Author: Joseph M. Brennan Jr.

Happiness Is Easy: A Simple Guide For Creating Greater Joy, Inspiration, and Positivity In Life

Posted on by Joseph M. Brennan Jr.

This article presents a wonderful way in which to create greater joy, inspiration, and positivity in life by regularly performing assessments, reflecting on these, and making adjustments accordingly such that you begin to fill more of your time with that which promotes a sense of joy, inspiration, and positivity in your life and less with that which does not. This includes the tasks, chores, and work that you perform, the people that you spend your time with, and the activities that you engage in. By mindfully evaluating and reflecting upon these areas of your life, on a regular basis, you will be able to readily determine which of these aspects promote a sense of joy, inspiration, and positivity in your life and which do not. For those aspects that do you will want to mindfully and intentionally fill more of your time with these. For those aspects which do not you will want to either find creative ways in which to make these aspects more positive in nature or seek to remove yourself from or minimize your participation in these.

Concerning ways in which to modify aspects such that they become more positive in nature, one example might be related to work. For example, if the work that you regularly perform tends to be somewhat boring in nature then you might seek ways in which to make the work more interesting. One way to do this might be to seek to gain knowledge or develop skills which might serve to benefit you both at work and outside of work or provide transferrable knowledge and skills to other types of work that you might have greater interest in. Concerning aspects which you cannot modify or moderate in some fashion then you might seek to distance yourself from or minimize your participation in these. For example, if select individuals that you regularly spend your time with tend to create drama and negativity in your life, then you might want to mindfully and intentionally create distance, or remove yourself completely, at least until that point in time where you can be in the presence of these individuals and remain unaffected. Frequently, people will continue to maintain relationships with others even when they are negative, hurtful, unhealthy, or detrimental in nature. Don’t do this to yourself. It can sap your energy and fill you with negative thoughts and feelings. A better way to proceed is to mindfully evaluate your relationships, from time to time, and participate more in those that tend to be positive in nature and less in those which are not. This goes for all types of relationships to include romantic partners, friendships, family members, co-workers, and acquaintances.

Each of these are examples of ways in which to progress towards living a happier life: filling more of your life with the positive and removing or distancing yourself from that which tends to be negative in nature. By mindfully, intentionally, and incrementally progressing towards the positive and away from the negative you will develop a greater sense of joy, inspiration, and positivity in your life. And this will feel wonderful. And this will energize and motivate you. And this will benefit not only yourself, but also others who surround you. How much joy, inspiration, and positivity can you stand? Well, you will soon find out as soon as you begin to live your life in this fashion. Yes, happiness is easy. You just have to mindfully, intentionally, and incrementally take the steps to get you there. Make it your lifelong goal to regularly fill more of your time doing that which brings you happiness and less doing that which does not. Remain ever mindful of this over the days, weeks, months, and years of your life. In doing so, you will create and experience a wonderful life filled with all of the joy, inspiration, and positivity you can possibly imagine. You can start creating this life today. So, do this for yourself if you can. And if you need any help with this you know who to ask.

This article describes one way in which to create greater joy, inspiration, and positivity in life by putting more time and energy towards the positive aspects and less time and energy towards the negative aspects. I hope that some of you will find this article to be informative, helpful, and inspirational. To date I’ve written several articles related to creating and living a happier life. Click on “Personal Improvement, Development, and Growth Related Posts” on the sidebar to the right or below (depending upon which device you are using) if you would like to read some of these other articles for helpful tips on how to create greater peace, happiness, and progress in life if you think they might be helpful to you or to others in your life.

This and other happiness and self-improvement related tips are provided throughout my self-help oriented books: https://brighterdayslifecoaching.com/published-books-and-life-coaching-services/ 

#selfimprovement #selfhelp #selfdevelopment #intention #fulfillment #success #inspiration #happiness

For those that do not know, I perform life coaching and training services in two primary areas: 1) Personal and Professional Improvement, Development, and Growth, and 2) Financial Planning, Management, and Investing. As such, I generally alternate the articles that I write via my blogs between these two topic areas. This particular article is associated with the first area that I life coach in. So if you don’t have much interest in personal and professional improvement, development, and growth, rest assured that soon I will write an article which will be in the area that you might have greater interest in; the financial planning, management, and investing area. You can also follow me on Twitter if you like at: Joseph M Brennan Jr @ BrighterDaysLC

Please contact me if you, or someone else in your life, could use some assistance with either of the two primary areas that I actively perform life coaching in. You can learn more about each of these areas by clicking on the menu, footer, and sidebar items.

Joseph M. Brennan Jr.
CEO/Life Coach – Brighter Days Life Coaching
“Your Brighter Days Life Coach for Life”

6-27-2013BrennanPhotos-Main1

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Make a Bad Day Better
Make a Good Day Better
Create a Brighter Life

☆°▪︎ THE PAGE OF FUTURE DAYS ▪︎°☆

Posted on by Joseph M. Brennan Jr.

Today

.

I

.

.

f

e

l

l

.

.

into

.

t

h

e

. 

dreaming

rays

.

o

f

.

a

warming,

.

romantic

haze . . .

–

–

–

.

.

.

 ~ of

.

a

.

passing

moment

.

I

.

hope

.

a

n

d

.

pray,

.

w

i

l

l

.

never

.

fade . . .

–

–

–

.

.

.

Were

.

y

o

u

.

able

.

t

o

.

feel

.

t

h

e

.

subtle

.

embrace . . .

–

–

–

.

.

.

 ~ the

timid

touch

.

o

f

.

the

loving

gaze . . .

–

–

–

.

.

.

f

o

r

–

–

–

although

.

n

o

.

words

.

w

e

r

e

.

exchanged,

.

