As prologue to this video, Tony writes,

“Being a Coach has given me some unique opportunities to be a part of some great people’s lives. Growing up, both my Mom and Dad were teachers who went the extra mile for their students and for our family. They were my first examples of mentors and that taught me about leadership. When I was in junior high, I had an assistant principal who showed me what it meant to really care about me as a person – not just a student. Let me tell you how his influence impacted life.”

The Mentor Leader may be purchased at Amazon and other book retailers.

Few of you have ever heard of Ron Wayne.

A lot of you have used the products that stem from his creation.

All of you need to know his story because it’s a warning to all of us.

Along with Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak, Ron Wayne cofounded Apple Computer Inc. on April Fools Day, 1976. Yes, there was a third founder of Apple. But few people know that because just twelve days after he signed the agreement he himself drafted that would have given him 10% ownership of the company, he sold back his shares. For $800. If he had stuck it out, today he would be worth around $22 billion.

Instead he now sells stamps out of his home. And plays penny slot machines after midnight. A poster child for what could have been.

Ron bailed on Jobs and Wozniak because he wasn’t sure about the future. Jobs spent a lot of money that Ron was going to have to pay the tab for initially. Wozniak was non-committal. And the prospect of starting a computer company just seemed too difficult and taxing.

Basically, Ron was afraid. Afraid that the payoff wasn’t going to be worth the work. So he quit. And missed out on billions.

Most of us are never going to really experience Ron Wayne’s story on the level at which he experienced it. Most of us are not going to be able to say that we missed out on being responsible for the birth of cool.

But I am afraid that many of us are going to sell out and accept an $800 payoff when we could have made billions. Not literally obviously. But I worry that instead of putting in the hard work and pushing through periods of uncertainty and difficulty, you’re going to take the easy way out and walk away. From your marriage that is struggling. From the calling you know you have received but is tougher than you thought it should be. From the risk you’re supposed to take.

That’s not to say that some people aren’t sometimes called to sell back their shares. The wife that is getting beat by her husband should not wait for a payoff down the road. Sometimes God calls you to a different ministry or career. To move to a new city. To play conservatively.

But more often than not, we sell out before the big payoff because we’re scared. Or we don’t want to do the hard work. Then we use God to justify a decision we have already made out of fear or apathy. And we never know what could have been down the road if we had kept persevering.

But it doesn’t have to be that way. Your story is not destined to be a cautionary tale of what could have been. God would rather raise you up to be an example for others of what can be. Of the incredible marriage that is possible through God’s grace and power. Of what God can accomplish through people who stay true to their calling.

God has a much larger payoff for you than the one you’ll receive if you give up now. Persevere. Stick it out. Push through. When the payoff comes, it will be worth the work and the waiting.

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About The Author
Steven Furtick is the Lead Pastor of Elevation Church, an incredible move of God in Charlotte, NC. He is the author of the forthcoming book Sun Stand Still. He lives in Charlotte with his wife Holly and their two sons, Elijah and Graham.

Dear Dave,

How early should I start teaching my kids about money? Also, how do you feel about giving kids an allowance?

Cathy

Dear Cathy,

I think you should start teaching kids about money as early as you start teaching them about sex—which is the first time they show any interest. Make sure you keep it age-appropriate, and don’t over-answer questions when they’re young.

Neither of these things will amount to a one-time talk, because they’re both just parts of life. That means they’re ongoing processes that will last for years. If you have one talk at an early age with your kids about money, then they’re probably not going to remember a lot of it as they get older. If you have just one talk with your kids about sex at an early age, you’re liable to wind up with a bunch of pregnant teenagers!

To answer your second question, I hate the idea of an allowance for kids, because it makes the whole situation sound like welfare. We put our kids on commission at an early age. They had chores associated with certain dollar amounts, and if they worked, they got paid. If they didn’t work, they didn’t get paid. It was as simple as that. Then, they would split their money between three different envelopes—one for saving, one for spending, and one for giving—and we would teach them to do each one wisely.

