Freedom

Nothing like being sick and shopping online in your own store while clearing out voicemails and emails from your business. Lots of nice handbags from our newest partner store – very cool… I’m not even a bag person and I’ve got half a dozen bags I’m eyeing!

So what else is new with me? I was in Denver last week for business. We were celebrating Free Enterprise. It was a phenomenal trip and I’m really excited about what we’re doing and where things are headed. We are one of the few industries which are actually growing in the current economic situation, and we get to help people make money, if they are willing to learn and to work hard.

The topic I really wanted to write about today is really about Freedom and Free Enterprise, upon which America was founded. I grew up in a country which says it is democratic but it’s really more socialistic in government and reality. “A benevolent big brother” as someone once described the government. The country is safe to wander around and it is stable, but the people have no dream, limited joy, and are unaware of how little freedom they really have. There is no such thing as freedom of speech in the public because you might get arrested for an illegal gathering (a permit is required for any gathering of more than 8 people) or you might end up on the political blacklist depending on what you have to say. The stress on people there is unbelievable and they fear to pursue their own dreams because they so dependent on having security, even if it means that someone else is controlling your life.

Here in America, we have the freedom of equal opportunity, which allows us to pursue our dreams and spurs us to pursue excellence. Do not make the mistake of confusing equal opportunity with equality of outcome. Equality of outcome is not only incompatible with the foundations of the United States of America; it is also only possible with force and a resulting loss of freedom. We have been given freedom to choose! You tell your kids to make right choices; do likewise. Inform and educate yourselves on the history of this country and dig for the truth which isn’t being taught in the classrooms. Inform and educate yourselves on the relationship between Economics and Freedom (I highly recommend the book “Free To Choose” by Milton & Rose Friedman, Harcourt Brace, 1980).

Open your eyes to what makes this country the one that most people want to get to, legally or not. Why do you think the Green Card is the most sought after piece of plastic in the world? The media is no longer as unbiased as you think – they have their own agenda. You know that yet why do you treat everything they say as the one and only truth? Do your research with due diligence so that you can make an informed decision.

There’s something wrong in a free country if 80% of the people are voting that the top 10% must help the bottom 10%. That is not freedom. Imagine the homeless person telling you what to do with your $20,000 or $40,000 a year income. You won’t stand for it, so why would you do the same to someone else? Or do you go for it because you are so used to your boss dictating your lifestyle and choices because he/she decides what income you make?

Keep this country free, for us and for the future generations.

The Right Thing To Do

I was sick yesterday and got wiped out even just taking a shower. All I could manage for the next 4 hours was watching TV and had the opportunity to watch “Eight Below” (well, most of it anyway).

I couldn’t help but cry at several points in the movie (hey I’m sick, remember?). Besides, I’m a big softie when it comes to dogs and when 2 of the dogs died, the tears were flowing freely. I felt the angst of Paul Walker’s character as he struggled to do what is right.

The indignant anger rose further within me when I saw it for what it is: a reflection of what many of us do every single day – making decisions not because it is the right thing to do, but because of every other reason, especially financial ones. Don’t people know anymore what the right thing to do is? What about the true meanings of Honour, Loyalty, Courage, and Integrity?

“It’s just a pen from work. Afterall, it’s not worth much and I’m not getting paid what I’m worth.”

“We have to move our family because of my job.”

“I can’t donate this money to (whatever cause) because I can’t give up my coffee everyday.”

“Sorry kids/dear, we can’t (fill in the blank) because we don’t have the (fill in the other blank).”

“You can’t go to the doctor because you don’t have insurance.”

“I/We/You can’t… because of (some excuse/obstacle).”

“I can’t give up my hobbies/leisure time to build my family’s future.” (aka. I’m too selfish to go out and do something worthwhile for the sake and future of my family.)

Come on, if you deny that you’ve done any of these, you’re either financially independent or you seriously need to wake up and smell the manure. I admit it: I’ve done the latter and am headed for the former.

Be honest with yourself if nobody else. If you’ve swallowed your principles, pride and sense of justice, I say to you: Stand up and be a real man or woman! Start doing what's right and teach that to the next generation!

One of the golden rules is to do unto others as you would have them do unto you. Go ahead and be that person of Honour, Loyalty, Courage, and Integrity! Be a person who does things and accomplishes in spite of whatever obstacles! Be the person who does the right thing all of the time.

