Laugh At Adversity with Gary Savoie: Inspirational Messages to Conquer Anxiety, Depression, Fear, Relationships, Self-Doubt, and Self-Esteem

Figuring out how to pay off student loans fast can be a daunting task.

I remember the feeling all too well. It was spring semester 2012, the final chapter of my undergraduate journey. A sense of tension took over my chest.

The anxiety was overwhelming, often keeping me awake late into the night. Feelings of “What am I going to do next?”, “How am I going to make this work?” were occupying my mind at all hours of the day.

Even after accepting an early job offer, graduating, and months into making a good income, my anxiety still lived on. Since freshman year, the same question continued to haunt me, “How will I pay off these student loans?”

• The standard repayment plan for student loans is a 10-year track; however, research has shown the average undergraduate takes 21 years to pay off their loans.
• Over 44 million Americans are impacted by the student loan debt, which now totals $1.4 trillion.
• The average graduate of the 2016 class has $30,172 in student loan debt, which is up six percent from 2015.

Having graduated five years ago, the $42,000 in student debt I walked away with is now gone. In fact, a temporary move to Boston, accompanied by a year of excessive spending, and some unexpected medical bills actually caused a little delay in paying off my loans. I’m not only going to teach you how to pay off student loans faster, but I’ll also tell you what didn’t work.

So how did I pay off $12,000 more debt than the average student graduates with and 16 years faster?

1. In school interest options Many private loan providers have options which allow you to pay $25/month interest payments while in school. Take advantage of this opportunity, because interest is what kills you.
2. Get a job on campus Okay, I get it college is about having fun, but you can have fun and be responsible at the same time. For me, having a job on campus and full-time employment during the summer (and holiday weekends) allowed me to walk away with $42,000 in debt, otherwise the damage would have been worse. If you’re still in school, find a work study, campus job, fellowship, or some other opportunity.
3. Save your summer earnings Unless, you’re a student-athlete your summer breaks are much longer now than they were in high school. Summers are the perfect opportunity to work and save for the upcoming school year. Forget buying the $200 pair of Jordans and pass on Lollapalooza this year. Instead, put the money towards your next school bill. You may not feel great about spending your hard earned cash now, but you’ll be glad you did later. The less loans you take now, the less debt you’ll have later.
4. Ignore the deferment period Most private and federal loans provide a six month buffer from when you graduate to when you have to start paying. This is a privilege and should be treated as such. When purchasing a car, the dealership doesn’t give you a six month buffer. If you’re still looking for employment that’s one thing, but if you’re making an income, then forget the deferment period and start throwing money at your loans as soon as possible.
5. Go above the minimum A $25,000 loan at 6.8% interest with a 10-year pay off track equates to monthly payments of $288. Paying $500 a month instead of $288 allows you to cut ties with the loan in just under 5 years while saving you $5,045.78 in interest along the way. You might be cringing at the idea of paying an extra $200 each month, but even an extra $50 bucks, will reduce 2 years off that 10 year loan and save you a cool two-grand! ( FinAid’s Loan Calculator can help) The more you pay now, the less you pay later. Unlike a fine wine, interest gets worse with age.
6. Use tax returns So you’ve been looking forward to your tax return check for months. Even though the check isn’t in your possession yet, you already have ten ways to spend it. As a student and employee, you get a better tax break. These will be some of the best tax returns you’ll ever have, until maybe you purchase a home, so use them wisely. Instead of using them towards your next Spring Break trip, apply them to your loans. Your future self will thank you later.
7. Stay at home Everyone’s home situation is different, but if this is an option for you take full advantage of it. Whether it’s your ego “I don’t want to live with my parents” or your friends pressuring you to move out, don’t listen. The money you can save and apply to your loans (even one extra year at home) is much more valu...

While preparing to deploy with the U.S. Army, Marcus suffered a severe spinal injury that left him paralyzed from the neck down. His life was turned upside down, and after dying twice on the operating table, he was told he would never be able to walk or use his hands again. As days quickly turned into months, he was forced into life changing soul searching. He discovered he was left with two choices, he could either be a victim, or he could change his mindset. Having no other option, he began looking for any lessons to be learned from his injury, and soon discovered that his Adversity was a gift.

During his recovery Marcus relied on mental resilience, gratitude, and changing his perspective in order to go from hospital bed to walking again. Within the same week that he began finding things to be grateful for in his situation, movement in his hands returned. Now an author, speaker, and coach, Marcus continues to spread his message that adversity is a gift. He's also a firm believer that adversity is something we need in life to push us forward.

If you're struggling to stick to your goals, can't find positivity in your situation, or just need a friendly reminder on the power of your perspective? Then this interview with Marcus is for you.

• Why Marcus decided to join the military at 38
• How his childhood nightmare of being paralyzed came true
• How Marcus died twice on the operating table
• Why mental resilience and gratitude changed his life
• How seeing adversity as a gift returned movement in his hands
• How to not feed into the victim mindset
• Why you need to understand that you're in control of your life
• The three questions that will give you immediate perspective
• Why we need adversity to push us forward
• Why you shouldn't allow the people around you to limit you
• Why we all need to be more empathetic and compassionate towards others

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Having grown up following the standard North American lifestyle of eating junk food, taking medications, stressing out over everything, and repressing her emotions, Samantha became sick. At 26, she was diagnosed with a form of blood cancer and told that she needed to start chemotherapy and radiation.

