Tools and Add-ons For protecting Your Privacy Onlione

Prism-Break is an exceptional resource to help you safeguard your privacy and security online.

My preferred way to do it in a browser is the following:

For desktops/laptops:

• HTTPS Everywhere - automatically enables SSL encryption when you're browsing the web, for the websites that offer SSL. This should make it so that the information transmitted between you and the server (the website) is encrypted and secure.
• EditThisCookie (Chrome/Opera) - Allows you to delete, edit, create, and block cookies that are stored in your browser. This can prevent websites from uniquely identifying you using data stored on your computer, in the form of cookies.
• Tab Cookies (Chrome) / Self-Destructing Cookies (Firefox) - Automatically deletes website cookies (and other data stored locally) once you close the web browser tab for that website. Helps prevent tracking like EditThisCookie.
• uBlock Origin - This extension filters anything you'd like on different websites - like content from ad servers, malware sites, and various site elements that you simply wish to remove. Prevents intrusive ads, and malware exposure - and also increases page loading speed. You don't need both uBlock Origin and NoScript.
• Disconnect - Stops tracking by +2000 different third-party sites ("trackers"), and helps prevent ad companies from tracking you online. Also increases page loading speed.
• NoScript - Allows you to choose what kinds of "active" content (such as JavaScript, Java, Flash) you wish to load when using browsers. This prevents websites using these technologies to harm your computer (malware, for example), and track your identity. Makes for a more secure and private browsing experience. Has more far-reaching content blocking capabilities than uBlock Origin.

For mobile users:

• Android Browser Addons
• iOS Privacy options

The nuclear options:

• Tor Browser
• Tails

Some background info:

Many websites track your online activity in various ways, mostly in order to create customized ads but also for more nefarious purposes. This unique information about you is a product that is sold and bought by companies. These extensions help prevent this (by blocking tracking and removing cookies).

They also make websites load faster by removing ads and excessive website elements (by ordinary content blocking), and makes it harder for malware to get to your computer (by blocking active content and links to malware).

SOURCE

Healthcare 101 - a Basic Guide to Healthcare Insurance

There appears to be a multitude of posts on /r/personalfinance about how individuals had unexpected bills because of a problem with their medical insurance or their medical practitioner. This post will cover the basics of health insurance, as is relevant for most consumers.

Remember, like many other topics discussed in /r/personalfinance, your choices for healthcare are personal. The health insurance policy that's best for one individual may not be the best for someone else.

Also, I am far from being an expert in healthcare and it is likely that I made a mistake in this long post. I apologize in advance for any mistakes and would appreciate them being corrected.

Contents

• Health Insurance Vocabulary
• An Illustrative Example
• Negotiated Rates
• Fully-covered Services
• Types of Insurance Policies
• Comparing Insurance Policies
• Lowering the Cost of Healthcare
• Preparing for Medical Treatment
• Dental Insurance
• Afterword

Health Insurance Vocabulary

When looking at a health insurance policy, there are four numbers you really want to look at when you're comparing health insurance plans: The policy's premium, deductible, co-insurance, and out-of-pocket maximum.

The premium is the cost of the insurance coverage. It can be billed weekly, monthly, or however often the insurance company/your employer decides.

The deductible is the amount that you pay out-of-pocket for medical services each year before insurance starts paying anything.

Co-insurance is the percentage of medical costs that you pay after meeting the deductible.

A co-pay is a fixed amount that you pay for a service. You usually only pay co-pays for services not subject to the deductible.

The out-of-pocket maximum is the maximum you pay for medical expenses in the calendar year. Once the out-of-pocket maximum has been met, the insurance company will pay 100% of medical costs for the remainder of the year.

An Illustrative Example

Bob pays $500/month has an insurance policy with the following characteristics: A $2,000 deductible, 20% co-insurance, and an out-of-pocket max of $5,000.

In January, Bob got sick and had to visit the doctor. Because he hadn't yet met the deductible, Bob had to pay for $150 for the visit out of his own pocket.

Current Status:

Deductible: $150/$2,000

Out-of-pocket Maximum: $150/$5,000

In June, Bob had a heart attack and went to the emergency room. The bill for the hospitalization and the diagnostic exams came out to $2,850. From the bill of $2,850, Bob is required to pay $1,850 towards the deductible (he paid $150 for his earlier sick visit) and $200 (20% of the next $1,000) as co-insurance. Bob has now met his deductible and has paid $2,200 towards his out-of-pocket maximum. Bob's insurance company has paid $800 of Bob's medical expenses.

