How well do you know your child’s developmental needs? A recent study at the University of Rochester discovered that about one-third (31.2%) of parents of 9-month-olds are “clueless” about child development milestones, such as when babies talk, learn right from wrong, or can be potty trained. Some moms and dads have unrealistic expectations for their children’s physical, social or emotional growth, and become frustrated. Others underestimate those abilities and prevent them from learning on their own.

Nearly all of the parents surveyed were moms, and based on our experiences and research, it’s reasonable to assume that a significantly higher percentage of fathers are uninformed about their children’s development—perhaps half to two-thirds.

All dads, in any stage or level of experience, would do well to recognize the importance of being aware of their children’s developmental milestones, as well as their unique interests, needs, dreams and challenges. This knowledge, or “insight,” is a big part of the Championship Fathering fundamental of Coaching—the lifelong process of shaping, mentoring and empowering a child as he or she moves toward adulthood.

The researchers concluded that low-level knowledge of child development predicted two things in the parents: 1) they are less likely to enjoy healthy interactions with their infants during learning tasks, and 2) they are less likely to engage their children in regular enrichment activities. If we are more aware of our children’s developmental needs and abilities, we’ll be more motivated to encourage them in learning activities and more likely to enjoy that time together. Additionally, insight will bring confidence to our fathering. When we are aware of what our children really need, we can be confident that our actions are making a difference—building them up, encouraging them, helping them overcome difficulties, etc.

Whether your child is an infant, finishing kindergarten, entering the teen years or getting married, utilize insights on your child’s development to your advantage—and his. Gain more insight about your child’s stage of development.

ACTION POINTS

• Talk with your children’s mother about what new developments each of you is noticing in your child (regardless of age)—and ways you can get involved to help encourage, protect, etc.
• Find an opportunity during these last days of the school year to spend time on your child’s turf, maybe going on a field trip or bringing something he likes for lunch.
• If you have an infant, make sure your little one is very familiar with you as well—your face, your touch, your voice, etc.
• Are you expecting something of your child that she can’t handle? Or expecting too little of her? Get feedback from someone else who knows your child well.
• Listen carefully for small differences in your baby’s cries. Is he telling you he’s uncomfortable? Hungry? Tired?

Written by the dads @ fathers.com

No matter how perfect you may think you are, the fact this there’s always some small way you can improve upon yourself. Whether it’s broadening your knowledge or reducing your impact on the earth, there are seemingly endless little things you can do to make a change for the better. Here, we’ll discuss 100 of these steps, and how you can go about doing them.

Health

Good health is the foundation of a good life, so make these improvements, and they’ll resonate out to the rest of your life.

1. Eat breakfast every morning: Eating breakfast is important for your health and mental power, supplying essential vitamins, minerals, and energy for your day.
2. Get a good night’s rest: You just can’t have a happy and productive life if you’re tired all of the time, so get some quality shut eye.
3. Drink water: Step up your water intake to lose weight, feel better, and improve your skin.
4. Eat slowly: Slow down when you eat, and you’ll find that you consume less while still feeling satisfied.
5. Cut down on junk food: Junk food has a nasty way of bringing your health down, so avoid it whenever possible, opting instead for healthy food like fresh fruits and vegetables.
6. Practice good dental hygiene: Researchers have found that dental hygiene is important for more than cosmetic reasons-it can help you chew food and even avoid heart disease.
7. Drink tea: Be sure to check out the powerhouse of benefits that tea can deliver, which includes improved memory and prevention of ills such as cavities, cancer, and heart disease.
8. Get some exercise: Whether you need to lose weight or not, exercise will have a positive effect on your overall health and quality of life.
9. Improve your energy: If you’re feeling sluggish all day, chances are you’re just not going to feel good about yourself. So take a few steps to boost your energy, and you’ll be better in your daily life.
10. Intensify your workouts: Researchers have found that by doing more intense workouts, you can enjoy similar benefits that you would with a more relaxed workout for a longer period of time.
11. Enjoy fish a few times a week: Eat fish, and you’ll get a serving of Omega-3 fatty acids, which can help reduce heart disease.
12. Wear better shoes: Don’t torture your toes with restrictive shoes all the time-limit the amount of time you spend in uncomfortable shoes.
13. Protect your skin: Stay out of the sun to avoid skin damage, or use sunblock to help.
14. Eat at home: It’s easier and cheaper to prepare healthy foods on your own at home, and skillfully cooking a meal is sure to impress just about anyone.
15. Get tested for prediabetes: Diabetes is a disease that many Americans are susceptible to, and by discovering it early on you can prevent it or lessen its impact.
16. Take a daily walk: Get a little bit of movement and clear your mind with a walk every day.
17. Lose weight: One of the best things you can do for your health and overall quality of life is to shed a few pounds.

