Plan to Grow and Prosper

Time and money are two very important resources that need to be managed wisely.

The questions we have to answer every day are what do we need to spend time on today and what are the monetary investments that need to be made.

In 1626, there was an island inhabited by Indians. The island was great for tapping and selling fur. This caught the interest of a man named Peter Minuit who worked for the Dutch West India Company. He offered the Indians $26 in beads for the island. After about four years, there were 200 people that lived on the island. They set up a town called New Amsterdam. Minuit didn’t plan that well for the island and mostly wanting to increase his own personal wealth so the island didn’t increase in value.

This Island didn’t grow at first until some planning took place. They started planning streets and planted trees to make the area more appealing. Today that island bought for $26 is worth somewhere in the vicinity of $200 billion dollars. We know the island today as Manhattan. Some say the most valuable land on the planet earth. Insignificant land became skyscraper building sites. Once a place valuable for trapping and fur trade is now a trading center for finance; home of Wall Street, fashion, and center of New York City.

Now neighbor and friend, you know the lesson of the day. It takes a lot of planning to make something grow and prosper. Sometimes you have to get up early or stay up late to plan before getting busy. Also, money has to be used wisely so you can multiply that wealth. 

How do we budget our time and money wisely?  We need to focus more on activities like preparation, planning, and relationship building. We need to use money wisely by investing and increasing what was entrusted to us. We should accept our lot and be happy in our work. It is important to be concerned about money but it is by no means the only way to keep score. There is much to be said for a job well done, the respect of others, or the thrill of building something from nothing.

Check out my other blogs; where I receive a constant supply of inspiration for my writings by clicking on the links below:

Step Ahead

This Day with God Devotional

Honesty Truly is the Best Policy

Like I’ve heard in sermons at my church, we should be honest with ourselves; having the attitude of wanting to know where we fall short and what we need to do.

Our founding father, George Washington once said these words, “I hope I shall always possess firmness and virtue enough to maintain what I consider the most enviable of all titles, the character of an Honest Man”. Abraham Lincoln, known as “Honest Abe” once worked in a store and walked two miles to return a six-cent mistake on a bill. Isn’t it ironic that the person, who was honest with pennies, now has his picture on them?

There are many stories about honesty being the best policy and today I would like to highlight one that starts back in 1881 when a young man seemed to have a keen interest in business. He had rather sell steel traps to hunters than do anything. He was an avid hunter and fisherman and was always inconvenienced by his boots becoming soaked with water when he would go on his outdoor activities. He set out to resolve this inconvenience by developing plans for a waterproof boot.

In 1911, at the age of 39 he took out a loan for $400 to produce a quality hunting boot with a rubber-bottom and a leather-top. The boot had some quality issues at first but he was honest with himself and the people that bought his boots. He continued to want to know how he could produce a higher quality boot.

Because the man in today’s story was a man of integrity and had a passion for building a high quality boot, his idea and business continued to grow. He then set up a boot shop in his brother’s basement in Freeport, Maine. 

By 1917, he had sold enough of his boots and had enough money to buy a building on Main Street in Freeport. In 1918, he patented his invention of the boot and then moved on to inventing and improving other outdoor equipment. Over the years, Leon Leonwood Bean expanded his store and at the time of his death in 1967, the annual sales were in the hundreds of millions. The company continues today as a mail-order, online, and retail business based in Freeport, Maine. They specialize in clothing and outdoor recreation equipment with sales now approaching $2 billion per year.  L. L. Bean Company continues to be known for its high quality products and customer service.

Check out my other blogs; where I receive a constant supply of inspiration for my writings, click on the links below:

Step Ahead
This Day with God Devotional