I love being an entrepreneur! I love talking to business owners and finding out why and how they got their start. We never talked about such things when I was growing up. Yet, my brother had many books on sales, marketing and having the right attitude. I remember reading a book at his house called Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill. This was the first book that taught me the idea that our thinking can determine our actions. Unfortunately, I never discussed the fact that I read that book with my brother, nor any other ideas about business or entrepreneurship.
I have a great desire to have my children read such books because I know how much they have assisted me in my journey. One day, I read on an ezine about how someone had encouraged their teenager begin this journey of personal development by actually paying the teen after he read and discussed the books. I loved the idea and decided to implement that with my own children.
So, yesterday was my son's 14th birthday! We discussed this idea a few days before. I told him that there were a number of books I thought would assist him in his personal development and his desire to become an entrepreneur. Here's what we came up with: a list of 25 books to be read in order. One book, with a 500 word essay of what the book was about and what he learned, would be turned into me before the 18th of each month. After our discussion, I would then place a set amount of money in an account to begin building the nest egg for the purchase of his own car. But here's the deal: it's all 25 books or nothing! If he doesn't finish the list, the money has to sit there and be used for college. If he finishes all the books, he will have a nice nest egg to purchase a car of his choice- once he gets his license and after achieving his eagle scout.
"Great!," he said," I have to get my eagle scout AND do all this reading before I can drive."
"Yes, but think of it," I replied," You still win. If you finish all these books you will be way ahead of most college students. Maybe you will have figured out what business you want to start. And you will be able to have enough money to buy a new car of your choice. If you don't read all of them, you'll have a nice nest egg for college, and you will have been exposed to some of the ideas that have made other entrepreneurs successful. So, either way, you'll have more money and will have expanded your mind as well."
"Yeah, I guess you're right," he agreed, "and it'll help me in my writing as well"
Later, I started thinking, "what if everyone challenged themselves to read a book a month? How would our society change?"
Are you ready for a change? Are you ready to start your journey of personal development?
If you want the list of books I'm giving to my son, email me at: janeinlpaso@gmail.com
Thursday, November 19, 2009
Thursday, November 12, 2009
The Veteran's Wife
Yesterday in the US was Veteran's Day. My husband and son were dutifully up at 5:30 to go around the neighborhood and place flags in neighbors' yards as a fundraiser with the Boy Scouts. They do this about 6 times a year and round robin the duty so one patrol doesn't have the brunt of it all.
Later, our young neighbor boy brought over a card for my husband. Although this family wasn't in our neighborhood when my husband was called back on active duty, he still knew that Steve had served and felt it appropriate to honor him in this special way. I laughed, as he didn't know I too was in the military for 3 years.
In the afternoon talking to my sister, she asked me about a poem about the "Waiting Wife" if I knew about it or heard about it.( My sister suffers from some memory loss due to an event that put her in a coma for 6 weeks about 14 years ago.) She ended with the comment, "Maybe these are the first 2 lines of a poem I'm supposed to write about waiting wives." She should know! As a wife of 21 years to a military officer there were many deployments, Vietnam, Germany, Korea not to mention simple exercises that had her husband gone for weeks at a time.
As I am the youngest and she being the oldest, I would often go visit her to help her out while her husband was away. I guess this gave me a routine to visit when husband's are away. It seemed that I would always be visiting my family while my own husband was gone for some exercise or other. One particular visit, one of my young nephews asked me," Aunt Jane are you and Uncle Steve divorced?" I was shocked! What made him ask such a question? Then he explained, " I always hear about Uncle Steve, but I don't think I ever met him."
This made me ponder. Aren't I blessed that I can come visit my family while my husband is deployed? Many military wives do this: when hubby deploys they go home to their family. But many wives must stay where they are. This last deployment I didn't have the luxury to make too many visits with 5 kids in school and activities,a home to care for,and a business to grow.
Instead, the family in my community assisted me to cope during this trial. I remember the first Christmas one of the boys from our Boys Scout Troop and Parish came over to help put up Christmas lights. That same Christmas my cousin's friend's organization gave Christmas presents to families of deployed soldiers, and she recommended us. My kids were overwhelmed with wonderful gifts. There were many other examples that people helped, and for that, I will always be grateful. Unfortunately, I also know many wives who aren't supported while their husbands are away. They don't feel they fit in the community, no one seems to reach out and they feel isolated and alone.
Yes, it is a very good thing to thank our veterans and our active duty soldiers by making cards and sending them care packages. And when you do, please remember the wife who takes care of the home front. If there is some one in your neighborhood,your child's class or in your church who has a loved one currently depoyed, ask them over for dinner, make brownies for them, or offer to babysit so they can have a night with some friends. Because Veteran's Wives serve the country too!
For more information about Jane go to:
http://www.wealthyhomeschoolmom.com/
Later, our young neighbor boy brought over a card for my husband. Although this family wasn't in our neighborhood when my husband was called back on active duty, he still knew that Steve had served and felt it appropriate to honor him in this special way. I laughed, as he didn't know I too was in the military for 3 years.
In the afternoon talking to my sister, she asked me about a poem about the "Waiting Wife" if I knew about it or heard about it.( My sister suffers from some memory loss due to an event that put her in a coma for 6 weeks about 14 years ago.) She ended with the comment, "Maybe these are the first 2 lines of a poem I'm supposed to write about waiting wives." She should know! As a wife of 21 years to a military officer there were many deployments, Vietnam, Germany, Korea not to mention simple exercises that had her husband gone for weeks at a time.
As I am the youngest and she being the oldest, I would often go visit her to help her out while her husband was away. I guess this gave me a routine to visit when husband's are away. It seemed that I would always be visiting my family while my own husband was gone for some exercise or other. One particular visit, one of my young nephews asked me," Aunt Jane are you and Uncle Steve divorced?" I was shocked! What made him ask such a question? Then he explained, " I always hear about Uncle Steve, but I don't think I ever met him."
This made me ponder. Aren't I blessed that I can come visit my family while my husband is deployed? Many military wives do this: when hubby deploys they go home to their family. But many wives must stay where they are. This last deployment I didn't have the luxury to make too many visits with 5 kids in school and activities,a home to care for,and a business to grow.
Instead, the family in my community assisted me to cope during this trial. I remember the first Christmas one of the boys from our Boys Scout Troop and Parish came over to help put up Christmas lights. That same Christmas my cousin's friend's organization gave Christmas presents to families of deployed soldiers, and she recommended us. My kids were overwhelmed with wonderful gifts. There were many other examples that people helped, and for that, I will always be grateful. Unfortunately, I also know many wives who aren't supported while their husbands are away. They don't feel they fit in the community, no one seems to reach out and they feel isolated and alone.
Yes, it is a very good thing to thank our veterans and our active duty soldiers by making cards and sending them care packages. And when you do, please remember the wife who takes care of the home front. If there is some one in your neighborhood,your child's class or in your church who has a loved one currently depoyed, ask them over for dinner, make brownies for them, or offer to babysit so they can have a night with some friends. Because Veteran's Wives serve the country too!
For more information about Jane go to:
http://www.wealthyhomeschoolmom.com/
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