Current Status:

Deductible: $2,000/$2,000

Out-of-pocket Maximum: $2,200/$5,000

In August, Bob needed emergency surgery and spent a week recovering in the hospital. The bill for the surgeon and hospital stay is roughly $30,000. Because Bob met his deductible, he is only required to pay the 20% co-insurance of $6,000. But Bob already paid $2,200 towards his out-of-pocket maximum of $5,000. So Bob only needs to pay $2,800 to meet his out-of-pocket maximum, and the insurance company pays the remaining $27,200. Bob is not having a good year.

Current Status:

Deductible: $2,000/$2,000

Out-of-pocket Maximum: $5,000/$5,000

Disaster strikes again. In October, Bob breaks his leg and racks up another $10,000 in medical bills. Because Bob met his out-of-pocket maximum, he doesn't have to pay anything. Bob's health insurance pays the full $10,000.

Current Status:

Deductible: $2,000/$2,000

Out-of-pocket Maximum: $5,000/$5,000

Over the course of the year, Bob spent $6,000 for his health insurance and $5,000 on medical expenses for a total of $11,000. Bob's insurance company spent $38,000 ($800 + $27,200 + $10,000) on Bob's medical expenses. Bob's wallet is hurting, but at least he has something left in it.

Under the Affordable Care Act, medical insurance providers cannot put an annual or lifetime cap on how much they'll pay for expenses for essential health benefits. Essential health benefits include emergency services, hospitalization, maternity and newborn care, prescription drugs, and more.

Negotiated Rates

In the above example, having health insurance was financially an excellent move for Bob. For $11,000, he avoided paying $43,000 worth of medical bills. But most people don't have medical bills that exceed their out-of-pocket maximum. For those individuals, health insurance provides a secondary benefit called "negotiated rates".

When you visit a medical practitioner or hospital, they can bill any amount they want (although some are limited by local laws). For some practitioners, the insurance company negotiates how much they'll pay them for that service. For example, a doctor may charge $200 for a sick visit. But the insurance company negotiates that they'll only pay $75 for a sick visit. The $200 bill sent by the doctor to the insurance company is called the pre-negotiated rate. The $75 bill in this instance is called the negotiated rate. An insured patient at an in-network practice will not need to pay more than the negotiated rate.

The medical practices that have a negotiated rate with your insurance company are considered to be in-network. The medical practitioners that did not agree to the discounted rates are considered to be out-of-network. An out-of-network medical provider can charge you the pre-negotiated rate. Taking the above example, the insurance company may only pay $75 for a $200 out-of-network sick visit, leaving the patient responsible for the $125 balance.

Additionally, insurance companies also may have different deductibles, co-insurance, and out-of-pocket maximums for in-network vs out-of-network visits. For example, the deductible may be $3,000 for in-network visits and $4,000 for out-of-network visits. It is usually most efficient financially to only use in-network providers.

Fully-covered Services

All ACA-compliant insurance policies fully cover well visits and preventative care at in-network providers. These include medical care like immunizations and checkups. That means that someone going for a regular check up does not have to pay anything for the visit, independent of whether or not the deductible was met.

For example, Alice has a health insurance policy with a $1,000 deductible. Alice is healthy and wants to stay that way, so she schedules a flu shot at her doctor's office. Even though it's January and Alice hasn't paid anything towards her deductible, her insurance policy completely covers the flu shot and Alice does not have to pay any part of the cost.

Types of Insurance Policies

(From the wiki: https://www.reddit.com/r/personalfinance/wiki/health_insurance)

• HMO (Health Maintenance Organization): HMO insurance plans generally have cheaper premiums than the other types of plans. The drawback is that they are also usually the most restrictive when it comes to selecting health care providers. Most HMO insurance plans also require a referral from your primary care physician (PCP) to see a specialist.
• EPO (Exclusive Provider Organization): EPO insurance plans, like HMO, usually will only cover non-emergency medical costs from providers that are in-network. Referrals are not usually required in order to see specialists.
• POS (Point of Service): POS insurance plans will usually cover medical costs both in- and out-of-network, though you will typically pay less at in-network providers. Referrals from a primary care provider may be required to see specialists.
• PPO (Preferred Provider Organization): PPO insurance plans, like POS, cover medical costs both in- and out-of-network, with cheaper costs when staying in-network. A referral is usually not required to see specialists.

HMO and PPO plans are the most common. Most health insurance plans can be compared by looking at the participating (in-network) providers, whether a referral from your physician is needed to see a specialist, the deductible and/or co-pays, and the out-of-pocket maximum.

Most of these options can be improved at the expense of increasing the premium. With all else being equal, a plan with a lower deductible will have a higher premium. Similarly, a plan with a lower out-of-pocket maximum or a larger provider network may also have a higher premium.

