Adventure Phoenix

Continuing on from the previous post.  I’ve learned alot since Christmas – mainly how much our world has changed.  Think about it.  You have the first black president in the history of this country.  You have an economy that is worth nearly 40% less than what it was a year ago.  Mortgage rates are at an all time low.  Even though inflation is higher than it was 8 months ago – opportunities are everywhere.

But I have this to say – YOU MUST be open and willing to see opportunities.  If you continue focusing on yourself and forget the world around you.  YOU will never see the greatness that I see each and every day.  Just this past weekend I went to the Franklin Farmer’s Market and just the short period of time I was there.  I met a single mother & her daughter making & selling cement lawn decorations. I met a family who started a business making soap! I even met a guy who is selling popcorn!

Now, can you mix cement, pop corn, or put together the ingredients to make soap?  Perhaps you have another talent that you have thought about but never actually tried to do!  Well, in THIS economy its the perfect time to start your grassroots efforts.  Loan & mortgates are LOW.  I mean crazy low.  In fact, they are approaching an all time low!  Plus, if you start your business today, you will be stronger and wiser than if you started when times were great!

There were more millionaires made during the great depression during any other time in history.  Ever ask yourself why?  Its because people were strong, smart, and took the time to do the proper research before launching that next idea.  On top of that, when the great depression ended, those businesses that survived were strong and just took off like a rocket into history books and success.

So, the next time you choose to look at THIS economy as bad, rought, tough times, well perhaps you need to adjust your perspective!  IT IS the perfect time. And ONLY those who choose to move forward will experience success.  I challenge you to take THAT next step forward and at least try!  Besides, what is the worst that can happen?  If you plan well, great things will come!

Part 3 to come tomorrow!

I find it absolutely crazy to have about 90% of the people live quite fat and happy lives and only 10% of the people I know shout from the top of their lungs to say how much they are hurting because OUR economy is just aweful. Couple that with the media reenforcing the thought only makes the matter worse!

People I’m here to say that if you fall in the category of those who are complaining the you honestly do not get it. OUR world is NOT about you! In fact you are just here for a short time and the sad things is you are wasting it on worthless complaints of your own doing!

Think about it! Weathly people save for times of drought and poor people do not! You choose credit over your safe secure future! You choose debt payments over freedom. You choose to watch TV instead of learning something new. YOU choose everything you have in your life including complaining about the lack of income you face now!!!!

The new economy we live in now is NOT about you or me. It’s now about what we are going to do, at least for the next couple years! It’s about the choices you have made to that you through the next state of your life!

There is hope! You can change but YOU must stop complaining. Look up and just breathe. Relax it’s not as bad as you make it seem! And smile because YOU will make it through this time in your life just as you did in every other part in your life!

The New Economy we live in today is about knoledge! It’s about what you know and what you are learning! It’s about reading educatial material and not watching TV. Success will come to those who help others not focus internally! This New Economy is about everyone as a whole as we are all connected!

I will continue more on this tomorrow!

I have been pretty busy the last couple months trying to adjust to our new economy and figure out how to be profitable. So I must apologize yet again for the lack of blogs this year!

But I must say I’m renewed with a since of excitement to discover the awesome power of Wordpress self hosted blog servers!

If you haven’t thought about blogging before then I highly recommend Wordpress.com!

It’s truly remarkable how simple and accessible they have made it! Get this, you can write blogs or posts as they call it from Microsoft Word 2007+, from a powerful WYSIWYG admin, desktop applications like live or fireblog, and best of all, the iPhone!

It’s my belief that everyone should blog! After all WE are ALL human and individually we are interesting. The key is to figure out what YOU have to say that is important! Also being consistent when you blog whether daily or weekly, writing consistently will bring readers!

So if I could leave you with one great nugget of hope, step out side your normal routine and blog into success because YOU do have something important to say!

Most of you may recall that my wife (Jess) and I have been actively working on our new program we designed called 6×6. This is the basic concept we works 6 days a week, 6 weeks in a row and on the 7th day or 7th week, we take a week off to rest. As apart of this 6×6 program we are also traveling around the country.

