Author: Dominik Spieler

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Why your whole life can be a big game – reach your goals more easily

Imagine you are climbing a mountain with a friend, but you slide down at one point and fall into the depths. You are now lying in a dark crevice, your friend can no longer hear you and cuts the rope to you because he thinks you have been killed. You’re alone and your leg’s not doing too well either. This is how the climber Joe Simpson, who made a game out of this situation in order to save himself. This post is based on the book Barking up the wrong tree by Eric Barker, I’ve read this weekend. Here’s my summary for you.

Below are the four basic parts of each game that he used to survive:

Reachable

The goals must be attainable for yourself. As a rule of thumb, the author mentions here at least 20% of the time that is devoted to the task you should believe yourself that you can do it. Otherwise, the target is set too high. In the case of the climber, he dragged himself from visible hill to hill, up to the camp from which they set out. When he reached a small goal, he celebrated himself. If he didn’t, he reflected why not and put in a new one. So he crawled until he could see the camp and call for help to be rescued by his friend.
These small “levels” have kept him on the big goal, until success.

If you set yourself a goal, make it a challenge, but an achievable one.

New challenges

Monotony paralyzes us. Something becomes increasingly boring the more often we have to do the same job. In computer games the same mechanics are often used. The levels look different and other ways to reach the goal are needed. So it remains interesting.
A way to use it in a relaxed life: Set your own time limits. The “level” becomes more difficult because it has to be completed in less time. For example, I give myself a time limit for animating my videos. Instead of 4h for one part, I give myself only 3h and see if I can finish animating it. When I made it, I saved an hour. If I don’t make it, however, the increased pressure will make me realize where the potential for improvement has now been uncovered. In this context, the 80/20 rule can be very advantageous. Also: “Better done than perfect!”

New challenges motivate and can be created in all situations.

Clear goals

The goal has been achieved, or not. Black or white. Is the article ready to be published or not? Once it’s released, there’s no turning back. For our climber: has he reached the hill or not. SMART targets can help here:

Simple: what is achieved and who achieves it.
Measurable:  How much of something, for example, to create the animation in a given time. The clock has run out or not.
Achievable: The goals must be achievable for you as a person. If possible in a small window of time, so as not to lose the desire too quickly.
Realistic: Being three times faster than setting goals is not really realistic. It has to be a challenge and nothing that is completely impossible. Even if it’s only impossible at this point in time.
Time limited: Our climber set himself 20 minutes for each additional goal to precisely measure his progress and define small packages that could be reached.

Feedback

In games, we get feedback about achievements and experience points. With every little bit, we get closer to our goal. We notice directly whether we are approaching our goal or moving away from it. That’s why it’s good to set yourself small goals and maybe even mark them in your calendar.
The internet is the perfect place to get feedback, which is why I also publish here. Only with feedback from others can one’s own work become better.

Summary in one sentence

If you need the motivation to go a little further, turn the activity into a game and the motivation will come.

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How you can save 60% of your monthly income – I do it for years now

With the help of this article, you will learn a method to get an overview of your costs and to eliminate the hidden costs. I have saved about 60% of my potential income over a period of more than two years. Know your costs, that’s the main message. Some will say “I can’t save that much, I have to pay all that bills”. If your employer paid you 10% less, you certainly wouldn’t be sitting on the street under a bridge. You would suffer losses in your expenses, but your life would probably not change much.
Have fun, greetings from Germany.

We lose track of our money.

Nowadays, our money is mainly digital and we lose the track of its way. In past, we paid a lot with paper money and coins. It felt different to buy sports shoes for 200€ and have to take the money directly out of your wallet. Now it is simply paid with a single movement, be it a car or a chewing gum. The action is the same, you pay online or with your card. My 5-year-old godchild once said, he is already looking forward to finally having a smartphone, because he can then simply order all the toys. He doesn’t see the money that flows back and forth.

In order to counter this lack of transparency, I began to note all costs during my studies. I tried collecting receipts at the beginning, but I quickly switched to a financial app because I always had my smartphone with me anyway. This meant that the costs could be entered directly when they were incurred and evaluated at a later point in time. The following chart shows all my costs relative to each other. It concerns all costs this year from January to the day on which the article was published.

