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Guest Blog by Robert Pagliarini / The Other 8 Hours – How to Become Unemployed in Seven Easy Steps

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Guest Blog by Robert Pagliarini / The Other 8 Hours – How to Become Unemployed in Seven Easy Steps

I have personally known Robert Pagliarini for many years, he’s a master of personal growth and am pleased to have him guest post on my personal growth blog. (I am on family vacation until the end of August, so I will be featuring guest blogs until then.)

Guest Blog by Robert Pagliarini / The Other 8 Hours – How to Become Unemployed in Seven Easy Steps

If your job is getting in the way of your life, now is the perfect time to get laid off. First, there’s no stigma attached to not working since so many are unemployed. The unemployment rate is almost 10% and the underemployment rate — adding in those who gave up looking for a job and those who took part-time jobs even though they want full-time work — is close to 20%. You’ll be part of a select, albeit growing, group

Second, many states offer generous unemployment packages and the federal government may extend benefits because of the weak economy. And third, if you’re anything like me, this recession has caused me to relax a little too much. Gone are the days of worry and anxiety. A few bounced checks and calls from creditors may be just what you need to add some spark to your life.

I tend to leave work-related advice to others, but since I see so many people toiling away their days working, I felt it was my mission to give you a few solid tips on how to stop giving up your day just because you need to pay rent and buy food. Carpe diem!

Here’s how to become unemployed in seven easy steps:

1. Be dumb. Even if you’re really smart, you can still nail this step because it has nothing to do with your intelligence and everything to do with your attitude. Make sure you have a the-company’s-going-down-and-I’ll-probably-be-fired mentality so you won’t work as hard and care as much.

2. Don’t learn anything new. You’re a know-it-all already, right? So whatever you do, be sure not to take a computer class or graphic design workshop. Do not earn your degree or get that designation you’ve been putting off. And certainly do not become more valuable to your current employer and more appealing to a new employer by using a few of your other 8 hours to boost your skills.

3. Stick to your job description. If your employer wants you to learn something new, they should pay you more. If they can’t afford it, stick to your job description and don’t spend any time learning how to do more than that. If there are layoffs at your company, fewer people will need to be able to handle more work. Ensure that you are a one-trick pony to almost guarantee you will get laid off so your cubicle neighbor can take over several of your tasks on day one.

4. Say “no” to everything. Boss asks you to head-up a new project. “No sir” is the answer. Boss wants you to pitch in on a new account. “I’d rather not” is the answer. The less engrained you are in the company and the less involved you are in various projects, the easier it will be to get rid of you. Added bonus . . . when things turn in the economy, you won’t get those annoying job offers or promotions.

5. Become invisible. Don’t write memos. Don’t bring your boss creative cost-cutting ideas. Don’t give workshops. Whatever you do, hide as much as possible and never show your face. This is especially true in a larger company. The fewer people who know you and like you the better.

6. Be negative. Don’t even think about being positive. The economy sucks and life is not fair. You shouldn’t have to do three people’s jobs. Make sure you are vocal about all of your problems. Bring your bad attitude to work, so you won’t have a work to go to.

7. Work fewer hours. Tough times are tough, so you deserve to work a little less. Don’t even think about using some of your other 8 hours to get in earlier or to stay a little later. Find out if your boss (or even better, your boss’ boss) is going to be in on the weekend. If so, be sure to brag to them on Monday morning about how you laid around the house all weekend.

There are millions of hardworking folks who sacrificed long hours to their jobs who got laid off. If you follow these seven simple steps, you too will be unemployed in no time!

Guest Blog by Robert Pagliarini / The Other 8 Hours – How to Become Unemployed in Seven Easy Steps

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Guest Blog by Robert Pagliarini / The Other 8 Hours – The New ABCs of Success: Always Be Creating

Guest Blog by Robert Pagliarini / The Other 8 Hours – The New ABCs of Success: Always Be Creating

In every economic crisis, there have been those individuals who have emerged from the aftermath even more financially secure. Luck has something to do with it, but that doesn’t tell the whole story. In order to rise up and get ahead, you need to shift paradigms. You need a new way to look at and interact with the world. Fortunately, it’s as simple as re-learning your ABCs.

