Gweneth Paltrow....You Go Girl

This Morning I was listening to a bunch of radio commentators lament the fact that Gweneth Paltrow has opened a new art Studio to which folks can pay to become members. According to the radio chatter, it's entry fee is a cool $1000 bucks plus another $1000 per year in membership fees plus more money if you want to attend one of the art classes.

I wish I could recall, the actual name of the radio show, as that would be all good and proper to give credit...but alas, I wasn't really paying attention as to precisely which radio show I was listening to.

Anywho, the only reason I am talking about this idea at all, is because I wanted to respond to the flow of resentment that seemed to be gushing onto the airwaves from such an eye rolling (yawn) commentary.
There seemed to be the thought by the commentators that Gweneth Paltrow is "out of touch" with the common man, and the, attitude of "how dare Gweneth start up a collective that isn't aimed at the lower or middle classes of humanity." type to 'tude.  To which, I must start to sigh and do a little bit of eye rolling myself.

Why is it, whenever a wealthy person sets up something that is marketed only to the wealthy, that it seems to upset those who clearly wouldn't buy such a product or service in the first place? Must every product be priced according to what "every human" can afford? Can't the rich just enjoy their wealth once in a while? Must they always hide it and act like we are all the same?

Now don't get your socks in a knot just yet. Yes, I believe we are all equal in the eyes of God. However,we are all at different stages in terms of where we fall on a financial scale. That's neither good nor bad....it just IS. Therefore, our ability and freedom to spend is influenced by where we are located on that financial scale. And again...that, in my humble opinion, is neither good nor bad....it just IS.

So let me just vent for a second. If someone has the means and social celebrity to build an ART collective that caters to those with high discretionary incomes....why is that wrong? Don't we want the wealthy to spread their money around? Don't we celebrate when folks don't hoard their wealth but prefer to spend it well?

I am all about personal freedom of choice, when it comes to wealth and it's expenditure. If someone can afford to spend millions of dollars on a private jet and hire personal assistants across the globe, well that's cool with me. When the wealthy spend their money it's better for all of us. Money is intended to circulate, to be spent, invested, lent and poured forth upon the earth....and if you're in Richard Branson's club,....you might even be spending/sending your good cash into space.. I get a good chuckle out of how a lot of folks spend their money. I don't resent it in the least when someone spends their fortune on some product or club to which I don't belong.

Yes, freedom of speech still rocks and folks are taking full advantage of it now-a-days on the radio and inter net, but there is also a time to just let things go and let freedom reign. When you decide to overspend on
eye cream and gold plated lint rollers.... I promise not to roll my eyes. ;)

In Peacful productivity,
Carla




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Fave Sharpies and a Pencil..

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This is my latest experiment with my fave Sharpies and a regular pencil on paper.Thirty minutes later Voila.....I call him Pierre.

When you get a hankering to doodle...what are your tools of choice?

Peaceful Productivity,

Carla

Kinda Disappointing.... Mr. Ferriss

 The writings, books and podcasts, and blogs of Tim Ferris have been nothing short of an adventurous inspiration for me for many years. How many of us, after having read "The Four Hour Work Week" thought to ourselves.....well if Tim Ferris can figure out how to do it....then why not me?

But this week, I was saddened to receive an email from Tim's people alerting me to a new podcast that Tim had published on his blog.....It featured a guest speaker who advocated the use of psychedelic drugs....for non-medicinal purposes.

Why must one of the most adventurous Thinkers on the planet delve into the dark side of foolish humanity?
There's more than enough drug abuse occurring all over the world..... We really don't need people to start considering taking drugs for even more uses and abuses. Really Tim what are you thinking?
Your teachings are read and "followed" by so many humans across the world....do you really want to be leading your vulnerable readers/students down that slippery slope?

Tim, I hope you realize that when you hold a position in the world as a "leader", you carry a greater responsibility for what you suggest to folks. Tim Ferriss' status brings about an undeniable influence that many thousands of people will blindly follow his suggestions, whether they have clearly thought through the pros and cons of it all or not.

It is a fortunate or unfortunate result of fame (depending on how you look at it) that folks will follow the ideas and suggestions of anyone who has achieved a certain level of celebrity and/or financial success. Therefore it is essential for those who find themselves in such a powerful position in the world to tread more carefully in terms of what they advocate as an acceptable pursuit or lifestyle.

Fortunately I don't require all those whose "stuff" I read to abide by my own set of expectations. Whenever I search for mentors or inspiring writers/thinkers I meander about...... I pick and choose the nuggets that I can really chew on and then literally spit out the rest. I can't use what I don't believe in. So actually, yes, I will continue to read Tim's blog and/or podcast but it is not without my cautionary flag waving.


Peacefully productive
Carla

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So You Wanna Prevent A Stock Market Crash?

Just a quick thought. This week as I was pondering the philosophy of the stock market and how modern man interacts with it, it came to my attention that many.....too many humans act like the stock market is operating beyond their scope of influence. Most humans wrongly assume that the stock market is controlled by some outword entity....some wall street big wigs.
But what I have noticed is that THE most powerful influence on the stock market is actually YOU and I....ordinary small time investors who either decide to stick with it or jump ship and sell when the going gets tough. The "crashes" that so many investors fear and loathe are created by US.....not some mysterious entity.
Stock market crashes occur when the majority of folks give in to fear and try to all sell their shares at the same time, thus driving the stock prices down to next to nothing.

So, in a quick summary, what can you and I do to prevent another stock market crash? Don't panic!!!
Stay in the market for the long haul. Don't be reactionary and pull your money out when you see some doom and gloom on the news channels. Stewart your money with intelligence and  prayer and accurate and up to date information.....just don't be hasty to abandon ship during rolling waves. Prices will always go up and down.

And yes, finally, yes oil prices will come back up in North America....it won't be overnight...but it will come to pass. Just wait and see.

Peacefully productive,
Carla

Is your DEBT Compounding FASTER than your INVESTMENTS?

I'm sure most of you already know what "compounding" interest means right?

Basically, just in case you need a bit of a reminder, it's the way in which, if a chunk of money that earns a certain percentage of interest is left alone for several years to compound.....it will gain great value over a lengthy period of time. Every year the interest is not only earned on the original principal amount but also on the interest paid out for the previous year(s). So let's say you invest $500 at 5% interest and leave it alone for 5 years, you won't just have $25 in interest earned at the end of the five year term. You will have much more than than because each year you will have earned "interest on your interest".

So the miracle of compounding is pretty awesome in the world of investing, especially if you have the fiscal discipline to leave your investment money alone before trying to withdraw any of it to spend.
Those who love the stock market and utilize dividend re-investment plans also use a similar concept of compounding in order to build up the value of their portfolios by simply "not touching" the dividends that their equities produce and allowing the plan to use the cash dividends to purchase even more stocks.

The scary part of compounding is that it can also seriously apply to instruments of DEBT. Therefore, if you have a debt owing of $500 dollars and you are paying 12% in interest yearly to the creditor....and you allow that debt to remain unpaid for five years, then after the FIVE years of compounding you won't just owe the company the original $500 plus a simple 12% interest payment....but you'll ALSO owe the creditor
"interest on the interest". That's why and how consumer debt gets way out of control so quickly. Many folks forget that DEBT also compounds when it is not quickly paid off in full. A small debt of only a couple thousand dollars can quickly balloon into hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt obligations if the debt is never paid off in full.

Remember that interest rates REALLY MATTER. One credit card might charge you 12% yearly in interest. Another credit card might charge you 28% in yearly interest. That is a HUGE difference and it will make a HUGE difference in the amount of money you are paying in interest to your creditor.