Comparing Insurance Policies

When considering insurance policies, you’ll want to verify that your doctors are all in-network and that you’ll be able to easily visit an in-network practice in the event of an emergency. If you can’t use your health insurance to lower your medical bills, it doesn’t make a difference how low the premium is.

When comparing healthcare policies, I’ve found it worth examining the minimum, expected, and maximum cost for each policy. The minimum cost would be for the premiums and any regular prescriptions and medical visits necessary. The maximum cost would be the sum of the premiums and out-of-pocket maximums. The expected cost would be the average amount you expect to spend on healthcare over a year, including the premiums and the cost of several sick visits.

The expected cost of an insurance policy can be affected by many factors. The larger your family, the more sick visits you'll likely have during the year. The expected illnesses and complications for a 25-year old are very different than those of a 55-year old. Another factor to consider is that if a family member has a chronic condition, your calculation for the expected cost could be very different.

Likewise if you (or your wife) is pregnant and has been having minor complications, you can expect that you'll have many more doctor's visits than normal, and you'll need to evaluate the chance of the baby spending time in the NICU.

The expected cost of your health expenses is where health insurance becomes extremely personal.

Lowering the Cost of Healthcare

Healthcare expenses can be quite high, with deductibles of several thousand dollars and out-of-pocket maximums over ten thousand dollars. Luckily, the IRS allows people to sometimes lower the actual cost of healthcare expenses by paying for them pre-tax.

Some employers grant access to a Healthcare Flexible Spending Account (HCFSA, sometimes called FSA), where money is taken out of the employee’s paycheck pre-tax. Then, as the healthcare expenses are incurred, the employee submits the receipts to the HCFSA program, which then reimburses the expenses from the pre-tax allotment. Some HCFSA programs also supply a debit card which can be used to pay for eligible expenses.

One of the biggest issues with HCFSAs is that the money allocated for them is “use-it or lose it”, meaning that only expenses incurred during the calendar year can be reimbursed from the HCFSAs. Any money left in HCFSA cannot be used in the following calendar year. While some companies allow carrying over up to $500, you’ll need to check your companies exact policy to determine what amount, if any, can be carried over to the following year.

For example, Joe allocated $2,000 for his HCFSA. Over the course of the year, Joe incurred $1,000 of medical expenses. Joe’s company’s HCFSA does not allow carrying over any funds in his HCFSA, so Joe loses the remaining $1,000 in the HCFSA.

Another option available is called a Health Savings Account (HSA). If someone has an insurance policy classified as aHigh-Deductible Health Plan (HDHP), they are allowed to open and fund an HSA. An HSA can be funded with pre-tax dollars, and unlike an FSA account, the balance is not forfeited at the end of the year. Any money left in the HSA at age 65 can be withdrawn without penalty, similar to a traditional 401(k).

Preparing for Medical Treatment

There are many stories of people being shocked with a bill for thousands of dollars. Below are the steps you can take to avoid owing (potentially) thousands of dollars.

1. Choose an in-network practitioner. Verify that they’re in-network by calling your insurance company or checking your insurance company’s online directory. Many people have been told by a secretary that the practice is in-network and then learned otherwise. If you go out-of-network, you’ll likely have to pay the full charge for the service and will likely need to submit the bill to the insurance company yourself for reimbursement.
2. If a referral or preauthorization is needed, make sure the paperwork is squared away. You may receive an EOB for the upcoming procedures. If you don’t receive an EOB, call your insurance company to verify that all necessary paperwork went through.
3. After each visit, you should receive an explanation of benefits (EOB) with an itemized list of what the doctor billed for. If there is an unexpected or fraudulent item, contact the doctor’s office to clarify why that line is included on your bill. Health providers are required to provide an itemized bill. If the charge is fraudulent, contact your insurance company.
4. If you go to an out-of-network practice, keep a copy of the statement from the doctor’s office, in case you need to submit the claim to your insurance company yourself. Even if the secretary says they’ll submit the claim to your insurance for you, they may not - and you’ll be the one who has to foot the bill.
5. Once you determine how much is owed from a medical visit, submit the expense to your HCFSA for reimbursement.

Dental Insurance

Dental insurance operates similarly to health insurance, with similar plan types, provider networks, deductibles, and co-pays. However, dental insurance policies can have an annual or lifetime maximum for services, as they are not legally required to offer unlimited benefits.

SOURCE

Cognitive Distortions that Cause Negative Spirals

Unhelpful thought patterns known as "cognitive distortions ": how being aware of these is helpful in breaking out of negativity. When your brain starts spewing , attribute it to one or more of these distortions and understand that you're not thinking clearly so you should just move past it.

It's very hard to change your way of thinking and put this knowledge into practice.