It is our goal to meet new people and explore new places. Our first couple trips have been great fun however we didn’t meet anyone of any significance until today.

While at a Bed & Breakfast up in the mountians in Pigeon Forge, TN we had the wonderful pleasure of meeting Rufus. This is one of the most tender men I’ve ever met. He talks with such wisdom and great happiness that merely listening to him speak calms my spirit.

While at breakfast this morning, Rufus shared with us some remarkable stories. I’m sure the first of many to come but one of which I had to share with all of you immediately. Rufus is 78 years old. A proud black man of God. He has aged skin and thinning silver hair. Soft eyes and stands a stout 4 foot 3 inches. However for his age, he has one very powerful handshake that envelopes you with absolute power and control.

One of his stories I wanted to share with you is one that truly broke my heart. As I stated, Rufus is 78 years old and up until 3 years ago, Rufus was for a lack of better works, in slavery. As he put it, I was “owed by this man”. When he told me, he said it with such honesty and absolute contentment. There was no since of angry nor remorse for the life he was given. As I carefully explored his statement, I asked him questions about his life. Where he grew up and what he has accomplished. Apparently Rufus made some bad choices which in his later years led him to meet this awful man. A man who enslaved him to work in a factory for hours on end.

Rufus shared with me that he was in WWII and other events in his life. He is in a choir and sings weekly here in Gatlinburg at his ripe age of nearly eighty years.

But the beautiful part about his story isn’t the fact that he was a slave in America, nor the fact that he was in WWII or even that he has 12 brothers and sisters. Its the simple fact that Rufus is completely happy about every aspect of his life. He shares his stories in open honesty and absolute respect. Its the fact that even being a slave of someone else for 5 years, he CHOOSE to find happiness each and every day of his life. Its the fact that at every moment he had a choice and all of his decisions he made without regret.

I am sure if it was given to him again, he would choose a different path with the knowledge now but the fact remains he LOVES and is UNBROKEN.

How many of you can say that you would choose to live that way today? How many of you feel like you are a slave to your boss, spouse, children, work, etc…?

So I ask you, are you choosing the path that Rufus choose of great happiness or a path of sadness and regret living a life that is sad and unfulfilled?

Think about that the next time you feel trapped and held hostage by your own choices.

(Will post a picture of him this afternoon!)

With great respect,

A few years ago I had a client tell me that he loves spending time with his family. Which was odd because I remember thinking that he is a work-a-holic like myself. But he told me his secret for sustained energy by designing his lifestyle around his vacation.

This concept has stuck with me each time I get overwhelmed or stressed out. So starting in December 2008, my wife and I came up with this wonderful concept. We are going to increase the amount time we spend working however setup a specific schedule for vacations.

Here is the basic concept of our plan. First we break up our day in half. More people work 8 hours a day and if your self employed like myself, that number is doubled thus causing the problem. So we create a 6 hour power schedule of working with a 2 hour break and then another 6 hour shift each day. We do this 6 days a week for 6 weeks. Now there are a few exceptions as I have evening meetings such as Church or other related personal activities. Well I just include this as part of my schedule or work around it. Its not about how many hours one can compact into a day but rather being intentionally about working a specific amount of hours with a set on and off time. With that being said we have agreed to NEVER work more than 6 hours in any given shift nor will we work more than 6 days in any 7 day period. And lastly, we MUST stop and rest after the 6th week for a full offline week reconstruction and rejuvenation.

So thats 6 hours a day, 2 shifts, 6 days a week, 6 weeks and rest for a min of 6 days. IT sounds complex however so far its working. I have talked to a few of my friends and they have commented how relaxed and calm I have sounded during the last couple days.

I know this sounds crazy to think that if you work a ‘real’ job for someone else this is very tricky to do but just spend some time to consider HOW this could apply to you.

Remember, the point isn’t about pushing yourself so hard you burn out but rather being intentional about resting. Maybe you work an 8 hour shift for 5 days with a 2 day offline and relaxing. Whatever it is for you, make sure you are intentional about your rest.

MAKE it a priority as much if not more than your job.

Americans are burning out because they are overworking. TAKE the time for you to keep you happy and balanced!

