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chuckaf · 4 years ago

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Chuck Fic Rec List: Updated

So my fic rec post was in my notifs again the other day, and I noticed a while back that the formatting on the post has gotten all messed up and it’s also had like three reblog additions to it anyway meaning there are three versions out there lol. so, I wanted to do another list of chuck fic recs! I’ll keep the other one up still, so I’m not gonna repeat every fic here, just some I really recommend. I’m also adding the fic summaries, which I didn’t on the old post, and some more of my own opinions so, buckle up for a long post!

Chuck Versus the Steampunk Chronicles | Steampunk.Chuckster

1896. A world powered by steam, where humans and machines coexist, and airships are the fashionable mode of transport. The US Empire's deepest and darkest secrets arrive at Chuck Bartowski's doorstep. Have they fallen into the wrong hands? Or will the inventor prove his mettle, even while he's forced to hide from the very people he's protecting? AU, ongoing chronicle, Charah.

A genuinely incredible AU story, with an entire crafted world and universe, so detailed it frequently blows my mind. There is heart and family and infuriatingly brilliant slow-burn, plus a buttload of danger and super fun historical/steampunk action. Oh how I LOVE it.

Chuck vs the Charade | somedeepmystery

When computer nerd Chuck Bartowski returns home to an empty apartment and a dead girlfriend he finds himself embroiled in a deadly game of espionage and deceit. Everyone around him is playing a part to get what they want and when he starts falling for the new woman in his life, he can't help but wonder if he can trust her or if she's the one he should fear the most.

An action and twist-filled AU based on the movie Charade, which is just such a brilliant fic concept I absolutely adored it from the start.

Two Sides of the Same Coin | dettiot

When you're a spy, there's all kinds of occupational hazards when you work with another spy. For Sarah Walker, though, one mission becomes a life-changing experience. Because working with Charles Carmichael leads to protecting Chuck Bartowski.

The first time I read this fic my mind was just blown to its genius. Such a brilliant interpretation of what the Intersect and its concepts set up in the show could be, and ooooof the Chuck/Sarah interactions, my HEART. Related to it, its companion piece:

A Flip of the Coin | dettiot

What made Charles Carmichael agree to become Chuck Bartowski? Well, to start, it wasn't as much of a change as you'd think. A companion to the early chapters of Two Sides of the Same Coin from Carmichael's perspective.

Chuck vs The Butterfly Effect | n7agentbartowski

Chuck Bartowski is a normal guy who just hit rock bottom. No girlfriend, no career and no super computer stuck inside his head. It isn't until Chuck meets a gorgeous stranger on the beach that he begins to think his life is about to change for the better. An AU Chuck fic without the Intersect. "Change one thing and it changes everything."

I said it on the OG post, but this story has one of my top 5 Chuck/Sarah fic meetings. So funny, so... very Chuck. The story is a little angsty overall, but a great read.

Chuck vs the Rogue Spy | Crumby

When a rogue spy from Chuck Bartowski's past shows up to help him during his first solo mission, Chuck hopes that he'll finally find out what happened to Sarah Walker. Post-S2 AU.

There’s a lot of Season 3 fix-it fics out there, which I don’t usually read bc I actually love season 3 lol, but this one’s a good one! A twisty deviation from canon, but still feels really true to character.

Chuck Versus the Nerds Rewrite | Steampunk.Chuckster and David Carner

What happens when two nerds talk endless hours about their favorite TV show? A new take on the show you know, but with the flair, twists, and turns you've come to expect from Steampunk . Chuckster and david . carner. Somewhat canon. Charah.

As the summary says, a different take on the show, which honestly makes a couple changes I would too, but also adds a bunch of fun twists and plots that make it totally new and fresh. Seeing Chuck and Sarah’s thoughts in the more canon sections is just delicious, too.

The Trapped Assassin | SarahsSupplyCloset

After a mission goes awry, the CIA's most lethal assassin is ordered to take vacation while her superiors figure out what to do with her. But when she meets a disarming tourist, their immediate connection only adds to her disillusionment with the agency and her career. Will he be enough for her to finally take the plunge and leave the only life she's ever known? Charah AU

A warning for the very justified M rating if you don’t like that sort of thing, but this is definitely a plot-heavy fic, too. A really neat Sarah-heavy AU, with a whole lotta Chuck/Sarah fancy French vacationy goodness.

Chuck vs the Second Chance | malamoo

AU from mid-season 2 and onwards. Chuck and Sarah part ways only to be reunited years later. COMPLETE.

Literal, crying-at-my-screen angst. Not even a super happy ending. But a brilliantly written, part-reflective/flashback fic, exploring what would’ve happened if Chuck and Sarah’s relationship really was an assignment all along-- and the aftermath. It’s heartbreaking. But if you want a little heartbreak, this is your fic.

Ready at Your Hand | dettiot

In the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, a Catholic plot against the queen comes to the attention of spymaster Sir Francis Walsingham. To protect Elizabeth, he develops an unusual plan: hide the passing of intelligence between two agents by a false romance. When Lady Sarah Walker and Chuck Carmichael meet, though, their pretend flirtation becomes much more.

I love Chuck fic for the very reason that it’s inspired such adventurous and totally unique AUs. Here’s some Elizabethan fake-dating Chuck and Sarah! They have to be so Proper, it’s like that hand moment from Pride and Prejudice but Elizabethan and times a billion. The pining!!

Sarah Versus Getting Married | Steampunk.Chuckster

Sarah Walker is getting married. Canon. Charah.

I’d recommend all of SC’s fics if I had the room, and I’m already recommending a ton sksks but most of my fic recs are AUs, and this one isn’t! It’s canon, and covers some of in the gap in 4x24, with Sarah just before the wedding itself. Super sweet, heart-tugging, brilliant.

A Chuckmas Carol | Mikki13

A new twist to Dickens' beloved "A Christmas Carol". When Sarah begins to shut out the world around her, three spirits come to show her the error of her ways. Season 3 AU.

Another Season 3 AU, this one written pre-series so it definitely doesn’t fit to canon, but it’s still wonderfully rich in character depth and angst and it also made me cry. Plus, festive!

Chuck Versus Thin Ice | Steampunk.Chuckster

On the doorstep of the Olympics, top American curler Sarah Walker has lost her mixed doubles partner and her boyfriend in one fell swoop. Her coaches throw newbie Team U.S.A. curler Chuck Bartowski onto her team and thrust them into the Olympics, hanging America's curling hopes on two people who only have a short amount of time to learn to trust one another. Charah AU.

Do you like curling? Or the Winter Olympics? It doesn’t really matter because somehow this fic made me extremely invested in both of those things, as well as Chuck and Sarah and them being INSUFFERABLE. Catch me now knowing a ton about curling thanks to this fic.

Walker’s Eleven | Moonlight Pilot

Not the same plot as the movie. Sarah Walker never got out of the con game or became a spy, and now she's on her final con. What happens when true love and betrayal get added to the mix? Twists, turns, and Jeffster!