What does all this have to do with saving?

You can only save if you know where your money is going and which costs are fixed and which are variable. Spending €438.57 on games in 3 months is clearly too much. There were many small amounts in the course of the months, which add up, however, clearly reflected in the budget.
Many people say that they have too little money to save. Otherwise, they cannot satisfy all their needs. But most people here speak of demands and expenses without which they would not be more unhappy. Swapping a visit to the cinema for a nice walk saves money and is, in my opinion, just as beautiful.

So how do you get an overview of your spending?

The first step is to start. Enter as much as possible. Create a habit. Once this is integrated into life, the analysis can begin. I started it in the middle of my studies, it’s been three years now. Of course, it would have been better to start right before my studies in order to have a perfect evaluation of the whole time. But I’d rather just start instead of making excuses.
You can start entering costs that you have fixed every month as recurring costs. This only needs to be done once, and will from now on be taken over independently by the program. As a rule, the monthly rent does not change very often. The next step is to write down the daily expenses as efficiently as possible. Criteria are helpful in clustering costs. At the beginning I registered each bread of baker individually, today I enter the whole purchase as “basic supply” because it concerns only this information and their costs, not how many individual Croissants I ate.
The recorded data can now be evaluated, relatively in my example. This is, of course, followed by absolute figures, but these are not relevant for this contribution.

Next are my categories, which have adapted optimally to my life in three years. They serve as a model and source of ideas, not as an absolutely perfect kind. Everyone should test them for themselves:

  • Food and Beverages
  • Electronics
  • Car
  • Vacation
  • Free-time
  • Apartment
  • Clothes and shoes
  • Assurance
  • Health and body care

As an example of how categories can be broken down, I have once disclosed “Food and Beverages” here:

  • Basic care (weekly buyings like milk, meat, water etc.)
  • Lunch (food I need for life, but can’t do with weekly shopping)
  • Snacks (Food I definitely don’t need, but who can resist chocolate 😀 )
  • Going out in the evening (food that I definitely don’t need for survival, but fills my stomach and therefore would be wrong in the category “Leisure”. Nevertheless, it is good to have a separate overview of the rest of the meal. Depending on the quantity, there is a saving potential here per month. Or do you know from the moment you read this how much money you’ve spent on food this month?)

This structure allows you to show exactly where your money has gone at the end of a month. I’m amazed every month how much I spend on electronics compared to what I thought I spent on it. Men just love electrical things I guess 🙂

Key Takeaways

  • In modern times, we are increasingly losing track of our money
  • Just start writing down the costs, best of all via an app that allows you to evaluate directly
  • Transparency reveals hidden costs
  • Write down everything from the small ice cream to the new car purchase
  • Numbers are better than feelings, they are more accurate
  • Categories offer a good overview, with little effort
  • Identify high expenditures and limit them consciously

Once you have collected some data about yourself, you can monitor your expenses and decide for yourself which were necessary and which were not. This way you can keep your expenses under control from month to month.
Have fun saving money! You are awesome!

 

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A few tips for selling anything you want

This blog post is about the tricks the sales people use on us without us noticing it in the first moment. If we know some of them, we can look after them or use them for us.
Again: Thanks for your time!

The rule of reciprocity

Reciprocity rule or, to say it a little easier, here we call it the “as you do it to me, so I give it to you” rule. In this rule something is given with an attempt to get more in the end.

There are two basic tactics:

Door to the Face Tactic: Something is offered at an expensive price, waited for rejection and in the following suggest a cheaper price, which was actually intended. It is seen as a concession and the chance to sell it now will increase drastically.

Small gifts: It is often the case that small free samples are given away. The purpose of these is to establish a contractual obligation or at least to reduce the fear of making a mistake. At cheese stands it is often the case that free samples can be cut off before a body of cheese is chosen. This has an incredible effect.

Social Provenance

If a lot of people want something, it can’t be that bad, can it?
Not for nothing there are reviews at Amazon and Co. to show how many people have already made successful purchases. Ebay shows how many products have already been sold and how many are still available. The Google Playstore even goes so far as to show the total download figures. When I read about this rule, I went through my phone and noticed that I have a lot of apps, mostly games, just because they’ve been downloaded a lot or had a lot of 5 star ratings. I didn’t actually compare.

