Definition of Tranquility

Definition of Tranquility

Composing Beauty

Ingenuity, I love that word! It has such a nice ring to it, and such a deep meaning (at least to me). I view ingenuity as an essential skill in creativity, and creativity/ingenuity an essential skill of surviving in this new, digital age. I find it fascinating that one can create a job or a career for themselves where there was nothing before. In today’s day and age the opportunities for money making are endless. One of my inspirations for this exact thing is Lin-Manuel Miranda, internationally famous composer of Hamilton, In The Heights, and a member of Freestyle Love Supreme (who, I’m sure, has many more credits, both famous and not, to his name).

I’m absolutely enthralled by his tenacity, skill, perseverance, and his genius. He literally put himself on the map in the entertainment world. He created something brilliant using just his brains, skills, experience, and a pencil and paper. Not only that, but it’s given other artists the opportunity to be a part of the beautiful, caring community that he’s created throughout this process. He’s even changing the world and peoples’ lives by using his works to support causes that he cares deeply about. That, to me, is ingenuity. It”s creativity. I could write many, MANY more paragraphs about my admiration for him as an artist and person, but I’ll get to that in a later post because I could write a novel on it with my ability to go off on tangents and daydream (although that is not a bad thing).

With technology we have the tools to create new things every day. Heck, this article is new right now. It is not a masterpiece of an article, but it’s being created now, in the moment, and shared. Nowadays we have all kinds of opportunities for financial success, we just have to use our ingenuity to build on them. For example, in the past we couldn’t write something and automatically earn money  within a moments’ notice. Now we can. We couldn’t write a book and have it published on amazon without going through the proper book publishers outside of the company and then selling it…but now we can self-publish books and sell them online. We couldn’t automatically create a video of ourselves performing and broadcast it to the world, thereby gaining fame. Now, we have stars who got their start doing just that on youtube. The opportunities are endless. When you think about it, once you open up your mind and heart to creativity so many ideas can come pouring in, and you just have to work tirelessly at them, with all your passion and heart, to create something that you truly stand by. You don’t even have to create for others. Create for yourself, and your passion, care, tenacity, strength, and genius will shine through and you will find your own success by using inginuity.

RDP Monday: Dazzle

“Give em’ the old razzle dazzle, razzle dazzle em”. Any “Chicago” fans out there? That lyric was literally the first thing that came to mind when I thought about the word dazzle. Dazzle sounds sparkly, doesn’t it? It sounds glitzy, like the 20’s, at least in my opinion. It reminds me of themed 20’s parties, songs, dances, movies, singing, and general stuff of that era. It also makes me think about how I can dazzle people…or at least “dazzle” my own life. You see, I’m an entrepreneur, so I’m always thinking of ways to dazzle my customers at all of my jobs (yes, you read that correctly, I have several jobs). I’m a waitress, dog walker, house sitter, e-commerce store owner, and aspiring actress/singer. There’s a lot of room to dazzle there!

Thinking about the e-commerce store, though (millennialpets.org), I’m always learning and growing. I’m not particularly technically inclined, and that is an uphill climb for me…but I’m always learning and achieving and acquiring new skills. I’ve learned more about how the internet/tech works in the last few months than I have in a lifetime, and it really is a whole other world. All in all, I hope to dazzle my clients every day with awesome customer service, speed, accuracy, and products that provide tons of incredible memories! I also hope to have the skills of Broadway stars so that I can literally dazzle entire audiences every night one day. It will happen. In the meantime, keep on being you, you fabulous ragtagdailyprompt’ers! Have a wonderful Monday!

RDP Friday: Security

Ya know, I tend to log in just when the day’s prompt happens to be perfect for me. Maybe it’s the universe nudging me to write? Who knows. I think the universe has a way of guiding us to what we need if we are truthful with ourselves. At least it’s that way for me. The universe has always brought what I want/need to me when I allow myself to accept it. So…today’s word is security: something I know a lot about, being an artist. It’s no secret that being an artist is not a very financially secure life. I think we all tend to feel it at some point or another, and how we deal with it is important. That’s actually part of the reason that I’m a part of the RDP community. I found recently that I needed to open myself up to the universe more, to find new pathways of security financially, so I’m feeling out what is right for me in this moment. Since I’ve opened up myself to the idea of e-commerce (on top of my regular job), I’ve been learning a lot about the world of the internet. I’m not sure if it will pan out financially, but even if not, I feel that the universe is leading me to the thing that will (and maybe this will be it, who knows, I’m just trying). I feel like I’m a step ahead of where I was beforehand simply because I’m learning and I’m not in the same place I was before. I’m on a journey. I like that. I like knowing that I’m taking strides. I’m not stagnant. I’m not stuck. I’m growing. I’m learning to let go of some negative ego assumptions. I’m learning to be more capable in ways I didn’t think about before. I’m learning that there’s many skills out there that I need to master to make it as an artist that have nothing to do with singing/acting, but they are creative. Security would be nice! On the other hand, as I said before, being an artist is very often an insecure financial life. I was told growing up that I should have a fallback career. I balked at that idea because I knew that by doing that I’d be telling the universe that that was more important than being successful in my dreams. I still think that. I’ve modified that thinking, though. I realize now that there’s no reason I can’t do both. I now put into the universe that I’d like financial security and artistic security. I now put equal energy into both. I find that the older I get I realize that I can have my artistic dreams if I find a way to financially support those dreams, too…I used to think that doing something to make money other than singing/acting was selling out, but now I realize that it’s a necessity (at this time of my life) that I do both. I think this period of learning and growing will benefit me in my career as a performer, I just have to see the silver lining…and maybe the silver lining will benefit my artistic career, too. Any artists out there feel the same way? What have you done to figure it out? I’m curious, and wish you all success!