Con!Sarah always interests me, and this fic is full of her. Lotta con plot, lotta Chuck and Sarah.

The Detective and the Tech Guy | thecharleses

Sarah Walker is a Pinkerton detective. Chuck Bartowski is an electronics genius. They wouldn't have met except for a case of mistaken identity and murder. Will the detective and the tech guy solve the mystery, distracted by the riddle in their own hearts? An homage to The Thin Man film series. Formerly co-written by Steampunk . Chuckster and dettiot, now ONLY Steampunk . Chuckster.

Everyone in this fic is so damn cool. There are so many martinis. But also great heart and family and like, standing up for who you love, and later also Chuck with Baby Clara content which frankly the show robbed us of. Also, PI!Sarah!!!

Gravity | Poetic4U

AU. Sarah makes a decision that altered her life forever.

This is just a one-shot, which many of these stories are not, so a good one if you don’t fancy a big read! Just because it’s short, though, doesn’t mean it’s lacking; a really awesome what-if AU, and heavy on the Chuck and Sarah.

A Yuletie Tale | Steampunk.Chuckster

Sarah Walker was dumped the day before Christmas Eve, and her Plus One at her work’s annual Christmas Eve Soiree is now officially a Plus Zero. Her best friend Ellie Bartowski has a solution to her problem, and Sarah finds she isn’t quite as sure about it as Ellie is. AU Christmas Charah.

I’m particularly in love with this fic because, instead of beginning with a meet-cute, it involves Chuck and Sarah already two years into a friendship-- Sarah is Ellie’s best friend. And she’s been crushing harrrd on Ellie’s brother. Also Chuck is in a tux. It’s pretty.

Set, Spike, Dive! | Frea O’Scanlin

Chuck never expected to even make it to the Olympics. Everything is working against him: he's too tall for a diver, too inexperienced for a medal, too much of a wildcard to really make his mark. But an unexpected meeting at the airport, some intriguing new friends, and a whirlwind romance on the sand just might set up London 2012 as the time of Chuck Bartowski's life.

A London 2012 AU, because why not. This is just a fun Olympic-y ride!

OTP (One True Pairing) Prompts | David Carner

A series of Prompts I found online about different times and places in Chuck and Sarah's life. Mostly AU, mostly one-shots. I assume mostly fluff, but I might get deep. I doubt it, it's me. Charah...ALWAYS (It says complete, but if an idea strikes me...)

If you’re not so into long stories, this fic is perfect. Individual set-ups and stories, all Chuck and Sarah, and all super cute. You could dip in and out and just pick a scenario you enjoy.

Chuck vs The Frontier | ninjaVanish

AU: Chuck was enjoying a simple life as a 19th century watchmaker until an encounter with a beautiful Secret Service agent thrust him into a world of intrigue and adventure he never wanted. But then, with Agent Walker around, it can't be all bad, can it?

This fic gets props for being historically-set but still including the Intersect. Again, a historical AU, so the pining!! the need to be Proper!!! But besides all that, there’s a lot of action fun as well.

Chuck Versus The Crosswalk: Remastered | WvonB

Will a last minute mission help our two favorite characters finally get together? This is the remastered version of my first story.

The original version of this fic is on my first list; this is the updated version! It’s not a complete AU, instead a story that diverges from canon, so if you’re more into canon characters and setting than a new AU scenario, this is a great fic for that.

Little Girls, Paper Wreaths, and Choc Chip Cookies | DanaPAH

Very AU: Sarah Walker is a single mother whose Christmas spirit needs a boost after a tough divorce. She isn't quite ready to go looking for romance, but her little daughter's affection for their new neighbor may lure it right to her doorstep, anyway.

An incredibly sweet AU one-shot where Chuck and Sarah are new neighbours, and Sarah has a super cute little girl. So much sweetness and love and hope. I love this fic so much it literally led me to write my own neighbour-kid-AU, so, not to toot my own horn but I’ll link it here anyway.

May Your Walls Know Joy | halfachance

Looking for a fresh start after some tough times, Sarah and her three-year-old daughter move to LA. When they meet a sweet curly-haired nerd who lives next door, though, Sarah realizes they might just find more happiness than they'd ever imagined, if only her past doesn't catch up to her first. AU.

It’s what the summary says; if you wanna read, feel free!

Chuck vs the Sound of Music | quistie64

AU. Chuck, nerd extraordinaire, is a man with seven children and Sarah must protect them all from Fulcrum's evil designs. Warning: there will be singing.

I mean. Not much mystery as to the concept with that title and summary lol, but this is a super fun, soft ride with a lotta sweetness, and yes, singing.

Just Two People | David Carner

Meet Sarah Walker PhD, Psychologist, specializing in personality traits. Meet Chuck Bartowski, man who has left THE electronic company of 2020. When Burton Consultants tries to figure out what is wrong with the morale of Orion Industries, what happens when a guy named Chuck meets a woman named Sarah. I'll give you a hint, it's me writing.

David’s done something pretty special with this fic. It’s Chuck and Sarah centric, but very much an ensemble piece, too, with a lot of Team Bartowski and other familiar faces throughout.

Chuck Versus the Con Game | Steampunk.Chuckster

AU. Chuck and Sarah are partners in the con game. It's an existence wrought with danger and violence. Every day could be their last. Every mission could be the end of the line.

This is where I freak out SC and declare this fic the reason I ever got hooked on Chuck fic and then wrote Chuck fic, and the reason I still love it today but. that is true lol. Just so. so good. It’s also written with the chapters out of chronological order, which is super fun from a reading perspective. But con!Sarah AND con!Chuck?? Best. The kind of fic you will be thinking about for days (if not, y’know, years).

As you can tell by the repeats, I highly recommend just about anything by Steampunk.Chuckster, dettiot, or David Carner, but there are a TON of amazing Chuck fics and authors out there. I’ve never known a writing community so wildly creative-- there are so many unique AUs and canon explorations and story concepts that this show has manifested, and it’s all so much fun.

Most of the Chuck fic community is still over on FFN rather than AO3, so if any of these whet your appetite, feel free to have a browse there for more stories. I’m sure you’ll find something great. Personally, all the incredible writing there has also led me to write a buttload; I’m at halfachance on FFN, so if you see any of my stuff or wanna chat fic, feel free to message me there or here.

Happy reading, folks!

#chuck #fic rec #chuck fic #nbcchuck #praying if i edit this to add to it or i reblog it to add to it all the links stay and the line breaks don't disappear sksks #the old one still looks okay on desktop but it's messed up on the app and on mobile and it's just all generally messy #so i've been wanting to make this for aaages lol yay to finally doing something! woo!

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mrreuben · 5 years ago

Text

Life Plan

Reflection

I was a very arrogant student. I refuse to pay attention in any academic related matters, I never studied any lesson from any subject, refused to practice analytical and problem solving activities, ignored and copied assignments that I was responsible for, and submitted low quality, subpar projects just to “get by” through my requirements in High School. I foolishly believed that I was naturally smart, and solely relying on my stock knowledge and intellectual ability is enough to get me through high school and college, which it miraculously did for the former.