Here are some examples of cognitive distortions:

Filtering

We take the negative details and magnify them while filtering out all positive aspects of a situation. For instance, a person may pick out a single, unpleasant detail and dwell on it exclusively so that their vision of reality becomes darkened or distorted.

Polarized Thinking (or “Black and White” Thinking)

In polarized thinking, things are either “black-or-white.” We have to be perfect or we’re a failure -- there is no middle ground. You place people or situations in “either/or” categories, with no shades of gray or allowing for the complexity of most people and situations. If your performance falls short of perfect, you see yourself as a total failure.

Overgeneralization

In this cognitive distortion, we come to a general conclusion based on a single incident or a single piece of evidence. If something bad happens only once, we expect it to happen over and over again. A person may see a single, unpleasant event as part of a never-ending pattern of defeat.

Jumping to Conclusions

Without individuals saying so, we know what they are feeling and why they act the way they do. In particular, we are able to determine how people are feeling toward us.

For example, a person may conclude that someone is reacting negatively toward them but doesn’t actually bother to find out if they are correct. Another example is a person may anticipate that things will turn out badly, and will feel convinced that their prediction is already an established fact.

Catastrophizing

We expect disaster to strike, no matter what. This is also referred to as “magnifying or minimizing.” We hear about a problem and use what if questions (e.g., “What if tragedy strikes?” “What if it happens to me?”).

For example, a person might exaggerate the importance of insignificant events (such as their mistake, or someone else’s achievement). Or they may inappropriately shrink the magnitude of significant events until they appear tiny (for example, a person’s own desirable qualities or someone else’s imperfections).

Personalization

Personalization is a distortion where a person believes that everything others do or say is some kind of direct, personal reaction to the person. We also compare ourselves to others trying to determine who is smarter, better looking, etc.

A person engaging in personalization may also see themselves as the cause of some unhealthy external event that they were not responsible for. For example, “We were late to the dinner party and caused the hostess to overcook the meal. If I had only pushed my husband to leave on time, this wouldn’t have happened.”

Control Fallacies

If we feel externally controlled, we see ourselves as helpless a victim of fate. For example, “I can’t help it if the quality of the work is poor, my boss demanded I work overtime on it.” The fallacy of internal control has us assuming responsibility for the pain and happiness of everyone around us. For example, “Why aren’t you happy? Is it because of something I did?”

Fallacy of Fairness

We feel resentful because we think we know what is fair, but other people won’t agree with us. As our parents tell us when we’re growing up and something doesn’t go our way, “Life isn’t always fair.” People who go through life applying a measuring ruler against every situation judging its “fairness” will often feel badly and negative because of it. Because life isn’t “fair” — things will not always work out in your favor, even when you think they should.

Blaming

We hold other people responsible for our pain, or take the other track and blame ourselves for every problem. For example, “Stop making me feel bad about myself!” Nobody can “make” us feel any particular way -- only we have control over our own emotions and emotional reactions.

Shoulds

We have a list of ironclad rules about how others and we should behave. People who break the rules make us angry, and we feel guilty when we violate these rules. A person may often believe they are trying to motivate themselves with shoulds and shouldn’ts, as if they have to be punished before they can do anything.

For example, “I really should exercise. I shouldn’t be so lazy.” Musts and oughts are also offenders. The emotional consequence is guilt. When a person directs should statements toward others, they often feel anger, frustration and resentment.

Emotional Reasoning

We believe that what we feel must be true automatically. If we feel stupid and boring, then we must be stupid and boring. You assume that your unhealthy emotions reflect he way things really are -- “I feel it, therefore it must be true.”

Fallacy of Change

We expect that other people will change to suit us if we just pressure or cajole them enough. We need to change people because our hopes for happiness seem to depend entirely on them.

Global Labeling

We generalize one or two qualities into a negative global judgment. These are extreme forms of generalizing, and are also referred to as “labeling” and “mislabeling.” Instead of describing an error in context of a specific situation, a person will attach an unhealthy label to themselves.

For example, they may say, “I’m a loser” in a situation where they failed at a specific task. When someone else’s behavior rubs a person the wrong way, they may attach an unhealthy label to him, such as “He’s a real jerk.” Mislabeling involves describing an event with language that is highly colored and emotionally loaded. For example, instead of saying someone drops her children off at daycare every day, a person who is mislabeling might say that “she abandons her children to strangers.”

Always Being Right

We are continually on trial to prove that our opinions and actions are correct. Being wrong is unthinkable and we will go to any length to demonstrate our rightness. For example, “I don’t care how badly arguing with me makes you feel, I’m going to win this argument no matter what because I’m right.” Being right often is more important than the feelings of others around a person who engages in this cognitive distortion, even loved ones.