Today I just wanted to mention that when you are trying to get a healthy perspective on your financial situation you may want to dumb it down to this simple question..."
"Is my debt increasing FASTER than my investments?"
Is my debt costing me a higher interest rate than my the rate at which my investments are growing? It is a simple but very powerful tool to use to get us all to think about our finances in new and empowering ways.


For example, a simple equity portfolio might earn an average of 5% compounded annually. But what is your consumer debt costing you to carry it? 28% on a credit card is not uncommon for many department store credit cards. Therefore, if your investments are only GROWING at 5% and the consumer debt that you are carrying is ballooning in size at 28%.....something is not good. Ideally, we all want our investments to grow FASTER than our consumer debt. Then we will all stay ahead of the game and have something to retire on in the long run.

Think about it.

Peaceful productivity,
Carla

DISCLAIMER: Note the above blog post is not intended as professional financial advice and the owner/publisher of this blog does not accept any liability for the ideas discussed in this post. Professional financial advice should be obtained from a licensed professional.

Canadian and American Finance Authors

I don't know about you...but I latched onto that catch phrase "Readers are Leaders" and so it has become a habit to inhale books just as often as I can.

Therefore, in case your reading list, particularly in the realm of finance and investing, has become a little stale, permit me to share with you some of the finance authors that I have dabbled with in reading their books or speeches over the past decade. If any of them have also piqued your curiosity and provided meaty motivation, please go for it and share your feisty opinions in the comments section.
 Peacefully productive,

Carla.

Derek Foster "Aka, the Lazy Investor" has published several investing books written for the common folk. 
    to see his titles, go to his website www.stopworking.ca

The Millionaire Mind by Thomas J. Stanley

The Millionaire Next Door by Thomas J. Stanley and William D. Danko

The Richest Man in Babylon by George S. Clason

The Wealthy Barber by David Chilton

Robert Kiyosaki ----a large number of books....too many to list...check out his websites by googling him....or start with his breakout book  entitled "Rich Dad Poor Dad".

Donald Trump and Robert Kiyosaki wrote a book together called 
"Why We Want You to be Rich: Two Men One Message"

Napoleon Hill's "Think and Grow Rich"

Tony Robbins new book "Money, Master the Game"

Tim Ferriss---lifestyle hacker/author of the breakout book "The Four Hour Work Week"

Gail Vaz Oxlade--personal/family finance coach from TV seminars (Canada centric eh)
all major book sellers will carry her books.

David Bach--check out his website --www.Finishrich.com

Small Gains are Better than NO Gains

I recall listening to yet another of Tony Robbin's videos online and I appreciated what he was talking about in terms of "gradual gains".

Sometimes when/if one gets caught up in the "self help" motivation world, that folks just start making WILD long range goals that are really really large. Now, I'm not against making LARGE goals....however, I believe in taking SMALL steps towards LARGE goal.

For instance.....if someone is trying to lose a HUGE amount of weight, it may actually be broken down into measureable gains of losing just one wee pound at a time. We humans usually don't lose huge chunks of weight at a time, unless we are having some kind of surgical procedure. There we have to learn how to celebrate small steps accomplished. Lost one Pound? Celebrate that small step. No matter how many long term pounds you want to lose....it's important to focus on losing just one small pound at a time.

Same thing goes for financial gains. 99.9% of folks who make it rich, don't gain their wealth overnight in one huge big win. The financial gains come in smaller more bite size bits and spurts. Maybe you are trying to get out from under hundreds of thousands of dollars of consumer debt. But maybe the answer is not in the BIG chunks of debt, but rather in many small hundred dollar gains. Slowly but surely paying off debt, is not as sexy as paying it off in one showy extravaganza, but it may be more realistic for most of us.

So, in a nutshell, just permit yourself the small wins FIRST before demanding to win the BIG fish.
Before you figure out how to save many thousands of dollars, ya might need to celebrate the saving of just one dollar at a time.

Peaceful productivity.
Carla


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When You Make a Change....Give yourself Time to Acclimate

I hope you're havin' a good day. If you're one of the folks who stumbled upon my blog looking for some empowerment and motivation ....then I just might have a wee thought for ya today.

Perhaps you've been reading lots of blogs and books and have started putting some plans of action into place to make a change in your life. It takes a lot of gumption to wake up one day and decide that you don't like where your life is heading and have the courage to steer that boat into a new direction.

So maybe it has been a few months and you now know that it's not easy, but you know that it was the right choice to set your hands to a new plan of action. You've crafted your written list of life goals and now you've actually started to take action on at least one of those written goals.

But now, like many of us mere mortals, you're starting to feel uneasy. You hope that  you are making progress and feel like you're on the right track, but it all feels just soooooo new and strange. The newness and strangeness of it all, is enough to make you run back to your old comforting haunts and back to the ruts you once lived in. I want to encourage you to not give up now. The discomfort you might be feeling is simply your heart and body's way of telling you that it needs time to ACCLIMATE to the new and better direction of your life.

When any human being make s new life choice and starts heading into a more positive direction, it can literally takes years of feeling out of sorts before you start to feel comfortably like yourself again. New things ALWAYS bring a sense of strangeness and discomfort. We aren't used to the new pathways yet and our inner "curmudgeon" might just be griping about all the extreme changes.

But I just want to encourage you today.....just because you're feeling out of sorts doesn't mean that you have made a wrong choice. Take some time to get accustomed to your new way of setting and accomplishing your written goals. It is a very different lifestyle compared to just living from the hip.

Give your mind, will and emotions the rest that they require in order to start to begin to feel at home with your new goal centered life. It may not feel like the real "you" just yet. Give yourself time to get used to the massive changes you have undertaken. Don't doubt yourself and PLEASE don't give up.

If you are writing down goals and taking steps to accomplish them, you are on the right path. May God bless you with wisdom as you adapt to this new lifestyle filled with promise and adventure.

Peaceful productivity,
Carla


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What is Frightening about Prayer

I've come to a conclusion today....that what is actually frightening about prayer is not that it is hard or unfruitful or arduous, but rather quite the opposite.
Lately my experience with prayer has been that not only is it easy, but it is soooo fruitful, so very fast and excessively kind, loving and generous that the simple abundance and kindness of God is just so hard to wrap my brain around.

I love God. But sometimes it is just hard to comprehend how very generous and patient and kind He really is. When I spend time in prayer, however briefly or lengthy period of time I spend, it has begun to astonish me how quickly God answers my prayers. His door is sooo open. He is so very welcoming and listens so attentively.

I write these things, not to cause confusion or to invalidate any other kind of experience that you may be having or have had in the past regarding prayer to God. I have had, and probably might have in the future seasons of time when God seems oddly quiet....as if He is waiting me out to get me to do some of my own thinking and make some of my own decisions. God doesn't babysit us forever. There are times He lets us stand alone, for our own good and for the health of our relationship with Him. Mature folks learn how to stand, and kneel and sit and run and play and work and think and write and gallop......shall I go on? ")

There is room for all of your experiences, past and present, with God. He can handle all your fears, frustrations and confusion. He can heal your mind. He can heal your body. He does well for you.

Let it be that this day, you see the hand of your God at work in life today.

Peaceful productivity,
Carla





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Authors and Thinkers ....Authors and Thinkers

Yes, we are one and the same. You really can't be an author if you are not a thinker.....and if you are a thinker....then I highly encourage you to become an author.

I have seen around me that there are many many thinkers, but there is a lack of confidence in the common folk, in the leap perceived in jumping from "just thinking and speaking" to thinking and putting onto black and white the written words that you are thinking about.

Perhaps, of course, there is the fear that somehow or in some way one might make a mistake and have written something that is inaccurate at best or even false....at worst.But don't let the fear of making of making a mistake hinder your progress in sharing something of value with the world. We just might need what you have to say. Your thoughts may bring breakthrough to someone half way around the world.