Outside School, from the beginning of my second year in my secondary school, I started to get curious and entered all the vices my parents was telling me never to even attempt on trying. I began to start smoking, drinking, even using recreational drugs with my classmates. We also play competitive computer games excessively which resulted in learning how to gamble my allowances through games and record high numbers of absenteeism in school.

During these times, from 2nd year up to the year that I graduated from high school (fortunately I graduated in time), I thought I was living the life. I believed that this was how cool people were supposed to spend their time, by only thinking about yourself and what makes you happy, regardless of the consequence. I thought that I could continue living this degenerate life of arrogance through college, but God has a way of teaching his children a lesson.

Humbled

With God grace, I was admitted to the University of Santo Tomas, Faculty of Engineering and enrolled in B.S. Civil Engineering. My confidence and arrogance, as usual, was up the roof, and like in high school, the way of life that I’ve been accustomed with was being incorporated since the very beginning of my college life. I immediately started looking for friends or classmates that shares with me the same degenerate lifestyle of drinking and partying. I also did not put any effort in studying my subjects. Given the challenge that mathematics and physics poses, my arrogance and hard-headed attitude of self-confidence has been rooted so deep in my character that I was certain that I do not need to change my ways.

All in all, I had 18 units of failures in the faculty until the day that would wake me up and humbled me down came. I, again, failed some subjects, but this time, it amounted to 9 units, which is the maximum number of failures for one semester in the Faculty of Engineering. In order to be able to enroll for the next term, I need to sign an ultimatum that I cannot fail another subject in the faculty again, lest I’ll be kicked out of the program. Also, I would need to bring my parents to the faculty so they can be made aware of the agreement, and they too would also be required to sign the papers for my conditional status.

When my parents found out the status of my academics, they became furious, but rather than putting a chain around my neck and controlling my lifestyle and routines, they told me that I was free to do whatever I want, whenever I want, but he reminded me that we can only control our choices, but not our consequences. He told me that making mistakes is part of life, but we must be responsible enough to face the consequence of our actions. He also affirmed me that in the end, I am the one who will be most affected with my choices, that every choice that I make will have an impact in my future, both near and far.

The Redemption

After the epiphany, I have decided that I will get up and turn my life around. Even though the partying lifestyle continued, I made sure that I am able to execute my responsibilities and commitments in my academics, which in turn, first gave me an acceptable passing grade, into having one of the highest average in our major subjects and winning the Best Researcher of the Year for our thesis in the faculty of engineering. Now, I am a licensed Civil Engineer, a former engineer of the prestigious EEI Corporation, the largest construction firm in the country, and a current Engineer and Public Servant at the Department of Public Works and Highways – Head Office, which are known to accept only a dozen of engineers from thousands of applicants annually.

I remember how I pitched myself through my interview with the Undersecretary of DPWH, she asked me what I can say about my subjects that came up short in the passing marks, I told her that I went into a self-destructive pattern, but I was able to redeem myself through hard work and determination. Afterwards, she took me as an employee and told me, intelligence is great, but it comes and goes, persistence and the ability to redeem yourself on the other hand, is more extraordinary, and she was right.

Personal Vision Statement

In a few years, I will be known as a loving and compassionate persons who loves to help the less fortunate.

Personal Mission Statement

I will live to help and inspire the next generation to aim for the stars. Don’t listen to those who says you can’t do it, because you know you can.

Priority A: Family

As a young professional who’ve just started his journey into the ladder of career development, my main priority right now is to weigh in my priorities and learn to see and appreciate what really is important. Family should always come first, no matter how busy or demanding the career is. In our last days, we won’t tell ourselves that “I should’ve spent more time in the office” or “I should’ve aimed for this promotion”. I believe that what matters most are the bond that we share with our family. A bond that can be built only by spending time and prioritizing each other.

Milestones and Timeframe

Right now, I am maintaining a work and life balance that I feel is in the right track with spending quality time with my parents. I worked in a company before that has required me to live far from our home for almost 2 years and a company so busy that I can’t even retreat to our home on weekends. I’ve learned from those times that with this set up, I believe that I am wasting my youth. No time for family, friends, and others. Working in the construction would require you to work for almost 24 hours a day. I’ve decided to resign my position, even if it’s a prestigious company, and transferred to company who offers a more flexible schedule compared to the latter.

In five years’ time, I hope that I have found the right woman for me. The woman that I can spend the rest of my life with. I do not fancy myself in needing to buy a house, a car, saving significant amounts in order to marry someone. As long as we are happy and compatible, I believe that we can handle starting our own life from scratch.

In 10 years’ time, I hope that me and my wife has given this world two or maybe three wonderful children who are well mannered, well educated, God fearing, and someone who sees the good in this dark world of ours.

In 20 years’ time, hopefully I have taught my children well, especially with essential values on how to treat people with respect and diligence. I hope I have given my wife all the love and respect that she deserve. I pray that I would have a wonderful family that is full with joy, even amidst struggles and challenges, I hope that we would be able to stay together, and fight these adversaries in strong unity.

Priority B: Attitude

I’ve always been an optimistic. I always think of life as something that you should spend to make each day count. I rarely miss the opportunity to have fun with friends and family, but sometimes, too much fun is also unhealthy both physically and emotionally.

I always believed in living in a “happy go lucky” lifestyle also when I was younger. I still hold unto the YOLO life, but I’ve realized that there are things bigger than me that I might be able to contribute even a small amount of my talent and skills for the better good.

Milestones and Timeframe

Today, I meditate and enforce myself that I must think bigger. There are many things that I want to contribute to my community, especially to the younger generation. I fix my eyes upon the need of my society and how I can help now that I am earning a significant amount.

In 10-20 years, I hope that my attitude in life will be more relaxed. Instead of being aggressive, I hope that I will fix and focus my priorities, especially prioritizing the family first.

In 20+ years, I hope that I can share my journey, and how my thinking and character has changed from my youth. I plan to share my mistakes and realizations to my children, to teach them the way things are, so that they might minimize their regrets in their life.

Priority C: Financial

See annex A*

Milestones and Timeframe

See annex A*

Priority D: Social

I’ve always been extrovert. I love people, I love talking and interacting with people. I am most happy when there are people around me, especially if I am able to engage in conversations with them regarding the things that interests me, namely, history, physics, philosophy, art, music, sports, and food.

I also have a passion in helping people, especially the needy. I also love bringing people who feels entitled, and doesn’t appreciate the things that they have in charity events. These events that I have engaged in, and brought some of my unfamiliar friends with the reality of the financially and emotionally struggling population, has given me and them some perspective and appreciation for the things we have now.

Milestones and Timeframe

I plan to be more active in the community in the next 5-10 years. Join and be active in community development groups and worker’s union memberships.

In 10-20 years time, I plan to strengthen my networks of colleagues, friends, and fellow entrepreneur in order to build a more engaging and positive society

Priority E: Career

I have a lot of goals. I see myself as a successful engineer and business owner in the future. I plan to maximize my skills and potential through every opportunity that may come about. I also believe that I am a risk taker. I am willing to step away from my comfort zone in order to learn new things that will improve my career path.

