Day two of fake marathon training

I like following directions so I decided to put myself on a new fitness regimen. I am on day two of a Marathon training program for novices. I used to be a big (fat but consistent) runner, so following the novice plan makes me a bit itchy. Then again, I haven't run much at all for about 3 years (since I last ran a, my one and only, Marathon), so I think it's appropriate.

Week one is awesome. Yesterday was a rest day (so easy!). Today was 3 miles. I ran it nice and slow, rolled up my sleeves to try to fend off the farmer tan and felt great.

Then I came home, took the dog out, and rode my bike to work. Yes, that's two days in a row of riding my bike. And it was easier, too.

I had a new perspective on tired legs this morning. See, my real goal is to run an Ultra Marathon of 100 miles, but there were no training plans for zero to 100, so I am doing the Marathon plan first for a Marathon I do not plan to run, then going for the 50k plan, then the 100k and finally the 100 miler.

I guess this is a lot like planning for your phd when you haven't finished high school, but I don't care. I need a mission, and since at least part of my motivation is weight loss, I figure there will be no plateau if I keep increasing my milage.

And, at 100 miles, I just DARE my body to be fat. Who am I kidding? If I can run gd 100miles, WHO CARES???

Anyway Ultra training manuals say "Get used to running on tired legs". Check.

It's time to walk the walk

I was talking to a friend of mine the other day who is taking a course to get certified in Coaching, as in the life kind, and that got me to thinking about how many things I have the intention of doing but then I get sidetracked by fear or self doubt or that self-destructive part of us that here is defined as  the blerch.

Well, I decided to make a list of the things I wanted to do and invented some deadlines. I need to hold myself accountable. Here are some of the things put on my list.

1. Work more (for money. I'm really good at working for free already).
2. Ride my bike (check. I rode to work today. Yippee for me!).
3. Start Marathon training even though I have no Marathon to train for (today is "rest day" so I guess you can say I've gotten off to a great start!).
4. Open a business in the States by October (shut up, Blerch! Shut up shut up shut up!).
5. Take charge of my non profit's Accounting (starting today, our fiscal year ends August 30. That's my deadline for having all up-to-date).
6. Keep my shit in order (this is vague. Let's start with clean the garbage out of my backpack. done).
7. Make a long term financial plan (This includes a 3-year, 5-year and 10-year plan that includes buying a home on the shores of the Adriatic in cash, shut up Blerch, and moving to Slovenia).

There are other things too, but they're more difficult things like TRY TO BE NICE TO PEOPLE ALL THE TIME, and DON'T DRINK SO MUCH and TRY TO GET UP EARLIER.

I will let you know how it goes. For now I have the strangest sensation of being nearly in control of my life.

Wow.

I was thinking out loud

Sorry, I didn't put an introduction on that last post. I started writing it last week when I had to make a huge tax payment and had three realizations.

My taxes are nearly half of what I earn.
I had the cash in the bank to cover what I had to pay.
I didn't feel like what I had to pay was unfair.

That makes me different than most of the people I know who work independently. Then I thought about it. There are those who complain about their taxes and those who don't.

What I found was that the people who complained about their taxes had something in common: they were open about the fact that they were actively evading taxes whenever and wherever possible.

Evasion was in the form of working under the table (taking cash for services and not issuing a bill) and writing off personal expenses (as opposed to work expenses). Justification for this was that "taxes are just too high. It's the only thing I can do to survive."

I know other business owners who never complain about their taxes. What they do talk about, though, is opening up to new markets and increasing revenue.

I really like to be around those kinds of people. They are optimists, hard workers, they see possibilities everywhere.

The tax complainers are boring. I have little patience for them. I do not want to be one.

If it's time to cough up and you're feeling down, think about this.

