Back to the Future
If you've ever watched any of the "Back to the Future" movies, you will recall seeing what happens to a photograph when the characters go back in time and change something from the past.
One small, seemingly insignificant change in past events can set off a chain reaction that causes characters portrayed in photographs to fade out of focus and even disappear completely.
Whether you realize it or not, you are living in your past right now. In other words, as of tomorrow, today will be a permanent part of your past.
Unfortunately, you don't have photographs of you taken in the future. If you did you would be able to see what happens to yourself, those you love, and your lifestyle as you make changes to your past (today).
You would be able to see how one, seemingly insignificant change today can cause emotions, people, income and things to fade, come into focus, appear and disappear from the photographs of your future.
But alas, the only future photographs you have access to are those portrayed in commercial ads -- ads that are developed by expert marketers and feature professional actors, actresses, models, and famous spokespersons.
These expertly designed ads attempt to show you that your future will be better if you buy what the ad is selling. But if you had real photographs from your future you would see that more often than not, purchasing what the ads are selling would be causing things you truly want to disappear from your photographs.
Mindless Habits Destroying Future Photographs
If you're like most consumers, you've probably developed a series of mindless daily spending habits. Without thinking of what effect each expenditure might have on your financial future, you probably buy the newspaper, one or more cups of designer coffee, a candy bar, an energy drink, one or two bottles of water, lunch at your favorite restaurant, download a new ring tone or a new app for your smartphone, and so on. (Worse yet, you probably even borrow money to make these mindless purchases.)
If you are guilty of any of these mindless daily spending habits, I'm guessing you have never stopped to think about the huge negative effect the combination of these actions can have on your financial future.
But wait, the mindless spending of money is not the only action that can cause things you truly want to disappear from your future photographs. The mindless spending of time can be even more disastrous, or as they say in the movies, could cause a crack in the space-time continuum!
The mindless time spent watching TV, playing video games, Facebooking, Tweeting, texting, etc., all consumes time that could have been used to take actions that will cause things you truly want to appear in your future photographs.
Actions you could be taking include actions such as, increasing your knowledge, increasing your marketable skills, researching necessary expenditures, tracking and planning your spending, spending quality time with your loved ones, and so on.
Make TODAY Be a Contributor From Your Past
I have a note taped to my monitor that reads as follows:
Now, of course, I'm not able to make every day stand out. But just keeping this question in front of me helps me to, at the very least, avoid taking actions that will cause things I truly want to disappear from my future photographs and to look for opportunities to take actions that will cause things I truly want to remain and appear in my future photographs.
What does all this have to do with using the auto loan payoff calculator?
Well, one of the small, seemingly insignificant actions you can do today to make things you truly want to appear in your future photographs, is to refrain from taking a mindless action (time or money expenditure) and then invest the savings into something that will make a positive contribution to your future.
As just one of the hundreds of possible examples, if you can force yourself to skip buying that designer cup of coffee, you can then set the savings aside to help pay off your car loan early. Then use your imagination to see things you truly want start to come into focus.