Finances aren’t the only things that need a budget.

Posted on April 30, 2007

Taking a lead in from my previous post on the book Ordering Your Private World by Gordon MacDonald, let’s talk about my favorite section of that book.

In a section called ‘Recapturing My Time’ MacDonald presents ‘MacDonald’s Laws of Unmanaged Time’. I found myself constantly referring to this list. It was so simple, but made so much sense. I will introduce the four laws and my brief interpretation, and then cover them in depth in the subsequent posts.

Unmanaged Time Flows Toward my Weaknesses - We often find ourselves spending an inordinate amount of time on the tasks that we are not proficient at. We instinctively know that we can manage fine by putting in only a small effort in the areas that we are gifted.
Unmanaged Time Comes under the Influence of Dominant People in my World - The dominant people in your life will be able to exert influence on your time choices when our time is not budgeted.
Unmanaged Time Surrenders to the Demands of all Emergencies - Without a plan for your time, we usually get stuck in a first come first serve time management system for the people and tasks that make demands on our time.
Unmanaged Time Gets Invested in Things that Gain Public Acclamation - Unbudgeted time will flow towards action and events that will give us the most immediate gratification and\or public recognition.

» Filed Under Time Management

How to move a rock! Part 5

Posted on April 30, 2007

Finally, we come to the last book that has made a deep mark on the life of the The Happy Rock. Well, at least for now…..I am sure that this list will grow over time. I already have a possibility or two on the horizon, but it takes months and years to truly figure out the impact a book may have on your life.

Order You Private World by Gordon MacDonald

Now that I had my dream, I started evaluating my behaviors and thoughts in light of this revelation. I honestly didn’t have the skills or track record to convince myself that I could get anywhere near the huge dream that I felt called to pursue. I had to do some proverbial soul searching, and it was at that time I started reading Ordering Your Private World. The premise of the book is that our beliefs shape our thoughts and then our thoughts shape our behavior. If someone’s private\outer world is in order, it will be because they believe that their personal\inner world governs their outward actions. For a Christian this is not about being more driven or working harder, but rather being someone who stops to listen to the intricate, subtle, and mysterious calling of their personal faith. Be one who is called not driven. This idea blew open the doors of my personal life. I began to question and seek answers for the habits and beliefs that didn’t align with my dreams and faith. Why wasn’t I very productive? Why did I lose energy and quit before goals were accomplished? Why do I procrastinate on the most important tasks in my life?

Amazingly, asI began to explore some of my inner depths through prayer, reading, and mentoring, my actions began to change. The journey continues and will always continue. The drastic change is that my focus is not on my actions, but rather on the core of my being.

-THR(The Happy Rock)

» Filed Under Favorite Books, Productivity, Time Management

How to move a rock! Part 4

Posted on April 29, 2007

The Dream Giver by Bruce Wilkinson

Another motivational book, although this one was about finding and seeking your dreams in life. This book is quite obviously Christian. I read The Dream Giver for the first time as my wife and I were wrapping up our multi-year get out of debt plan. The first half of the book is an allegory about the main character finding a dream, escaping his comfort zone, fighting obstacles on the way to realizing his purpose in life. The second half is a breakdown of this allegory.

Simple format, very short, yet amazingly motivational. I have read the book at least a half dozen times in a year or two. The beauty of the book is not in the practical advice on achieving your dreams(there really isn’t much there), but in its empowering of the reader to find and start pursuing their dreams. For me, I earnestly began thinking and praying about what I wanted to do with my life. Ultimately, I want to be a millionaire, but for strictly philanthropic reasons(or at least that is what I have told myself!). I will definitely cover that in multiple future posts. I am a long way from my goals, but each day I venture to complete a few tasks that continue the journey. The real joy is that the journey has started!

» Filed Under Chasing Dreams, Favorite Books

How to move a rock! Part 3

Posted on April 28, 2007

Financial Peace: Restoring Financial Hope to You and Your Family

Out of my growing desire for personal freedom, I had already started the journey towards being debt free. I stumbled upon a copy of this book in the local library and thought it aligned with my current focus.

Dave Ramsey is a personal finance talk show host with Christian flavor. More motivational speaker than finance expert, although I found that helpful at the time. My wife and I had 70,000$ in debt, so his energy was refreshing. We had a big hole to dig out of, but as degreed DINKS we had a pretty large shovel. Dave keeps things simple, and his get out of debt plan is based on easy to comprehend ‘baby steps’ geared towards changing the behaviors that got you into debt. Dave will deserve some more coverage in a later post.

With each creditor that we crossed off our list, I could feel my ability to envision and accomplish my goals grow. It was a great feeling. After about three years, the debt was gone! Although was by no means the end of the journey, I did get a taste of FREEDOM!!!

» Filed Under Favorite Books, Personal Finance

How to move a rock! Part 2

Posted on April 25, 2007

The second book that changed my life is :

Saving Your Marriage Before It Starts: Seven Questions to Ask Before (and After) You Marry

My wife and I read through this book and workbooks on our own while in college. We both thoroughly enjoyed it. Again it is quite a simple read, and has a decidedly Christian slant in the last chapter. My wife and I both wanted to connect and create a solid foundation going into our marriage, and this is a way that we could agree on. This book facilitated some very interesting conversations, and caused us to learn a lot about each other even though we had been dating for years. It helped shape our expectations heading into marriage, and deepened our relationship. Putting in some extra effort up front has paid amazing dividends. My marriage and family continue to be a wellspring of life and joy that compliments my goals in life.

This book made the list, because it was the first time that I not only desired to grow, but also took the initiative to find information to aid my growth. I was learning humility. It was a good lesson to realize that even if you can do tasks on your own, it may not be the most effective way. Many people much smarter then me have spent their lives researching their areas of expertise, and I should leverage their work. Reinventing the wheel and retracing their steps is not a valuable use of time. This doesn’t preclude challenging popular opinion and creating your own ideas.

Here is the link to the eBook version at Google.

-HappyRock

» Filed Under Favorite Books, Marriage

How to move a rock! Part 1

Posted on April 24, 2007

I am having trouble finding the right way kick off the blog, so I decided to skip the long introduction and just jump right in.

I am planning a multi-part series on the books that changed my life. The books will be posted in chronological order according to when I read them.

First in my teen years….

Dragonlance Chronicles Trilogy Gift Set and The Hobbit

I read these books as a teen, and fell in love with the worlds the authors created. The Hobbit is by far the best Tolkien book I have read, and pure fantastic fun. With the Lord of The Rings movie releases a few years back, I don’t think much needs to be said. I you haven’t read The Hobbit, but liked the LOTR, read it!

The Chronicles Trilogy is a classic fantasy epic with fun characters, great story, and an addictive flow. A flat out a joy to read. Anything with 5 stars after 249 reviews on Amazon, must be good right!!! Well…maybe not, but you get the point.

The impact of these books came not from the fantasy and the imaginative worlds, but rather the impact on my joy of reading. It was the first time that I remember reading something I enjoyed. It set foundation for developing my strong love of reading. Fantasy and science fiction continue to be a large part of my fiction selections.

-ReminicsingRock

» Filed Under Favorite Books

The Happy Rock begins…

Posted on April 19, 2007

A blog about efficiently managing your finances, productivity, and faith. Let’s shed those shackles that keep us from claiming the life we always envisioned. The goal is to have an outlet for the ideas about growth that I am wrestling with in my life. Hopefully you can learn from me, and I can learn from you. The desire is for this to be an open forum where everyone respects and values everyone involved.

-HappyRock

» Filed Under What is this place?