Milestones and Timeframe

In 5 years time after I am finished with my Public Service, I can see myself as an engineer in a fortune 500 company, and earning a significant amount to support my future plans for my family and my current and future family’s finances.

In 10-15 years time, I see myself as an engineer respected in my current field. A professional who has credibility and stature. I plan to make my parents proud and confident regarding my future and the future of my new family, I also plan to train the younger professionals so as I grow older, I am slowly passing the responsibilities to my apprentice and I can spend more time with my family.

In 30-40 years, I see myself near retirement and living a more relaxed attitude in terms of my career. I would want to focus more on charity and engaging community service, and most importantly, enjoying my family, and possibly my grandchildren that my children has given me. I plan to oversee the development of my kids through their careers and attitudes toward life in order for them to grow in the right values for the better of the common good.

Priority F: Public Service

During my first job as an engineer, I worked in a private company who builds government infrastructure, specifically the Skyway and MRT7. I did my duties with great honor, knowing that these platform that I am currently standing, will be a monumental stepping stone for the progress and convenience of my fellow countrymen.

Today, I am currently working for the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), and as a literal public servant and engineer of the Philippine Government, it is with great honor to be part of the Build Build Build program of our current administration. Our office, the Planning Department of DPWH, spearheads the project proposal for the Philippine Infrastructure Masterplan for the next 50 years. It is with great pride that I am able to be in service of the public for more than a year now.

Milestones and Timeframe

I am currently an employee of the Philippine Government, and I plan to stay here for the next 3-5 years. Public Service has always been part of my plan and passion, and I want contribute to DPWH the best of my abilities in engineering and other fields that might help the department to be more efficient and effective in helping the Filipino people.

In 10 years time, if I decided to end my public service, I plan to continuously engage my society through community service. I plan to volunteer on helping the poor, cleaning the streets, and to operations that will help the country to be a cleaner, safer, just, and humane nation

In 15-20 years time, I plan to share my nationalism attitude to my children. I will bring them to my community service and outreaches so they will learn the essence of patriotism and national pride.

Priority G: Education

Initially, I love to learn, but I hate going to school. As I have written in my life reflection, I have failed numerous subjects in my college days. I always skip classes, never study upcoming quizzes and exams, and when the class starts at the morning, I usually attend it while I am in a state of hangover. So it is ironic today that you can find me pursuing a post graduate degree in the prestigious De La Salle University.

2 years after I graduated and worked as an engineer, I’ve realized that I miss school, and I want to learn more about the corporate world. I also want to meet new people and expand my network in different fields, for almost all of my friends are all engineers. That is why I have decided to just go and take a chance in enrolling in one of the top management schools in the Philippines, the DLSU.

Milestones and Timeframe

I will finish my Post Graduate Diploma in Management this April 2020, and I plan to proceed in taking up Masters in Business Administration in De La Salle University after a semestral break.

In 20-25 years time, I plan to finally teach my passion in any school that will give me an opportunity. I plan to teach history and philosophy to the younger generation. I hope I can make them appreciate the subject as it has appreciate me.

Priority H: Physical

Our family is blessed with good health. Elders from both sides averages a life span of 80-90 years old, no cancers, no complicated diseases or infection. My father is in his mid-60s and my mother is in her late 50s, and both of them are working in their optimum. No maintenance medication, and no history of illness. But even with this fact, we still have to take care of our body, and be careful to not abuse it.

As I have said, I have the tendency to indulge myself in partying and drinking excessively, especially while I am young, single, and very early in my career. That is why I have started to prioritize in disciplining myself on what food to eat, and to control my drinking and partying culture.

Milestones and Timeframe

I plan to lessen my vices and continue regular exercise. I also plan to lessen my meat intake and eat more vegetables. I will invite my family to join me in living a healthy life style.

In 5-10 years time, If I will have enough finances, I will start buying organic foods to have healthier food options, and to also help the environment and to support the advocacy for animal rights.

Priority I: Pleasure

As I’ve mentioned in my story, I am a person who indulges himself to pleasures. I admit that I love to travel, party, drink alcohol, and eat. I also love the thrill of life. I get excited in things that omits danger. I love heights, speed, zero or larger gravity. I delight myself in living the best life that I can by travelling and exploring the unknown.

Milestones and Timeframe

In 5 years time, I see myself as a more mature and disciplined adult. I limit my alcohol intake and other vices. I would go to parties at a frequency of less than 4 times a year.

Also, during those times, I believe that I have found substitutes for my constant urge to seek thrills. I hope I had found a hobby who doesn’t have the same amount of risk for probably by that time I already have a family.

Priority J: Artistic

I have been inclined to music all my life. Since I was 9 years old, I was already playing guitar, and worked my way in being skillful also in percussions, drums, keyboard, bass, and even singing.

I also have a tremendous fondness in philosophy, science, and history. I believe that these things also translates to arts. The art of human reasoning, critique, and thinking processes. The art of the physical and scientific laws that governs our daily lives, namely, gravity, physics, astronomy, thermodynamics, relativity, etc. And the art of history, not specifically the art itself, but the progress and advancement of the life and human population. The process of evolution, the rise and fall of different civilizations all across the continents, and the religions that shaped our world today. I love reading and learning the catalysts that forced the chain of events that has shaped our current history.

Milestones and Timeframe

In 5 to 10 years’ time, I plan to share my talent and skills to my wife and children. Hopefully, they will share the same interest and enthusiasm in music, art, science, philosophy and history like me. I believe that art is one of the keys that help develops not only our capabilities, but also our personalities and character. The things mentioned above helped me to question everything, to be curious in life and in knowledge. To seek the truth and adhere to it. It also taught me patient and persistence. It made me realize, especially the musical skills that it doesn’t come over night. You need to be motivated to practice diligently with no compromise. This is what I want to pass on to my wife, children, and the children after them. I believe that education starts from home, and this might help my family in attaining a beautiful perspective in life.

#lifeplan goals CSR DLSU

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english-ext-2 · 8 years ago

Note

hello! just wondering about your thoughts on art degrees - are they really 'useless'? i can't think of any other way to study literature :( thank you!

I have many thoughts on this so it’s best to start with a disclaimer: I’m only speaking from my own experiences, am in no way representative of all Arts students, and definitely don’t represent employers’ perspectives (who might have very different opinions to mine).

Before I go anywhere, the following point is the most important: if you want to study literature, then study literature. There is nothing worse than picking a degree you think will be ‘employable’ only to realise you hate it (actually, what’s worse is becoming indifferent to it).

I’m clearly biased here, but Literature is good and not at all useless, and I would strongly encourage you to study it. I don’t want to say anymore else I’d go on forever, but that’s my position. The rest of my answer is under the cut because boy did it get long.

