KirbyAndersen.com

Here’s an article from this month’s Success magazine well worth your time: 27 Resources For Your Success. This is the kind of stuff I can never get enough of - anything that may help me become all that God has created me to be. Many of these resources may not be new to you, yet they are certainly good reminders. You may prefer the digital version of the article.

By the way, a friend just introduced me to Success magazine and I’ve already subscribed.

   Happy Independence Day! I’m thankful for our country and proud to be an American. Yet, honestly, I have to admit that I’m totally preoccupied today with financial freedom.

Something unusual happened to me this past Monday which I still can’t explain. It must have been the culmination of a number of things running in the background of my mind. All I know is that when I woke up early Monday, I was absorbed in financial thoughts. Before I’d gotten out of bed, I felt compelled to pick up a copy of Dave Ramsey’s book, The Total Money Makeover.

I had it bought by mid morning and completely read by Wednesday evening. It was obviously perfect timing for me and I’m still reeling over what I’ve read. Most are familiar with Dave Ramsey and his nationwide syndicated daily radio talk show. Dave’s a no-nonsense financial coach to anyone who will listen. Drawing from his own financial blunders, study, biblical principles and resultant success in achieving financial peace and independence, he encourages others to break free from the pull of our culture’s normal as it applies to how we use and abuse money. The book challenges readers to live debt-free and build wealth for financial peace and giving. His motto: “If you will live like no one else, later you can LIVE like no one else!”

Over twenty years ago, I put together a 6-hour seminar entitled The Financial Stewardship Seminar. So I was familiar with much of what Dave taught - at times I wondered if he’d attended my seminar! We obviously have drawn from many of the same sources. What Dave did, however, was to lay out a step-by-step plan for achieving financial freedom through The 7 Baby Steps. So much of what we all wrestle with in life isn’t a lack of knowing what we should do, but the order in which to do it. Personally, that’s been my biggest mistake over the years - getting off track by the whim of the moment, particularly in working on some investment opportunity, instead of taking care of other things first like fully funding an emergency fund.

Honestly, I have mentally ascented to things like living debt-free, not using credit cards, paying off the mortgage early - “radical” stuff - yet never totally bought in. I’ve changed that this week. The testimonies of real, everyday people like us along with Dave’s Mythbusters scattered throughout the book changed me. No - made me a fanatic!

Gail and I have been talking non-stop this week about our next steps - and we are excited! Even though we are talking about “radical” things, there isn’t a sense of dread - only exhileration.

As a pastor, I’ve been in contact with Dave’s organization and will be talking with several of his team members next week about how to launch his Financial Peace University in our church as well as Generation Change in our youth ministry. I highly recommend to you his books, The Total Money Makeover and Financial Peace Revisited, as well as his extensive website at daveramsey.com.

If you have implemented any of Dave’s teachings, I’d love to hear from you. Leave a comment here or email me at kirby@kirbyandersen.com. Again, Happy Independence Day!

I love big stuff: big events; big projects; big renovations. Yet over the last couple of months I’ve found myself getting a huge amount of satisfaction - sometimes, downright giddy - over little improvements. Things that other family members may not notice right away. Things that wouldn’t warrant any kind of announcement at church. But great stuff, just the same.

For example, at home:

• Our family just chipped away at some clutter in the basement over the span of a few days. No major work day - just a few minutes here and there. Next thing you know, we’re all finding ourselves going downstairs just to see how great it looks!
• Pulling a few weeds and trimming a few tree branches. Nothing you’d alert the media about, but you find yourself just standing by the curb looking back at your yard.
• Reorganizing a closet, then telling someone to go take a look at it.

Or at church:

• Installing new paper towel dispensers or hand sanitizers.
• Making a few tweaks to the church website.
• Touching up some paint in high traffic areas.

None of these things seem like big deals. But there is some inherent power in making improvements. It’s motivating, energizing, and promotes ambition. Even if nobody else notices directly, if your efforts improve comfort, convenience, service, ambiance - it is a big deal.

Don’t wait for someday when you have a huge chunk of time and/or budget to do the big improvements. Develop a habit of making little improvements.

In my earlier post regarding how I’ve lost 15 pounds so far, I listed my fourth lifestyle change as eating 5-6 smaller meals each day, focusing on foods in the top 2 tiers of Michi’s Ladder.

I was introduced to Michi’s Ladder when I purchased a product from Beachbody.com a few years ago. It is a guideline for selecting more nutritious foods. Beachbody claims that if you only ate from the top 2 tiers, you would have a near-perfect diet. It doesn’t include information about quantities or recipes, yet that info is pretty easy to acquire.

I’m not qualified to offer lots of explanation on Michi’s Ladder; however, I can say that when Gail and I began using it as a guideline for grocery shopping, we experienced the benefits immediately. Not only did we start losing fat, but our energy levels increased. We just felt better.