In the movie Glengarry Glen Ross, Alec Baldwin taught us the ’80s ABCs: “A-always, B-be, C-closing. Always be closing!” But that’s old school. The new ABCs are Always Be Creating. People who create will be the people who succeed and excel. If you can create, you can write your own check.

I know what you’re thinking: work stinks. They’re talking about more layoffs, bonuses are out of the question, and you have to pitch in more for health insurance. Your 401(k) is in shambles, and your house is worth 40 percent less than it was a couple of years ago. The vision you had for your life has been seriously challenged. All you feel like doing when you come home is kicking back, cracking open a Heineken, and watching the tube. That’s understandable, but it’s absolutely bass ackwards.

You must get out there and create — start a blog, write a book, record a video, start a business, code a new application, etc. It’s easy to give advice like this, but I’ve tried to follow it, too. A couple of months ago I came up with an idea for a free personal finance eBook titled Plan Z: How to Survive the 2009 Financial Crisis (and even live a little better).

Why did I create something for free? I have counterintuitive (some would say controversial) advice on how to get through this recession, and I wanted to spread the word and build my brand: get the media’s attention, build followers, and attract new readers to this blog and future projects. So I used my other 8 hours and wrote and wrote and wrote. I then partnered with several people and got the whole thing completed in about a month. It took me some time, but it didn’t cost me anything. (More on how to find partners to donate their services for free in an upcoming post).

In a recession there’s a whole lot of talk about reducing, cutting, shrinking, and decreasing — but what if you took a different view? What if instead you looked for opportunities? What if you looked for ways to grow and expand and create?

Here are a few ideas on how to jumpstart your creative thinking:

Brainstorm. Think about what services/products might be needed if this turmoil continues and what services/products people will want when we recover.
$1 million game. This is a fun one. If you absolutely positively had to make $1 million in less than 365 days, what would you do? What area would you focus on? What skills would you have to rely on? You might not start any of the businesses you think about, but it’s a great way to jumpstart your creativity.
Get partners. Get two or three friends/colleagues together for a twice-a-month meeting. Sit down with them and brainstorm. Tell them what’s on your mind — what ideas you’re toying with. Press each other to come up with at least three business ideas for each meeting. If you agree on one, you have your team in place. But even if you don’t, this get-together will force you to think entrepreneurially inside AND outside of the group.

Your goal is to create something — anything. Create content. Start a blog. Invent a prototype. This blog post you’re reading right now is an example of creating something. What can you create?

Guest Blog by Robert Pagliarini / The Other 8 Hours – The New ABCs of Success: Always Be Creating

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Guest Blog by Robert Pagliarini / The Other 8 Hours – Laid Off? Boost Your Network and Increase Your Human Capital

Guest Blog by Robert Pagliarini / The Other 8 Hours – Laid Off? Boost Your Network and Increase Your Human Capital

My friend got laid off recently. After sulking for a couple of days, she jumped back into the driver’s seat and took control. Here’s what she did and what you can do to boost your human capital, increase your network, improve your outlook, and do some good should you become unemployed.

Her secret? She volunteered some of her time to a non-profit — she gave in order to get. She first invested several days researching dozens of local non-profits. Her criteria:

1. She had to care deeply about their mission;

2. The non-profit had to be small enough that they would value her contribution and she could work directly with the executive staff; and

3. She needed to be able to leverage the organization’s executives and board members.

She found a good fit and contacted the president. When they spoke, she didn’t focus on what she could get from volunteering; she focused on what she could give. She treated it like a job interview. She stressed her strengths and unique skills. She sold herself and told them she wanted to be a part of their organization.

(I’d fall out of my chair if I got a call from someone who said, “Hello, I love your mission and here are all of my skills. I’d love to volunteer my time. How can I help?”)

After a few in-person meetings, she asked them where they needed the most help. Turns out they had been talking about expanding into a neighboring city but weren’t sure they had the right people to do it. Guess who volunteered her time and skills?