Real Investments

No man can live happily who regards himself alone; who turns everything to his own advantage. You must live for others if you wish to live for yourself. – Seneca

I think deep down inside each of us, we know that we were created for something great; and greatness is recognized, usually, after we’ve passed on. Anything man-made will crumble and/or disappear – buildings, careers and accomplishments, health… The only lasting greatness is people. Who and what kind of people are you leaving behind? What investment are you making in them?

Children often reflect their Parents, Workers their Bosses, and the Mentored their Mentors. That kind of responsibility sometimes scares me, but then again, it’s not about me. I have to remember: It’s always about someone else.

All my life, I always knew that I wanted to help someone else, to make a positive impact on someone else. Over the years, the choices I’ve made to pursue (or not pursue) certain areas/things have led to the realization (finally!!) of where my gifts and strengths are, and where they are not. I’ve made changes as a result of learning the following things:

• I enjoy relationships with people
• I find my purpose in helping others and helping them meet their needs
• I am happy to invest in others and their lives
• It is in the doing that one begins to be fulfilled

Do you wonder if your life has a purpose and if it is more than just existence? Do you wonder if life is more than just earning a living and getting the kids out of the house and standing on their own two feet? Life is found in a personal relationship with the Living God, who loves you and calls you. There is no meaning to Life if you do not know where Life comes from. And every life has purpose. It’s like the old saying, “Use it or lose it.”

We have chosen to invest in transforming people and their lives – helping them work towards better marriages, become men and women of character and strength, raise kids who make good choices, leave incredible legacies for the future. We can do this through our business – we believe that if the financials are taken care of, and people are taught the How-To, then people can focus on what’s truly important.

Parents, do you want your kids to be just like you – to do what you do, act the way you act, speak the way you speak? Do you want your kids’ (future) spouse to treat your child the way you treat yours?

Workers, do you want to be just like your Bosses, and to have their lifestyle in the next 5 or more years? Do you want your kids to do what you do and to live the way you do today? Do you want them to become the person like your Boss in the future?

The Mentored, are you getting enough direction, positive and good, to see transformation in all areas of your life?

If you feel like something’s missing or if you’re not happy with where you are today, try a change. If you change nothing, here’s precisely where you’ll be in the future: exactly where you are today.

I can offer suggestions if you email me. Again, I’m not the answer, but I can point you in the right direction.

New Year 's Excitement

It’s a new year and I can’t stress how excited I am about it! I can’t remember the last time I was this excited about a new year. There’s so much to look forward to! My God is awesome, My Saviour lives, and my future is bright.

I know it’s been almost half a year since my last entry and there’s more to report than I have time (or fingers that can last long enough) for… Sure I could look back and reflect a little on last year, but what for? It’s in the past and it can stay there. It’s a new year – a new beginning! If you aren’t excited about that, you’re either too bogged down by stuff (which you can do something about), or you don’t have a pulse (which there’s not much you can do about it).

C’mon, how can you not be excited??!

I don’t do New Year’s resolutions (not sure why I just never got into it) but here’s some of what I’m looking forward to this year:

• Retirement from jobs
• Spending more time helping people
• Giving more money away
• Travelling more less (I did get a little worn out from all the traveling last year)
• Helping towards my husband’s retirement from his jobs
• (Finally) Tidying up the disorganized parts in our apartment

WHOO-HOO!!

Happy New Year, folks!

Dreams of a kid

What did you dream of as a kid? (I’m interested to find out what dreams you had as a kid, so please email me. I’m planning of making up a Top 20 list…)

As a kid, I had all kinds of dreams…

• I dreamt of being a member of G-Force.
• I dreamt of being an ordinary person with a superhero secret identity. I dreamt that I would spend all my day hours rescuing people with my awesome M.A.S.K. car.
• I dreamt that I was the daughter of Matt Trakker, who was rich and a superhero, the leader of M.A.S.K. (even though he had a son in the cartoon…)
• I dreamt of becoming a fighter jet pilot.
• When I started wearing glasses, I dreamt of becoming a helicopter pilot instead – specifically, an Airwolf helicopter pilot.
• I dreamt of living in a log cabin in the woods in the mountains (with Jan-Michael Vincent and playing the cello with him?).
• I dreamt of becoming a veterinarian.
• I dreamt of being a Gold-winning Olympic swimmer who was also a secret superhero.
• I dreamt of owning and driving a Honda Accord. (Hey, it was a big thing where I came from because my family didn’t own a car and it was extremely expensive to even own a dinky little Subaru Justy!)
• I dreamt that I was Laura in Remington Steele, working with Pierce Brosnan.
• In a culture where families live together under the same roof, even after marriage, my best friend and I dreamt of getting an apartment together and getting 2 dogs. We’d name the dogs Oxford and Cambridge, and the rooms London and England.
• When I got older, I dreamt of finding the cure to save the world. (I went into Medicinal Chemistry thanks to “Medicine Man”, starring Sean Connery.)
• I dreamt of riding a motorcycle.
• I dreamt that I’d marry a Flyers hockey player (the star of the team) and that he’d win the Stanley Cup.