Kids need to emotionally connect work to money at a young age. If you don’t teach them four major concepts—spending, saving, giving, and work—you’re going to have major problems by the time they’re 10 years old!

—Dave

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No Pain, No Gain!

Dear Dave,

I’ve heard you talk to people about “gazelle intensity.” What exactly does this mean?

Del

Dear Del,

Basically, it means absolutely going crazy and doing whatever it takes for a little while to get out of debt. I’d much rather endure pain or discomfort for a short period of time and get it over with instead of living my whole life floundering around and accomplishing nothing in the process.

Some people probably think I’m using hyperbole when I give people advice on how to get out of debt, but I’m serious about it all. I’ve lived this stuff, man! There were literally stretches of years when we didn’t go on vacation or see the inside of a restaurant. If you want to get out of debt and get control of your money, you’ve got to be serious and intense enough to makes sacrifices on that level for a short period of time. We call it living like no one else, so that later you can live like no one else.

It’s not just dollars and cents we’re talking about here. It’s also about changing behaviors and mindsets. You don’t need to go to Disneyland every year. You don’t need to eat out every weekend. Until you’re willing to make temporary sacrifices like this—and become “gazelle intense” about taking control of yourself and your money—you’re never going to reach your goal of becoming debt-free!

—Dave

* For more financial help, please visit daveramsey.com.

How many times have you had an idea that you do nothing with, only to see it prominently displayed on the shelf at Wal-Mart?

Someone else is making money on the ingenious idea that once belonged to you. The difference is that you had a theory, while they put it to work.

Solomon noted, “He who works his land will have abundant food, but the one who chases fantasies will have his fill of poverty.”

A fantasy is expecting a future that you haven’t sown a seed for. An idea is a seed, but a seed is worthless until it is released to work.

Steps for Strategic Thinking:

1. Clearly write or draw the idea.

Put it down on paper. Process it through the filter of the vision. You must have a rendering, a picture that you can see.

2. Punch holes in it.

What is wrong with it? Address the issues of the idea. Is it workable? Are others already doing it? Why is your idea better?

3. Define the real value of what you are offering.

Does it solve a real problem? Does it serve others? Do people really need this? Will people exchange their money for your idea?

4. Create it.

Bring your idea to fruition, but don’t over invest in the development of the prototype. Some people have spent their life savings on an idea that wasn’t worth the pursuit.

5. Test it.

Ask people if your idea is worth pursuing. Determine if they are willing to pay for it. If they are not, it is not.

6. Capitalize it.

Do you need others to invest in it? If so, what is their return on investment (ROI)?

7. Market it.

How are people going to hear about what you have? Is it important enough to get the attention of people? Is it a niche item or idea?

8. Manage it.

Does the idea require your personal oversight? Can you release the idea to others, yet still make your money?

My wife, Kay, created a pillow called, Pillow of Promise. Her idea was birthed out of a burden to minister comfort and healing to people. She crafted a prototype with the embroidered word HEALTH on the front and a pocket on the back witch contained a booklet with scriptures of healing in it. She sold thousands of pillows. It was an interesting process as we manufactured them in Pakistan. After selling out of the Pillows of Promise, we put it on hold due to the political climate and trouble in Pakistan. We still receive testimonies on how a simple idea ministered to people.

An idea is worth a dollar, but a strategy is worth a million.

Emmitt Smith has run past legends, danced with stars and posed for the sculptor crafting his Hall of Fame bust. He’s built upon his athletic talents by working hard, seizing opportunities and reaching out to others for advice when he needed it.

“Football was something that was very natural for me,” the former Dallas Cowboy tells SUCCESS. “I knew that if I did the things that I needed to do, there was a good chance that I could have a long and hopefully prosperous career on the field. And, fortunately for me, it worked out that way. Still, from Day One in the NFL, I was always preparing for life after football. I understood that football was just a vehicle to take me to the next part of my life.”

During his 14 NFL seasons, as he was racing past Jim Brown and Walter Payton to become the league’s all-time leading rusher, Smith began looking for mentors, people who could help him direct his competitive spirit into the world of entrepreneurship.

