Saturday, December 23, 2017

Financial Training for your Teenager!!!!

I am really excited about this class that I will be hosting starting in February.  Check out the info here and email or call me if you have any questions.
https://ihopeflorence.com/services/teaching-and-training/foundations-in-personal-finance/


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Sunday, December 10, 2017

Evaluation Season- Part Two

If you read the previous BLOG you know that I like to refer to December as Evaluation Season.  Evaluation Season is the time in which I take stock of my life.  I evaluate the year that is rapidly coming to an end and consider the year ahead- what are the goals, expectations, challenges that I anticipate and how do I plan to meet them?  This is a crucial part of my life and one of the tools I use to ensure that I remain on point.  There are a few specific exercises I complete each December to ensure I am ready for the New Year; let me share them with you here.
In December of each year I take a day to get away and do three specific things.  This year I went to one of my favorite spots on earth, Murrells Inlet, South Carolina.  I love looking out over the marsh.  It is a very peaceful place and often quiet.  The first thing I do on these day-long retreats is evaluate the previous years goals.  What goals did I meet or exceed and what goals did I fall short in?  I usually spend one to two hours evaluating these past goals.  Certainly this is not the only time I do this during the year, but this is the time when I write my concluding thoughts regarding the previous year.
The second part of the day includes finalizing my goals for the upcoming year.  I have been considering and contemplating them for a few weeks by this time, but this is when I put pen to paper.  I always try to make my goals measureable and I categorize them in six areas.  I have goals for spiritual growth, finance, family relationships, personal development, career and fitness.  That may seem like a lot, and it can be, but remember if you aim at nothing you will hit it every time.  I typically have two-four measureable, distinct goals for each of those six categories.  Some of my goals for 2018 include:
-       Read the Bible in its entirety.
-       Budget every dollar from the expected to the unexpected that comes my family’s way. 
-       Take my wife on a lunch date every other Thursday.  I have been waiting several years to make this a reality and finally this year I think it may be.  I am ditching my Thursday Men’s lunch group every other week to take my beautiful wife out.  An awesome trade if you ask me!
-       Intentionally introduce kindness and grace to our kids. I will do this through intentional discussion one morning a week at breakfast.
-       Daily train for an athletic event (triathlon, race, bike event, etc).

These are several of my goals for 2018.  There are others, but you get the idea.  This part of the day can take up to four hours or more to complete. 

            The last portion of the day is all about letter writing.  I learned of this idea from Dennis Rainey several years ago.  He talked about how he writes a letter to each of his family members recounting the year’s experiences and unique challenges.  This is a lot of fun.  I write all three of my kids and Rebecca.  In the letter I express my prayers for them, the fun things that the year included and the unique areas of growth that were experienced by them during the year.  I also talk about our unique relationship.  The letters are to be read upon my death.  That may sound morbid, but in reality it is one way I take seriously my calling as father and husband.  God has granted me, and you if you are a parent, with a tremendous opportunity to shepherd our families.  These letters are one way to remind, teach and encourage my kids and wife even in my death.  It is a shepherding tool, and will serve as a great history of our family to whomever may read them one day- Rebecca, my kids or grandkids.

            So these are the three aspects of my day-long retreat to end each year.  It is a full and busy day, and it takes a lot of preparation to fit it all in to one day.  I hope that some of the ideas may inspire you as you seek to live your life on point.

As always, if you have a question please email me at reeves.cannon@sandhurst.net.

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Sunday, December 3, 2017

Evaluation Season

Evaluation Season

I love this time of year!  No, not for all of the reasons you may be thinking.  I can leave the decorations, cookies and all of that.  In fact, I grumble every year at the inefficiency of Christmas.  In my brain it makes no sense why you would spend an entire day decorating something knowing you are going to un-decorate in a month.  Pointless…to me, not my wife=)!
The reason I love this time of year is because it is what I call “evaluation season”.  The name of my BLOG is Life on Point, and as you can imagine there is a reason I chose that name.  I chose that name because I think the greatest waste of all is a life wasted; thus we need to ensure we live our life on point.  “Evaluation Season” gives us an opportunity to evaluate the previous year and look forward to the next so we can remain on point.
I was meeting with my good friend Denny Bates this week and he made a profound statement.  He said, “I cannot wish my legacy at my death.”  Do you hear the significance in those words?  What is being said there is that your legacy is not made at your death; your legacy is made day after day after day by the choices you make and the attitude in which you live out those choices.  God has given you life.  What a gift!  However, it is up to you to ensure that you live your life on point - that you live it with significance, purpose and intentionality.
Over the next couple of weeks I am going to share with you what I do during evaluation season.  Some of the ideas you will want to adopt.  Some of them will not make sense for you, but for now, consider 2017.  Did you live it on point?  A worn out, but apt cliché says this, “If you aim at nothing you will hit it every time.”  What did you aim at in 2017 and did you hit it?  Worse yet than not hitting your target is not knowing your target.  Over the next few weeks we will discuss how you can both know and hit your target for 2018 and beyond.

As always, if you have a question please email me at reeves.cannon@sandhurst.net.
Be sure to follow me on twitter, instagram or Facebook to receive the latest BLOG updates and other content.

How do I Pray?

I was challenged this morning to think about how I pray?  Samuel Chadwick said, "Prayer is not a collection of balanced phrases, it is ...