Personal Training...Spread The Word...I NEED Clients

All,


As I mentioned in an earlier post, I have started to develop a personal training business for myself.  At this point I am looking for my first group of clients.  I am extremely serious about getting this off the ground and I could use all of your help.  If you are interested in getting some extra help around the gym, or if you have someone you want to refer, please don't hesitate to contact me.  I have some documentation (waivers, health questionnaire, fee sheet) that will need to be signed before we can begin.  If you have any questions, please let me know.  Also, if you need any more incentive, I will have access to a gym.  The best part is that you will NOT need to be a member, yet you'll still be able to take full advantage of the gym for FREE.

I can be reached by email at jtwfit@gmail.com.  Please put "Training" in the subject line.

Where Amazing Happens

I'm usually pissed off Monday mornings but today I'm feeling great.  After working a three dayweek, and spending time with family and friends for Thanksgiving, I have another short week approaching.  But that's not what has me excited the most.  I'm AMPED for the start of the NBA season.  That's right LADIES and gentlemen.  It's. about. to go down (in my best Kevin Hart voice).

What better gift than to have the season begin on Christmas day.  I feel like I'm 8 years old again, opening up my art set, building blocks, and teenage mutant ninja turtles.  Only this time, I'll wake up early, put the television on TNT, and start chillin' some Corona, Magic Hat #9, and Blue Moon.  Yes, it's a celebration.  Especially when the match ups are Bulls vs Lakers, Knicks vs Celtics, and the main event, Heat vs Mavs.  Dallas will be hosting the Heat and receiving their championship rings from when they defeated Miami in the finals last season (I'm still pissed about this).  I'm convinced the Heat, and one player in particular, LeBron James, will come out fired up and ready to make s statement early on.  If you have any hater comments or general concerns, leave them in my complaint box and I will get to them.

Anyway, make sure you tune in on Christmas Day.  I am certain the games will be full of excitement and intensity.  Feel free to head over to my spot for the games.  Just don't show up empty handed.  I don't plan on sharing my booze.



I almost forgot.  LADIES, if you have any intention of ruining this NBA season, please take a look at my guest post I wrote for my good friend Maiah's BLOG.  Thanks in advance.  Deuces!

Happy Birthday Cameron!!!

I would like to take this time to say Happy Birthday to the best nephew on earth.  I know you all think you have the cutest and smartest relatives but I don't care.  You're wrong.  My nephew is better than yours.  Here's proof haha.

Who could turn this little guy down?

So hard being him...

And now the young fella has moved into kiddy adult hood.  Shoutouts to Cam on his 5th birthday.  You're the man.

Don't worry.  I didn't forget to include more "photo shoot fresh" pics.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/62122574@N02/sets/72157628131354340/

Personal Training Anyone?

Working out and training my body has become a very important aspect in my life.  I feel great and am probably in the best shape ever.  I'm not one of those people at the gym 5 days/week for 2/3 hours. Like many others, I just don't have the time.  But would you work out 2/3 days a week if it only took 60-75 minutes AND you could combine strength and cardio?  If so, I might have some ideas for you.

I am interesting in putting together a small business for myself and I can't do that without clients.  The plan is to give a free consultation and if you are interested, we'll figure out the rest from there.  Let me know if you'd like more details.

I can be reached at jahkeen.washington@gmail.com.  Please write "Training" in the subject line.

The "Trick" To Saving

Let me paint a picture for you...tell me if it sounds familiar.  If so, listen up.

You go to work each day, you get paid for your hard work, you pay bills, you buy those items you've been wanting, you go out with friends, and then you notice there isn't any money left.  The cycle continues over and over.

What have you been neglecting to do?  Probably the most important thing.  Pay YOURSELF.  Some people might wonder how you do that.  It certainly hasn't always been easy for me but I came up with a simple plan that works.  I've also provided the same advice to others and they have also had success.  You're probably thinking I'm going to offer some top secret tips but in reality I don't have any.  My key to saving is DISCIPLINE.  Figure out a plan and stick to it.  Follow the plan and you'll start seeing a nice chunk of change sitting in your account.  Trust me, it feels good too.

In terms of having discipline, it's important to organize your finances and set goals for yourself.  I am able to do this through the use of an excel spreadsheet.  Those that know me well can attest to the fact that I LOVE my spreadsheet.  It's not anything fancy but it keeps my finances organized and easy to understand. I have two sheets: Account Balances and Weekly Spending.  Let's take a look at each one.

Account Balances:
This sheet is basically a list of income, recurring expenses, and account balances.  At the top is your total monthly income. Below that is a list your expenses.  This list should only include expenses that you repeatedly incur (rent, cell phone, cable, student loan payments etc).  Your expenses are totaled, and a monthly balance is calculated for you as well.  To be fully organized, I would also keep track of your checking, savings, and credit card balances.  If you're crazy like me you'll have your 401K balance up there as well.  Example sheet is below.

Once you have an idea of your monthly balance, you should first PAY YOURSELF.  Think of an amount you want to/can save per paycheck.  Then you can pay your bills.  Lastly, you want to gauge an amount for your weekly spending.  This leads me to the next sheet.

Weekly Spending:
Once you have figured out a fair number for your normal spending (for example $100/week), your goal is to NEVER reach that amount unless it's unavoidable.  Think of it as a game.  You already came up with an amount that's going directly into savings, you then set an amount for casual spending, and if you never reach that amount, you have additional money left over each week to put where?  Savings.  I can almost guarantee that this process will become normal for you.  If you are disciplined and honest with yourself, you will have the chance to save more than you ever have.

This sheet will calculate your daily spending and then give you a weekly total.  In the upper left hand corner (yellow cell) you can track the week you are currently in. See sheet below.