At the Tupper Parties all participants have to present the advantages of their free product to the assembled team and try to convince the others. Thus all participants see how great this bowl is.

Shortage in products

If something is available in smaller quantities, it is associated with more value. This became quite clear in an experiment with cookies.

The experiment was to evaluate the taste of a wide variety of biscuits. Group A1 got a plate with 10 biscuits, group B1 with 2 biscuits. In the second attempt, after a short time, the plate with 10 biscuits was removed from the A2 group and only 2 biscuits were left. Group B2 still only got 2 cookies. The result was clear. The people who had enough biscuits available before experienced a deficiency that was not present before. They gave a much higher rating than those that only got 2 cookies from the beginning.

As an example in Amazon, you want to buy the new TV, but you are unsure if you really want to buy it now or not a few days later. You’ll see there’s only three left. Zack, because it is directly considered as a scarce commodity and could be sold out in a few days. There is a chance that you would have chosen another, cheaper one, but this time to decide was taken.

Sympathy

We buy from the people we like. We’re not buying rationally. And who could do it better than a friend?
That is why Tupper parties are always organized by friends and held on their premises. We know our friend, who invited us, earns money on every piece. We buy it from her and not from the evil salesman we don’t know. This gives the whole thing the final push and is probably also one reason why Tupper has completely given up selling their products in shops.
If we don’t know the seller, it often happens that the seller was just so nice and even interested in the same hobby, so the product he offers can only be good. He has taken advantage of the principle of similarity.

Commitment

If we agree to a statement before a situation, we will hardly be able to deny it even if the situation occurs.
This is often used in electronics stores. It is waited for until a customer is interested in a product, for example, a coffee machine. He presses a few buttons or looks at the instructions for use. Exactly here comes the good-humored salesman into the play. He confirms that it’s a super product and this for a very good price. Unfortunately, the last model was sold to a couple just 30 minutes ago, and probably none is left. The buyer inquires whether there is another one in stock. And here is, where the trap strikes: “That could be of course, but do I see it right that they will buy the machine at this price if I can find another one?” The buyer gives his commitment, of course, there is still one in stock and both are happy.

Tupper Party example. Once there, we have already decided on a theoretical purchase. We have no direct target, but our inhibition threshold to buy something is lower. At the beginning of each Tupper Party, there is a small competition round, if you don’t win anything you can take something out of a sack. Noticed? There’s a little something free – a small gift.
It used to happen to me at Steam Sales. Even though I still had ten games that I hadn’t even opened yet, I was always looking for new ones, because they were on sale. Just browsing doesn’t cost anything… I’m so wrong!

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Why you should learn to invest – your time and money

This blog post is about the environment which is shaping us, the damn time eaters and investing as a key to financal freedom.
Thanks for your time!

 

Disclaimer: I made this text for my first whiteboard animation video in german. If you are familiar with this language, I would reccomend to watch this video.
For all the others, welcome to my first blog post about personal groth and finance.

Our environment is shaping us

Many researchers prove that we become the average of the five people with whom we spend most of our time. Sounds strange? Then let me illustrate it to you.
In the beginning there are almost only parents, siblings and grandparents in our lives. It is therefore not too surprising that we copy and adopt their behaviour and habits. It’s all we know.
As we get older, our friends form us. In and after school we spend most of our time with our friends. If our friends sit and playing a lot on the PC, we’ll probably do the same.

Now it’s about learning from the rich and using their tips and tricks for you. Unfortunately, most of us have no millionaires as parents or in our circle of friends. And that’s where the books come in. Think about it, a successful person writes his whole life in a book, and you can read it in 10 hours. It is no coincidence that greats like Bill Gaze regularly read books in order to further their education in all possible subject areas.

Use your time wisely

Say you want to learn how to invest, get really good at it. But sentences like “I have no time for it” or “Where am I only supposed to take the time for it” stop you. With time management, much more can be achieved during the day. When we plan our time and make it effective, we not only create more, but are also happier with ourselves.

