BOOKS

Have you ever gone through a major medical issue, sheltered in a bathtub during a tornado, gone bungee jumping off an old bridge, deployed to a conflict zone, inadvertently eaten something you were severely allergic to, or driven through a blizzard and thought: “What will happen to me and my things if this doesn’t end well?”

If you become incapacitated or pass away—due to an illness, accident, unfortunate incident, or old age—your fate and the fate of the people you care about will be determined by how well you organized your affairs prior to your life-altering or life-ending event.

Now is the Time to Get Your Affairs in Order (a.k.a. Get Your Ducks in a Row) employs personal stories and hypothetical scenarios to teach you the importance of having your affairs in order—regardless of your age, health status, or life situation—while also providing technical information, exercises, checklists, and external resources to help you accomplish your affairs management goals. Now is the Time to Get Your Affairs in Order: TEMPLATES, is a companion book that provides a variety of templates that can be used as guidance for creating your own electronic affairs management system; torn out, photocopied, or scanned to create a custom collection of worksheets that fits your unique life; or used in its current form as an affairs journal.

Getting your affairs in order is an easy thing to ignore. But ignoring it can have dire consequences for you, your estate, and the people you love. Now is the Time to Get Your Affairs in Order and Now is the Time to Get Your Affairs in Order: TEMPLATES, will show you how to achieve peace of mind by following a simple process to organize your affairs and inspiring the people around you to do the same.

Supplies to help you get organized:

• Sentry Safe, Fireproof/Waterproof Document Safe
• Pendaflex Two-Tone Color File Folders, Letter Size
• Lexar 64GB USB 2.0 Flash Drive, Mini USB Stick

Educational resources mentioned in the book:

• Nolo’s Free Dictionary of Law Terms and Legal Definitions
• Learn about your credit report and how to get a copy
• my SSA Account
• IRS Online Account
• Is Loan Protection Insurance Right for You?
• What is mortgage insurance and how does it work?
• What is credit insurance for an auto loan?
• Swedish Death Cleaning

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Available on Amazon

The activities an challenges of daily life can prevent us from pursuing our most important life goals. Over time, we may even lose sight of the goals we were once incredibly motivated to achieve. By taking a few minutes each week to affirm our goals—and reflect on what we are doing or not doing to achieve those goals—we can learn to better manage our time, develop beneficial habits, and find a path to fulfillment.

1. What are my top three life goals?
While answering this question each week may seem repetitive, it is important to frequently analyze our top goals to ensure they are still the goals we wish to pursue. As life changes, so do our interests, responsibilities, and priorities. And as we achieve goals, new ones emerge. It is therefore natural for goals to evolve in importance or change entirely. Answering this question helps to ensure we are still focusing on the things that are most important to us in the present.

2. What did I learn or accomplish last week?
We often get so wrapped up in daily demands that we lose track of the big picture. Taking the time to reflect on the lessons and achievements of the past week helps us appreciate what we’ve gained and how we’ve grown.

3. What do I wish I had spent more time and energy doing?
Identifying the things we are not dedicating enough attention to can help us refocus our efforts and develop beneficial habits that support our goals.

4. What do I wish I had spent less time and energy doing?
Identifying the things that are occupying too much of our attention can help us eliminate waste and identify opportunities to reallocate our efforts.

5. What do I plan to do this week to support my goals?
Now that we’ve affirmed or adjusted our goals and evaluated how we spent the previous week, we can identify the best way to allocate our time and energy for the coming week.

Goal Journal will enable you to evaluate your goals each week for a full year. Each entry guides you through answering the above five questions and gives you a small coloring/drawing exercise to help you clear your mind while you formulate your answers. Good luck on your goal journey.