When it comes to credit cards—there’s an important topic to consider: beware of the minimum payment trap. Millions of Americans think they’re doing just fine as long as they make the minimum payment each month. But, believe me, if that’s all you’re paying you’ve already got one foot in the financial grave and the other on a banana peel! Credit card companies love people who…

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In the 1930’s the United States government told us a lie. They told us that if we were working 40 hours per week…we were fully employed. Wow. That was interesting! Historically, a typical workweek included 12-hour days, six days a week. There are 168 hours in a week. I personally can tell you that you can work more than 40 of them. As a matter…

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Over the last 16 years I’ve spoken to audiences hundreds of times on the topic of personal finance in my No Debt No Sweat Money Management Seminar™. I’ve written scores of articles on the topic and the No Debt No Sweat™ book has been a big seller. So it’s fair to say that I’ve got a real interest (and some experience) in the area of…

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Sssshh! Don’t tell anyone, but today there’s a dirty little secret in many of our homes that is robbing us of peace, damaging our witness, and destroying our spiritual vigor. Sure, this might be the introduction to an article about marital infidelity, internet pornography, or one of the other high profile problems. But it’s not. Instead, I’m referring to a plague that we rarely acknowledge…

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“There is nothing new under the sun.” If he had never made another statement, this comment would have proven Solomon’s wisdom. Each generation goes to great lengths to convince itself that their generation is the worst and most depraved one yet. But the fact is human nature is pretty predictable. Conflict among humans has been around as long as there have been humans. In frontier…

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As you may know, I am a professional speaker. Each year I travel nationally and abroad and speak about 150 times. Bottom-line: I fly a lot…about 100 flights annually. So, it doesn’t take me long to size up a flight attendant’s mood. This is an important skill because the flight attendant’s mood is a good predictor of how enjoyable the flight will be. Recently I…

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Success is not determined by our hardware — it is usually determined by the software that we’re running. Most people have perfectly capable hardware…normal intelligence and decent health. The difference between winners and losers is in the software they run. By software, I’m referring to the things we tell ourselves, the way we choose to look at the world around us, our internal motivation, and…

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Life is a beautiful path of stepping-stones — each experience can be linked to the next—much like stepping-stones across a stream. One of the best ways to assure defeat and depression is to approach life with an all-or-nothing attitude. That is, if you don’t get the whole cake — you won’t enjoy the party. Sure, I believe in striving for excellence, but there’s a difference…

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It’s human nature to desire success without effort. But unless you have a big inheritance (or a mask and a gun), that probably won’t happen. The ancient biblical proverb says, “The sluggard craves and gets nothing, but the desires of the diligent are fully satisfied.” The most successful people put out the most effort. While the old saying “practice makes perfect” may not be literally…

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There may be five, 10, or even 50 different ways to accomplish a task. But there is always only one best way to do anything. Successful people are those rare people who understand that there is always only one best way to do anything. And, it’s those people who find that best way to do something, then repeats that process over and over and over…

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