With a Happy New Year comes new possibilities and I am ready to take advantage of them all! My morning began with a client emailing me about an iPad his mother-in-law believes she may have left on a private jet they flew on yesterday. I located the iPad and, as I was coordinating its return, my calendar alerts (desktop, iPhone, and iPad) reminded me to update my copyright footer on our website and to update tax rates for flights on our website and accounting software… DONE! But more importantly, done before 8AM on New Year’s Day (AKA a holiday)!

Technology to combat procrastination

What’s so spectacular about that? Two words come to mind: technology and procrastination. Technology is wonderful for reminding us things, saving time, and so much more. Procrastination because technology offers an amazing tool to combat procrastination. Imagine if I merely had a paper calendar… first I have to remember to look at it. Then I have to be near (or go to) a computer (or other internet enabled device). Technology reminds me and affords me the opportunity to do it right away – which I did! This won’t be one of those things I lay in bed thinking that I have to get done that causes me to lose sleep.

Let’s elaborate on that thought too! When things do come to mind as I am attempting to fall asleep I can merely say, “Alexa, remind me tomorrow at 9AM that I need to do XYZ” and I can go to sleep peacefully. YEP! Technology!!!

As we enter this new year and are thinking about all our amazing New Year’s Resolutions, let’s remind ourselves how embracing technology enhances our ability and likelihood of achieving those goals.

Let’s look at the three most popular New Year’s Resolutions and how technology can help us succeed with them.

Eat Healthier

Want to eat healthier? Most of us have no excuse. We have a plethora of healthy food opportunities at our fingertips. Healthy restaurants? Door Dash, Postmates, Uber Eats, etc… all deliver and I’m sure you can find a healthy restaurant they will deliver from. But we can do better… With an Amazon Prime membership ($12.99 per month or $119 per year) you can get Whole Food Delivery free with a $35 minimum purchase. Don’t you dare tell me you cannot find something healthy at Whole Foods and don’t complain about it being expensive because their prices have become VERY competitive. No Whole Foods in your area? I’ve got you! Instacart will deliver from the stores in your area . Yep! There has to be a store in your area with some healthy food so don’t let that be an excuse! You can even get an Instacart Express Membership instead of paying per delivery. Instacart Express is $9.99 per month or $99 per year. Instacart prices are higher than the grocery store (unlike Whole Foods) but if you are willing to pay a premium for the convenience then it is a great option. Bottom line: you’ve got this and you can do it!

Exercise More

Don’t even start… set a reminder, get up a half hour earlier – just do it! In fact, you should really, really read 5 AM Club, The: Own Your Morning, Elevate Your Life by Robin Sharma for some inspiration and motivation. This was, hands down, my best read on so many levels from 2020; I highly recommend this book! Additionally, you have five hundred gazillion personal trainers on your smart TV, Apple Fitness, wall MIRROR thing that I want, iPad, Apple TV, Roku, and everywhere else you can imagine. All you have to do is show up. You no longer need fancy equipment to start. You really have no excuses! Try again – LOL!

Save Money

Dave Ramsey – first word that comes to mind! Second word is Rich Dad, Poor Dad by Robert T. Kiyosaki. Third word is Money by Tony Robbins. Yes, you need to pay yourself first! 10% of all money in goes to savings. 10% goes to Tithing. I also suggest you read a book by a personal friend: Money with a Purpose by Richard Eaton. The first thing you have to do is understand a little about money and your relationship with money. You have to intentionally understand and believe that money is not evil. The Bible says the love of money is the root of all evil; not that money is evil. If you are evil before you have money then you will be even more evil with money so please stay broke! If your heart is filled with hate and evil then please stay broke. If you believe you are kind and loving and want to do good for your loved ones and strangers alike… PLEASE GET RICH! You see, money intensifies what already exists in your heart. If we are good then money is good, as it affords us the opportunity to do wonderful things for others.

My biggest personal goal is to take a young single mother who wants to go to college and doesn’t believe she can do it (or one doing it and determined to make it happen) and sponsor her education and be her mentor because I did it! I had two sons at a very young age and I have an MBA. My ex’s sister had two kids young and was on welfare when she enrolled in community college but today Dr. is in front of her name!

The holidays just passed and imagine if you could walk into your local Walmart and pay off 50 or 100 holiday layaways for complete strangers. The average layaway is $300 so paying off 100 layaways (blessing 100 strangers) would cost you about $3,000. Money is not evil unless you love it more than you love being kind. For me, money makes me better: more loving, more giving, and more helpful. Go learn about money and get rich so you can do good in the world!!!

As for technology and saving money, the apps are endless but the books, my darlings, the books! Audio books, Kindle, podcasts, Ted Talks, etc… Most people (pre-COVID) commute to work and that is a good amount of time to listen to audio books that are motivating and enriching. Think about it… the average length of an audio book is 10 hours. If you commute an hour in each direction on your way to work and work 5 days per week then, without having to find any more time in your already busy day, you could read 52 books per year rather effortlessly. Technology, yet again, equals NO EXCUSES!

TACKLE 2021 – You got this!

To sum it all up, despite all the craziness in the world around us, we have so much opportunity! The Internet offers so much opportunity to make extra money, learn, and overall improve our lives mentally, physically, emotionally, and financially if we use it as a tool instead of as a distraction. Our fitness and health goals are at our fingertips! We can learn, conquer, and grow in ways never before available. We have no excuses to pass by the opportunity to be our best this year – in every aspect of the word! What are you waiting for? Why are you still reading? Go conquer 2021 and beyond!!!