.

they

.

w

e

r

e

.

gently

etched

.

upon

.

m

y

.

face . . .

–

–

–

.

.

.

a

n

d

–

–

–

within

.

t

h

e

.

eyes

.

t

h

a

t

.

tentatively

. 

glanced

.

y

o

u

r

.

way,

.

.

b

u

t

.

.

simply

could

.

n

o

t

.

say . . .

–

–

–

.

.

.

 ~ no,

they

.

simply

could

.

n

o

t

.

say . . .

–

–

–

.

.

.

s

o

–

–

–

the

memory

.

f

o

r

.

now,

.

.

remains

.

upon

.

t

h

e

.

page

.

o

f

.

future

days,

.

.

where

.

i

t

.

will

.

.

sing,

.

.

a

n

d

.

.

play,

.

.

a

n

d

.

.

dance,

.

.

a

n

d

.

.

sway . . .

–

–

–

.

.

.

f

o

r

–

–

–

all

.

t

h

e

.

time

.

which

.

y

e

t

.

remains . . .

–

–

–

.

.

.

like

.

sand

castles

.

scattered

.

a

l

l

.

along

.

t

h

e

.

bay,

.

.

where

time

.

brings

forth

. 

opportunity

.

o

r

.

renewed

faith . . .

–

–

–

.

.

.

a

n

d

–

–

–

builds

upon

.

t

h

e

.

charm,

–

– 

beauty,

–

–

magic,

.

a

n

d

.

grace,

.

.

o

r

.

.

simply

washes

–

–

them

.

a

l

l

.

away

.

.

f

o

r

e

v

e

r

.

.

to

join

.

t

h

e

.

torn,

.

.

a

n

d

.

.

crumpled,

.

.

a

n

d

.

.

tossed

.

a

w

a

y

. 

pages . . .

–

–

–

.

.

.

o

f

–

–

–

far

.

off

.

a

n

d

.

fading

.

yesterdays.

Reflection: This was a romantic-themed poem that I wrote back in February of 2015 where a brief, subtle, but powerful romantic experience is encountered but only weakly secured – leaving the reader to wonder whether such experience might lead to something more powerful and substantial in the future. I’ve had several experiences like this in my life as I’m sure many others have.

Powerful Risk Management Strategies For Dividend Stocks

Posted on by Joseph M. Brennan Jr.

This article informs how to effectively manage risk for stocks to include those which regularly pay dividends. For those of you who have been following my stock market investing activities you know that I have been recently buying dividend stocks to include Schnitzer Steel (SCHN) and AGL Resources (GAS). Dividend stocks offer unique opportunities to realize gains due to quarterly, or sometimes even monthly, dividend payments as well as the potential appreciation in the stock prices. This combination can allow you to patiently execute your disciplined strategies and improve your chances of realizing significant gains over timte. This can happen even when the stocks you are initially holding significantly decline. In fact, I often earn greater gains overall when the stocks that I initially buy decline, because I tend to grow my position over time through price averaging such that when the stocks I’m holding stage a rally a larger profit is earned across my overall investment accounts.

Here’s an example of some of the strategies that I employ which work fairly well; especially for stocks which pay a dividend. Imagine that you initially buy 200 shares of XYZ stock at a notional price of $10.00 which pays an annual dividend of 5%. The very next step that I now take for all stocks that I initially buy is to decide “up front” what I reasonably consider to be a substantial gain in the stock price. This can vary depending on the nature of the stock, but I usually target a 5%-10% gain as a reasonable substantial gain for many of the stocks that I’ve held although for those which tend to be highly volatile in nature I might try to get 15% or 20%. Let’s assume that we consider a 10% gain to be a reasonable expectation for a substantial gain in the XYZ stock. I next proceed with immediately putting in a sell order for the shares I initially bought at a sale price of $11.00 (10% gain from the $10.00 price that I initially bought them at). If the price ever touches $11.00 the shares would then be immediately sold for this “substantial” gain. This “up front” strategy is something that I use for all stocks that I buy, not just dividend stocks. However, here is a demonstration of an additional strategy that I now employ for dividend stocks: If the XYZ stock price declines by twice as much as the annual dividend (a 10% decline in this example since the notional XYZ stock paid a 5% dividend) then I price average into it by doubling down on the stock at that point in time. Thus, the initial 10% loss would be immediately transformed into a 5% loss. A loss which could notionally be completely erased in a year’s time by the dividend payouts alone even if the stock does not appreciate in value within that timeframe. In addition, for the new set of shares I purchased, I would again decide “up front” what I considered to be a substantial gain (e.g., 10% gain) and proceed with immediately putting in a sell order for this set of shares at the 10% gain price to immediately cash in on this should the stock ever touch this price. If the XYZ stock declines another 5% (10% loss total overall) then I would again double down on the stock to transform that 10% loss into a 5% loss which could again potentially be completely mitigated solely by the dividend payouts in a years time and once again decide “up front” what I considered to be a substantial gain for these new shares (e.g., 10% gain) and proceed with putting in a sell order for these shares at the 10% gain price. Even if the XYZ stock experiences a series of back-to-back significant declines you can grow your position and posture yourself for potential future gains, because declining stocks generally do not go down in a straight line. They tend to rise and fall over time. So chances are that if you are patient, and stick with your strategy, you will realize substantial gains due to the combined effect of the dividend payments and the stock price appreciation. This combined effect can significantly reduce your risk and increase your chances of success. Typically, when employing these strategies, I target stocks which pay between 3% and 5% in annual dividends. Anything less does not buy you much in terms of managing risk via these strategies and anything above is typically unsustainable and likely to result in future dividend cuts or suspensions unless the investments you are targeting historically have paid higher dividends such as some Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) and high yield bond funds.

