"I’m mentoring several women right now who make good money. They’ve been in their industries for years and years. They should be better off than they are, but they haven’t gotten the financial area of their life under control. I know people who make over $100,000 a year and have nothing to show for it," says Lindy Ford, an actress, real estate rehabber, and nutritionist.

Money isn’t the definition of success. Workaholics often end up divorced or with kids who hate them, because they’ve neglected their families. We all know people with more money than us who look miserable most of the time. "Success is about integrating. It’s about balance. I don’t see many people living like this, Christian or not," Lindy explains. "My big philosophy is that we are integrated human beings and every area helps every other area. My spirit is better if my emotions are right and my physical life is right."

When she was in her twenties, she often felt tired and emotionally drained. She changed her diet to one with fewer refined carbohydrates (white rice, white flour, white sugar, etc…). "Don’t feel sorry for me," she says in her "A Busy to A Beautiful Life" DVD on improving your nutrition, "I ate a great Mediterranean meal last night. I’m not deprived just because I eat healthy." A healthy diet is just one aspect of living a balanced life.

"I live in freedom. I live in emotional, physical, and spiritual freedom. I don’t find that most people do," says Lindy. That’s probably because most of us don’t want to discipline ourselves. I know it’s a struggle for me.

It’s not easy for women who are disciplined, either. Successful, balanced women like Lindy admit, "These are tough choices. I’d rather eat what I want whenever I want to. Not preparing meals is the easy way. All of this takes work. It takes pushing through feelings, but good feelings come afterwards."

"This morning, I woke up and I didn’t want to exercise. I did it anyway. I probably didn’t do it as vigorously as I could have, but I did it. I think that’s a big key to being a successful person. No matter what it is, you have to manage yourself first," she says.

Lindy has broken life into three basic areas that must stay in balance: spiritual, emotional, and physical (includes finances).

"Spiritually, I want to regularly cultivate a vibrant relationship with God and teach others to do that.

"Emotionally I want to cultivate good relationships with others. If you don’t cultivate a good marriage or a good relationship with your children, then none of this really matters.

"Physically, I exercise regularly, eat very healthy, and take a lot of supplements. I have incredible health and a ton of energy. I live in financial freedom. I always wanted to have enough money that I didn’t have to worry about it and be able to give to other people," she says.

Don’t think that just because Lindy has goals and strives to maintain a balanced life that she’s a modern-day icon of the woman in Proverbs 31. "I’m not perfect," she says, "Perfection you need to literally throw out the window. You have to keep growing with it. I’ve had these principles for years, but I have to keep applying and rededicating myself to it every day. "

Lindy’s candid about her flaws in her "A Busy to a Beautiful Life" DVD teaching series based on Proverbs 31. Creating a Bible Study curriculum based on the balanced life of the Virtuous Woman was "a God thing". It wasn’t something Lindy had planned to create, but she knew it was something women needed.

The women at her church have flocked to this teaching and brought their friends. Last year, 80 women attended the study, and this spring another large group has signed up.

"The study takes ancient principles and applies them to today. It’s a woman who goes out and buys property. She’s very savvy, but she’s kind and generous at the same time. There’s balance in her life. She lives in freedom," explains Lindy. Instead of teaching women to see the ideal of this biblical woman as an unattainable goal the way some teachers do, she shows them that the woman is disciplined and balanced, an example of a balanced and successful life.

According to Lindy, living with discipline takes you farther and gives you a happier life. You could almost say that she’s addicted to a life of freedom. "I will never stop living like this," she says.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Terri Pilcher writes articles and interviews millionaires from home for an upcoming book about the Parable of the Talents. Visit her website www.ChristianMillionaireSecrets.com and sign up for her monthly ezine containing an article, an audioclip from a millionaire interview, a book review, and a quote about success.

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Work at home moms struggle with failure, just like Kathy Ireland, a mom of three young children and a former supermodel. "After trying and failing at several businesses, my partners and I began Kathy Ireland Worldwide in 1993 with a pair of socks," she says. Today, her company grosses over $1,000,000,000 in retail sales annually.

It took a lot of failure and rejection for Kathy to build her company to that level. "My previous work as a model included a lot of rejection. That prepared me for the continuous rejection that I still face in business today. That early rejection gave me the opportunity to ask powerful questions and get powerful answers."