“I didn’t have to look far,” he says “Right in my own backyard here in Dallas I could learn from people like [Cowboys owner] Jerry Jones or Roger Staubach. It is amazing when you look at what Roger has been able to do with the Staubach companies.”

Smith also visited Magic Johnson, whose Magic Johnson Enterprises focuses on providing quality entertainment, products and services to ethnically diverse urban communities. “I thought, ‘OK, I can duplicate what Magic did by taking my own brand and maximizing it,’ ” Smith says.

He originally built a partnership with Staubach’s very successful property management and real estate firm, but branched off several years ago to focus, like Johnson, on the urban community. Smith co-founded ESmith Legacy Inc., a Dallas-based commercial real estate company that targets opportunities in minority markets.

“I know about the things facing urban neighborhoods and what’s happening when businesses are walking away from them. That’s what makes what we’re doing—buying and renovating property in these neighborhoods—more than just business to me. I feel like it’s part of doing something bigger.”

Building for the Future

ESmith Legacy projects have included the Zenith, a 21-story luxury residential and retail project in Baltimore; a shopping center in Phoenix; and 414 Water Street, a 31-story luxury condominium building in Baltimore, according to the company’s Web site. Smith credits many mentors as positive influences on his life and career. “It’s funny, but one of the reasons I got into the real estate business is from lessons I learned from my youth football coach back when I was 11 or 12 years old. He taught me how to read floor plans and blueprints because he was involved in the business.”

Smith even pursued architecture studies at the University of Florida. His plans changed “when football went so well,” he says, “but I always had a real desire to be involved in this business.”

Later, “guys like Roger and Magic certainly were trailblazers for me. They showed what athletes are capable of doing after they transition from the game,” he says.

Grateful for the mentorship he’s had over the years, Smith is happy to do the same for other up-and-coming entrepreneurs. He’s working with organizers of next year’s North Texas Super Bowl to help female- and minority-owned businesses become eligible for contracts related to the Super Bowl.

Originally invited to serve in an honorary capacity, Smith said he preferred to roll up his sleeves and get more involved as co-chair of the Super Bowl Host Committee’s Emerging Business Action Team. “Putting your name to something is kind of passive work in a lot of ways,” he told reporters. “But when you start talking about emerging businesses, I have a small company myself that’s trying to emerge and break from the cluster. In that position, you understand some of the challenges. I bring a different perspective to the table, outside of just being an honorary chairperson.”

Read the full story at www.SuccessMagazine.com.

Dear Dave,

My husband is in the middle of serving a five-year prison sentence. We have a nine-year-old son, and we’ve sold our home and everything else of value just to get by and pay off debts. I’ve managed to pay off almost everything, but we still have about $20,000 in debt from credit cards and a car note. Our rent is $375 a month, and the car payment is $400. He was making about $100,000 a year before he was incarcerated, and the only income we have now is my monthly disability check of $1,478. Should I file Chapter 13 bankruptcy?

Samantha

Dear Samantha,

I’m really sorry you and your family have been put through all this. You’ve endured a real mess the last few years, and I know you’ve fought like crazy to keep things afloat the entire time.

First, there’s no reason for you to file bankruptcy. Chapter 13 is a payment plan, and right now you can’t make payments, keep your lights on, and feed your child. The credit card companies can wait. I’m not going to beat you up over those last two debts, especially after all the stuff you’ve been through and done, but there’s no way a car payment fits into your life, kiddo. You need a little $1,000, paid-for car, not a car payment. You can’t raise a nine-year-old on $1,478 a month when more than half of that goes out the door for rent and a car payment.

I want to get you back on solid ground so you can start growing again. I don’t have a magic wand that will turn $1,400 into $14,000, but I do want to pierce through your pain and love you enough to help you realize that you need to look at the figures and do some math. You’re not stupid, Samantha. You’re an amazingly courageous person. But you do need to sell that stupid car!

—Dave

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Sell the house to get out of debt?

Dear Dave,

Do you ever recommend someone selling their house to get out of debt?