Arts in General

Firstly, arts encompasses a huge range of disciplines. In terms of diversity of knowledge, arts is far from useless. I’m at Usyd, where the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences is the largest by far. It’s divided into schools, then departments. A single school, e.g. School of Social and Political Science (SSPS), has several departments. My majors fall under SSPS, the Department of Government and International Relations and the Department of Sociology and Social Work. But you’ve got education, social work, philosophy, museum and heritage studies, archaeology, media and communications, linguistics, languages, a whole range of departments under other schools too. Are all these subjects ‘useless’? Nope.

In purely humanistic terms, people with arts degrees have contributed so much to society. Where would we be without novelists, film producers, directors, script writers? Monty Python was a troupe of over-educated nerds who put their Oxford and Cambridge educations to dictionary-altering satirical use (soz Terry Gilliam, I know you’re American), and we’re better for it. Our world would be poorer without artists of all stripes and the insights that sociologists, historians, anthropologists, philosophers, linguists, etc. have made. The ultimate strike: your teachers studied Education, i.e. Arts. Without them you wouldn’t be reading this, and I wouldn’t be writing it either. Even if arts degrees are semi-jokingly characterised as useless, they’re not. (Btw I aggressively do not enjoy the STEM v Humanities debate because it reduces both sides to shitty stereotypes and gives rise to godawful Discourse, has anyone heard of polymaths.)

Types of Arts Degrees

You also have to consider the type of arts degree. Once I finish this semester I’m going to graduate with the pass Bachelors of International and Global Studies (i.e. your standard three year degree). In terms of tertiary education, it’s the most basic. I chose not to do a combined degree with, say, Law; nor did I choose to do Honours, which would’ve added an entire year to my degree doing a thesis. Arguably, arts honours and combined arts degrees are less 'useless’ than your run-of-the-mill three-year arts degrees because you supposedly gain advanced research skills and the, well, non-arts part of your combined degree (lol). (I would recommend Honours only if you’re truly, honestly looking for an intellectual challenge and are fully prepared to commit, not just riding along for the perceived employability advantage. A thesis is hard work! I have a friend in Melbourne who can testify.) Incidentally, your three-year arts degree will be an infuriating obstacle if you’re thinking of applying for grad school in North America since most universities only consider candidates who have at least a four-year undergraduate degree. On another note, I actually once met a girl who was doing combined law/arts and took a cinema elective unit because she enjoyed cinema but knew it wouldn’t likely help her find a job.

Employability

But given the state of the job market these days, almost all undergraduate degrees by themselves are next to useless. A freshly-graduated 21-year-old with a single Bachelors and nothing else to their name, no matter the discipline, won’t be zipping up the salary ladder any time soon (would probably struggle to get an entry level job, never mind kickstarting their career). We’re a long way from the days when just having a degree was proof of your knowledge and thus qualification for the job. Higher education is more accessible, and employers’ expectations have changed. The substance of the degree matters less than the transferable, or 'soft’ skills you gain at university. I’m talking leadership, adaptability (a big one), teamwork, written and verbal communication skills, cross-cultural awareness, self-management, time management, problem solving. Your grades are no longer the sole determining factor in your hiring, and may even take a back seat to strong extra-curricular or sporting achievements, or your experience in various casual/part-time jobs. In some ways it’s a welcome change for employers to expressly state they value recruits as people with talents in fields other than academia, and it’s certainly more inclusive of socio-economically disadvantaged students who might not have done well in school but are nonetheless hard workers and have displayed merit in the 'real world’.

From certain other perspectives, the job market is still capitalism, and individuals are still in competition with each other. As soon as employers make it known they’re looking for “well-rounded indvidiuals”, the students with the most cultural capital and financial resources rush off to, say, intern at a law firm, a think tank, the state government, or travel overseas to teach English in a South-East Asian country, i.e. they grab opportunities to expand their set of transferable skills. Doesn’t matter if you’re an arts student; the wealthiest are more likely to have the means to seek out and actively pursue the experiences that’ll enrich their CVs and make them more appealing to recruiters. It takes money to travel, and you need to be from a certain social milieu to know of, if not apply for, valuable career-hopping opportunities (I kid you not, one guy applied to the organisation where I volunteer wanting legal experience because his parents were allegedly dentists and not in the Right Lawyer Circles to get him a paralegal position or clerkship). All of this is a long way of saying that doing arts is but one factor amongst many affecting your job prospects.

To bring the discussion back to more pleasant grounds, big corporations (read: banks, consultancy firms, your Comm Banks and KPMGs) are recognising the skills and talents that arts students can bring to their companies. The critical thinking skills you gain from analysing those long-ass readings and putting them into practice are highly sought after because they show you’re not just someone who follows instructions, but can analyse, evaluate and synthesise information appropriate to audience, which applies to literally anything in any workplace. Usyd even has a program called ArtSS Career Ready that offers summer/winter internships with various organisations to Arts and Humanities students only.

It’s implied in the above paragraphs but what it comes down to is that you’re very likely going to end up doing something that has only the faintest relation to your degree. A student who majored in sociology might end up in a consultancy firm; a history student at St George or Westpac. If you’re going to worry about what you’re studying, worry on the basis of whether you’ll enjoy it rather than whether it fits your projected career path.

Arts Degrees in Context

So far I’ve spoken about arts degrees in very general, abstract terms, disconnected from the institutions that offer them. Does it make a difference if you study English Literature at Usyd rather than UNSW? (Usyd’s English department consistently ranks well in the QS rankings, 18th this year and the highest Australian university if you were wondering, with UNSW at equal 49th.) Though whether an English major from Usyd is more employable than an English major from UNSW, well, Usyd is ranked 4th in terms of graduate employability in the QS rankings but that’s not necessarily reflective of Usyd’s English department. Anyhow, the 'usefulness’ of a degree will rely on its quality, and that quality is directly influenced by two things: the degree structure, and the people teaching your degree. Both will of course vary from uni to uni.

Degree Structure

What do I mean by degree structure? I’m talking mandatory units or majors, and even mandatory internships. Take my INGS degree. The features that differentiate it from your generic Usyd arts degree are:

four mandatory INGS units

three mandatory language units

a mandatory one-semester exchange

a mandatory major chosen from a list (double majoring is optional)

It sounds fancy but if you were a discerning arts student you could take multiple language units and go on exchange; the list of compulsory majors we choose from is not exclusive to INGS students. The real appeal lies in the INGS units, which are themselves an interdisciplinary mix but which in my experience don’t build graduate abilities any more effectively than any other arts unit. Exchange was good though, and certainly useful in the sense I picked up a range of transferable skills (if not applicable in professional contexts then at home; baking soda and vinegar are great cleaning agents.)