Let’s Talk About…Finances and the Different Internet Options Available…

Hello everyone! It’s that time of year again, where we are all recovering from the holiday season energy-wise and financially as well. I hope that everyone had a wonderful time celebrating their respective holidays and traditions, as did I! Now for the nitty gritty: what are you going to do to make back the money you spent on the holidays…that can be quite daunting!

Personally, I have several options in mind, 3 of which I am actively engaged in. I’ve told you about Prosper and how you can be your own bank, but what if you don’t have the money to put up to start an account? Well, luckily enough, the online world is buzzing with opportunities to make money in ways many people never dreamed of, whether it’s a few bucks or an entire income.

Option #1: Put that iPhone to good use (other than beating all of the levels of gummy drop, that is, lol). Many folks are making a side income by becoming couriers. At this point delivery services like Instacart, Postmates, Seamless, etc., are so popular and in such high demand that you can literally apply right from your phone, and sign up in minutes. I decided to try this and I signed up with Postmates just to make a few dollars on the side. I’ve only done a few deliveries so far (I usually do one or two after work a couple of times per week), and that has helped solve the post gift buying blues by adding to my bottom line little by little, without much extra effort. It won’t buy me a shiny, new apartment, but it’s helping with the occasional bill, and I certainly appreciate that! Depending on the order size, I’ve averaged about $7-12 dollars per order, and you can do multiple orders at the same time. Different companies have different requirements to be a courier, but with Postmates you can be a walker, a bicyclist, or a driver! Check it out here, click on the link below, and give it a shot if you’d like to make a few dollars and get some exercise at the same time. Plus, you could make money and save it up to invest in Prosper, and then your small earnings turn into more without doing more work! https://fleet.postmates.com/

Unfortunately, my computer battery is now telling me that I have to go…but stay tuned here for more info about my other two ideas as well…Ciao for now and happy reading!

 

Let’s Talk About…Finances and the Different Internet Options Available…

Hello everyone! It’s that time of year again, where we are all recovering from the holiday season energy-wise and financially as well. I hope that everyone had a wonderful time celebrating their respective holidays and traditions, as did I! Now for the nitty gritty: what are you going to do to make back the money you spent on the holidays…that can be quite daunting!

Personally, I have several options in mind, 3 of which I am actively engaged in. I’ve told you about Prosper and how you can be your own bank, but what if you don’t have the money to put up to start an account? Well, luckily enough, the online world is buzzing with opportunities to make money in ways many people never dreamed of, whether it’s a few bucks or an entire income.

Option #1: Put that iPhone to good use (other than beating all of the levels of gummy drop, that is, lol). Many folks are making a side income by becoming couriers. At this point delivery services like Instacart, Postmates, Seamless, etc., are so popular and in such high demand that you can literally apply right from your phone, and sign up in minutes. I decided to try this and I signed up with Postmates just to make a few dollars on the side. I’ve only done a few deliveries so far (I usually do one or two after work a couple of times per week), and that has helped solve the post gift buying blues by adding to my bottom line little by little, without much extra effort. It won’t buy me a shiny, new apartment, but it’s helping with the occasional bill, and I certainly appreciate that! Depending on the order size, I’ve averaged about $7-12 dollars per order, and you can do multiple orders at the same time. Different companies have different requirements to be a courier, but with Postmates you can be a walker, a bicyclist, or a driver! Check it out here, click on the link below, and give it a shot if you’d like to make a few dollars and get some exercise at the same time. Plus, you could make money and save it up to invest in Prosper, and then your small earnings turn into more without doing more work! https://fleet.postmates.com/

Unfortunately, my computer battery is now telling me that I have to go…but stay tuned here for more info about my other two ideas as well…Ciao for now and happy reading!

 

Designing Your Money

Piggybacking on my last blog entry about how you compartmentalize your money…how do you design your money to work FOR you? There are so many ways you can get the most out of your dollar. I don’t mean to sound like a penny pincher, but how you use your money and where you place it can have a big impact in the long-term on whether it makes money for you or whether it stays the same amount. Think about it: do you really want to continue to trade your time for money for your whole life? Or do you want to put your money to work while you work, or while you’re on vacation, or while you’re at your kids’ baseball game, etc.? I like making money while I sleep. Soooo….that begs the question…how do you do that? There are a multitude of ways!