Andrea

Dear Andrea,

The only time you’ll ever hear me tell someone to sell their house to get out of debt is as an absolute last resort. If there’s just no other way to turn a corner, then it might be an option. Another would be if you don’t really like the house, and you’ve considered selling it anyway. The third situation would be if the house is just too darn expensive. If you’re sending half of your monthly income to the bank to make house payments, then you’ve got way too much house!

But most of the time the house is not the problem in these kinds of situations. There’s usually lots of other stuff, like credit card debt and $700 car payments. I’d sell a car in a heartbeat before I’d ever consider giving up my home. Think about it, Andrea. Being forced to sell your home in a case like that would be an emotionally devastating experience. I mean, it’s your home.

And the truth is that in some places it would be a pretty good idea to hang on to a house. A lot of markets are already recovering at a rapid pace, and the real estate market in America—with the exception of a few trouble spots—is a lot more alive, dynamic and fluid than many people in the news media would have you believe. There are some seriously good real estate situations out there right now!

—Dave

* For more financial help, please visit daveramsey.com.

1. Look Professional

Your physical condition is important but dressing properly can be even more important. Recent trends have made work attire more casual, but that doesn’t mean it should be sloppy. Target your attire to be a notch above the norm. Don’t overdress, but certainly don’t allow yourself to be underdressed for the job. A gallant man is groomed, fit, and always appropriate for the occasion.

2. Be a Team Player

Let go of self and embrace the team. Companies exist to turn a profit. If its workers are not producing as a team, the company will cease to exist in the future. I was recently in a store where the workers had such a lousy and selfish attitude that I wanted to leave immediately to find another place to shop. Workers should not take a customer for granted, especially not in today’s economic climate.

3. Be a Solution Not a Problem

You are not hired to cause problems; you are hired to solve them. If you are not solving business problems for your employer, you will soon find yourself solving a personal problem – looking for a job. I always say, “When you see a piece of trash, you own it.” That means, you should take the initiative and pick it up. Take ownership. The small act of eliminating a piece of trash may seem meaningless, but it shows you are ready to act as if everything depends upon you.

4. Know Your Competitor Better Than They Know Themselves

I had a board member that was a renowned expert in his profession. He was the go-to-guy for advice in his field of expertise. He told me, “Pastor, when I enter a meeting, I’ve read everything I can find on their business. I know more about them than they know themselves. Therefore, I am always in control of the subject.”

5. Forecast Trends

You can be ahead of the curve if you study trends. Where is the market going in your business? What do your customers want you to provide for them? It’s amazing how obsolete a company can become simply by allowing the market to move away from them. Can you imagine being in the vinyl record industry today? Or trying to make it as a cassette tape supplier? Even compact discs are becoming obsolete. Take some time to forecast trends in your field.

6. Work While You Are Working

I am amazed at how little people actually work. Develop a work ethic. Don’t waste time on the casually browsing the web or fiddling with your cell phone when you are supposed to be working. Focused intensity can produce amazing results.

7. Speak Positively about Your Company

Even if your company is not doing well currently, start turning it around by speaking optimistically. It will not help you or your company by tearing it down.

8. Show Up on Time and Be Prepared

It’s ridiculous how people are constantly late for work or assignments. It is slothful and unethical. They are robbing the company of progress and will eventually cost the company everything. There is no excuse for it.

These eight simple, relatively easy steps can set you apart from the crowd. Mastery of these skills will most certainly bring you promotion.

At that encounter, Jesus agreed to go to the Gentile’s home to personally minister healing to the servant.  You may recall that the Centurion acknowledged the imposition of his request for Jesus to enter his home.  Although Jesus was willing to do so, the act would have broken a tradition that forbid Jews from entering the house of a Gentile.

In light of this long-standing tradition, God orchestrated a series of events that involved an angelic visit to Cornelius and a spiritual vision to Peter. After Peter was convinced by the divine vision that he was not to call anything impure that God had made clean, he received an invitation from Cornelius to visit his home.

Cornelius prepared by inviting his relatives and close friends to hear the message of Peter.  The result was amazing – Cornelius and all of his guests were saved and filled with the Holy Spirit, evidenced by the supernatural experience of speaking in unknown languages.  This evidence proved to Peter and his Jewish companions that the Gentiles were indeed accepted in the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Did you get that? The Gentile church was started by first reaching a strong man!