My degree structure wasn’t revolutionary and didn’t necessarily equip me with skills that might make me more attractive to recruiters. Enter mandatory internships. Some universities in their arts degrees make practical experience (internships, practicums, research projects, etc.) compulsory. If this opportunity is already built into your degree and/or discipline, e.g. you have practicums if you study education, then it’s a huge advantage as you don’t have to go looking for one yourself. Macquarie University makes PACE units (Professional and Community Engagement) a requirement of graduating with an arts degree. Students get practical experience in the community with a partner organisation and undertake an “experiential learning activity”. I mention this because I’ve met Macquarie (and UNSW) interns at my volunteer workplace who’ve contributed significantly to various projects - experience that makes them competitive when they graduate. And yes, there’s a PACE unit for English! (I’ll admit that to Usyd’s credit they have the above-mentioned ArtSS Career Ready program.)

tl;dr not all arts degrees are created equal, the better ones include mandatory practical experience.

The People

Secondly, the people teaching your degree. I have thoughts (Thoughts, I tell you) on education as a collaborative effort, which I’ll just boil down to this: your teachers matter. The people you learn alongside with matter. You don’t learn in a vacuum, and yes, while you’re responsible for your education and how much effort you put into readings, assignments, asking questions, and so on, your teachers and tutors play an essential role in how you absorb and understand the material. If you’ve got a lecturer who reads slides out at a catatonic audience, that’s… not helpful. If your course coordinator gives you one-sentence replies to lengthy, well-considered questions, that’s… also not helpful. But if a teacher can engage you with what you’re learning no matter the subject, you’re more likely to develop a genuine interest in it and to do well. Good lecturers and tutors crop up in unexpected places and often at random, and the best way to find them is through word of mouth. In employability terms, these teachers make for sterling referees. If you get to know them enough, they’ll happily vouch for you.

This answer has gotten ridiculously long but I hope it addressed and assuaged any doubts you may have had.

#asks #answered #university #hsc #i guess #for anyone else considering arts #in which i overthink things again #Anonymous

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michaeljtraylor · 7 years ago

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Anarchy in the GDR | The Nation

German punks, Nov. 29, 1984. (AP Photo / Andreas Pechar)

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Burning Down the Haus, a new book by journalist Tim Mohr, details how a small group of East German teens kickstarted a movement that contributed to the fall of the Berlin Wall. The 1970s were oppressive years in the German Democratic Republic; there was no space, literal or philosophical, to live outside the system, let alone criticize it. Upon hearing The Clash and the Sex Pistols via forbidden British military radio broadcasts, a handful of young people began to embrace punk mentality, dressing differently, and shaking the foundations upon which the authority had been built. And despite the East German secret police, or the Stasi’s best efforts, the movement grew throughout the 1980s as punks developed their own little world, disconnected from society. Punk was the soundtrack to the million-person demonstration on November 4, 1989. A few days later, the Wall came down.

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Mohr, who arrived in Berlin in 1992 and now lives in Brooklyn, learned about this history and has spent 10 years documenting it in as much detail as possible, recognizing, too, the parallels with modern society.

William Ralston: You write that your initial belief in this story was reinforced after you returned to the USA and “recognized an ominous echo in developments in your own country.” Can you elaborate on these parallels?

TM: The book went from a story that was just fascinating to something that was actually disturbingly relevant because of the parallels I began to see in our own society—the revelations from Snowden about the scale of mass surveillance here in the US, the militarization of our police forces, and the treatment of peaceful protesters here. I think we can’t dismiss comparisons between what’s happening in the West to what happened in the Eastern bloc; when our own mass surveillance was revealed, people were quick to say, “but you can’t compare this to the Stasi”—but you can!

I’m not suggesting our situation is completely analogous, and I don’t think the solution to whatever needs to be remedied in today’s society is the same as what’s described in the book—it won’t be solved by passing out a bunch of guitars to teenage rebels and telling them to make anti-government music—but I think this story shows what is possible. It offers a concrete historical example of a grassroots youth movement that made significant changes in its society. Maybe the lesson to be learned is something they used to spray as graffiti: “Don’t die in the waiting room of the future.” Meaning, you can’t sit around hoping for change to happen; you have to make change happen.

WR: The GDR in the late 1970s was not a stable state. It was struggling with a generational transition and the economy was ceasing to function. Why was it vulnerable?

TM: One of the reasons the hardliners of the GDR were able to stay in power for so long was because the GDR didn’t have the type of conditions that we associated with the Soviet Union. There were no food shortages; everybody had modern conveniences, televisions, refrigerators; jobs; booze. I think this created a level of complacency that allowed the regime to stay in power longer. Given halfway decent conditions, the majority of people seem to just go along with the system, regardless of what the system is. The punks were among the first to challenge it in a direct way. They did so by addressing the regime’s failure to practically implement its ideology, an ideology, incidentally, that most of them shared—they were critics of the dictatorship from the left. Punks were among the loudest in making these points, and I think one of the most important roles they played was steeling the resolve of other opposition groups.

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One of the great unknowns in opposition circles was what would happen if you ran afoul of the security apparatus and the punks learned exactly what happened. They showed other opposition-minded people that it was possible to resist and survive the Stasi. They were subject to the harshest crackdown of any opposition group, including serving the longest jail terms. To then come out and keep fighting encouraged everyone else.

WR: They conquered their fears.

TM: Yes, and as a result they were a big component of the early street protests, and these protests created a boomerang effect. In the GDR, as in most societies, conformity ruled the day. But when the protests started to spill out onto the street and into the public eye, ordinary people—who might otherwise be inclined to go along—were confronted with state-sanctioned violence that made many of them cringe. It just snowballed from there. You have the early activists who take things out on the street and they have to convince other opposition groups, and then it’s a matter of converting a significant enough part of the population to your cause. It took the 1989 mass demonstrations for the Wall to fall—but the seeds were planted several years prior in street protests in which punks were indeed central.

WR: And it was in the Protestant churches—which opened their doors to offer shelter—that punks began to rub elbows with other opposition groups.

TM: Yes, the churches were important. Though as an institution, the church didn’t necessarily wish to nurture these groups; many leaders were actually opposed. But individual clergymen took in these so-called enemies of the state. Once they were under the roof of the church, the punks began interacting with different activist groups, who began to take the punks more seriously.

WR: You write in the book that the Stasi were “paranoid” about the punk scene from early on. What made punks such a threat?

TM: From a western perspective, it’s not easy to see why a bunch of kids with bad haircuts could be so threatening. The deeper I dug into this, it became clear to me that the Stasi were correct in their fear. They were trying to keep people on a pre-ordained path and people, like the punks, who were influencing youths to stray off that path, were threatening. It’s also important to remember that punks expressed their opposition whenever they were in public. Other forms of protest were often done behind closed doors, whereas the punks were so in your face; their music was loud and even just their appearance on the street was a form of opposition. That’s how the movement grew so quickly: teenagers saw punks and they seemed cool because it was so daring and exciting that many people joined them. Many of these kids, as with the first generation of punks, originally joined for non-political reasons; it was just cool.

WR: You write in the book that the state’s paranoid behavior “backfired.” Can you explain this?

