30 Days To Breakthrough

Welcome to Day #18 of your “30 Days To Breakthrough” journey. Today’s topic is “Plan Your Spending.” This is the principle of BUDGETING.

QUOTE
“Budgeting is telling your money where to go instead of wondering where it went.”

LESSON
No one ever becomes financially free without planned spending. That’s because financial freedom is not determined by how much you make. That’s one of the biggest myths in our society. If you can’t live on what you’re making right now you won’t do better with a higher salary. Why? Because your yearnings will always exceed your earnings. You’re always going to want more than you make.

Financial freedom is not based on how much you make, it’s based on how much you spend. Financial freedom doesn’t come from making more, it comes from spending less. That means that no matter how much (or how little) you make you can be financially free. All you have to do is bring your spending in line with your income. If you spend less you don’t have to make more. Bottom line: you can be financially free if you will plan your spending.

One of the areas we don’t do too much planning is in our shopping.

Out of control spending is a mark of immaturity.

How do you spell relief for impulse buying and overspending? BUDGET! If you don’t do this then you won’t have God’s blessing on your life because He wants you to learn to manage money.

BUDGET CHECK – 5 questions to ask about your budget

1) Is everything we are going to spend written down on paper? Every time you go to spend money, think about what category is this going to come from.

2) Are we honoring God completely or taking faith steps with our giving?

3) Do both spouses totally agree with the plan?

4) Does it balance? Does it equal zero. Decide where every dollar is going to go. Every time new money comes in, decide where that is going to go.

5) Can we and will we follow this completely until our next pay cycle?

QUESTION
Lord, in what ways can I improve planning my spending?

LINK
Crown Financial Ministries – How To Budget

PRAYER
Heavenly Father, we praise You as the greatest planner of all time. Help me to plan my spending in a way that honors you. Rid me of any spirit of covetousness. In Jesus name, I pray. Amen.

Blessings to plan your spending!

R. Joseph Peck, M.D.
“Blessed to be a blessing”
THE CONNECTOR and The Journal Guy
Changing Lives to Disciple Nations
Community Transformation Specialist

Welcome to Day #17 of your “30 Days To Breakthrough” journey. Today’s topic is “Keep Good Records.” This is the principle of ACCOUNTING. You need to know where your money comes from and where it goes.

QUOTE
Financial freedom doesn’t come from making more, it comes from spending less.

LESSON
When I first went to college, my father taught me how to reconcile my checking account and to keep a budget. The habit of keeping good records led to better decisions better planning, and greater contentment with an ability to say no to things I couldn’t afford.

The Bible teaches that there are four things you need to keep good records on. Four things you need to know.
a. What I own
b. What I owe
c. What I earn
d. Where it all goes

Here’s a financial equation you need to know: IGNORANCE + EASY CREDIT = FINANCIAL DISASTER

When I keep good records, I have the information I need to make wiser choices. When I don’t, I set myself up for trouble.

QUESTION
Lord, how can I do a better job in this area of record keeping?

LINK
Crown Financial Ministries Money Map

PRAYER
Heavenly Father, thank You for these simple principles that work. Help me to be faithful in keeping good financial records and guide me to make wise decisions with the information I have. In Jesus name, I pray. Amen.

Blessings to keep good records!

R. Joseph Peck, M.D.
“Blessed to be a blessing”
THE CONNECTOR and The Journal Guy
Changing Lives to Disciple Nations
Community Transformation Specialist

Welcome to Day #16 of your “30 Days To Breakthrough” journey.

Today’s topic is “God’s Five Principles Of Financial Freedom.” The content for today’s message is based on a sermon by Pastor Rick Warren.

QUOTE
The first step of financial freedom is to write it down. Keep a log.

LESSON
Here are God’s five principles of financial freedom.

1. Keep good records. You need to know where your money comes from and where it goes. The Bible calls this the Principle of Accounting. We’ll discuss this more tomorrow.

2. Plan your spending. This is the Principle of Budgeting. In general, financial freedom is not based on how much you make. It’s based on how much you spend.

3. Save for the future.

4. Return ten percent back to God. This is the Principle of Tithing. The first ten- percent of what you make goes back to God. God blesses whatever He is put first in. Not the leftovers.

The Bible tells us three reasons to tithe:
a. It’s an act of gratitude
b. It’s an act of priority in the present
c. It’s a statement of faith.

5. Enjoy what you have. This is the Principle of Contentment.

QUESTION
Lord, in which of these areas am I falling short?

LINK
Breaking Out of The Debt Trap by Pastor Rick Warren

PRAYER
Heavenly Father, thank you for the Bible which provides the wisdom to manage our finances. Forgive me for the ways I have fallen short in adhering to your 5 principles that work. Help me to get on the road and to stay on the road to financial freedom. In Jesus name, I pray. Amen.

