Tag Archives: Mentorship

“Buried Treasure”

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treasureI caught the last 1/2 hour of “Buried Treasure” where Leigh and Leslie Keno are what they call “modern day treasure hunters”.  The premise of the show is people around the US have all this treasure and they have no idea is worth something.  The Keno brothers go in an assess what the people have and let them know if they have treasure or if they have junk that’s not worth anything.

What I find really sad is a show like this is a prime example of just how desperate some people are to make a quick buck.  People are willing to sell collectables and part ways with family heirlooms just so they can have a few thousand dollars.  These are items that should continue to be passed down or treasured within a family but because people are so strapped for cash they reach out to shows like this to hawk off their stuff and hope to get out of their financial woes.  Yet they will only realize their quick buck will never fix the real problem, its just a band-aid.  The real problem is still there, lack of mentorship, poor association, poor financial planning, and the list goes on.  It’s no different than lottery winners typically ending up broker than when they started.  If you don’t know how to steward money in the first place, coming into money won’t change that, it just makes it worse and extra money highlights that.

Obviously this is my take on why this show is on however its pretty coincidental this is happening now when the US is facing even worse financial crisis that is going to put Canada back into a recession.  TD even released a news article based on the fact we could be going back into a recession again.  Yet some people think we are doing okay… give your head a shake, its going to take more than a few years to climb out of where we are and where the US is.

Follow other bloggers for this year’s Summer Blogging Challenge here:

Zita of Ignite Strategic Solutions, Cliff of Peer Pressure Works, Tammy of Tam I Am, Peter of Crazy Wookie Cookies, Chad of The Daily Grind, Vlad of Analog Coast, Robb of Blogging Life, Kim of Nature Baby Bloggings, Liam of ln The Now, Natasha of Natural Urban Mamas, Earl of My Name is Earl (J. Woods), Brad of Kick Me Out Soon

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The Ultimate Social Business Model

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Ultimate-Social-Business-Model-Wall-Street-Journal_pdfIf you ever thought that Direct Selling was a joke, a fad, or something that only a few people do, you may want to think again.  In a recent special supplement to the Wall Street Journal by Direct Selling News called “The Ultimate Social Business” you might be surprised at just how long Direct Selling has been around and just how much impact it has on the economy.

“In 2010, direct selling companies generated over $125 billion in revenue in 150 countries through more than 75 million men and women who are changing lives serving others”.  What I love about that statement isn’t the fact Direct Selling has generated $125 billion, but the fact people are serving others.  While I cannot speak for others, that resonates the most with us because that’s exactly what motivates us to build our business.

What’s cool about Direct Selling that I didn’t know is that it’s actually the original social networking business.  This was long before there were computers in every household and well ages before Twitter and Facebook.  Direct Selling has been around for over 150 years and it ain’t going anywhere, in fact it’s picking up steam and here in Alberta it’s booming!

I know quite a few friends and acquaintances that are involved in some kind of Direct Selling opportunity.  Now it doesn’t have to be Amway (which happens to be #2, a private company and one that continued to grow to $9.2 Billion in sales) that we happen to be involved with, there are many other opportunities out there.  Sometimes people are looking at these opportunities to make a few dollars on the side, some are looking for leadership and mentorship, and some are just looking to fill in some extra time with a hobby.  

The stigma about Direct Selling, Amway, and these other opportunities is old and to make fun of, criticize, or put people down that are involved in them just shows true ignorance.  As the article says it’s Prime Time for Direct Selling and if your looking for an opportunity make sure you do your research, figure out who your getting involved in and make they are open and honest with you.

Check out the article here that covers all aspects of the Direct Selling industry and the top 100 companies – The Ultimate Social Business Model

Been Waiting 17 Months For This!

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Its been 17 months since we decided to take our heads out of our arses and get responsible about our debt.  Today, May 2nd, 2011 we are 100% debt free.  We do not owe anyone a single cent!  Now with all the money we’ve been paying down our debt with, we can finally start to put it on the positive side. 

So just how deep in debt were we? What was the final tally?  Well in the 17 months we did have some set backs so there was a bit more debt in the end however we stayed the course and paid every single cent back.  Here are the numbers:

 

FinancialFreedom

RBC Visa $30,000
TD Visa $5,000
HBC Master Card $7,000
TD Home Equity Line of Credit $30,000
TD Line of Credit $10,000
HSBC/Scotiabank Car Loan $27,000
Condo Mortgage $265,000
   
Total Consumer Debt $109,000
Total Mortgage $265,000
   
Total Debt Paid Off $374,000

 

 

So there you have it, $374,000 paid off in 17 months.  However I’m not excited about the mortgage being paid off, I’m excited about the consumer debt we paid off. That’s the more important because that was us being stupid, status’y, and feeling entitled to have pretty much whatever we wanted.  Trips, furniture, games, eating out, wine, wine, wine, wine and more wine.  I was asked the other day, did we sacrifice a lot of things?  I’d honestly say we’ve not sacrificed as much as you think we have.  I would do it all over again because our marriage is 1000 times stronger because we don’t have the stress of owing people money and we don’t have the stress of fighting over money.

