Simple Prosperity

I don't usually recommend books before I finish reading them, but this one is too timely not to let everyone know about it. Written in 2007, the book is dedicated "to all who are ready and able to open their hearts and minds to a new era." The author, David Wann, writes clearly and compellingly about ways each of us can find "real wealth in a sustainable lifestyle."

Whether your particular interest lies in saving time, better using your money, improving your health, really enjoying your work, improving your social capital or the benefits of right-sizing, this book is for you. Each chapter can stand alone for someone interested in just one topic. But I guarantee that you won't stop at a single topic because his writing style, an interesting combination of research, facts, stories and personal insights, encourages you to read this little gem from cover to cover.

Beliefs and behaviors

Beliefs and behaviors...are yours compatible? So much has been written these past couple of years about the power of beliefs. Yet, without behaviors to back up beliefs, ideas often remain in the realm of thought, not action.

For example, a person creates a belief such as "I am going to double my income this year." Every morning, s/he stands in front of a mirror and affirms this belief twenty times. Then, s/he goes off to work and doesn't do anything differently than s/he has been doing for the past year. How likely is it that income will increase?

In my experience, not very likely. Don't get me wrong - I am a firm believer in the power of beliefs but only as the first step in achieving goals. Once you have created a belief, such as doubling your income, and you affirm this belief regularly so that your mind is truly focused on doubling your income, you have done the first step to achieving your dreams. But it is only the first step.

What's next? Changing your behaviors to match that belief. For example, if last week, you made ten cold calls, then this week you would need to double that to twenty. If last month, you sold ten books or coached ten clients, then this month you need to double that to twenty. Then your new behaviors are in alignment with your new beliefs and you are on your way to achieving your goals.

Don't cut back; be creative

It seems as though everyone is worried about money these days and talking about "cutting back". This doesn't sound like fun, does it? I'd rather use the term "being creative". This gets my mind excited about ways to do things that can have the same result as "cutting back" - but things that enrich my spirit instead of making me feel deprived.

We just finished celebrating Columbus Day weekend and here, in New England, the weather was perfect for outdoor activities. I live in an area surrounded by farms and cranberry bogs, all of which seemed to have some kind of harvest festival this weekend. Fortunately for us, the one closest to us, where we go every year with our kids and grandkids, had the lowest price and the best activities. What's more fun than watching the young ones wander through a corn maze, sit on the pumpkins and crawl through hay bales, emerging with huge smiles?

These huge smiles emerged again when we came home and Grampy led the kids through a path in the forest behind our house to the "Bears' Hideaway". Imagine their surprise to find that the bears had left them candy kisses in the woods!

And imagine my surprise the next day when my husband and I went for a walk in a local bog and saw seven wild turkeys, two giant white swans - and a beautiful fox. He was too quick for a picture...but I love the picture of the unusual mushroom we encountered.

In the words of a popular ad, our creative holiday weekend was truly priceless!

Let's Celebrate Halloween First

Few things annoy me as quickly as seeing Christmas decorations in the store before the children even get to celebrate Halloween. Of course, I'm not thrilled seeing Halloween candy in the stores in August either. I can only imagine the patience that parents of young children must have to deal with the commercialism of every holiday.

Now I know that there is no way I can change the retail business. I can do my own protesting and refuse to buy into the early promotions. Lots of times, I can even avoid going into the stores. And I try not to bring my young grandchildren any place that promotes Christmas so early. What more can I do?

I can help people find ways to thrive in the coming holiday season by offering a free teleclass called "It's Not About the Money". The purpose of this call is to present ways that we can all think about celebrating without spending a lot of money, to create the kind of holidays that we really want in our lives.

This teleclass is scheduled for Wednesday, October 15th at 8:00 PM. I know...it's before Halloween. I was going to do it in November until some of my clients suggested that doing it earlier was important. The feeling was that if we are going to make changes, we need to prepare people and the more time for that the better. And maybe we can even make some changes in the way we use our resources to celebrate Halloween.

So, if you find the idea of staging your own protest to the commercialism of the holidays appealing, email me. I will send you the call number, the access codes, and the class materials.

