Wealth Building: Big Dream, Bigger Struggle, Huge Victory
Big dreams come at a high price. God wants us to dream big but he also wants us to grow into the kind of person who can appreciate the victory. Its the growing between dream and victory that can really challenge us.
I have heard the concept of big dreams requiring bigger struggles but I don’t think I had truly appreciated this until I watched the movie, Rudy. When Rudy came out years ago I remember thinking it looked interesting but never bothered to watch it. This weekend I happened to catch it on the inspiration channel and it touched me very deeply.
For those who have not seen it I don’t want to give away the whole story. In a nutshell, Rudy is the true story of a young man from a blue collar family and despite being small, non athletic and a poor student he decides he is going to play on the Notra Dame football team. As you can imagine he catches a lot of flack for such an ambitious dream.
Rudy does not back down, however, and overcomes every obstacle put in front of him. Along the way, even though Rudy somehow makes it on to the Notra Dame practice squad he comes to realize that he does not have the talent to play on the team. Instead of giving up on his dream for himself he shifts his dream to suiting up for at least one game so his family and friends will get to come watch his game. He wanted others to live the experience through him.
The biggest impact the movie had on me was that Rudy never gave up on his dream. He did make it into a game and his family and friends all came to watch. Rudy could have quit so many times and no one would have thought any less of him. Even as he was getting literally battered by the better players in the practice sessions he kept giving his all.
At the very end he almost did quit. As he was right at the point of achieving his dream he almost quit. But he came back one more time when it looked like there was no hope of him making it into a game. No hope for his dream on his terms but he came back anyway. And then out of the acceptance of human defeat came victory. When Rudy had done all he could and it wasn’t enough God stepped in with his grace. Rudy did his part of having a big dream and being willing to struggle for it, God did his and it was a great victory. Madalyn
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Wealth Building 101: Are you listening to God?
Yesterday, in church, my pastor washed the feet of a man who is new to our church. Why did he do this? Because he believed God told him to. Was it easy for my pastor to humble himself in this way? No, I don’t believe it was. But the effect was powerful.
Our church body is usually exuberant in worship but yesterday you could have heard a pin drop as people watched in reverent silence. Pastor said God did not reveal to him why he wanted him to wash the feet of another man but he trusted the message anyway.
For me the message was powerful in that I had read the scripture in John 13 just the day before. Jesus washed the feet of each disciple at the last supper and Simon Peter questioned why he would humble himself in such a way. Jesus patiently explained to Peter than what Peter did not understand then he would later. Jesus went on to say that what he did for his followers by humbling himself they were to do for others.
There are so many powerful lessons in John 13 and the one that speaks most to me is about listening to God and following his guidance without question. What does John 13 have to do with wealth building? Again, I believe it is about listening and trusting God.
We live in such uncertain times right now and human based financial knowledge alone is not as dependable as it once was. We don’t need to be concerned if we listen to God and are obedient. God wants us to prosper even in tough times but first we must seek and trust him.
Ways that God guides us in wealth building:
How to market and attract the best customers
Who to partner with and trust in business
Where and how to invest
How much to tithe or donate to charity
When and how to spend our money
The list is endless and in truth we should be consulting God on every move we make in life. He is our best friend, counselor, partner and lover. As humans, of course, we fall short of this. For me, even when I do listen and hear God’s word, I often question or argue. My hat is off to my pastor who listened to God and obeyed. He blessed us me by so doing. Madalyn
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Wealth Building 101: What to do while you wait
Seems like I have been doing lots of waiting lately. Waiting for the recession economy to improve, waiting for the drought to break, waiting for temps to get below 100, waiting for my goats to get pregnant, waiting for my leg to heal after getting kicked by a horse. God is teaching me what to do while I wait.
But to those who wait on the Lord
Shall renew their strength;
They shall mount up with wings like eagles,
They shall run and not be weary,
They shall walk and not faint.