Mental

Improve your mind by taking these simple steps.

1. Go back to school: Continuing your education does not have to be a complicated endeavor. Take an online class, or just a weekend seminar.
2. Read classic books: Improve your mind by finally picking up all those books you were supposed to read in school.
3. Plan: Always have a plan for your life, so you’ll know what you’re working toward.
4. Quit procrastinating: Resolve to get moving, and you’ll find that you have much more time than you originally realized.
5. Get inspired by a book: Read a book that will help you spark positive changes in your life.
6. Learn from your mistakes: Don’t let mistakes get you down. Instead, consider what you did wrong, and how you can avoid doing so again in the future.
7. Stop worrying: Let go of worry, and know that the future will come no matter what you do about it.
8. Learn to play a musical instrument: Pick up a guitar, or even a harp, to improve your mental capacity and have something fun to do.
9. Work to your own advantage: Improve upon what you can, and let the rest fall away.
10. Think slowly: Instead of jumping to conclusions, carefully calculate what a situation means. Doing so can help you save relationships that might be damaged by rash thinking
11. Participate in a debate: Have a rational discussion with someone of similar intellect to improve your knowledge.
12. Learn a new language: Broaden your horizons by learning how to speak a new language.
13. Visit Wikipedia: Spend some time on Wikipedia learning lots of interesting facts you’ve never realized before.

Social

Take these steps to change your social life for the better.

1. Join a book club: Get some social interaction while improving your knowledge with a book club.
2. Get out of the house: Believe it or not, the world just isn’t going to come to you. You’ve got to get out of your “zone” for social interaction.
3. Volunteer: For a rewarding social experience, look into volunteer opportunities.
4. Ignore minor irritations: Whether it’s some jerk in traffic, or incessant Facebook application requests, some things just aren’t worth dealing with.
5. Start a blog: Spark an online discussion and network with new people through a blog.
6. Talk to strangers: Don’t hesitate to spark a conversation with someone you don’t know-you just might enjoy yourself, or even make a new friend.
7. Don’t stereotype or label people: Avoid dismissing people based on factors you don’t fully understand, and you may find that they have something to offer you.
8. Call old friends: You’d be surprised how many people would be overjoyed to hear from you, especially if it’s been a while since you’ve seen them.
9. Go to church: Make new friends and get in touch with your spiritual side at church or temple.
10. Host a party: Spend some time with good friends and enjoy yourself at home by inviting others over for a party.
11. Enjoy a hobby: Having a regular, relaxing activity will bring you joy.
12. Join a club: Whether you’re into board games or photography, there’s a group out there for you.

Emotional

Improve your emotional life with these simple strategies.

