Leadership is...

Leadership is what you do when you want to get people from here to there.

Two principles of family finance

Inflows and outcomes

The structure that regulates family expenditure is a budget. A budget is a useful tool of resource allocation but it is not the ultimate in terms of determining wealth and success. Indeed, a budget will do no more than you tell it to do. Like the “garbage in, garbage out” principle of computer operations, people use budgets to justify their actions. While those who do use budgets should be commended for making a more than an amateur attempt at managing money, those who will succeed in creating wealth will step up to the principle of managing inflows and determining outcomes. If you appreciate that money has to come in before it can be spent, you develop a tremendous amount of respect for those who make the time an effort to generate income. Given that inflows are not a matter of visiting the bank, income is recognized as created capital some of which needs to be retained if the family is to accumulate wealth. It with this in mind that specific outcomes can be designed into the process of budgeting and the usage of those funds to facilitate family success. Principles that emerge from this understanding include; spend less than you earn, multiply what you earn and grow your savings

Seasons

Though the financial origins and circumstances of your family beginnings are unique, your destiny is determined by how well you manage the seasons of family life. Every family moves through a predictable life cycle. However, unlike the ups and downs of a normal business as a going concern, the seasons of family life are a growing concern. In other words, the concerns grow gradually and predictably over time. At the start of a family there are two youthful people with a great deal of energy and only their careers to deal with. As time moves on children and family concerns grow into rising demands of urgent attention. By middle age you family members employment or enterprise may no longer be guaranteed yet family needs are at their peak. Shortly afterwards society begins to sideline your participation in the economy and your basic needs become a crisis of continued existence. Poor preparation for seasons ahead leads to a great deal of family frustration and regret. But understanding the principle and authority of seasons will enable you to order your family life, make wise financial decisions, invest in long term priorities, build your house early and implement a strategy to earn passive income. Start sowing and saving early and by God’s grace you will harvest sustainable returns in later years that you will hand over to generations to come.   

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The only person who can spend money freely is the one who does not earn it.

The only person who can spend money freely is the one who does not earn it

There are two kinds of intelligent people in our world - where do you reside?

There are two kinds of intelligent people in our world. Clever people analyse problems. Creative people develop solutions. Clever people find out why it can’t be done, creative people find out what can be done. Interestingly, both claim to be adding value to the situation. Clever people know who should do something about it, creative people suggest how to go about it. Clever people know what could go wrong, creative people are not afraid to try. The majority know what the problem is while the minority try to solve it. Since we live in a democratic world, the majority usually wins, but the world only benefits if the minority persist.

Don't fake your confidence, create it.

I can’t help you develop your self confidence if you do not appreciate your self-worth and raise your own self esteem. A person who appreciates their self-worth works on it and enhances it through evaluation, study, discipline, character and competence. Raising your self-esteem is a measure of how much you value and utilize the investment you make in yourself. It is also a practical and realistic assessment of your capabilities and competence. Self-confidence, then, is not a facade, it is about your ability to step out and deploy your worth to create value for others and benefit humanity.

No man can turn back the hands of time.

No man can turn back the hands of time, but any man can change his character, his attitude and his competence.

The buck stops here

“The buck stops here” is a quote popularized by Harry Truman 33^rd President of the USA. He also had a plate on his desk inscribed with the same words accepting responsibility and accountability for the decisions he made. In my books it is perhaps the highest description of the word “ownership”. “Passing the buck” is a phrase used to express the lack of integrity of a person in a position of responsibility in a matter that they should handle to completion.  It is also used by fault finders to lay blame on another person for the general failure of a group or team that lacks corporate sensibility. Such people love to clean themselves and make themselves look good by making other people look bad. Unfortunately, we see a lot of this every day. When work does not get done instead of seeking to resolve the issue within our means and capability, we would rather pass the buck to the next seemingly gullible or responsible person to handle the said problem. It’s the reason why what should be done never gets done until somebody responsible shows up.

I plead with you, the world is in dire need of people who will take responsibility for their own lives, the lives of others and the work that needs to be done. Many governments, employers and entrepreneurs are hungry for one man or woman who can take ownership of their work, take pride in it, put their name to it and make it a success. Taking “ownership” will change your life, but it will also change the world around you. So dig in, take ownership of your work and do not be found in the company of those who shirk responsibility and pass the buck, the monkey or whatever else you would like to call it.