Heaven’s Reward Fallacy

We expect our sacrifice and self-denial to pay off, as if someone is keeping score. We feel bitter when the reward doesn’t come.

The Differences Between and History of a Few Different Japanese Martial Arts

Aikido is not a fighting art. The founder of Aikido was a hardcore aikijujutsu guy and soldier who supposedly decided to pacify himself after fighting in wars and took some of the concepts from aikijujutsu and added a bunch of pseudo-spiritual stuff to it. Its supposed to be a physical embodiment of a way of life, i.e. harmonizing with your opponent in all aspects of life, seeing things from their point of view, then guiding them to your point of view. That's it at its core. The idea that aikido is a martial combat system is fundamentally flawed.

A lot of people misunderstand the differences between the various Japanese martial arts. Fundamentally there were combat styles (the -jutsus) and some of them were turned into philosophies and/or sports (the -dos).

For example, traditional Japanese jujutsu (not to be confused with 20th century BJJ which is tangentially related) is a full-featured combative system that teaches strikes, locks, breaks, throws, take downs, and even some groundwork, though going to the ground in actual combat is a quick way to die so its not the focus. Traditional jujutsu is still taught today but you have to look for it.

Related to jujutsu is aikijujutsu which uses jujutsu techniques adapted to fit sword stances and movements. So you wind up with very open and flowing circular movements versus traditional jujutsu which uses circles when appropriate but also uses direct lines of attack a lot, and also will use a circular movement and then cut through it with a linear movement to increase the damage of the strike or momentum of the throw/break. Aikijujutsu did this because hand-to-hand combat was viewed as about as useful then as hand-to-hand combat is now when people carry weapons -- a fallback that shouldn't happen, but if it did you should know a few techniques that are easy to remember because they are based on the same movements you train with using your swords. And then aikijujutsu grew even further into its own separate art from there.

In fact both jujutsu and aikijujutsu are offshoots of a much older art known as kumi uchi which was samurai grappling with armor on -- basically a way to grab your opponent and thrown them off balance/to the ground so you can stab them with pointy things.

To see a true depiction of traditional Japanese aikijujutsu see this video and notice the movements make perfect sense in the context of the society in which they were created. Many are defenses against surprise attacks by seated swordsmen supposedly sitting with you to discuss peace, so they trained to be prepared to defend themselves appropriately.

So Aikido came from aikijujutsu which is a kind-of offshoot of early jujutsu. Judo was a similar offshoot of jujutsu (not aikijujutsu) that aimed to make a competitive sport with some philosophical elements to it. Basically a way to allow you to "go all out" against an opponent within a structured rule system to hopefully prevent serious damage. And teach a basic philosophy of life with it.

Karate is a bit different since it was an offshoot/formalization of a loose collection of techniques in Okinawa known simply as te, meaning hand. These techniques were a way for the Okinawans to help defend themselves against invaders, especially Japanese. The early techniques were much more primitive than what is seen today, focused on dirty effectiveness rather than clean and pretty. Most of what passes as "kroddy" today is virtually indistinguishable from "take-your-do", a bunch of crap taught by people who don't even fully understand the arts but are happy to take your money in exchange for some cult-like bullshit.

Traditional martial arts have a tremendous amount of information encoded in the original katas and a lot of people misunderstand how katas work. They also misunderstand the ideas of stance and this gets reinforced by "kroddy" teaching these huge static stances where you drop into a stance and stay there. It's ridiculous. A true fighting art will teach you to move your ass around a lot in short quick movements, and each movement has a transition point and that transition point is the stance. So a stance is a means to transition from one position to another. It is not supposed to be some static fighting position you dig out of the ground and hold forever, it is a dynamic split-second point in a movement that forms a very strong base for a follow-on movement.

For example, compare these two traditional karate stances. Stance 1 and Stance 2. They are the "same" stance but they are implemented differently. It looks stupid from the outside if you don't know what they are for. And I would say the former is "less correct" because it appears to be very static. But look at the second stance and then watch the footwork in this BJJ shoulder throw clip. The "static stance" from the karate clip is actually a very dynamic "hip cocking" maneuver that "kroddy" teachers never teach because they don't understand it themselves. It cocks the hips for the throw.

Now compare that to this aikijujutsu footwork and see the fully open version of that kind of footwork.

SOURCE

Tips for Novel Writing (Without Going Totally Insane)

As someone who's written multiple (read: double digits) novels, it is both easy and hard - it really depends on how you approach it!