1. Make an effort to be happy: Whether you actually feel happy or not, make it a point to attempt happiness. It will help you feel better, as well as others around you.
2. Consider religion: If you’re not a spiritual person, consider becoming more involved with religion to improve your emotional well-being.
3. Stop taking things personally: Although it may seem to the contrary, know that not everyone is out to make your life harder.
4. Be optimistic: Put a positive spin on things and feel better about the future.
5. Know when to lose sleep: Sometimes, you have more important things to do than sleep, but they key is knowing when that should happen.
6. Step out of your comfort zone: Make it a point to step out of your comfort zone once in awhile. It’s a great way to advance yourself.
7. Get rid of ill-fitting clothing: Clothes that don’t fit right will just make you look bad and feel worse about yourself. If you love a piece, but it just doesn’t look good, consider getting it tailored.
8. Spend time with a child: Look at the world through a child’s eyes and get inspired. You’ll learn to appreciate simple things and see life with excitement.
9. Pamper yourself: Take care of yourself, whether that means getting a pint of ice cream now and then, or just getting a spa treatment.
10. Celebrate your successes: When you’ve accomplished something great, take a moment to feel good about it!
11. Quit your technology addiction: Although you may love your BlackBerry, you’ll feel a whole lot better if you just step away from the screen for a while.
12. Set goals: By setting goals, you’ll give yourself something to strive for and look forward to.
13. Feel good about yourself: Make a decision to improve your self-confidence, and you’ll feel better. Others will notice it, too.
14. Be thankful: Every now and then, take some time to acknowledge all of the good things you have in your life, big and small.
15. Cut yourself some slack: Avoid inventing your own impossible, stringent rules that you have to stick to-they’ll only make you feel nervous and guilty.
16. Let go of the past: Don’t hold grudges-let go, and you’ll free up emotional space.
17. Don’t be dramatic: Stop inflating small problems, or you’ll make yourself more anxious than you need to be.
18. Express yourself: Let your emotions come out through art, writing, or other forms of expression.
19. Meditate: Take some time out every day to have an inner dialogue with yourself.

Financial

Make these changes to improve your life’s financial outlook.

1. Pay off debt: Nothing will improve your finances better than simply getting rid of debt.
2. Build an emergency fund: Keep an emergency fund to save yourself from plummeting into the red when something pops up, and you’ll be much more secure.
3. Track your spending: At some point in their lives, nearly everyone has wondered where all their money goes. Try this exercise to finally get to the bottom of it, and identify spots where your money could be better spent.
4. Be frugal: Embrace frugality in your life, and you’ll save money while living more simply.
5. Make extra payments: Pay off mortgage and other large debts early, and you’ll take a load off.
6. Diversify your income: Provide yourself with some financial security by finding multiple sources of income.
7. Save: The concept is simple-save money, and you’ll have more financial power to do the things you’d like to do.
8. Eat at home more often: Eating out all the time may be fun, but preparing meals at home is a better financial strategy.
9. Invest: Investing is not only fun, it’s an excellent way to make your money grow.
10. Set a goal: Give yourself a financial goal to achieve, whether it’s saving for a particular item, or doubling your investments.
11. Save for retirement: Don’t give your future self a huge mess to take care of-save now, and you’ll enjoy it later.

Habits

Make these changes in your daily life to improve upon yourself.

1. Quit smoking: It’s the single most important thing you can do for your health, appearance, and energy. You’ll smell better, too.
2. Wake up early: Be an early riser, and you’ll find that you have more time to get things done.
3. Spend more time outside: Head outside to become more active and enjoy the world around you.
4. Be organized: Make things easier on yourself by living a more organized life.

At Work

You spend so much time at work, but probably don’t often consider how you can improve upon this important facet of your life. Take these steps to make things just a little bit better.

1. Make friends with your coworkers: One of the easiest and most important things you can do to improve your career is to practice inner networking. Socialize with your coworkers, and they’ll be more willing to help you when you need it.
2. Improve your writing skills: If you improve upon your writing skills, you’ll instantly sound more intelligent and persuasive.
3. Collaborate: Don’t go it alone-ask for help, and give help in return.
4. Keep your inbox empty: Reduce anxiety and simplify by clearing out your inbox as much as you can.
5. Leave work at the door: Don’t bring work home with you, or you’ll stress yourself out at home.
6. Join a professional association: Network with others in your field for fun and career advancement.
7. Ask for a raise: Simply asking for a raise you deserve is a no-brainer way to feel better about work and your paycheck.
8. Improve your resume: If you’re not happy with your job, give your resume a facelift and consider seeking a new position.
9. Improve your system: If you’ve got a messy desk, or generally lead a disorganized work life, take charge by reorganizing.
10. Start your own business: One of the best ways to improve your career is to go into business for yourself.

In Your Community

Getting involved in your community is a great way to improve upon your life. Try these methods for getting out there.

