It turns out your people-pleasing work ethic may not get you ahead. You’re not taking any risks to make the company—and you—any better. Kate White, author of Why Good Girls Don’t Get Ahead but Gutsy Girls Do is already teaching me a few useful strategies… and I just started the book.

This subsection really stood out in my mind:

Never Appear at the Mercy of Your Time

Because it’s important to a good girl to be perceived as a hard worker, she never minds (in fact she likes it) if someone catches her looking a little frantic: riffling through papers, dashing down the hall with her hair flying, lugging home a huge pile of work on Friday afternoon. Begin in overdrive, she believes, shows everyone that she not only has lots to do but is getting it done.

Though it’s import to be perceived as energetic, acting frazzled or short on time actually creates the impression that you aren’t under control, and that calamity is waiting just around the corner to ambush you. It makes bosses reluctant to turn more responsibility over to you and it makes co-workers and subordinates as anxious as passengers on a bumpy 747.

Anyone else seen him/herself doing this same thing in the past?

Today we celebrate blog action day with 15,500 other blogs. The focus—our environment.

Many businesses say that they’d love to follow practices that are better for our environment and local community… but they say that those ideas simply cost too much. I doubt that. Most environmentally aware companies actually make MORE money through their efforts.

The immediate expenses would be higher during your implementation, sure. But in the long run? I bet your business would benefit even more. The same goes for any huge purchase like equipment and training courses. Bigger initial cost, better long-term results.

A lot of small town businesses aren’t going to make these changes on their own. You, the consumer, have to urge them. I have made it a habit to speak to managers and owners of local businesses. I tell them my concern and ask if it’s something that they’re addressing or planning on doing something about. Local produce? Locally-made foods? Recycling? Pesticide-free products? Programs that give back to the community’s development and sustainability?

Most employees just shrug me off. Mangers listen (or at least seem to pretend to!). If you keep going home miserable, complaining to yourself, nothing will change. If you start speaking out, things can start to change.

After years of Styrofoam at every function, my local church has quit purchasing Styrofoam. We spoke up. Today shouldn’t just be a day to post about the environment. Blog Action Day means we ought to be taking action, don’t you think?

The SBA (U.S. Government’s Small Business Association) even offers two environmental loan programs to (1) help engineer, manufacture, market, install, or service energy conservation measures or (2) allow the ability to plan, design, and install a pollution controlling facility. So what’s the excuse?

And how about all those local businesses that keep handing out Styrofoam…

Hate looking for a job? Chances are that you’re looking for work the hard way, which means you’re going to have to keep looking a whole lot longer.

The worst ways to look for a job are:

1. going to employment agencies
2. answering local newspaper ads
3. mailing resumes to random employers
4. applying by internet

Notice that these options also happen to be the easiest. You just have to hit print and address envelopes—no interaction with real people. You can stay home in your pajamas! The problem is that a lot of people are out there in their pajamas, but a few people aren’t. The people without pajamas are probably finding more jobs.

Many employees seem to hunt for jobs in the total opposite way than employers. Future employers aren’t interested in pajamas. It takes a lot of guts to get out there. But a successful job is worth it.

Four ways you can better your odds of finding a job are:
1. ask your family, friends, and community for leads—the school where you graduated can be a big booster
2. start knocking on doors of interesting companies, regardless of whether they’re advertising for jobs
3. pick up the phonebook and start calling businesses you’d consider working at and ask if they’re hiring for the type of thing you do well.
4. Establish a mentor and learn how to network

A while back, I wrote a related article called 4 Things College Grads Need to Know.

Now I’m a shy person, but as I prepared to search for a new job in a few months, I’m realizing that I can’t be reserved if I want to get a good job, so I needed to write and to share this information with you.

Anyone can serve as an employment contact—from barbers to dental receptionists. My friend made business cards that she’d hand out to everyone she met. She didn’t let shyness factor in; she got out there. Now she’s got a huge network and a great job.

The path toward financial freedom requires some pretty heavy planning. Todd and I seldom divulge much about our personal lives, yet with the decisions that my husband and I have been making, I feel like readers could benefit from some of the ideas we’ve been implementing. As a bonus, Todd can’t argue, “You didn’t tell me that!”

Our idea of money freedom requires:
• Setting goals
• Creating behaviors
• Discussing our plans, progress, and reasons for working so hard

1. Setting goals

The most important factor is that my husband (age 27) and I (age 24) hold the same idea about money. I’ve often read that wealthy men become wealthy through two positive attributes: their spending habits and the even more frugal spending habits of their wives. Am I trying to boost my ego as a wife? No—but I think that we all want to splurge sometimes. You need someone who can remind you that you don’t need that pair of shoes or new computer right now. A spouse with common goals will discourage bad habits and unnecessary desires. Meanwhile, a spouse who acts nonchalant or encourages abundant spending habits could quickly spell disaster.

My husband and I go to coffee shops to compile our thoughts on work, school, and schedules. We love the youthful environment. My husband announced his resignation at work; detailed ideas of how we’re going to financially support ourselves and our projects without his income are crucial. We’re heading to the coffee shop more often now. Can’t believe I’m going to be the breadwinner for a little while!

Record your finance goals and keep them updated. We update an excel template every month to show our net worth. You need to see where your money is going, areas that are growing, and roughly how much money you need to cover yourself. When one of our rental properties is vacant, we have to cover all those expenses—utilities, mortgage, insurance, taxes—until the property generates income again.