But I want to encourage you, my friends and colleagues around this mighty globe....that you not consider your life as smaller than it needs to be. It came to my attention some years ago, that someone somewhere across the world might actually need my thoughts and inspiration to make their own dreams come true. I  came to see myself as someone that could potentially inspire and motivate others. I sensed that who God had created me to be was not necessarily for the gains of those who know me locally, but perhaps and maybe even more importantly, for those who might never meet me in person, but who will someday and in some format read my words or hear my speeches or songs remotely via recordings on line or otherwise.

It was from either of two documentary films either "Blue Gold" or "Flow" that a mild mannered gentleman from Asia declared softly and quite prophetically that this age is the season "For the common man". This
confirmed what I had begun to sense in my own heart.....that the access granted to us via the internet was and could be maximized as a POWERFUL SUCCESS vehicle where access to capital or people of influence was not necessarily required to gain entry or momentum.

Wisdom always does spread to wherever it is welcomed. Empowerment flows to where it is treasured. Encouragement trickles to starving hearts....no matter where they reside or what their yearly income is....or what their nation's GDP happens to be. May God bless the internet, and keep it open and free.

And so, to sum up my blurts from this early morning chat, I just want to encourage you to take a small step of faith, if indeed you are a thinker, but have not yet made the leap over to calling yourself an author. If you  know that you have good things to share with humanity, then please hear me, my brother, my sister......
YOU MUST WRITE.

Peaceful productivity.
Carla


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He Said "Savers are Losers" ???

Yes, it was one of the days....I was reading one of my fave authors who also happens to really tick me off on a regular basis....But as I said in a previous blog post, I usually figure out I've found a great author when they peeve me.

So, let me keep it short and sweet. Robert Kiyosaki said in his book "Unfair Advantage"
that "Savers are losers"....and of course that irked me somewhat. So why would he say that?
Why would a habit that has been forged and tried and true for centuries now suddenly NOT make financial sense any more? Well, Robert's explanation of this state of affairs includes his summary of how money is not really money anymore.....it's actually just debt.  The U.S. dollar was taken off the gold standard in the 70's and ever since then, the governments have used a dozen different ways to excuse the practice of simply printing money out of thin air. All this money does not represent real wealth....rather it represents more debt.

Therefore, Robert made the bold statement that it doesn't actually make any financial sense to "save" money like how we used to stuff our mattresses with it.....because money is no longer real money anymore.

Then, lo and behold I came across an article in the Globe and Mail for Feb 21, 2015 written by John Heinzl  entitled "Who would buy a bond with a negative yield?" in which he explains that literally Robert was SOOOOOOOO right ! Right now there are government bonds being sold in the Eurozone countries of
Germany, Denmark, The Netherlands, Austria, Switzerland and Sweden with up to five year terms, that actually have a NEGATIVE YIELD!. Therefore, one who attempts to save their money with one of their government bonds would actually LOSE money and owe money to the institution that issued the bond!
Sounds outrageous doesn't it? Boy, Robert really saw that one coming! Apparently, John Heinzle writes, fears of deflation along with stagnant economic growth has forced the creation of these negative yeild bonds.
What is perhaps entirely more shocking is that people are still buying them!!!

Thank you Robert.....my irked response to your books, is well worth it....you've proved your point.

Carla

Paid to be Me

Not a pipe dream anymore. Folks like Tim Ferriss and Seth Godin have proven that not only can you survive and get by just by doing what you wanna do....but you can actually build an economic empire using the same strategy.
And now it will come to pass that women too will start squeaking out a beautiful stream of coin by following their own hearts. Yes, it might take just a wee bit more chutzpah than the average gal possesses, but it is become more within the realm of possibility than ever before.

Just don't count yourself out. Don't let any belief system force you to limit your choices.  Keep your options open and know that the earth is yours because God gave it to you. You are inheriting the earth because you are teachable enough to learn how the ropes work and use them with all your might.

So, yes, it is a good day today...because today I know that the day has come....I am being
"paid to be me".


Peaceful productivity.
Carla

May This Day

May this day bring you space...for not only your feet to rest, but for your spirit to rest too.
May this day bring you a name ....a name of a human that will inspire and encourage your journey....the journey that you have selected with God's help. May that person whom God leads you to, possess some of the knowledge and information you need in your current situation. May he/she be willing to share that precious data with you in a format you can digest.

Don't be afraid to pray. Some folks have the idea that if they get God involved in their decision making process, that God is going to to mess up their lives, and force them to live in an impoverished place without the modern amenities of life. But where did we get that from? I don't believe that God wants to interrupt our decision making processes. He wants us to fellowship with Him and get His inspiration and then grow up and make the decisions ourselves.

Yes, there are times it seems that we float on God's choices, He seems to know that there are times when we really aren't capable of doing what we need to do for ourselves....so His Spirit carries us through those times. But then there are the times when God is asking us to mature and to grow up. He didn't create us as robots. He respects our free will and expects us to use it.

Yes, it certainly is scarier to make our own decisions, because then the buck actually stops with us. We make our own choices and somehow can't blame God or any other human for the choices we have made. That is what maturity is all about. Being willing to let the buck stop with us. Being willing to be accountable for our own choices.

And yes, God is still there, not carrying us like a little infant, but walking beside us like two adults talking quietly as they walk together on a path through the park. God respects you. See Him as He takes time to be with you and you with Him. See Him listening eagerly to your thoughts and ideas. See Him taking His time to respond and think about what you have said to Him. He believes in you and all that you are and all that you have in your mind to do and to be. Listen to Him and He will listen to you.

Peace.
Carla


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No Entry Fee Contests

There are a couple of websites which offer contests for within Canada and many or most of them are completely free to enter. Note that many of these kind of contests require an active email account and ask for lots of personal information such as your telly number and your mailing address. Be aware that none of these websites take responsibility for any kind of identity theft that could occur by the sharing of your personal information. Therefore participating is always 100% at your own risk. Always read the rules and regulations....the fine print really does matter ")

Contest Canada

Gold Fish Legs Contest Forum

99 Percent of Motivational Speakers are Male??

Nope, I didn't do a scientific study....so I hope I am wrong and just feeling a tad bit peckish today.

But in my search for great female mentors, leaders, speakers, thinkers, I keep feeling like somehow I am lost in a land of testosterone. Where are all the leading ladies???
Just Oprah and Barbara Corcoran are not enough.

Ladies where are your voices? Have you nothing to teach me? Nothing to help a sister out with?
No desire to share your success strategies with other women?

Men seem to get a kick out of leading and teaching other men, offering their time and expertise for free or as a business venture in order to mentor other men. Men don't seem to mind mentoring women, but that just isn't the same thing.

Women process things differently. Women set goals but we do so in a different way....not even sure how to put it into words, but we just do things differently. We are equal....but very different.

Yes, there are some notable folks...folks like Barbara Corcoran and Oprah Winfrey who have pioneered paths to success and written books and gone on TV to help inspire us. But call me greedy, I want more
choice. I want to be able to go to a library or bookstore shelf and be able to find a thousand books written by unique and quirky female leading thinkers/teachers. Women with vision, women with power, women with skill and street smarts. Women who made it when no one was around to encourage them or fund their ventures.

How about you? Do you have the mentors you need? Or still searching?

Dollar for Dollar...One of THE BEST Natural Snacks On-the-Go!

Busy? Aren't we all. Taking that prime time out of your day to shop for and prepare a nutritious snack is just NOT one of my priorities when I have a lot of other stuff on my agenda.

So, I've made it a purpose of mine to CALL ATTENTION to any modestly price snack that requires NO preparation and is still considered "healthy". Enter, Freelee the Banana girl. Yes, she's a vegan, and NO I am not going to preach veganism today, I merely want add my applause to the snacking idea that she introduced me to, through her videos/website.

