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What Are Passive Income Programs?

July 31st, 2009 by Michael Feil

Today I am featuring an article from my friend and mentor Brad Weinman. Brad has been involved with Passive Income Programs for over 10 years now and makes a very steady and healthy living just from these kind of programs. If you want to learn more about Brad and gain even more knowledge about passive income programs you can visit his site at http://www.passiveprofitsmadeeasy.com. Thanks Brad for the great info!

The Definition of Passive Income

I’m sure you’d agree that if you ask 10 strangers on the street what their definition of “passive income” is, you’ll probably get 10 different answers.

But in general terms, creating passive income means that once you’ve invested your time, money and energy developing and creating an income stream, it should, ideally, continue to produce an ongoing income for you with little or no work on your part.

Then, once you’ve got that passive income stream flowing, you can have the freedom to devote your quality time to either creating a new passive income stream, volunteering to a worthy cause, or just relaxing and enjoying life instead of having to work hard to maintain it. Sounds simple, right?…

Well it is… at least in theory, but we both know that there are all kinds of land minds and obstacles along the path to creating passive income streams. But before we go any further, let’s talk about…

Phase 1 – Investment Funding

If you’re like most people, you’re starting off in Phase 1… unless you inherited a family fortune, won the lottery, or are already financially independent… (and if you’re reading this, I think it’s safe to say that this isn’t a reality for you yet)…

One of the biggest challenges that comes up for people wanting to get started with investing in quality passive opportunities is a lack sufficient risk capital to fund their accounts with.

This issue has been compounded even further with everything that’s going on in our economy and what usually happens is it tends to attract people with smaller budgets to invest in questionable HYIPS (High Yield Investment Programs) and other programs that usually carry a lot of risk because you’re giving your money to someone else to ‘manage’ for you and it’s usually pooled together with everyone else’s money.

I acknowledge the fact that when you’re up to your eyeballs in debt, and stuck in a dead-end job you hate just to pay the bills, the reality if someday having time and money freedom and living your passion can seem like just a fantasy and something that will never happen.

But the bottom line is discretionary income for investing has to come from somewhere, so in this phase, it’s all about creating enough cash-flow and seed capital, which can then be used to invest into quality passive opportunities.

To move past Phase 1 into Phase 2, and ultimately into Phase 3, you have two options: 1. Lower your expenses, or 2. Increase your income. Equally as powerful of the two is lowering your expenses because it frees you from needing to work for money…

Lowering your expenses – Many people overspend in areas like eating out, paying taxes, etc., and you can save a ton of money by accounting for every single dollar you spend over the next 30 days. The first time I did this I was shocked at how much I was wasting on things like dinners out and DVDs.

Every time you spend money, write it down and then look for areas that you can cut back or even eliminate altogether. Cutting back and living without a few luxuries for a few months may be hard at first, but it’s a great way to loosen up some extra cash.

Lowering expenses is easy, most people just don’t want to do it. Think of all the excess you could live without for a little while until you’ve got some money to invest in your future.

Increase your income – For some people, it’s easier to find new ways to increase your income than to try and cut back, especially if you’re already pinching pennies. The main methods for creating cash-flow and money to invest are either from job income, business income or OPM (other people’s money).

Let’s cover this in more detail…

If you’re an employee and have very little or no extra money right now to put towards investing in passive opportunities, you only have a couple options; you either work more hours/get a second job… or you do what makes more sense – you start a business… but not just any business.

After building both traditional businesses and home-based businesses over the last 17 years, I highly recommend choosing a home-based business that allows you to start out on a shoe string budget if needed, learn some new skills, and build an extra income stream part time without interfering with your job.

I’ve said this in previous updates (sorry to those of you already in the know), but trust me when I say that if you’re an employee right now and you DON’T have a business on the side, you’re literally throwing away THOUSANDS of real dollars every year that should be staying in you and your family’s pocket.

It’s not surprising that a growing number of Americans (and Canadians, Aussies, Brits, etc.) are getting completely fed up with working half the year just to pay their taxes.