As you can see, I had some crazy dreams. Some have come true – I love my Accord, and don’t tell my mom about me and motorcycles… Some dreams will be coming true in the future – like being the rich secret superhero, rescuing people from the prison of no financial freedom, and helping build stronger families. And sadly, some dreams have been buried– I am resigned to the fact that I will never become a member of G-Force or M.A.S.K (sniff sniff), nor will I become an Olympic swimmer. Yet some of the dead dreams were replaced with something even better, like my awesome husband. (Hon, you’re such a warrior and you beat Jan-Michael Vincent and the Flyers hands down.) I even have new dreams now, and they keep me going. In fact, they get me pretty excited about Life. Someone once said something like the following, “When your dreams are bigger than your problems, you will keep moving forward.”

Am I the only one who feels sad that many of us have had amazing and marvelous dreams as kids and we’ve let them die? And worse yet, we’ve allowed ourselves to shrink our remaining dreams? As an adult, do you have any dreams left?

Are not dreams the stuff (not fluff) of life? Why do we allow ourselves to smother our dreams? Why do you let others steal your dreams, and listen to them tell you that you can’t do it? I’m going to say it to you today, “You can!”

Your dreams may change the way they look over the years, but don’t give them up. What would the 10 year-old You say about the You today? Would that 10 year-old ask, “What happened to me? Did I sell myself out? Am I really such a loser?” I say to you, get back your dreams! And then pursue them! And when the going gets tough, dream bigger and get tougher!

You have one life to live – make it worthwhile and make good choices.

Carpe Diem!

"Small opportunities are often the beginning of great enterprises." – Demosthenes

Hmm… So if I started the little 5k training for running, I’m going to win the Olympic Marathon? Okay, maybe not. But let’s examine Demosthenes’ statement…

For all who have had the opportunity to go to (and finish) school, regardless of the level attained, you’ve been offered jobs, which theoretically could lead you up to being CEO. (We all know about glass ceilings, but for all intents and purposes of feeling out this post, we naively assume that glass ceilings are non-existent and difficult work environments/situations are not factors.) So “small opportunities” = going to school, working hard, getting a job, completing projects/assignments in half the expected time, getting promotion after promotion, developing leadership skills; “great enterprises” = becoming CEO, leader of a company.

Another example, Boy meets Girl somewhere and they strike up a conversation. And next thing they know, they’ve been talking for hours, so Boy asks Girl out. Girl accepts and after some period of time, Boy and Girl become Husband and Wife. They start a family. They have grandkids. So “small opportunities” = they meet, they converse, she accepts a date (and then more dates), she accepts the marriage proposal, etc; “great enterprises” = they raise kids, who decide to follow the same path and then raise kids of their own. Next thing you know, there’s a whole clan from that one Boy and one Girl.

How about You meet Someone/Friend and find out You have what they’re looking for? You offer your help, maybe make a referral. Maybe you end up developing a strong friendship and Someone/Friend’s life is changed – maybe it was a health supplement which improved the quality of life, or an extra stream of income, or some counsel to strengthen their marriage… Maybe through a business of referrals, Someone/Friend makes extra money through meeting more Someone (Else)/Friends and offering some help they need. So “small opportunities” = You meeting Someone/Friend, You have what they need, You offer it to them, Someone/Friend meets Someone Else/Friend and offers the help that is needed, etc.; “great enterprises” = lasting friendships, changed lives, big booming business.

Demosthenes’ statement is exactly what we do in our business. We offer the opportunity to earn money, and/or save money, and/or save time. The startup costs are low (read “very low-risk”, aka small opportunity) but the potential is unlimited (aka great enterprise). Little opportunities to meet people at their needs can result in deep, lasting friendships. Little opportunities to offer some help can result in thousands of changed lives. Little opportunities add up to great opportunities, and great opportunities multiply into great enterprises. Isn’t that exciting??

