Monday, March 30, 2009
No Matter What
Want to find out what the five key things were that Marybeth and I called our "No Matter What's" when we were getting out of debt? Go here and find out!
Friday, March 27, 2009
Learning to Live Financially free
It's here! Marybeth and I have recently published a book with Kregel called "Learning to Live Financially Free." In it, we tell our story of working our way out of $99,000 worth of credit card, car, student loan, and IRS debt. There’s also a ton of practical stuff we’ve learned like making a budget and teaching your kids about finances.
We also have a new blog! Come visit us at http://www.marybethandcurt.blogspot.com/ to get daily updates, tell us your story about getting out of debt, or to email us your questions. We look forward to hearing from you!
We also have a new blog! Come visit us at http://www.marybethandcurt.blogspot.com/ to get daily updates, tell us your story about getting out of debt, or to email us your questions. We look forward to hearing from you!
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
Cost or Investment?
Recently, I was talking to a friend about some stuff going on in his company. Times are tight and he was complaining about all his company's cost cutting. He mentioned that the latest thing that their corporate office is focusing on is mileage reimbursements to the sales guys when they travel to see customers. The accounting department is coming down hard on field sales because of the money being spent and demanding that they cut cost.
I couldn't help but think of how differently two people can see the same situation. One guy can look at this travel cost and see an "expense," something that the company should cut back on. I on the other hand look at this cost and see "investment." If anything in these hard economic times, we should be seeing our customers more not less!
There are a lot of things going on in this economy that we can't control. Companies are cutting back on spending money. Loans are harder to get. People are unfortunately losing their jobs. But one thing I know, we still have choices. We can choose to carry a positive attitude about us. We can choose to spend more time with our customers stressing the value our products bring to market. We can choose to give better service, not worse.
Sure, times are tough. But we can either focus all our energies on what we can't do, or we can choose to use this as an opportunity to invest and beat our competitors to the punch!
I couldn't help but think of how differently two people can see the same situation. One guy can look at this travel cost and see an "expense," something that the company should cut back on. I on the other hand look at this cost and see "investment." If anything in these hard economic times, we should be seeing our customers more not less!
There are a lot of things going on in this economy that we can't control. Companies are cutting back on spending money. Loans are harder to get. People are unfortunately losing their jobs. But one thing I know, we still have choices. We can choose to carry a positive attitude about us. We can choose to spend more time with our customers stressing the value our products bring to market. We can choose to give better service, not worse.
Sure, times are tough. But we can either focus all our energies on what we can't do, or we can choose to use this as an opportunity to invest and beat our competitors to the punch!
A Losing Record?
Four years ago, I was asked to coach a start up football team at a large Baptist church in our area. Although I played football through high school, I’d never coached before. It had been years since I’d studied plays or practiced the fundamentals. Nevertheless, I agreed to help coach this new team of 10, 11, and 12 year olds.
We had a lot of things working against us that season. To start, I was a rookie head coach. While most teams in our league had 24 or more players, we had 14, most of which had never played football before. And except for a few, most of the boys on the team were tiny.
I’d like to tell you that we had a made-for-a-Christmas-movie kind of season where we make the playoffs, and win the state title with a miracle field goal in the final second of the game! Unfortunately, the opposite was true. Our team was 0 and 8. There were many games that we never scored a touchdown. For a guy who’s very competitive, who played on teams that won city championships, and whose high school team advanced deep into the state playoffs, this was hard pill to swallow.
Over the course of the season, even though I kept on a good face and spoke words of encouragement to each kid individually, inside I felt like those months spent with that team was a failing effort and wasted time.
Then one day about a year ago, I was eating lunch with a friend in downtown Charlotte. We were sitting out at a table on the sidewalk. A man vaguely familiar came up to me and introduced himself.
“You might not remember me,” he said, “but you coached my son several years ago in football.” I assured him that I did remember both him and his son, a boy who at ten years old had been the quarterback of our team. The man went on, “I just wanted you to know that my son had such a great year that year. He had never really been interested in sports up until then, but after that season with you, he developed a real love for the game of football. He kept playing and all these years later he is a starting outside linebacker on his high school football team. I wanted you to know what an impact you had on him.”
He walked away and I realized that it’s wasn’t the record that mattered that year. A life was changed in the middle of a losing season.
As parents, we also get caught up in the day to day struggles we have with our kids. A lot of days it seems like we’re going 0-8, we struggle to fight our discouragement, and feel like our efforts are failing. But take heart. Our kids are watching and learning and will model what they see.
It’s not your record that matters, but the kind of coach you are for your team.
We had a lot of things working against us that season. To start, I was a rookie head coach. While most teams in our league had 24 or more players, we had 14, most of which had never played football before. And except for a few, most of the boys on the team were tiny.
I’d like to tell you that we had a made-for-a-Christmas-movie kind of season where we make the playoffs, and win the state title with a miracle field goal in the final second of the game! Unfortunately, the opposite was true. Our team was 0 and 8. There were many games that we never scored a touchdown. For a guy who’s very competitive, who played on teams that won city championships, and whose high school team advanced deep into the state playoffs, this was hard pill to swallow.
Over the course of the season, even though I kept on a good face and spoke words of encouragement to each kid individually, inside I felt like those months spent with that team was a failing effort and wasted time.
Then one day about a year ago, I was eating lunch with a friend in downtown Charlotte. We were sitting out at a table on the sidewalk. A man vaguely familiar came up to me and introduced himself.
“You might not remember me,” he said, “but you coached my son several years ago in football.” I assured him that I did remember both him and his son, a boy who at ten years old had been the quarterback of our team. The man went on, “I just wanted you to know that my son had such a great year that year. He had never really been interested in sports up until then, but after that season with you, he developed a real love for the game of football. He kept playing and all these years later he is a starting outside linebacker on his high school football team. I wanted you to know what an impact you had on him.”
He walked away and I realized that it’s wasn’t the record that mattered that year. A life was changed in the middle of a losing season.
As parents, we also get caught up in the day to day struggles we have with our kids. A lot of days it seems like we’re going 0-8, we struggle to fight our discouragement, and feel like our efforts are failing. But take heart. Our kids are watching and learning and will model what they see.
It’s not your record that matters, but the kind of coach you are for your team.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
