Attitude on Money

This week we were asked to read talks and watch stories about money and happiness.  Many of the presenters had differing opinions on how it was achieved, but the majority of them did agree that money does not buy happiness unless you are using it to help others.

One of the talks was called, "Attitude on Money” by Stephen W. Gibson.  I felt he had two main points, first, that we all have a distorted view of money, whether it is distorted by our own thoughts or those around us.  It could be as minimally distorted as people should pay tithing to as large as the only way to get to heaven is to give all of our money away.  Mr. Gibson gave an example of glasses and how they distort the way things are seen even though that distortion makes what you see as perfectly clear, to someone else it is completely blurry.  But either way it is a distortion of what is really there.  His other, more important, point, in my opinion, is that money can be used for good or evil, but money itself is not evil.  We can spend time earning a lot of money.  But what is important is what we do with that money, do we use it for ourselves to buy large mansions or do we use it for others to build schools or for others to buy bombs?  One is good for just me, while the other is good for others and the last one is technically bad for all.  

We were asked to answer the following questions:

• What is your attitude toward money?
• Honestly, mine is a love/hate relationship.  I have always said that.  I need it, so I want to get enough for my needs.  Plus I really do want to do things or use the money in a way to help others.  But I find myself obsessing over it sometimes.  Not necessarily on how to get more, well some of that, mostly because I really want to pay off the two credit cards that we currently have, so I am always trying to think of ways we can cut back on costs or increase income so we can use the money to pay off our debt.  I don't like it having control over me. I want to be able to control it a lot better.  I am glad we are following the Dave Ramsey way of budgeting and working on paying things off.  This will really help us now and in the long run to be in control of our money instead of letting it control us.
• How can your view of money affect the way you live?
• I believe that your view dictates how you use money and in turn how you live. If you believe that it is there to help you and others you come in contact with, then you are more willing to live your life giving. However, if you believe that money is there to help you buy the bigger house, the newest car, or the next great gadget, then you will be obsessed with earning more to spend more.
• What rules are recommended for prospering?
• Here is what Mr. Gibson suggests:
• Rule 1. Seek the Lord and have hope in him 
• Rule 2. Keep the commandments, that includes the temporal ones, tithing and fast offerings. 
• Rule 3. Think about money and plan how you can become self-reliant. 
• Rule 4. Take advantage of chances for learning so you will not be ignorant of these matters. Education, as President Hinckley has taught us, is the Key to Opportunity. 
• Rule 5. Learn the laws upon which the blessings of wealth are predicated. 
• Rule 6. Do not send away the naked, the hungry, the thirsty or the sick or those who are held captive. 
• I really like these rules.  I think that as we focus on the Lord and what he wants us to do and how he wants us to handle money; we will do the right thing.  Ultimately, we are here to do our best and return to live with our Heavenly Father.  If we cannot say that we have loved others, given service in whatever way is required and followed the commandments of the Lord, then, I feel, we will have wasted our life.

Entrepreneur Interview

The past couple of weeks we have had an assignment to seek out and interview an entrepreneur.  As soon as I saw we were given this assignment I knew immediately who I wanted to interview.  There is an entrepreneur in my old ward who is a rental property business owner.  I wanted to interview her in the past when I was given this assignment, but it never worked out.  I knew this was the perfect opportunity.

I set up an appointment and went over to her house on Friday, November 11.  I did not feel like I had to ask her the questions in order that I had on my sheet as I felt the conversation flowed naturally and she would address the question sometimes before I even got to it.  

Here are the takeaways I got from our interview:

1. Start as early as possible, but only go as fast or as slow as you can handle
• The younger you can start in your business the better. Don’t wait too long because sometimes it takes several years to truly see the fruits of your labors.
• Go as fast or as slow as you can handle financially and stress wise. Sometimes it can be overwhelming and if you take on too much too fast you fail to do any of the things that need to be done.  Your business (and even your personal life) will suffer.
2. Pray for the direction you should go
• Always seek direction from the Lord in every decision and in how to manage your time and money wisely. 
• Be willing to follow that direction.
3. In the rental property business, it is nice to have a good cop/bad cop.
• Have one person who is the softy and can be kind and nice all the time.
• Have the other person be the one who is a stickler for the rules and can enforce them.
4. How to best manage finances
• When repairs are required, try to do as much of the work as you can as possible to save yourself money. Search google and YouTube videos or take classes at Home Depot or Lowes.
• Don’t get swayed by the large sum of cash that comes in at the first of the month and then spend it all before the month is over. Create a budget and stick to it.
5. Constantly be doing your homework.
• Make sure you get an appraisal and a home inspection to make sure you are getting a good deal.
• Look into creative financing or do things differently to get the down payment for the next purchase. 
• Always be reading or studying the market and the internet to find other deals or other ways to improve.