For me, I have found myself WAY more productive as I know when to turn on and off.

Give me a shout with HOW this will apply to you.

With rest and relaxation,

Most of you who know me will hear me reference personality types such as Owl, Turtle, Rhino, or the Bee but more recently I have expanded on my four friends. Back at the first of the year I hired a friend of mine to create the personification of my personality traits. I say my traits but honestly they were developed back 2200 years ago. All I have done is given them a different twist to what was already created in todays terms, standards and communication methods. This blog it to reference my first of four types, Hoot the Orderly Owl. My friend Hoot is one crazy owl however he is not your typical Owl.

But you might know him best as:

• being loyal
• being sympathetic
• being friendly & supportive
• being a good listener
• being a team player
• helpful to people around me
• being dependable
• being available in times of need
• liking things the way they are
• working hard behind the scenes
• disliking publicly given praise
• disliking conflict or change
• being patient with everyone

Its crazy to think that its been over 3 months since my last blog. Sorry everyone for now following up earlier. I really do LOVE blogging but its amazing how time flies by and you can’t even breathe let along put time into writing. But I am going to give it another whirl.

What is one thing that YOU love most in your life? For me, is finding new ways to express myself. Lately i’ve been learning how to use the power of social networking and creating a true social experience. The hardest problem with connecting to more than just your facebook or myspace is logging into those systems on a daily basis. But I found an easy system for allowing me to do link to 38 different networks.

Yes thats right, 38 different social networks. ping.fm is an amazing tool that allows any person create an account, link all of the social networks you subscribe to and thing with a simple click of a mouse button, instantly ping all of the networks automatically.

So, if you are interested in creating a blog and getting the word out, THIS one tool is the way you need to go.

I hope all of you are doing well and will try my best to keep you updated daily!

With respect the greatest respect & adventure for of randomness!

Have you ever felt like your life is a series of unfortunate events?

I hear this phrase all too much in my friends lives. The other day a close friend told me her bank account has gone negative for 3 months in a row and there is nothing she can do about it. I honestly felt bad a moment of empathy for her but immediately realized that she chose to make the money she made. In fact, every great decision she has made has lead her down the path she is currently facing. It was honestly her best thinking.

Com’on think about it. Would you make a bad decision intentionally? Would you CHOOSE to take a wrong step, to make a wrong turn, to fall down, and the list goes on and on? Every choice we make is our best thinking at work.

What makes a person great is HOW they choose to see a bad situation!

On Monday night, my wife and I finished our 7th class at Dave Ramsey’s Financial Peace University. For those of you who have never attended this class, GO NOW. DO NOT pass GO, DO NOT collect $200, stop what you are DOING a GO. Make this happen NOW. Seriously, this is a class that WILL radically change you live!

Anyways back to topic, Jess and I got home around 9ish, cleaned up a few things, did the dishes, wrote a blog, and we went to bed. An ALL too typical evening. Then around 4:50AM I started dreaming about my furnace burning. I remember this distinctly because I jumped out a bed, yelled FIRE, there is FIRE. JESS do you smell the burning.

I ran down stairs to see what was going on. The darndest thign happened. There was NO smoke. In fact, on my first and second floors, I couldn’t smell anything burning. However the house was irry quiet. Normally, I would hear my blowers and fans running to keep my house’s tempature balanced. So I walked up the three flights of stairs, heart still pounding and there is it again, I smelt smoke.

The funny thing was that my wife was still sound asleep. I yelled again and she just said, you’re dreaming, go back to bed. Frustrated at the smell getting more intense and now noticing that my top floor was extremely hot. About 84 degrees and the bottom two floors are in the low 60s I wondered if it was the furnace.

Then I remembered my dream. I ran downstairs again practically jumping over the rails and into the furnace room. I discovered my furnace had overheated. Yep, thats right, a device that generates heat overheated. Truly ironic in my opinion. At this time, I grabbed my cell phone and noticed it was 5:13AM. I knew my dad would be about to go for his morning walk so I called him. At this point, I noticed the blower wasn’t running anymore. When he picked up I explained that I think my furnace blower unit was melting and it no longer functioned. I asked if he would swing by and he said he would a few in an hour. I turned off everything in the house to prevent any more damage.