The first step is to eliminate time wasters. Things like Facebook, Yodel or Twitter can take up an incredible amount of time without us really achieving anything. 9gag, for example, was one of my biggest time-eaters. Therefore here to step two: find a big time-eater and exchange it by e.g. listening to a non-fiction book. Make it a daily routine by listening to it at the same time. For example, before going to bed. You will be amazed at how much time you suddenly spent on further education at the end of a week.

Investing is key to financal freedom

Learning to invest before investing. “But studying is stupid, school is stupid” Well, you’re watching this video, aren’t you? You study voluntarily because you chose to do it yourself.

We all know the Bitcoin phenomenon, many don’t know what it’s really about, and yet it was bought like wild at the end of 2017. Many of my friends sensed the quick money and wanted their share of the cake. So you bought, speculating that it would rise and promptly lose money when the price fell by 5%. Lost because they sold it at a loss instead of keeping it and waiting for the price to rise again and then sell it at a profit. They were afraid of losing everything, and that’s the mistake. You were speculating.
It doesn’t take higher mathematics to learn to invest, just the experiences and tips we get from others who already know how it works and have successfully implemented it.

Lose in order to win

As I said before, my friends were afraid of losing everything. They played with money they couldn’t or wouldn’t lose. Basically, investing is like training, you learn while you gain experience. Without losses no experience and without experience no long-term profits. Start small, maybe at 50€ to gain experience as early as possible, and know what it’s like to lose money.

In the book “Rich dad poor dad” there is a story of Paul, whose son would like to have a car. He wanted to give it to his son for his birthday and had saved 3000€. But instead of buying the car directly, he did something much smarter. He gave his son the €3,000, on condition that he invested it in investments such as shares. When they reach the value of 5000€, he should take the money and buy a car of his choice.

At the beginning the price fell by 1000€. But instead of giving up, the son began to deal with the matter and leave books. Quickly he was above the initial value, and when the 5000€ were reached, he kept it and did not buy a car for the time being. He invested further and became better and better ?
The son had understood one thing:

The difference between assets and liabilities.

Liabilities are things that are bought and fall in value. They constantly cost money, so they lose value over time. Examples are cars, TVs or a Playstation. A new car loses 20% of its value the first time you drive it off the road.
Assets are things that increase in value over time, such as gold or shares. They are subject to an increase in value and/or bring in current income. Ideally, more money is in your pocket at the end of the day instead of less. Of course, stocks fluctuate in value, so the investment horizon, i.e. the period until they are sold again, should be as large as possible.
The book „rich dad poor dad“ says, that every Euro is a worker who works 24 hours 7 days a week to become even more money, who then works for you again. The art is to divide your money so that it growth and thrives as a whole.

But the biggest asset is you. Educate yourself, because you are the only person who can help you in the long term!

If you’ve read this far, congratulations. You are on a good way to use your time more efficiently and are willing to change something. Let’s go this way together.

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Our best quotes listed for your motivation!

We all know them. quotes that motivate us and make us think in new directions. I’ve put together my favorite quotes for you here, with my interpretation of those:

Don’t call it a dream, call it a plan

See your Dream as a plan which will be planned and lived. Plan your way and then just do it.

 

Don’t limit your challenges. Challenge your limits.

Think outside the box and leave your comfort zone. Be curious and test your limits.

 

Fall down seven times – Get up eight
Mistakes are proof that you are Trying!

You have to fail to gain wins. If you are afraid of losing, you will never try.

 

Winners don’t make excuses

Far too often we lie to ourselves that something doesn’t have to be done when we know we should.

 

Don’t let yesterday take up too much of today

Don’t pay too much attention to the past and look forward. The past can no longer be changed, but we ourselves are shaping our future.

 

What would you do if you weren’t afraid?

As mentioned above, fears hold us back. Push forward! Defeat your fear.

 

I never lose, either I win or I learn.

In school, we learn that mistakes are bad. the students with the best grades are the ones with the fewest mistakes. in real life, the curious are the successful ones. Only those who fail a lot can do a lot because they try and learn from their failure.

 

Let no one stop you!

You have a dream, a goal. No matter what others say, go and find friends with the same goal. Pessimists see only the bad and not the opportunities that are possible.

 

Make goals, Dream big, live with passion

I think it’s all said. Good Luck my friend!