RoslynReynolds.com

What is your goal?

Tuesday, January 13th, 2009 | Goals, Principles of Wealth, Service, The Healing Power of Service | No Comments

When my husband drowned, we didn’t have enough life insurance to pay off the house. So, here I am, needing to support my family, and feeling a desire to understand how to build true wealth.

I listened to Richard Paul Evans’ seminar, The Five Lessons a Millionaire Taught Me About Life and Wealth, and I learned that only 5% of Americans save up enough during their lifetime to retire comfortably. This, in the richest nation in the world!

Obviously, as a nation we are missing something. There have to be principles that, if followed, can put us – any of us – up in that five percent. So, I am making a study of the “principles of prosperity” (try googling that – I came up with over seven million results!)

As my time is limited, I am studying only the classics of the genre, and those I feel led to read. I’ve started with Napolean Hill’s Think and Grow Rich, picking up other books and gleaning from them what I can while working through Mr. Hill’s program.

As I read last night, I was reminded just how vital it is to have a clear goal in mind as we begin any venture. As a matter of fact, that clear goal is the very first item on the list  Napoleon Hill gives of the steps to success:
1. Fix in your mind the exact amount of money you desire.
2. Determine what you intend to give in return for the money.
3. Establish a definite date when you intend to possess the money.
4. Create a definite plan and begin at once(and I thought this next part was fascinating:)whether you are ready or not to put the plan into action. (!)
5. Write a clear Concise statement of the amount of money you intend to acquire; name the time limit for its acquisition; state what you intend to give in return for the money; and describe clearly the plan through which you intend to accumulate it.
6. Read your written statement aloud, twice daily, once just before retiring at night, and once after arising in the morning. As you read—SEE AND FEEL AND BELIEVE YOURSELF ALREADY IN POSSESSION OF THE MONEY.

He reminds us that our burning desire will help us to visualize and convince ourselves that we WILL acquire the money.

Some of my burning desires?  I want to be self-sustaining throughout my life. I want my children to be able to enjoy having me around, without having to worry about my care and upkeep as I age. I want to be able to help them when needed, with a down payment, with medical needs, with funds for missions for our church, and to have the funds necessary to be able to travel around and visit them and stay close to the grandchildren. (At present my children are spread from Utah to Washington, D.C. – my desire at some point would be to have them all close enough that we could interact regularly, and I could have ‘grandma time’ with the grandchildren weekly – but that is a completely separate topic!)

I would love to have the funds to be able to help support my community, my nation, and the world. My daughter served in Africa last year, and became acquainted with a man running an orphanage/school for seven hundred orphans.  They desperately need new buildings to house them and food to feed them. (see Timothy’sOrphans.org.) My heart aches to hear of their deprivation. Yet his concern is always for others. We recently received a text from this man when he heard of the recession in our country and he wrote: “Are you suffering terribly?” I don’t think I have ever suffered as those children do daily.
I want to help him. To do so, I need to build wealth. To do that, I need to learn the principles. And so goes my quest. For now, I know step one. I need to answer the question: What is my goal?
Perhaps you, too, are seeking a change. It could be greater prosperity, as is mine; it could be healing, it could be a hundred different things. I invite you to join me in setting a clear, definite goal, and to learn from those who have achieved wealth, so that together, we can make this world a better place.

May we all follow these steps – and begin to see the results of our burning desires!

Seeking to bless lives,

Roslyn

A New Year = A New Life

Monday, January 12th, 2009 | Building Self-Confidence, Goals, Healing after Loss, The Power of a Positive Outlook | No Comments

A New Year = A New Life
I love fresh starts! Being one who has a hard time following through on commitments, each new day brings me the chance to start again and do better. I love that early-morning feeling when everything seems possible, and the hours stretch out ahead as if never-ending.

In the movie Anne of Green Gables, Marilla encourages Anne to look ahead, not behind at her mistakes, by counseling her, “Each new day is fresh, with no mistakes in it.”
That is what I love about mornings, and new weeks, new months, and new years! Fresh starts, and no mistakes yet.

Looking back, we can see so much in our lives that we wish were different, and that we’d like to change.
I want to change my life. I want to be more consistent, more reliable, more effective, more charitable, more knowledgeable – you get the idea. I want to change!

I used to think that for something to change a life in a positive way it would have to be huge and drastic, and those things never happened to me. I have come to learn differently. The things that seem to make the longest-lasting changes are those that take just a little bit of effort, that happen one small step at a time, stretching over a long period of time.

Forming the habit of reading from the scriptures for a few moments every day has changed my life, maybe not in ways visible to an onlooker, but I am more peaceful, more hopeful, and more positive after spending that time daily with God.

Taking the time to do just a few housekeeping tasks each morning starts the day out with a basic order in our home, and that changes my attitude for the entire day.

Deciding simply to listen more attentively when my children are talking to me has improved my relationship with them, and that changes my life for the better each time I remember to do so.

We have a new year now; the opportunity for yet another fresh start. Will you join me in finding joy in that chance to start over, to try to do a little better this next year?

May you find increased peace, hope, and healing in 2009, starting fresh, today.
Looking forward,

Roslyn