1. Vote: Impact your community’s future by participating in the election of officials.
2. Donate unused items: Instead of holding a garage sale, pass your old items on to people who need them-like books to schools, and clothing to shelters.
3. Support charitable endeavors: Whether it’s with money or time, do what you can to help out charities in your community.
4. Be a coach: Offer to coach a youth sport, and you’ll shape young lives while having fun.
5. Visit your local library: Take advantage of your community’s library to both save money and broaden your mind.

In the Environment

An excellent way to improve upon yourself is to reduce the negative impact you have on the world. Take these steps to get greener and change your life for the better.

1. Work to reduce your carbon emissions: Find out about the many things you can do to help cut your carbon emissions, and then take action on them.
2. Improve your gas mileage: Drive more slowly and coast as much as you can to improve your gas mileage.
3. Turn off the lights: Cut your waste and energy bill by turning off your lights whenever you don’t need them.
4. Get a reusable water bottle: Keep plastic water bottles out of our landfills by getting a container you can use over and over again.
5. Reduce your trash: Take steps to cut down on the waste you put in landfills.
6. Buy local and organic food: Support your health and local farmer by purchasing local, organic produce.
7. Adjust your thermostat: Let your heater and AC take a small break by adjusting your thermostat to reduce waste.
8. Stop using plastic bags: Quit using plastic bags, and you’ll both reduce your impact and save animals.
9. Take shorter showers: Save a precious resource by reducing the amount of water you use in your daily shower.

Compiled Originally by Jessica Hupp

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With gas prices so high, the media is awash with lists of gas-saving tips. Well how’s this for a tip? If you listen to us, you can see hybrid-type savings without having to buy a new car.

By changing your driving habits you can improve fuel economy up to 37 percent right away (depending on how you drive). Combine several tips and perform routine maintenance and you will save real dollars, not just pennies.

A miracle? All we did was take several of the most common tips out there and put them to the test over a remote 55-mile route in the high desert of California. Some of them worked like a charm. Some of them didn’t work at all. We’ll give you the breakdown.

These tests were done under real-world conditions — not in a government lab somewhere. Our results can be matched by anyone — even you.

The wonderful part about what we found is that improving your car’s mileage is just a matter of changing your habits. Stack a few of these winners together and we’ll bet that you’ll see a substantial savings at the pump — without the need for a new car.

Test #1 Aggressive Driving vs. Moderate Driving

Result: Major savings potential

The Cold Hard Facts: Up to 37 percent savings, average savings of 31 percent

Recommendation: Stop driving like a maniac.

This is gonna hurt. Our tests showed that the most significant way to save gas is: you. And we’re talking massive fuel economy gains. Think you need a hybrid? Chances are you’ve got hybrid-style mileage in your gas pedal foot. Don’t mash the gas when you start up. Take the long view of the road and brake easy. This tip alone can save you unbelievable amounts of gas. If you slowed your 0-to-60-mph acceleration time down from your current 10 seconds to a more normal city pace of 15 seconds, you’ll feel the savings immediately.

Method: We conducted this test four times. The first time we did the full 55-mile loop once by accelerating aggressively 15 times at 3/4-throttle from zero to a cruising speed of 75 mph. We also applied the brakes hard to come to a full stop. Then, we drove the second loop by accelerating moderately 15 times at 1/4-throttle to a cruising speed of 70 mph. We braked lightly to a full stop. In the second set of tests we drove 25 miles making 25 rapid accelerations to 65 mph at 3/4-throttle. After 1 minute of cruising we braked hard and repeated the cycle up to 65 mph. We then drove the same distance making 25 moderation accelerations to 60 mph at 1/4-throttle. After 1 minute of cruising we applied the brakes easily and came to a full stop.

Test #2 Lower Speeds Saves Gas

Result: Substantial savings on a long trip

Cold Hard Facts: Up to 14 percent savings, average savings of 12 percent

Recommendation: Drive the speed limit.

Remember a thing called the speed limit? On most highways it is either 65 or 70 mph. How fast are the cars and trucks around you going? From 75 mph to 90 mph. These people are wasting a lot of gas for the chance to get there a little earlier. Factor in safety concerns and a speeding ticket once or twice a year and going fast is a costly proposition.