The first powerful question begins with rejection. "When someone says no, ask why," says Kathy. Their explanation will show you an area to improve, a new way to expand what you’re doing, or assure you that you’re not failing in this situation.

The second powerful question begins with acceptance. "When someone says yes, ask how," Kathy says. When someone wants to hire you or buy your product, find out exactly what they want and how they want it delivered. What size do they want? Do they need the item the next day or by the cheapest shipping? What is it that you, a work at home mom, can provide to make the customer happy? Asking this powerful question gives you powerful answers.

"Too often we fear rejection, so we don’t ask for the information we need," says Kathy. "Often when we do ask, we don’t get answers. We get noise! Please learn to turn down the noise and keep asking until someone engages, listens, and truly answers your questions." Don’t give up after asking just one or two people. There are wonderful, successful, generous people who have the answers you’re looking for.

It’s easiest to ask the wrong people for advice. "Be certain you’re asking someone who can truly give you the response you need. Too often we waste time, complaining or grumbling to someone who can’t give us the real information. We ask the person we feel comfortable with. We’re sharing our fears instead of learning and growing. Please don’t let that happen to you."

When you get those powerful answers, they teach you what you need to know to grow as a person and businesswoman. "I look at failure as education, and in that respect I am very well educated. I’ve been fired, and those firing helped build my strength. If you don’t fall, you’re not trying hard enough."

We often think we’re trying hard enough, because our lives feel so busy. We rush from soccer practice to the post office to mail off our eBay sales and collapse exhausted at the end of the day. Kathy warns, "We don’t get brownie points for effort. Don’t confuse complexity with accomplishment. Complexity is a destroyer. Simple is beautiful. Simple doesn’t mean small. Simple means making it as big as you want it to be without chaos." When we live in chaos, we’ll get burnt out.

"When our first child, Erik, was born, I realized how many little things I took for granted. Suddenly a shower was a luxury. This powerful change in my life made me appreciate and realize how much work moms face every day." She made it her company’s mission to "find solutions for families, especially busy moms."

We work at home moms face so many pressures. When we work together and support each other and maybe even make it our business’s mission to bless other women, like Kathy Ireland did, all of us will be blessed and successful.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Terri Pilcher writes articles and interviews millionaires from home for an upcoming book about the Parable of the Talents. Visit her website www.ChristianMillionaireSecrets.com and sign up for her monthly ezine containing an article, an audioclip from a millionaire interview, a book review, and a quote about success.

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A couple of years ago, a friend spent $4,000 for two tickets to a real estate seminar on flipping houses. Thankfully, he offered my husband a ticket. I had heard about that scheme, warned my friend that he could get the same information from the Internet, and he got his money back.

Even solid Christians who love the Lord fall prey to the desire to make money fast. We have debt. We want to own our own businesses, but we have little desire to slog it out through the early days of a company until we learn how to turn a good idea into a great business. Being an entrepreneur is hard work.

Rather than trying to get too much too fast, Rhonda Anderson, co-founder of Creative Memories, encourages small business owners to take small steps. She says, "The lord gave me a scripture in Deuteronomy in the very, very start up days of Creative Memories. Little by little you will possess the land. He seared it on my heart." In that Scripture, God was talking to the Israelites, preparing them to move from their 40 years of wandering in the desert into the Promised Land. Rhonda explains, "If they were to conquer the land too quickly, they wouldn’t be able to get rid of the wild animals fast enough, and the animals would devour them. God tells us that little by little you will possess the land so that you won’t be devoured by the animals. God knows that there is health and there is value in just trusting his timing."

Like most of us, Rhonda admits to impatience, but she knew God wanted her to move slowly in business. "It was like he said, ‘Please be patient. If you’re faithful with a little, I’ll give you a little more. Just trust me that little by little you will possess the land." She did trust God, and looking back she can say, "That’s what I’ve seen work for 20 years in Creative Memories. We had 6 of us in 1987, 100 of us in 1988, and 200 of us in 1989. We reached $360 million in sales 2 years ago. We grew so slowly, but little by little we possessed the land."

It’s encouraging to know we don’t have to build our business all at once. We can grow our businesses if we do our little bit each day. "In Creative Memories I tell people, ‘Make 5 phone calls a day. Follow up on your leads. Teach one home class a week, and little by little steadfastness will turn into more and more growth," says Rhonda.