Isaiah 40:31
In the past I tended to decide what I wanted to do and would dive right in without asking for any guidance. The result was many stalled or complicated projects that often cost way more than anticipated. The last few years my budget has been tighter and my energy lower. I have found myself seeking God’s timing and blessing for my projects and the results have been nothing short of amazing.
At the beginning of 2011 I had many projects in mind but I did not expect them to be completed this year. I resigned myself to paying down debt and starting back on projects next year. I focused instead on giving appreciation for all my completed projects and current blessings. I kept going with my business marketing even as sales seemed to slow. The recession economy also slowed my vet practice so I had more free time to reflect and visualize for the future.
Interesting thing happened once I got out of the way. God started working on my projects and arranging one miracle after another for them to be accomplished easily and with minimum expense. It was like I was just along for the ride.
Here is what God has done for me this year:
Patio completed with free flagstones
Fence around 10 acres with half cost and labor from my neighbor
Panels for fence around my yard delivered for a great price
Down cedar stacked at a discounted price
A new shelter for the horses
Hot wire around my front pasture
Other gifts:
Neighbor’s goat to milk since mine did not get pregnant
Perfect healing from my kick injury
Healing of a foundered horse in my care who should not have survived
A fun new pony to enjoy
It was like God had all these gifts saved up and he was just waiting for me to stop pushing to get my way. I had to run out of my own resources before I considered depending on his. How sad but once again God used my struggles to teach me a huge lesson.
Here is what I have learned to do while I wait on God:
Show appreciation and count my blessings
Keep working even when business slows
Journal and reflect on previous actions
Focus on a positive vision for the future.
Trust God for timing and anointing
Now waiting is becoming a peaceful and useful pass time. I may not be soaring like an eagle but I am sure less weary. Madalyn
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Wealth Building 101: Manage your emotion
When it comes to wealth building, emotion is not your friend! A perfect example of this is the roller coaster ride the stock market has been on the last few weeks. One day the news is good so people buy, the next day the news is bad so people sell. Did the companies being bought and sold really gain or lose value in those few hours? Of course not but people are reacting to emotions rather than logic.
What about your everyday spending habits? Do you spend money when you feel like you want something even if the item is not in your budget? Do you have a budget? Do you save when you are fearful about the recession economy and then start spending freely again when the economic news improves?
How about your work habits? Do you stay focused on your business even when your friends are headed to the lake? Do you set goals and plan out the action steps needed to reach them?
Before I was introduced to the Kiyosaki financial education principles I made all of my wealth building decisions based on emotion. Actually, it has only been in the last few years that I have developed the discipline to manage my emotion when it comes to wealth building. I am a very impulsive person and I love excitement. Believe me when I say I have had to sit on my hands during the recent stock market churning. I have a plan for my investments but it has been so tempting to bail on some holdings to add to others only to watch the fortunes reverse for each in a matter of hours or days.
Same with my everyday spending. On my farm I have so many projects I want to do but I have to stay focused on priorities. In the past I would have simply done the projects and put to cost on credit cards. Now, thanks to my Kiyosaki, richdad education, I avoid credit card debt like the plague. I have to look at the importance of a shelter for the horses first even though my emotion is that I want a round pen more.
Same with business. It is Friday afternoon and I am so tempted to call it a week and quit early but writing this blog is the action step that is needed to achieve my long term business goals. Now that I am writing this blog my emotion has shifted from bored to excited.
Emotions are like that. They are fickle and can shift on a dime. That is why wealth building is about managing emotion.
Here are a few tips that help manage emotion:
Keep a journal so you can see where your emotions go from day to day
Keep a balance sheet for your business so you can see where your money goes
Track business and personal assets and expenses
Understand what your net worth is
Watch your cash flow monthly
Study all you can about wealth building. Hint – all the experts say make a plan and stick to it. Boring but true.