Method: This test was simple. For 50 miles we drove with the cruise control set at 65 mph. Then, for another 50-mile stretch we drove with cruise set at 75 mph. We repeated this test going in the opposite direction. It is amazing how obvious the difference in gas mileage was. Just think what would have happened if we had slowed down to 60 mph. The only problem is with impatient drivers behind you. One driver became so irate that he tried to run our editor off the road. Still, if you are pinched by gas prices. Leave a little early and drive the speed limit (in the slow lane).

Test #3 Use Cruise Control

Result: Surprisingly effective way to save gas

Cold Hard Facts: Up to 14-percent savings, average savings of 7 percent

Recommendation: If you’ve got it, use it.

Using cruise control is a bit of gas-saving advice frequently on tips lists. We have always agreed with this tip in theory but we hadn’t expected such significant results. First, it smooths out the driver’s accelerator input by preventing nervous “surging.” Second, it makes the driver take the long view of the road rather than reacting to every change in the traffic around them.

Method: We did this test twice with four different cars each time driving the 55-mile loop. The first time we set cruise control to 70 mph. The second time, with the cruise control off, we varied our speed between 65 mph and 75 mph. We tried to mimic the driving style of a person who is in moderate freeway traffic.

One thing that’s important to note: if you are in a mountainous area you should turn off cruise. It will try to keep you up to the speed you’ve set and will use a lot of extra gas down shifting to lower gears to accomplish this.

Test #4 A/C On, Windows Up vs. A/C Off, Windows Down

Result: Nice in theory; not true in practice

Cold Hard Facts: No measurable difference (unless you open the sunroof, too!)

Recommendation: Please, make yourself comfortable.

This has got to take you back to the days with the family on vacation. Dad says, “Turn the A/C off! It wastes gas!” And Mom says, “We can’t roll the windows down or everyone on the highway will think we can’t afford A/C.” And you’re in the back roasting, hoping someone will win the argument so you can cool off.

Well, family psychology aside, if dads are still saying this, they aren’t necessarily right. While the A/C compressor does pull power from the engine wasting some gas, the effect appears to be fairly minimal in modern cars. And putting the windows down tends to increase drag on most cars, canceling out any measurable gain from turning the A/C off. But this one depends on the model you’re driving. When we opened the sunroof in our SUV, the mileage did decrease even with the A/C off. Still, in our experience, it’s not worth the argument because you won’t save a lot of gas either way. So just do what’s comfortable.

Method: We drove the full 55 mile-loop in two cars at equal speeds both times — 65 mph. The first loop we drove with the A/C on and the windows up. The second loop we drove with the A/C off and windows down. In the second test we drove 20-mile loops. This was far enough to see our gas mileage level off and remain steady on the computer trip meter.

Test #5 Check Your Tire Pressure

Result: Important for safety and to reduce tire wear

Cold Hard Facts: No measurable effect on the vehicles we tested

Recommendation: Check your tire pressure often but don’t expect a big savings.

No matter how many times drivers hear about the importance of tire pressure, most of them don’t do anything about it. They probably don’t like squatting beside their car in a busy gas station with fumes swirling around them. But is it important? The answer is yes, for a number of reasons. Properly inflated tires are less likely to fail at high speeds. They wear more evenly and, yes, they deliver better gas mileage. How much? In this test we saw a modest difference in two of the cars. It might have been more dramatic with different tires on different cars. Experts swear by it; we couldn’t really document it. And we wound up wondering if tire technology, like the design in other areas of the car, had improved.

Eventually, we concluded that each set of tires is different and every vehicle is different. We recommend that you do your own tests to see what inflation setting gives you the best fuel economy.

Method: We drove the 55-mile test loop four times at 60 mph — twice with tires at or above proper inflation. Once, we did the test with the tires 5 psi below the pressure recommended by the manufacturer. Since this produced very little difference we enlarged the gap and under inflated the tires by 8 psi. We felt that it was important to make sure the tires were inflated to the recommended level or above.