Aren’t you?

Now that might be a bit of an exaggeration, but only a minor one. I mean seriously, when you add up all of the taxes; both state and federal, school and property, sales, municipal, and on and on and on… most of us wind up paying more than 50% in taxes.

Imagine what an extra $3 – $5K or more in FREE extra income that you weren’t counting on before can do for you. Take that family vacation you’ve been planning for years, pay off some debt, or just live it up a little bit.

So here’s the scoop on where this “free” income comes from… as an employee, can deduct all kinds of expenses from your taxes and get back an extra $300 – $500+ per month from your CURRENT paycheck starting immediately.

All it takes is a ten second adjustment to an employment form. I’m talking about being able to write off your computer, internet access, cell phone bill, magazine subscriptions, seminars, even vacations, and more!

In other words, you’re gonna be able to pocket more money every month just by starting a business on the side. Your only requirement is to show an INTENT to make a profit. If you don’t make a profit your first year (which is highly unlikely), you still get the take the deductions and keep more of your own money.

By the way, I’ve been recommending Ron Mueller’s book to my family and friends for years, “It’s Not How Much You Make, It’s How Much You KEEP That Counts.”

You can pick it up on Amazon.com for less than $40. If you’re currently employed and don’t have a clue about what’s deductible and what’s not, be sure to pick up a copy of this book so you can fill the holes in your leaky bucket starting TODAY!

Make no mistake about it, with the world economy in the tanker and the unemployment rate above 10% in several states, one of the smartest things employees can do right now, if you don’t yet have one… is START A BUSINESS!

Let’s be clear – These funds are NOT intended to be used to invest in HYIPS, gambling, or any other type of money games. They’re for funding verifiable investment opportunities where you have 100% control over how your money’s invested.

So Phase 1 is all about acquiring sufficient funds to invest with, however, some people are able to skip Phase 1 altogether and start at Phase 2 right away…

Phase 2 – Choosing & Investing in Passive Programs

In this phase, you use the extra money you’re making above your cost of living and invest it in passive income-producing assets. Getting here is an accomplishment in itself, so pat yourself on the back. Once you have sufficient funds to invest with, it’s time to decide how you want to allocate it.

Conventional wisdom has taught us that we can generate passive income by investing into stocks and bonds, mutual funds, real estate, and also investing in businesses… but as we’ve all seen lately, we know that many of these ‘conventional’ options can leave us in the poor house if your timing is off.

What’s best for others might not be what’s best for you. So before you decide on what might be the best passive income generating investment methods for you, here are 5 critical areas to consider:

1) How much risk capital do I need to start with?

The amount of money you need to invest really depends on the kind of lifestyle goals you envision for yourself, and just as importantly, your risk tolerance level.

Some passive programs, like managed forex accounts for instance, normally require a minimum starting balance of $10K, while other opportunities have minimums of $500, or less.

As an investor, you’re responsible for conducting your own due diligence on any investment opportunity you’re interested in. But keep in mind that you can do all the due diligence in the world… and still lose money.

Another thing to consider; is it a one-time cash outlay? Or is it a recurring investment plan, where you need to continue to invest more money into it to maintain generating the level of passive income that you need? These are important questions you’ll need to get answers to.

2) What’s the actual net rate of return?

The annual percentage return realized on any investment, minus any fees or inflation, etc. is your net rate of return.

For example, let’s say one of your investments pays you an average of 20% per year on your money. If the inflation rate is currently 3% per year, and you didn’t have any other fees, then the net return on your investment would be 17%.

In addition to the net rate of return, here are some additional questions to consider:

What’s the return frequency? Does it pay monthly, quarterly or yearly?

Are your funds liquid? Can you withdraw them at anytime?

What are some of the major factors which can affect the rate of return?

How about compounding? Can the returns be compounded upon themselves?

3) What are the risks involved?