The above strategies do not consider the tax implications of the dividends or capital gains which might be earned so you might want to make adjustments if you would like to factor these in. In addition, there is always the chance that dividend payouts could be reduced or suspended, however, frequently dividends are increased over time. In either case, the above strategies work fairly well as a starting point, but you should periodically evaluate how well your strategies are working for you towards supporting your investment goals and make adjustments over time to improve the effectiveness of the strategies that you employ. I have developed and employed many investment strategies over the years, some of which I have written about in these articles, and frequently have evaluated these strategies and made adjustments to them over time such that they better supported my investment needs. I encourage you to do the same.

The strategies that I have presented in this article will allow you to take advantage of the natural volatile nature of stocks such that even those which significantly decline over time can result in minimal losses or perhaps even substantial gains. Often, these strategies will result in a series of buys on significant declines and a series of sells on significant rallies as well as dividend payouts for the shares that you hold the night immediately preceding the established ex-dividend dates. Selling a portion of your gains all along the way allows you to use the cash that you raise to buy additional shares should the stocks you are holding reverse and decline if the risk-reward for these stocks remain favorable in nature.

Substantial gains can often be realized using these strategies, if you are patient, because lagging stocks frequently become leading stocks over time and the dividend payments from dividend stocks can allow you to receive incremental gains all along the way while you patiently wait for the stock price appreciation to happen. Developing and refining strategies “up front”, such as those that I have discussed in this article, is critical to your success as an investor. Doing this well can transform you from being an emotional investor into a disciplined one who realizes steady and consistent success over time. I have developed several solid strategies for clients that I work with depending on the client’s risk category, the type and nature of the stocks being considered, the investing environment at the time, and the risk-reward indicators that I generally look at. Feel free to contact me if you’d like to find out more.

This article informs how to effectively manage risk for stocks through pre-planning and effective techniques and strategies to include stocks which regularly pay dividends; even when the stocks you are holding significantly decline. Part of being a solid investor is recognizing opportunities when you see them and promptly capitalizing on them when the risk-reward of securities you are tracking become highly favorable (as a buyer) or highly unfavorable (as a potential seller or short seller) in nature. By periodically rotating out of investments which become less favorable and into investment opportunities which become more favorable in nature you will realize consistent investment success over time. You won’t make winning investments all of the time, but the point is to use strategies and techniques which allow you to make winning investments for much of the time. I can help in these regards.

Please contact me if you need any assistance with any of your financial planning, management, and/or investing needs as this is one of the areas that I actively perform life coaching and training in. Also feel free to click on “Financial Planning, Management, and Investing Related Posts” to the sidebar on the right or below (depending upon which device you are using to view this article) for helpful tips on how to become a solid investor. These articles provide helpful tips on how to become a solid investor so read through some of these if you think they might be helpful to you. In addition, in case some of you would like to follow along, here is where I regularly post about my stock market activities. So feel free to visit this page if you would like to follow what I’m doing in the stock market at any given time.

For those that did not know, I generally perform life coaching and training services in two primary areas: 1) Personal and Professional Improvement, Development, and Growth, and 2) Financial Planning, Management, and Investing. As such, I generally alternate the articles that I write via my blogs between these two topic areas. This particular article is associated with the second area that I life coach in. So if you do not have much interest in financial planning, management, and investing, rest assured that one of the next articles that I write will be in the area that you might have greater interest in; the personal and professional improvement, development, and growth area. You can also follow me on Twitter if you like at: Joseph M Brennan Jr @ BrighterDaysLC

Joseph M. Brennan Jr.
CEO/Life Coach – Brighter Days Life Coaching
“Your Brighter Days Life Coach for Life”

6-27-2013BrennanPhotos-Main1

 

 

 

 

 

 

Make a Bad Day Better
Make a Good Day Better
Create a Brighter Life

 

How to Create a Sense of Joy, Peace, Inspiration, and Adventure In Your Life Through Mindfulness and Intention

Posted on by Joseph M. Brennan Jr.

This article presents one way in which to create greater joy, peace, fun, and inspiration in your life by mindfully and intentionally slowing down a bit and moving at a patient, enjoyable, leisurely pace from time to time; creating a sense of unrestricted, childlike freedom, wonder, mystery, curiosity, exploration, interest, and adventure in the process. Can you simply let go every once in awhile, relinquish control, and be open to allowing things to unfold mysteriously, in any manner that they might, and then gently and lovingly responding accordingly to whatever happens however it happens? Some of this might involve being receptive to changes in plans, activities, and routines such as being amenable to doing different kinds of things or going to different places or locations than you usually might. Some of this might even involve doing the same kinds of activities, but being open to experiencing them differently such as modifying them a bit to make them more enjoyable, fulfilling, or inspirational in nature, processing them differently, performing them at different times, or changing routes to experience alternate perspectives. Try living your life in this fashion, from time to time, and notice how soothing, peaceful, and enjoyable it feels whenever you are able to do this.

Anytime that I operate in this manner I tell myself that it will be interesting to see what happens, interesting to see who I might come into contact with, and interesting to see how things might play out. I ponder who I might see along the way or how differently things might look or feel. So experience the release. Experience the joy. And experience the fresh, free-wheeling, free-spirited fun. Be open, fluid, and flexible, for moments at a time, knowing that any slight change or variation can introduce new experiences, new faces that you might come across, a change in scenery, and widely varied sources of inspiration if you are receptive to these. Engage your imagination and creativity, in these moments, allowing them to play a little and to run wild and free. Be observant and reflective and be childlike and playful in nature by deeply and fully experiencing the wonder, the magic, and the mystery that such moments can bring. Marvel with eyes of wonder and allow yourself to become absorbed in your surroundings, your inspiration, and in your experiences. Maintain an open, peaceful, observant, reflective, and relaxed state of mind throughout this process. Try doing this for yourself from time to time and notice how wonderful it feels. Then start mindfully and intentionally doing this a little more often in your life. Plant these seeds of change and watch them blossom into an abundance of joy, peace, fun, freedom, inspiration, and adventure in your life. Aspects which will benefit not only yourself, but also others who surround you. What a wonderful life we could all share if we lived more of our lives in this fashion instead of always moving at a stressful, hurried, painful pace the way that we so often do.