My friend went from not knowing anything about the organization or anybody in it to leading the expansion into a new city in a matter of weeks. She is now the “face” of the organization in the new city, which happens to be where she lives. She has organized several events and has become a mini-celebrity in her town and an invaluable member in the charity.

She has access to all of the non-profit’s executives and board members. They love her and want to open their Rolodex to help her. Again, this didn’t take years. It took weeks and an investment of her time. Here’s how to use the same approach:

Stay local. Look for non-profits in your community. These will be run by locals — exactly the people you want to meet.

Focus on mid-sized organizations. If you’re a tiny fish in a huge non-profit pond, you probably won’t have access to the people you want, and your contribution may not be recognized as much. Likewise, if the non-profit is too small, it might not have the right type or number of executives. Stick to mid-sized charities that are big enough to have the executives and board members you’d like to meet but not so big that your work gets overlooked.

Research the board. Go to the charity’s website and review the management and board member bios. Would you want to meet any of them? Are they the movers and shakers in your industry?

Leverage your passion. This is a must. Don’t volunteer your time to an organization that you aren’t passionate about just to get an “in” with a board member. Trust me on this one. It won’t work well for you. You must have a genuine interest in the mission or you’ll look and feel like a fake.

Do good work. Just because you’re not getting paid doesn’t mean you shouldn’t do your best. If you volunteer your web design skills, you’d better come through on a great looking website. If you do event planning, make sure the events you put together are flawless. Pretend you are getting paid twice your normal salary. The work will reflect that, and you’ll get noticed.

This is one of the toughest times to get a job. Often the difference between landing a new job and waiting for the next unemployment check is less about what you know and more about who you know. Invest some of your other 8 hours into expanding your network and doing some good at the same time.

It worked for my friend. She took her best skills and offered them to a grateful charity and in return has expanded her professional network and made new friends. She has since started her own business and immediately had a network of raving fans ready and excited to promote her.

Where can you volunteer some of your time?

Guest Blog by Robert Pagliarini / The Other 8 Hours – Laid Off? Boost Your Network and Increase Your Human Capital

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Guest Blog by Robert Pagliarini / The Other 8 Hours – Invest in Me, Inc. and Earn a 100,000% Return

I have personally known Robert Pagliarini for many years, he’s a master of personal growth and am pleased to have him guest post on my personal growth blog.

Guest Blog by Robert Pagliarini / The Other 8 Hours – Invest in Me, Inc. and Earn a 100,000% Return

How would you like to earn a 100,000% investment return without investing in the stock market? The greatest financial asset you have is not your house, your 401(k), or even your job. Your greatest financial asset is you — the skills you have, the education you’ve received, the experience you’ve obtained, your network of contacts, and your individual way of looking at and interacting with the world. This “human capital” is much more important and valuable than your investment capital. The value of your human capital — especially for people in their working years — far exceeds any investment account balance.

Why is it so important? It follows the truth behind the saying, “Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you’ve fed him for a lifetime.” Once you add a skill or learn something you did not know, you’ve increased your value.

Too many of us stop learning once we graduate from school. That’s a huge mistake. If we are to succeed, we need to always be learning (and Always Be Creating). We must focus on continuously increasing our skills and our experiences. People who don’t change become dinosaurs. You’ve seen them, and you know what I’m talking about. Those people are about a decade behind. They seem so lost and out of touch. Everything around them has progressed, but they are still operating under an old framework.

Don’t look so smug. It’s easy to fall behind. It takes time and energy to stay current. Acquiring new skills can be difficult and can take you out of your comfort zone. It can be hard for someone who feels confident in one area to want to expose themselves to a situation where they don’t have the answers.

As difficult and time intensive as this can be, it is an absolute must. When you invest in yourself, you are making a deposit that will pay you dividends for life. Take just one night class and you can easily earn a 100,000% return on the tuition. How is that possible? If you currently make $15 an hour as an administrative assistant, how much more would someone pay you per hour if you could also maintain the company’s website and make minor changes to it when necessary? What if you learned how to use QuickBooks? What if you learned how to set up and run the company’s blog? Would you be worth $16 an hour? Maybe $17 an hour? A $100 class at your local community college can earn you an additional $4,000 a year for the rest of your career.