The snack in mention, is the humble dried pitted DATE. Tis true that I didn't grow up eating such creatures....it is a little bit out of my comfort zone, as dates seemed like something a granny would bake with to make "figgy pudding" as the christmas carol chimes....
But once, I got over my squeamishness about trying something that was unfamiliar to me, I was very pleasantly surprised. Apparently I am not the only one who is now a fan of dried dates, as they are now in the produce or dried fruit section of every grocery store I enter. 

If you are going to try dried dates as a snack, note that there is a HUGE difference in quality depending on the brand, type and packaging of dried dates. The "Lambourghini" of dried dates are labelled
"Medjool Dates" and come with a heftier price tag to boot....up to even $10 for a modest size plastic tub....or if you are lucky you might find a smaller tub on sale for $5.99.

But if you shop around and try some of the lesser known brands, such as AMIRA, you may find some less expensive ones that still rank high in quality. The ones that appear with more white-ish flaky bits appear more well suited for baking etc....not for snacking. The higher the quality of the dried date, the more "whole" the dried date will appear and it will have retained a rich dark brown color.
Note that some dates are PITTED and some are NOT! So in order to prevent any of you from biting on a very hard dry pit by accident, be sure to read the LABEL!

As for me, this week I didn't want to splurge on authentic "Medjool" dried dates, so I gave the brand AMIRA dried pitted dates in a 800 gram zip pack a try. The price was  a great value at only $3.99.
So far, so good, I am pleased with the taste, texture and quality.

If you are interested in a snack that is a bit more heartier, then you might want to check out
Freelee the Banana Girl's Site in which she shows us how to make banana date smoothies as a small meal replacement. Add a bit of cinnamon for extra kick to your blended banana date smoothie.

The last thing I want to say about the humble dried date is that it packs a pretty powerful caloric punch....so if you have short break times at work or on the go, and need to cram in the calories in a short amount of time, dried dates will be heaven sent. However, if you need to cut back on your calorie intake, or if you are tempted to overindulge, then dried dates might not be ideal....unless you are disciplined at only packing up a modest number of dried dates to be consumed at your snack time. At only 40 grams, there is a good
 130 calorie boost. That may be great news for some and not so great for others, depending on your snacking requirements.

The beauty of dried dates, is that you are simply munching on a  natural dried fruit.....not on over processed commercial food. Some of the packagers add a bit of vegetable oil to the dates, but over all, I find them to be presented and sold to the public in their natural state. Dried dates have a naturally rich and chewy taste and texture. They are also a good source of ruffage and may help to stimulate a sluggish digestive system.
Bon Appetito!

Church....and the Rich or Poor

Just thinking out loud once again.... are the modern churches in your city/town created for everyone? Or do churches cater to only the rich or upper middle class in your neighborhood?

In my decades of attending Christian churches in Canada I've noticed a bit of a dichotomy between how the rich interact with their "home" churches and the poor/middle class.

The difference becomes most noticeable in the summer time, when many consider it their family's opportunity to get caught up on some much needed "R and R"   (rest and relaxation).

However, the shocking thing I noticed is that when a wealthy family was absent from church attendance for a month or so, the leadership or other members in the church weren't concerned because the wealthy family was "at their cottage/summer home" or away at some other vacation. There was no gossip as to where the family was in relationship to God or their church. However, the upsetting thing I noticed was that when a family with less than ideal financial resources was absent from church attendance for more than one week or two, it was surmised that there was some kind of spiritual problem or lack of Christian commitment.
Sad eh?

Well, one of my life purposes is to have the courage to say the things that others don't have the nerve to say. So, if this blog post rings true to your experience in the modern christian church, then have the courage to pass it along to others in your congregations. When we modern Believers, come to admit our weaknesses and double standards, the churches will become a more welcome and equal playing field for the rich and poor and everyone in between.

We are ALL created in the image and likeness of God .He is our Father. Therefore, we should ALL feel welcome in church services, whether we attend once a week, five times a week, or once a  month, or in fits and starts depending on our work/business schedule.

Gone are the days when most folks work Mon-Friday 9-5 anyway. If pastors and church leaders are going to have a merciful and gracious attitude to the modern working family, they are going to have to rethink how they "judge" attendance at all and any church events. Church functions, including prayer meetings and services, should accommodate the modern worker, not ALIENATE hard working folks whose schedules don't necessarily jive with the typical church meeting times.

It can also be said that church leaders should also stretch their minds to grasp the huge difference in scheduling that faces self employed individuals versus employees. Business owners have very different time constraints than those who must clock in according to their employer's expectations. Churches must be able to cater to both sectors of our new modern society.

I believe that GOD is very flexible in how, when and where HE meets with US.

Therefore why aren't WE more FLEXIBLE too??????

Passionate for Christ, Peace and Equality.

Choosing a MUST READ Author

Have you ever noticed that sometimes it's the authors that really tick you off, that you learn the most from?

I get that feeling every time I spent a good chunk of time reading Robert Kiyosaki's books. He has a lot to say about the state of the economy in North America, and what can fix or flaunt it's folly. He's not the most gentle teacher, but he really doesn't hold back in showing one what he has learned after
building several businesses, some successfully and some not so successfully. He's also taken a company public which gives him yet another perspective on investing. He gives you his uncut opinion on holding paper assets vs. real estate.

Robert's biggest kick is out of encouraging folks to get into business. However, I don't think he realized when he originally published "Rich Dad Poor Dad", that so many folks would take his advice quite literally and go and open businesses that they were completely unprepared to build and maintain. So many public speakers don't realize how much influence they ultimately hold over their audiences.....who might just actually DO precisely what they suggest.

Robert is a tried and true competitive business man. He shows, through a variety of educational books, and finance based board games, how we need to educate ourselves continuously to stay ahead of the game .

Do you have an author that has the same effect on you? Kinda totally gets under your skin and then afterward, when all is said and done, you realize he/she taught you more in a very short time frame than a hundred of the "other" authors who pretty things up and keep their books/speeches so nicey nice.

When push comes to shove, I 'd rather read an author who is NOT politically correct and tells his/her unedited truth than some writer who may be better educated, uber-polite and willing to flatter our egos just to sell more books. Who is an author, financial or otherwise, who really got your goat lately? What was the most powerful thing you learned?

Productively peaceful.
Carla





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How to Write a Covered Call

So you've decided to expand into trading options, instead of just buying or selling stocks.
One of the simplest ways to start out in the options market is through
selling covered calls. So permit me to summarize in really simple language, what the process entails to start
writing covered calls.

When you are "writing" covered calls you are actually "selling to open" a covered call.

A covered call is different than a plain ole "call option" because you actually literally own at least 100 shares of the stock that you are writing the call on.

So the first step to being able to write a covered call is by purchasing at least one hundred shares of a stock that has "options trading" available on it.

Covered calls can only be written on chunks of 100 shares at a time. One hundred shares is considered
"one contract" which you are going to write the covered call option on. There is a fee that your brokerage will charge you based on how many contracts you are going to involve in your covered call option. If you own 500 shares you could potentially write 5 contracts for covered calls.

Next you need to choose a "strike price" at which you are going to sell to open your covered call at.
The "strike price" is the price at which you give your covered call option buyer the right, but not the obligation, to buy your shares at. I suggest you pick a "strike price" that is just a little bit higher than the price that you originally paid for the shares. That is called a "near the money" covered call.
You can ask a higher premium for a covered call that is "near the money" than one that is way priced out of orbit.

You need to also choose an "expiry date" at which the call option will expire. Usually the farther into the future that the expiry date exists, the higher the premium you can ask. Once the expiry date has passed, the buyer of your call option no longer has the right to buy your shares anymore.