You can create and experience a wonderful life filled with all of the joy, peace, fun, freedom, inspiration, and adventure you can possibly imagine by spending more of your life moving at a patient, pleasurable, leisurely pace instead at a painful, stressful, hurried pace. So try doing this for yourself if you can. And if you need any help with this you know who to ask.

This article describes one way in which create a life full of joy, peace, fun, and inspiration in your life by slowing down a bit, from time to time, and moving at a patient, enjoyable, leisurely pace. I hope that some of you will find this article to be helpful. To date I’ve written several articles related to creating and living a happier life. Click on “Personal Improvement, Development, and Growth Related Posts” on the sidebar to the right or below (depending upon which device you are using) if you would like to read some of these other articles for helpful tips on how to create greater peace, happiness, and progress in life if you think they might be helpful to you or to others in your life.

This and other happiness and self-improvement related tips are provided throughout my self-help oriented books: https://brighterdayslifecoaching.com/published-books-and-life-coaching-services/ 

#selfimprovement #selfhelp #selfdevelopment #intention #fulfillment #success #inspiration #happiness

For those that do not know, I perform life coaching and training services in two primary areas: 1) Personal and Professional Improvement, Development, and Growth, and 2) Financial Planning, Management, and Investing. As such, I generally alternate the articles that I write via my blogs between these two topic areas. This particular article is associated with the first area that I life coach in. So if you don’t have much interest in personal and professional improvement, development, and growth, rest assured that soon I will write an article which will be in the area that you might have greater interest in; the financial planning, management, and investing area. You can also follow me on Twitter if you like at: Joseph M Brennan Jr @ BrighterDaysLC Please contact me if you, or someone else in your life, could use some assistance with either of the two primary areas that I actively perform life coaching in. You can learn more about each of these areas by clicking on the menu, footer, and sidebar items.

 

Joseph M. Brennan Jr.
CEO/Life Coach – Brighter Days Life Coaching
“Your Brighter Days Life Coach for Life”

6-27-2013BrennanPhotos-Main1

 

 

 

 

 

 

Make a Bad Day Better
Make a Good Day Better
Create a Brighter Life

 

☆°▪︎ WHEN DREAMS COULD TRUST ▪︎°☆

Posted on by Joseph M. Brennan Jr.

Back

.

when

.

w

e

.

danced

.

among 

.

t

h

e

.

young,

–

–

romance

.

would

.

blossom

.

beneath

.

t

h

e

.

sun,

.

.

a

n

d

.

.

linger

.

long

.

after

.

t

h

e

.

days

.

w

e

r

e

.

done . . .

–

–

–

.

.

.

 ~ it

would

.

linger

.

long

.

after

.

t

h

e

.

days

.

w

e

r

e

.

done . . .

–

–

–

.

.

.

f

o

r

–

–

–

it

.

w

a

s

.

easy 

.

t

o

.

become

.

absorbed

.

b

y

.

the

.

frolic

.

a

n

d

.

fun . . .

–

–

–

.

.

.

 ~ easy

.

f

o

r

.

two

.

t

o

.

merge

.

i

n

t

o

.

one,

–

–

pledging

.

mutual

.

devotion

.

t

o

.

each

.

other’s

.

someone . . .

–

–

–

.

.

.

f

o

r

–

–

–

those

were

.

t

h

e

.

days,

–

–

when

dreams

–

–

could

trust . . .

–

–

–

.

.

.

 ~ those

were

.

t

h

e

.

days,

–

–

when

.

we

.

.

f

e

l

l

.

.

in

.

love

.

w

i

t

h

.

love.

Reflection: This was a romantic-themed poem that I wrote back in February of 2015 where the contemplator looks back on a time when the barriers to love and romance were low and easy to navigate. a brief, subtle, but powerful romantic experience is encountered but only weakly secured – leaving the reader to wonder whether such experience might lead to something more powerful and substantial in the future. I’ve had several experiences like this in my life as I’m sure many others have.

The Cool, Calm, and Collected Investor: How To Minimize Losses and Even Achieve Gains When Investments Sharply Decline

Posted on by Joseph M. Brennan Jr.

This article informs how to effectively manage risk by minimizing losses and transforming these losses into gains over time when investments sharply decline. For those of you who have been following my stock market investing activities you know that I have been actively buying and selling shares of an oil company called Seadrill (SDRL) over the past couple of months. At the recent bottom, a couple of weeks ago, this stock had lost about 43% since I first started buying it back in late November, but I was able to transform this loss into a substantial gain. Patience, discipline, and the use of effective techniques are the keys to success when stocks that you initially buy significantly decline. Effective techniques that I used in this particular example were price averaging and the periodic selling of technical “bounces” by taking advantage of the natural volatility of stocks. These techniques can work well, because stocks generally do not go down in a straight line. They tend to rise and fall over time.

Here’s a sample scenario which demonstrates how to effectively use these techniques. Imagine that you buy 200 shares of SDRL at a notional price of $10.00 ($2,000 invested total). A week later the stock falls to $9.00 which is a 10% loss. At that point you decide to invest another $2,000 and buy 222 shares of SDRL resulting in an average price per share of $9.48 ($4,000 total invested/422 total shares = $9.48 per share). This technique demonstrates the concept of price averaging.