Test #6 Avoid Excessive Idling

Result: More important than we assumed

Cold Hard Facts: Avoiding excessive idling can save up to 19 percent

Recommendation: Stopping longer than a minute? Shut ‘er down.

If you turn off a light bulb as you leave the room you’ll save electricity. If you turn off your car you will save gas. Obviously. But related questions are more difficult to answer. If you’re only stopping for only a minute, is it better to shut off the engine or keep it idling? Should I shut off the engine in traffic? How much gas will this save? What rule of thumb do I use when trying to save gas this way?

Method: We took two cars and drove a 10-mile route stopping 10 times for two minutes. We shut down the car each time. Then we drove the same route at the same speed and let the car idle for two minutes.

Conclusions

The good news is that you can drastically improve your gas mileage. The caveat is that you have to change your driving habits. If you are willing to change, you’ll find many related benefits too: no speeding tickets, greater safety, reduced stress and lower repair bills for tires and brake pads. In the long run this will save you money. And who knows? You might like the new you.

By Philip Reed, Senior Consumer Advice Editor and Mike Hudson, News Editor (edmunds.com)

Debt can leave people feeling over-whelmed and stressed out. So before we begin to work on creating prosperity, I believe it would be a good idea to create an orderly debt repayment plan or a debt clearance account.

I recall when my debt seemed to be eating up my entire paycheck, leaving me with nothing. However after some research, I discovered a way to to retire my debt. Now for the sake of this message, let us consider your mortgage or house payment as an investment, NOT a debt.

As a former debt collector I will let you know, collectors do not care about the excuses as to why you are in debt or what circumstances are preventing you from clearing your debt. What they care about and truly enjoy, is that you have a concrete plan to eliminate the debt.

Here is some insight I have received from Bob Proctor.

1. Create a Debt Clearance Account – take 20% or Monday’s earning and put it directly to your Debt Clearance Account.

2. Sit down and draft a letter which you will send to all of your creditors, informing of your plans to settle your debt. Be sure to create a list of all your creditors and determine how much of the 20% they will each be getting. Here is an example of a letter you could
use:

“Dear CBV Collections (or whomever)

As you know, I am in debt to you for $_________, and I intend to pay you in full, plus interest. In order to achieve this goal, I have been devising a plan during the past few days to put myself in a better financial position. To this end, I have opened a “Debt
Clearance Account” (DCA), and twenty percent of my income is going directly into that account. That will enable me to have sufficent resources to live on, without worry or stress, and it will prevent me from falling into further debt.

Each week (or month) you will receive a check for $_____ from my DCA, until my account with you is clear. I am aware that this is not the figure I had previously agreed to pay you, but I’m sure you will be understanding, and appreciate what I doing.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me. I am quite excited about my new plans and if you would like to have me review them with you so that you might help others who are in debt, I would be pleased to do so.

Thank you in advance for you kind cooperation.

Have a wonderful day!

Sincerely

{!firstname}”

Be sure when drafting your letter that you write so it sounds like a fact (which it is) and not merely a request. It is you who is in charge of you finances not your creditor.

When sending your letter, make sure that is it neatly typed and enclose your first payment. If for some reason that your creditor is being an unreasonable person and they call you with threats of court action, hold your ground because there is no court in the
country that would not congratulate you for taking such action to achieve you goal of becoming financially independent.

Now pat yourself on the back as you are on your way to creating a new life for you and your loved ones!

You can’t sleep because you just finished watching a late night infomercial about the latest online business and you’re full of excitement. Now you find yourself dreaming of a house on the hill, a 75 foot yacht, a shiny new Range Rover, a luxury vacation home if Fiji, and a designer wardrobe. The only problem is, you are eyeball deep in debt and have no clue where to find any extra cash to start an online business or buy any programs to learn how to earn money online.

WAIT! Before your excitement turns to depression and you head for the bucket of ice cream; let me help you brainstorm a few ways to acquire some extra money.

Step 1: Change Your Thinking

First you must think of yourself and your life as a corporation. Your duties as the CEO, is to make your corporation earn a positive cash-flow. The income you earn, whether linear or residual, is the corporation’s income. Your overhead (mortgage/rent, utilities, insurance, groceries, etc) is the corporation’s overhead. Let’s give your corporation a name, YOU Incorporated.