You are going to have to decide what price of premium you are going to ask buyers to pay for your covered call option. This premium will be estimated upon the most recent "bid and ask" prices posted for covered call options. An example of a covered call option premium might be $1.25 per contract. To discover what your earnings will be from "selling to open" a covered call sold at $1.25 for one contract, you would simply multiply the premium $1.25 by 100 and that will give you the sum of $125.00 which is the total premium that will be paid to you. Be sure to calculate and inquire of your brokerage as to what commissions and/or fees you will incur from selling to open covered calls. There will most likely be higher fees if the buyer chooses to exercise their right to buy your shares at the agreed upon strike price.

Newbie and beginner investors usually face much higher commission fees than investors with larger portfolios. The sad truth is that large portfolios usually have their commission fees waived because of the largess of their account balance. Therefore, if you are going to do an options play, and you are a small time investor, you will want to keep accurate track of all commissions/fees because they will definitely bite a significant chunk out of any profits you earn from writing covered call options.

The "premium" is the price that you are asking buyers to pay you for the privilege of  owning your covered call option. If you are not sure if you are willing to part with your shares, then you are not ready to be selling covered call options. Last I heard, there is about a 25% chance that most covered call options are actually "exercised" or "assigned". When a covered call option is "exercised" or "assigned" it means that the buyer of your covered call option is exercising their right to buy your shares at your agreed upon "per share" price.
Those who sell covered call options are prepared for the possibility that they may be forced to sell their shares. Therefore, selling covered call options are only a good idea for those who are not personally or emotionally attached to permanently owning their shares.

Well, that's about all.... those are the basics, written in my own casual language. The rest of the process is just about waiting to see if a buyer is willing to buy your covered call option, and then waiting for the deal to          "settle". Be blessed and prosperous.

C.


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Let's Discuss Processing Equities

So you wanna be an equity investor...you want to buy/sell stocks.

What are the ideas that you use to screen out the losers and pluck the winners?
Or do you just utilize strategies such as options trading to make money on the
ups and the downs of both the winners and losers?

Well, let's just keep it simple for today. Let's assume we want to pick winners, stocks that aren't going to
lose your hard earned money and have more than a safe bet on earning you some ca-ching.

P/E---Price to Earnings Ratio .Warren Buffet is said to prefer under valued common stocks with a price to earnings ratio under 20. I suppose it depends on how you play.

Market Cap: Is it harder to topple the biggest companies? Does it make sense to screen out the firms that are less than 1 billion in market cap? Or do you prefer to bet on smaller companies that can dodge and weave a little faster than the big wigs? Perhaps it can be compared to whom you prefer to do your banking with. Do you prefer the 5 biggest national banks? Or do you prefer a smaller local credit union, that has an affiliation with your neighborhood? Betting on the bigger players has an appearance of greater safety, but is by no means a guarantee of a fail proof investment terrain....

Does the Stock have Options available. Simply, does the stock have a derivatives market within it? Can you buy/sell puts/calls based on the ups and downs of the stock price? For some, using options is a key component of their income producing strategy. For some investors, they refuse to buy/sell stocks that don't carry an options market with it. They use options as insurance against falling stock prices, as well as  cash flow management strategy.

Dividend. Canadian investment author/inspirational speaker Derek Foster has made more than a pretty penny by advocating a modest investment strategy that focuses on the buy and hold strategy of
owning solely dividend yielding high quality stocks. His advice combined with a very frugal lifestyle permits those who are disciplined investors, to potentially live off their dividend stream once their portfolio has reached a certain saturation point. Huge stock market players such as Warren Buffet doesn't pay out a dividend on his Birkshire Hathaway shares, preferring to use the profits to reinvest back into the development/growth of the company. Even though he doesn't pay dividends...Warren's Birkshire Hathaway stocks never fail to find investors willing to part with their moolah, because he has a proven track record of increasing the innate value of the shares when held over the long term. By the way, if you want to boost your financial education with some good old fashioned stock market basics, just get all of Warren Buffet's books available at any public library or community college. There are more than a few investors who cut their teeth just by following Warren's strategies.

Which Stock Exchange are you going to invest in? Within Canada, the US or overseas?
Conservative investors may tend to prefer to invest within their own country, unless of course they don't trust their own national business climate. Countries with a less than stable political environment may provide a higher than normal level of risk, but also higher potential returns.

Which criteria you use to select your investments will have a huge impact on your returns.
I like to always bet on the D word....that is discipline. Nothing works without it....not even a winning stock.
Respect your assets, and the time it takes to acquire them. Losing them can be done in a millisecond.
Take the common warning..."buyer beware" multiply that by one million and that's how cautious you need to be in investing. Well, on that note...have a brilliant and peacefully productive day.

Carla



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Tony Robbins and John Reese

Just watched a quick video of a conversation between Tony Robbins and John Reese.
I think the concept that sticks out from that discussion is that they admitted that folks
HAVE TO START SMALL!

That was kinda refreshing, especially when you are listening to folks who play with millions/billions.
John Reese was talking about the day in 2004 that he earned 1million dollars in one day (18 hours to be exact).
Then Tony and John discuss how they mentally framed themselves and prepared themselves psychologically to be able to operate in those kind of numbers. They both advocate having specific goals. Yes, I agree, but I would add that they HAVE to be WRITTEN goals. If you are not willing to write down your goals, who are you kidding? Do you really expect someone else to take your plans seriously if you yourself don't even take them seriously enough to jot them down in black and white?

Ok, so we agree we have to have SPECIFIC goals.

Then they both talked about the concept that I thought was really worth repeating to ya'll....and that was this idea that progress has to start SMALL. They both wholeheartedly agreed that if you some day want to be able to make 1 million dollars in one day, that you absolutely HAVE to be able to make one dollar per day FIRST! Then Tony chimed in with his famous quote "Progress is Happiness".  Gosh it must be hard for him to be right so often.

So yes, Tony, you're right on that count too. But I really like those two words you and John threw around called "Incremental Progress". First we figure out how to make a dollar a day. Then we master that. Then we make a higher goal, maybe 5 dollars per day...or more according to what you believe and can visualize.

So, I can really appreciate that there is a modesty and practicality in their motivational speeches. Thanks John and Tony. Keep it up.   Video Clip here

Paid to be ME.
Carla

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Let's Discuss Tony Robbins New Book "Money- Master the Game"

Ok, I'm still chugging through the book, both in paper form and via the audio version of it.

At this point, I am not quite as thrilled with it as I first was, simply because I feel like I am being sold mutual funds and financial advisors. Is this book an ad for STronghold financial, High Tower, and Vanguard Index Funds???

I hope I am simply jumping to conclusions and maybe I've missed some of the better chapters, but please Tony don't tell me you're just going to sell me this stuff. I want to learn facts, accurate information, and strategies.

That's kinda why I still appreciate Robert Kiyosaki's books, because although his tone is somewhat snide and aggressive at times, at least you feel like you are getting an honest analogy of the modern economy and investment horizon. I'd rather be told the truth from a "mean man" than be coddled into compromise by someone who is nicey nice.

Anyway, as I said before, I hope I am wrong and I've simply not read the best parts of Tony's book yet.
Have you read or listened to any of it yet? What were your impressions?

Peaceful productivity.
Carla


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Let's Chat About Mutual Funds

In Robert Kiyosaki's book entitled "Unfair Advantage--The Power of Financial Education", the author and some of his advisors discuss the pros and cons of buying/selling mutual funds versus other paper assets.

To be frank, Robert is pretty brutal in his analysis of the weaknesses inherent in owning mutual funds.