Before starting the process of choosing various investment programs for your portfolio, every investor should establish his/her risk tolerance level. The higher the degree of risk involved in the investment portfolio, the greater the chances of higher returns (and losses).

The setting of your risk tolerance level is a really subjective issue. But as a general rule, the younger you are, the more risk you can afford to take since you have more time to fix the losses.

On the other hand, older investors will want to take a more conservative approach since they have less time in front of them. Either way, there’s always gonna be a trade off between taking a bigger risk and reaching your financial goals faster, or choosing lower risk opportunities which take longer to pay off.

What’s the risk exposure of your chosen investments?

There are a lot of investments with extremely low levels of risk. These include US Treasury bonds and bills. They’re “risk free” because they’re guaranteed by the US government. Certificates of deposit (CDs), which are issued by banks are federally insured and ‘almost’ risk-free.

Obviously, the price you pay for a low risk investment is a low profit. Add to that inflation and taxes and most if not all of your profits are eaten up – ouch!

On the flip side, you could lose all or some of your initial investment and/or your earnings if you’re not careful. You’ve gotta be fully aware of the risks involved and then make a judgment call based on the risk to reward ratio.

Follow The 3 Rules of Investing:

Rule #1 – Don’t play with the milk money! In other words, never use funds you can’t afford to lose. Do not max out your credit cards or spend money that you need to live on. Do not deplete your savings or put your financial health at risk, EVER! Start with “Test The Water Money.”

Rule #2 – Your Principle is your PAL. Recover your principle. Be sure to pay yourself back your initial investment as soon as possible so you can plant the next harvest. Then re-invest with your profits.

Rule #3 – DIVERSIFY! As any financial advisor and in fact anyone with a little common sense will tell you – you should always spread the risk. Ideally, spread out whatever amount you have to work with into several investment opportunities to reduce your risk. Never put all your eggs in one basket. If one venture goes south, you still have the others intact to produce income.

Build your portfolio up to no less then five to ten (or more) passive programs… it may take time, but this is the proper way to do it. Do not, I repeat, do NOT put all your eggs in a single program or two.

And remember to also be patient – I only had to ‘burn my hands on the stove’ one time to learn that important lesson! Smart money stays in an income-earning position. Impatient money usually always eventually loses!

This is like growing a tree, not winning the lottery. You plant many seeds, some will grow and others will wither right away. Water them and tend to them, you can force them a little, but rapid growth is usually shaky and weak, and can collapse on you. After a while, you’ll have several growing “trees” which reach a level where they take off and are generating a healthy passive income for you.

A good philosophy to apply in this arena is best described by Alexander Graham Bell 1847-1922, Inventor and Teacher of the Deaf: “When one door closes another one opens; but we so often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door, that we do not see the ones which open for us.”

4) Are the profits easily accessible?

Liquidity is another critical part of a sound investment strategy.

Can you get a hold of your profits and/or seed capital when you need it?… Or are the profits only accessible during a certain frequency or period?…

Monthly? Quarterly? Yearly?

HOW are your profits paid to you?… Via physical checks? Wire transfer? Online processor?

Are there any other fees involved? Like fund transfer charges, performance or withdrawal charges?

Being able to have access to your money when you want it is an aspect of investing that requires careful consideration since there are many investment instruments that require your money is locked for sometimes months at a time, otherwise you’ll be forced to pay a penalty for early withdrawal, if that’s even possible.

5) Are your investments truly passive?

Some investments require constant monitoring, some don’t.

Do you need to constantly watch the markets in order to avoid losing potential profits and/or your seed capital? Do you need continuous effort to manage and/or maintain your investments?

I’ve found that regardless of the passive income streams you’ve created, there’s always gonna be some effort or maintenance involved in keeping that investment earning money for you.

Even investing in a CD requires you to review new rates and rollover an expired CD into a new one. While the time may be minimal, just like watering your garden, you still have to maintain and nurture your portfolio!

All these questions will hopefully help you to determine the viability of your investments to generate enough passive income to fund the lifestyle of your dreams.