Step 2: Develop A Budget

In order to expand, you must know where all the money in YOU Inc. is going. Simply put, YOU Inc. needs a budget. Go ahead and read any financial book and you will discover this. In order to have a positive cash-flow, YOU Inc. needs to track where money is coming in and where it is going out. You’re thinking now, “It’s easy to see where it comes in from; my full-time job and my part-time job, yet it’ll take more time to track where all of it is going”. Don’t feel bad as there are a lot of individuals and families that neglect to budget. I know, there is nothing fun about crunching numbers, but once you get in the habit of creating and tracking your budget, it’s like knocking the monkey of your back!

Step 3: Necessities vs. Luxuries

Now comes the difficult part, you need to seriously think of the difference between NECESSITIES and LUXURIES. Necessities are things you absolutely cannot live without. Food, water, shelter & hygiene products (someone will kill you if you be stinking all day, everyday). Temporarily get ride of the extra vehicle, calling feature, cable television, 5-bedroom house when there is only two and a half of you, etc. Write down as many luxury things as you can and see how many of those things you can cut out or sell for extra cash. I understand, there is no UFC or Trading Spaces without cable television but remember this is temporary until YOU Inc is in positive cash-flow.

Think of cable television as a very lazy employee who is costing you money and making you none. If you decide to keep Mr Cable on the payroll, you need to layoff someone else. Is Mr Call-Waiting making you any money? Can his butt. Have you considered Mr H. Civic doing a great job at a fraction of a cost compared to Ms Mercedes.

In reality, you won’t cut out everything, and you probably shouldn’t. You need some things for yourself, but remember, each and every thing you cut out is a Wealth Accelerator, especially if it was an ongoing payment. Another BIG wealth accelerator while building startup funds is a second job or moonlighting on the Internet.

Step 4:

All the downsizing in the world does no good if the extra income it freed up isn’t used wisely. YOU Inc needs to formulate a plan to put that newfound income to work. Perhaps a new division of small business? In my humble opinion, a part time business can generate money for YOU Inc faster than super saver plans, CDs, Money Markets, and stock market (over the short term.)

Would love to here about what you did to downsize YOU Inc a bit. Post your wealth accelerators and help others by giving them ideas.

Why is it that 5% of the population controls 95% of the wealth? For starters, the are not lucky or accidentally become wealthy. The wealthy get that way by doing things in a certain way. Let us begin with a quick lesson on financial literacy.

To begin your road to riches you must first understand how your wealth is determined and know how to create wealth. Tracking your net worth is the key to determining how wealthy you are. Your net worth is the value of all of your assets, minus the total of all of your liabilities. Put another way, it is what you own minus what you owe. If you owe more than you own, you have a negative net worth. If you own more than you owe you will have a positive net worth.

Income is simply money you bring in.

Expenses is money you spend.

An asset is any item of economic value owned by an individual which pays them. The tradition definition is simply anything of value that is owned. The tradition definition is perhaps why 95% of the population is not wealthy because they don’t understand it’s true meaning.

A liability is an obligation that legally binds an individual to settle a debt. When one is liable for a debt, they are responsible for paying the debt or settling a wrongful act they may have committed. A liability is basically something that is costing you money over a period of time.

So what are people buying on payday?

The poor class of people buy stuff on payday. You know, the stuff that they find at the flee market, garage sales and the dollar store that they really don’t need to survive, yet their homes are filled with these stuff. I remember when I lived this way…always looking for the bargains and buying stuff because it was so cheap.

The middle class are mistaken as the wealthy because they buy a lot of flashy liabilities. Their income is probably near or above the six figure mark, however due to their spending habits their income is being put into liabilities resulting in that same six figure income going right out through their expenses. These liabilities include the fancy cars, the 50-feet yacht, the 2 week vacation at a 5 star resort, all which have probably been purchased with their favorite credit card.

Now by no means am I trying to make anyone feel bad about their spending habits. I am just trying to educate you on why the rich are getting richer, the poor getting poorer and the middle class is stressed out and slowly being eliminated.

