a big goal. I didn’t do this in particular with my own financial goal right when I started it, but I could definitely find elements of this in things I wrote right around the time of my lowest financial point. On the other hand, I have done this with many other goals since then.
When I find myself in the “boring middle” and getting disheartened, I pull out that “opening statement” and read it. I read about the state that my life was in before I made changes to it, and I compare that to the state my life is in right now.
That simple act makes me feel incredibly good about what I’ve achieved so far and often fills my sails with a great deal of desire to continue that forward progress. Mostly, this is due to a desire to not revert back to the way things were, but instead move forward to the way things should be.
For example, when I started this financial journey, Sarah and I had a negative net worth, we had a total amount of student loans in the high five figures, we have more than $10,000 in credit card debt, we had two car loans, and we lived in a tiny apartment. We were struggling mightily to keep the bills paid and we were both upset that many of our lifetime dreams were slipping away from us. We didn’t see a clear path to owning a home of our own and we were very worried about the future for our child (and future children).
Flash forward to right now, where we have no debt at all, own our home with the mortgage completely paid off, have substantial retirement savings and a very healthy emergency fund, three children with an abundance of college savings put away for each of them, and a pretty clear plan for the future.
I have zero interest in going back to where we started from, or even moving in that direction at all. There’s almost nothing I can think of that I could add to my life that would make me want to move back in that direction.
That feeling adds a great deal of motivation to stay on my current path. It’s a powerful antidote to the mild negativity that can crop up along the “boring middle” of the path.
You can do essentially the same thing for any goal. Just look at where you were when you started, and you can make that easier by writing something of an “opening statement” when you launch a new long term goal, making it clear where you are right now and how you feel about it (probably not very good). It will be a powerful motivator for you going forward and a very powerful comparison point, as it makes it abundantly clear that your life has improved a ton, even if you don’t see it.
While the previous strategy centered around looking back to the past, this one is all about looking forward to the future.
What exactly will your life be like when you achieve the goal you’re heading towards? What will improve with regards to your life, both on a daily scale and on a broader scale? What will a typical day be like for you once you’ve achieved that goal?
Think about things such as reduced stress levels, reduced worries about finances (or whatever your goal is about), and the elements of your life that will actually change if you achieve your goal.
For example, when Sarah and I achieve our overall goal, our professional stress will basically vanish, as will pretty much any remaining concerns we have about day-to-day finances. Both of our careers will shift drastically, with Sarah moving into a volunteer position and me transitioning into writing opportunities with a very low guarantee but a very high upside. Our day to day lives will be a lot more flexible, due to both the financial stability and our children growing up and moving out. We’ll have the ability to easily visit our children and any grandchildren and to be able to help when needed.
When I think about that picture, I find myself drawn to it in a very deep way. That’s the life I want, very strongly. It’s simply a substantially improved version, in many ways, of the life I have right now.
Revisiting this picture regularly reaffirms my commitment to a lot of the choices I’ve made that define my day to day life right now, as I realize that if I undo those changes, not only will I slip back toward that initial state that I was unhappy with, this vision for the future will slip away, too. Doing things like we’re doing them right now makes that future grow slowly bigger and that past shrink away slowly; changing what I’m doing will achieve the opposite, and I desperately don’t want that.
Often, when a person gets the sense that their life isn’t going anywhere, it’s because on some level they’re unhappy with some aspect of their life. Without digging in a little deeper, it is incredibly easy to misattribute that sense of unease to some other aspect of one’s life, particularly something that seems very front and center… like, perhaps, a big goal you’re working on.
The problem is that if you take an axe to that front and center aspect of your life, you’ll often find that things have become worse, not better. You’ve damaged something that was actually good while leaving something that wasn’t good untouched, compounding the difficulties in your life.
A much better approach, when you feel a sense of boredom or vague unhappiness with your life, is to spend some time really assessing your life in detail.
One thing I do every so often, perhaps every six months, is to go through each of the spheres of my life – physical, mental, spiritual, intellectual, marital, parental, social, professional, financial, and leisure/avocational – and ask myself, within that sphere alone, what are five things I’m happy with and five things I’m not happy with.
After that’s done, I gather up all of the things I’m happy with and all of the things I’m unhappy with and spend some time with each list. My goal is to identify ten things I’m truly happy with in my life – the best of the good stuff – and ten things I’m most unhappy with in my life – the worst things.
When I have those lists, I usually ask myself why about each one of them. Why does this particular thing make me happy? Why is that answer so important? I dig down to five levels of why’s. I do the same with the negative ones. Why does this particular thing make me unhappy? Why do I feel that way about my answer to that? Again, I try to go five levels deep with the why’s.
