The theme for the blog today is the spiritual principles of money.  When we look at the source of our money most of us tend to look at our jobs.  The agreement we have made to trade money for our time.   

I believe the true source of our money, our good if you will is not our jobs, it is not our investments, it is God.  If you don’t believe that there is a higher power then this message and this show today will not speak to you.  However if you do,  I want you to consider the power behind the other prayers and thoughts that you carry with you day after day.  

Whether you are prospering or struggling with your money I believe it is your thoughts and prayers that help or stop you from seeing the opportunity that is placed in your path. 

As Graduation Day approached, the young man awaited signs that his father had purchased the car. Finally, on the morning of his graduation his father called him into his private study.  His father told him how proud he was to have such a fine son, and told him how much he loved him. He handed his son a beautiful wrapped gift box.

He started to think about his father and how much that separation had created a hole in his life.  Determined to do whatever he had to do in order to repair that relationship, went to see his father.   

He had not seen him since that graduation day and as he walked in, he saw his father sitting in his study in the same place he stormed out of years before.   His father struggled to get out of his chair but approached his son with a big smile and a warm hug. 

They talked for hours and as the son was leaving, the father picked the gift up wiped his hand over it to remove some of the dust collected over the years and handed it to his son.  This time the son opened the box and removed the beautiful leather bound bible.  As he took the bible out of the box a car key dropped from an envelope taped behind the Bible.

The key had a tag with the dealer's name, that same dealer who had the sports car he had desired. On the tag was the date of his graduation, some words of pride and congratulations along with the words...PAID IN FULL. 

But the moral of the story is, you always go back home to receive them.

Last week I got an opportunity to talk with a group of college students at Edmonds Community College.  I love doing these talks and I have given them at many high schools and several colleges. 

In the high schools, I get to go in and share with young minds the new rules of money that most of them don’t get at home or in school.  Whether you like it or not, our society runs on money and this is a critical part of their education.  I get to contribute in a small way and I believe it has an impact

The colleges are even more fun.  The class last week was probably the most fun I have had yet.  The class was made up of people from all age groups.  The class ranged from kids straight out of high school to people on their 50’s coming back for more education. 

The older students have already experienced the “real world”.  They want to know the rules that will help them navigate money, jobs and debt better in order to have an easier life.

No matter what the age of the class participants, the questions are similar.   I have a basic talk that I start with and we move in the direction of the most need and interest for the particular class. 

The first part is about money.  We talk about income and debt and getting ahead.  I want to open their minds to the fact that their income is only limited by their ambition.  I try to show them that no matter what your passion is, you can make an exceptional living doing it.  If you are willing to think outside of the box and apply yourself, there is no limit to your income. 

I illustrate this by talking about minimum wage jobs.  Then I contrast it with the attributes of people who make large amounts of money.  Here are a few questions that I ask them about how much money people make.

What types of people make minimum wage? 

Usually the common answer is unskilled or uneducated people. 

No matter whether you are getting your first job or you are straight out of college, you are unskilled to whoever hires you.  When you enter a new organization or business, you need learn what they do, the way they do it and where that organization places the most importance.  They may stress volume, they may stress accuracy, or they may stress just following the rules and getting through the day.  Whatever it is, they will take the basic skills you have and teach you the rest.  In essence, when we start out we all unskilled.

 For people who make minimum wage, What is their attitude about their work?

Do they do the best they can or do they just put in their time and leave? 

There are jobs for people who just put in their time, but those people never rise to the ranks of the highest paid.  Do your best and after you have done your best, crank it up a notch and do it even better the next time.

What do they do in their off time?

Are they working on getting better at what they do.  Do they take the time to learn more about that job or preparing for their next step? 

Professional athletes (who co-indecently are some of the highest paid people in the world) are interviewed by the media all the time.  One of their standard lines in response to a variety of questions is that they are just trying to get better at what they do.  They don’t just say it, they mean it.  If they don’t keep getting better, they are out of work.

These people are the best of the best at what they do.  If you were the best of the best in whatever you are passionate about, I guarantee you that you won’t be making minimum wage.

What kind of people do they hang out with?  This may be the most important question of all.  Do your friends push you to be better?  Or do they hold you back so they don’t have to push themselves. 

Most of us have an easier time seeing the potential in others than we do seeing our own potential.  Do you love your friends enough to push them?  Do they love you enough to push you?  I’m sure the answer to both of those questions is yes. 

My message for the college class and for you today is to surround yourself with people that will push you to be more than you are today.  Hang out with people who you can help and that will help you to move beyond what you think is possible.  Once you move beyond what you thought you could do, make that your new normal. 

The wealthiest people in the world are not the smartest among us.  Simply put, the wealthy are the ones that get the things done that others didn’t think were possible.  They are well paid for their accomplishment.  If your job is to score points for your team and you can’t put the ball in the end zone, you won’t last long.  Finishers get paid.

The happiest people in the world are not the ones that started with all of the advantages in life.  The happiest people I know are the ones that have a sense of purpose, people that love them and the drive to be better every day.

It is possible to have wealth and to be happy. 

You might be surprised how few things you have to change to make it happen.    

So step up and get going.  And get your friends to help you.

It’s Valentine’s day week.  As a guy I really don’t like this particular Hallmark day.  I feel like I am forced to buy flowers and take my wife out to dinner.  It is not spontaneous, it is not romantic.  It is expected. 

 I think most guys feel the same way.  It’s not that we don’t feel and express our love, for me it feels disingenuous that I have to do it on a particular day, in a particular way. 

Now don’t get me wrong here.  My wife and I have a date night every Saturday night.  We get time to ourselves and that usually includes a meal together too.  Our Saturday night date night might just be the single most important activity we do on a regular basis to make our relationship work.  Now I don’t claim to be easy to live with and we have been together for almost 20 years.  I am hoping for another 20 or more.

