[Think As Inc.] September 2, 2008 Newsletter/ MONEY MATTERS

[Think As Inc.] September 2, 2008 Newsletter

Something to Think About: MONEY MATTERS

Inspirational Quote: FRIEDRICH NIETZSCHE

News and Upcoming Events: STARTUP NATION CONTEST

Your life is a business. You have a:

MISSION: the reasons you live your life;

BRAND: the message you project to the world;

PRODUCT LINE: the skills and qualities that are your unique assets;

BOTTOM LINE: your financial picture;

CLIENT BASE: professional, personal, and don’t forget, yourself.

Your life is YOUR business, and you are its CEO.

Money Matters

When I was young I used to think that money was the most important thing in life. Now that I am old, I know it is. - Oscar Wilde

Did you read that and think Wilde was too cynical? Should he have acknowledged family or community or accomplishment? Should you focus on following your dreams, and money be damned? Well, dreams often require money. Certainly if we didn’t have to work for money we could work exclusively for our dreams. So, in that way, money gives us time. Furthermore, if we didn’t worry about money we could focus that energy towards our dreams. So, in another way, money gives us energy. Thus, money matters: it provides the capital, time and energy for our dreams.

Everyone earns, spends, and pays taxes. Therefore, everyone needs to understand money. If you’re a creative, that is no excuse for not mastering your money. You still need to understand royalties, licensing, and pricing. If you’re a finance professional, you still need to master your personal bottom line. Are you as good at cost-cutting at home as for your employer?

If your life is your business and you are its CEO, then money matters. It is not greedy or superficial or wrong to appreciate money. Your bottom line deserves time and attention. You need to know how much you’re taking in, how much is going out, what is left, and how to make whatever changes necessary. You need to know what your product is worth and how to price it and sell it. You need to know how to allocate your money to the different clients in your life. You need to put money aside for branding, research and development, and all those easily overlooked investments in yourself. There is a lot for you to do with money and a lot that money can do for you, and the first step is to just admit that money matters.

Inspirational Quote

He who has a strong enough why can bear almost any how. -- Friedrich Nietzsche

News And Upcoming Events

Want to see a cute picture of my youngest kid, Katie?

Want to support my career coaching firm, SixFigureStart, in StartUpNation's Home-Based Business 100 online contest?

You can do both at the following link.

http://www.startupnation.com/homebased100/contestant/453/index.php

Don't forget to cast your vote while you're on the profile. You can vote once each day through most of October. Please forward to friends and family! Thanks for voting!

While this picture of Katie is one of my personal faves, I picked it specifically to draw attention to a serious issue in the career development of college students, SixFigureStart's area of expertise...I describe it briefly in the StartUpNation post and go through it in more detail in SixFigureStart’s Aug 22 blog post http://sixfigurestart.wordpress.com/2008/08/22/reading-writing-arithmeticand-career-coaching/

If you have friends who may want to join the distribution list, please have them visit http://home.ezezine.com/2034/ to sign up. You can also see previous newsletters at that link.