1. When your taxes go up, it usually means you are making more money, and that can't be a bad thing.

2. Tax evasion in Italy is the norm, so when you invoice properly, your clients take you more seriously.

3. At the Association we give a 5% discount when people pay for classes with a bank transfer.  Besides making our accounting easier and more transparent, it is the opposite of what many tax evaders here do, which is offer you a discount if you pay in cash. This move continues to earn us a lot of respect from our members.

4. You can work under the table all you want, but it will never make you feel richer or more professional. In fact, at the end of the year, the only thing that counts is your balance sheet, and work that is not invoiced doesn't show there. Declaring only a small part of what you actually bring in, alongside all of your expenses creates a lop-sided document that makes you look and feel like you are not in control of your finances.

5. In general, work on keeping your expenses down rather than looking for ways to avoid paying taxes. That is where you really notice the difference. It's much easier to pay your taxes (and much less annoying as a concept) when you don't spend the money you were supposed to put aside for them.

6. The negative energy people spend on complaining could be better used to look for new sources of income.  I, personally, would love the opportunity to make this lament: "The problem with making 2 million is that it's really 1 million after taxes."

7. The argument that our taxes don't do anything for us in Italy is Baloney. Health Care here is available for everyone. The peace of mind that brings is well worth the taxes we pay to keep it that way.

What kind of learner are you?

A couple of weeks ago I decided to do something different with my students. It was the week I got obsessed with learning styles (visual, auditory, kinaesthetic) and wanted to make EVERYONE my guinea pig.  Of course my first victim was ME because I wanted to TEST the TESTS. I thought I knew myself Soooo well so I googled a bunch of different online learning style tests and took them.

Here are some examples: The printable one or this quick online version. There are a million of these.

I really thought I was a visual learner. I never remember anything that anyone says to me unless I write it down, so I was SURE about this. I didn't even know what the hell a kinaesthetic learner was (they're also called Tactile learners).

WELL, it turns out that I am strongly KINAESTHETIC (why is it spelled like that anyway?) with a minor in Visual. I realized once again that my understanding of myself is rudimentary (but apparently pretty easy for others to get, as evidenced by almost every ex I've ever had who said "I know you better than You know Yourself!")

Then I started thinking about it. I went back to my very first memory: Petting a cat (Doing something, not seeing it or hearing it).

Then I thought about the things I hate most: sitting anywhere for long periods of time, like the dinner table (unless I am also knitting or, in the old days, smoking), talking on the phone (but that may be a result of 3 years of working in a bank call center when I was in college), waiting (unless I am writing or reading or knitting).

Then I thought of the ways I make myself relax at night so I can fall asleep (I imagine I am swimming laps or running a 100mile race, which is my dream by the way).

Then I considered the skill I wish I had (I would love to be a great chess player but I get too impatient to strategize. I just want to play as fast as possible, and I do it pretty badly. Love it, though, because I don't mind losing).

Then I thought about times when I was really productive, and I realized they were times when I was a frenetic note taker and journal writer. I went back even further and missed writing physical letters to people. I could crank out 16 a day during my more prolific pen pal periods (my only obstacle was the price of stamps).

And what of all those journals? Well, according to the evaluations and explanations I read, if I were a visual learner, they would be in neat, legible condition, and I would actually read them later.

Well I don't do that. Never did. It's like once the junk in my head was on paper I could sleep again because I knew I wouldn't forget it. I kept them, too. Until last week. A friend of mine died, see. A young guy, and it was sad and disconcerting.

It made me think about the things that are lying around the house. I thought about those journals that I toted halfway around the world with me. I realized that my writing helped me process information. That's it. If I wanted to get in touch with my feelings, for example, I had to get the pen moving. I probably could have done it with a fake pen, or my finger on a desk. It wasn't the ink on paper that did it, but rather the ACTION of writing. I purged all of those journals. My bookshelves looked organized for once. I felt lighter, less messy.

Later that day there was this tax question I had been mulling over that I couldn't figure out. I knew the answer was easy but I wanted to be able to explain it. So I took the dog for a walk. And you know what? While I was outside with her, I figured it out. And I was right.