You should always be focused on improving your skills, getting additional designations, and becoming more valuable. Think of yourself as your own company-Me, Inc. Successful companies are constantly improving, growing, and investing in new products. What skills can you learn that will make you more valuable?

One of the first places to look are those areas that are dragging you down. They’re there. Admit it. What’s that one thing that you really need to get to the next level? Is it an MBA? Is it your insurance license? Is it a designation? Maybe it’s not such a clear goal. Maybe you’re a fantastic accountant but your social awkwardness is preventing you from networking and getting a promotion. Maybe you’re afraid of public speaking but know that is what you need. Join your local Toastmasters. Regardless of what’s holding you back, now is a great time to overcome it.

To add a little spice to your learning, mix things up a bit. If you are specialized in a narrow field and already know what you need to know, boost your human capital by learning a skill in a completely unrelated field. Cross training is good for your brain and can spark new ideas and ways of looking at things.

By investing in yourself, you can earn a return much greater than you ever could in the stock market.

Guest Blog by Robert Pagliarini / The Other 8 Hours – Invest in Me, Inc. and Earn a 100,000% Return

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Guest Blog by Robert Pagliarini / The Other 8 Hours – Just Graduated but Can’t Find a Job? Try These Three Alternatives

I have personally known Robert Pagliarini for many years, he’s a master of personal growth and am pleased to have him guest post on my personal growth blog.

Guest Blog by Robert Pagliarini / The Other 8 Hours – Just Graduated but Can’t Find a Job? Try These Three Alternatives

If you just graduated from college, congratulations! It’s a huge achievement and you should be proud of yourself. Normally there would be plenty of job opportunities just waiting for raw and eager talent, but this is 2010. Finding a good job is not going to be easy. The way I see it, there are really only four possible outcomes:

1. Get your dream job. If you are one of the best and the brightest (you know who you are), you may just land your dream job. Obviously if this is you, stop reading this column and go get that job.

2. Remain unemployed. Despite your efforts, you may find yourself unemployed for some time. There are many experienced workers getting pink slips and having a hard time finding work, so don’t be surprised if

a) it takes you a long time to find a job or

b) you can’t find a job.

3. Get a less than ideal job. With some determination, you may be able to find a job. It might not be your dream job, but it might pay the bills (assuming you move back home with your parents). The problem with working in a sub-par position is that you won’t be learning much, making much, or growing much. When the economy turns around and employers start hiring, do you really want to list Chuck E Cheese on your résumé? Think long and hard about taking a job just because it’s a job. Ideally you’d want each of your jobs post-graduation to support and build on one another. Settling for just anything might do more harm than good in the long run.

4. Check out. This is my favorite approach – assuming you can’t land your dream job and you can mooch off your parents a bit longer. Instead of being a victim of the times, this puts you in control and can boost your résumé if you do it right. Here are three ways you can check out and check back in when employers are looking to hire again:

Start your own company – Why settle for fry-guy when you can be CEO? If you have an idea and are entrepreneurial, get a few partners (i.e., other friends who can’t find jobs) and start something. Worst case, you don’t make a dime, but you’ll learn invaluable skills and you’ll have a story and something to share on your resume. Best case, your little venture succeeds.

Travel/Create. Backpack for a year across Europe or Asia. It doesn’t have to cost that much, and it will be an experience you will never forget. Plus, when it comes time to get a job, at least you did something with your time you can be proud of and talk about. If travel isn’t your thing, what is? What would you love to do that won’t cost a lot of money and that you won’t be able to do once you get a full-time job? Start a charity? Walk across the United States? Join the Peace Corps? Climb a mountain? Write a book?

Go back to school. Why sweat it out at a job that will certainly look lame and desperate to future employers when you can use this time to get a master’s degree? Think about what you gain with this approach – no stress trying to get a job, no empty space on your resume for a year, and, oh yeah, a master’s degree. The only downside with this is the cost. As long as the degree will get you closer to your dream job, it’s probably worth it to get a loan. By investing in yourself you might make a nice return.