The 5-6 smaller meals each day is also important. Healthy snacks in between breakfast, lunch, and supper help with energy levels and keep you from grabbing junk foods. Drinking plenty of purified water throughout the day also helps curb appetite.

Take it for a test drive. Limit your food choices to the top 3 tiers and focus on the top 2. Have fun with some new recipes from eatbetteramerica.com. Check out the tracking tools at fitday.com. Pack some healthy snacks for when away from the house. Make it a family effort. Celebrate the benefits.

While visiting my oldest son recently, he commented on how wild it is to imagine not having a cell phone. Not being able to get in touch with your spouse, kids, coworkers, etc. whenever you need to. I thought it was funny because when I grew up, it wasn’t even an option, unless you were Dick Tracy. Yet I have to admit that I can’t imagine being without a cell phone either now.

Here’s my list of can’t-imagine-living-without technologies:

• iPhone: this includes phone, text messaging, email, mobile brower, Google Maps, camera, music and video player (I and other Apple fan’s are giddy with anticipation for news coming from Apple this next Monday re: new iPhones)
• Macbook
• Internet (wireless preferably)

Close behind feel-I-have-to have’s…

• Satellite (or cable) TV
• iPod (if don’t have my iPhone)
• Digital camera

What is on your short list of can’t-live-without technologies?

While on vacation, I was able to keep up my daily walking and I even got in a couple days of weight training at the resort where we stayed. However, I wasn’t able to completely maintain my exercise schedule as at home and I couldn’t duplicate my routine without my Total Gym - I missed my Total Gym.

I had a great workout this morning. It was a little tougher but immediately I could sense a positive difference. I feel more energized physically, mentally, and emotionally than I have in the last few days.

Sometimes missing something reminds you of how valuable it is. I can’t wait for my next workout. And, I’ve measured my trunk space and found out my Total Gym would fit. I think it’s traveling with me from now on.

Just returned this week from an another awesome family vacation; hence, very few blog posts lately. We’re still basking in the afterglow. While vacationing is still on my mind, here are a few recommendations for making your own great family vacation memories.

1. Name your vacation early on during the planning stages and select a Vacation Cry.
2. Make the vacation planning a family activity. It’s part of the fun. It builds anticipation and cooperation. Weeks or months before the vacation, set aside one night of the week as a family night and make part of the agenda vacation planning. Include everyone in travel plans, budget, researching where staying, sites to see, activities to do. Don’t make the mistake of planning alone with your spouse then just packing the kids along with the suitcases.
3. Make annual vacations happen with whatever budget you have available. We’ve seen too many families postpone family vacations until someday when they can afford it. When is that someday? How much money is enough? It’s kind of like saying, “We’re waiting to start a family when we can afford it.” Baloney. Make it happen. A great family vacation doesn’t have to be the Disney experience of a lifetime. A couple of great options to stretch the vacation budget:
4. Camping. Not for everybody but I can honestly say it was once of the best decisions we made as a family. Really builds togetherness - setting up and tearing down camp; close living quarters; rallying the troops during inclement weather, etc.
5. At-home vacations. Some of our best vacations have been stay-at-home vacations, especially when everyone we know thinks we left town. Nice to plan day trips or just make up the day’s activities on the spur of the moment. Very relaxing.
6. Plan time to do what everyone enjoys. Obviously, it’s great to find activities you can do together. But if individuals really enjoy something that perhaps is no big deal to others, try to make a way for them to enjoy it, with or without everyone. Sometimes having the whole family involved in something for the enjoyment of another is a great way to build family unity - “all for one, one for all” is healthy for building a close family.
7. Document your vacation. Pictures, videos, scrapbooks - whatever to preserve memories. We keep a journal of our vacations listing where we went, living accommodations, special things that happened, funny things said or done.
8. Times of afterglow. It’s always a bit of a let down to ease back into the routine of life after a great vacation. Instead of complaining about whatever, keep the joy going by reliving some of the memories each day over the next couple of weeks. Edit videos; catalog photos; write in the journal; retell funny stories at dinner; even an occasional vacation cry.

What would you add as ways to make great family vacations?

I’m on vacation; hence, fewer blog posts. Since I’m in the vacation mode, I’ve been thinking of some of the things that have made our family vacations so memorable.

The first thing that comes to mind is The Vacation Cry. Not sure where or how this started but it’s become a nonnegotiable part of the Andersen vacation routine. Every vacation gets named and has a Vacation Cry. It’s often about our destination or some other significant aspect we’re looking forward to. For example, years ago our 2 week camping trip out west through South Dakota, Wyoming, Colorado got dubbed, “Western Ho!”

The resultant Vacation Cry becomes our rallying point before and during vacation. Everyone has the right at any time to shout, “Vacation cry!” - at which everyone responds with a rousing Vacation Cry. It’s mandatory that everyone responds enthusiastically.

It builds excitement, anticipation, and family togetherness. It also serves as an attitude adjuster during long stretches of a road trip in the van or when the weather isn’t cooperating.

