My Favourite Posts of 2014
/I had a lot of fun compiling my favourite posts of 2015 and it looks like a good number of you had fun perusing the list. That’s why I decided to do the same thing for 2014.
I’ve chosen the posts below based on how:
- Top of mind they still are well over a year later.
- Much I just plain like them.
- They’ve helped create the direction for this blog, especially its main themes:
- How money changes how we think.
- What makes us happy.
- Why don’t have to—and often shouldn’t—follow social norms and cultural assumptions.
I hope you enjoy perusing and (re)reading these as much as I did.
Ten Favourite Posts of 2014
1. The “Burger Flippin’” Rule: This is the the F2P philosophy in a nutshell. It’s the story of where my pursuit of financial independence started, even though I didn’t know it at the time. I was stuck, experiencing a situation I never wanted to experience again.
2. What Fuels You? Do You Pursue It?: This is a question we don’t ask ourselves often enough, especially in today’s busyness. It’s different from the overused “follow your passion”. It's about paying attention to what we like to do, the type of endeavours we can lose ourselves in. When we find our personal drivers, we do our best work and we feel like a better version of us.
3. Diamonds - Nothing But a Brilliant Illusion: This post has been a favourite because it’s so nice to call out one societal construct that is pure fabrication. There is no shortage of diamonds in the world, yet we consider them to be so important in how we define love and wealth. In some ways, they can be a girl’s biggest bully. It’s been popular with a few of my blogging friends who have featured it, namely Frugal Fringe and The Escape Artist.
4. Don’t Be A Crab - Here’s How: The more we get our sense of worth from external sources, the more likely it is that we develop crab-like tendencies. These tendencies relate to thinking we can elevate ourselves by putting others down because it feels as though our relative position is all that matters when it comes to valuing ourselves. I like exploring this topic because it’s not a state of belief that’s unavoidable or permanent. We can get over ourselves AND feel better about who we are at the same time.
5. Follow The White Rabbit: What I write here is about waking up to the world around us. We have options, the first one being that we don’t have to look at the world the way we’re taught to. When The Matrix was released in 1999, it had a significant impact on me. I was blown away and it made me think. A lot. You could say the movie was my “red pill”.
6. What Do You Look Like On Paper: Aside from showing off my limited abilities in graphic design and poor penmanship, this post is about measuring ourselves in a different way. One not based on possessions or income, but on how full and varied our lives are. A variety of identities—especially making time for hobbies and special interests—enables us to not be entirely defined by others. It also enables us to weather change more effectively, just as any well-diversified portfolio would.
7. You’re Right Dear. Again: Others can often see things in our lives, and in our behaviour, that we’re blind to. They can view our situation from an outside perspective. My husband is one of those people for me and this post serves as a good reminder that I should pay attention when he, albeit rarely, cautiously wades in with commentary on a personal dilemma I’m facing.
8. The Devil Made Me Do It. Why We Always Have A Choice: I absolutely loved the movie The Devil Wears Prada for two reasons: the cast and the story. This post is about the story, of course. My focus is on making choices, the fact that no matter what we believe, everything we do is a choice. If we have constraints, they’re self-imposed. And, what guides our choices is our fear of their consequences—a fear of what we might lose—along with a dose of the sunk cost fallacy. These are far more powerful than the choice itself, and we can learn to either lessen their impact or ignore them completely.
9. Should We All Be Generalists: This post challenges the belief that career success is highly correlated with specialization and that we shouldn’t change our career path to pursue other interests. Not only is that belief erroneous, but specialization isn’t optimal for our happiness either. Since writing this post, I’ve come across much evidence—sometimes from unexpected sources—that specialization can even be a career and innovation killer because we lose our ability to be creative, to see the world from a different perspective, and even to consider all possible alternatives when solving a problem. I'm sure I’ll be writing more on this topic in the future.
10. The Most Valuable Lesson My Father Ever Taught Me: My dad passed away shortly before my twentieth birthday. His passing had a significant effect on me and, though I still miss him so many years later, he gave me a great gift that has lead me to live a richer life. I’m forever grateful.
Five Honourable Mentions
These didn’t make the top ten but I just want to share a few more posts, either because they were a lot of fun to write or because I like their message.
- What FI Seekers and Dexter Have In Common
- How I Lost $1,500 AND Kept Smiling
- How Much Are Your Relationships Worth
- Want To Be Happier? Watching “House” Might Help
- Travel & the Power of Context (If you like this one, here’s another post on the benefits of travel.)
That’s it for 2014! If you want to peruse all the previous posts on F2P, check out the Archive in the far right sidebar.
Thanks again to J$ at Budgets Are Sexy for this great idea, including the format. Here's his top 10 for 2015.
This post contains affiliate links to amazon.com. Purchases made via these links help support the F2P blog. It doesn't cost you anything and helps cover ongoing expenses associated with maintaining this blog. Thank you for your support.
Image credit/copyright: Pixomar/freedigitalphotos.net