Well, around 6:30am he arrives (by the way, my parents live about 1.17 miles from me, I measured it .) and inspected the unit. He also agreed that it had melted.

Now, I don’t know about you but I started wondering how much this would cost. I jumped on the internet and started researching. I discovered that I might have to replace my entire furnace. Oh lord, fear set in at the fact that I might have to shell out another $2k on replacement of this unit.

Like most, I lost focus and immediately went to the side of fear. I have always been taught that F.E.A.R. is acronym meaning False Expectations Appearing Real. But when faced with a couple grand in unplanned expenses, those thoughts and memories seem to fad.

I called my repair man and he came out promptly. Good thing b/c it was the coldest day so far this year and my house was already at 58 degrees and dropping.

Between the time I called the repair man and when he arrived, I had a sudden realization. I remembered tha because I was in the Dave Ramsey’s Financial Peace University I had set aside several thousand in an ‘emergency fund’. Up until this moment, I had thought of an emergency fund a truly crazy. I mean, who honetly puts money in a box and keeps it for a day when an emergency comes. Its almost like hoping an emegency comes.

But I followed the advice of the class and put the money in my ’sock drawer’.

When the repair man arrived, he quickly discovered the problem. My blower unit for my house had completely melted into a hunk of plastic. So, I had him make the repair and then he gave me the bill. Ya know the cool thing about having cash in hand for an emergency? Well, when I got the bill, he had loaded up taxes and all kinds of fees. I told the guy I can charge this to a credit card which would cost him all kinds of fees. So I asked, would you cut out the tax and knock off 3% of the total cost if I pay in cash.

The guy smiled and immediately took the cash at almost a 13% discount. (tax in TN is very high!)

Everyone wins in that situation and CASH is KING!

So the next time you have an unfortunate event, I ask you to consider this. What really is going on? And HOW much of what is going on is FEAR?

With love and respect,

I am a person who has a belief that honesty and integrity will win above blind obedience. I prayed that God will protect this country with what is about to happen. Now, much like a parent’s love of their child and that same parent will discipline the child when it has created disruption.

The more I have watch take place this year in the media, I have discovered and proved one great thing about how the media controls the week minds with ideas that counter fact and truth. TV Stations like CNN and MSNBC broadcast lies to promote their agendas.

What saddens me is the 51% of American’s who fell for gossip and misguided truths only increases my belief that God is going to discipline and challenge us over the next few years.

To prove my point, there is an amazing video running on the internet boasting on the fact that the majority of Obama supporters live in blind obedience and would rather let the media dictate their choices.

I strongly encourage you to take a moment to watch this video and see what our society has become so blind in the choices they make at large.

Stand up and make an educated choice,

Until recently I have been just a casual user of Social Networking and I have always wondered about the power of networking and its application on business.

At the beginning of the year, I sampled with marketing with my sisters photography business and we had great success. Actually that is an understatement. We grew her network from a few hundred fans to well over 9,000 friends in a matter of a few weeks. With that being said, the simple amount of marketing we did had a tremendous results. She landed dozens of jobs and pretty much booking up her schedule.

Taking what I learned from MySpace I have tried to apply it to the world of Facebook with no result. I have tried on three separate occasions. I all but gave up and decided to try one more time with a new client. I tried a different approach where we sent out a newsletter promoting the fact that we had a facebook account. After just 3 days, we have grown from 1 friend to well over 500 friends. And as I write this blog, the number continues to grow! What makes this time different? Well, I was able to tie into an existing marketing method with Facebook. So far, the result has been impressive and we are already seeing some income result from the Facebook integration.

How can you use Facebook to your advantage? Well, first you need to tie into multiple sources of networking such as your website, myspace, facebook, twitter, among many other forms of social networking. The only true way to grow an internet business is to use the power of ALL social networks.

I challenge you to push forward in your endevors of using the power of the internet and social networking to your advantange. Take your time, research, and make the right decision at the right time. Remember, the key to Facebook and other social networks in creating a social environments for all your social networks!

Seeking all forms of Social Networking!