Coachamatic

For some reason, this old fable keeps coming up in my life.

To recap:
There was this farmer and his goose laid Golden Eggs. Things were going pretty well for him. Each day he would take the golden egg to the market and get a very fair exchange for his egg.

But one day, the farmer thought, “why wait for the goose to lay the golden egg one day at a time?”

He pulled out a knife and cut open the goose looking for all the golden eggs that he knew were inside the poor goose.

Of course, he found nothing and there he was — no golden egg and no goose (anymore).

I am sure it wasn’t a pleasant dinner…

The morale of the story? Look after your Golden Goose.

Are you?

Let me ask you this:
Are you saving more than you  need for your retirement?

Are you building up a ‘rainy day’ fund?

What’s your debt look like?

A recent headline in Canada stated that Canadians are spending 122% of what they make and saving levels are the same level (very low) that they were in the Great Depression over 60 years ago. That was when no one HAD any money to save…

One Golden Goose is the savings we have and how well they are working for us.

Another one is your health. How’s that goose doing?

There is a rumor making the rounds that we are facing an obesity epidemic. Most of us will not enjoy much of a retirement if we go into it 30 pounds overweight. PricewaterhouseCoopers study says there are more people in the world who are overweight than hungry. Yikes!

About 65 percent of Americans are overweight or obese, according to the Center for Disease Control, which reports that rates of overweight young people have tripled since 1980. The CDC links excess weight to many health problems, including diabetes, heart disease, stroke and some cancers.

I recommend taking the time to nuture that Golden Goose before it is too late. It’s is one thing to say and quite another to do. So before I go let me give you some suggestions.

First, what do you like to do? Most people watch hours of TV every day. Substitute 30 minutes of TV for 30 minutes of walking.

Second, how do you spend your weekends? Catching up on all the work you had no time to do all week? How about walking to a coffee shop to do it, instead of driving to one or staying at home?

Finally, can you spare 15 minutes before you climb into bed? I thought so. Okay, touch your toes, do 10 pushups and stretch your body. Trust me you will sleep better.

Take a moment today and make notes of your Golden Geese. How are you looking after them and what can you do to keep them healthy and laying Golden Eggs for years to come?

Posted on Feb 6th 07 by Scott Paton.

Scott Paton is a world reknown speaker on Blogging and Podcasting. He has captivated and motivated entrepreneurs on three continents with his dry wit and insights.Author of Podcasting Unleashed and contributor to the Internet Marketing Center's hit book and DVD (he's the star!) 'Blogging for Dollars'. An accomplished copywriter, his last sales letter gross over $100,000 in 7 days. Scott is the father of two great teenage boys (young men), loves to hike in the pristine BC mountains,play tennis and travel. http://www.podcasting-unleashed.com

Other posts on Coachamatic by Scott Paton.