Don’t be a victim and don’t make excuses. You have options. The economy will improve and you will find a job. You’ll probably work at least 40 years, so if you have the financial ability, use this time to do something special.

Guest Blog by Robert Pagliarini / The Other 8 Hours – Just Graduated but Can’t Find a Job? Try These Three Alternatives

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Robert Pagliarini / The Other 8 Hours Guest Blog – Day Dream Your Way to a Better Life (Personal Growth)

Robert Pagliarini / The Other 8 Hours Guest Blog – Day Dream Your Way to a Better Life (Personal Growth)

I have personally known Robert Pagliarini for many years, he’s a master of personal growth and am pleased to have him guest post on my personal growth blog.

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One of the most popular self-help books ever written on depression is Feeling Good by Dr. David Burns. He identifies several cognitive distortions the depressed suffer from. One of them is Overgeneralization. This is the practice of “viewing a single negative event as a never-ending pattern of defeat.” If you lose your job, suddenly you are worthless and you will never amount to anything. If you look at your 401(k) statement and you’ve lost 35% of your nest egg, suddenly you’ll never be able to retire and you’ll have to be a Walmart greeter when you’re 85 years old. When things are bad, it feels like everything is bad and they’ll always be bad.

One of the simplest, most enjoyable and most effective ways to improve your outlook and rise above the depressing headlines is to daydream — visualize a better life. In Robert Cooper’s book, Get Out of Your Own Way, he says “Brain scans show that simply imagining a complex and compelling goal will actually fire the same neurons that will be required to actually achieve the goal.” Daydreaming is definitely not just for kids. Spend a few minutes every day imagining your ideal life. You don’t have to write anything down if you don’t want to, just visualize it. Make it as real as you can.

If you want to get fancy, I recommend you DreamBoard. It’s something I’ve written about before, but I think it bears repeating. DreamBoarding is the process of creating a visual scrapbook of your ideal life. Why pictures? Our mind thinks and remembers in pictures. We remember faces but forget names. When we read a story, we create a visual image of the characters and the situation. The great communicators use language to create mental images. A picture can communicate much more quickly and efficiently than a word or a thought.

In addition to thinking about taking a trip to Fiji, isn’t it more powerful to also look at a picture of a Fijian beach with crystal clear water and palm trees? Does the picture improve your mood more than the thoughts alone? The added benefit of creating a collage of pictures is that they can remind you of your ideal life every time you glance at your DreamBoard.

Here’s how it works. As you imagine your perfect future, jot down what it looks like. Then cut out a picture or two from a magazine that represents this life. Take your time finding pictures that get your juices flowing. If one of your goals is to own a new Porsche, buy a car magazine or visit your local dealership and pick up a brochure.

Your ideal life shouldn’t just be filled with stuff, either. It should include things you want to accomplish and ideas about the person you want to be. While it is easier to find pictures representing tangible things you want to own, you can also locate pictures representing what you want to accomplish and who you want to be.

If you want to earn a Ph.D., cut out a picture of a diploma. If you want to learn how to play the piano, cut out a picture of a piano or of someone playing the piano. If you want to work fewer hours, take a picture of your office with a clock at 3:30PM with you noticeably absent. You can find a picture for almost anything. For example, one of the things I want to accomplish is to go on an African Safari. There are a lot of places I could have gone to get pictures of Africa, but I chose to cut out pictures from an adventure travel brochure because that was more accurate for my dream.

You can even find pictures representing the person you want to be. Do you want to become a better parent? Cut out a picture of your kids on vacation or doing their homework. Do you want to be a better communicator? Cut out a picture of Barack Obama or Ronald Reagan. Bottom line, no matter what your ideal life, you can find a picture to capture or express it.

Have fun with this exercise — get creative. While it might sound slightly silly-like making a collage in elementary school — using pictures will bring your ideal life to life.

Once you’ve cut out all of the pictures, it is time to create your DreamBoard. You have a couple of options. You can either create a portable goal collage by using a three-ring binder or you could create a large poster board with pictures representing all of your goals. There is nothing more powerful than looking at a collection of pictures that represent your ideal life.

