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My friends Tim and Mark at Soul Shelter posted a great article last week about how what we think creates our reality. Though I think wishful-thinking books like The Secret are hogwash, I do believe that our thoughts and attitudes play a huge role in defining our life. In his post, Tim shares several quotes:

  • “If men define situations as real, they are real in their consequences.” — William Isaac Thomas
  • “A man is literally what he thinks, his character being the complete sum of all his thoughts … As the plant springs from, and could not be without, the seed, so every act of a man springs from the hidden seeds of thought, and could not have appeared without them.” — James Allen
  • “Most of us are anxious to improve our circumstances, but are unwilling to improve ourselves.” — James Allen
  • “Whether you believe you can or believe you can’t, you’re probably right.” — Henry Ford
  • “Make it real in your mind first, then real in fact.” — Tim Clark

Soul Shelter is one of my favorite little self-improvement blogs. The pace (twice a week) is nice, the topics interesting, and the articles well-written. It deserves more readers.

Speaking of inspiration, No Credit Needed has a helpful post describing 10 things to do after you get out of debt. “I have been debt free for two years,” writes NCN. “After two years of enjoying life debt-free, I can state without hesitation that deciding to get out debt was the smartest decision I have ever made.” As I begin my own debt-free journey, I love to read about the experiences of those who have gone before me.

On an unrelated note, Vintek forwarded me a horror story demonstrating one advantage credit cards have over debit cards: “Imagine my surprise when I checked my bank account and was overdrawn by $3200!” Yikes!

Finally, Penny Nickel at Money and Values (another great blog) recently shared a post on the psychology of money. The happiest people don’t earn the most, she says. She quotes recent research that revealed:

People who experience the highest levels of happiness are the most successful in terms of close relationships and volunteer work, but that those who experience slightly lower levels of happiness are the most successful in terms of income, education, and political participation. Once people are moderately happy, the most effective level of happiness appears to depend on the specific outcomes used to define success, as well as the resources that are available.

While this is true of the happiest people, there’s still a very clear relationship between income and life satisfaction.