"Don’t get discouraged that things don’t go faster. Just be faithful in what you have to do today," she advises. "Being great doesn’t happen overnight."

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Terri Pilcher writes articles and interviews millionaires from home for an upcoming book about the Parable of the Talents. Visit her website www.ChristianMillionaireSecrets.com and sign up for her monthly ezine containing an article, an audioclip from a millionaire interview, a book review, and a quote about success.

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Ever thought of stuffing envelopes from home to make money? I hope not. We’e all seen those scam ads in our local Bargaineer or Pennysaver. With all of the pyramid schemes, party programs, and network marketers out there, how can a mom find a way to earn a little extra money without losing thousands of dollars?

"Multilevel marketing is not for everyone," says Catherine Eagen, a former banker who now helps Christians become millionaires by increasing their financial IQ. Some people do really well at it. "People that have a pentiant for sales probably would be good at that. People that don’t probably won’t," she says.

Many people enjoy party sales and network marketing, but if it’s not you, don’t stress. You can find something you enjoy that enables you to make money at home.

"First of all, find out what you’re good at," says Catherine. "Some women were in the corporate world or in the business world or the non-profit world prior to becoming a mom. They had gifts, talents and abilities. They need to ask themselves how they can parlay those into an economic opportunity for themselves."

"I have a friend who decided to be a stay-at-home mom and she decided to write a magazine, an e-zine. She writes articles, has great contributing authors, and interviews people that are notables in the community and around the nation." Catherine says.

It doesn’t always take great skill to start a successful business. The ability to solve other people’s problems is enough to make money. Catherine and her husband know a lady who was walking down a road in the south. "They passed by a field and the mom looked over and said, ‘Oh, those are some beautiful flowers.’ It was fall and there were some dried flowers. She said, ‘I wonder if we can pick some of those.’ She knocked on the door of the homeowner, and the homeowner said, ‘I’d love for you to get rid of those. They are weeds in my site and I hate them.’ She began to go out and cut them down, and she made bouquets. She sold those bouquets to the neighborhood Walgreen and they began to show up in different of the Walgreen stores. One thing that looked like a problem for one person became a solution for another individual."

"One of the questions that I always suggest that people ask themselves is, ‘What problem do you believe you were created to solve?’ When you answer that question, it’s a good indicator of what you should or could be doing. Then the question is how to do it from home," Catherine says.
It may mean telecommuting or becoming an entrepreneur. If you love organizing or being an office manager, approach small businesses and local entrepreneurs about performing some of their office tasks or doing their bookkeeping from your home.

"There are many things that the stay-at-home mom can pursue either on her own as an entrepreneur, within the context of a group of others, within a corporation, or within a non-profit organization. These jobs will give her credit for her work, and if she then turns around and joins the corporate world or becomes an entrepreneur, she can now bring work experience.

Says Catherine, "The Stay-at-home mom needs to look in earnest and what she likes to do and then do it."

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Terri Pilcher writes articles and interviews millionaires from home for an upcoming book about the Parable of the Talents. Visit her website www.ChristianMillionaireSecrets.com and sign up for her monthly ezine containing an article, an audioclip from a millionaire interview, a book review, and a quote about success.

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"There was a janitorial custodial individual in the Detroit county schools about 10 or 15 years ago, and he made news upon his death because he gave a million dollars to the United Negro College Fund tells. He never made more than 30,000 dollars a year. His attitude toward money was different than other people who have that same amount of income and spend their entire life saying, ‘I never have enough money. I never make enough money.’ It’s not how much you make, it’s how you leverage what you have," explains Catherine Eagan, a multimillionaire entrepreneur, former Vice President and Private Banking Officer, ordained minister, and financial coach.

More of us could do this if we had a little financial intelligence. If our parents didn’t teach us how money works (and chances are that they don’t know either), we probably will never learn how to manage our money. We’ll be strapped for cash our entire lives.

"The school systems do us a disservice," says Catherine, "You can matriculate through 12 grades and never learn the practical task of managing money, and yet it’s something you do your entire life."

After twenty years enjoying her work in the commercial lending department of a bank, Catherine realized that God wanted her to combine her love of finance with her love of teaching. "I believe I am called to help raise up the financial intelligence quotient so that people can really manage resources appropriately and as a result achieve success. It’s not how much you make, it’s how effectively you manage," she says.

