business

business, children, me, photos

A Melting Pot of Bloggy Goodness

I feel the need to wrap up some loose ends, with today being the last day of the week and all. (I like to start my new weeks out fresh, you know.) I had trouble coming up with a title for this post, because it’s not just about one thing. Then I remembered when I lived in Alaska, we called it “a melting pot” because of the diverse cultures represented. This post is all about a variety of culture here. ahem.

We’ll start with the business trip we took last week. As we were getting ready to leave, we discovered a stowaway: (A note to our youngest: if you’re going to stow away, don’t do it in the driver’s seat of the van.)

It was a long ride (and would have been so much better in this) but we made it in plenty of time to check into our hotel and refresh ourselves before our first meeting. The grand ballroom was filled to capacity and we had to sit in the very back, not because we were late, but because we were required to wait on two of our business associates so we could all sit together. Anyone who knows me knows that I have issues with people who are perpetually late, and that day was no exception. Twenty minutes after we were supposed to meet, he came strolling down the corridor as if no one in the world mattered but him and his wife. Sigh. I got over it quickly, however…because let’s face it, I had a choice. I could choose to either: a.) let it fester up and seethe inside of me, thereby ruining my chances of hearing the fantastic speakers that were lined up; or b.) let it go and get all I could out of the meetings. I chose the latter. If there’s one thing I’ve learned is that we are all, as humans, fallible. I’m certainly no exception to that rule.

The next order of business I have to tend to is the matter of the bath. I was so anticipating a nice, long soak in a jacuzzi tub the entire ride down. I brought candles and bubblebath — oh yes, it was going to be an event. Then I stepped into our teeny, tiny bathroom and this is what met my eyes:Double whammy.

We did have a nice room and a beautiful view of the river, although you can’t really tell from this photo.All you can really see is my husband’s head bowing in silent prayer because I haven’t seen the bathroom yet and he knows that I’m going in there next and he hopes it doesn’t ruin his chances of “one night without the kids“, if you know what I mean.

K’s team is still undefeated in basketball. Her skills are improving quite nicely. We are taking her up to the Church a couple of times a week to shoot baskets and work on her offense/defense skills. She has a game today at 1pm and I’m taking my el cheapo camera, so if I get any good shots, (totally punintended, I assure you) I’ll post them for you.

One more thing…Monday is the start of something really huge that I’m really excited about. It is the start of Shannon’s (aka Rocks in My Dryer, aka Bloggy Giveaways) bloggy giveaway carnival!I just so happen to have something for it this time that I am excited about giving and I hope you’ll be just as excited to win!

(And it just so happens to be my busiest day of the month, because we are having a grand opening of our office that day and I will not be around much due to the fact that I’ve got to chop, peel, cut and arrange fruits and desserts on beautiful trays to feed the 150 or so guests we are expecting. Fun, fun.)But you can still pop by and comment for your chance to win! It’s going to be spectacular stupendous really cool.

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business

Profits are Better Than Wages

In addition to homeschooling two of our three kids, part of what I do in our business is educate people on the economy and money. I am by no means an expert, but over the last couple of years, I have learned a thing or two. One of the most interesting things I have studied is the concept of capitalism.

Capitalism is one thing colleges don’t teach young people about. What is the first thing that parents and even teachers tell you regarding college? “Study hard, get your degree so you can get a good ____” Job. Right. A good job. That’s an oxymoron if I’ve ever heard one, right there. Before you think I’m against going to college, let me assure you that is not the case. College teaches kids how to see something through to the end, but it doesn’t necessarily teach them skills they will need to succeed in life.

Case in point: in 1900, only 5-10% of people actually worked for someone else, the other 90-95% were business owners or worked for themselves. Today, we find the opposite. So we only have 5-10% of people working for themselves? Everyone else works for someone else? That’s right. And let me explain why I think that’s not necessarily a good thing. Capitalism wasn’t designed for employees – it was designed for the business owner.

There are only two ways to make money in capitalism:

  1. Wages — hourly, salary, or commission.
    • This is how 95% of the population gets paid.
    • Your worth is determined by your employer.

    or…

  2. Profits — Revenue – Expenses = Profits. There are only two ways to get profits up:
    • Increase the money coming in or
    • Decrease expenses.

So if I go to work for someone else, I get stuck being an expense for them. What is one of the things employers have to do to turn a profit? Keep expenses down, right? So if the cost of electricity goes up (or fuel), where is the employer going to be looking to cut expenses? They can’t control the cost of electricity or fuel, but they can control how much they pay me and how often I get to work.

So think about which side you are on. How much control do you really have? How much control would you like to have?

