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Any blogger will gladly tell you that maintaining your own blog requires tremendous commitment. The hustle and bustle of life fight to test that commitment. They challenge a blogger’s resolve. Today, as I enjoy time to reflect upon the goals and mission which inspired my creation of this site, I am reminded of its value.
If the use of my time were simply a matter of achieving the best financial outcomes, I would certainly cease devoting time to such a relatively low-income hobby and funnel all of my available discretionary time toward my real estate business. In the grand scheme of things, increased efforts in this area hold the highest probability of increased returns, mathematically speaking.
As I reflect, it is hard to envision where and how commitment factors into the equation. It’s been over a decade since I last studied calculus, and I don’t think basic arithmetic will get the job done in this case, so let’s distill this down in the only way I know how:
Personal finance has surprisingly very little to do with figures and a lot to do with feelings.
Many financial writers argue that separating feelings and money is vitally important. They speak as if a consistent level of stoicism is the solution to all financial woes. I used to think in this manner.
Other writers feel that some emotions and feelings – namely peace, joy, and contentment – should not be separated from our financial outlooks, while some – fear, jealousy, and embarrassment, among many others – have no place in a healthy financial outlook. I agree with many folks in this camp.
The more I write and reflect upon the role of money in my life, my vision for “Restoring Order to the World of Finance” becomes simultaneously clearer and murkier. (It’s no surprise to me that it has taken 100 posts to reach this level of clarity; truth be told, I consider myself to be a rather slow learner.) Rationality, logic, and planning are constantly at war with personal biases, behavioral tendencies, and the chemical/biological processes which influence them. In short, personal finance is complicated stuff.
So what should we do about all of this? Keep thinking, feeling, experimenting, testing, discussing, and growing, for starters. Continue learning from others. Challenge patterns and long-held assumptions.
As for me, I will keep writing. My thoughts and feelings on personal finance have changed more in the last 7 months than I ever could have imagined. I’m looking forward to learning more as this journey continues to unfold.
Here’s to another 100 posts and a continued resolve toward Restoring Order to the World of Finance,
Finance Superhero
Vicki@MakeSmarterDecisions says
November 22, 2016 at 10:55 AMCongrats hero! I have been at this almost 6 months and only have half the posts you have 🙂 It’s a great accomplishment for someone as busy as you are! Keep up the great work!
The Green Swan says
November 22, 2016 at 1:16 PMCongrats on the milestone! That’s a lot of posts in just seven months! Keep up the good work.
FinanciaLibre says
November 22, 2016 at 1:46 PMCongratulations on the hundy, Hero!
If you didn’t have those Superhero powers, you’d never be able to keep up with the workload…good thing you do!
Cheers to the last and next 100.
Martin - Get FIRE'd asap says
November 22, 2016 at 6:38 PMCongrats on another blogging milestone reached. FSH. The 100th blog birthday, and in such relatively short time too. It sounds like you are heaping up the ‘plate’ with work, other work, blogging and squeezing in family life too. If the blog slows down a bit as a result, there’s no shame in that. At the end of the day, while we are still doing this for fun. There’s no reason to stress about deadlines and I’m sure your readers would prefer well thought out posts less frequently to hastily scribbled ramblings just to make a self-imposed quota. Take time out as required and ensure that you spend the time on what matters most. If the next 100 posts takes a little longer, we won’t hold it against you 🙂
Financial Slacker says
November 23, 2016 at 10:17 AMCongratulations! 100 posts is a great accomplishment.
And I can definitely relate to the challenges of keeping a blog going. I too suffer from periods of less activity than I would prefer due to all the other things going on. But in the end, as long as you keep coming back, I think it’s a success.
Great job and I can’t wait to read the next 100 posts!
Full Time Finance says
November 23, 2016 at 11:19 AMFirst. Congrats on post 100. As for finance as a mathematical or psychological pursuit, the actual answer I think you will find is both. Though rare there are those people that can separate their feelings and emotions from their actions. More power to them. For the rest of us though we need to adjust. That’s the personal aspect of personal finance, there is no one size fits all solution because each person assigns different values to aspects of their life. Wishing you another 100 posts.
Jon @ Be Net Worthy says
November 25, 2016 at 8:03 AMKeep up the good work – it’s amazing you’ve been able to keep it going this long with your day job and evening job both pulling at you! I do find it sort of therapeutic myself. It’s sort of an online journal, which makes blogging seem like less of a chore than it could be. It is tough to keep up the commitment, but so far it has been worth it for me as well.
Enjoy the long holiday weeekend!
AustralianDividendInvestor says
November 25, 2016 at 4:52 PMCongratulations on the 100 posts.
Emotions in investing/personal finance is a great topic, and totally under explored if you ask me. Fact of the matter is, most of the challenge in FIRE isn’t how difficult it is – its how hard it is to match your emotions with the steps that are required. Its bloody hard to deny yourself things when everybody else is rewarding themselves!
Looking forward to the next 100 posts!
MrFireStation says
November 25, 2016 at 11:09 PMCongratulations – best wishes on your next 100!
Mustard Seed Money says
November 26, 2016 at 2:02 PMCongrats on hitting your 100th post. I definitely know what it’s like to be in the “flow” when time ceases to move and what feels like 5 minutes has been 5 hours.
I too enjoy blogging while it doesn’t pull in much money I still really enjoy doing it and enjoy the creative outlet it provides.
Keep up the awesome work and I look forward to the 200th post.
[email protected] says
November 29, 2016 at 4:23 AMCongrats on the 1st 100. I just found this place, I’ll be looking forward to the next 100 and many more!
David @ Thinking Thrifty says
December 1, 2016 at 10:41 AMCongratulations on the 100th ‘Super Post’. Wishing you much success for the next 100!!!