A recent Christian Science Monitor article reported that one of the key components that marked a growing congregation was that men made up more than 60 percent of the attendees.

The greatest evangelistic effort of any church should be by focusing on men, because men give the greatest return on investment of our time, energy and evangelistic dollars. Not only is it the Biblical model but also statistics overwhelmingly support this claim.

David Murrow points out in his book, Why Men Hate Going to Church, that, “when a mother comes to faith in Christ, the rest of her family follows 17 percent of the time.  But when a father comes to faith in Christ, the rest of the family follows 93 percent of the time.”

More than 90 percent of American men believe in God, and five out of six call themselves Christians. But only two out of six attend church on a given Sunday. The average man accepts the reality of Jesus Christ, but fails to see any value in going to church.

The problem is that the Church has built its ministry strategy to men as simply another program filled with Bible studies, feminine-style communication, and love songs to Jesus. That will not work!

Why? Because men do not follow programs. Men follow men!

FivestarMan is not a program, nor is it a ministry. FivestarMan is a movement – a movement to resurrect authentic manhood.

See Related Article: Resurrecting Authentic Manhood

Dear Dave,

How do you feel about the free trips and dinners timeshare communities offer as part of their sales pitches? Isn’t it a little like playing with fire?

Diane

Dear Diane,

You’re close. I think it’s more like playing with fire while you’re sitting in a puddle of gasoline!

Listen, there’s nothing good about a timeshare. They have no redeeming qualities whatsoever. Besides, in most of these deals the food is bad and they’ll stick you in a room that’s not so hot, either. Timeshares are one of the few consumer products that have a 97 percent dissatisfaction rate. It’s virtually impossible to find someone who’s glad they bought in to one of these things!

I know people play games with this scenario. They think they’ll get lots of free stuff by just sitting through a sales pitch and then saying no. But why in the world would you want to waste vacation time or even one weekend of your life letting some salesperson twist your arm?

Plus, you’ve got the added problem that most folks aren’t as tough a sell as they think they are. If you’re not careful, you’ll end up agreeing with the guy on a couple of silly things, zoning out while the presentation wears on, and next thing you know, you’re driving away as a timeshare owner!

Don’t take a chance on getting stuck with one of those things, Diane. It’s a dumb idea!

—Dave

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Car leasing is 100 percent stupid!

Dear Dave,

Do you have any advice on vehicle leasing for business purposes? I’ve heard that the expense is 100 percent deductible.

Anonymous

Dear Anonymous,

Yeah, and it’s 100 percent stupid, too! “Fleecing” is absolutely the most expensive way to operate a vehicle. What you’re talking about is rationalizing the fact that you want a vehicle you can’t afford. It’s a bad idea.

Dr. Tom Stanley interviewed tons of millionaires while he was writing his book, “Stop Acting Rich.” In the process, he found out that 80 percent of them had never leased a vehicle. What does that tell you? It tells me if you want to be rich, you need to do what rich people do—and they don’t lease their vehicles! Plus, I really don’t care if it’s 100 percent deductible. Guess what? I get deductions on the vehicles owned by my company. It’s called straight-line depreciation.

Never lease a vehicle for business purposes. If you don’t have the cash to pay for it outright, then you can’t afford the thing. It’s just that simple!

—Dave

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Can stay-at-home moms be insured?

Dear Dave,

Do stay-at-home moms need disability insurance?

Sarah

Dear Sarah,

Yes, they do. Unfortunately, they can’t get it right now. Under current law, you must have an earned income in order to receive disability insurance.

Now, it’s possible to get disability insurance if you have a business at home. In that case, you’d need to show two years worth of tax returns to prove that your self-employment was actually generating an earned income.

My wife’s been a full-time mom for 25 years, and I know how hard she works and how much she does every day. Believe me, if she could get disability insurance, we’d buy it in a second!

—Dave

* For more financial help, please visit daveramsey.com.