Our current vacation is a special one. All our kids, daughters-in-law, and grandkids are together with us at Branson, MO. Our Vacation Cry? “Silver Dollar City!” - shouted with SDC native voice inflection. Actually, we’ve used this Vacation Cry several times over the years but chose it again so our 3 year old granddaughter could be easily initiated into this family tradition. She’s got it down already.

Time for me to go wake the family because we’re off to the opening ceremony this morning at SDC. As they sing at SDC, “…it’s going to be a wonderful…oh, what a wonderful…it’s going to be a wonderful day!”

“Vacation cry! Silver Dollar City!”

Here are a few fun - and free - applications for time-sensitive techies, event organizers, and iPhone lovers:

RescueTime is a cool, free download to automatically monitor and track how you spend your time online. You can track your productivity according to your own self-created goals and receive weekly reports measuring your progress - or lack thereof. I’ve been using for about 6 weeks and an amazed at it’s features.

TicketLeap is a website that I’m really excited about. It allows you to create an event you want to sell tickets for and have participants register and purchase online. It’s free to you but TicketLeap does charge a small fee based on the price of the ticket you establish; e.g., a ticket under $10 has a $1 fee added to the total cost and paid by the registrant - far cheaper than other ticket sellers such as Ticketmaster.

Once purchased, tickets can be printed out. As the organizer, you have access to registration information of all purchasers for printable lists. You can attach a survey to the registration form. Code links for your website are also provided to add buttons or registration forms to your website.

You can also use for free events - TicketLeap doesn’t charge anything if you don’t. I think this is a huge convenience for churches of any size. No longer do you have to print tickets, do sales, or even have a credit card merchant account. Let TicketLeap do all that and they send you the check after the event. Our church is going to use it for a concert we’re hosting in June.

For you iPhone owners, here’s a creative way to use your favorite device. I’ve been thinking of how can I reduce the number of cards I carry in my money clip. I thought I’d simply put the info in a contact or something. Then I ran across a great tip from MacWorld’s iPhone Central.

I just scanned each card - front and back - and saved as .jpg pictures, imported into iPhoto, created an album called Cards, and synced with my iPhone. I couldn’t believe it. My library card, Blockbuster card, Barnes & Noble card, et al showed up amazingly well. You can even use a scan wand to scan bar codes at the respective stores from your iPhone. I reduced my money clip by 8 cards immediately. Wouldn’t recommend for credit cards obviously but a really great use of the iPhone’s features.

In my last post, I said I chose the Total Gym when I quit the fitness club to do my strength training at home. I’ve had quite a few questions over the last few months as to how I made my decision.

My final consideration was between the Total Gym and the Bowflex. There’s quite a bit online about the pro’s and con’s of each. Just do a Google search for Total Gym compared to Bowflex and you’ll find a lot of good information on both. In the end, I chose the Total Gym for several reasons…

1. Chuck Norris has been the spokesman for years. If it’s good enough for Chuck, it’s good enough for me - he’s looking pretty good for 60-something. When Chuck Norris does push ups, he doesn’t push up off the Earth, he pushes the Earth down!
2. No assembly - pull it right out of the box and unfold. I’ve heard it can take up to 2-3 hours to assemble a Bowflex.
3. It doesn’t take up much room. I leave mine up in the basement but it can easily be folded up and stored.
4. It’s equally easy to use and effective for both guys and gals. My wife and daughters love it. It even comes with attachments for Pilates routines. I actually don’t remember my wife ever looking as good as she does now! A nice bonus, guys.
5. It builds both strength and flexibility. I get a great stretch with each exercise.
6. A physical therapist/friend told me if he were to buy a piece of exercise equipment for home, it would be the Total Gym. He says he’s used one for years in the therapy facilities where he’s worked. He claims there are some exercises used for knee therapy which they can’t duplicate with any other machine.
7. I can do a workout consisting of many exercises and not make many adjustments - sometimes as many as five with the same settings.
8. Fewer adjustments mean better circuit training. I keep my heart rate up to get aerobic value in my workout as well. The few adjustments are simple and allow time for a quick water and towel break.

You’re probably thinking, “Yeah, but it probably costs thousands!” I did, too. My research revealed that although you can spend that much for upper-end models, there is one model that does everything the expensive ones do - and can be purchased new for under $400! That was what I spent for about 3 months of fitness club fees - which I wasn’t using.

The model is the Total Gym 1700 Club. Seriously - you can do every exercise with this that you need. It just doesn’t have as much eye candy. I don’t know about you, but that didn’t matter to me.

I also spent about $60 for the complete fitness DVD set of training programs from the Total Gym website. I would highly recommend it. It took all the guesswork out of putting together a great workout and let me focus on getting back in shape quickly and with confidence.

You can tell I’m passionate about my Total Gym. It’s worth the money to try. You can always buy something else, but Chuck Norris will probably give you a roundhouse to the face.

Okay, I know everybody’s got their preferences. So, what has been your experience with the Total Gym or other home exercise equipment?