Be Great Today!

This term is used when you agree with what someone is sharing with you and like what you hear.  One caveat, just because the CoolAid (advice giver’s message) looks good, and smells good, think thru who mixed the ingredients.  Do they know what they are talking about?  Do they have your best interest in mind, or are they looking to further their own agenda?

One way to tell if the CoolAid preparers are legitimate is to look into their background.  Do these people do what they say?  Do they appear to be living out what they are recommending for you?

For example, I have been approached by dozens of random strangers over the years looking to recruit me into a network marketing, pyramid scheme (I must have this look on my face that says, I’m gullible?  I’ll have to work on my indifferent, grimacing expressions, when in public.  Just kidding!).  Here is a recent example to make my point:

As I was drinking a coffee one afternoon making some notes and preparing for my next appointment, I was approached by one of these network marketers.  He asks me if I’m studying?  Then he asks me what I do?  Then he launches into his sales pitch and tells me how he has worked with many salespeople and what a different breed, salespeople are etc., etc,…  I politely excused myself, then left the coffee shop.

What this guy was missing was credibility.  I saw him get out of his beat up, mid-90’s model, compact car.  If someone is going to recruit another person to work for them, the recruiter better present success and accomplishment, themselves, before they can have any chance of trying to motivate another person to work for them.

Just something to think about before you drink the CoolAid…

Have a great Day!

The headlines today are filled with such uplifting and inspiring news.  Words like recession, layoffs, rising unemployment…  The media loves negative headlines.  That is the very reason that I focus a very small amount of my attention on the local, national, and international news. 

Don’t get me wrong.  I keep up to speed on what is going on in the world and am aware of the issues, but the media is quick to draw a negative conclusion to any situation; therefore I view the news headlines only to be aware, not to be given the answers. 

You and I should think for ourselves what news means to us individually because everyones situation is unique and different.  You need to write your own story.  Don’t be a byline in someone else’s story.

Before we get to today’s rule, let’s qualify the negative news about the economy. Yes, unemployment is rising.  For March it was 5.1%, according to government statistics. However, unemployment for college educated people is in the 2% range. Employment in the education and healthcare sectors actually is on the rise, up 3.5%. So, the economy is not as bad as the doom and gloom media would like you to believe.

Finally, the 1 Rule to obtain and thrive as a financially strong individual, (drum roll please)…

“Make more money than you spend!”

Sound simple?  Well, it is! Where it gets hard is when you start making more money and the seductive ads for the latest iPhone, flat screen TV, hot car, latest clothes, etc. start filling your brain with the thoughts… “buy it, I need this, I deserve this…” As long as you’re making more than you spend, you’ll be ok.

Now for the bonus… if you really want to thrive financially, save a minimum of 10% pre-tax of what you earn, and build up a six month to one-year reserve. Then you will become more recession proof, and more importantly, more free!!

Have a great day!

The legend of Pandora from ancient Greece offers an amazing lesson for us still today.  As the story goes, Pandora was given a mysterious box by gods jealous of her beauty.  Pandora was told that she must never open the gift.  What do you think she proceeded to do?  You guessed it… she opened it!

 What Pandora released when she opened the box was some really negative things: disease, greed, vanity, envy, pining, and madness (these vices aren’t on the top of my list of wants).  Pandora was able to shut the box just in time to preserve the antidote that provides meaning to people’s lives… hope.

 Hope, modern researchers are finding, provides a suprisingly powerful role in life.  I can’t believe that it took these researchers this long to figure that out.  Hope keeps you strong!  Hope gives you a reason to believe!  When you have hope, you have faith (belief in the unknown)!

 Live with an expectation of good things to come into your life today and in the future.  Dream big dreams, then put the plans into place to make your dreams reality.  This all begins with hope, the foundation of faith.  The key is to do this one day at a time.  If you live with hope and faith each day, you will live a happy life!

Have a great day!