Phase 3 – The Reward

This is the ultimate stage when your passive income covers your cost of living, and them some.

Once you reach Phase 3, you have an abundance of money and you have multiple streams protecting you in case one dries up prematurely.

I’m a firm example that it can be done. I have a decent amount of seed capital working for me right now, but things weren’t always that way. In fact, I busted my butt for many years to get to where I am today and gradually built things up over time, fine-tuning my strategy and becoming wiser and more experienced along the way.

You can do the same, but without having to go through the same trial and error I went through.

Today Chiara and I have more freedom than we ever had before. It took many years to get to this stage, but we have the comfort of knowing that no matter what challenges might cross our path in life, our financial future is secure. That comfort gives me tremendous peace of mine and more importantly, the freedom and desire to share my experience with you so you too can enjoy a higher quality of life.

In conclusion, moving through the 3 Phases of creating passive income streams can be very challenging at times, but the end result is the reward of having your money working hard for you so you can live your life’s true purpose.

We already know that not every income stream created will be successful. The key is to recognize what works and what fails and use that information moving forward to your advantage. Following the strategies above is one way to put you on the right path for success, but it’s also important to figure out what works best for you.

Picture yourself sitting with friends and family on a sunny beach without a care in the world. Is this how you want to retire? Hey, maybe the beach isn’t your thing and you want to devote your spare time to do volunteer work? Or maybe you wanna be able to stay at home and raise your kids first hand instead of someone else doing it?

Regardless of your long term goals, creating passive income isn’t always easy, but as long as you know what you want, have a plan, and stick to it, there’s nothing that can stop you from living the life of your dreams!

I hope this roadmap has helped you. If you’re already enjoying life at the higher stages, congratulations! I’ve found that the fun is in the journey, not the end result!

Tags: Internet Marketing, Online Marketing, Passive Income, passive income programs
Posted in Passive Income | 3 Comments »

Using RSS Shortcode To Support Your Tribe

July 28th, 2009 by Michael Feil

Since we’ve been talking about how important Tribes are I feel it’s important to show you another way to support your Tribe Members.

This method will give your Tribe Members more exposure and it’s a great way to promote their blogs. If you have a blog from WordPress.org you can use this powerful plug in call RSS Shortcode. Below is a video on how I use it and how to set it up.

To see it in action just go to my “Colleagues” tab at http://michaelfeil.com/colleagues/.

If this has helped you please leave a comment and Tweet it! I appreciate it!

Tags: Blog Tactics, Internet Marketing, relationships, RSS Shortcode, Social Media Marketing, Tribes
Posted in Social Media Marketing | 2 Comments »

How Can Tribes Help Me?

July 23rd, 2009 by Michael Feil

Today we are going to talk about something very important that can make or break your business, and that is a tribe.

What is a Tribe?

A Tribe is a group of your social media friends who have banded together over nothing more than a particular shared interest. That interest could be to support a cause, to promote a band, to make money, or what ever else they want to do. Basically, the Tribe bands together to help other members out.

My Tribe consists of other home based business owners that want to make a difference in this world as well as make some money along the way. My Tribe understands that in order for us to be successful in our own personal lives we must help other people be successful first because when they become successful we too will be successful. It’s just how it works…and it DOES work!

So what we do is promote each other’s content. PERIOD! There are some “Tribal Leaders” that say, “Well, I will promote their educational content but I will not promote any of their money making products or services because if I do that I will be putting money in their pockets and none in mine.” This is a totally wrong way of thinking and if you are A Tribal Leader that thinks this way you may have your Tribal members for a while but you will eventually lose your members because they are going to see that you are not fully committed to their cuase or mission.

Like I said, build other people up, help them succeed, and you too will succeed and rise to the top!

Now a Tribe is different from a Community. Here is how Michael Dell explains the significance of a Community. He has what’s called the “3 Cs” which is Content, Commerce, and Community. Michael Dell said that in order for you to be the leader on the internet you need to have Good Content. You need to offer something of value to the people. Then you need Commerce. You need to sell something that people want or need. But nothing will happen if you don’t have a Community of people that will support and follow you.