Banks have designed a system that really works for them. They loan you money or give you credit to use, and you get the assistance you need to pay whatever bill it is that you owe with that money, whether it’s groceries, school loans, you name it. They also must fund their own business, so they make it work for them by giving you the money in return for extra money on top, aka interest. If you’re able to pay your bill back in a super timely manner, the interest you pay would be lower than if you take a long time to pay back the money. Now that’s a smart transaction for them. You get something from them, and they get something from you. They’re making money in their sleep. They’re not spending time working for the interest, but they’re making money regardless. You can use that model, too. You can, in a way, be your own bank! It’s called peer to peer lending.

I had no idea about peer to peer lending until about a year ago. There are many platforms that you can choose from, but the two most popular ones are Lending Club and Prosper. As an investor with peer to peer lending you can log on to the platform and search through the available loans. They are graded in slightly different fashions on each site, but mostly some form of A,B,C,D,E, and HR, with A being the lowest interest rates but the customers with the best concoction of information (credit score, income, percentage of credit used, rating, etc.) and HR being the highest interest, but considered the more risky loans to invest in. In my next blog I will go into more detail about how this process works and what strategy (so far) has worked for me.

This is what I consider designing your money. Instead of simply earning it, you’re creating a system in which your earnings make you more earnings without trading your time. It’s a gradual process, but it’s interesting. I highly encourage you to think about how YOU think about your money, and how you utilize it to its full value. Keep following my blog for more information weekly, and enjoy your day!

Ciao for now, and as always, please consult a certified financial professional for all of your big financial decisions. I’m simply here to enlighten and help, but I’m not a financial advisor.

Designing Your Money

Piggybacking on my last blog entry about how you compartmentalize your money…how do you design your money to work FOR you? There are so many ways you can get the most out of your dollar. I don’t mean to sound like a penny pincher, but how you use your money and where you place it can have a big impact in the long-term on whether it makes money for you or whether it stays the same amount. Think about it: do you really want to continue to trade your time for money for your whole life? Or do you want to put your money to work while you work, or while you’re on vacation, or while you’re at your kids’ baseball game, etc.? I like making money while I sleep. Soooo….that begs the question…how do you do that? There are a multitude of ways!

Banks have designed a system that really works for them. They loan you money or give you credit to use, and you get the assistance you need to pay whatever bill it is that you owe with that money, whether it’s groceries, school loans, you name it. They also must fund their own business, so they make it work for them by giving you the money in return for extra money on top, aka interest. If you’re able to pay your bill back in a super timely manner, the interest you pay would be lower than if you take a long time to pay back the money. Now that’s a smart transaction for them. You get something from them, and they get something from you. They’re making money in their sleep. They’re not spending time working for the interest, but they’re making money regardless. You can use that model, too. You can, in a way, be your own bank! It’s called peer to peer lending.

I had no idea about peer to peer lending until about a year ago. There are many platforms that you can choose from, but the two most popular ones are Lending Club and Prosper. As an investor with peer to peer lending you can log on to the platform and search through the available loans. They are graded in slightly different fashions on each site, but mostly some form of A,B,C,D,E, and HR, with A being the lowest interest rates but the customers with the best concoction of information (credit score, income, percentage of credit used, rating, etc.) and HR being the highest interest, but considered the more risky loans to invest in. In my next blog I will go into more detail about how this process works and what strategy (so far) has worked for me.

This is what I consider designing your money. Instead of simply earning it, you’re creating a system in which your earnings make you more earnings without trading your time. It’s a gradual process, but it’s interesting. I highly encourage you to think about how YOU think about your money, and how you utilize it to its full value. Keep following my blog for more information weekly, and enjoy your day!

Ciao for now, and as always, please consult a certified financial professional for all of your big financial decisions. I’m simply here to enlighten and help, but I’m not a financial advisor.

Let’s Talk About…Random Tuesdays in NYC

I love discovering new, neat little places in NYC; my own corners of the world, if you think about it. I mean, in NYC it’s more like my own corner of the world…plus everyone else’s (but that’s not a bad thing). Finding my favorite places makes NYC feel homey and familiar in a city that is constantly growing and changing. A favorite view, a tranquil spot, good company, a fun atmosphere, it all amounts to something special, doesn’t it? What’s one of the first things that you imagine when you first think of NYC? Coffee makes the cut, in my opinion. It’s one of those many iconic things about the city; New Yorkers bustling around, running from here to there, cell phone in one hand and…coffee in the other. So where do these city dwellers go for that cup? Many head to Starbucks (myself included), but on the rare occasion that I’ve got free time I head to my favorite place. It’s comfy, it’s got a homey and inviting feel, the staff is super friendly, and I could go on and on. It’s a generally relaxing atmosphere, and it is where I’m spending a nice Tuesday afternoon before the madness of work tonight. Plus…the coffee is tasty and the seats are plentiful and comfy. I hope you are as lucky as me to find your favorite places, and I truly recommend that you try out any of the Manhattanville locations because, you know, all of the things I listed above!