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business, me

Clearing the Fog

I can’t begin to tell you how important it is to WRITE your goals down and keep them in front of you. Last week I weighed *** lbs (thought I was going to tell you, didn’t you?) and this morning, when I stepped on the scale, it read ELEVEN pounds less. Shocking, I say. Simply shocking. I was hoping for a whopping 3 or 4 pound loss, but hey, I’ll take every 11 pound loss I can get.

Of course, I DO realize that was probably a one time thing – having changed my eating and drinking habits. Did I just tell you I have a drinking habit? I can’t believe I admitted that on the world wibe web. Wibe? Did I just write wibe? I guess it’s affecting me more than I thought. But seriously, I am attempting to drink 120 ounces of water a day, which is a bit difficult. First of all, finding the time to squeeze in FIFTEEN full glasses of water leaves me choking for air. It’s not that I don’t like water – it rates right up there with air on the scale of things I couldn’t go without, I’m just sayin’.

Where was I? Oh yes…goals. You’ve got to be able to see them to achieve them. (Which is exactly why I have this lovely photo of myself on the fridge wearing a pair of size 10 Eddie Bauer Tall jeans.) Right now, I couldn’t fit my big toe in a pair of size 10 jeans, but in another year or so, I’ll be lounging comfortably in them.

Have you ever heard of Florence Chadwick? She was the first female swimmer to cross the English Channel both ways, which was quite a feat. Then she attempted to swim the 26 miles between Catalina Island and the California coastline. She had boats on either side of her fight off sharks, she withstood ice cold water and swam for 15 hours until a heavy fog set in, causing her to lose sight of the California shoreline – her goal. Doubt,fear, and finally fatigue began to set in. She told her mother that she didn’t think she could make it and even then, swam for another hour before being pulled up out of the frigid waters. Sitting there in the boat, she learned that she was only one mile from her goal. When she was asked why she quit, she said it was because she couldn’t see the coastline because there was too much fog. She had lost sight of her goal!

The story doesn’t end there, however. She did go back and swim it again – with colder water and even more fog, but she managed to push her way through and reach the coastline. She said that when the fog rolled in, she pictured her goal (the coastline) in her head.

Do you have any goals you’d like to achieve this next year? What are they? Why don’t you commit to writing them down and looking at them every day? It really works…take it from a girl who just lost 11 pounds.

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business, me, youtube

Hoping your New Year is Bright


anyone out there? hello? (phwooh, phwooh….tap..tap…echoing sound)

My sincerest apologies for the completely unscheduled bloggy break. It’s been a most joyous and festive holiday for our family, aside from the fact that my mom was in the hospital for the week of Christmas with congestive heart failure (she’s out and better now). I honestly don’t know where the time has gone…I have been faithfully reading your blogs, but have completely forgotten to update mine! How’s that for pitiful? Ah…but I am about to redeem myself, as I have GOALS! GOALS! GOALS! to share with y’all.

1. Read my Bible through this year, cover to cover.
2. Spend an hour in prayer every morning.
3. Use my daily planner to improve time management – multi-task! multi-task!

and…
4. Update my blog more often than once in a blue moon.

That’s pretty much it — I could add countless other goals, but the first three are really the highest priority. I mean, anyone who is overweight wants to lose weight (including me), anyone who is a parent should want to be a better parent (ditto), and anyone who is married should desire to be a better spouse (double ditto)…so those are a given. I’m working on those things as well.

How am I doing so far, you ask? Smashing, dahling. Hey, it’s only the 3rd of January and I’m already updating my blog! woo hoo! Feels so good to be a winner!

But seriously. I’m utilizing my reticular activating system in order to accomplish my goals. What?!?! Okay…I’m writing my goals down daily in my planner because writing triggers the RAS, which in turn sends a signal to the cerebral cortex: ‘Wake up! Pay attention! Don’t miss this detail!’ Once you write down a goal, your brain will be working overtime to see you get it, and will alert you to the signs and signals that were there all the time.

In our business, we call it the “blue car” theory. If I tell you that I’m going to give you $1000 for every blue car you see from your house to mine, you’ll be looking, won’t you? Those blue cars were there all along, but your brain now has a reason to be looking for them, enabling you to find them. Well, that’s a Reader’s Digest condensed version of what it is, anyway. But I DO find that if I write my goals down, I think about them more, which in turn makes me more prone to getting them done.

Alrighty, then. Enough with the goals. Don’t EVEN get me started on business – I will talk nonstop…and that just doesn’t equate to bloggy goodness. 🙂
Speaking of bloggy goodness, I’ll leave you with a little something sent to me by my friend, Tonya. It’s so cute that I think I watched it two or fifteen times:

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business, youtube

Giving it everything you’ve got

I haven’t fallen off the face of the earth, but I have been “deep in the midst” of some storms lately and really haven’t felt much like blogging or writing about it.

This scene from Facing the Giants is one of my all-time favorites and it inspires me to push harder and give it my very best. It’s all heart from here…

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