"10% of all you earn is yours to keep"

Yesterday I talked about “The Richest Man in Babylon,” a book by George S. Clayson. It’s a great fable about personal finance.  

The first idea is this – “Ten percent of all you earn is yours to keep”. You might be thinking, “What do you mean, all the money I earn is mine”. But is it? You have to pay for rent or your mortgage, food, for your car, etc. That money is not yours to keep. The idea is you should save at least 10% of your income in a permanent savings/investment account.

10% – not too much to ask? Try it.

Oh, and read the book – the audio version is great.

"Start thy purse to fattening"

Many years ago, I read one of the greatest books about money and personal finance ever written. It’s a short book, a fable called “The Richest Man in Babylon” by George S. Clayson.

One of the simple ideas in the book is “Start thy Purse to Fattening.” The idea is if you start saving, you’ll feel like you are making some progress, and you will feel like adding to your savings. Each time you add, you’ll get a feeling that you are becoming prosperous – a feeling you like and want more of.  

If you are broke, you have a feeling of despair and hopelessness around money and that it will never end.

So start thy purse to fattening. It’s a very small amount at first – but see what it does to your emotions.

Produce more than you consume

To save money, invest it and have it grow for you, you must spend less than you make.

If you keep spending as much as you make, or more than you make, you will continue to be broke.

If you produce more value than you consume, your wealth will grow.  As it grows, it will compound.  As it compounds, it works for you, and you will have to work less.

Yes, it takes a long time, but if you never get started, it will never happen.  The best time to get started was years ago.  The second best time is now.

The first part is spending less than you make.  You can spend less than you are spending now, make more, or both.

Produce more than you consume.

How to make the whole world better

The world is made up of people.  America is made of Americans.  Your community is made up of citizens.  Your neighborhood is made up of neighbors.  Your family is made up of individuals.

The world is made of you.

How do you make it better right now?  Be the best you that you can.  The world needs more energized, successful, diligent, caring put-together people who can be an example for others young and old to follow, and who are equipped to help others.

Being the best version of you, is the best thing you can do for humanity.

Stand naked in front of the mirror

That’s all I have to say about that.

Today is my birthday, and…

Today is my birthday, and I think that a birthday is a good time to reflect on one’s life.  

How far have you come? What are you doing? Why? Where are you going? Have you made the world better for the people around you? Are people glad to see you? Do you have many friends? What habits do you have? How is your health? What changes and course corrections do you need to make?

How long do you think you will live doing what you are doing? What things do you want to do that you have not done yet? Who and what is most important? Are you being true to who you really are?

At 56, I have much to be thankful for, and much more to do with so many people. 

I’m only halfway done…here we go!

Kids understand more than you think

“What a child doesn’t receive, he can seldom give later.” – P.D. James

It’s true that young children don’t understand what’s going on in all situations they see adults facing.  But I think kids understand more than we think.  Set examples.  Explain things to them.  Talk about your ambitions and dreams, even if you think they are a bit too young.  

Be an example of kindness, courtesy, forgiveness, bravery, trustworthiness, loyalty, friendliness, and explain your actions along the way.

You’ll not only be a good example to your kids, but you’ll find yourself elevating your behavior to a higher standard because you don’t want to let your kids down.

The two best ways to make the world a better place are to be a productive, healthy citizen who makes the world better, and have children who grow up to do the same.

We follow our eyes – part 2

Yesterday we said our body follows our head, and our head follows our eyes. Mario Andretti said, “Never look at the wall,” and Olympians use visualization heavily.

So, to manifest what we want, we need to see things in our heads too. See what you want clearly and cleanly, and spend time creating the result inside you. Then we need to see it with our eyes. Put pictures and drawings and words up in our environment that show and represent what we want. Post our goals on our bathroom mirror, where we see them in the morning and at night.

And we need to rid ourselves of inputs that represent what we do NOT want as much as possible. No bad news. No people who do not support us. Get rid of representations of our old self or old beliefs.

Now what we see, inside and outside, will be what we want. And, our head follows our eyes and our feet follow our head – we’ll get there.

What are you seeing at today?

You follow your eyes

Recently I walked up to my house, and I was equidistant between two doors. I wanted to go to the door on the right. My eyes looked at the door on the left, so I started walking towards the door on the left. Then my eyes moved to the door on the right, and my feet moved that way. Then again, I shifted my eyes to the door on the left, where I preferred not to go. I wound up going to the door on the left; I followed my eyes.

This is a small, seemingly insignificant example of how our body follows our head, and our head follows our eyes. This is why it is so important to focus on what you want and not on what you don’t want.

We need to think about what we want more, even though what we don’t want (our current situation) is all around us.

What we don’t want maybe more present physically, but we need to make what we DO want more present in our head. We need to build a great passion in our mind and construct the unseen, so we go in that direction with our actions and our feet.

MORE TOMORROW… 

(Joshua's) Daily Pledge

Today is gonna be a good day.

I thank God for waking me up today.

I’m going to study so I can learn, and be the leader God has created me to be. 

Today I’m empowered with the tools to be successful, within my company and throughout my community.

I apply myself daily, I study. I ask questions when I don’t understand,

I ignore all negative influences, the media, and people who don’t see what I see, and believe what I believe.

When I’m confronted with a problem or conflict I think before I react.

I’m extremely proud to be the next generation of high performing leaders, so my work and the work of my team can make others lives better.

I accept responsibility, and love the challenges.

Let’s go!