Many women rely on men to take care of the finances for them, but because 50% of women get divorced and almost all of the rest outlive their husbands, every woman must deal with money at some point in her life. Catherine says, "No woman should look to a man to solve her financial intelligent quotient."

It’s a shame when we let men take care of our money, because research shows that women make more money at investing than men do. "When women actually begin to take on the mantle to invest, research shows that women are more profitable in investing than men, because they are less emotionally driven than men," Catherine explains, "Men tend to take a higher level of risk and get in and out of different things, where women are more methodical."

Through her free Wealthy Women seminars, Catherine teaches women about all aspects the financial world. She covers real estate investing, paying off debt, stocks, bonds, index funds, and more. She says, "I teach very practical information you can use almost immediately. How to buy a car, how to buy a home, how to look at rates, how to negotiate a deal. All of the basic, practical personal finance information that an individual should know, period."

In addition, she covers information essential to today’s entrepreneurs. In the future, Catherine plans to talk about, "global economics and what that means for the United States of America. I think we are now truly in a global economy. People need to have a good working knowledge of what that means and be globally equipped financially. Otherwise, they may end up running into financial problems because they aren’t prepared for what it means to be a 21st century mom, employee or entrepreneur."

Sign up for the free Monday night Wealthy Woman Teleseminar at: http://www.catherineeagan.com/TheWealthyWomen.htm.

Don’t forget to increase your financial intelligence quotient in other ways. Read books (I recommend starting with Dave Ramsey and Dr. C. Thomas Anderson, two Christian millionaires), open a small savings account that you’ll use for investing, and go to local SBA (Small Business Association) classes. We’ll keep struggling with our poverty mindset unless we learn a new way of thinking.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Terri Pilcher writes as a CWAHM amidst the turmoil of homeschooling five kids. Her articles have appeared in Focus on the Family publications and parenting magazines. She’s currently completing a book based on her interviews with Christian millionaires.

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"The skills I’ve learned as an entrepreneur and a Chief Executive Officer have been learned through mentors and reading books. Of course, reading books isn’t really an end all," says Jordan Wirsz, a 24-year-old millionaire.

How can a 24-year-old become a millionaire when people with better educations struggle to pay the bills?

"The only thing that I think separates me from most people is that I’m willing to take action to fulfill my dreams," he says. "I don’t view myself as smarter, more talented, or more cunning than anyone else out there. I just have the passion and willingness to take action to make it a reality."

He never had any fear of taking action, because he didn’t know there was anything to fear when he started selling helicopters at the age of 14. Like a lot of young men, he decided he wanted to learn to fly a helicopter. Using the Internet, he learned as much as he could about helicopters and decided to try to buy a home built helicopter, because it was less expensive.

"I found a post where a guy had advertised a helicopter for sale, so I sent him a couple of emails. Because I was so interested in helicopters, I had learned a lot about them and knew the right questions to ask. After about two e-mails or so, I asked the gentleman, ‘What are you asking for the helicopter?’ He said, ‘$55,000.’" At the age of 14, there was no way Jordan could afford a helicopter. He wrote the helicopter owner back and explained that he was only 14 and didn’t have the money to buy the helicopter.

Instead of abandoning Jordan, the man sent another e-mail, "Well, you sound pretty intelligent. If you can sell this helicopter for me, I’ll give you $2,500." Jordan says, "I looked at that and my jaw dropped, and I said, ‘Sure’." The man took the time to write up a contract, get Jordan and his mom to sign it, and sent Jordan brochures and a video to give him the knowledge necessary to sell the helicopter.

Jordan went after his goal with a vengeance. "I spent every day on the Internet posting ads on every free aviation classified place that I could find. I started sending e-mails back and forth with people and discussing things with buyers. Before I knew it I had a buyer in Tennessee that I had never met on a conference call with the seller of the helicopter. A couple weeks later I had my check for $2,500! To me, the real miracle isn’t me. It’s a 50-year-old man saying, ‘I’m going to trust a 14-year-old to sell my helicopter,’" says Jordan.

That sale enabled Jordan to turn a corner in his life. He took that money and lost it in commodities, but he thought, "I’m going to go back to what I know. I know that I made $2,500 selling a helicopter, so I’m going to go back and do that again and again and again." He did. The helicopter sales enabled him to pay his way through flight school.