Not wanting to accept that as her first option of treatment, Samantha opted for a different approach and began to heal herself in a multi-faceted natural approach which you will learn about during this interview.

Now Samantha is a Lifestyle Alchemist, Yin Yoga Instructor & Certified Nutritional Practitioner specializing in Psychoneuroendoimmunology.

She is also the founder of Real Life But Better, a Holistic Nutrition and Wellness Wonderland where she educates about the power of self-healing and mentors her clients in achieving optimal mind/body/soul alignment.

Samantha has made it her mission to facilitate the practice of naturopathic self-healing through self care, self love, empowerment, and much much more...

In This Episode, You Will Learn:

Why she decided to opt out of chemo (5:07)

Why you need to pay attention to what your prescribed and diagnosed with (6:28)

Why so many doctors aren't taught about the natural healing path (8:54)

How her belief system was keeping her sick (13:48)

The reason why people are afraid to be happy (18:39)

Why each of us are perfect (19:44)

How to handle negative self talk (23:38)

The common denominator between diseases (26:22)

Why life is just a video game (34:30)

How to stay committed in the midst of distractions (39:21)

Tired of the hangovers and regrets that result from having one too many? Do you want to know what is really behind your desire to drink? Are you interested in taking a break from alcohol?

If so, then this interview with Rachel Hart is a must listen. Rachel coaches women (and men) who want to change their drinking habits so that they can live happier and healthier lives. During her 20s she developed a love-hate relationship with drinking which resulted in periodic breaks here and there. Like many of us, she loved the feelings alcohol provided her; however, wasn't a fan of the hangovers or the foggy (and sometimes) regretful memories from the night before.

When her 30s came around, Rachel decided it was time to take another break from drinking. For real, this time. Why? Because she realized she was using alcohol as a coping mechanism. It made her feel relaxed, comfortable, and most importantly confident in social settings. So instead of using alcohol as a crutch, she decided to investigate what was really behind her drinking.

She now teaches her clients the same principles that have worked so well for her. Rachel believes that you don’t need a glass in your hand to feel relaxed, confident, attractive, outgoing, and happy and that the best version of yourself isn’t waiting at the bottom of a glass. It's already inside of you - you just need to change your thinking.

• About Rachel's love/hate relationship with alcohol in her 20s
• Why we feel so much pressure to drink in social settings
• How a perception shift can alter your relationship with alcohol
• Why choosing not to drink is the same as saying "No" to dessert
• That our thoughts create our feelings, and our feelings drive our actions
• Why we need to pay more attention to our thoughts
• If you can change your desire to drink then you're never restraining yourself
• Why our end result is an accumulation of habits and messages over time
• Why we use alcohol to cope with our emotions and make us feel comfortable in certain situations

• Free 5-Day Reset Challenge
• Book: Why Can't I Drink Like Everyone Else
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Failure is often defined as a lack of success or falling short. However, most of us associate the word failure with a timeline; forever. And because of this misunderstanding we become afraid to try again. We assume our career, relationship, and futures are over. In the real world, failure is a dreaded word; however, failure leads to success.

Most of us give up way too quickly and far too often. We don’t realize that there are no shortcuts to excellence and that figuring out complicated problems takes time. Because of our previous lack of success we view failure as a permanent condition and as an excuse to not try again.

I’m here to debunk the myth that surrounds failure. In fact, I’m here to prove that failure is much more than just falling short. Failure is such an important aspect of everybody's life. When you take a risk you don't always know what is going to happen, therefore you experiment with failure - it’s part of the journey.

Failures are literally the seeds of growth, opportunity, and success. They serve as stepping stones that help move you from not achieving your goals to achieving them. You may be wondering how?

It’s important to understand that failure isn’t a permanent condition; it’s a state. As with any state - it doesn’t last forever - it’s temporary. Furthermore, it’s a state that can last as long as you want it to. Since failure and the feelings of rejection that accompany it are so highly dreaded, it becomes easier for us to give up and stay in a state of failure than to push past our obstacles.

One of the biggest problems with failure is the belief that it’s permanent and the chain reaction this causes. How many people do you know who started drinking after a rough breakup? This is an example of someone who viewed the breakup as a permanent condition of failure. Instead of taking the break up for what it is, an end of what was, they resort to alcohol which turns into another failure. As a result, a domino effect occurs.

Years ago, I hated rejection. I hated to fail. Mostly because I was under the same impression that failure was a permanent condition, but then I learned differently.

I learned that there is so much value to be found in failure. Although usually hidden at first, there are many lessons to be learned. These lessons are what you need to make the leap from failure to success. For every time you fail, you learn how to do something better.

You have to be willing to fail with the understanding that you can try again, but this time with more experience. You’re never starting over from scratch, instead you’re giving it another shot, but this time with lessons learned.

Failures are nothing more than a learning opportunity. The only permanent part about them are the lessons you will carry with you throughout your life.

If something didn’t workout in the past, then learn from it. Alter your path to success and don’t make the same mistake again. More importantly, don’t allow one bump in the road, or even a few, change your trajectory towards success.

“I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work.” - Thomas A. Edison

You should listen to Edison. Just think, if he gave up on finding a way to create the light bulb, then you wouldn’t be reading this article on your screen right now. Many brilliant minds fail everyday, but only the ones that believe they can change the world, regardless of the failures they encounter have the courage to push past their obstacles.

Let your failures guide you to find new methods, let them teach you valuable lessons, help you grow, and build you into the person you need to be in order to achieve your dreams.