Reap Your Rewards

Do not be deceived: God is not mocked,

for whatever one sows, that will he also reap.

- Galatians 6:7 (ESV)

they will eat the fruit of their ways

and be filled with the fruit of their schemes

Proverbs 1:31 (NIV)

In business, you want to reap your rewards.  You seek to benefit from your business in one way or another.  Whether it is through a salary or an individual 401(k) plan, you want to reap some rewards from the blood, sweat and tears poured into the start up and establishment of your business.  Reaping the rewards is expected.

Usually, you get back more than what you put in.  Let's take the stock market for an example.  Your returns, including dividends and capital gains reinvested, over a typical ten year period will average you a rate of return somewhere between a conservative 7% or 8% return, while some aggressive investors tend to look for at least 10% or higher.  That all depends on the period of your investment like the Tech Boom or the Housing Bubble, even 9-11.

However, none of that matters if you never invest.  You have to put something in the nest egg for it to eventually hatch.  That just makes sense.  No matter your time horizon, as a business owner, you have an advantage over the average American employee.  You can contribute more towards retirement.  Yet, if you have the option and never exercise the option, then it is shame on you. 

Position yourself to advantage of your choices.  Savings bonds and your passbook savings account won't be enough with gas already over $3 and milk almost at the same price.  Look into individual 401(k) plans, SEP or Roth IRA plans, and other retirement plan options.  Make sound investments with your "salary" from your business.

You can reap, but you certainly need to be sure to sow now in order to do some reaping the future.
http://www.sharebuilder.com/ Invest a little here and there for as low as $4 per trade with this purely online deal (associated with ING Direct).
http://www.fidelity.com/ SmartCash account is a great addition to your portfolio along with their various small business investment plans for retirement.
http://www.tdameritrade.com/ Retirement guides and plans that work for all size investors.
www.ingdirect.com  Its Orange Savings and Electric Orange accounts are truly great in my opinion.

Just For the Record

  Ben Stein & Phil DeMuth do a great series for investors.
              

Discover Your Gold Mine

Ask someone in Northern California, typically called the "Gold Country," and you will discover some unique history about California's Gold Rush.  You will learn about Eureka, the original Forty-Niners (not Steve Young, Jerry Rice and those Super Bowl winners) and early settlers like the Mormons.  Gold brought about a lot of changes for what was once a wild Mexican province where the worst companies of soldiers were assigned due to the rampant bandits and Indians in the area.

What is your gold mine? Where is there hidden treasure buried or simply sitting just out of your reach?  Have you sought it out? Have you discovered any?

You need to a few suggested steps in order to discover your own gold mine these days.  If you seek this discovery wholeheartedly, you may also discover some interesting things about your character as you go along.

• Explore:  You have to start searching.  Dig through what you have and discover.  Search on the Internet and discover what opportunities exist.  Contact old classmates and see what they may know about openings or upcoming contracts.  You've got to go and get involved right where discoveries can be made.  If it's your skills and expertise, dust off your old thinking cap.  If it is a new discovery, look at how to expand it to others who may need it or want it.
• Expedite:  Let your movements be swift and strategic.  Get to it and get it done.  Don't allow yourself to get captivated by the researching and searching, thinking of it as a "piece of cake." Keep your main objective in mind and stick to it.  Know when to move on and when to dig in deeper.  Your experience will begin to teach you long before a hound dog could hunt down a raccoon.
• Experiment:  Numerous ways were used for discovering gold in California.  Panning was popular, but you also had some diggers with pick axes and others who used dynamite and other explosives, even the power of high pressure water.  Experiment with various methods to get your discovery out in a professional manner.  Try something out for a season or a quarter, evaluate it and go from there.  Keep your ideas fresh and keep them coming.
• Express: Gold miners of those early days were known for exclaiming their discoveries.  You do just the same.  Get your pr campaign rolling out with good news about what is happening with you.  Make your press releases and announcements speak volumes by being bountiful and brief.

Makeover for Mondays

Got a case of the Mondays?  Much like the lead character played by Ron Livingston in Office Space, you may find yourself in such a predicament.  You may dread getting ready and going in to work.  That may be your issue with Mondays.