Romanticon's Tips for Novel Writing (Without Going Totally Insane):


Part 1: Before you start

1. Come up with an idea! If you don't have an idea, you don't have a novel. Simple as that.
2. No idea? Pick a genre you like. Do you read a lot of mystery, romance, scifi? Set out to write what you know.
3. Background research. If you want to write a Victorian period piece, you should read up on Victorian era daily life. If you want to write a space adventure, read up on rockets and space.
4. Plot-in-a-sentence. Imagine that you're in an elevator with Christopher Nolan. How do you convince him to buy your book as a movie deal before he reaches his floor?
5. Accountability. Set a reward for completion, but a punishment if you don't hit a daily goal. I've found that a good punishment for me is running a mile on each day I don't hit my word goal.
6. Choose a time or place to write, and make it a habit. I personally have a favorite coffee shop where I can people watch as I write.

To outline, or not to outline?

I've talked to other writers, and they swear by always/sometimes/never outlining their stories. Personally, it really comes down to what you feel works best for you. I outline, because I like the organization, and it helps me push through the "middle slog" when I no longer love my plot any longer.

I also find that a good outline means my book is already about 20% written! I'll start with just listing out the plot-in-a-sentence, and then I'll break that down into a list of events that happen in the book. Break those down a little further, and I've got chapters! Add in a few sentences describing what happens in each event, and I've got chapter summaries!

From there, I find it easy to just take a chapter summary a day and flush it out into a full chapter.

Part 2: Time to write! Uhhhh....

1. Have a word goal in mind before you start writing. I will usually aim to write 2,000 words a session - that gives me a 50k word novel in 25 days! Even a 500 word a day goal still gets you a novel in under 4 months.
2. Remove distractions. Check out apps like Write or Die, or even turn off your internet connection for the writing time. You can also find apps that block access to certain sites for a length of time (like turning off Reddit...).
3. Use a timer! I personally am a fan of the Pomodoro method - 25 minutes on, 5 minutes off. Great for writing intensely without getting burned out.
4. Find a writing group! Writing is much easier with other people, even if it's only a digital connection.
5. Keep a cheat sheet of important details. Write down your characters' names, descriptions, important backstory details, etc. I've had a character's eye and hair color change halfway through the story because I forgot how I originally described him. This also helps you with backstory.
6. Don't go back and edit! Editing a story before it's finished is a death stroke to the novel. If you realize you need to go back and re-write a plot point, make a note of it, and then KEEP GOING to the end before backing up to make changes.
7. If you think of a cool plot point or detail to add in at a future chapter, make a note of it so you don't forget. At the bottom of my document, I keep a slowly growing list of "things to remember".

Part 3: Halfway through and hating it

1. Relax. Every writer hates their story at some point and wants to scrap the whole thing. Keep going.
2. If you have an outline, don't forget to refer back to it - or update it if your story takes a new direction.
3. If your characters get "stuck", think about their goals. What are they after to be happy? Why don't they have it, what's holding them back? How do they accomplish their goal? What does that mean for your other characters?
4. Remember, your story doesn't need to hit a certain word limit, just wrap up. Some of my novels stopped at 45k words, some went all the way to 65k words. The story ends when it ends.

I'm done! Now what?

First, congratulations!
Second, put the novel aside for a few days. You need to distance yourself.
Once you're starting to forget some of the details of what you've written, go back and re-read it, preferably with a highlighter. I review in the following order:

1. First, does the overall plot flow? If not, what do I need to change?
2. Second, do the characters stay consistent in talking style, goals, motivation, attitude, and so on? If not, fix that after the plot's solid.
3. How's the logical consistency? If a character doesn't have a car, how do they get around? Is a broke character flying around the world? Is an awkward geek flirting effortlessly with supermodels? Make sure things make sense.

When I read one of my stories, I often try and see it as a movie in my head. If scenes in the movie aren't clear or don't make sense, I know I need to rewrite that section.

Composition of a novel

When I write a novel, it ends up being about:

• 20% descriptions and scenery
• 40% dialogue
• 20% emotion (how's the character feeling, thinking?)
• 20% action

Your numbers may be different, but you do need a blend of all 4 of these. Leave out emotions, and your characters all feel robotic. Leave out dialogue, and the thing doesn't feel real. Leave out descriptions, and your readers will be utterly confused.

Okay, now I'm really done with the thing. Now what?

Now, put your baby out in the world! You can either:

• Submit to traditional publishers (although you'll want an agent for this, and it's a long slog)
• Publish it yourself for free! Check out programs like Scrivener for making an ebook, and printing platforms like Lulu to get a physical copy.
• Put it up for sale! I sell my novels through Amazon's Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) platform, as well as on other sites.

Remember, every author hates his finished product most of the time. You only get better through practice and self-assessment. You can do it!

