Tag Archives: God

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Can You Really Be Younger Next Year?

Life is a battle on many fronts, but most of the time knowledge and preparation can help you conquer! So it goes with your health. There are times when I find it difficult to make the right decisions about proper nutrition, health and fitness. It’s always easier to eat the donut, rather than the apple; to use a slight cough or stuffy nose as an excuse not to start or maintain my health and fitness routine.

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There are so many resources on health and fitness and of course, we all know we should maintain and care for the body God gave us! We know, our body is the vehicle through which we live out our life. The state of our physical bodies and our emotional health impacts all areas of our life. Yet 1/3 of people are overweight and 1/3 are obese.

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How To Be RICH? – Start GIVING!

Headlines surround me with the enticing message of how to get rich. Those same headlines say, to be happy I need the newest and best “stuff”. I am tempted to focus my admiration on people who are richer than me. Most people think of someone as rich if they make double what they do. It’s called the Doubling Up Wealth Theory. If we make $30,000 we think someone who makes $60,000 is rich.

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But who is really rich?

We spend so many years trying to get rich but we rarely realize how rich we already are. On a worldwide scale, we ARE rich.

The statistics are staggering. More than half the world’s population lives on less than $2 per day.Go to Global Rich List and insert your family income. If you earn more than $30,000, you’re in the top 2% of all individuals in the world. If you earn more than $40,000, you’re in the top 1%. To poor people in the rest of the world, anyone from the west is “rich.” Bill Gates or you.

Once we realize we’re rich, where do we learn how to be rich?

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Who Else Wants To Be A Millionaire?

As a luxury homebuilder, I observed something very odd. People buying million dollar homes often didn’t have much wealth – they just had large incomes.

They pulled into the sales office in a luxury automobile and coveted the appearance of wealth. But wealth is much different than income. Wealth is what you accumulate, not what you spend. (Remember my Italian mentor from my first job….. )

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Have you dreamed of owning a nicer home? We all love things of beauty. I made my living in the housing industry by identifying a profitable niche. I loved building big, great quality, beautiful homes and neighborhoods. They were my art. However, there is a balance in being able to afford things in the short term and being able to accumulate wealth in the long term.

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Who Else Wants To Go To Heaven?

Do you believe ‘all roads lead to heaven’? How about ‘good people go to heaven’?

A recent poll suggests that on a worldwide basis, 80% of people believe in a god. They say it doesn’t matter which god you worship, as long as you believe in a god. Most people are afraid of death and believe that everybody spends forever somewhere. Many of them believe that where you spend eternity is based on our good deeds on earth. This of course raises the question of – how good is good enough?iStock_000003104895Small

Have you found yourself wondering the same thing? Good people go to heaven, right?  At first, this seems logical. However, many people, even Christians haven’t thought it through. They aren’t sure! Some Christians I know, when asked if they are assured of their salvation (going to heaven) say things like “I sure hope so”, or “I don’t really know.” Many people wonder “what is salvation”? Or they wonder about assurance of their salvation.

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How To Be Done With Debt

Flash back to 1985 when I received the best piece of personal finance advice! Picture me, working my summer job as a laborer for a bricklaying company trying to pay for university. What was the best advice and who gave it to me? It came from an Italian bricklayer in his tattered and torn work clothes. You’ll need to read this aloud in an Italian accent while waving your arms enthusiastically to get the full effect.
“Stevie it’s not-a how much-a you make, it’s-a how much-a you save.” The significance of his statement stuck with me! Many of my university professors talked about personal finance but had not been in the marketplace.iStock_000008650446Small

These educated professionals were not practicing personal finance as well as this man who earned probably half of what they did. Arriving in Canada from Italy, penniless, this man owned 3 houses in downtown Toronto worth a substantial amount of money. He had learned one of the dirtiest words in personal finance: discipline. As my parents often had, we will have arguments, fights, worries, pain and disappointments until we practice what this wise bricklayer taught me. I believe it is based on the following Biblical personal finance truth.

In the house of the wise are stores of choice food and oil, but a foolish man devours all he has.

Proverbs 21:20

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How To Find Work You Love

Have you figured out how to find work you love?  Recently, Forbes magazine reported  up to 70% of Americans hate their jobs.

Like most people, I have experienced jobs that were less than engaging for me. I’ve been an infantryman, commercial fisherman, laborer, bricklayer and carpenter.  Then I was blessed to find work I love. First as an entrepreneur home builder with our company Land Ark Homes. Now as a blogger.

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We often imagine finding work we love but do you know what to look for?

Picture yourself getting paid to do something that thrills you. That you are good at. That society values. When you find work you love, it shows.

“Do you see someone skilled in their work? They will serve before kings; they will not serve before officials of low rank.”

Proverbs 22:29

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Want a Courageous Life with No Regrets?

Do you have time to do the things you really want? Are you living the life you feel you were called to? Who really is? A recent survey of the top 5 regrets people have on their deathbeds reports that their number one regret is that they hadn’t had the courage to live a life true to themselves. They lived the life others expected of them. What a tragedy!

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Dr. Richard Swenson, in his book Margin reveals insight into the space that exists between our limits and our self. Imagine it as the space around the edge of the pages of a book. It’s the little bit extra. Margin is a great book for anyone who is looking for: good health, financial stability, fulfilling relationships and God’s purpose.

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What is Your Balance Sheet?

Your balance sheet tells some of your story. Are you trying to provide for a family? Earn as much as you can? Save as much as you can? Give as much as you can? Be financially “free?”

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Here’s what I consider the most important:  Are your finances ‘balanced?’

Regardless of your goals, where do you get direction for how you make all of your financial decisions? What is the one objective that guides your overall personal finances? Do you have a focus that can steer all your financial decisions?

I meet people all the time who say that money is the source of most of their stress. They lack balance for themselves and their balance sheet shows it.

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Who Has Time For That?

If you feel that there are never enough hours in a day, you are right! The clock keeps ticking whether we like it or not. But what are we spending our precious few hours on?

Here are some astounding facts:

  • The average person watches TV over 4 hours a day. That’s 28.5 hours each week.[1]
  • The average internet usage is 43.5 hours per month.[2] That equates to an hour and a half each and every day.
  • The average Canadian spends an unbelievable 32 days each year commuting to and from work.[3] That’s over 768 hours trapped in your car every year!iStock_000004879552Small

It’s no wonder we feel we don’t have enough time.

It’s because of that last statistic that Zig Ziglar suggests we turn our vehicles into “rolling universities.”  Tossing in a CD or tuning into a podcast can help turn your commute into learning time.

But what should we focus on?

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Are You Living in Your Strength Zone?

In my life, many things have come easily… and many things frustrate me to no end. There are things that  I just cannot seem to do!

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In our homebuilding business, I was blessed with the right strengths for managing people’s time, money and expectations for a new place to call home. However, as I transitioned into my second half of life, I didn’t know what my real strengths were. No one ever encouraged me to explore them or told me how to find them. What a frustrating feeling!

Do you see a man skilled in his work? He will stand before kings; He will not stand before obscure men.

Proverbs 22:29 ESV