Monthly Archives: January 2020

Best Apps to Make Your Life Easier

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Hey everybody,

As someone who has always been interested in the tech space – I want to take a moment to talk about apps. They’re everywhere and it seems like more options are coming out every day. There are apps that manage finances, apps to manage social media, and even apps to manage your home.

As the saying goes, “there’s an app for that.” So today, I thought I’d share some of the best apps that I’ve been using recently. Maybe they can help you too.

Brave – a Peaceful Internet

I hate ads. They’re everywhere and advertisers never seem to run out of ways to annoy you with their increasingly intrusive targeting capabilities. If you feel the same way, you should check out Brave – it’s an internet browser that blocks pesky advertisements as soon as you start using it. Say goodbye to obnoxious popups, side panel display ads and questionnaires. It is also worth mentioning that the added bonus of this app is a dramatically improved battery life for your mobile device, as it will no longer be constantly pinging between trackers. If you want a faster, lighter internet experience, I highly recommend this app.

Soundcloud – a Better Way to Listen to Music

Have you ever wanted a way to download and listen to your music, podcasts, shows all in one place? If so, then you should download Soundcloud. This app has apparently been around for a while now, but it is new to me and I find myself using it all the time.

I use this app to catch up on news shows and to listen to some of my favorite music, anytime and anywhere. One of the reasons that I recommend using this app is because the sheer number of platforms and users it has. It has become so popular that anything you’d like to listen to is available through the app.

Nwsty – News Source from One Location

This is a fantastic app that I think everyone could use these days. Nwsty is an app that puts together the biggest headlines of the day and places them all in one location. With this app, you won’t have to go from one news outlet to the next. It’s all just right there, conveniently curated for your interests.

Not only does this make keeping up with current events easier, but it drastically reduces the amount of time that you use for browsing media content. As a news junkie myself, I know all too well how easy it is to get sucked into different news stories – this app keeps me informed, but in a way that doesn’t require a huge time commitment.

My Fitness Pal – Easy Nutritional Guide

This is an app that anyone into healthy lifestyles will enjoy. It’s a combination of a calorie tracker and a nutrition guide. The app comes with a library of nutritional information that stores and tracks your diet – giving you a complete view of how many calories you’ve consumed while also giving you the nutritional breakdown as well.

One of the neatest things about this app is the ability to scan barcodes, which retrieves information directly from their library and places it into your phone. This is a great app for anyone looking to mind their calories or anyone interested in learning about their nutritional habits.

Mint – Automated Finances

This app was recommended to me as a way to keep track of personal finances without having to spend too much time managing budgets. Most people sit down at the end of the month to gauge their spending and income; however, that can be a pain and very time consuming depending on how disorganized the month has been.

With Mint, the user simply syncs their accounts with their bank, and it will automatically keep track of everything for you. Mint automatically groups purchases and incomes into various categories and allows you to view how you are handling your finances. The only thing that is required on your part is to establish your budget and occasionally assign a category to a purchase here and there.

The creators of this app are the same people who made Quicken, so they are trustworthy and are sure to protect your information. The app also allows you to check your credit in real time and offers interesting charts and graphs to give you a visual level of your budget.

Venmo

Keeping in the same area of finance – Venmo is an app that you’ve always wanted but might not have heard about. It allows you to set up an account, link it with your bank information and then send/receive funds to and from other users. In an increasingly cashless society, it’s the digital equivalent of borrowing a dollar from a friend.

This app is a good tool to have in case you need to transfer funds to someone, but in a much faster and easier way than a wire transfer. You can even pay rent and utilities with the platform. You’ll be surprised at how often you’ll use this app.

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Hopefully you found these apps interesting and maybe they will help make your life just a little bit easier. Do you have any that you recommend? If so – let me know in the comments.

Talk again soon,

~ Scott Asner Kansas City, Founding Principal of Eighteen Capital Group (18CG)

Also follow Scott Asner on: Medium, About.me, Pinterest, Twitter, Facebook, and Xing.

How to Make 2020 a Great Year

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Hi folks –

At the start of every year, millions of us take the time to come up with New Year’s resolutions and think of ways to maximize the year ahead of us.

Now, it is very likely that these resolutions fall by the wayside early within the new year – in fact, it is estimated that around 80% of set resolutions fail. The simple reality is that it can be very difficult to make definite changes or accomplish specific goals in your life just by basing them on an arbitrary date.

So this year, how about just resolving to make it a GREAT year in general? I thought I would take today to share a few ways that you can make 2020 a great year – by taking a different approach.

Trying for Too Much, Too Quickly

When most people think about what they would like to achieve at the beginning of each year, they tend to set large, sweeping goals in many different categories. Filled with the motivation and cheer leftover by the holiday spirit, they might say things like, “I’d like to get healthier, make more money, spend more time with my family and learn a new language.”  And while these are great intentions to set, it may not be the best strategy to target so many different aspects of our lives at once and expect to make significant improvements by the end of a 365-day period.

By taking on too many goals and expecting too many results at the end of the year – you spread your focus too thin. It would be much more productive to set smaller goals in specific categories, then move on according to need.

Recognize that January 1st is just a date and focus on the single most critical category of your life that you would like to see changes in. Try breaking your life down into groups: health, finances, relationships, spirituality, etc. Then, take a step back to gauge which area you would like to improve most, and commit to tackling that aspect first.

Get a Hobby, Get a Life

It doesn’t matter who you are, or what kind of improvements you would like to make in your life – one sure way to making this coming year great is to get involved in a hobby. Hobbies are activities that you pursue simply out of curiosity and enjoyment, not because you want to “accomplish” something.

In many ways, finding a hobby can introduce a new, exciting and fulfilling aspect to your life. This is especially helpful to someone who may be living well and doesn’t feel a strong need to jump on the New Year’s resolution bandwagon. Even if you do stillwant to get a sense of making improvements to your life – you can use your hobbies as a tool for doing so.

For instance, you may wish to take up hiking, which is both a great way to explore and appreciate the natural world around you, while also giving you health benefits of exercise. Of course, there are other healthy hobbies to pursue, such as: picking up a sport, diving into culinary arts, or even taking dance lessons.

The great thing about hobbies is that they allow you to focus your attention and energy onto an activity that is both fun and productive. They’re a sure-fire way to enhance your life and make the year one to remember.

Practice Gratitude

Developing a strong sense of gratitude may be one of the most effective and easiest ways to make this a phenomenal year. Gratitude is a powerful way to instill a strong sense of appreciation for all aspects of our lives. It realigns our perspective to focus on the good things that we already have and enjoy.

Of course, striving for improvement is a natural instinct and reaching higher levels of success should be celebrated – but gratitude reminds us that we already have so many things to be thankful for and to celebrate.

By cultivating gratitude, you will find yourself happier, more optimistic, more inspired to tackle new challenges and with a stronger appreciation for friends and family. The simplest way to do this is by starting a gratitude journal and begin every morning by jotting down a few things that you are thankful for. Over time, you will begin to notice just how much you already have going for you, and it doesn’t cost anything other than a few moments every day.

Wishing you the best,

~ Scott Asner Kansas City, Founding Principal of Eighteen Capital Group (18CG)

Also follow Scott Asner on: Medium, About.me, Pinterest, Twitter, Facebook, and Xing.