Upon buying the second set of shares (the 222 shares of SDRL at $9.00 per share in this case) you can immediately place a sell order for these shares for whatever you consider to be a substantial gain for these particular shares. Let’s say, for illustration purposes, that you decide on a 10% gain or a price of $9.90. You would then monitor the stock and if it approaches the 10% gain for those shares then you might either manually execute the sell order prior to reaching the $9.90 price or wait until it is automatically triggered at the $9.90 price. If it sells at 9.90 then you will have received $2,198 for the $2,000 invested in these shares. If the stock drops again to, say, $9.00 you might again buy the shares at this price. In this case, you might invest another $2,000 (and retain the remaining $198 as your profit) buying 222 shares which once again results in an average price per share of $9.48. And you can continue this process throughout the ups and downs of stock prices by taking advantage of the natural volatile nature of stocks such that even those that decline significantly over time can result in you experiencing minimal losses or perhaps even realizing some substantial gains as I was able to do with the SDRL stock over the past couple of months. Often, this strategy will result in a series of buys on significant declines and a series of sells on significant rallies. However, by operating in the fashion described above you will only be selling each set of shares whenever they experience significant gains which will, at worst, minimize your losses or, at best, generate significant gains in time.

One of the keys to successful investing involves being prepared in case things do not turn out the way you might initially expect such that you can capitalize either way that things might go. The above strategy allowed me transform an initial 43% loss into a substantial gain. A substantial gain is often likely if you are patient, because, in the investment world, frequently lagging stocks become leading stocks, over time, and so long as the risk-reward indicators remain favorable in nature it makes sense to continue buying and/or holding shares of these stocks.

Selling a portion of your gains all along the way allows you to use the cash you raise to buy additional shares should the stocks you are holding reverse and begin to decline. Because in the world of investing nothing is ever certain. This is why developing and refining strategies “up front” is so critical to success. Doing this can transform you from being an emotional investor into a disciplined one who realizes steady and consistent success over time. I have solid risk management strategies that I have developed for various investment types and investing environments, for the clients that I work with, so feel free to contact me if you’d like to find out more.

This article informs how to make the most of investment situations through pre-planning and effective techniques and strategies; even when the stocks you are holding significantly decline. Part of being a solid investor is recognizing opportunities when you see them and promptly capitalizing on them when the risk-reward of securities you are tracking become highly favorable (as a buyer) or highly unfavorable (as a potential seller or short seller) in nature. By periodically rotating out of investments which become less favorable and into investment opportunities which become more favorable in nature you will realize consistent investment success over time. You won’t make winning investments all of the time, but the point is to use strategies and techniques which allow you to make winning investments for much of the time. I can help in these regards.

Please contact me if you need any assistance with any of your financial planning, management, and/or investing needs as this is one of the areas that I actively perform life coaching and training in. Also feel free to click on “Financial Planning, Management, and Investing Related Posts” to the sidebar on the right or below (depending upon which device you are using to view this article) for helpful tips on how to become a solid investor. These articles provide helpful tips on how to become a solid investor so read through some of these if you think they might be helpful to you. In addition, in case some of you would like to follow along, here is where I regularly post about my stock market activities. So feel free to visit this page if you would like to follow what I’m doing in the stock market at any given time.

For those that did not know, I generally perform life coaching and training services in two primary areas: 1) Personal and Professional Improvement, Development, and Growth, and 2) Financial Planning, Management, and Investing. As such, I generally alternate the articles that I write via my blogs between these two topic areas. This particular article is associated with the second area that I life coach in. So if you do not have much interest in financial planning, management, and investing, rest assured that one of the next articles that I write will be in the area that you might have greater interest in; the personal and professional improvement, development, and growth area. You can also follow me on Twitter if you like at: Joseph M Brennan Jr @ BrighterDaysLC

 

Joseph M. Brennan Jr.
CEO/Life Coach – Brighter Days Life Coaching
“Your Brighter Days Life Coach for Life”

6-27-2013BrennanPhotos-Main1

 

 

 

 

 

 

Make a Bad Day Better
Make a Good Day Better
Create a Brighter Life

 

☆°▪︎ THE BEGINNING OF THE END ▪︎°☆

Posted on by Joseph M. Brennan Jr.

I

cannot

.

d

o

.

either . . .

–

–

–

.

.

.

a

n

d

–

–

–

I

cannot

.

d

o

.

both . . .

–

–

–

.

.

.

There

.

i

s

.

nowhere

.

t

o

.

turn . . .

–

–

–

.

.

.

a

n

d

–

–

–

nowhere

.

t

o

.

go . . .

–

–

–

.

.

.

 ~ there

.

i

s

.

nowhere

.

t

o

.

turn . . .

–

–

–

.

.

.

a

n

d

–

–

–

nowhere

.

t

o

.

go . . .

–

–

–

.

.

.

s

o

–

–

–

it

must

.

b

e

.

the

beginning,

.

.

o

f

.

.

the

end,

.

.

o

f

.

.

the

road . . .

–

–

–

.

.

.

 ~ the

beginning,

.

.

o

f

.

.

the

end,

.

.

o

f

.

.

the

journey

.

.

I’ve

known . . .

–

–

–

.

.

.

f

o

r

–

–

–

what

.

once

.

w

a

s

.

wonder

.

a

n

d

.

warmth,

.

.

h

a

s

.

.

become

.

bitter

.

a

n

d

.

cold . . .

–

–

–

.

.

.

a

n

d

–

–

–

what

.

once

.

w

a

s

.

youthful

.

a

n

d

.

new,

.

.

h

a

s

.