What little opportunities are you missing out on? Open your eyes and minds, and carpe diem!

Day 16 of the 5k Training

I’ve been really good keeping with the 5k training schedule since we started doing it 2 weeks ago. Everyday; sometimes running even on a designated rest day. Well, I was really good… Today was a running day and we skipped the running. In our defense, I have to say that it was for a really good reason (despite our kin in Texas laughing at us) – the temperature was a crazy 96 degrees and the Heat Index was over 100 degrees. It didn’t feel a whole lot cooler when I opened the back door around 9pm… Yeesh!!

I have to say that I might actually begin to like running, but it’s still a very distant last place from swimming and biking… It is free though (no membership required and no crazy startup costs). And this training program really isn’t bad. It’s actually pretty good. I mean, come on, I’m doing it! I’m actually running! So here’s my encouragement to all fellow non-runners: If I can do it, so can you!

In the words of Nike,

"Just Do It"

(And in my words, “Make sure you take your XS Energy Drinks, Nutrilite Rhodiola, Nutrilite Double X, etc.”)

(Fighting) Health Insurance Companies

Life is always full of ups and downs, and often together with two-steps-forward-and-one-step-back. Being self-employed, one gets to deal with much more than the average person who works for somebody. Health insurance is one such thing. It often seems like there's more regress than progress in these areas… It is not my nature, nor my intention, to do a smear campaign though I am very inclined to speak truth. After much thought, I decided that you can figure out the name of the company… with some help. This blog is about life, and this is something that happened in mine. (Mind you, my emotional response is long gone and therefore I can calmly write about it now…)

A couple of months ago, I had done a whole bunch of research into obtaining health insurance for my hubby and myself. Between a tight budget and something labeled as a pre-existing condition, our choices were pretty limited. Still, we found something that reasonably compromised our needs and limitations. Our client-minded agent had even contacted this particular Underwriting department to make sure that I had a good chance of being approved despite my “pre-existing condition” (which by the way is just about non-existent anymore). So through our agent, we applied for the policy, which is underwritten by G*ld*n R*l* Insurance Company (based in Illinois and underwrites for at least 3 health insurance companies) at the end of June and then waited…

Long story short, GR had contracted a vendor to request my medical records (which I did much follow up with both GR and my doctor’s office to make sure they were faxed immediately) and the vendor didn’t pass it on after receiving it. Repeated phonecalls to GR did nothing. Due to “the way the phone system is [set up]”, I couldn’t be transferred to Underwriting, nor could I even speak with a Customer Service Manager. Customer Service was basically the messenger service for the Underwriting Department, and a response would take up to 48hours. (Incidentally, I never received a single one.) I told our agent about it, and he pursued the matter with GR on our behalf.

We received finally a response on the last day of July. The phonecall from our agent started with, “L, I have some news for you. Let me just say that I’m not happy with it.”

The bunch of baloney from GR included:

• a rider to not cover bee stings (how ridiculous is that?? Does that mean that if you've broken a bone before, you'll never be covered for another broken bone?)
• the choice to keep the effective date in June or change the effective date and pay the rate hike
• bumping from the Preferred Rate to Standard Rate
• (here’s the biggest lunacy of all) not insuring me because there is a 2-year clearance period for my condition

That last “reason” really bothered me. Okay, even though access to the information about clearance periods is limited to certain departments, why didn’t the underwriter tell our agent when he spoke with him/her??? That one statement would have saved our agent and us from even making the application back in June!

Maybe I’m spoiled with the way our business does business with customers, business-owners and other companies we work with. We would never jerk someone around like that, especially a customer. Our focus is always: How can we serve the Customer or Business-owner and how can we serve them better? Is it so wrong to expect that from businesses we deal with on a personal level? I feel absolutely insulted as a customer, and ashamed and horrified at such practices as a business-owner.

Let me be clear in saying that the Customer Service Reps were not the problem; rather, it is the Company’s various policies related to the way they conduct business. I’m thankful that we found out how they treat potential customers before getting approved and then having to submit a claim.

(I guess I'm still venting a little...)

Needless to say, we withdrew our application, demanded our refund, and are looking for someone else. We’re exercising our choice to pick someone worthy of our money.

Me -- Run a 5k??

