The Adulting Like a Boss Podcast

Office politics can mean schmoozing up to your boss and others higher up the totem pole than you in order to gain favor – hoping for a raise, a promotion, or status among your peers. It can mean hanging out with the “right” people – the equivalent of the cool kids table – and joining in negativity or gossip because you want to be on the “inside track” with them. 

If you've ever been caught red-handed – that is – something you said was overheard by or repeated to the very person you didn't want to hear it, then you know how painful and embarrassing that can be! When you are at work, bad-mouthing can damage relationships with co-workers, break trust, cost opportunities, or in extreme circumstances, cost you your job.

It's December and the first thing that comes to mind is… Christmas! Already Christmas programs are in full swing – the Nashville Christmas parade was this past weekend, the lighting of the Christmas trees is happening all over the place, and the malls are crammed with shoppers. And that brings me to what I want to talk to you about today – shopping for Christmas presents...

If you're unable to pay your bills every month, you've either got to cut expenses or increase income. But there's something else that will really help you with your bills...

Have you ever been in a conversation where someone was saying something entirely inappropriate, and then realized it, but kept talking – and in trying make the situation better, they just dug themselves deeper into the hole?  Okay, have you ever BEEN that person? You just want to say to them (or to yourself) – You're in a hole! Best bet…..Stop digging!!...

What is the ONE thing that will make you succeed at work?  Being FAT!!! Let me explain:  FAT doesn't have anything to do with WEIGHT! [Give this one a listen....]

Some people call it habit. Some call it ritual. Some call it routine. Whatever you want to call it (I'm calling it habit,) it's forming a habit so that the hard thing you find so difficult to do isn't quite so hard in the future – in fact, if you form the right habit, it won't ever be a hard thing again. You'll do it without thinking! But here's the key – you STACK this habit on something you already do, so the habit isn't forgotten or much of a change...

A few weeks ago I posted an article and podcast about how important it is to vote in the upcoming mid-term elections on November 6th. Mid-Term Elections are held every four years, half-way through the presidential term. The election is right around the corner, and I know some of you have some questions about what you'll be voting for. If you don't live in Tennessee, this won't completely apply to you, because I'm going to review the upcoming ballots for Tennessee's Davidson & Williamson counties, where most of us “Nashvillians” live...

No matter what you call it, the principle of trading off doing what's hard NOW to reap the benefits of something easier down the road is stated over and over . Maxwell says it like this: Pay Now, Play Later. Because if you don't, you'll Play Now and Pay Later. And the “Pay Later” is a much BIGGER pay than paying now...

SPECIAL GUEST: Mary Kathryn Lunceford-Levesque You are the sum of the five people you hang out with. Do you believe that's true? It's a popular saying attributed to Jim Rohn, a motivational speaker. An older saying which means the same thing is “Birds of a feather flock together.” Now here's what I mean by this...

Maintaining friendships – knowing when to invest the precious commodity of time into a relationship, when there are a million “to-do's” screaming to be done. And then, knowing – when you do have people in your life – who to spend your time with! It's hard to know who the people are that COULD be in your life, and even harder to know who SHOULD be in your life, right?

Want to change something in your life?  It's simpler than you think. Now I didn't say EASY.  I said Simple! It's SIMPLE to change something in your life, but you know my philosophy! Do the HARD thing! Changing something in your life really comes down to four things...

I'm really excited about talking to you about voting, because this is something a lot of you have told me you have questions about. There's nothing more powerful in the United States government's structure than the power of the people to vote! I'm going to talk about four things...

Do you read or listen to the news? Are you interested at all in what's going on around the country and the world? I'm curious to know how many of you keep up with local, national or world news. So for the next two podcasts (#14 & #15), I'm going to be talking about two big things going on in the United States government right now (Fall 2018). That's the nomination of a Supreme Court Justice, and the mid-term elections coming up in November. So, get ready for a little 8th grade social studies refresher…

The one thing that's true about all millennials is this. There is not one thing that is true about all millennials. I think the media has done a pretty crummy job of lumping millennials into one big pile – saying that all millennials are like THIS or like THAT. When the truth is, this generation – born between 1982 and 2000 – are as different and unique from one another as any other generation.

I see millennials living very intentionally so they can spend their money on travel – but traveling in a different way than in the past. Travel used to mean getting on a plane, train or car and arriving at some destination, staying in a hotel, and seeing all the touristy spots. Take a few pictures, and buy a few souvenirs, then go back to suburban life and a 9-5 job. But no more...

No matter what your financial situation is, budget or no budget – financially secure or financially struggling - you don't want to spend more money than you have to, especially on things you use on a daily basis.

You have to live somewhere, and if you've tried apartment life and are beginning to think about a house, a condo, or a townhome, for example, you need to decide if you are going to be a renter, or a homeowner.

If you're thinking about buying a house, unless you have enough money to pay cash (lucky you!), the very first thing you need to do is figure out the money part...

To increase the money coming in, you'll either need a better paying job, a second job, or some kind of side gig to earn money. Some people have no problem keeping a full time job and a part time side job or gig, but for others, this may be a struggle.

I don't know about you, but most people I talk to are worried about money. Either they don't feel confident handling money, they feel like they should do a better job with their money, or most often, they feel like there is not quite enough money left at the end of their pay period. Most money problems can usually be solved by just paying attention! So let's talk first about some quick ways you can reduce the money going out. NEXT WEEK: How to Increase Your Income!

When it comes to rest or even self-care, I am unfortunately way out of balance. I tend to overwork myself, and make those long lists, and spend very little time just reading or watching movies, or hanging out with friends.   Here are just a few ideas that might help you balance your work, your rest, your play, and your “must do's.” 

When you're in school, you make new friends organically, just by sitting next to someone in class, or participating in the dozens of activities that are at your fingertips in school. But as an adult, it's not so easy. You have to be intentional about making friends. If you're fortunate enough to have people at work you can make friends with, that's a plus, but beyond that, you have to be creative and deliberate. Here are six quick ways you can meet people.

If you're hoping to climb the corporate ladder, or at the very least, make a little more moo-lah, you may be up against some stiff competition. Don't get left out! Here are six steps you can follow that will make you shine in your job.

Thinking about leaving your job for a new one? You've had some restlessness lately?You might want to think again!  Millennials have earned the unfortunate reputation of “job hoppers,” when the reality is, people of all ages in today's work force change jobs more than they did fifty years ago. In fact, the Bureau of Labor Statistics says that the median number of years workers tend to stay with one employer is 4.2 years, and that number is getting smaller each year.   But how do you know if it is the right time to leave? And how long should you stay?  There are lots of advantages of sticking with one job for a long time, and you might be selling yourself short if you leave your company too soon.  Here are four reasons you might want to nix the applications, and stay where you are.

In today's workforce, most people don't expect to be at their job their entire lives as they did in the past. In fact, in a CareerBuilder article, it states that by the age of 35, 25 percent of workers have held five jobs or more.   Here are the three main reasons most people start to feel restless.  

The hard part about Adulting is that it's … well…HARD. Doing hard things and doing them over and over – going to work, paying the bills, cleaning your living space – in the moment you're doing them may not always seem like the fun and free grown-up life you imagined, but doing those hard things will ultimately get you what you really want. Let me explain it this way...