Change that malfunction into a makeover.  Approach Mondays with a new freshness.  Try some things that may get you going on Mondays.

• Schedule your catch-up time at the end of the day Monday (after lunch may be best).
• "Monitor of Motivation": Adjust your screen saver and the settings to where an inspirational or motivational message scrolls across the screen when you come in on Mondays. Be sure to change it every Friday.
• Schedule a special lunch (with your wife, old buddy from high school or a retired mentor).  Get out of the office and strike up a conversation about anything but work
• Sunday Set-Up: Set your mind on work some time Sunday evening- maybe right after 60 Minutes.  Get your first orders of business together for the next day.  See if it helps .

Bible for the Busy

You may be one of those professional Christians who has everything scheduled for every moment of the day.  Meetings upon meetings seem to fill your calendar.  You may seem to find it hard to get in some daily devoted Bible intake due to your busy schedule.

Here are some simple strategies for taking in the Bible daily:

• Get the Bible downloaded to your iPod or MP3 player.
• Use the Bible on CD during your daily commute.
• Listen to the Bible at your desktop or laptop.
• Add the Bible app to your iPhone, Blackberry or Droid

These are just a few ways that a busy professional can take in the Bible daily without ever turning a page.  Use your technology to help you gain Bible knowledge as you complete your daily tasks day by day.

Environmental Control

Do you have an environment where people feel welcome?

You need to ensure that you put in place some environmental controls so that people do feel invited to come in and get comfortable.  For businesses, it makes a whole lot of sense.  For churches, it definitely makes sense, too.  How long will people stick around if they don't feel welcome or comfortable?  Think on it.

Setting the tone for some simple environmental controls, take a look at the senses.

Sight
What does the place look like? Beyond simply having a clean, trash-free environment, is it cramped, cluttered or comforting? Look at the aesthetics.  I am not saying go full feng shui, but you need to be sure to do something with the place.  Can you add some thematic artwork to the foyer or lobby? Is it too much to have some tapestries along the walls that display some colorful displays that speak volumes about your values? Take a look at the place and imagine how to add some creative touches that appeal to the eye.

Feel
Once people get in, is it comfortable for them to sit down? If it's a church and the pews are creaking and squeaking, imagine what it feels like to sit down there.  Think about revolutionizing your seating.  You can add some modern touches in an office building, too.  Add a couch that is soft and cozy.  Do you cater to children? Place a bean bag in your waiting area.  Throw in some games or a video console and TV like a Wii or PS3.  Please don't limit yourself to tradition.  Look at modern and contemporary touches to enhance the feel of the place.

Smell
This can be the unspoken trouble.  It may go unspoken but it certainly is noticed by many.  You want to control odors.  Have the trash taken out daily.  Vacuum the place at least every other day.  Use plants and flowers to spruce up the place along with some carefully-placed potpourri.  Don't over do it when you try to deodorize with sprays or heavy scents.  Everyone cannot take such smells.

Sounds
Is it dull in there? Add some sound over the intercom or sound system that plays faintly enough for enjoyment.  Just prior to church service, play an instrumental CD of gospel renditions.  Don't make this the time to pipe in your pastor's last sermon on fire and brimstone.  Let the sound be part of the foyer or lobby for those who may be filling out your guest book or viewing your church's literature or brochure.  If it is your office, be sure to have something playing that is not so loud that it disturbs the work of the business.  In addition, you don't want to play anything offensive.  You want people to feel comfortable and welcome, not thrown off by the sounds of Rage Against Machine or Korn blaring from within the place (That is, unless that's the type of place that you are running; i.e., skateboard or surf shop, tattoo parlor, etc.).

Taste
This one is tricky so I will travel through it lightly.  You may have a reception where you serve treats to your visitors and guests.  Sample your selections.  Ensure that your fruits and veggies are fresh.  Check dating on packages.  Review expiration dates.  Make it your business to ensure that you serve quality.  Remove what it is not good to serve.  Even the mints and candy in the receptionist's jar up front needs to be checked every so often.  Ensure that you serve food that tastes good at least, even if it isn't much.