While a good majority of the things we spoke about I already knew, she tweaked some of my thinking or gave me other ideas to pursue.  I was able to tell her things we had done and she would say, "maybe you could try this."  I felt it was more of a refining process than a complete learning process.  It was really nice to be able to bounce ideas off of someone who had somewhat done what we are trying to do.  In her case, I found out they just have the one mobile home park and some one room cabins that they rent out and they have not tried to gain any other rental properties nor do they intend to.  So there were a few things she was unable to help me with, but overall it was an amazing experience and I felt like we are moving in the right direction.  I just wish we could have moved there a little sooner in our lives.

Good to Great

This week in class we have read many talks and watched many videos about going from good to great. In the book "Good to Great", by Jim Collins, he states, "Good is the enemy of great...Few people attain great lives, in large part because it is just so easy to settle for a good life."  Do I have a good life, but not a great life?  At this point in time, I think so, but it is something I want to change.  I don't believe that Heavenly Father put us on the earth just to stumble through and be mediocre, but to be our own best self.

As I have thought about the concept of good to great, I have realized to in business, it doesn't necessarily mean being better than anyone else at their expense.  While you can be better than your "competition", it comes internally in wanting what is best for you and your customers and your competitor is kind of in the side or rear view mirror. They are there, but don't necessarily play a role in it.  It means keeping it internally and making you better than the you of yesterday.  I believe that it also means looking for opportunities to improve in just about every facet of life.

It seems the last couple of weeks these lessons are starting to meld together as a complete story.  I feel they are pieces of the puzzle that as I work on each of them and put them together to make one complete picture I will ultimately reach my own greatness and our business will emerge as a great one.  I know it will take time, I know these things won't happen overnight.  However, I think they can happen quicker than we have done in the past, that we can be as the flywheel that Jim Collins speaks of where one good decision and action on that decision, leads to another and another until the wheel builds its own momentum and turns almost on its own.  I believe that as my husband and I work on each of the different parts together we can eventually become the great company (and people) we want to be.  I think that is exactly what our Heavenly Father wants from us.  To be the greatest disciple and person we can be.  It doesn't matter what someone else is doing, we are not going to be compared to them.  What matters is what we personally do and how we treat those around us.  That is what will give us the ultimate goal of eternal life with our Father in Heaven and our families.

Keep going

This week the theme that I got the most from was to never give up.  It reminds me of the picture of a frog in the mouth of a bird.  The frog is holding the bird's neck so the bird cannot swallow it.  If we don't give up then we can still be successful.

As entrepreneurs it is hard work and sometimes you get knocked down.  Just as in life, sometimes we just have to put one foot in front of the other and keep going.  Not everything is going to be easy, not every time are we going to succeed.  But if we can get back up and keep going and try again we will ultimately succeed.  Lately, I have felt very overwhelmed, frustrated and sad.  I keep feeling like things just keep going wrong. Maybe the Lord is testing me to see how I will handle it.  I think I fail miserably at it (as I am crying in my bedroom), but then I remember that I have to keep going. I may slow momentarily, but I don't completely give up.  I try again and again and eventually the next day comes and things do get better.  I learn from it and I keep trying.

I worry about money and about losing everything, as I spoke about in my fears posting.  So we have taken very few risks in our rental property business.  We have been trying to start our business since probably 2002.  However, it took us until 2013, when we bought our new house to keep the old house and make it a rental property. In March of this year, we bought our second rental property.  We keep going forward, we are more like the tortoise than the hare.  Hopefully it will pay off, but at this point it is making it hard to achieve our ultimate goals because we are going so slow.  However, I know that as we keep going we will be blessed.  We will not have the risk of losing our properties because we have grown our business too fast and our finances could not support it.

My favorite quote of this week's assignments came from the Mormon Message video called, "Good Things To Come."  The video can be found here.  Elder Holland says, "Don’t give up...Don’t you quit. You keep walking. You keep trying. There is help and happiness ahead—a lot of it...You keep your chin up. It will be all right in the end. Trust God and believe in good things to come...Some blessings come soon, some come late, and some don’t come until heaven; but for those who embrace the gospel of Jesus Christ, they come."

I know that with the help of the Lord, I can be successful in my life and in business.  I know that as I put the Lord first in all that I do, he will direct my paths.  I need to be willing to keep going, keep walking, keep trying, and not give up.  As I follow Him, I will be successful.