Other telltale symptoms of Kinaesthetic learners: Frequent snacking, short attention span, and desire to play outside as much as possible. Check, check, and CHECK!

Creating a Business Plan

Sorry for the absence, Dear Reader, but I saw this TED conference and decided that I needed to keep some information for myself until I got going on it.

Basically the idea is that if you have something you want to accomplish, you should keep quiet on it and just do it because the mere act of talking about it gives your brain a feeling of accomplishment, as if you had already achieved your goal. Once you have that feeling you get lazy.

True true. I started thinking back to when I felt REALLY creative and productive. And then I realized it was when I was young(er) and single and had nothing to do but DO things--and no one to tell about it.

Not saying anything leaves you in that terrible state of inner tension until you actually accomplish the goal.

Difference? Talk about it? You don't do it. Shut up about it? You get things done.

Now, I did not see this video yesterday. I saw it many months ago, so I may have even talked about it with you. Anyhow, this is another reason for my silence. I had a lot to think about.

I told you at one point I had a great entrepreneurial idea. Well now I am working on that more. I have changed it a lot since I started thinking about it and am writing a business plan. If you have never done one of these, I highly recommend it. There are few opportunities in your life where you are forced to think about an action you are about to undertake from so many different angles.

In fact, I think couples should be encouraged to write a business plan before taking the plunge. Just think how many divorces would be avoided by having to talk about the advantages, disadvantages, hopes, dreams, growth plan, and numbers, before signing by the x.

I may bring it up to hubby. It's not a bad idea as we go into our tenth year.

An oldie but a goodie

I started to miss this blog today. And here is the article that made me miss it. I blogged this about a year ago. I found it today while I was looking for a place to save an English placement test (zzz) on an old flash drive. It is inspiring me to get going again. Here it is.

LESSONS FROM A HIGH EARNER INTERVIEW ONE

 

One of my private students has a very high position at one of the companies I teach at. We have a good relationship and I decided to pick his brain about what it takes to become rich. Here is the advice he gave me.

 

First, “You are not the money-making type”.

Thanks. This is not a great start. Then, “if you want to become rich, choose a profession where you can work under the table, or get a real job. We are in Italy, the taxes are too high to be an independent professional. But if you want to work independently, at least write off everything you can.”

 

Q:Trust fund or real estate for your kids?

A:In Italy young people are helped by their parents, there are no trust funds, and if you want one you need to get it in Switzerland. We don’t use them here in Italy.

 

Q:Do you invest?

A:No. I don’t spend money. I don’t go on expensive vacations, I live simply. I bought my apartment. When I had more money, I bought the apartment below mine. When I had more money I bought my son a 250 m2 apartment downtown. He is a very lucky 28 year old.

 

Q:Did you take out a loan?

A:No. I only pay for things in cash. I don’t like to have debts.

 

Q:How do you pass the value of money on to your children?

A:It is normal for our children to live a privileged life when they are young. They do not appreciate the sacrifices made by their parents to give them a better future. My hope is that when my sons are older, they will understand the value of money. My older son is already starting to understand. He is working and knows first-hand what it is like to work a lot for very little. My sons have seen my wife and my way of life. We are not extravagant people. 

 

They could never understand where I come from. I was one of five brothers in a very poor family. My mother did not work and I still marvel at how she managed to feed all of us.

 

Q:Where are you the most extravagant?

A: I grew up in a situation where it was not possible to take a hot shower every day. Hot water was rationed and my mother was very careful about how long we were allowed to be in there in order to make sure there was water for everyone. Now I take LONG HOT showers, I waste water, it is my one extravagance. Long and hot showers.

 

Q:Regrets?

A: I have many regrets in my life. Most of all, I feel that I have lived too little. But I have taken care of my family, and as a man from the south, that is important to me.

 

Q: Does money buy happiness?

A: No, but it buys you the things that buy you happiness. That’s not a very nice thing to say, I realize that.