TM: I think this is true all through this battle. To begin with, the punks just wanted to wear these clothes and cut their hair this way, and then suddenly they were being hassled by the police on a daily basis, being kicked out of schools or apprenticeships, having their IDs confiscated. This turned the movement political. And even the smallest signs of rebellion were so impactful; every time people stepped off the path, it was a political act, even if, like the early punks, they themselves didn’t conceive of it to be so. Then, later on, ordinary citizens began to recoil at the level of violence against protestors, significant parts of whom were punks. The security forces kept making the same mistake.

WR: It feels that there was absolutely nothing that the Stasi could have done to stop this. They tried threats, locking up, even removing people.

TM: I think part of this is that the punks had such a fundamental criticism. A lot of the other groups were nitpicking over this or that policy, focusing on specific issues like military training in schools, and they fancied themselves negotiating with the government. They wanted to try to change the government whereas punks wanted to cast off the system, to destroy it. During the fight itself, this was certainly a strength.

I think it’s also important to note that while the Stasi saw the punks as a significant threat, they also tried to blame it on the West. As late as 1989, they listed punk as the top youth problem and yet, in the same report, they say that the scene is being manipulated from the west by punks who had been expatriated, which was completely false. They seemed to overlook that it had become an organic eastern phenomenon.

WR: Do you perceive punk music to have inspired punk’s dissidence, or was it just a vehicle for it?

TM: I think it’s a bit of both. Almost everyone spoke of feeling as if a switch had been thrown inside them when they first heard punk. For the majority of them, I think the thrill was musical: the bassist in Planlos told me that he loved The Ramones because it was the only record he’d ever heard with no slow songs. Only a few of them immediately connected it with anarchist philosophy. But the music also offered an avenue of self-expression that they had never really thought of before and became a soundtrack to rebellion.

WR: The mass protests grew in the late ‘80s. Why do you think law-abiding citizens, who violently opposed the punks to begin with, went on to join the movement?

TM: If we knew the mechanism then we could recreate it elsewhere. Conformity is natural and most people abide by the system and don’t like people who make trouble. I think a lot of people had the feeling that there were things wrong with society but once the protests began to reach a certain mass, when they were in open view on the street in the second half of the ‘80s, then more of the general public joined because the state-sanctioned violence gave credence to their own misgivings about how things were run.

WR: What started off as a resistance eventually cast off the dictatorship. Do you think this the movement exceeded punk’s ambitions?

TM: Even though the Stasi were paranoid about the punk scene, I don’t think anyone felt it was the start of a type of opposition that would bring down the dictatorship. One of the things that the punks were brilliant at was carving out space, both physical and philosophical. They took over all these empty buildings and by the late 1980s untethered themselves from the economy, when some were able to operate in the grey areas by selling homemade jewelry and clothing. At that point they were no longer dependent on being part of society. As opposed to British punks, who railed against “No future,” the East German punks had seen their problem as “Too Much Future.”

Their whole lives were planned out for them almost from birth and it felt stifling. Once they were able to at least partially wrestle control of their futures, they had probably already gotten farther than many of them realistically expected. Though of course there were some who were always quite convinced they’d succeed in toppling the regime.

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andrewdburton · 7 years ago

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Foolish money mistakes — and how to avoid them

At Get Rich Slowly, my goal is to help you make the best possible decisions with your income and spending. Having said that, we’re all human. We all mistakes. We all do dumb things with money. And I feel like April Fools’ Day is the perfect time to talk about some of the stupid things we’ve done in the past.

Let me give you an example (or three) from my own life.

To begin, I’ll retell a classic tale of my financial foolishness, one that has delighted my readers for over a decade. It’s all about how I paid $1500 for a “free” Frisbee.

The Not-So-Free Frisbee

On the first day of college, I opened my first bank account. The gym was filled with registration tables, not just for classes and clubs, but also for banks and credit cards. Since I was receiving a small stipend to cover living expenses, I needed a checking account.

The two banks vying for attention used different methods to attract students to their tables. A small local bank had a sign that promised “free checking”. A large national bank gave away a Frisbee to anyone who opened an account. The choice seemed easy: I wanted the Frisbee.

I signed up for my checking account, deposited my money, and got my free Frisbee. I spent the afternoon on the quad tossing the disc back and forth with my roommates. When it was time for dinner, I took the Frisbee up to my room, put it in the closet, and never used it again. Ever. But I had that checking account for nearly two decades.

Classes started. I forgot about the Frisbee and the checking account. The next month, I received my first bank statement. There was a $5 service charge. It didn’t seem like a big deal. I figured it was part of the package, part of being a grown-up. My parents had always paid a service charge on their checking account, and I expected I always would too.

For the rest of my college career, I paid $5 per month to maintain my checking account. When I graduated, I continued to pay $5 per month. During the 1990s, that fee increased to $8 per month, but I barely noticed.

In fact, I paid a monthly fee for checking from September 1987 until June 2004. For 202 months — nearly seventeen years — I paid for the privilege of writing checks. Then, when I started turning my financial life around, I left the major national bank and moved to a local credit union. I’ve had my checking account at that credit union for nearly fourteen years now and have never been charged a fee of any kind.

One foolish choice as I entered college cost me nearly $1500 — enough to buy about one hundred Frisbees. And that’s just one of the foolish financial choices I’ve made in my life.

The Wasted Windfall

By the mid 1990s, I had accumulated over $20,000 in credit-card debt. And I was digging the hole deeper every day.

On 21 July 1995, my father died after a long battle with cancer. Before he died, he managed to take out a very bare bones life insurance policy. (He hadn’t thought to acquire life insurance before he contracted cancer. After he got sick, nobody would insure him. Or, more precisely, one company would — but only minimally.) When the dust from his death had settled, Dad had managed to leave each of his three sons $5000 in life insurance money.

A smarter man than I was might have taken this money and applied it directly to his $20,000 in credit card debts. That’s not what I did. Instead, I put $1000 toward my debt and patted myself on the back. I took the other $4000 and bought a fancy new computer — a Macintosh Performa 640CD DOS-compatible — and lots of computer games. Then, to make matters worse, within weeks I maxed out my credit cards again, effectively negating the $1000 I had put toward debt reduction.

There’s no question: The old J.D. was foolish with money. But even after I started reading and writing about money, I still made some foolish mistakes.

True story: I still owned that Macintosh Performa 604CD DOS-compatible personal computer until last autumn. After Kim and I returned from our cross-country RV trip, my ex-wife contacted me. “You still have a bunch of computer stuff in a shed at my place,” she said. “Can you get it out of here.” One of those computers was that twenty-year-old reminder of my foolishness. I gave it (and all of the other computer stuff) to a middle-schooler I know.

The Imbecilic Investor

As I began to manage my money wisely during the mid 2000s, I made sure to fully fund my Roth IRA every year. But I hadn’t yet discovered the virtue of index funds, so I put my retirement money into individual stocks. But not just any individual stocks. I thought I was savvy enough to spot beat-up stocks that were bound to recover. Hahaha. I was wrong.

In the fall of 2007, for instance, I had dinner with a friend who worked in the corporate office of The Sharper Image, a company that manufactured fun and fancy gadgets. The company’s stock was in the toilet, but my friend said that management was certain that things would soon turn around. It was just a passing remark in a much larger conversation — he wasn’t trying to get me to buy the stock — but it planted a seed in my brain.