On our date night, we spend time every week catching up, making plans and figuring out how to do what we want to do better.  It’s not difficult.  It’s fun.  I love hanging out with Barb.  She thinks differently than I do and I learn a lot from her.    

When we are out, we talk about all kinds of things including our money.  We talk about each other’s vision for the future and we talk until we meld all of the ideas into one shared vision.  I talk about creating a shared vision in my book, The Money Thing Made Easy and I believe you have to have a shared vision to make your relationship work especially where your money is concerned.

Keeping a shared vision is probably the second most important activity in the success of our relationship.  I know this because our biggest challenges or disagreements have come when we get away from these two things.    

I talk about creating a shared vision in my book, The Money Thing Made Easy and I believe you have to have a shared vision to make your relationship work.  This is especially true where your money is concerned.

 In your relationships, do you dedicate time together, do you talk about the many issues in your lives? 

Start the conversation by picking a topic.  You may want to start with your money, your relationship in general or you may want to pick a less emotional topic as a warm up, like movies or the music you like. 

Discuss your attitudes, opinions and beliefs surrounding the topic you have chosen.  How do you feel about it?  What do you believe about your position?  What do you get out of a certain type of movie or musical artist? 

Then, try to come to some kind of agreement about the next movie you will see.  It might be that you have to do some trade-offs like a chick flick one time and a more action packed movie the next. 

My wife, like most women likes romantic comedies.  So for the sake of compromise, I have seen my share of them.   I almost hate to admit it, but this cigar smoking, guitar playing biker has developed a certain affinity for chick flicks.     

After you have taken on some of the fun, easier topics, you have to have that same discussion about your money.  Spend whatever time is necessary to come to agreement about how to meet your needs as a spender or a saver. 

Discuss who and how you will handle your money on a month to month basis.  And, above all, reach agreement and create a shared vision about where you want to go with your money. 

Download our 5 year vision planner and spend a romantic evening dreaming about your future with the one you love.   

It’s cheaper than flowers and it is infinitely more original.

Saturday I was handling all of those little things that seem to pile up in my mind and on my “honey do” list.  As I was washing my car, I was thinking that it was about time to have the oil changed too.  My car has this idiot light in it that tells me when it is time.  That light combined with the sticker in the windshield is my system so I don’t have to think about it all of the time.  I like systems because I don’t want to devote my limited brain power to trying to remember everything that I need to do. 

I decided that Sunday I would take it in before the game started.  I don’t know about you but I have this place that I always take it to.  I have been there before so I don’t have to give them all of my information every time I go.   

They lost my future business on Sunday and I thought I would tell you why.  There is a lesson here for all of us that I believe is further amplified in this economic cycle we are in. 

First, I go to an oil change place for convenience.  I realize that I could change my own oil for less money but it is quicker and easier and I am willing to pay the extra for that benefit.

Second, they check everything out.  The theory is that they will look everything over and let me know what needs work and what is ok.  In my dozen or so experiences with this company, that is exactly what they have done in the past. 

I want to point out that I take good care of my car.  I bought it new and it has 120,000 miles on it.  I want to know what is going on with it because I don’t like those kinds of surprises.  I knew going in that all I needed was to have the oil changed.  Everything else I believed was Ok for now.

When I got there both of their bays were full.  No big deal because they move fast.  They told me which line to get in based on which one would be quicker.  They offered me a newspaper to read while I waited.  I declined because I had other reading to do. 

As I waited, they checked to see that all of my lights were working properly, good thing too because one of them was out and they replaced it.  They offered to check my tires and wash my windshield even before I got in to the bay.  So far, so good, it was the experience I was expecting. 

I don’t mean to sound cynical but I am rarely impressed with the level of service I receive anywhere.  In my opinion, most experiences when doing business with a company are acceptable not exceptional.

They signaled me to pull into the bay. 

This particular company wants you to stay in your car.  The theory is that you can watch them do what they do.  And, in comparison, they do it pretty well. 

I don’t know if it was my attitude or what, but I wanted to just sit in my car and continue reading while they changed my oil.  That’s it, that’s all I wanted.   Then it started…

It felt like they interrupted my reading every 30 seconds to ask me to buy something else.  If things really needed to be replaced or considered, I am all for it.  It was the constant up selling for things I didn’t need that just drove me crazy. 

They would take parts out and bring them over for me to look at.  Now I am no mechanic.  If it truly needs to be replaced or fixed, tell me.  Don’t just bring things over because you might be able to sell me something else that I don’t need.  I had to say no eight different times. 

I am not afraid to say no.  It bothered me that I had to keep saying no for things that were not necessary.  They asked these questions not from my need but from their greed.  I thought about what they would have sold my mom had she gone in there in her car.  No more, at least not with them.

When you deal with the companies that you like, you probably feel like they are looking out for you. 

Most of us won’t do business with anyone that we feel are trying to get your money no matter what it takes. 

In our relationships with business, the product or service you are buying is only one of the two important parts of your experience with a company.  The other important part is the process.  What do you have to go through to do business with them?

If the food in a restaurant is good but the service is lousy, do you go back?  Maybe?  If the only way to get deal with your bank is through a long series of recorded messages, is it worth it? 

I encourage you to consider not just the product or service you are receiving from those you do business with but think about the process too. 

Are you getting your money’s worth?

Do you enjoy doing business with them? 

Do you feel appreciated?

Do you feel like you are being advised correctly or are they trying to scare you into buying something else?

In today’s economy, you cannot and should not do business with people who will take every advantage.  Your money is tighter and should be looked after.  You deserve to be respected as a customer. 

Let’s send a message to those companies who don’t get it.

By the way, anyone know of a good oil change place?