"Mom, remember when you said that when people judge a person or situation it's really just a mirror of their own life? Well, I think it just happened. "
My 17 year old son, Justin, was up early and talking with me after my trip to Chicago. I always enjoy these times that we have great talks when everyone else is asleep. Being a morning riser like his Mom, we have these talks often. I'm so grateful that I didn't have to head off to a corporate job at the crack of dawn and he wasn't off running to school early. If we were, these life shifting conversations might not ever take place. Some of them have been so profound I'm sure his entire future has been changed.
As I began to affirm and reiterate what I teach my children and my clients, that harsh words others speak about us reveal the harsher reality in their own life, he continued talking with me.
"Well…" big pause… " Mark said you were wasting a lot of money by having someone drive you into Chicago and when I laughed and kinda celebrated that you actually got a limo ride all the way home for your 3 hours ride he just shook his head and said, 'What a waste of money!' again."
What a teachable moment this was. What an opportunity to train my son in the way he SHOULD go and not in the path of the majority!
Listen in for a minute here, as I give you an opportunity to hear the heart to heart mentoring that I had with him. As I continue I'm not going to use the best formatting or editing for our conversation. Allow me the freedom to just share and process with you. It is my belief that it will be very beneficial!
I began to share that the majority of people in the world have absolutely no ability to process or think beyond their reality. This leads to thinking that anything beyond what they know is either unreal, wrong or not worth the time to consider. Coming from this reference point we can have empathy in realizing that most people not only don't have anyone 'driving' them anywhere because their day to day existence involves pinching pennies, striving to be grateful, living on credit cards and living in struggle. Throw a wild card out there, from this perspective, and we can see how the addition of driving in a limo and God forbid, driving in a limo for 3 hours ….it can be seen as not only illogical but down right stupid!
We both laughed. It wasn't a laughter of arrogance or a demeaning tone, but a realization of how one situation can 'seem' like something when it is totally a different reality.
The reality is this- last year we earned so much money as a company that we needed more write offs. We also had to really change the way we were spending my time and our money. My time is not wisely spent driving long distances, sitting in airports or wasted.
Time is money, my friends, so if I have to sit in a plane or in an airport or anywhere during WORKING hours, Mon-Fri and I'm unable to do what I do, it's a loss to the company. Equally, if I try to pinch every single penny and don't get wise write offs, the government gets far more money than I'm comfortable with! Our nation is DESIGNED for companies by the way and you need to really become aware of what using write offs does for your tax structure.
So we had a choice- here they are, as I laid them out for my son:
1- Spend $ 140 on gas and drive to Chicago in my Yukon XL, pay $ 165 and park the dang thing. Not very many write offs on a trip that would produce huge income for my company because of all that I would implement from it. Not to mention I'd have to cancel 2 coaching appointments and then somehow make them up the following week=lost time, money and we'd have to pay more in taxes.
2- Spend 1 hour driving each way to the airport, pay $ 295 to fly to Chicago from Indiana because the rates are ridiculous. Be in contact with germs, be interrupted so that I couldn't hold any coaching calls and waste 5 hours to do a 1/2 hour flight. I'd have to cancel 2 coaching appointments and then somehow make them up the following week=lost time, money and we'd have to pay more in taxes.
3- Spend the money to have someone drive me to Chicago in a car that I can also work in, $ 700. Do an email campaign in the car, adjust PPC ads and do 2 coaching calls, along with newsletter. Total profits earned during both way trips, $ 5280.00. End up with a nice profit increase, keep on task without coaching appointments to make up after 4 hours away from my office and we pay less in taxes.
What would YOU choose?
You can quickly see why I chose to have someone drive me. I'm really glad we did this! I will be doing it again for the Mastermind I'm leading on May 14th and the live event we're doing in Chicago on June 11 and the 12th! As a matter of fact, because I'm giving this company so much business they cut one of my trips costs in 1/2 and even upgraded me for free! Talk about a blessing and favor from God! Hello?!! Now you can see why my son was celebrating.
It's all about stewardship, perspective and being willing to THINK rather than doing what others are always doing.
Wise stewardship takes on a whole new realm when you enter into the millions of dollars in profits zone. With information publishing, where the overhead is quite low, you have to get creative! Heck, I choose to have FUN with being creative! *wink*…. but you know, no one ever talks about this aspect of business! Can you say A Real Change ?!
The conversation went into the large sums of money we've bee so blessed to give to those who have nothing. The more than 100 pictures in my office and in my books of photos of babies were remembered. The boys and girls in the slave trade were also talked about ….. the people that have been rescued because of WordPress classes, auto responder courses, copywriting training, coaching and live events!
Then we felt like dancing and crying and celebrating! Then we talked about the adoptions we've been able to secretly provide for. Giving funds to Mommies and Daddies who lacked only one thing, the money to bring home their new forever baby.
I added this statement to our conversation:
"We must never forget that the more you impact people in the earth, the more you are a threat to the spiritual forces that would like to STOP you!"
There's another very important discussion we then had and one I'd like to share with you.
When we judge someone else and believe that we have a right or a need to make known that someone has violated an 'unwritten' code of society, we reveal our own weakness before we reveal anything else. The very thing that we are most critical of…. we are most guilty of.
More than what my son's friend needed to clear up in his own belief system, the bigger issue is in the error that is 'alive and well' in the beliefs and trainings of adults in his life and his surroundings.
Because we live in an area where few people have any idea what we do or why we do it, some people might judge us or have an opinion about our actions. Sadly they are just reflecting their own mirror of error. Because of preprogrammed beliefs that are never challenged many people end up judging anyone who does anything differently than they would or have experienced. It is TIME to make that cycle cease!
Here's a litmus test that you can use to see if there are any preprogrammed beliefs within your own heart that you might not be aware of that are holding you back-
A. When you find out that someone has done, performed or accomplished something that you are not currently good at, is your first thought criticism or defense?
B. Do you believe that people who make a lot of money are required to give it away and are in some 'unspoken code' obligated to give back? Do you believe that someone could never get to high levels of income without doing something illegal, immoral or dishonest?
C. What is your first thought when someone does something differently than you would? Do you feel compelled to give your opinion?
D. Do you grow weary with the way people who are successful do things, especially when they are not things you would do?
Imagine, if you will, that some of the following situations might exist in your area-
What if the person with the 4 carat diamond ring and Lexus convertible lives on less than 5% of their income? Does it bother you or inspire you?
When you see someone else succeed, is it a threat to your own personal success, an inspiration to your goals or is it a challenge to your own self-confidence?
One thing this particular young man might have never thought to ask would be,
"What does your Mom do? Does she teach others to do it as well?"
I'd be willing to bet his parents, grandparents, teachers and other leaders may never have thought to consider these things as well.
My friends, how can you personally make A Real Change in your life and those around you?
Sandi Krakowski is a "Back To Basics Step By Step Business" expert who currently serves more than 100,000 clients in over 136 countries. Her systems help the average business owner as well as big corporations get extra-ordinary results quickly. She has a track record for her 'bringing it into action' processes that company owners find easy to implement with quick results. She has been working online successfully for the last 14 years.
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