Some other resources to check out:

www.nanowrimo.org - National Novel Writing Month is a competition every November, where people challenge themselves to write a novel in a month, 1,667 words per day! It's a great way to get motivation, with local writing groups all across the US and around the world.

www.savethecat.com - guide for anyone wanting to write a screenplay. In addition, google "Save the Cat beat sheet" for a great outline for writing a novel.

www.kboards.com/authors/ - forum for self-published authors through Amazon's Kindle Direct Publishing program, great for getting started in self-publishing.

www.literatureandlatte.com/scrivener.php - Scrivener is a great tool for writers - it lets you organize by chapters, compile a book from separate documents, adjust formatting, and export in many different formats, including as an epub book.

www.duotrope.com - exhaustive, amazing list of all markets for submitting stories, long or short. Well worth the membership fee.

1099 Contract v Employee status

Here's some financial points where you will likely be losing out compared to being an employee. Try to put some monetary values on these so you have a good idea of how hard you are being screwed.

• no longer receiving medical benefits
• no longer getting matching 401k
• no longer receiving PTO
• no longer getting paid holidays
• no longer receiving 6.2 percent social security tax contribution
• no longer receiving 1.45 percent medicare tax contribution

Beyond those things that have a direct financial impact, also keep these things in mind:

• You are no longer eligible for unemployment benefits if you are terminated or the company goes under
• You aren't covered by workers compensation insurance
• You aren't protected by many labor laws
• The max amount of untaxed income that you can contribute to your retirement plan decreases from something like $13,000 to $5,500 per year. (may not be exact numbers, but your tax liability will increase)
• You may be financially responsible for investments in tools and resources required to do your job.
• You'll have to file estimated taxes on a quarterly basis.
• Taxes will be more complicated - you might have to hire someone to help you.
• You'll have to take the time to find private health insurance.

If you decide that you are not OK with your employer attempting to reclassify you, you may choose to remind or inform them of the following:

• Simply calling you an independent contractor does not make it so in the eyes of federal and state entities. Whether a worker is an employee is a legal question determined by the economic realities of the working relationship between the employer and the worker, not by job title or any agreement that the parties may make.
• If the IRS or other government agency determines that a hiring firm has unintentionally mis-classified an employee as an independent contractor, it can impose fines of $50 for each form that was not filed, 1.5% of the wages plus interest accruing daily, 40% of the FICA that the employee should have paid, and 100% of the FICA that the employer should have paid.
• A responsible person (including corporate officers and employees or members or employees of a partnership) with authority over the financial affairs of the business who willfully fails to collect and pay taxes may be held personally liable for the total amount of the uncollected tax up to 100% under the provisions of the Internal Revenue Code (I.R.C.), as well as subjected to criminal prosecution.
• If the IRS suspects fraud or intentional misconduct in employee classifications (deliberately misclassifying to avoid taxes), the IRS may levy criminal penalties of $1,000 and/or 1 year in prison for failure to properly classify and withhold wages. If the IRS obtains a felony conviction against a person or company for “attempting to evade or defeat tax,” the fines are up to $100,000 ($500,000 in the case of a corporation), or imprisonment not more than 5 years, or both, together with the costs of prosecution (I.R.C. §7201).
• A responsible person (including corporate officers and employees or members or employees of a partnership) with authority over the financial affairs of the business who willfully fails to collect and pay taxes may be held personally liable for the total amount of the uncollected tax up to 100% under the provisions of the Internal Revenue Code (I.R.C.), as well as subjected to criminal prosecution.

Useful links:
NOLO- what to do if you are misclassified
Department of labor fact sheet

SOURCE

How to Find Your Best Life

Know this right up front: it's okay to not have all the answers and it's okay to keep looking for answers.

It's easy to feel inferior in comparison to people based on what they share on social media or even on what they say in person. Keep in mind they're only showing you the highlight reel, not the outtakes and bloopers.
Happiness begins when comparison stops.

This guide might be inspiring: A Brief Guide to World Domination: How to Live a Remarkable Life in a Conventional World (PDF).

You hate your job. Should you quit today?

No. If you have bills, etc., that would be financially irresponsible.

But if you're not happy, you can start making plans. Start saving money, looking for other jobs, thinking places you'd rather live in, etc. Your goal is to build a "freedom fund" that will give you enough to quit your job and move somewhere else to find a better job. Your goal is to build a life more in line with what you want.

The first step: check in with yourself. Do this in a quiet place alone. Traveling by yourself can also do wonders for removing the external voices telling you what to do with your life (parents, family, friends, co-workers, etc.). Just go somewhere by yourself. Like a park or the library.

Ask yourself who you are, what you want, and other big questions like that. These can feel intimidating and difficult, especially if you haven't been alone for a while and have competing voices in your head from the people around you.

