Rightsized Archives — Page 23 of 26

Need A Raise? Cut Your Overhead!

By Kathy Gottberg
Filed under: Rightsized, Sustainable

Happy SMART Day Everyone!

Our new "shared" yard saves us about $7,000 a year!

When was your last raise? Everyone I know would love to have one, but they don’t usually come all that often. Still, if we consider that a raise is just a new inflow of money—we all have one readily available. That new inflow or “raise” in income is always within your grasp by simply cutting your overhead or monthly expenses. And even if the idea of cutting back sounds like a sacrifice, you may just discover that reducing overhead—especially when unnecessary or unused—can actually be a pleasure. And your pocketbook will thank you as well. [Read more…]

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Are You an Innie or an Outie? —Spiritually Speaking of Course!

By Kathy Gottberg
Filed under: Meaningful, Rightsized

Happy SMART Day Everyone!

Do you know whether you’re and innie or an outie? While those terms usually refer to a belly button, they apply even better when you are asking about a person’s spirituality. In other words, is your spiritual life inner-directed or outer-directed? And it doesn’t really matter what religion you practice. If you live your life based upon what others tell you to do, be, have or care about—even if that “other” is a spiritual leader of sorts—then you are outer-directed. If you instead listen to your own soul—especially in matters of the heart and spirit—then you are an innie. A huge part of living SMART 365 is learning the difference and then following the still, small voice within. [Read more…]

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When Is Enough Enough? And Five Tips To Help Find Out

By Kathy Gottberg
Filed under: Meaningful, Rightsized, Thankful

Click On Photo for Video

Over the weekend, Thom and I had dinner with a friend whose lifestyle changed dramatically in the last couple of years. Our friend, Tami* was single for most of the 30+ years we’ve known her. Then a couple of years ago she married a very wealthy man. Although Tami was always financially secure in her life, she now admitted how great it was to never have to worry about bills or finances ever again. Unfortunately, her joy was short-lived. Within five minutes, she began complaining about the high amount of taxes she and her new husband would be paying for 2011 along with the drain her new husband’s adult children were on the family. Later she grumbled about how unfair it was of the current political administration to even consider raising her tax rate. The conversation was a great reminder that it is easy to forget that our sense of well-being, comfort and peace of mind has less to do with how much money we have—and everything to do with how we think about it. In most cases, regardless of how much we actually have—we only have enough when we think we have enough. [Read more…]

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Training Your Brain For A Long, Healthy & SMART Life

By Kathy Gottberg
Filed under: Rightsized, Sustainable

In case you haven’t noticed, I am fascinated by the brain and write about it frequently. That might be because I’m a woman in my early sixties, had a mother diagnosed with Alzheimer’s in her early 70’s, and have a sister just a couple of years older than me that constantly affirms, “I can’t remember anything!” and then does her best to prove it. So, for several reasons including the fact that I’m a writer, I’ve grown attached to my brain and it’s creativity and strive to discover everything I can to help it stay healthy and functioning. As it turns out, we can do plenty. But we have to be willing to take care of and exercise our brains just like we do our bodies, or we’ll likely get whatever chance throws our way.

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A Tale of Two Colonoscopies

By Kathy Gottberg
Filed under: Meaningful, Rightsized, Thankful

Happy SMART Day Everyone!

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times…” so begins Charles Dickens classic novel, “A Tale of Two Cities.” But that statement and the major themes of the story apply to most of the experiences of every person on the planet on a regular basis. Do we allow the tragedy, inequity and oppression of life’s circumstances to beat us down—or like some characters in the book, do we reach for resurrection and transformation? Even situations as routine or pedestrian as a colonoscopy offer us each of us a similar choice. It’s SMART to always remember that decision is up to us. [Read more…]

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Retreating to Mindfulness and Timeless Awareness With Lama Surya Das

By Kathy Gottberg
Filed under: Meaningful, Rightsized

This weekend Thom and I attended our first Dzogchen Buddhist Retreat. As seminar junkies, we’ve taken tons of spiritual classes and workshops of an hour or two here or there that focused on Buddhism or meditation. But this was our first official “retreat.” And while an evening and one day may not appear to be much of a retreat, it certainly served to get us out and away from our usual lives. More importantly, it pulled the focus of our attention away from our usual thoughts and concerns, and placed it instead on the experience of “mindfulness” or inner awareness and spiritual compassion. That switch of focus is a SMART thing to do every now and then, regardless of who you are or what you call it. [Read more…]

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SMART Living Takes Smart Buildings and Smart Cities To the Highest Level

By Kathy Gottberg
Filed under: Rightsized, Sustainable, What is SMART Living?

Happy SMART Day Everyone!

In case you didn’t know, Thom and I have been real estate brokers for over 25 years. Never a good “salesperson,” I soon began writing about real estate rather than selling it. On the other hand, Thom specializes in investment and commercial properties with a big emphasis on properties that are “green” and sustainable. A recent aspect to the energy-efficient real estate industry is “smart technology” for buildings and now even cities. But even though there may be an advantage to such technology and focus—it leaves out a critical ingredient. In order for anything to be truly SMART—people and their motivations must be included in the equation. [Read more…]

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Budget Impossible! And Other Tales of Financial Freedom

By Kathy Gottberg
Filed under: Rightsized, Sustainable

Happy SMART Day Everyone!

Click to go to “Restaurant Impossible”

Quite by accident, Thom and I started watching a show on TV call “Restaurant Impossible” on the Food Network. In the show, a failing and desperate restaurant owner somewhere in the country contacts Chef Robert Irvine. Chef Irvine flies in with a designer, a contractor, ten thousand dollars and two days to totally transform these dismal eateries and provide the last hope for these owners to remain in business. It’s fun to watch the transformation of the interiors—but even more fascinating to watch the transformation of the proprietors. In just about every case the owners have gone years without any income and are deeply in debt, while their restaurant and its business deteriorates around them. It’s hard to imagine why they didn’t do something about it or at least they cut their losses long before they hit bottom. But are they unusual? Probably not. Maybe “Budget Impossible” happens to all of us if we wear blinders when it comes to our finances or our lives. [Read more…]

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Work Less—Live SMARTer!

By Kathy Gottberg
Filed under: Meaningful, Rightsized, Sustainable

Working Hard? Or Hardly Working in Hawaii…

Do you think you work too hard? You’re not alone. Many people I talk to, especially those younger with families, report being over-worked, overwhelmed and clearly unable to take even a moment to pause and reflect on the direction of their life. We all know that chronic overwork increases our stress levels, endangers our physical health, triggers depression and decreases our “life satisfaction.” So why do we continue to put in long hours? And what’s the solution? It’s likely that the simple answer is to work less and live SMARTer. In fact, there is evidence that working less not only increases the quality of an individual’s life—it is also much better for the entire planet.

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Your Brain—It’s SMART to Use It Or Lose It!

By Kathy Gottberg
Filed under: Meaningful, Rightsized, SMART Book Reviews

Click on Photo for Video

Is the human brain considered plastic? Yes, but unfortunately many people don’t know it. And, even though science now proves that the brain can structurally and functionally reorganize itself, many of us still live our lives as though we are stuck with whatever nature or God provided. Instead, ongoing studies now show that not only does our brain change in size and function throughout our lifetimes; certain areas compete for specific territory within the brain verifying a “use it or lose it” quality. For those of us who want to continue to embrace the best life has to offer, we’d be wise to continue to grow our brains on a daily basis.

[Read more…]

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