The next day, I had to decide how to invest $3500 of that year’s Roth IRA money. I should have done some research. I should have put the money in index funds. (I had just begun learning about index funds, but hadn’t yet become a die-hard proponent of them.) Instead, I bought $3500 of Sharper Image stock at $3.14 per share. I was gambling, plain and simple. And I lost.

Within a few months, The Sharper Image declared bankruptcy. Overnight, the value of my investment dropped from $3500 to $200 — and then to zero. It’s still worth nothing today, over a decade later. It will never be worth more than that. Yet I keep those 1115 shares in my Roth IRA just to remind me of how foolish I was.

Everbody’s a Fool Sometimes

It’s not just me, of course. We all make mistakes now and then. Some of them are minor, but some of them are doozies. Last year, I asked members of the Money Boss group on Facebook to share some of their biggest money mistakes. Here are a few of my favorites.

First up, Nate tells how he and his wife bought a timeshare…and wish they hadn’t:

Then there’s Amy, who made the same mistake I see people make again and again and again: Cashing out their retirement accounts when they switch jobs.

Adam regrets not being more motivated when he was younger. Instead of working hard, he just goofed around. (Oh boy, can I relate to this one!)

Megan wishes she had started tracking her spending at an earlier age:

Richard’s biggest mistake was buying into the traditional advice that you only need to save ten or twenty percent of your income for retirement. Life many of us, he eventually realized that by saving more, he could have more:

A lot of readers mentioned they made mistakes by marrying somebody who had different financial aims than they did. But Tyler was the only one who realized his mistake was keeping his wife in the dark:

I’m sure you have made money mistakes in the past too. Maybe you’re still making them — or suffering the consequences of past mistakes. Feel free to share your story in the comment section below!

Coping with Mistakes and Setbacks

As I said, even smart people make mistakes. That’s part of being human. But smart money managers do what they can to minimize the effects of mistakes before they ever occur. Here are two ways you can mitigate the damage caused by foolish choices:

Educate yourself. The more you know, the better choices you’ll make — and the better you’ll be at anticipating problems. Read personal-finance books, magazines, and blogs. Most importantly, talk to people you know who have control of their finances. Learn from their mistakes so you’ll be more likely to avoid similar pitfalls in the future.

Be prepared. Your work as CFO of your own life involves both offense and defense. You practice defense when you practice preparation. The best way to prepare? Boost your profit margin! The larger your saving rate, the larger the buffer between you and disaster. Maintain an adequate emergency fund. Keep your insurance up-to-date. Make use of barriers and pre-commitment so that you’ll do the right things automatically. (The more you remove the human element from the equation, the safer you are.) Create a cash buffer to allow you take advantage of both emergencies and opportunities.

Even when you’re prepared and educated, you’re still going to make mistakes and suffer unexpected setbacks. It’s important to know how to pick up the pieces after things fall apart. Here are some strategies for minimizing the damage:

Don’t panic. When you suffer a setback or realize you’ve made a mistake, try to relax. Don’t freak out. Take an hour or two to distract yourself. Better yet, sleep on the problem. It’s amazing how a little time can help you gain perspective.

Believe in yourself. Though you may not know exactly how to solve the problem at hand, trust that you’ll find a solution. You’re smart. You’re resourceful. You’re competent. Stay positive, solve the problem, and learn from the experience.

If possible, undo the damage. Some mistakes are reversible. Suppose you just blew a bund of money on new clothes or are feeling buyer’s remorse over your new Nintendo Switch. Return the items. Or, if that’s not an option, immediately sell them to recoup some of your loss.

Evaluate your options. Obviously, some mistakes are not reversible. If you accidentally change lanes into another car and total both vehicles, there’s no undoing the damage. So, make the most of the situation. Compile a list of options. Keeping your long-term goals in mind, figure out the best course of action. This will help you avoid making rash decisions.

Don’t let it get you down. From personal experience, I know how tempting it can be to ease the pain by spending more money. But compulsive spending just makes it more difficult to reach your goals. It makes you feel worse, not better. Fight the urge to practice “retail therapy”. Stay away from your Amazon account. Don’t let one problem snowball into two or three.

Learn from your mistakes. Figure out where you went wrong. How did that traveling salesman convince you to buy those overpriced steak knives? What can you do to avoid making the same mistake in the future? Don’t beat yourself up, but take a calm, rational look at how you can make better choices next time.

Don’t dig a deeper hole. Money spent is money spent. Just because you’ve already sunk $200 into a gym membership you never use doesn’t mean you need to keep spending money on it. Cut your losses by getting out as soon as possible.

Keep your goals in mind. A setback is just that: a temporary roadblock on your journey toward something more important. Make peace with the past and keep your focus on the future.

Setbacks are disheartening but remember: Failure is okay. Mistakes are lessons in disguise. There’s a Japanese proverb about perseverance that translates as “fall down seven times, get up eight”. Successful people fail just as often as unsuccessful people; the difference is that successful people learn from their mistakes, get back on their feet, and resolutely march in the direction of their desires.

If you’ve made some foolish choices or had some bad stuff happen to you — or both — don’t give up. Use the mistakes to launch yourself on a new path. It’s never too late to change direction and start making smarter choices. Build your future from the ashes of the past.

The post Foolish money mistakes — and how to avoid them appeared first on Get Rich Slowly.

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foursproutwealth-blog · 7 years ago

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Foolish money mistakes — and how to avoid them

New Post has been published on http://foursprout.com/wealth/foolish-money-mistakes-and-how-to-avoid-them/

Foolish money mistakes — and how to avoid them

Let me give you an example (or three) from my own life.

To begin, I’ll retell a classic tale of my financial foolishness, one that has delighted my readers for over a decade. It’s all about how I paid $1500 for a “free” Frisbee.

The Not-So-Free Frisbee

One foolish choice as I entered college cost me nearly $1500 — enough to buy about one hundred Frisbees. And that’s just one of the foolish financial choices I’ve made in my life.

The Wasted Windfall

By the mid 1990s, I had accumulated over $20,000 in credit-card debt. And I was digging the hole deeper every day.

There’s no question: The old J.D. was foolish with money. But even after I started reading and writing about money, I still made some foolish mistakes.

The Imbecilic Investor

Everbody’s a Fool Sometimes

First up, Nate tells how he and his wife bought a timeshare…and wish they hadn’t:

Then there’s Amy, who made the same mistake I see people make again and again and again: Cashing out their retirement accounts when they switch jobs.

Adam regrets not being more motivated when he was younger. Instead of working hard, he just goofed around. (Oh boy, can I relate to this one!)

Megan wishes she had started tracking her spending at an earlier age:

Coping with Mistakes and Setbacks

Keep your goals in mind. A setback is just that: a temporary roadblock on your journey toward something more important. Make peace with the past and keep your focus on the future.

The post Foolish money mistakes — and how to avoid them appeared first on Get Rich Slowly.

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