The common local Canadian-ish thinking in favor of mutual funds is, in essence somewhat patronizing because many folks invest in mutual funds simply because they don't trust themselves to pick their own stocks, bonds or other paper assets.
The idea behind giving your hard earned money into a mutual fund manager's control is because the investor "hopes"  that the fund manager understands the stock market better than the average Jane/Joe ........thus minimizing risk and hopefully steering your money into a nice blend of "safety and growth."

One alarming paragraph that I am going to quote directly from his book "Unfair Advantage--The Power of Financial Education" is from page 134, third paragraph from the bottom of the page:
"Today, there are more mutual-fund companies than there are publicly traded companies. This is how insane diversification has become."

That sentence above speaks volumes as to the state of affairs in the mutual fund industry. Perhaps it is EASIER to set up a mutual fund company than to set up an actual "profitable" publicly traded business. Or is it that mutual funds are just so much easier to SELL to the fearful and "ignorant" public than REAL products and services???

And yes, Robert, I do get the point. I do appreciate Robert's honesty. There is perhaps more potential in gains for those who control the mutual fund companies, than for those who actually invest in the mutual fund companies by purchasing mutual funds units. The fund managers are paid well through fees collected internally from within the fund and these fees are known as the "Management Expense Ratio" or "MER" for short. So even if the mutual fund, as a whole, loses money, the managers may still walk away with millions of dollars gleaned in fees.

Another frightening aspect which Robert's advisor Tom Wheelwright mentions in the same book at the top of page 130 , is that mutual funds are taxed twice. I am hoping this refers just to American investors, but I will have to do some more research as it applies to us Canadians. Robert says that mutual fund investors are taxed when they sell their mutual fund unit due to capital gains tax, BUT he also said that mutual fund investors are ALSO taxed whenever the fund managers generate capital gains within the fund even if it doesn't reflect in a price increase in the value of your mutual fund units. So, theoretically, Robert exclaims, it's possible to pay capital gains tax based on what your mutual fund manager decides to sell from within the fund, even if your actual mutual fund units have LOST value after the date you purchased them. I might also add, that we would also be taxed for any distributions that the mutual fund pays out to the owners.....so that would potentially be a third form of taxation. I wonder if there are any safeguards in that taxation dilemma?And again, just how does this apply to Canadian mutual funds??? 

It seems to me that fear and a lack of confidence play a big part in the investments many folks decide to ultimately choose. Robert is certainly right on this one point....namely that"ignorance is NOT bliss" when it comes to financial knowledge, and that the time and effort it takes to educate ourselves financially is time WELL SPENT.

If you are a financial guru, accountant, financial planner, or just like to pretend you're a financial/investment expert, I welcome your comments to my blog. Let's have a lively discussion on the good, bad and the ugly/pretty side of mutual funds....and Yes, you mutual fund managers are permitted to have your say too ")

Peaceful productivity.

Carla


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ARE You Ready for An Increase?

So  many folks whine and complain and moan and groan that they have been waiting so long for their proverbial "ship" to come in. They have visions of vacations in hot countries and luxurious designer clothes and a fancy new car.

But I wonder sometimes, if many of the folks who feel this way, would really be able to handle it if  and when their situation suddenly changed...
What would you do? If your blog views suddenly explode and your ads started earning hundreds or thousands of dollars every month? Are you ready for such an increase? Do you have a bookkeeper and/or tax advisor to help guide you through times of increase?

Maybe you are an artist and have a profile with Patreon, hoping that someone will have a soft spot in their heart and want to sponsor your artistic creations. But my question today is this....is your heart and mind and emotions ready for your increase?

Do you have a plan for the extra money when it comes in ? Do you know exactly what you are going to do with it? If you say that you are going to invest it....do you know exactly where and how you will invest?
If you say that you are going to get out of debt, do you know which debts you will pay off first?

Sometimes it bears repeating that we shouldn't just be prepared for the "bad times"...but also for the good times.

Write down a plan as to what you will do when you start getting more money into your life. Know where you will shop, what you will buy, and precisely what investments you will purchase. Know also where you will save your money, as to what account you will put the money in, and whether you will spread the money over several accounts. There will be research you will need to do to determine what your tax situation will be also when your "ship" comes in. Be prepared. Expect good things.

Peace.



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Sometimes the EASY route IS the BETTER route.

Are you a glutton for punishment? Someone who is really hard on yourself?

Well, although it is super awesome to be a disciplined person, it is also important to know when to
take it down a notch, enjoy yourself and appreciate doing something at the EASY level instead of at the
"extra challenging" level.

Those who are striving to excel, and achieve extreme success, are accustomed to various levels of discomfort. They know that it takes moments of discomfort in order to condition your body, mind, and spirit
to a higher level. Therefore, sometimes unconsciously they come to expect life to always be difficult and strenuous. Then when something EASY and pleasant comes along, they may not really feel "permission" to participate in something "just for fun" that is simple and uncomplicated.

So today, although folks know me as being unusually intense, I just wanna say, that as much as I want you all to learn how to succeed and achieve incredible heights in life......I also really want to hear and see that you can laugh out loud and give yourself a break once in a while. I want to see you have fun and enjoy those moments of ease. Don't feel guilty when something good happens to you.

Enjoy it, treasure it and move on towards your goals.

Peaceful productivity.
Carla


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"Scripting the First 60 Minutes"

It's Tim Ferriss who first mentioned this idea of scripting the first 60 minutes of your day.
The idea is to eliminate any decision making from those first early morning hours, in order to preserve your mental energy for those projects and plans that are more important and inspiring.

The concept of limiting the number of decisions you make in a day was introduced to me by a Christian teacher by the name of Mike Murdock. His extravagant salesmanship of his products as well as his aggressive fundraising has turned some folks off of his teachings, but so many of his "wisdom" teachings have profound and very helpful efficiency in helping ambitious people focus on what is most important.
If you can ignore the hype in his websites and books, you are bound to discover a few great treasures.

Anyway, back to my point. As a woman, I have never heard anyone encourage me to consciously limit the number of decisions I make in a day. No one had ever attached any great mental significance to "making decisions" about regular stuff like......where to get your hair done, what to wear or what to eat.

Therefore, it appears to be picking up steam, to simply eliminate the decision making processes from all of those type of routines. The intent is to save up your mental and emotional steam for those projects that have greater significance to your life goals.

The guy, Rob Rhinehart who invented the liquid meal replacement called "Soylent" is operating under the same intention. If you can add some valuable concentration power to your day by simply eliminating the need to worry about and/or prepare meals, you will have X number of hours in the day to focus on accomplishing your major objectives. I would tend to agree, that in my culture there is WAY too much time and attention spent on deciding what where and when to cook or have someone else prepare your meals. Yes, I believe in enjoying a great meal out with family or associates, in a pleasant restaurant upon occasion. But I'm talking about just your daily food fuel that you simply need to function fully throughout your day.

There's a rather irreverent  blog called Deliberatism.com from which I gleaned the idea of developing the "personal uniform". I must admit that I have not yet applied this concept, although it has enforced my realization that if I can set out the clothes I am going to wear for the next 3-5 days, it just provides a huge mental relief, as it is simply one less thing I have to think about in the morning.


How about where you get your hair done/ cut/ trimmed? As a gal, it's really tempting to be flighty in this area....as I am not sure why, but it seems to be a girly thing to simply hop from one hairstylist to another in search of the perfect do. How about you? Could you see yourself going to the same hairdresser for 6 months straight? Or even a full year? Or would that be simply too much commitment ??? Well, I'm sure you get the idea now.... about reducing the decisions about the "small stuff" as much as possible so that you can save your focus and energy and motivation for the Big Stuff.

Sending you productive peace today.

Carla



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Another Possible Reason for the Recent Low Low Gas Prices

Just thinking aloud once again....no need to overeact...in fact by about now you should be getting used to my random musings.