What’s next?  Well we will be better prepared for life’s accidents or life’s misfortunes that’s for sure. No longer will we need to draw against our Line of Credit or swipe our credit card for those things.  We will make sure to have a proper reserve in place.  We will now start saving for a newer vehicle that’s a few years old so that we have a safer vehicle for when our child arrives in July.  We are excited for that.

Being debt free will finally allow us to take our eyes off ourselves and start to bless our parents and be able to give more to charity.  Obviously that won’t happen right away however we can now honestly start to look at things like that.  Other then that we we don’t know yet, we are still getting over the shock of what we’ve done in the last 17 months.  Because of great examples in our lives we were able to get back control of what we thought was a train wreck and start moving our finances in a positive direction.  We can now say we are financially free, truly amazing.

*Update* Check out this great blog by a friend of mine Jode in Vancouver who’s getting serious about her debt situation.  So proud of you Jode! http://veronihilverius.jigsy.com/entries/dollars-sense/debt-be-gone

New Book–The Mentor Leader

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I’ve been reading this new book for the last few weeks called The Mentor Leader by Tony Dungy.  I know Cliff and Liam will know who Tony Dungy is as they are big NFL fans. Tony Dungy is a Super Bowl winning coach but is also known for his dedication to his players and his mentoring work. 

I was actually pretty excited to start this book as it’s a bit different from the regular success books I read because of the author’s background in athletics.  I’m also excited because I love reading books on mentorship as that’s the kind of business we are in. 

There is a great quote about half way through that I’ve heard in many other books but really stood out in this book.

“I think we all should be looking for ways to improve, ways to grow. Mentors can help us do that, and we, in turn can help others the same way.  Two of the greatest influences in our lives will be the people we associate with and the books or other media we read or watch. So, choose wisely.”

It really is true that you have to watch out who you associate with.  I’ve said it many times before on this blog and it applied when I was younger and my mother told me she didn’t want me hanging out with Billy down the street.  Billy, not his real name, wasn’t a very good kid, always in trouble with the law and his parents were not any better.  This isn’t a lie, I remember is plain as day, the whole family were in and out of jail.  So my association at that age really needed to be guarded and the same applies at tMentorLeaderhe age of 31.

Tony also talks about being a servant leader and references this quote by Martin Luther King Jr. “Everybody can be great. Because anybody can serve. You don’t have to have a college degree to serve. You don’t have to make your subject and your verb agree to serve….You don’t have to know the second theory of thermodynamics in physics to serve. You only need a heart full of grace. A soul generated by love.”

I know Lindsay and I always strive to be great servants to our fellow mankind.  It’s 100% because of our association why we are who we are today.  If just some of us can change and be more servants then the  world would be a much better place that’s for sure.  Instead we are mostly a society that thinks about ourselves first before others.  That needs to change.

I highly recommend this book if your into mentorship and success principals.

Cash Christmas

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CashChristmasI just have to say as a first for me in my professional adult life this is the very first Christmas where all our Christmas gifts for friends and family were paid for 100% with cash.  No debt for this Christmas season and it feels damn good!  This is just the start of moving forward with a cash flow lifestyle where we will no longer go into debt to pay for something again.  That kind of mentality especially in today’s economy where people have 148% debt-to-income ratio doesn’t come naturally and sometimes we need a mentor in our life that can give us just a little perspective and help move us in a more positive direction.

I am so very thankful for the mentors Lindsay and I have in our lives that have helped get us back on the right track with our finances to the points we are a handful of months away from being debt free and not becoming a part of that absolutely stupid statistic above.  We were part of that statistic last year and I have the right to call myself and that statistic stupid.  I look back and we were just going nowhere fast, racking up Mr. Visa and soaking up the Line of Credit, all for what?  Just so we could look good and put on that superficial happy face that “everything’s okay” (chest puffed out).  What a joke we were back then, honestly.

For us personally I chalk it all up to World Wide Dreambuilders and the association we have with them.  Naysayers can say what they want but on paper we will be debt free and it’s because of association.  You need to watch your association in our out of this business.  Without it, you may just end up like we were with 90K in consumer debt.  FUN TIMES!

Anyway this Christmas has really been a change of pace for us and doing it in cash has to be the most liberating experience because come January when a lot of people get their credit card statements we will not have to worry to make the minimum payment because none of those purchases will be on there.  I challenge most of you out there to try and do the same as it will be a pretty amazing experience and will make your Christmas just that little bit better.