When he was 16, Jordan got into aviation. "I didn’t have the financial backing f my family, because we weren’t wealthy. I had to go out and work and immerse myself in aviation to find my way. By doing what I loved, by hanging out at the airport, and by talking to all the older guys that were hanging around the airplanes, I had opportunities to listen to what they were saying, and I took that seriously," Jordan explains.

"You’ll find that people really open up to you if you just listen," he adds. He helped them wash and wax their airplanes and ask about different parts on the airplane and what they did and how they worked. This knowledge enabled him to open Extreme Aviation, a full online store that sold helicopter and airplane parts. He sold that company when he was 18 and became a commercial airplane pilot.
Another friend became a mentor and invited Jordan to invest in Las Vegas real estate. He tried it out, loved the business, packed up his things, quit his job flying, and moved to Las Vegas. "I started learning the real estate finance game, and it took off from there," he says.

To get a mentor, "just be genuinely interested in what people have to say and the subjects they want to talk about," Jordan suggests. "Ask questions, but be very courteous of their time and understand that other people aren’t there just to ask questions for me. It’s really important to be very respectful of someone else’s time."

Today, Jordan owns Diamond Bay Investments, and his first book, The Maverick Millionaire, appeared on the market June 1. Jordan adds, "I wouldn’t be where I am without mentors."

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Terri Pilcher writes as a CWAHM amidst the turmoil of homeschooling five kids. Her articles have appeared in Focus on the Family publications and parenting magazines. She’s currently completing a book based on her interviews with Christian millionaires.

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"I believe that every woman holds within her the power to change the world in some way, and it’s her responsibility to figure out what that is," said Mary Cantando, of www.WomanBusinessOwner.com. She specializes in helping women owners of multi-million dollar companies advertise their services to Fortune 500 companies.

Do you know that you can change the world? That’s why God put you here. He has a plan for each of us that enables us to take small steps toward a bigger plan. In the Bible, Paul talks about running a race. A race has a course for the runners. God gives each of us our own course to run. We see the markers and forks as we get there, and we must choose whether to take the path that leads to successful use of our talents or whether we take the path of fear and avoid the race completely.

Even the smallest successful use of our talents changes the world. "It’s like you throw a stone out on the lake of eternity and the ripples just go on and on and on. I believe every time I speak or write or have an interaction in the grocery store, everything I do is about throwing positive stones into the lake of eternity and the impact that makes on people that I will never even know," explains Mary.

"I believe that if I can help a woman grow her business, she can add one employee, then that’s not just one person, but that’s a family, that’s a community. When I stand up to speak to a room full of women, I look across this sea of faces, and I think, ‘I need one woman here today to hear one thing I’ve said, take it seriously, and go back and make one change in her business that will allow her to hire one more employee. That will impact that one family and that one community. My mission in life is to touch people who I may never eve know and make a difference in their lives," she says.

What are you passionate about? There’s at least one God-given passion, one God-given desire in each of our hearts. He wants us to live passionately. "Wow, if everyone in the world got that, imagine the state we’d be in. Just imagine if everybody was passionate about what they were doing, if everyone got up every morning to do something they really wanted to do, and if every one of those people was making a positive impact on the world, how cool would that be?" exclaims Mary.

God intends that you too should have this kind of impact. "Why were you put on this earth? Live into that to make it happen," says Mary.

It’s living passionately and with enthusiasm that makes successful Christians. Whether or not it will make you a millionaire is God’s decision, but whether or not you live your purpose passionately is your decision. When you live passionately, you wake up excited for the day and go to bed at night feeling satisfied with your accomplishments.

Lois Carrier, a financial advisor, explained, "I feel like I can sleep at night and say, ‘Thank you, God. I have taken what you’ve given me, and I’ve helped your other children with it.’ It’s not pride. It’s just that I know that I have done well in God’s eyes." She added, "I think that a lot of people wonder about that part of their lives."

What is your passion? Go out and start living it. It’s the first step toward success.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Terri Pilcher writes as a CWAHM amidst the turmoil of homeschooling five kids. Her articles have appeared in Focus on the Family publications and parenting magazines. She’s currently completing a book based on her interviews with Christian millionaires.

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