Track your long-term goals. I made a progress chart for us to color each $10,000 growth mark to $1 million like those United Way boards. Every so often, we can fill in another tick when we know it’s stable. Beside our chart is an estimate of how much our net worth needs to grow every six months to keep in target with our final goals. Your estimates will never be exact, though you build something to dream off of.

2. Creating behaviors

I’m surprised at how easy it has been for us to get into some great habits—biking as much as possible instead of driving. My husband even has studded bike tires for his winter commutes; he’s pushing it more than most of us could handle, yet this savings means we don’t need two cars.

The easiest behaviors to change (the ones I prefer most) are the ones you can do once and not look back, like electric bills. Even though we rent a house, my husband replaced the thermostat with a programmable thermostat. We switched to energy efficient light bulbs. When our lease ends, we’re taking our energy efficient items with us to save at our next home. Doesn’t it make sense to cut back on the things you don’t need/use anyway?

Other temptations, however, aren’t so easy to forego—especially eating out when we don’t want to cook or managing our unproductive time during the weekends. No one is ever perfect, and it’s so easy to see how other people aren’t perfect. The hard part is recognizing bad (i.e. expensive) habits that we have and transforming them. You’ve probably heard of the latte factor, which is a great thing to cut, of course… but what if you don’t have a latte factor habit that you know of? Again, a spouse will let you know… unless he holds the same habits.

3. Discussing plans, progress, and reasons for working so hard

My husband and I work seven days a week, five for someone else and two for ourselves. A quarter of our income transfers hands to another person working on our real estate development. Gaining financial freedom is a process. Quitting would be so easy! For that reason, we constantly talk about our plans and ideas. Don’t put your goals in a time capsule to pull out in ten years and say, “Well, looks like we didn’t quite meet our goal, honey.” We’ve got reminders everywhere in the house… short of the bathrooms, I guess. And the reminders are working.

Over the week, I’ve been thinking a lot about the benefits of working for one’s self instead of a 9 to 5 boss. These bloggers really struck a note with me, and I think you might enjoy their works, too:

12-Month Plan to Becoming a Real Estate Investor at Sillicon Valley Real Estate Blog
Summarizing the Wall Street Journal, this article shows you point blank: do these things first. Had I thought about a few of the things mentioned here before I dove into real estate, I might have been a bit better off. Patience vs. preparation…

8 Steps to 7 Figures from DINK
I’ve always enjoyed reading the personalized writing of this DC couple. Their newest book review shares a few lessons on stock investing…
They’ve already started this new strategy.

The Five Ways to Earn Money Part 2 on Pile of Coins
Without even reading the text, you’ll notice two obvious pyramids by Dennis… and notice that most of us aren’t quite in the right place. I love the get-to-the-point style that Dennis uses in this piece. His graphic says it all:

Have a great–productive!–week, and don’t forget to check out our casual poetry contest. Business majors welcome!

Either you love what you are doing or you don’t. So where’s the opportunity to land what you really want?

Our parents raised us to think, “Where’s the opportunity?” But with the skill set that you have, you shouldn’t be shifting to hot industries that don’t interest you. Focus on what you really are. I wonder how many of those dotcoms that survived did so because the founders’ goal wasn’t only the quick buck; they had passion for the work they did. The opportunity already lies within you. The challenge, of course, is finding that ability and fostering it.

Focus on qualities that you already have

I think that the opportunity is right here. Instead of focusing on what’s next in your life, try thinking about what you have right now. What avenue of your life do people come to you for help and advice? I think that you can find a niche here.

My good friend dislikes his job and doesn’t find his situation fulfilling. (I think we can all relate.) He started to think about how he’d really prefer to spend his time creating wealth. He’s taken his skill set of electronic know-how to other people to present his ideas, and now his thoughts are fostering into a business plan. The opportunity is already within him. His specific target has shifted at least a dozen times, and he’s made some mistakes along the way. Yet each shift seems to make him happier.

Happiness is what counts. People don’t win at business because they hate what they do. People make money when they engage themselves and create a service/product that engages hearts and minds of their clients.

Shift your focus to where you want to be

If you can shift your focus from what you have to do to what you really want to do, I think you’ll find a spark within yourself. You’ll be the envy of your friends. How many of them love what they do? Doing only something that you hate is ridiculous in today’s society. No one is requiring you to be a 10th generation blacksmith. You have the opportunity to choose your career, and more importantly, the opportunity to choose your purpose.

See yourself changing… in the wrong direction?

Before I started working from 9 to 5, I recall being more enjoyable person. Have you noticed a negative transformation in yourself that accompanies your dream to liftoff? That “real world experience” hoopla is important. But how much of it?

Some experts say that a successful startup needs $10,000 to get off of the ground. So should you and I start pushing ourselves a little harder so that we can fund our ideas? You know, pay our dues?

Gaining the financial ability to walk away from our current situation seldom results in walking away. Like I said, work changes you. Money changes you even more. You’ll become so attached to the situation that you realize the sacrifices of starting your dream aren’t worth it. You don’t want to dump that security. Living on less is scary.

You have to find a balance between escaping the situation you’re in and doing what you love. Are you devoting yourself to the greatest good of all? Of yourself? Your vision of becoming something more can drive you to work harder. The drive won’t give you the vision, though. Focus on what you want to be.

You can’t achieve anything if you’re just standing still.