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You Can Earn High
by Robert Baines Earn high, in this article, is a reference to making enough money to both live on and invest for future goals. For some, it may be $50,000/year, for others it may be $100,000/year.It depends on how much your life style costs, how long you have to save and invest, how well your investments do, and how much your retirement life style costs. In the article on financial stewardship (visit Christian-Living-Site.com/Financial-Stewardship.html to see the article), we learned the importance of earning high for God's sake. The following five tidbits will prove helpful, in actually earning high: 1. Search yourself. God has uniquely shaped each one of us with various passions and abilities (see Ps. 139:14; Phil. 2:12-13). Make time to jot down the things that you are passionate about. For some, it may be a passion to help the poor. Some like to deal with finances. Others like to teach. Jot down your various skills and abilities. Some do well with computers. Others do well with negotiating agreements. And yet others do better with general labor. Take some time to become familiar with what God has already placed in you. The more closer your work is to your God given passions and abilities the more fulfilled you will be on your job or in your business. 2. Look for some profitable passions. Your passions and abilities will point towards various career fields or occupations. Research how profitable the career fields and occupations are. That is, see if you can earn high, in the area that you are passionate about. The United States Department of Labor (www.bls.gov) is a good place to start your research, in addition to doing an internet and library search. Let's face it, there must be a balance between passion and profit. If you are passionate about singing but cannot make enough money to pay your bills, not to mention invest, then you need to do more searching than singing (smile). On the other hand, there are too many who make good money but hate their job. They have profit without passion. Try to find as much over lap as possible, realizing that you must make more than you need to live on, in order to invest for financial goals. 3. Consider business opportunities. Small businesses are very important to especially the American economy. It is also true that many people are being terminated from large companies. Thus, having your own business has its attractions. However, everyone is not cut out to be a business owner. Do some soul searching about God's will for you, in this area. If it is God's will, proceed. If it is not God's will, find a good job. 4. Position yourself. Given that you have found some clarity about what job or business opportunity you want to pursue, based on researching your passions and abilities along with what is profitable, now you need to position yourself. Find out what you need, in order to get the job or take advantage of the business opportunity. See what is available in the library and on the internet. Interview people who are where you want to be. 5. Be proactive. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. talked about "the paralysis of analysis." In other words, at some point, you have to stop doing analysis, research, and soul searching. You have to make and execute a plan. Based on your research, what job or business opportunity are you positioning for? What do you need to do to be in position? What do you need to do over the next 90, 30, and 7 days? What do you need to do today? How well are you doing in carrying out your plan? These are some of the questions you need to use in planning your work and staying focused on working your plan. In summary, you can earn high by searching yourself, looking for profitable passions, considering business opportunities, positioning yourself, and being proactive. The question now is will you apply what you have learned? Take a look at this article on a great resource http://www.Christian-Living-Site.com/Christian-Financial-Freedom.html Dr. Robert E. Baines, Jr. uses his doctorate of ministry degree and twenty years of pastoral experience to provide quality and helpful Christian living information to 1,000's of visitors a month. Make sure you secure your free copy of his ebooklet, "How to Encourage Yourself: 21 Practical Tips," and sign up for his newsletter that features great articles, helpful devotionals, and Bible based teaching notes at www.RobertBaines.com. Article Source: http://www.faithwriters.com |