But ok, this is the first time, I have ever experienced a really radical low descent of publicly available gas prices. Therefore, it has been refreshing, as I mentioned some days ago, that market forces are actually directly affecting the end user prices for us "lowly" consumers. I had almost given up hope that market capitalism could ever actually work in our favor, but then BAM! a beautiful gift of low priced gas for Christmas was just what the doctor ordered.

Ok, so onto my point for today. We all know that the "green tech revolution" is building up steam worldwide. Some countries use so many sustainable and renewable energies that their dependence on fossil fuels has decreased by over 50% in the past 10 years. It is a revolution indeed.

But remember, my friends, that the world is not just run, on fuel, but on funding. Oil and gas money has propped up economies for so many decades that many of the "old rich" can not imagine relying on any other industry to continue to deliver them and their families wealth into their retirement years and beyond.

So, with the incredible monetary pressure of the oil and gas industry at stake, do you think perhaps that these low gas prices have orchestrated so that we won't jump ship on fossil fuels just yet?
Remember, when the price of gas was really high and seemed to climb another ten cents every couple of months, the sound of wind/solar/bio-desiel and other renewable energies started sounding really good, because frankly the pricing strategy of gas was getting to hard to swallow.

Sooooo, perhaps the oil and gas industry has orchestrated this massive "gas" discount sale, in order to convince the court of public opinion that ordinary fossil fuels are still the "only" preferable way to fuel our cars and heat our homes. Let me put it another blunt way......if you knew that fueling your car on regular gas would cost 10 times less than fueling it with bio-desiel, which would you choose?
Let's face it, most of us are still bargain hunters, but we do have good intentions. We want a green revolution, but only if it doesn't hurt our pocket books.

Any thoughts? Any comments? Do tell....



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Your Brain is an Organ ....he said.

So here I am quoting Tim Ferriss  yet again.
But the truth is that I search high and low for information that empowers me and my journey.
I pay a premium in life energy sifting through heap loads of lack luster mediocre non inspiring data, just crying for a mere morsel of wisdom. Therefore I don't care how far I have to run and dig and sift in order to find a fabulous diamond of use-able treasure to pass on to you precious souls, my readers.

Sometimes that treasure comes in just one simple sentence, not a whole book, not a video series, and not a three box set of high priced CD.s

So there I was listening to an older download of one of Tim Ferriss's blog's podcasts, and he
said this simple statement in such a way that I began to have a better understanding of what makes me tick.

He said "Your brain is an organ". and then he described in an answer to someone who had emailed him a question to answer on his podcast in which they asked
 "How do you get yourself out of a stagnant funk/poor low energetic unfocused state of being" ?  (paraphrased by me )

 Tim Ferriss responded by stating that because our brains are also organs, we need to consider that they will also function more energetically when responding to exercise. So his answer to his listener's question was ..."To get myself out of a funk or poor mental state, I simply do a short burst of physical activity, even as short as 10 minutes on a stationary bike or 500 meters on a rowing machine. Even just one short burst of exercise jump starts his brain and he gets his mojo back to allow him to  begin working on one of his stated goals in a better frame of mind.

His point was well taken. We far too often disenfranchise our minds from our body, as if our brains are not even organic. But our brains are certainly quite "human" and earthy and respond to exercise just the same as our leg muscles do. The response is powerful and it is most encouraging to realize that the impact can be felt in as short a time span as only 10 minutes.

Hopefully you get the impact of this revelation as I did. I tried it just today. Just 10 minutes on a stationary bike today and I'm typing up a storm today. Emotions are fleeting. AS Tony Robbins taught us....that YES we CAN change our state. We don't have to stay stuck. We can change our lot in life. We can change how we feel by what we do and by what we think and by what we say to ourselves.

So thank you once again, Dear Tim Ferriss for yet another nugget of good advice. God bless.

Peaceful productivity,
Carla


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Keep Building the Mountain

Let's say you have a goal.....let's illustrate a few examples:

1/You are musically inclined and are going to master one special song and cut a demo CD for it with you and an accompanist.

2/ You have your eye on a certain investment that will cost X amount of dollars. You have done your research and you know the cost of it right to the penny.

3/ You've picked out the best knock-it-outta-the-park kinda outfit that you've always dreamed of wearing and know precisely where to buy it and precisely how much it will take for you to buy it without using debt.

Ok, so maybe you have a goal similar to one of the above.

Tonight I just wanted to talk about these "mountains"....these goals that let's just call them "mountains" for
effect.

You have your eye and heart set upon that top of the mountain. You have done your due dilligence and know exactly and precisely what it is going to take to get you to the top of this mountain.

But then, one day you realize that last week, you were able to cross 5 miles up that mountain path. You gained confidence, and you gained momentum. Then, all of a sudden, you discover that this week you can only take 5 measly steps up that mountain path. Your face is ashen and downcast....you feel like giving up. It's isn't so much fun  when you don't feel that speedy sense of momentum quickening your step.

But hold on just a minute....what has moved? Has the mountain moved? Nope. Has your ability to scale the mountain changed? Nope, you still have the same talents and resources.

Ok, so calm down a bit now. The only thing that has changed is the PACE of your ascent. Breathe in deep..
Stay focused. Life is not static, like a pacemaker. There is not just one constant speed at which we climb.
There may be days and whole months where we make lightening fast progress and we begin to convince ourselves that the whole journey is going to be this quick and easy. But then we wake up another month and reality hits and we know that we were too hasty to make assumptions.

Progress still moves forward, but in different days and weeks and months it may operate at differing speeds. We need to allow ourselves that flexibility to know beyond a shadow of a doubt that we are NOT giving up on our goals, just because our progress may be slower once in a while.

I think of someone who is determined to get out of consumer debt, or all debt. THere may be days when he/she is able to make thousands of dollars to pay off those debts. But there may also come days or weeks or even months when he/she is only able to make a $5 payment to paying off those debts. That is the time to be sure to not permit discouragement or distraction to have full sway. Slow progress is STILL PROGRESS!

Keep making those calls. Keep taking those tiny or large or slow or quick steps forward towards you writen goal. It  WILL come to pass if you don't give up.

Peace forward productivity.
Carla




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Add a Shot of Nutrition to Your Coffee Cup

Wanting to take care of your health and still have those cups o java?
Well, just by making one small change as to how to sweeten your fave cafe...
simply do this....use honey instead of sugar or sweetener.

Honey is pretty much a miracle food....containing all kinds in cool ingredients. Any internet search will provide for you a prolific list of it's healing properties.

So, no need to feel guilty over that steaming cup o coffee tomorrow morning....just sweeten it with raw honey and know you're doing your body good.

Note that due to some of honey's natural properties, it is not safe to feed honey to children under the age of  one year old.

Peace.

Carla

Disclaimer: This post is intended for conversation use only and is not intended as medical advice. All medical advice should be obtained from a licensed medical professional.




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Target Took His Toys and Went Home

Not trying to be disrespectful....but really? Giving up so soon?
Target might have given one of our more "Canadian market savvy" business consultants a crack at it before they decided to jump ship. Another million or two would have been nothing compared to the extravagant cost of leaving town.

Well, since I'm giving my two cents, I might as well add a few nickels in as well.

In my humble opinion, Target didn't understand how frugal and picky we Canucks are. We work hard for our money and refuse to overspend on purchasing items that we can buy elsewhere for half the cost.
I'm going to let y'all in on a little Canadian secret..... We Canadians really know how to LOOK like a million bucks, but  we actually have probably spent under a $100 to look that way. Huh? Ok, maybe I am exaggerating.....but the predominantly female Canadian shoppers that Target had in their sights, are a pretty feisty brood of bargain hunters. You can't put up a huge "discount" store and then NOT DELIVER the deep discounts that we were expecting. We were really looking forward to some juicy bargains, but no matter where we looked.....we couldn't find them at Target.. Actually that's not entirely true. I did buy a large beautiful thick towel for only $6 there.....but that was pretty much it. The clothing and accessories were of the same quality as a typical discount department store, but the prices were much too high.
Anyway, gotta run.