The Community won’t happen until you get with a few good Tribal Leaders that will help you promote yourself and your product or service. The Tribe comes first, the Community will follow. But the great thing is that the community will not only follow you, they will follow all the members in your Tribe because you all will be promoting each other and be seen as “The Elite” or the leaders and experts in the field you are representing.

How do you form a Tribe?

All you really need to do is just ask a few people if they would be in agreement to start promoting each others content (educational and fancial). Normally you want to seek out people that have similar interests as you do.

From that piont you will be promoting their content on your blog, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, MySpace, and where ever else you can. Naturally they will be doing the same.

What if they don’t keep their end of the bargain?

For me it’s a two step process. First, I would send them an email to see if they are OK, having problems, stuck on something, and to see if I can help in any way. If they say they are good, but still don’t promote your content then I would just drop them and find someone else out there that is more reliable. Believe me, there are pleanty of people out there that would be willing to partner up with you.

Things happen in people’s lives, circumstances change, and people change. Sometimes people are all gung-ho when they first start then lose their momentum if they get frustrated. That’s OK, this business may not be for them. So just find someone else to take their place, but the important thing is to make sure you hold each other accountable. You need to keep your end of the bargain and they need to keep theirs.

Once you start your Tribe and everyone is putting out each other’s content you will soon see people wanting to correspond with you and wanting to know what you’re all about. The more valuable content you put out the faster your community will grow.

So that is a brief summary as to what a Tribe is and how a Tribe can help build your business fast!

My challenge to you is if you do not have a Tribe yet seek out a few people and start your own Tribe.

Now I want to leave you with a short video of Seth Godin talking about the importance of Tribes. Enjoy!

If you like this please comment and retweet! I greatly appreciate it!

Tags: Tribes
Posted in Internet Marketing, Leadership, Social Media Marketing | 15 Comments »

Surprise Wedding: Yes, You Read That Right!

July 18th, 2009 by Michael Feil

Because I know most of you only through the internet I want you to fully know me; not just professionally but personally too. So here’s a little peak into my life. Although this happened a little over a year ago I want to share with you one of the best days of my life.

Well, Christina and I celebrated 10 years of marriage on 2/28/08. I am very happy with her, our children, and our plans for the future. One thing that Christina wished was that we had the wedding she always wanted when we first got married. You know, the kind of wedding girls always dream about. Unfortunately she didnt’ get that wedding because of some family situations and money, so she got a very small, immediate family only, wedding.

Well, I gave her a Surprise Wedding on our 10 Year Wedding Anniversary. This video is of me addressing the wedding attendees on what exactly I did and how I did it….

Here is what Christina saw when the limo pulled up to the same church we got married at 10 years ago. The two little girls are our daughters. It was awesome to have them in the wedding!

The Wedding Party

Here’s Christina’s reaction when the limo pulled up to the church. By the way, Christina is deaf so when I first talk to her I say, “I konw you didn’t get the wedding you wanted 10 years ago when first got marred so I wanted to give you the wedding you always wanted. Will you marry me again?”

So we had a formal wedding ceremony with 150 of our closest friends and family and then had a great reception at a very nice ball room a few miles away from the church. It was a great day and the best gift I could have given her for our anniversary. She is a great woman and deserved it!

The Happy Couple

If you like this please Retweet it and leave a comment while you’re here! I’d love to hear from you!

Tags: Character, communication, dreams, Marriage, relationships
Posted in Leadership | 9 Comments »

Are You On The Right Highway?

July 14th, 2009 by Michael Feil

The Dream Highway

Today I want to go back to the Launching A Leadership Revolution by Chris Brady and Orrin Woodward. In the book they talk about a specific highway that leaders need to be on in order to be
successful. If you visualize a leader you are going to visualize someone that is a mover and a shaker. Someone that is launching a plannedassult on the status quo. Someone that is tired of the same old and wants to change and make things better.

