More Wishes

• Learn Parkour


• Speak Esperanto fluently


• Speak Spanish conversantly


• Become a second degree black belt


• Win a kata competition


• Win a weapons competition


• Win a kumite competition


• Get my black belt in weapons


• Complete a marathon


• Complete a triathlon


• Watch humpback whales


• Swim with dolphins


• Eat at a five star french restaurant


• Have a sushi dinner at a great restaurant in Japan


• Learn dressage and jumping of horses


• Paint well with oils


• Go on a cruise


• Learn to rock climb


• Learn SCUBA diving


• Learn skin diving

Hitting the Wall

I am so tired. Not tired like a reasonable person would be after this amount of work, I'm exhausted. I think it's because I'm stressed out and trying to learn as much as I can as quickly as possible. So, I'm going to bed early tonight. I doubt I'll get much sleep since I spend nights being excited about going to work tomorrow.

On and completely different note, I've come up with a few more wishes:

• crush some cars with a giant mining dumptruck


• live in a tree house


• go skin diving


• see the great barrier reef


• retrieve lava from a volcano


• go whitewater rafting


• learn to kayak


• have a clean, bright, beautiful home

*Yawn* I will continue this tomorrow. Good night!

I'm Drowning in Information

Too much, too fast would be an accurate description of how I feel. I really like the organization, I just wish I were more productive.

I got to sit in a meeting with an annuity wholesaler. I don't know if you know, but financial planners have people who sell investments to them, too. Wholesalers visit planners and solicit their business. For example, if USAllianz wanted to increase sales, they would send a rep around to different financial planning firms to promote a particular suite of products. The wholesaler answers questions about the product's features, and helps create benefits to sell to the end client. The wholesaler tend to bring trinkets or food with them on their visits to develop goodwill, but most financial planning firms have a limit on the dollar value of gifts they will accept. Everyone wants to avoid even a hint of bribery.

On a completely different note, I wrote down some wishes earlier, but I forgot them at work. You'll just have to wait.

First Day at Work - Bushed!

Oh, God, I am so tired.

It's my fist day, and I went with my mentor to a nearby major city. He signed up about a million dollars in 401k business and had a client meeting, while dragging my carcass all over the place. It's weird: I'm not physically tired: I'm mentally exhausted. I'll chalk it up to stress and being unused to awakening at 6:15 a.m.

I can't think of anything I wish for at the moment. I just want to get ready for work tomorrow, and go to bed.

True Lies

I lie to tell the truth.

I want to journal what I really feel, think, and believe. I want to proclaim how much I make and save, without being worried that someone I know will take advantage of me. I want to share my experiences without it reflecting badly on my career, or upsetting my family. I want my story of my personal growth to be helpful to others who want to change themselves and their lives, without endangering myself or my life.

I write this blog pseudo-anonymously because telling lies that will keep my identity private allows me to be more forthcoming about what really matters.

So, here's what I'm lying about: personal details, identifying characteristics, particularities of my friends and relatives, places, times, and any other trait that could give away who and where I am. For example: if I tell you I went to a concert last weekend, I may have actually gone a month or two ago. If I complain about the air conditioning in my crummy Victorian apartment, it may in fact be a problem in my modern condo. So you can see, it's not all real, but a lot of it is true.

My feelings are true. My finances are true. The goals and the stories I tell about my experiences trying to achieve them are all 100% true. It is why I lie.

Wish List Genesis

I've been thinking lately about setting goals and how to get more of what I want out of my life. I suppose I'll start a wish list so I can get a handle on what I think I want versus what most people want that I think I should want.

Be prepared: the list is could to be a little weird.

So far I've got:

• An aquarium full of seahorses


• Go Hang-gliding


• Be the best damn financial planner I can be


• Save up some money and create a simple financial plan for myself


• Get laser eye surgery

I'm still working on it, but I plan to have a list of 75 wishes by the end of the week. I'll let you know how that goes.

On an unrelated note: I'm so excited about my job, I could bust. This is my birthday weekend, so I'm going out to eat at an my favorite Indian restaurant with my family. (I don't care what people say, the food doesn't smell like feet.) The weather's also been perfect, with warm sun and a cool breeze, and I've been loving every second.

I Just Got My First Real Job!

Woo hoo! I just landed my first "real" job - and I go in on Monday!

My new title is "Paraplanner". Paraplanners create financial plans and make client contact for Financial Planners. I suppose it's analogous to paralegal. Anyways, my tasks will be to create account reviews and financial plans, complete my industry licencing, and get trained to move up to being a full-fledged Financial Planner.

I'm working at Fat Cat Financial, a small independent financial planning firm located in a good-sized college town. They have a great marketing plan and growth prospects, want me on a promotion track, and are conveniently located near my house. In short, getting a job there is the chance of a lifetime.

My employment package includes four weeks of annual paid vacation per year, with the possibility of earning up to two more. I also have health insurance and a cafeteria plan that includes vision, dental, life, short and long term disability, a SIMPLE IRA and more. The only negative is that I'm being paid $26,000, instead of the $30,000 I was shooting for. I have the capacity to increase my pay, though, as I become more valuable, and I think it's balanced out by the rest of the package. By no means am I complaining: I have a great job.

This will be my last weekend unemployed. I can't say I'll miss it.