.

become

.

brittle

.

a

n

d

.

old . . .

–

–

–

.

.

.

 ~ it

.

h

a

s

.

become

.

brittle

.

a

n

d

.

old . . .

–

–

–

.

.

.

s

o

–

–

–

I

stand

.

a

l

l

.

alone . . .

–

–

–

.

.

.

I

stand

.

a

l

l

.

alone . . .

–

–

–

.

.

.

I

stand

.

a

l

l

.

alone . . .

–

–

–

.

.

.

I

stand

.

a

l

l

.

alone . . .

–

–

–

.

.

.

w

i

t

h

–

–

–

this

secret

.

i

n

.

my

soul . . .

–

–

–

.

.

.

I

stand

.

a

l

l

.

alone . . .

–

–

–

.

.

.

I

stand

.

a

l

l

.

alone . . .

–

–

–

.

.

.

I

stand

.

a

l

l

.

alone . . .

–

–

–

.

.

.

f

o

r

–

–

–

I

cannot

.

d

o

.

either . . .

–

–

–

.

.

.

a

n

d

–

–

–

I

cannot

.

d

o

.

both.

Reflection: This was a personal struggle-themed poem that I wrote back in January of 2015 where the affected party occupies a difficult position and becomes so conflicted between two painful choices that he/she becomes frozen in time and cannot move forward – not realizing of course that failing to make a choice automatically results in the default choice.

Creating A Life Full Of Passion, Purpose, Fun, And Fulfillment

Posted on by Joseph M. Brennan Jr.

This article describes one way in which to create a life full of passion, purpose, fun, and fulfillment: Beginning with the end in mind. That’s right. Imagine that you are at the end of your life looking back. What life would you have wanted to live? What person would you have wanted to become? What influences would you have wanted to have? What contributions would you have wanted to make? What experiences would you have wanted to have? What relationships would you have wanted to share? What world would you have wanted to create and leave behind? Yes. The important life questions become much more apparent when you begin with the end in mind. Reflecting on your life in this fashion can influence you to initiate the changes needed, starting from where you are today, in order to realize some of these other aspects over time. You may not be able to do them all, but by balancing your greatest desires with the amount of time and effort it might potentially take to achieve each of these a sense of priority can become more apparent.

Some people prefer to contribute in the more micro sense via their personal relationships, families, friends, and local communities. Some people prefer to contribute in the more macro sense via humanity, nature, and the world. Some people prefer to contribute in a combined sense by doing a little of each. For example, in the micro sense, you might strongly desire having a family and nurturing the growth of your children. If this is the case, then you might contribute more to the current relationship that you have if it’s going well or, if you are single, then you might perform activities which are more social in nature, date more regularly, and/or create opportunities for performing the interests that you have in more social environments to create greater opportunities to meet that special someone. In the macro sense, you might decide to work towards a career which directly supports the macro aspects that you greatly desire to support, start performing volunteer work, and/or support various causes. In the combined sense, you might decide to perform a little of each of these aspects and/or focus on becoming the person you most desire to become in support of your most desired micro and/or macro life contributions. For each of these cases keep in mind, however, that your desires can change over time so it’s helpful to repeat your “end of life” evaluation from time to time and to make adjustments accordingly. For example, someone might strongly desire to contribute to the growth and development of his or her children during one stage of life, but once the children have gotten older or left home, strongly desire to contribute in other ways.

By reflecting on these “end of life contribution” desires and creating a life in accordance with these you will avoid the emptiness you might feel later in life should you ask yourself the haunting question: “What did I do with my life?” I’ve thought about such questions often in my life. Questions which have influenced me to: (1) write and publish poetry earlier in my life, (2) develop the books, training seminars, and articles that I currently develop as well as the life coaching services that I regularly perform, and (3) live ever mindfully out of kindness and respect for all living and breathing beings both in the world of today and in the world of tomorrow. Some of my “end of life” desires include offering inspiration, hope, joy, optimism, comfort, and confidence to others such that they live happier lives. Hopefully, the work that I am presently performing offer these aspects to you and to others in your life. Writing is probably my most preferred form of communication, because written works have frequently continued to offer such contributions long after a life has ended. So many books that I have read from departed authors have still influenced me today.

You can create and experience a wonderful life filled with all of the passion, purpose, fun, and fulfillment you can possibly imagine by putting more of your energy towards creating a life which reflects your greatest desires and less energy towards those aspects which do not. So try doing this for yourself if you can. And if you need any assistance with this you know who to ask.

This article describes one way in which create a life of passion, purpose, fun, and fulfillment, by starting with the end in mind, such that you put more energy towards creating a life which reflects your greatest desires and less energy towards those aspects which do not. I hope that some of you will find this article to be helpful. To date I’ve written several articles related to creating and living a happier life. Click on “Personal Improvement, Development, and Growth Related Posts” on the sidebar to the right or below (depending upon which device you are using) if you would like to read some of these other articles for helpful tips on how to create greater peace, happiness, and progress in life if you think they might be helpful to you or to others in your life.

This and other happiness and self-improvement related tips are provided throughout my self-help oriented books: https://brighterdayslifecoaching.com/published-books-and-life-coaching-services/ 

#selfimprovement #selfhelp #selfdevelopment #intention #fulfillment #success #inspiration #happiness

For those that do not know, I perform life coaching and training services in two primary areas: 1) Personal and Professional Improvement, Development, and Growth, and 2) Financial Planning, Management, and Investing. As such, I generally alternate the articles that I write via my blogs between these two topic areas. This particular article is associated with the first area that I life coach in. So if you don’t have much interest in personal and professional improvement, development, and growth, rest assured that soon I will write an article which will be in the area that you might have greater interest in; the financial planning, management, and investing area. You can also follow me on Twitter if you like at: Joseph M Brennan Jr @ BrighterDaysLC

Please contact me if you, or someone else in your life, could use some assistance with either of the two primary areas that I actively perform life coaching in. You can learn more about each of these areas by clicking on the menu, footer, and sidebar items.

