Author: Seniye Groff

Tackle Financial Discipline in 2024

Posted on by Seniye Groff

I recently met a friend for a hike and she shared that she made $35K more in 2023 than she expected. Great news…you would think. The challenge was that she had nothing to show for the additional income. In other words she spent every cent of it plus some. She asked my advice on how she could do better. Here’s what I told her:

  • Live below your means. In other words, act like you make a lot less than you do. Too often we garner a larger paycheck and instead of “paying ourselves” we literally go on a shopping spree of life…bigger house, nicer car, the latest phone etc. Ask yourself, “What do I really need?” and “Does all that stuff really make me happier, anyway?”
  • Put all her various accounts into one investment account. Every time she left a job, she left her 401k with her previous employer. It essentially sits there and is forgotten. If she pulled all of them together, she could create a wholistic plan and be more strategic with her money. I am sure you’ve heard the mantra of being diversified in your portfolio. Well an easy way to accomplish this is to know what you have and have easy access to it…all of it.
  • Shopping…many a person’s downfall. And my friend is no exception. I suggested that she pause…when she sees something instead of immediately buying it, walk away. Think about it. Check out what is already in her closet. Determine how much she will really wear it. And after all that analysis, if she still wants it or “needs” it, then buy it! More likely she will have moved on and forgotten that must-have item.
  • Have a plan and work your plan. Have an end game and then work towards it. All of this financial responsibility should be working towards a goal so I suggested to her that she needs to know what her goal is.
  • Live a little, too. All work and no play would make life pretty boring and dry and there is nothing wrong with a reward here and there. Instead of a bunch of little rewards (clothing, coffee, etc.) how about one really big, glorious reward like a fabulous trip?!

Share your ideas in the comments!

What’s Your Defining Moment of 2023?

Posted on by Seniye Groff

It’s difficult to believe that 2023 is coming to a close. I feel, like many I am sure, that I was just celebrating New Years Eve yesterday! 2023 has been a pretty good year, especially compared to last several years of craziness! I had six new clients this year and two ongoing clients. I created a DEI practitioners group, delivered three industry presentations and provided yearlong mentoring to several women. I also took on volunteering weekly teaching English to local refugees and immigrant newcomers. Teaching ESL has been more challenging than I originally envisioned but it’s certainly rewarding work to see someone so motivated to improve their circumstances through learning English.

As we end this year, I think its important to pause and think about what 2023 meant to us personally and what we hope for 2024. The beginning of a new year allows us to start fresh, which can be invigorating. I write down my goals for 2024 (both work and personal) and also a bucket list for the year, too. Writing things down for me makes the goals and desires tangible. And who doesn’t love crossing something off a list??!! I also go through my calendar week-by-week to see all I really accomplished. And since I use IG as an online journal, I revisit all my posts to relive the year in pictures!

So goodbye 2023 and HELLO 2024. I wish everyone a healthy and happy 2024.  What will be your defining moment for 2024? Plan now and make it happen!

Share in the comments what you do to close out one year and welcome the next.

“Atomic Habits” by James Clear

Posted on by Seniye Groff

“Imagine changing just one word: You don’t ‘have’ to. You ‘get’ to.”

James Clear, page 131

I just finished reading “Atomic Habits” and even though I consider myself a highly disciplined and motivated person, this book still gave me some great ideas. I appreciated all the examples and resources available on Clear’s website. I will be the first person to admit that most business books can (and should be) encapsulated in a two-page article but Clear’s book is the exception. I loved Clear’s quote, “Habits are the compound interest of self-improvement.”

I certainly believe this is true for myself. For example, I work out every day. Come rain or shine, I am committed to MOVE every day. I walk, hike, play tennis and lift weights every week. I have been doing this since I was a teenager. I also was a big runner but my knee is troublesome now. Having knee pain and being unable to run (which I loved to hate) could have led me to be sedentary, but instead I was committed to keep moving in new and different ways. This commitment to the habit of moving has served me and my body well in middle-age. So Clear’s premise that habits can compound for or against you is definitely true in my case.

I also like Clear’s belief that habits are not about goals but instead about systems. Creating systems that support your habits makes complete sense. For example, when I traveled a lot for work, it would be easy to leave the airport and go home right away but I noticed that meant I was working out less. So I came up with a plan to have my workout clothes in the trunk of my car, this way I could easily drive directly to the gym from the airport instead of depending on myself being disciplined enough to go home to change and then drive to the gym.

Another recent example is taking my vitamins. I need to take some daily vitamins and yet I could never remember to do it. I also hate clutter on my kitchen counters but I knew in order to take my vitamins, they needed to be in easier reach (and sight). So the vitamins sit on my kitchen counter and are impossible to miss each morning. I am happy to say, I now take my vitamins daily because I designed my environment for success!

I am a big believer of taking ACTION. Clear shares a great story about taking action. In summary, a photography class broke the students into two groups: quantity and quality. In the quantity group, the students were graded by number of photos taken. It did not matter if they were good photos. The goal was to take a lot of photos. The quality group was required to turn in one photo for the entire semester. Their grade would depend on excellence. At the end of the term, all the best photos were taken by the quantity group. This group experimented, tried new methods and ideas and most importantly, learned from their mistakes. While taking hundreds of pictures, they improved their skills. Ultimately is it easy to get focused on perfection or ideas whereas taking action actually delivers an outcome. Talking or thinking about something does not produce results only ACTION produces results.

I loved the concepts of this book. If you read it or have read it already, share what you learned in the comments section!

