These are the 12 rules I live by. (By the way, I believe that EVERYONE has some personal philosophies or rules, and we'd love to hear yours in the comments section below.)
I’ve long since giving up caring about how others choose to judge me. What matters more than other’s opinions is the number of people that I can help by sharing advice and encouragement in my writing and products and services.
The most powerful songs are written by songwriters who bare their souls. So screw it, let’s do it. Let’s put it all out there.
I’m not going to help as many people as I could if I keep the “real info” to myself. I also understand now, better than ever, that sometimes you have to “write to repel” in order to strongly attract the readers you desire.
So that’s it. These 12 rules allow me to live my life with less guilt, more energy, and more productivity than if I did not have these personal philosophies outlined.
Now I know there will be two types of reactions to this content. First, some will dismiss it and dismiss me.
But to those people, remember the point of the list is not for you to sit there and think, “Oh, what a total weirdo. I never want to hang around with this guy.”
Instead, the point of the list, the idea, the article is to simply stimulate your thinking.
And that’s the 2nd type of reaction you can have to this article.
This is the reaction of the people who I’m interested in, the people who will realize what’s holding them back is not a lack of knowledge (because the knowledge is out there and freely available), but instead, it is decision making.
Listen, I know that every week you make decisions that leave you full of guilt and remorse, but on the other hand you also make decisions that you know are correct, even though they are difficult to make.
Wouldn’t you be better off if you made MORE correct decisions with less effort?
Of course, and that is where you rules to live by, your personal philosophies, come into play.
With this post, I’ve given you a model so that you can create your own personal philosophies that will allow you to make the correct decision and fewer decisions that leave you with remorse.
As a result of making more correct decisions, you’ll move closer to your goals and suffer less frustration. Life will be simpler once you start adhering to your own personal philosophies, and not worrying about what others think.
Again, I'd love to hear your personal philosophies as a comment on this page or by writing me at joe@joetufo.com
With honesty and feeling,
“The surest way to accomplish your business goals is making service to others your primary goal. The key to success is adding value to other’s lives.” Kekich Credo #87
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HOW TO APPLY: Go to http://www.strydeadvisors.c
God is the perfect partner in any investment program. It is He who supplies all the seed to be planted. We plant it; He multiplies it. So, any investment program ought to be based around multiplying assets that God supplies and returning the bulk of the crop, as pointed out in the parable of the stewards in Luke 19:12-24. The seeds that we retain then bring in a greater harvest the next time. As we show our faithfulness, He will give us even more. Our responsibility is to return it to His work.
Reasons for investing
God's number one prerequisite for investing is always centered on our attitudes. Money can be used for the comfort and convenience of our families. It can be used to provide the needs of others. It can be used to spread the Gospel. Or it can be used for destructive purposes. Money, if misused, as in the case of the rich young ruler recorded in Matthew 19:16-30, can be an object of devotion and idolatry. Love of money has separated families and shattered friendships. Countless marriages have split up over the love of, or the misuse of money. Christians, therefore, must assess why they want to invest and how the surplus from the investments will be used, in the light of God's principles. God is not against prosperity, but He hates evil attitudes that often accompany prosperity. These attitudes include greed, covetousness, and pride. So, since ultimately attitude will determine how an investment surplus is used, it is vital to discover what attitudes God wants us to have.
In addition, there are scripturally sound reasons for investing, and there are unscriptural reasons for investing. If you are investing for the wrong reasons it's like having your ladder leaning against the wrong building. No matter how high you climb, you still end up on the wrong building.
So, first we will evaluate why people invest and accumulate money, and then we'll look at the scripturally sound and unsound reasons for investing.
Why do people invest?
What are the scripturally sound and unsound reasons for investing? There are three scripturally sound reasons for investing.
There are four unsound reasons for investing.
Once a Christian has accepted the purpose of investing—to serve God better—the crucial decision is how much to invest. This decision must be made after much prayer. In addition, a plan for the use and the distribution of the potential surplus must be made before the money becomes available. Set goals and pray about each goal before attempting to do any investing. If motives are anything but biblical, it would be better to give the money away rather than to risk losing something far more important than money—a relationship with the Lord.
Conclusion
Being rich or being poor is a matter of providence in God's will, and He will give us only what we are capable of handling. The Christian's responsibility is awesome and sobering. God, in His eternal plan, has decided to use us to supply and to fund His work. One day we must all stand before God and give an account of what we have done with His resources. Why does God provide an accumulation of wealth from investing? So His people can exercise giving in order to meet the needs of those who cannot provide for themselves.
Many times throughout each day we receive calls from folks like you: referrals, referral partners, past clients, current clients, prospective clients, or someone who Googled one of our websites.
Invariably, you tell us that your project or start-up is "the greatest thing since sliced bread," is a "billion dollar idea," We'd "be a fool if we didn't drop everything and devote all our time for free to get you funded."
To each of you who expect us to work for free we have this to say - NO! NO! NO! A thousand times NO!
WE'RE NOT IN THE FEE BUSINESS and WE'RE NOT IN THE WORK FOR FREE BUSINESS!
It's not that we're uninterested or impolite it's just that we've heard it thousands of times. Here's our thoughts:
No is our first option instead of the propensity to say yes that emanates from wanting to please, wanting to be liked, needing to be needed, being timid, avoiding confrontation, not knowing our rights, or feeling: plain and simple, that we should.
We're in the consulting and funding business. With 39 years (November 1976 to present) of financial services experience in insurance, securities, and finance we may be uniquely qualified to serve you and those whom you choose to refer.
We charge a fee because we do this full-time: 50 hours scheduled a week plus another 20+ working on the websites, writing articles and newsletters, recording audio and video, holding webinars and other tasks to help each of you.
We take on committed paying clients and then focus all of our effort and energy in getting you funded.
With PFP you have a 97% success rate IF you join as a member, have the 20% to 30% down payment and closing costs, and a minimum of 90 days to fund.
In our 17+ years experience in this business about 1/3 of what crosses our desks we can fund (you may not like the rates, terms and conditions but we can fund you), 1/3 is DOA - Dead on Arrival - even with the thousands of pages of information we've published, dozens of books and courses we've published - let's face it many of you can't or won't follow instructions, and the final 1/3rd is broken: your credit sucks, you have no business credit profile, you have more than three inquiries, you have derogatories, liens and judgments - you're a mess and it will take days, weeks, months, or years to fix. (PFP Excepted)
So it's not that we want to say NO! It's just that we have a way that we do business well and that works for us: pay us our fully earned, non-refundable commitment fee of $25,000 for each project of $2,500,000 or above (1% minimum $2,500 per project $25,000 maximum per project for six months of service). We'll roll up our sleeves, put on our thinking cap and get to work.
We have REAL funding sources that fund viable projects. Your project can be next.
As always we are available M-F 8AM to 6PM Pacific to serve you and those whom you choose to refer.
Update that came in at 6:30AM this morning June 30, 2009 from Bob:
Joe,
I forgot to attach an application like you requested yesterday. I can gather the materials needed for me to put together a term sheet or you can do that. Whatever level of involvement you want to have in a transaction is up to you. In order to put together a term sheet, I only need the following items:
1) A completed application
2) A current detailed AR aging report.
3) Last year's year end and this year's interim income statement and balance sheet.
Thank you,
Bob
Read the previous post. This bank's fees on factoring accounts receivable are a fraction of what normal factors charge. If you want to save money on fees with a creative seasoned banker, Bob's your man. Bob also knows a lot of people in the finance world and is a tremendous resource to me.