Schedule time for fun and keep a little cash on hand for impulse spending
Celebrate and reward yourself for managing your emotion
Madalyn
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Wealth Building 101: Creating cash flow monthly verses building a fence
I have been building fence the last few weeks in 105 degree weather and hard as that is, it is easier than creating cash flow monthly. You see, with building a fence I see the fruits of my labor right away. The pattern looks like this:
Goal – work – reward
My goal is 1000 feet of new fence so my horses can have more grazing area.
The work involves laying a ground wire so I know where I want the post holes, buying the supplies, digging the holes, driving T posts, stretching wire, tying the fence to the posts and hanging gates. It is hard but straight forward work.
The reward is happy horses and hopefully a lower feed bill when it decides to rain again.
Creating cash flow monthly is not so clean a process. The pattern looks like this:
Goal – work – work – work – work some more – small reward – work – work – work some more – setback like a major recession – keep working – reward – work – reward – work – more reward – ongoing reward of regular cash flow monthly with less to no additional work on your part
Your goal is cash flow monthly so you can have money and time to enjoy it. In other words, to live your dream.
It’s the work part that is so challenging. First, you have to be willing to work and delay your gratification. Second, like building a fence, you have to have a plan. If you are starting a business from scratch this can be a huge barrier. You will not likely get a loan or investor support without a solid plan on how you intend to create cash flow monthly. If you have never built a business of your own you may have no clue where to start the process.
A great place to start in building a business that can generate cash flow monthly is with a solid network marketing company. With a good company and good partners you will have the security and mentoring from people who have already put the infrastructure in place for you. You will still have to learn the skills needed to be successful and there will be a lot of work involved but you will have a plan. You don’t have to quit your job and you can build your business working as little as 7 to 10 hours a week.
The reward part of creating cash flow monthly is often very slow in coming. This is probably why so many people lose track of their goals and give up on their dreams. They stick to what they know, even if it is painful – like fence building. Madalyn
PS My network marketing business gives me cash flow monthly so I can have and enjoy my own farm. Fence building is not my real job:).
Money Smart Skill: Patience
I got a very late start with my financial education but I have been working hard to catch up. My favorite mentor is Robert Kiyosaki of RichDadPoorDad fame. Kiyosaki created a board game called cashflow to help teach people his financial strategies. In the game you draw a card that has a profession on it and you get a list of expenses and your cash flow monthly. The goal is to escape the rat race board and graduate to the fast track.
After playing the rich dad financial education game, cashflow, many times I have found the way to consistently get out of the rat race in less than 2 hours. I always draw the doctor card even if I am not trying to. I think God is wanting to make a point. The doctor card is one of the most challenging cards because it carries the highest cash flow monthly.
Right, I said the highest income. It also carries the highest monthly expenses and the object of the game is to get your passive cash flow monthly higher than your expenses. You might think a big monthly paycheck would be the ticket to building passive income but that is not necessarily the case. Passive income is money that comes through businesses, rental income or other investments. In the rich dad financial education game, cashflow, you must build up a portfolio of investments until your passive cash flow monthly exceeds expenses.
In the cashflow game you have expenses that are fixed and you have debt that you can pay off to lower your monthly expenses. Like the game I have fixed expenses such as malpractice and liability insurance, home insurance, license and association membership fees as well as mandatory continuing education. In the game you have fixed child expenses and they are higher for the doctor card. I have 4 legged children and they have significant expenses associated with them that are not negotiable.
When I first started playing cashflow I was so frustrated to see other players, who drew the truck driver or mechanic card, breeze out of the rat race once they got the hang of the game. Despite all my money making efforts I was always the last to make it. This cost me a few sleepless nights.
So what is the secret I finally discovered about getting out of the rat race? Patience! This has not been an easy lesson for me. When I first played the game I tried to save my money so I could invest in some big deals. This never worked. Then I tried to borrow money to make big deals. This did not work either. I resisted the reality of my situation and was sure I could make one big deal and change my financial situation quickly.