Decision Division

 ²⁶ They came back to Moses and Aaron and the whole Israelite community at Kadesh in the Desert of Paran. There they reported to them and to the whole assembly and showed them the fruit of the land.

30 Then Caleb silenced the people before Moses and said, “We should go up and take possession of the land, for we can certainly do it.” 31 But the men who had gone up with him said, “We can’t attack those people; they are stronger than we are.” 32 And they spread among the Israelites a bad report about the land they had explored. They said, “The land we explored devours those living in it. All the people we saw there are of great size. 33 We saw the Nephilim there (the descendants of Anak come from the Nephilim). We seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes, and we looked the same to them.”

- Numbers 13:26, 30-32 (NIV)



I read this book some time ago and still regard it as a revealing study in leading God's people.


Here is a lesson for some would-be promise-seeker in 2011.  Let His promises drown out the pessimists, the 'problem-seers."  The difference between problem-seers and promise-seekers is vast and wide.  They are almost galaxies apart. 

Problem-seers are exactly that; they only see the problem.  They have sat and thought of every imaginable way to solve their problem on their own and in their own power, but they just can't seem to match up with their obstacles or opposition.  They only see the problem.  These people argued from a pessimistic position in response to Caleb's promise-seeking perspective.  There objection started with "We can't" and went on from there.

Remember that, when you start failing to see your opportunities from the right perspective, you can easily become objectionable, outspoken and obstinate. Don't let that be you.  Take on positive thinking and see the possibilities that exist beyond the problems that you face.

Promise-seeking looks beyond the problem.  When you seek the promises of God, you do not simply see problems.  You seek His promises.  You are aware of His presence and rely upon His power to solve the problems in order to deliver on His promises.  God is a problem-solver in order to remain a promise-keeper.  The believer's stance should be that of a promise-seeker, benefiting from the blessing of God's unleashed power to solve even the most gigantic of problems.

Caleb saw more than giant-sized occupants of the land.  He saw a land promised to God's people by the same God who delivered this very people out of enslavement and hardships.  He recognized that the same Almighty God- I AM- had provided for them with safety and supply, even in a wilderness environment.  Caleb knew what God was capable of from what he had witnessed.

Outnumbered by nays to yeas? Seek God's promises.  Put down for standing up? Seek His promises.  Trouble and conflict keep finding their way to you, even in church? Keep seeking His promises.  God is faithful. He expects us to be as well.  He rewards the promise-seeker as He proves Himself as a promise-keeper.

Grasshoppers get squashed by giants when they fail to:

• Recall God's promises
• Recognize God's presence
• Rely on God's power
• Receive God's provision

Fool Coverage

The fool has said in his heart, “There is no God.”- Psalm 53:1 (NKJV)

Foolish notions come from foolish people.  In life, your best bet may be to keep away from foolishness.  In business, it makes even more sense to do so.

I started reading Steve Marr's Business Proverbs some years ago and I always go back to it as a devotional reading when I see myself sinking into a lull of seemingly foolish decisions in business and ministry.  The book is a great resource that can keep one grounded in a biblically-based mindset for sound business practices.

Bob Briner is also a great read when it comes to management and leadership for Christians. I like The Leadership Lessons of Jesus and Roaring Lambs, but I truly have been blessed by reading The Management Methods of Jesus. 

Additionally, I have found other authors to present Christian principles for business practices in some profound and insightful books.  Laurie Beth Jones did so through The Path and Teach Your Team to Fish.  Larry Burkett's Business by the Book still speaks volumes to any budding Christian entrepreneur or manager.


You have to engage in an intentional effort to remain ethical in these days.  Don't let an uptick in sells numbers sway your thinking.  Maintain your resolve in times where fudging the numbers a bit won't hurt anyone- or so they say.  Make it your business to handle your business matters like the Master.  Make it fool-proof.  That makes sense, even if the fool is you from time to time.

Try out some of the above-mentioned titles and some others listed below:

• John C. Maxwell, Running with Giants
• Larry S. Julian, God is My CEO
• Norman Vincent Peale, The Positive Power of Jesus Christ
• 
  Bishop T.D. Jakes, Can You Stand to Be Blessed?