 

Joseph M. Brennan Jr.
CEO/Life Coach – Brighter Days Life Coaching
“Your Brighter Days Life Coach for Life”

6-27-2013BrennanPhotos-Main1

 

 

 

 

 

 

Make a Bad Day Better
Make a Good Day Better
Create a Brighter Life

 

Key Investment Results and Findings From 2014 and Refinements to Investment Strategies and Techniques

Posted on by Joseph M. Brennan Jr.

This article offers a reflection on key investment related results and findings from 2014 and informs how to make the most of investment situations through pre-planning and the development and refinement of investment strategies and techniques.

 

So… The results are now officially in. I was able to beat each of the major stock market indexes in 2014. My personal investment account earned 20.8% while my much smaller Roth IRA account (which is subject to more stringent rules, such as no margin and more stringent buying and selling rules, making investing a bit more challenging) earned 9.0%. Between the two I collectively earned a 19.2% gain, which is nearly a 3 year gain on average, and was over five times the Russell 2000 index’s year end gain of 3.6%, nearly triple the Dow Jones Industrial Average index’s year end gain of 7.5%, and almost double the S&P 500 index’s gain of 11.4%. So, overall, this was a highly successful investment year for me. Especially since 85% of actively managed fund managers lagged the benchmark indexes they were seeking to beat in 2014 making it their worst year in 30 years.

The key to my investment success this past year was strong discipline and the active assessment and refinement of my investment strategies and techniques. Early in the year my investment account was down 33% due to some stocks which continuously declined, but I kept buying into them, because the risk-reward indicators that I generally look at were highly favorable in nature and often lagging stocks eventually become leading stocks. So I patiently waited for the rebound to happen and sure enough it did. Years ago, as a young investor, I might have made the classic investing mistake by panicking and selling at the bottom; fully realizing the 33% loss in the process. However, strong discipline allowed me to continue executing my investment strategies. And it takes a lot of discipline to keep buying into stocks which sharply decline in value and to patiently wait for rebounds to happen.

Once I was able to fully recover from my early losses, I made adjustments to my investment strategies and techniques to better align them with my desired investment risks. I made adjustments to my risk-reward thresholds as well as my investment trade execution amounts. These refinements allowed me to greatly capitalize on the mid September-to-mid October market slump where the overall stock market lost nearly 10% and then rapidly gained over 11% over a period of about 3 weeks or so. During that period of time my investment account lost 6%, but then rose 22% over the three week recovery period; beating the S&P 500 Index both on the way down and on the way up. So my refined investment strategies and techniques allowed me experience less downside as well as greater upside with respect to the overall S&P 500 Index which indicates that the refinements I made were fairly effective overall.

One key message here is that it is important to maintain a sense of discipline by defining your investment strategies and techniques “up front” and executing these accordingly. Solid investment strategies and techniques need to define what actions you will take either way things might go: whether the stocks you purchase rise or whether they fall. Because, in the investment world, things do not always play out the way you might initially expect, but either way things go your investment strategies and techniques should allow you to frequently capitalize. Mine do. Another key message here is to always seek to refine your investment strategies and techniques so that you continue to maximize the benefit you get out of these. When I experienced the 33% loss early in 2014, I came to realize that my investment strategies and techniques were a bit too risky for my purposes, so I made refinements to these. Refinements which allowed me to greatly capitalize later in the year. I’ve made several refinements to my investment techniques and strategies over the years. The investment techniques and strategies that I use today look nothing like those that I used during my early investment days. So make it a regular practice to evaluate and refine the investment techniques and strategies that you use over time.

This article informs how to make the most of investment situations through pre-planning and the development and refinement of investment strategies and techniques. Part of being a solid investor involves effectively performing pre-planning and executing in accordance with your pre-defined strategies and techniques in a disciplined fashion; taking actions to exit investments which become unfavorable in nature (as a seller) and capitalizing on new investment opportunities which become favorable in nature (as a buyer). By periodically rotating out of investments which become less favorable and into investment opportunities which become more favorable in nature you will realize consistent investment success over time. You won’t make winning investments all of the time, but the point is to use strategies and techniques which allow you to make winning investments for much of the time. Being a solid investor also involves recognizing opportunities when you see them and promptly capitalizing on them when the risk-reward of securities you are tracking become highly favorable (as a buyer) or highly unfavorable (as a potential seller or short seller) in nature. You always want to be thinking several “moves” ahead of the stock market and have an idea of what you might do at every turn. Solid investment strategies and techniques will allow you to do this such that you become a disciplined investor who realizes consistent success over time instead of being an emotional investor who frequently loses money and misses out on key opportunities. I can work with you to help you determine which techniques and strategies might be the most appropriate for you to use for your particular investment situations, risk categories, and time horizons.

Please contact me if you need any assistance with any of your financial planning, management, and/or investing needs as this is one of the areas that I actively perform life coaching and training in. Also feel free to click on “Financial Planning, Management, and Investing Related Posts” to the sidebar on the right or below (depending upon which device you are using to view this article) for helpful tips on how to become a solid investor to include some of the topics that I have alluded to in this article such as pre-planning, strategy development, and risk management. These articles provide helpful tips on how to become a solid investor so read through some of these if you think they might be helpful to you or to others in your life. In addition, in case some of you would like to follow along, here is where I regularly post about my stock market activities. So feel free to visit this page if you would like to follow what I’m doing in the stock market at any given time. Some people like to monitor my investment activities and if stocks that I purchase on any given day decline then they seek to buy and if stocks that they own that I sell on any given day rise then they seek to sell since, in either case, they would have gotten a better deal than I. So feel free to follow along and execute your investment strategies accordingly if you so desire.