Finally I resigned myself to being the last one in the game to get out of the rat race and low and behold I started having success. I learned to follow a boring plan of paying off as many of my high expenses as possible. While other players were able to invest and buy real estate I did best when I stayed with my plan. Get a paycheck, pay down debt was my life for 75% of the game. My action oriented temperament fought against this strategy but I persisted.
As my expenses went down I began to have a little extra to invest if I was careful. When I stopped trying so hard to get ahead and focused instead on the basic principles of paying down debt and investing in good deals when they presented themselves I made headway.
The cashflow game has been such a powerful learning experience for me. Based on my experience playing the game, when I decided to make my move to Fischer I took on my high expenses with open eyes. I knew I would be challenged but I also understood that I could work smarter to lower my debt and build my passive income at the same time, SLOWLY.
The path I have taken in not what is recommended in most financial education books. I did not start saving when I was 20 and I don’t have a big retirement account. I chose to live above my means and continue to work smart to get my means up to speed. I avoid consumer debt but sometimes I have to use short term credit which I pay off as quickly as possible. I understand that high, non fixed interest payments on credit cards make it very hard to get ahead financially.
Even though I got a late start with my financial education, I do have some savings and I am continuing to add to my passive income from several businesses. I love being a veterinarian and an entrepreneur. I am looking forward to having even more time to spend with my animals but I am not wanting to retire early.
Some months or even years are tight and I don’t get to do all the improvements I want to on my property but I know I am on the right path. I am learning to be patient and let time work for me as my debt gets steadily lower and my cash flow monthly gets higher. I am so glad to have the financial education to understand about money and have a plan and watch it unfold over time. Every day I am more appreciative of the gifts God has given me. Like patience. Madalyn
Did you get started late? Not sure how to get your cash flow monthly up? I would love to have a conversation. Contact me.
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Wealth Building: Appreciation even in a recession economy
True wealth building doesn’t happen without daily appreciation of blessings. In a way the recession economy has helped me realize what is really most important in my life. The things which are most important don’t put any money in my bank account but they make me smile.
Appreciation for every blessing, no matter how small, helps me keep my attitude right. Willow Sibert, a personal coach, taught me to make a list of 5 things I am grateful for and write these things in a journal everyday. I have done this ever since and this practice has been very meaningful to me. I have changed it a bit by listing 4 things that have happened and one that I believe will happen. The fifth thing is often some aspect of my character in which I want to see positive growth.
The first 4 on the list are for daily blessings. For instance, I have 2 new kittens I am thankful for. I went with a plan to get 1 male kitten to keep my other cat company and ended up coming home with 2 females. It was love at first site for me. My other cat, Owl, is not so sure. The new kitties are entertaining for him but when he tries to play they run away. I have tried to explain to Owl that girl kitties don’t like to play so rough.
My goats also keep me entertained. I am blessed to have a nice milk goat named Sally. I also have 2 young does, Dixie and Trixie, that I have raised and they will be ready to breed next spring. Not everyone can have fresh goat milk to put in coffee every morning. Even the recession economy does not keep me from this small pleasure.
I am blessed with the most wonderful friends, family, business partners, clients and customers. All around me God has placed the people I need and enjoy. Another area the recession economy has not affected.
My horses also give me hours of pleasure. Keeping up with the feed bill in a recession economy does little for my wealth building but it is worth the effort in terms of joy. Isn’t that really what wealth building should be about. More joy and things to be thankful for. Madalyn
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Wealth Building: Is your world a cake or a kitchen?
Are you afraid of wealth building because you don’t want to take more than your share of the cake? Think about this because your answer makes all the difference. What if you look at life as a kitchen where unlimited cakes can be baked so there is plenty to go around?
If you are in the cake camp then you are coming from the competitive mindset that suggests there is a limited amount of prosperity in the world. Wealth building from this mindset means to have more yourself, someone else is having less. Not a very appealing thought.