Okay, so I felt “inspired” to write more tonight…

When we attended the product expo at a business function in Portland, OR last month, we came across an awesome brochure – “12 weeks to running your first 5k”. The training schedule is meant to help the beginner (non-runner in my case) make exercise habitual and eventually do enough to be able to run a 5k, like the Avia OC Marathon on Jan 6, 2008. The guy who developed this is a running/sports Hall of Famer, and the last American to win the Boston Marathon – Greg Meyer. He is a Team Nutrilite coach; Nutrilite is our awesome Health line. (You can purchase it at our business website.)

Anyway, I mentioned all that just to preface the fact that I’m attempting this training now. No, it’s not because I want to run a 5k. In fact, I don’t even like running. I’m a swimmer and like most swimmers, I can’t run. (It’s a whole other blog entry to address why I think swimmers can’t run…)

So why in the world am I subjecting myself to it then? Well, for one, I need to lose a little weight so that I don’t have to buy a new wardrobe of clothes. (Hey, in the last 9 months, there was Thanksgiving, Christmas, Chinese New Year, and 2 trips to the eating capital of the world – Singapore. Of course I put on weight!!) For another, I need exercise. Lastly, I wanted to do it just so that I can encourage someone else to, and prove that it can be done. Email me if you’re interested in a copy of this training.

In the meanwhile, I’m going to scrounge up something from the fridge and rest my protesting body…

Motivation & Motive Part II -- What's your dream?

Life is not wreckage to be saved out of the world, but an investment to be used in the world. – Anonymous

That one sentence could sum up what we’re trying to do. We’re teaching folks how to leverage time and money to regain their freedom (ie. do what they want when they want – legally, morally, and ethically, of course!) so that they can then focus on what’s truly important. All too often, people either have time and no money, or money and no time.

What’s important to you? Taking care of Family? Staying home with your kids? Sending your kids to private school or an Ivy League school or Templeton Honors College? What’s important to a person is also their motive for doing what they do.

What’s your dream? Helping out someone else financially, like a family member with humongous medical bills? Giving your time to a worthy cause? How about sending your kids to college without college loans? Earning an extra couple of hundred (or thousands) a month? Do you need to replace your car? How about retiring early? (That could be 50 for some and as young as 21 for others. I kid you not!) Your dreams are your motivation to keep going, and you can only achieve as much as the size of your dream.

I dream about my husband and I being 2 full-time parents. I dream about the eco-efficient/-friendly house that we will one day have. I dream about tithing $10,000 a month. I dream about my Cobalt Blue 806-HP Koenigsegg CCX. I dream about treating our entire family (ourselves and our kids, our siblings and their kids, our parents – biological and “adopted”) to an all-expense paid 2 week-long vacation. I dream about helping out the family who is so desperately struggling to put food on the table. I dream about adopting kids to give them a great future. I dream about supporting communities worldwide with numerous simple things like digging a well for the village or buying cattle so that they can support themselves (like the “gifts” you can buy at World Vision), and so on and so forth. I dream about helping other families leave great legacies for future generations. I dream about having homes in different places in the world so that we can throw the keys to someone dear and bless them with a place to stay for a vacation. I dream about taking friends out to awesome events and buying them things they dream of but can’t ever afford. I dream about seeing friends having the freedom to stay home with their families and do what’s important to them because the financial stuff is taken care of (because they built the same business we’re building). I dream about sending deserving students to college when there is no sane way for them to afford it. I dream about being able to finally open that clean and dry nightclub where young people (and the young-at-heart) can hang out so that they're off the streets and not getting into trouble. I dream about getting to know those youngsters and impacting them to leave good legacies of their own.

My dreams go on and on and on. Many of them are material. Yet the material bring about experiences that are priceless. What’s the look on the family’s faces as they’re skiing down the Swiss Alps on a Tuesday? Or the laugh of the kids while we’re at Peter Island? (How about having that trip paid by the company??) Imagine this: “Honey, I think I want to experience living in the Netherlands for a month, Germany for 2 months, and maybe Greece and Spain for another couple of months? The kids could easily pick up half a dozen languages in as many months.”

My dreams keep me motivated in building this business; I am spending my life helping other people create additional and residual income so that they can know freedom, so that they can impact other people and exponentially increase the amount of good that we can do. Just think: How much good can you do if you could take all that time that you now spend working to help someone else? What happens when you throw money into that equation?

So, there’s Motive and Motivation. I might come back and revisit this in the future, but for now, I leave you with this: What’s your life – are you wreckage needing to be saved or are you an investment? If you need saving, email me -- I'm not the answer but I can point you in the right direction.

What’s important to you? What’s your dream? I hope it's big.