Hoping this week goes better than last week. The terribleness of it all peaked on Saturday, when I was rudely checking my phone at the funeral of someone who died in a very sudden, tragic way, because my dad was having emergency surgery >1000 miles away.

Stay safe! I hope they find the guy soon.

The number one secret of dog training: It is just creating a shared language between you and your pup so that they can be successful.

Are they doing something you don’t want them to? Teach them what you want them to do in that scenario instead. For instance, my dog used to sprint towards the road when he wanted to cross. I taught him to sit instead, and then we crossed whenever he asked by sitting to reinforce the much safer behavior.

The point is to teach them how to tell you what they want/need in healthy ways, and actually listen when they do what you taught them. Another example, give them a way to tell you they need to go outside (bells they can ring is a good option) and then let them out when they ask in the way you taught them.

I volunteered to moonlight in a second role at my day job. This week is the first time that the workload has been getting to me. I guess it’s just going to be a stressful couple of weeks and then I’ll get through it.

I’m sorry to hear you are struggling. It may take time and it may be a tough road, but you can absolutely dig yourself out of this hole.

I’d recommend focusing on one loan at a time, if the whole makes you feel overwhelmed. While I’m not the biggest fan, Dave Ramsey suggests paying loans off using something called the snowball method. I think this can help you, because it will allow you to have wins and see progress faster. Since it sounds like you are struggling with motivation and seeing progress, this method will be the most useful. Small, achievable goals are important!

Basically, you pay the minimums on all of your current loans. Then you pay any extra on your loan with the lowest balance. Once that is knocked out, you take what you were paying for the first loan (minimum payment plus the extra) and put it towards your second smallest loan. A secondary benefit with this approach is that you will reduce your required cash outflow if you do end up losing your job. Good luck!

At the end of the day, you know deep inside what the right choice for you is. The unknown is scary, but the future is always unknown, no matter what you choose.

I went the route of going back to school for a fresh start, after my first career attempt didn’t work out. It was absolutely the right choice. I went from feeling stuck in a bad situation and absolutely miserable, to a career that allows me to live my best life and I am infinitely more happy.

I didn’t know what was going to come out of the change. I knew I couldn’t keep doing what I was doing. When I went back to school, I did as many different internships as I could, since I knew what I didn’t want to do, but I didn’t know what I wanted to do anymore. I ended up falling into a career field I never even knew existed, but matches up to my strengths perfectly. Bonus points for being paid more than I ever imagined I could make (I basically tripled my income from my old job when I started my current one).

Life’s short. Change is constant, no matter what you choose. Do what makes you happy, even if it’s scary. We all end up as worm food, do you want to live your life as a series of “What ifs?” Or do you want to take a chance and try new things?

I’m here for the people. I don’t want to be a part of a community that is bots talking with bots, which is what I felt like places like Reddit had become. When I found Beehaw, it was a breath of fresh air to actually see intelligent conversations between real people. I’d hate to see that be lost.