If it was in my realm of influence to get Target to stay in Canada and convince them to readjust their strategy....I really would've given them a second chance...how 'bout you?

Peace and wisdom.
Carla

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Success Can be Replicated

If you're tired of hearing self help blah blah blah,....I hear you...and I apologize for
sounding like one of "those" type of folks. But on the other hand....who cares? If you don't like it, or it feels like you're hearing nails scraping on chalkboard...just don't read on ")....

I continue to be inspired by those who teach other humans how to replicate success.

There used to be, and still is to a certain degree, a certain mystique that follows "successful" people.
It's like they possess some kind of secret that the rest of us haven't yet figured out.
Certainly, we might muse to ourselves,  they possess more intelligence, more fortitude or simply more "luck" in order to have achieved what they have achieved.

But I want to ask you.....have they really? I know so many wealthy people who are certainly not the sharpest tools in the shed. Were they born into money? Nope. But all of them possess this one simple trait...and that is simply that they "REFUSE to GIVE UP".

Successful people are obsessive in their focus, gathering their ability to concentrate on their chosen goal with 100% percent of their time and energy. They don't permit others to divide their time, their passion, or their
assets. They use EVERYTHING within their circle of influence to see to it that their goal or project succeeds.

They also know the value of good and accurate advice. They value good advice so highly that they are willing to travel almost ANYWHERE just to obtain better and more qualified advice.

It was Tony Robbins...(and yes, I know that I quote him a lot ")
who first brought to mainstream media, the idea that success can be broken down into digestible bits and replicated. Sure there were others before him, who studied success and wrote books about it.......powerful and studious men such as Napoleon Hill and Andrew Carnegie. But it was Tony Robbins who brought it down to a level where the common man/woman could understand and tap into the process of achievement.
For many folks of my generation, Tony Robbins was one of the first "self help" leaders who they listened to in audio form, on wee cassette tapes wafting into their cars/homes.

If you want to get in a flow where you feel empowered, you need to surround yourself with folks
who believe in accomplishment. Don't permit others to dull down your enthusiasm.
Your passion and excitement of what you can accomplish is VITAL to maintaining momentum.

The bible in Proverbs 4:23 talks about "guarding your heart". I believe that this is such an ESSENTIAL strategy for success. If you surround yourself with people who don't believe in your gift and talents, pretty soon YOU won't believe in them either. I'm not suggesting that you have "yes" men/women around you night and day. But you must feed your heart, mind and spirit with an atmosphere
of  the following:
Intelligence
"teachability"
patience
thoughtfulness
"CAN-DO" attitude
goal setting
confidence
resourcefulness
ingenuity
compassion
friendship
support
camaraderie
kindness
generosity
accuracy
love of knowledge
skillfulness
success
..........
and that is just a tiny list to get ya rolling...
Guard your heart and mind and emotions my friends.
Be blessed and confident in the goals and plans that you have set into place.

Peace and productivity.
Carla

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"Whatever you Focus On...."

Tony Robbins said in one of his 2014 seminars
"Whatever you focus on you're going to feel".

I would tend to agree with his statement. Those who choose to focus on bad news, always find more....
Those who deliberately choose an optimistic world view, always find those hidden beauties in life that many others miss. Choosing to believe that God loves you, directs your mind and heart and emotions to seek out those proofs in the world around you that confirm and illustrate His love for us.

Be conscious of what you have chosen to believe about life. It is most certainly possible to
retrain and re-program a sullied mind, so that it thinks in new ways.
People's minds can change, when they take the time to immerse themselves in experiences and listening to cd's and speeches etc, that focus on the positive and empowering aspects of modern life.

And in case, you're rolling your eyes just about now, thinking that I am just someone with rose colored glasses....think again. I'm a realist too. But I know that from many many years of experience that I myself can choose what to focus on, what to believe and this ultimately and very effectively determines what I accept and expect to occur in  my life.

I expect good things to happen in my life....a very long and gushing gurgling rapids to burst forth.
Why? Because I have fed my heart mind and soul with God's word as well as the empowering words of thoughtful and intelligent and successful people.

Peace, productivity and prosperity.






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80.9 Just 10 points to go...

And it's going .....going....going....
Please make it to the 70's that's what I'm asking for this week.
Just a bit of gas in the 70's range for this week....Even 79.9999 cents per liter will do.

It will symbolize for me that the "Joie de Vivre" of the 70's is back to stay.

Even if just for one measly day....it is a symbolic gesture.....yes indeedy.
One that I will trumpet with great aplomb.

Hmmm ...I was thinking last week about approximately how often gas stations actually have their tanks refilled ...
Because the price they refill the gas stations' tanks would be one set price. So then it must be sheer
commercial appeal which manipulates the daily and intra-day price fluctuations.
In our region there is a local huddle of gas stations and Costco shines with it's ultra low pricing strategy. Therefore all the other stations around it, try to compete for the other customer base who can't be bothered to wait at the "members only:" gas kiosks at Costco.
Even the really low bargain basement gas stations are posting prices at par with Esso.

I must say friends, that it is so refreshing to see pure market forces at work. It had appeared to me that with all the corporate price manipulation that ordinary consumers were consistently getting the short end of the stick. Thank You God for showing us that market forces such as 48 dollar barrels of oil can actually be passed down to us......increasing our bottom line.
Now, if I could see market forces affect a lot of the other staples of modern day life, then it would truly be a new day in Canada. How about Taxi rides? Or the price of milk? Or Grade A beef?
Competition is good. Capitalism rocks the house sometimes.

Peace.

81.3 How Low Can it Go?

Eighty One point Three cents per liter for unleaded gasoline at some gas stations in Ontario, Canada today.
What a blessing.
My question is....how low will it go?

My goal is simply to see it dip below 80 cents per liter. For some reason, it has significance for me to feel like the consumers are going to have fun again, like I did growing up in the 70's.

In the 70's many families could live uber comfortably with only one adult working, and still have money left over for a yearly vacations in another country. There was a certain "joie de vivre" that isn't as evident now as I felt it was back then.
How about you....would rock bottom gas prices bring about a better sense of well being for you and your family? Would it resurrect hope that the consumer might yet win again in this generation?

I'm pretty tired of hearing about some "NINJA" generation that has "no income, no job, no assets."
I wanna see my fellow countrymen having fun in the sun again, having faith that there will be more than enough to give their families a good life and the elderly a good retirement. The push for penny pinching, has been overdone.....enough already.

Time for a good ole fashioned "low gas priced sponsored middle class economic stimulus inspired" 
spending spree Canada ")








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Sometimes Spelling Doesn't Matter Anymore

It pains me to write this, as I am a superb spelling geek, and you could throw a lot of good grammar in there too.

But there's a blog I enjoy reading every now and then, and truth be told, the blogger's spelling and grammar is completely atrocious. But the content is written straight from the author's heart, without undue editing, and if you're the type of reader who appreciates good ole fashioned HONEST stock market                          chit chat/commentary, then you'll want to check out my fellow Canadian blogger named Sunny.
Actually, Sunny never really posts her real name, but her blog is right out there in Montreal, hob- knobbing with all the latest spills and falls and booms in the Canadian Stock Market. You see, dear Sunny tells us all about her life's foibles and triumphs and we enjoy hearing her blunt descriptions of her journey.
For a female investor, she's a brave new voice")
Viva La Sunny!
Check it out
http://www.myfirst50000.com


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