Remember, a leader takes people somewhere. The moment the leader is not moving, the leader is not leading. And it takes ambition to keep the leadermoving.

Here’s how Chris and Orrin describe this highway in their book.

Picture success as a road that leads to you dreams:

Along each side of the road are shoulders. Often the shoulders of the roads are comprised of gravel. If a driver inadvertently runs onto the gravel, the sound serves as a warning that a course correction is required to resum traveling safely on the road. Conversely, sometime that same gravel can grip the wheels of the vehicle and pull it from the road into the ditch.

On the left shoulder is comfort. Comfort is fine in small doses and in certain areas of life, but, like gravel, it can also serve as a warning. Remember, ambition flourishes in discontent with the status quo. Discontent and comfort cannot coexist. If a leader becomes too comfortable, ambition will die, and the soft gravel of comfort can pull him or her down into the Ditch of Complacency.

Complacency is defined by Webster as “self-satisfaction accompanied by unawareness of actual dangers or deficiencies.” Complacency pulls a leader from the road of success and halts all travel toward his or her dreams, as when a car is stuck in a ditch.

There is another danger in traveling too close to the shoulder of comfort: opposing traffic. Most people in life are looking for the easy road. They want comfort and will pay the price of mediocrity to get it, so they rush toward it like cows to the barn at feeding time. If a leader attempts to lead from a position of comfort, he orshe will run smack into that mass of traffic heading in the other direction away from dreams and toward mediocrity.

Leaders, however, shun comfort and seek excellence instead.

They travel down the right lane in the diagram and away from oncoming traffic. The right lane is never crowded. There always seems to be a shortage of leaders but a plethora of people heading the other way. This is one thing that makes a leader so special. Also notice that being a leader means traveling close to the Shoulder of Frustration. In fact, this is the mark of any true leader.

Being a leader is a study in managed frustration. Any real leader traveling the Road of Success toward his or her dreams will encounter frustration along the journey.

Frustration can be healthy, but, just like the shoulder on the other side of the road, this gravel of frustration presents a trap. Too much frustration can be a warning to the leader that his or her attitude is dipping and could pull the leader down into the Ditch of Discouragement.

Discouragement is a show-stopper because it robs the leader of hope. Without hope the leader is trapped in the Ditch of Discouragement and makes no further progress toward his or her dreams.

The only way to stay away from oncoming traffic, the Shoulder of Comfort, and the Ditch of Complacency – and the only way to travel near the Shoulder of Frustration but clear of the Ditch of Discouragement – is to focus straight ahead on the dreams in front of you. Having a dream-focus keeps a leader safely on the Road to Success.

Please do two things for me:
1. Tweet this!

2. Leave me a comment to let me know what you think!

Tags: dreams, goals, Leadership, success, vision
Posted in Leadership | 1 Comment »

A Sad Situation

July 8th, 2009 by Michael Feil

Christina (my wife) and I took custody of a 17 year old girl that is a junior in high school back in October 2008 (she is now 18). She was in a very bad situation and needed a family to love and care for her. So we went through the court system and became her legal guardians. She joined our family with our two other daughters Morgan (6), and Callie (4).

Christina and I told her that if she was gonna live here she would live by our rules (which are not very strict) and she would become part of our family. We told her we would treat her like our own daughter. We gave her love, support, told her that we were proud of her, and just tried to build her up by giving her positive influence.

About five months into her staying at our house we noticed a change in her. Her actions became negative, our discussions about her behavior became more often, and even though we showered her with the care and affection every daughter needs her behavior became worse.

About a month ago she was scheduled to fly and see her mom for a month. The night before she left she did something so bad that it put my family (especially my two little girls) in a dangerous situation. After I took care of this dangerous situation my wife and I talked with her for the next four hours about her life, her actions, her decisions, and what’s been going on recently. We found out about a lot of bad stuff that was going down.

The next day when before Christina dropped her off at the airport I told her that she has 1 month to think about her actions and how she wants to live, and Christina and I has 1 month to decide if we are going to accept her back into our family, let alone into our house again.