The wealthy buy assets with their income. These assets then generate more income and they use that to buy more assets. As an example, Joe Millionaire earned $15,000 last month. After paying his monthly expenses he was left with $10,000. Joe took that $10,000 and bought himself a coin-operated car wash that generates on average $4,500 per month.

The following month Joe earned $15,000 + $4,500 from his car wash (which he did not have to be there to operate) for a total income of $19,500. After paying his monthly expenses, Joe had $14,500 left over. With that he put a down-payment on a rental property which generates $2,500/month after his mortgage and other cost associated with owning that rental property is paid.

On the third month, Joe earned $15,000 + $5,000 from the car wash and $2,500 from his rental property for a total monthly income of $22,500. Joe is pleased with his results over the past 3 months so he decided to buy himself a brand new luxury car that will cost him about $1,100 per month to own and operate. Joe doesn’t mind though because the income he makes from his rental property alone will cover those expenses with money left over.

What are you buying on payday? A bunch of stuff, liabilities or assets? It’s your money, you decide how you want to live…poor, middle-class or wealthy?

Have A Wealthy Day!

In a previous post, Making Money Online With The Law of Growth, I mentioned starting with a small financial victory before trying to achieve your desired income when starting an online business. When I decided started my Network Marketing business in 2005, my goal and focus was to earn $100,000/year ($8,333/month) within 6 months. This lead to frustration and disappointment early in my Network Marketing career when I faced many of the hurdles that network marketers face. Even to this day, I do not earn that much money per month with my Network Marketing business.

Fast-forward to today and I will tell you that I am experiencing minimal frustration and disappointment with both my Network Marketing & Internet Marketing venture. So what’s the difference with what I am doing now?

One of the biggest differences is that when I started my new Internet Marketing business in April 2008, my goal & focus was to earn $100/day ($3,000-$3,100/month). Yes, of course one of my long-term goals is to earn a multiple six-figure income per year, however my current actions are geared towards earning $100/day.

The results are amazing. In 7 days I achieved a $100+ day and a few double-digit days since then. I have yet to achieve $100/day earning consistently, however these small financial victories are developing more belief in this business model; developing my self-esteem; I’m feeling great about myself; and I am taking more action!

This is the process of the Law of Growth; the beginning, the middle and the end or in relation to making money online $10/day, $100/day and $1,000/day. With that said, when starting your online business, think long-term but keep in mind that you are growing with your business. Focus your actions on earning your first $10 and when you achieve that; celebrate your financial victory!

Earning money online; so many people want to achieve this but how many people actually are? I see so many Pay-Per-Click (PPC) ads from Network Marketers & Internet Marketers with something along the lines of “Make $31,000 online starting TODAY” or “I earned a $226,000/year income in 3 months”. I believe these types of ads are a disservice to those searching for a legitimate home business and also to the Network Marketing & Internet Marketing industries. I say this because there are natural laws that are very difficult to break/bend, such as the Law of Growth.

I know of individuals (myself included) who have taken multiple success training seminars, read the latest wealth creation book, bought the e-books & audio programs and after many months (even years) have not earned a lavish profit.

As a network marketer, I have the opportunity to speak to many success students and whenever I asked them, “…how much money would you like to be generating in the next 3-6 months for you to believe this is worth you efforts?” and many of them have bought into the hype and state $100,000. You see, many of them are trying to :

• Earn $1,000,000 before earning $100,000
• Earn $100,000 before earning $10,000
• Earn $10,000 before earning $1,000
• Earn $1,000 before earning $100
• Earn $100 before earning $10

The Law of Growth is very simple and we all learned it indirectly in grade school. In order to get to grade 2 it was required that we pass grade 1. Say I wanted a oak tree in my yard; I would need to first plant an acorn and nurture that acorn until it’s roots are self-sustaining. Again, this is a very simple concept that needs to be remembered when starting a home based business, or any business for that matter.

By no means am I saying that you should not Think BIG, however set realistic goals for yourself. If you never earned $100,000 in a month before, what makes you think you can accomplish that now in 3 months? I’m not saying that you can’t, I’m just suggesting that you get some smaller financial victories under your belt first!