On the other hand, if you look at the world as a kitchen then the more cakes you bake the more there is for everyone to enjoy. Not only can you bake more cakes but everyone can learn to bake cakes. I believe our world works in the way. I believe God has provided us with a world of unlimited resources, and unlimited ways to use those resources. We are stewards of these resources just as a chef manages his stock of food ingredients. The chef understands that as long as he keeps cake ingredients he can always bake more cakes.
On the other hand, the person who buys the finished cake only has that one so their cake supply is limited until another cake is available. The point I am wanting to make is as long as you believe there is only so much money, so many jobs, a limited supply of resources or customers, then your wealth building ability will be limited. Entrepreneurs know the cake supply is not limited, they are creators. They look at life as a kitchen and want to create more so everyone can have more. They bake cakes for the world to enjoy. Madalyn
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Wealth Building 101: Principle verses preference
My Kiyosaki, Rich Dad education coach has been teaching me about the difference between a principle and preference. He has helped me understand that there are certain common sense principles about financial education but people have different preferences as to how to put these principles into action. For example;
Sound financial education principles:
Have a budget and plan for saving for a rainy day
Get out of bad debt
Invest in assets
Use the cash flow generated by your assets to make purchases
Unsound financial principles:
Having no plan
Making impulse purchases using credit cards
Investing in liabilities such as a fancy car or house without adequate cash flow monthly in place
Spending your income on what you want now rather than waiting for the cash flow monthly from your assets to buy you what you want
Financial preferences:
Saving in the form of precious metal rather than cash
Paying one credit card off at a time or consolidating debt into one lump payment
Investing in real estate verses the stock market as an asset class or building a home based business to generate cash flow monthly
Buying a big home, new car or other material good verses using cash flow monthly to work fewer hours and have more free time
The point is the sound financial education principles don’t change. A person’s preferences determine what is the best fit for them. Not everyone is cut out to build a home based business but for others this is a perfect path to financial and time freedom. Any preference is fine as long as it fits within the sound principles of good financial education.
Just so you know. I have violated many of the sound financial principles in my life and paid the price. Most successful people I know have made similar mistakes and overcome them by refocusing on sound financial principles. Now I am learning through my Kiyosaki Rich Dad education coaching how to apply these principles consistently in my life.
For me, a home based business in addition to my professional skills has worked well to generate cash flow monthly. Some of my partners prefer to work at their own pace to build a consistent $500 cash flow monthly. Other partners prefer to work quickly and build towards much larger cash flow. Either preference is fine with me. Madalyn
To see if what I am doing is a fit for you contact me
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Wealth Building 101: The power of persistence in creating real cash flow
There is a fine line between persistence and stubbornness. Creating real cash flow is an exercise in building your power of persistence and surviving your stubbornness. What I mean by this is that to create real cash flow you will need to set some clear goals, develop solid, good work habits, accept constructive criticism and be willing to enjoy the learning process. If you have a deep stubborn streak, like me, you won’t want to do any of these things.
God wants us to be persistent when we are in His will and working His plan. Stubbornness is what we exhibit when we have our own plan and agenda. Trust me when I say God wants us to be prosperous and have real cash flow but He wants us to achieve this through His plan which benefits many. Our plan generally only benefits you know who. So, how do we detect when we are being persistent or stubborn. Here are some characteristics of each.
Persistence – Working in God’s Will:
Objective, when achieved, will benefit many
Strategy is clear and well defined
We feel satisfaction even when progress seems slow(God’s timing)
We are willing to accept criticism and make needed adjustments
Stubbornness – Working in our will:
Our objective is to get what we want
Our strategy is to do things our way
We feel constant frustration that things are not happening fast enough
We have no desire to look at other options.
Whatever your vehicle for real cash flow is, you will want to frequently ask yourself if your are being persistent or stubborn in pursuing it. For those looking for a vehicle to create real cash flow and willing to be persistent in this goal I invite you to contact me. Madalyn
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