Fall Fun at the Farm

Fall is here and so is the opportunity to get outside and play! Yesterday, my husband and I took our two youngest grandchildren (ages 5 and 3) to Flax Pond Farm in Carver (MA). We all love cranberries and this is the main product this farm produces. It was the first day of harvesting and we were treated to a tour of the bogs and a demonstration of processing cranberries for sale.

Then we went to their shop to have some fresh cranberry juice and look at all the products they sell that use these delightful berries. The kids loved the dried cranberries and we bought some of these and some of the locally-produced cranberry honey.

Why am I writing about this fall adventure on a joy and prosperity blog? Several reasons. First, it was a truly joyful day for all of us and reminded me how many fall activities offer similar pleasures. Second, it didn't cost us a thing - except for what we bought. Third, I really enjoyed spending time with the woman owner who has lived all her life within a mile of this bog - and has been cranberry farming for 33 years. We are big fans of buying local and this was a good opportunity to do so.

Finally, I wanted to share a picture and two facts with you. I always thought the farmers loaded the berries onto trucks to bring them to the processing areas. Imagine my surprise when I learned that this farm uses helicopters to pick up the cranberries and deliver them to Ocean Spray. I was even more surprised that Ocean Spray gets its cranberries from a cooperative of many, small farms like Flax Pond. As a supporter of local produce, this helps assuage my conscience when I do resort to buying cranberries at the supermarket.

My challenge for you this week is to go online, seek out some fall activity in your area, and go out and play!

A Month Without Credit Cards

On August first, I put away my three credit cards and began a journey to see what living life without them would be like. I have never had a problem using credit cards. I don't pay any fees and do pay them in full each month so why did I decide to do this?

For two reasons. First, I am co-facilitating a financial course in my church starting next week and living without credit cards is a basic principle of this program. Thought I would try to do so before I encouraged others on this path. Second, I knew that we all spend more money when using credit rather than cash. Dun and Bradstreet says the average person spends between 12% and 18% more this way.

One thing I had to do immediately was dig out my unused debit card and find out its limits. I do much of my shopping online and I don't like to carry cash, so this was important. I also had to get a debit card for business expenses since I didn't have one. My local bank was helpful in both cases.

A major lesson I learned this month is how unaware I had been about spending. When I only had cash (or its debit card equivalent), I really thought about purchasing things, whether basics like food or extras like books. I became much more aware of the cost of any food we wasted. I also only purchased one book this month... a first for me!

Many more lessons came my way on this journey and my Blog this month will share them with you. I'd love to hear your reaction to this credit-card free path. Try it...you might like it!

Almost in my Own Backyard

I've been following my own advice and found great ways to celebrate the final weeks of summer. One warm day, my husband and I drove 10 minutes to a park in a neighboring town. My nephew had been a lifeguard at the beach there for years and told us what a great place it was. Somehow we were still surprised to find a beautiful, clean pond with a sandy beach. And, lots of trees and grass - important for me since I don't like spending too much time in the sun. The water was warm and the swimming great fun. I just can't believe this is the first time we've been there. It certainly won't be the last.

Yesterday we went back to the same town for its annual Waterfront Festival which we had attended in other years. But this year, we were with the grandkids and got to watch the Duck races and see them delight riding the race cars and the horses on the carousel. We perused the numerous booths, but I had more fun watching the boats in the harbor. Each year this festival provides us with different things to do.

We ended the day by going to an intriguing, new ice cream shop. It was in another nearby town and had just opened this summer. The people who own it have created a fascinating place to sit and eat their yummy ice cream. On the deck are an abundance of flowers, plants, and lime green tables and chairs. More seating places in the yard, ranging from colorful Adirondack chairs, to old-fashioned stools, white cast iron tables and chairs, to a life sized cow you can sit on. The shop is called "The Whole Scoop" but I call it "The Perfect Ice Cream Experience".

There is still one week left of summer and we plan to find new places to enjoy. Join us and get every moment of enjoyment this week and let me know what surprises you find in or near your own backyard.