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- Nourish Your Roots Newsletter Issue #4
Nourish Your Roots Newsletter
Complacency Curse
ISSUE #4
Finding a good routine in life, that makes you happy, stress free, utilizing easy skills and having a sense of security is an absolute blessing. Right?
Collectively I feel as though most people have experienced one or all of these in trying to develop a productive routine. But I wonder how many of us, have began to realize how repetitive, how stagnant, how boring, how monotonous, how mind-numbing mundane it can become.
Finding this routine lifestyle, while a dream to some is a curse for others. This is complacency, and personally I believe complacency to be a curse, just has the title of this newsletter says.
Complacency is a Curse
Too many times personally, when I was younger, I have found myself falling into a rut, wake up, work, come home eat, game sleep.. repeat. Absolutely nothing was getting done, no plans to better myself, no plans to grow, no plans to reach goals that I know I wanted for myself. Nothing would happen in my life until a huge event would rock me to my core and that could be something negative or even something positive. I will share one time when this happened to me. Stuck in the same fishbowl routine I described earlier, I was coasting by in life going to school, doing my school work and then coming home. spending money on junk food and frivolous nonsense. One day, I was walking to the bank to withdraw money for gas to fill up my car and realized I had less than $30 dollars to my name… I wasn’t going to be able to fill up my car and have enough for other expenses during the week. I didn’t even realize this was happening because I was just cruising by on auto pilot. This can be attributed to I suppose my lack of paying attention to essentials of life. But this is why I call complacency a curse, moments like this, I fell into a routine so comfortable, so stress free so bliss that when something happened I didn’t realize how fast it happened and started to look back on what I should have done differently.. only problem is you can’t change the past only learn from it. Three jobs, many sacrifices and living below my means later I managed to bounce back.
I share this so that you can think back to a time in your life when you develop a habit or routine that you felt so secure in that time passed by so quick you weren’t aware of the effects it was having on other aspects of your life.
Recalling back to the previous Newsletter on Consistency, this concept plays a huge role in how much of an effect complacency grips your life. As discussed consistency is king, and can be negative or positive. Consistently falling into a routine that doesn’t allow for progress will hold you in one spot like an anchor. This is why I strongly suggest everyday that you find a way to challenge yourself to learn something new, to explore, put yourself in a tough spot so you can discover new ways to grow! There is no growth without change, and experience makes a well rounded individual.
Take a moment to look at where you are in your life, take a moment to take note of what is going on in your day to day activities. See how much time you spend on certain activities or calculate spending habits.. and see if you are stuck in an addictive routine that is slowly siphoning growth from your life. Then make the choice that you feel will help you reach your goals.
You can always reach out to me through email ([email protected]) or through X or Twitter @DividendRoots… I don’t know what to call it…
Nourish Your Roots.
-Gio
DIVIDEND DATA UPDATE
Purchases:
Total $ Invested: $864.76 Sells: GPC x5 ($690.87) | Dividends Collected This Week WEEK OF: 11/20-11/24 (2023)
Total: $42.05 |
Overall Comments: This week, I decided to sell off my position in GPC. This was due to the slow growth not lining up with my goals and trajectory I am aiming for my portfolio. The money was redeployed into my portfolio, you can see that in the purchases above.
X HIGHLIGHT OF THE WEEK
This section is dedicated to a X member who offers meaningful, thought provoking finance, educational, content while maintaining a positive attitude and supporting members of the community. I suggest giving them a follow and checking them out
X Profile Spotlight :
The spotlight for this week is awarded to @SavingsCaptain, Tom while retired, is always available to support the finance community. He is willing to offer insight, his opinion and give a positive light hearted response to anyone he interacts with! I highly suggest reaching out to Tom, you won’t regret it!
I reached out to Tom, and asked him “ When in your life has a complacent behavior allowed you to miss out on opportunities?” He responded with
In my early 20's I earned a six-figure income. I thought the rules of saving and investing didn't apply to me. I thought I could coast through life. When I became a Dad around 30 my why crystalized. I began investing in my career. Obtaining my CFP designation and MBA allowed me to advance in my career. Additionally, I became an intentional with my money and created the runway to financial freedom. I believe the reason for complacency is driven by not defining your WHY.
Tom’s response clearly corresponds with the discussion at the start of the newsletter. Coasting through life, until something changed and rocked him out of his feeling of security and he discovered a new purpose.
Reading thus far we, I have mentioned a lot of points for reflection. I ask for one more time, review Tom’s response and think about your WHY and how it helps to combat complacency.. where would you be without your WHY…or maybe if you can’t think of a WHY… think of why not and go from there.
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This week I also asked the Dividend Investing and Finance Community what they thought on some topics.. here are the results of these poll questions below!
At least the majority it aware of their complacency. The follow up question should be are you ok with being complacent in your life?
Resource Center Section
Tools that I utilize
These websites and apps listed below I personally utilize on a daily basis for research, news and portfolio tracking.
www.thedividendtracker.com - easily one of the best tools that I use to research dividends and its very beginner friendly. The free version has exceptional options available to you for taking a deeper dive into stocks and keeping track of the progress of your portfolio over time. There is a paid version you can upgrade to and offers tools such as a payout calendar, calculators and much more! Definitely worth checking out. Also comes as an app 🙂
www.seekingalpha.com - an excellent website tool that offers some seriously in-depth analysis of stocks that you research. There is a free version for some simple portfolio tracking and a paid version that offers way more options such as comparisons to other stocks and history and way more! Also comes as an app. 🙂
www.finviz.com - great tool for screening stocks, getting charts and graphs and comparisons. If you want quick or indepth analysis this is a great tool to have access to. PLUS its free 😄
Div Tracker App- Free app decent tools/ paid version offers some extra tools. Allows for quick tracking on phone or tablet and has a payout calendar which is always fun.
Book Corner
The books listed here are ones that I have read along my journey to teach myself investing principals as well as develop a better understanding of financial literacy. This list will be ever growing 🙂
Podcasts
List of Podcasts that are great for beginners and veteran investors that I listen to daily. They offer book reviews, stock reviews and thought provoking discussions. I usually listen in the morning on the way to work and on the way home from work, then i can sit and reflect on what the podcast is talking about.
Brokerage
Charles Schwab
Robinhood
Fidelity
Photography Highlight of the Week