Who do you admire? It could be someone you know. It could be a successful person you've read about. Who do you look at that makes you think, "Man, I'd love to do what that person is doing"? Make a list. Keep finding more people who inspire you. If you read interviews of successful people, you'll often find they had an inspiring role model. Sometimes they had a relationship with that "mentor" sometimes not. The important thing was that it gave them a starting point.

Don't make the mistake of being seduced by someone's passion though, and think, "If I do the same job/career/business, I'll be as happy too!" Do you actually like the work itself, without getting interviewed on TV or being on magazine covers? Most people toil in obscurity.

A fun exercise is to imagine a future scenario of your perfect day. Let's say it's five years from now. There's a great quote by Bill Gates that goes like, "We overestimate what we can accomplish in one day, but underestimate how much we can accomplish in one year." So in five years you could go far.

The key thing is to let your imagination go wild, and silence the doubting voice that says, "That will never happen." Think of it like a "Choose Your Own Adventure" book.

What's your perfect day?

• You wake up. What kind of place do you live in? Log cabin in the forest? Modern loft in the middle of a bustling city? Villa by the beach? Where is your home? What city?
• You go to work. Where's your office? Maybe it's downtown, or maybe it's down the hall from your bedroom?
• There are photos on your office wall. Who are in the pictures with you? Friends? Family? Celebrities? Leaders in your industry? Attractive girlfriends? (or boyfriends, I'm not judging).
• There are photos of places you've been. Where are they? Cities? Jungles? Art galleries? Bungee jumping? Wine tasting? What experiences have you had you that you wanted to remember? (as your future self, not now).
• You check your e-mail. What kind of e-mails are in your inbox that make you smile? Happy customers who love your product? Fan letters saying how much they love your book/music/other creations?
• You get phone calls. Who's on the other end of the line? A businessperson with a multimillion-dollar deal to offer you? A reporter to interview you about your new project? A hot sexy person asking you out on a date? The answers are for your eyes only, and you get to decide how it's rated :)
• What do you do at work? Writing a book? Writing a business plan? Doing a Skype call with a big shot? Leading a meeting?

The next thing would be to start working backward. What steps did you take to get to that perfect day? For example, I did this exercise with a friend who's a writer. His novel is about a character running in a marathon.

• Perfect day: seeing the title of his novel on The New York Times bestseller list in the newspaper.

Starting to work backward, what things would have led to that moment?

• He was interviewed on national TV about his book. Gave him instant wide publicity and boosted sales.
• He had earlier been mentioned in a national newspaper article about running. A TV producer read the article, thought it was an interesting angle for a story, and called him up to fly to Burbank for an interview.
• My friend had set up Google Alerts to notify of him of any news stories about running. He built a list of reporters who'd written articles on the topic. He also signed up for Help A Reporter Out (HARO), where journalists seek sources for their articles.

Whenever he saw a chance to relate his novel to an upcoming story, he'd get in touch and offer himself as a source or someone who could provide some quotes. Most were not interested, but he kept trying. Eventually, he answered a posting on HARO by a reporter who was looking for people to interview for a story about running. He sent an e-mail as soon as he saw the posting, and then they e-mailed questions and answers back and forth, and used some of his quotes in the article. That started the ball rolling.

Another option is to make a set of lists of the things you want.

Use these categories to set your goals:

Have
Material things: Mansion, sports car, etc. Maybe the things you want are way cheaper. What matters is that you want it, not what you're told to want. Hint: go for tools that will help you with your hobbies, which will lead to . . .

Do
Occupation and hobbies: Write a novel, paint art, fly in a wingsuit (that shit is so badass!)

Be
A good friend, a donor to worthy causes, a supporter for things you believe in, a volunteer to improve other people's lives somehow, etc.

We'd all like to believe we're high-minded, evolved beings and jump straight to the "Be" goals, but you really need all three to be happy. Don't feel guilty about having desires. This is for you, so it's okay to be a bit selfish.

A similar way to think about these are

• pleasure (have)
• passion (do) 
• purpose (be) 

Once you have your list, get on Google and do the most fun research you'll ever do. What resources are out there that can help you get those things?

If you'd like to do a similar exercise, but with a video of someone guiding you along the way, you can watch this:

The 3 Most Important Questions to Ask Yourself

More resources:

'follow your passion' is wrong: Cal Newport speaks at World Domination Summit 2012 (Video)

Also good: Dan Pink: The puzzle of motivation. What things make people happy while working? Pink breaks it down.

If you want to dive deep: The Overjustification Effect. Does getting paid to do what you love make you happy? Not necessarily, as this article explains.

The Happiness Advantage by Shawn Achor is a great book. He makes a convincing case that it's not "you become successful, then get happy." Instead, it's the reverse: you get happy, then become successful. He backs it with a lot of research and studies.

SOURCE