My Favorite Moroccan Experience

Posted on by Seniye Groff

I was able to see eight distinct areas of Morocco including the mountains, the ocean and the desert. I loved each area and city but my favorite experience was the Sahara with its vastness and beauty. The sand is orange, the sun was stunning and the camel ride was unforgettable. And the biggest surprise was the sky at night. Without all the light pollution, the stars were plentiful and bright. I couldn’t get a picture of it, but I am sure I won’t forget that night sky any time soon!

The desert camp I stayed at was perfect. The food was some of the best I tasted during my trip (eggplant tajine forever!!!) and the after dinner music by the locals using traditional instruments coupled with the dancing and the opportunity to play the instruments myself, made for a unique night.

Morocco and the Love of Food

Posted on by Seniye Groff

I spent the last two weeks in Morocco and was lucky to see a fair amount of this wonderful country. I flew into Casablanca and then went to Rabat, Chefchaouen, Fez, the Sahara, the Atlas Mountains, Ouarzazate, Essaouria and finally Marrakech. Each region was unique but what was consistent was how great and generous the food was, no matter the location. Each Riad served breakfast which typically included Msemen flatbread, baguettes sliced, boiled eggs, jam, butter and sometimes a white cheese or yogurt.

I really enjoyed the diverse beauty in the multiple areas I visited and even though this is a Muslim country, I never felt ill at ease. The people were genuinely kind, helpful and accommodating. What I loved the most was the cooking, especially tajines. I am vegetarian and so ate either tajine or couscous in pretty much every city I visited. One morning my eggs arrived in the tajine and that is when I realized this tajine has a lot of flexibility and even though I almost never buy souvenirs I did bring home a tajine so that I can experiment at home. I plan on, of course, making vegetables in the tajine but I think I am going to also cook pears and apples in it this fall.

I felt cooking in Morocco felt like an act of love and there is a bit of showmanship in cooking with the tajine. The flair when they raise the cone-like lid to do the “big reveal” was one of my favorites things on this recent trip! Some other food “winners” was pureed broccoli, cumin on everything (but especially on boiled eggs), the amazing Msemen flatbread and coffee with cardamom and cinnamon. One version of the Msemen had so many layers similar to filo dough. I asked what the secret was since it really set itself apart from my other daily breakfasts of Msemen and was told that it was rolled and folded many times. Wow, what a difference that made to essentially laminate the dough similar to a biscuit.

“The Wake Up” Part Two

Posted on by Seniye Groff

Reading “The Wake Up” by Michelle Mijung Kim has been powerful and informative. She shares so much great information. Her comment, “Many of us desire to have good impacts, but sometimes even our best intentions can bring unintended consequences of harm.” This results in fear to do or say anything but then harm is also caused by inaction.

Kim suggests a few things to do when you get called out for being harmful:

  • Listen and calm your defenses.
  • Apologize and acknowledge the harm.
  • Express gratitude for the feedback.
  • Make amends without expecting forgiveness.
  • Commit to doing better and then actually do better.
  • Get support for yourself.

“The Wake Up’ by Michelle Mijung Kim

Posted on by Seniye Groff

I believe it is important to constantly continue to learn. And I love learning new things to to help me consider other points of view. So, I was definitely intrigued to read Kim’s book. She is a queer, immigrant Korean American woman writer and like every other person in this world, she has a unique perspective. This perspective informs her work in the DEI space. The premise of this book is good intentions vs. real change, which also is challenge in the DEI space.

Some things that I liked from this book:

  • Her definition of allyship. She states that it is, “the active and consistent practice of using power and privilege to achieve equity, inclusion and justice while holding ourselves accountable to marginalized people’s needs.
  • I agree with her comment that good intentions produce unwanted outcomes all the time. “Doing good” is not the end game. Validation must come from the group that is marginalized. They decide what doing good really means. For example, ” By failing to set accountability metrics that are driven by the very people such initiatives have been created to support, companies end up solving nothing and doing no good.”
  • Kim’s distinction of do-gooders vs each of us owning that we “each play a critical role in upholding and dismantling systemic oppressions that ultimately impact all of us.” Who does your “why” serve? Yourself? Or historically marginalized people?
  • We need to understand they ways in which we are harmed by or benefitting from different systems of oppression. We all benefit from some and cause harm in other ways. And the belief that everyone has the opportunity to succeed through hard work and their own skills is a myth. The folks that hold the power, access and resources while not acknowledging the barriers marginalized people face, have enjoyed success, believing they earned (and deserve) their success.
  • I think about the Afghan man that I am teaching English to and how motivated he is to learn so that he can improve his opportunities. Someone that already speaks English clearly has advantages over this immigrant. This is a simple example but shows how inequities begin and stay in place.
  • White supremacy exists in every system we have in place: work, healthcare, criminal justice system, real estate, the interviewing and hiring process…the list goes on and on. “Racism is a complex set of systems, policies and beliefs that reinforce the marginalization of people while privileging white people in society.”

Kim lists a few questions to help guide us:

  • Who has the power?
  • How is the power being used?
  • Who benefits?
  • Who is harmed?
  • What historical, social, cultural or political context might I be missing?

There is so much to this book, I am going to write multiple posts about it!

This Year is Flying By!

Posted on by Seniye Groff

Fall is here, hence the pumpkin-flavored everything all around us! So as the year is coming to a close with only three full months left, now is a great time to look backward and forward.

Some things to consider:

  • What do you still want to accomplish before year end?
  • What is reasonable to accomplish by year end?
  • What would be most valuable to accomplish by year end?
  • What have I already accomplished that will set me up for success in the new year?
  • What should I repeat next year?
  • What do I still need to accomplish, learn or get rid of?

What other things should you consider to close out this year and begin the next year?