One thing you will notice about my weekly spending sheet is that I mark down EVERYTHING I purchase.  I know it seems tedious and annoying, but you will be surprised at what you're actually buying and the price you pay.  Every cent adds up.  Just make sure it's adding up in your bank account and not the accounts of others.

**If you would like a copy of the spreadsheet just let me know.  Hope it can be as useful to you as it is to me.

NBA LOCKOUT...

I'm not going to get into the details of the NBA Lockout.  If you need an overview, please click NBA and have a blast.  What I'm mainly pissed about is the fact basketball hasn't begun yet, and how we're just praying to have a December 15th start date. 

One of the major things I feel like the players/owners have forgotten about is how this basketball related income (BRI) is actually generated.  The simplest way to put it is "NO FANS, NO MONEY".  That's right, the FANS are the ones who allow you to succeed as an organization.  WE love the game, WE buy tickets, WE wear your jerseys, and WE support you even though we don't even know you personally.  But where is the love for the fans?  Can you imagine what financial injury we would cause if we decide to decrease spending throughout the season or not go to games?  Seems like that BRI number might be much weaker than expected.

If I had any power over the fans, I would do whatever I could to enforce a reduction in spending.  If the owners and players, regardless of who is more wrong in the situation (OWNERS), don't have enough decency to think of the fans during this time, then why should we continue to make them rich?  While they bicker about how to divide billions of dollars, we're sitting here waiting to dish out our hard earned money (and lots of it) to see the sport we love.

What are we getting in return?  NBA TV Old School Classics, player-organized exhibition games, and more boring, worthless article about how a deal has NOT been made.

There's another deadline tomorrow before we say goodbye to a full season.  It's a good thing I have NBA2K12, Modern Warfare 3, and college basketball to entertain me for a while.  I'm not confident anything positive will happen but I guess we'll see.

Stressed much? Haha

Financial Literacy

I'm currently re-reading a book called 'Rich Dad Poor Dad' by Robert T. Kiyosaki.  It is a New York Times Best Seller and one of the reasons I attempt to have some financial literacy in my everyday life.  Kioyaski successfully displays that "while traditional schooling is extremely important, we all need to understand money and how it works."

I attended Frederick Douglass Academy from the 7th to 12th grade.  While there I received one of the best, if not the best public school education offered in New York City.  We, the students, received a vigorous and challenging curriculum that prepared us for gaining future success.  I even had the opportunity to study Japanese as a foreign language (Ohayoo Gozaimasu).  That's good morning since I didn't say it before starting this post.  Getting back to the topic, there is one thing I noticed about my education, and that of some of my peers.  We were all taught to get good grades, go to college, and continue to excel so that we can be successful in our high paying jobs.  We were missing a key ingredient to overall success; financial literacy.

One of my favorite quotes in this book is "I don't work for money, my money works for me".  Growing up I would have never been expected to understand this.  Talks of money were very limited in my house. Because we grew up poor, most conversations were about getting food on the table or paying that next bill.  In addition, none of us were that savvy in the financial realm anyway.  So without being able to get that knowledge at home, one would expect that the next place to go is school.  That wasn't the case for me.  FDA had an "economics" class but it was not on the level of the classes my college peers took at their respective high schools.  Some people took courses in investing 101, finance, accounting, and business management.  At an early age, they were exposed to the markets, and gained the knowledge to potentially make informed and effective decisions with their personal finances.  I also noticed that some of my peers were given this same information at the dinner table in their homes.  Personally, I think this information is more important than any traditional education.  An individual with wealth is nothing if he can't manage it properly.  It will probably be gone in no time.

I won't continue to bore you but I will end on this note.  Do yourselves a favor and become financially savvy.  Everyone NEEDS to learn how to make their money work for them, rather than live paycheck to paycheck, and risk retiring without anything substantial.  I am in no way some financial expert but I have been taking some of the necessary steps to become one.  I do not want to see my kids and younger family members struggle as unemployment rates increase, taxes rise, and every expense you can think of continues to grow.  The least we can do is provide our youth with this information, at school and in the home.

By the way, read Rich Dad Poor Dad when you get a chance.  It's a quick read and might be inspiring to you.  And if you want some beginners investings tutorials, you can check out Investopedia.

Not the Tuesday I expected...

It doesn't look like I'll be able to post what I initially planned to.  I am swamped with client calls and emails.  I also received multiple alerts in TFS (don't ask) with tasks that have been assigned to me for testing.  If any of you ever wondered what I do for a living, I will explain briefly.

I work for a financial technology company in Midtown called Ipreo.  We have multiple functions but we mainly focus on the IPO market.  Ipreo provides new issuance software applications that help all players involved in Capital Markets to execute their deals more efficiently, maximizing time and resources.  I specifically work with the Munis (Municipal Bonds) group.  Our sole purpose is to assist clients by creating and tailoring software that fit their business needs.  It's all pretty cool stuff if you have an overall interest in finance, and want to understand the way software can streamline business functions. But enough of all that talk...

So why is my Tuesday a disaster?  I have been regression testing my life away since 9am, I have a Friday deadline for everything to be completed, and everything that's supposed to work is of course, BROKEN.


P.S. Did you also know that there is an NBA LOCKOUT?  That makes me more upset than anything.  I don't get to disrespect Knicks/Celtics fans.  More on that later though.

Just in case you were wondering...

I think it's about time I start blogging like the rest of you cool people.  Today's post is short and sweet.  Some of you are probably wondering "why is Jah starting a blog?", "what could he possibly have to talk about that's important?".  You know what?  I'm actually thinking the same exact things as I type.  You know what else?  Who cares.  For those of you wondering what I plan to talk about.  See image below.