Put your DreamBoard where you’ll see it often. Invest a few minutes of your other 8 hours every day to look at it. Think about what the pictures represent and visualize living it. Then get out there and make it happen!

For a limited time, you can download several free resources (assessment, poster, audio interview, video, and more) at www.other8hours.com and learn more about my new book, The Other 8 Hours: Maximize Your Free Time to Create New Wealth and Purpose.

Robert Pagliarini / The Other 8 Hours Guest Blog – DayDream Your Way to a Better Life (Personal Growth)

I have personally known Robert Pagliarini for many years, he’s a master of personal growth and am pleased to have him guest post on my personal growth blog.

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Robert Pagliarini / The Other 8 Hours Guest Blog – Conquer Your Inner Shopaholic With These Six Money Tips (Personal Growth)

Robert Pagliarini / The Other 8 Hours Guest Blog – Conquer Your Inner Shopaholic With These Six Money Tips (Personal Growth)

I have personally known Robert Pagliarini for many years, he’s a master of personal growth and am pleased to have him guest post on my personal growth blog.

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Conquer Your Inner Shopaholic With These Six Money Tips – Robert Pagliarini from Robert Pagliarini on Vimeo.

Last year I wrote a free 75 page ebook about how to survive the financial crisis. The financial tips in the ebook are for anyone who is struggling to make ends meet and wants to radically improve their finances. It has some great money tips, but I’ve had to develop new strategies to work with this woman who is driving her finances into the ground because of overspending. Think financial makeover on steroids.

Here are six financial tips you can implement today that will help you conquer your inner shopaholic and give you more financial peace of mind:

1. Don’t budget, PERK instead. Budgets work, but nobody likes them because they are hard to create and even harder to stick to. Fortunately, there’s a quick and easy solution I developed called PERK that takes about 15 minutes and can save you $250 to $1,000+ a month. First, list all of your expenses — everything. Then, next to each expense write a P, E, R, or K. For those expenses you can “Postpone” put a P. For those expenses you can “Eliminate” put an E. For those expenses you can “Reduce” put an R. For those expenses you must “Keep” put a K. Don’t let the simplicity throw you. It’s easy but incredibly effective.

2. Stop leaking money. We spend money on stuff that we don’t need or even realize. Things like cable channels we don’t watch, subscriptions we don’t read, and organizations we don’t care about. Take a close look at where your money is going by using a free online program such as Mint.com to track expenses easily. Cancel all expenses you don’t use or don’t need.

3. Create a buying buffer zone. The goal is to create a buying buffer zone of at least 30 days between the moment you want to buy something (usually in the heat of the moment at the store) and when you actually buy it. If you force yourself to wait 30 days you’ll find that most of the time you won’t want it anymore. If you still do, it means you really do want it. So instead of whipping out your credit card, whip out your camera. Take a photo of whatever you want to buy and post it on your “buyer board.” Write the date, the amount, and a short reason why you want it and how it will improve your life. After waiting the 30 days see if you still can’t live without it.

4. Get real. Fill in the blank: “The three most important things in my life are _______, _______, and _______.” Usually stuff doesn’t make the list. It’s important to get clear and conscious about what you value. Print this list, or even better, find photos that represent the three things you value (e.g., photo of kids) and put these photos in your wallet/purse. To make sure you look at them, put them in front of your credit cards. If you really want to get fancy, create a credit card condom. This is where you make a sleeve for each of your credit cards with a photo of what’s really important to you — this ensures you have to see your values before you spend money (especially on stuff that doesn’t match your values).

5. Volunteer. Get the focus off yourself, what you want, and what new thing you just can’t live without, and on to others who are in real need. This is great therapy and it doesn’t cost you a dime.

6. Boost your income. One of my irritations with traditional financial planning is the near-exclusive focus on cutting expenses. You need to live within your means, but let’s not forget about the other side of the equation — income! Use the other 8 hours to create — write a book, invent, start a side business, etc.

