12-DECEMBER 13-2021

Good morning.
The most recent inflation data shows that prices increased an average of 6.8 percent over the past year.  With year-end bonuses and pay raises on the horizon, many workers are discovering that getting a 1, 2, or 3 percent pay raise means they’re still losing money in real terms.
That may spur the great resignation trend, with workers shifting towards jobs that pay a higher starting salary.  And as long as employers are short-handed, there’s now a potential economic spiral where rising wages continue to fuel inflation… which continues to fuel a demand for higher wages.  For investors and traders, it points to lower market returns going forward, although stocks will still likely be the best game in town as companies find ways to pass on higher costs.

Precious Metals Prices
Price at week’s end (change over last week)

Gold … $1,782.90 (-0.1%)
Silver … $22.18 (-1.9%)
Platinum … $941.00 (-0.1%)
Palladium … $1,701.00 (-7.9%)

Now here’s the rest of the news:

The Price of Choosing the Wrong Gold IRA Company?  $3000,000
This is one retirement account mistake you don’t want to make.  Not only can it cost you, it is even more painful because it’s such an easy mistake to avoid! [Read Here]

Why Some People Will Suffer from Social Security “Sticker Shock” in 2022
Mainstream media has been making a big deal about Social Security’s cost-of-living-adjustment (COLA) for next year.  “Biggest jump since 1983,” according to at least one source. [Read Here]

December 13, 2020

Here’s to a better YOU … and now … Today’s DarrenDaily Recap Sunday.  A collection of the weeks videos from Darren Hardy.  Enjoy!

Naturally beautiful: Remains of the SS Ethie shipwreck on 1919 on Martin’s Point (near Woody Point)

in Gros Morne National Park, Newfoundland.

December 13, 2019

“Gossiping has become the main form of communication in human society.  It has become the way we feel close to each other; because it makes us feel better to see someone else feel as badly as we do.  There is an old expression that says, ‘Misery loves company,’ and people who are suffering in hell don’t want to be all alone.” — Don Miguel Ruiz

To summarize one of the basic tenets from Don Miguel Ruiz’s book The Four Agreements, be impeccable with your word.  Speak with integrity.  Say only what you mean.  Avoid using your words to speak against yourself or to gossip about others.  Use the power of your word in the direction of truth and love.

For almost everyone, gossip has been a part of our lives since we were children.  Chances are we heard the adults in our lives gossiping & giving their opinions about other people.  We saw gossip as a normal way to communicate.  Everyone was doing it.

Everyone is still doing it; it’s omnipresent.  Look around.  Tabloid magazines are full of gossip.  Reality TV capitalizes on people talking bad about one another.  Social media sites are full of people venting about individuals — often times, people they don’t know — using words they wouldn’t dare speak in face-to-face conversation.  😉

December 13, 2018

How To Rise From A Rut… You Are Capable

We’ve all been there.  Feeling like we’re trapped in the same, boring routine and there’s no way out.  Ruts are generally accompanied by low energy, bad mood, and a sense of helplessness.  If you’re anything like me, they also involve a good bit of self-loathing, strawberry licorice, and pizza.  Ruts happen to all of us.  Just looking at the word is exhausting.  Why?

Ruts are mental quicksand.  It seems like the harder we try to get out, the more we fall back in.

So, what’s the best way out?  Ruts, like quicksand, are almost always more of an emotional challenge than they are physical.  Slows your movements, slow your thought process, then assess your choices, gradually make a course of action, and recognize when to ask for and accept help.  Don’t get so lost dwelling on past “should’ve” and “could’ve” moments that you forget about your current choices, panic, and dig yourself further.

Truth be told, we may not always like our options, but they do exist!  Every day we have the choice to either be our best friend or our worst enemy, and what makes a rut so awful and exhausting is that we accidentally choose to be the latter.  Know that you can either choose to look in the mirror and say, “it’s been a rough month, and I’m going to celebrate what my body can do by taking it for a walk” or “you’re so out of shape you couldn’t even run one mile like you should’ve been doing for the last month”.  Try to catch yourself in these negative patterns, and slow yourself down!  Use the moment to re-examine and ask yourself:

• • Where am I at in this situation?
  • What are some realistic options I could do right now?
  • Which of these options is most reasonable and requires the lowest effort?
  • Then, take action on the lowest effort option you’ve selected!

Start small and build on each task, addressing the smaller, lower energy items first.  My favorite first task when getting out of a negative pattern is making a list of my past successes and things I enjoy.  It not only leaves me feeling more positive, but it reminds me of what I’m capable of.

Just like when getting out of quicksand, a series of small efforts building upon one another is going to be FAR more successful than taking a big leap.   And if you’re getting close to meeting your goal but feel like you can’t quite make it – ask for help!  Find an accountability partner to throw you a rope, or someone to lift you up with moral support.  Know when to ask for and accept help – we all need it from time to time!

Choose to be your best friend, not your enemy.

Change That Up!