During this past month Christina and I found out even more stuff that was going on and that was continuing to go on while she was away. So that shows us that she still doesn’t care about her actions nor the harmful life that she is living. So I informed her today that she will not living with us when she arrives back to Delaware, and that she can live with her dad now that he is back in town (which isn’t a great situation but she made the decision by her actions).

I think there are two main themes here (I may think of more as I am typing).
The first one is SELF-RESPCT. One thing that we have found out and that she has admitted is that she doesn’t have any self-respect. If you don’t respect yourself or have any self-worth then you can’t have any meaningful goals, dreams, or aspirations. Without self-respect you will never be successful. Without self-respect you life will go into a downward spiral.

Self-respect is vital to living a healthy lifestyle, making the right decisions, and learning to love yourself. If you can’t love or accept who you are then of course you will walk around with a non-caring attitude and you will put yourself in every bad situation that you can possibly think of.

People can not make you respect yourself. That has to come deep from within you. Christina and I saw the potential in this young girl. She finished this year on the honor roll, getting sports awards, and was really in a good situation, but because she didn’t see what Christina and I saw (even though we gave her the positive comments and love and care that she needed) she has made several wrong decisions.

Her comment to me was that she was a mess up and will always be that way. I tried several times to explain to her that it doesn’t have to be that way. She can get out of the situation she is in and can be happy and have a good life. I gave her the example of Christina coming from a family where everyone fights and no one get along. Chrisitna made the decision one day that she is not going to live that way and took herself out of that situation because she wanted to be happy and have a good life…and she did.

I tried to explain to her (just like my tag line says) that Chrisitna and I have been feeding her POSITIVE INFORMATION these past several months, because she never ACTED on the information we gave her she never got POSTIVE RESULTS. If you act on information from someone that has more experience than you, most of the time you are going to get positive results. How’s the saying go…You can lead a horse to water but you can’t make him drink.

Your life is what YOU make of it, and to be honest, life is too short to live a life of hating yourself and not caring about the world around you. Change is hard, it’s not easy, and it takes work, but if your are willing to put in the time and stick to your goals you will see small improvements there and there and eventually you will be out of the situation you were once in.

The second thing is that your actions affects others. This girl we were taking care of didn’t think of that. She was putting herself in a dangerous situation, which put my family in a dangerous situation, which put me in a dangerous situation because I had to quickly get the situation under control. So because of her negative actions she will not be living in our house anymore. So her actions have affected herself, her mom and dad because they now have to deal with her, me and Christina because of her betrayal, and my two little girls because now I have to find a way to explain to them why their “big sister” is not living with us anymore.

What ever you do, positive or negative, affects people. It doesn’t just affect yourself. Things that you do, big things or little things, have an affect on the environment around you. People notice when you do things big or small, and when they see what you do they will form an opinion, they will think about what you did, and they may respond positively or negatively to how you acted.

For example, an elderly person is having trouble carrying in their groceries from their car to their house. He sees you watching him, he already has a negative opinion formed of the “younger generation” and you do nothing to help him. This proves to him that their opinion was right. Now if you go and show one act of kindness…one positive act their opinion may be changed because you showed you care. You may not of thought what you did was a big deal, but it was an opinion changing action to that elderly person.

Your actions don’t just affect you!

So take away what you want from this post. It’s just sad to see this happen. I am disappointed in her actions, but I can say with a clear conscience that Christina and I did everything we could to help her out. She just didn’t want the help. Her negative actions are catching up to her and she is going to get hit hard soon. I just feel bad for her when that day comes. But like I said, she made her choice.

One thing’s for sure, this will not hinder Christina and I from helping people. That is what we’re about! We’re trying to make a positive impact on this world and we will do it one action at a time…and if you don’t want it we’ll move on to the next person. But I hope you want it because no one deserves to live in many of the circumstances that are out there today.

I wish you all the best! Please comment and retweet this if you can.