Changing your finances (and life!) starts by changing your mindset and behavior. Buy into the belief that you can improve your finances — just be careful what else you buy…

You can download several free resources (assessment, poster, audio interview, video, and more) at www.other8hours.com and learn more about my new book, The Other 8 Hours: Maximize Your Free Time to Create New Wealth & Purpose.

Robert Pagliarini / The Other 8 Hours Guest Blog – Conquer Your Inner Shopaholic With These Six Money Tips (Personal Growth)

I have personally known Robert Pagliarini for many years, he’s a master of personal growth and am pleased to have him guest post on my personal growth blog.

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Robert Pagliarini / The Other 8 Hours Guest Blog – 5 Tips to Avoid a Bad Decison (Personal Growth)

Robert Pagliarini / The Other 8 Hours Guest Blog – 5 Tips to Avoid a Bad Decision (Personal Growth)

I have personally known Robert Pagliarini for many years, he’s a master of personal growth and am pleased to have him guest post on my personal growth blog.

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The holocaust never happened. The moon landing was staged. And Sex and the City 2 is a great movie. How do I know this? I did a Google search. No matter what your position, you can find support. The lesson? Be careful what you ask, or maybe more appropriately, be careful how you ask. In psychology, the term for this is confirmation bias and it can have damaging consequences for your finances and your life if you’re not careful.

Nobody likes to be wrong, so we’ll actively try to find support for our existing beliefs. We’ll scour the web to try to find anybody saying anything that remotely resembles our own beliefs. “Well, how can I be wrong when blogger ‘iheartcarrie’ clearly agrees with me?” we ask.

The problem with confirmation bias is that you selectively filter what information you choose to pay attention to and value. So not only will you actively look for evidence and seek experts that confirm your existing beliefs, but even more pernicious, you’ll hide from or discredit any information that contradicts your viewpoint. This can cause you to dump money into a failing business, time into a bad relationship, or even to stay in a stock too long.

For example, let’s say after watching the stock market go up and up and up over the past year, you decided to jump back in a month ago (woops). Now you’re fully invested and you’ve just seen the market drop 10%. If you’re suffering from confirmation bias, instead of rationally evaluating the long-term economic and financial outlook of the U.S. and global economy, you may selectively read just those blogs or columns that are bullish. If you come across an article that is bearish, you’ll dismiss it, or maybe not even read it.

Confirmation bias isn’t just a problem for investors. It’s a problem you need to be aware of when looking for a spouse, starting a business, interviewing for a new job, managing people, and any other situation where a supply of fresh information can help you make better decisions.

Confirmation bias is very difficult to recognize, but here are five tips you can use to help minimize this cognitive distortion:

Remove your ego. At its root, confirmation bias is an ego disease. We hate to be wrong and we’re desperate for others to validate our position. Seek the truth over being right, because if you disregard the truth long enough, you’ll eventually be proven wrong anyway.
Seek disagreement. Foster an environment where it is not only okay to disagree but encouraged. Asking friends, family, and employees “Am I right?” will likely get only those who agree with you to speak up. A better question is, “Why am I wrong?” At meetings, require everyone to play devil’s advocate. Early on it might be difficult to get this kind of feedback from others because they’re probably not used to thinking about why you’re wrong (well, at least verbalizing it), so turn it into a game and reward the best answers.
Ask better questions. One of the most worthless questions to ask a friend or co-worker is “How do you think I did?” It’s worthless because you’ll never get any constructive feedback. A much better question is “What could I have done differently to make it better?” By changing the question ever so slightly, you’ll be shocked at the honest advice you’ll hear.
Keep information channels open. Constantly seek alternative views and opinions in print, on TV, and in person. That might mean visiting websites, reading newspapers, and watching shows that you’ve previously avoided. Remember, seek the truth, not evidence that you’re right.
Google better. Don’t search what you want to prove, because with over 3 billion web pages, you’re bound to find one that agrees with you. Instead, use open-ended searches that aren’t biased.

Keep these five tips in mind and you’ll avoid confirmation bias. Now if you could only avoid Sex and the City 2…

Robert Pagliarini / The Other 8 Hours Guest Blog – 5 Tips to Avoid a Bad Decision (Personal Growth)

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