What I find, every time, is that the good things in my life are the result of me living life in accordance with what I most value, whereas the bad things in my life are the result of me living life out of whack with what I most deeply value. Often, reviewing the good things in a deep way reveals those values, and then understanding those values makes it clear that many of the bad things are because I’m out of whack with those values.
The thing is, this kind of exploration will take you in unexpected directions, every time. Quite often, the things we try to do to improve our lives are attempts to address surface issues without digging down into what’s really going on.
Before you take action, make sure that your sense of feeling “worn down” by your goal is really being caused by your goal, and this is a practice that has almost always helped me find answers when I’m struggling.
As I noted above, a person’s life is made up of a bunch of different spheres – physical, mental, spiritual, intellectual, marital, parental, social, professional, financial, and leisure/avocational, and perhaps even more. Quite often, a big goal is really only relevant to one or two of those spheres. For example, a huge financial goal is usually only causing significant changes in the financial sphere of your life, with only minor effects in other areas.
Thus, when you’re looking around your life for the big changes you want to see and your eyes pass over the physical and mental and social and marital and professional and avocational spheres, you probably don’t see much change at all. That’s because that big goal, as life-changing as it might be, really isn’t affecting those other spheres much at all. It’s changing one axis of your life and leaving all of the other axes alone.
What can you do about that? Find ways to make changes in the other spheres.
This is something I suggested in the earlier “boring middle” article when I suggested coming up with other major goals. Inherently, those other goals would begin to alter other spheres in your life, creating more of a constant sense of change throughout your life. You might not sense much is changing if only one sphere is shifting, but if five are?
However, you might not necessarily have big goals in other spheres. You might just have a sense that things are old and stale.
The solution, then, is to simply try new things in lots of different spheres in your life without derailing the progress you’ve made in the financial sphere.
With your physical sphere, try new exercise routines. Check out what your local parks and rec department has to offer and get involved in some of that stuff. Try a completely new sport or a completely new kind of physical fitness. Start doing yoga at home, for example. Reboot your dining habits and try eating a bunch of new kinds of foods. Try to do a grocery trip based on meals that are new to you with lots of ingredients that are new to you.
With your mental/spiritual sphere, try reading books about different spiritual traditions and explore some of the practices of those different traditions. Dig into things like mindfulness meditation and journaling.
With your intellectual sphere, dig deep into a new subject or a new skill that you know little about and make an effort to learn about it. Check out a book on World War I from the library, or teach yourself how to knit using some yarn, a few needles, and Youtube.
With your marital sphere, try spicing up your life with your partner. Change up the routines of your relationship. Hold your partner more often and tell your partner that you love them. Plan a surprise “staycation” and do some things together that you don’t regularly get to do together.
With your parental sphere, just try doing whatever it is that your kids are into at the moment, with your full attention and heart. Put aside 30 minutes or an hour each day and just engage with them directly. Find some windows for one on one time and don’t push conversation, but see if it happens.
With your social sphere, intentionally go to social events that you might have otherwise skipped. Plan a big dinner party at your house and invite some people over. Make a daily habit of getting ahold of an old friend for a meaningful conversation.
With your professional sphere, try taking on a new kind of project at work that’s different than what you were normally working on. If you find your workplace stale, polish up your resume and do some job searching.
With your avocational/leisure sphere, try spending a full day this weekend devoted to a hobby that you really care about, turning off as many distractions as you can. Make this a regular habit once every few weeks, just giving a day over to going fishing or reading a book or whatever you deeply enjoy.
There are lots of ways to change up the tired patterns of your life without adopting a huge new goal. Often, those little change-ups can breathe a lot of new life into a life that seems to have become “boring” and repetitive.
The interesting part is that, if you start diving into those other spheres like this, you often see the shadow of your progress in the main sphere of your life. You find that things that used to cause you stress no longer cause it. You find that you’re no longer distracted by things in your life. You’ll often find that the life concern that drove you to this big goal had a really negative impact on other spheres in your life, and that negative impact is receding and opening up paths that you thought were closed. Look for that, and you might be shocked at what you find.
The “boring middle” is a part of almost every major change and major goal we set in our lives. Even if we have tools with which to help us keep up with our goal through that “boring middle,” it can be really hard to see that progress as we’re going along.
That doesn’t mean the progress isn’t there, we just don’t know where to look. Find places to look. Make a visual indicator that shows your overall progress. Compare your life now to your life as it was when you started, and to your life as you want it to be in the end, and note how your life is moving away from that starting point and also toward that closing point. Dig into the other areas of your life to see if there’s something wrong. While you’re at it, try out lots of new things in each other sphere in your life, both to freshen things up and to see how much impact your change really has made.
Seeing progress can be really difficult when your life is in a fixed routine, but if you know where to look, you can see real change.
Good luck.
The post The Challenge of Seeing Progress appeared first on The Simple Dollar.