For those that do not know, I perform life coaching and training services in two primary areas: 1) Personal and Professional Improvement, Development, and Growth, and 2) Financial Planning, Management, and Investing. As such, I generally alternate the articles that I write via my blogs between these two topic areas. This particular article is associated with the second area that I life coach in. So if you don’t have much interest in financial planning, management, and investing rest assured that soon I will write an article which will be in the area that you might have greater interest in; the personal and professional improvement, development, and growth area. You can also follow me on Twitter if you like at: Joseph M Brennan Jr @ BrighterDaysLC

Please contact me if you, or someone else in your life, could use some assistance with either of the two primary areas that I actively perform life coaching in. You can learn more about each of these areas by clicking on the menu, footer, and sidebar items.

Joseph M. Brennan Jr.
CEO/Life Coach – Brighter Days Life Coaching
“Your Brighter Days Life Coach for Life”

6-27-2013BrennanPhotos-Main1

 

 

 

 

 

 

Make a Bad Day Better
Make a Good Day Better
Create a Brighter Life

 

Balance the Heart and Mind in Relationship Situations

Posted on by Joseph M. Brennan Jr.

Selena Gomez once had a catchy song called “The Heart Wants What It Wants” and while I believe that, melodically speaking, it is one of her better songs, lyrically speaking, I would encourage you to think twice before living in this fashion. Too many people solely “listen to their hearts” when they are in negative relationship situations and wonder why they feel so miserable for so much of their lives. It’s okay to listen to your heart so long as you balance this out, from time to time, with thought, logic, and reason. In other words, feel free to follow your heart to some degree but keep your eyes open and put some thought into, and reflect upon, your personal relationship situation from time to time in addition to this.

A good thing to do in this regard is getting yourself into a quiet place and mindfully evaluating your personal relationship situation every once in a while to determine whether it is moving in a more positive direction or in a more negative direction. If the former, then feel free to crank up the volume of your heart and follow it intently – at least until that period of time when you decide to mindfully re-evaluate your relationship situation – because in situations where your personal relationship is strongly positive, it probably makes more sense to turn down the volume on thought, logic, and reason to ensure you do not over think the situation and create issues which are non-existent in nature while turning up the volume on a heart filled with love and desire. If the latter, then it would probably be best to turn down the volume of your heart and turn up the volume on thought, logic, and reason – at least until that period of time when things significantly improve (if ever).In some cases, you might be able to mindfully take actions to improve the relationship situation, while in others the relationship might continue moving in a negative direction due to aspects beyond your control.

In situations where your personal relationship becomes strongly negative, it probably makes sense to listen intently to what your mind and other indicators are telling you and turn down the volume on a heart which might otherwise convince you to remain in a negative – or perhaps even a detrimental – personal relationship situation for a lengthy period of time. Don’t do this to yourself.

Each of these situations essentially involves the same process: getting yourself into a quiet place, taking some time to mindfully evaluate your personal relationship situation, and taking actions which are consistent with the results of this evaluation – perhaps, turning up the volume of the heart and turning down the volume of thought, logic, and reason when things are strongly positive, doing the opposite when things are strongly negative, and doing something in between when things are neither strongly positive nor strongly negative. You can create and experience a wonderful life filled with all of the love and happiness you can possibly imagine by putting your energy into personal relationships which are positive in nature and distancing yourself from those that are negative in nature. So try doing this for yourself if you can.

Selena Gomez’s heart might “want what it wants” but living in this fashion can create a life full of misery unless you happen to be in a personal relationship which is positive in nature. So, evaluate your relationship from time to time. And if you need any assistance with this you know who to ask.

This and other happiness and self-improvement related tips are provided throughout my self-help oriented books: https://brighterdayslifecoaching.com/published-books-and-life-coaching-services/ 

#selfimprovement #selfhelp #selfdevelopment #intention #fulfillment #success #inspiration #happiness

This article describes one way in which to balance the heart’s desires with thought, logic, and reason such that you put more energy towards personal relationship situations which are more positive in nature while distancing yourself from those that are more negative in nature. I hope that some of you who are experiencing similar kinds of challenges will find this article to be helpful. To date I’ve written several articles related to creating and living a happier life. Click on “Personal Improvement, Development, and Growth Related Posts” on the sidebar to the right or below (depending upon which device you are using) if you would like to read some of these other articles for helpful tips on how to create greater peace, happiness, and progress in life if you think they might be helpful to you or to others in your life.

For those that do not know, I perform life coaching and training services in two primary areas: 1) Personal and Professional Improvement, Development, and Growth, and 2) Financial Planning, Management, and Investing. As such, I generally alternate the articles that I write via my blogs between these two topic areas. This particular article is associated with the first area that I life coach in. So if you don’t have much interest in personal and professional improvement, development, and growth, rest assured that soon I will write an article which will be in the area that you might have greater interest in; the financial planning, management, and investing area. You can also follow me on Twitter if you like at: Joseph M Brennan Jr @ BrighterDaysLC

Please contact me if you, or someone else in your life, could use some assistance with either of the two primary areas that I actively perform life coaching in. You can learn more about each of these areas by clicking on the menu, footer, and sidebar items.

Joseph M. Brennan Jr.
CEO/Life Coach – Brighter Days Life Coaching
“Your Brighter Days Life Coach for Life”

6-27-2013BrennanPhotos-Main1

 

 

 

 

 

 

Make a Bad Day Better
Make a Good Day Better
Create a Brighter Life