Blessings to follow God’s five principles of financial freedom!

R. Joseph Peck, M.D.
“Blessed to be a blessing”
THE CONNECTOR and The Journal Guy
Changing Lives to Disciple Nations
Community Transformation Specialist

Welcome to Day #15 of your “30 Days To Breakthrough”journey. Today’s topic is the 10-10-80 principle.

In Week #1 we discussed a variety of topics related to Stewarding Your Time. In Week #2, we discussed Stewarding Your Talent.

Today we begin a new 7 day series about Stewarding Your Treasure (Money).

Here is a summary of what we will cover in the next 7 days:

Day 15 – The 10-10-80 Principle
Day 16 – God’s Five Principles Of Financial Freedom
Day 17 – Keep Good Records
Day 18 – Plan Your Spending
Day 19 – Breaking Out Of The Debt Trap
Day 20 – Emergency Savings and Insurance
Day 21 – Investing

QUOTE
The reward for giving is a blessed life!

LESSON
The key to John D. Rockefeller’s financial success was following the 10-10-80 principle.

“Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you” (Luke 6:38, NIV).

Are you giving God your first fruits with a cheerful heart? What percent of your income do you save?

Like Bill Gates of today, John D. Rockefeller was the wealthiest man of his generation. When John was asked what was the secret of his financial success, he gave a profoundly simple answer – he followed the 10-10-80 principle. John gave the first 10% of what he earned to God, the next 10% to savings, and then he lived within his means on the remaining 80%.

By giving God our “first fruits”, we acknowledge Him as the owner of all and show we trust Him. This act of giving with a cheerful heart releases the promise of God that “our barns will be filled with plenty” (Proverbs 3:9-10). In other words, when You give God the first and best of what You have, He will bless the remainder. This applies not only to our money, but also to our time and talent. The LORD is our Redeemer.

The second part of the 10-10-80 principle is saving. In America, we now have a culture of debt – people are in debt and so are our governments. In Japan the average savings for a worker is more than 20%. In Western Europe it’s about 16%. But in the United States, the average worker saves minus 2%. Covetousness leads to financial bondage, which leads to spiritual bondage. The Bible says that “the borrower is servant to the lender.”

It’s interesting that when immigrants come to our country, they often do a much better job at saving than people who have lived in America for all their lives, despite the fact that they often earn far less.

QUESTION
Lord, how can I do a better job giving and saving?

LINK
” 10-10-80 principle” Surviving Financial Storms – YouTube video

PRAYER
Heavenly Father, thank you for the money you entrust to me.Forgive me for ways I have mismanaged money in the past. Keep me on track in following the 10-10-80 principle. Teach me to spend my money wisely and help me to eliminate all my debt. In Jesus name, I pray. Amen.

Blessings to follow the 10-10-80 principle!

R. Joseph Peck, M.D.
“Blessed to be a blessing”
THE CONNECTOR and The Journal Guy
Changing Lives to Disciple Nations
Community Transformation Specialist

Welcome to Day #14 of your “30 Days To Breakthrough”journey. Today’s topic is “Leverage what you have.”

This is the last day of the 7 days series about Stewarding Your Talent. Tomorrow we begin our third 7-day series about Stewarding Your Treasure (Money).

Here is a summary of what we covered this week:

Day 8 – BE Outstanding!
Day 9 – SIMPLIFY
Day 10 – Live On PURPOSE
Day 11 – Think BIG And Act Small
Day 12 – SHARE Your Blessing
Day 13 – Join A Mastermind TEAM
Day 14 – LEVERAGE What You Have

Before we move on to today’s topic, I’d like you to write down the most important life lesson you learned this week.

QUOTE
“Give me a lever long enough and I could move the world.” — Archimedes.

LESSON
Leverage is a fascinating topic to me which I have studied in detail. Leverage simply means “the ability to do more with less.”

When it came to the subject of work, money, and leverage, rich dad (in Robert Kiyosaki’s book “Rich Dad, Poor Dad”) would say, “if you want to become rich, you need to work less, and earn more. In order to do that, you employ some form of leverage.”

He contrasted that statement by saying, “People who only work hard have limited leverage. If you’re working hard physically and not getting ahead financially, then you’re probably someone else’s leverage.”

My good friend Michael Stay taught me the tri-cord of LEVERAGE is Rest, Reflection, and Revelation. I’ve come to discover that journaling (writing) enhances all three of those things.

One of the revelations I had in the past few years is JIREH Marketing = Journaling + Coaching + Web 2.0. JIREH Marketing is marketing by and for Jehovah JIREH.

What we are seeing in people who learn to strategically combine those three skill sets is explosive Kingdom impact.

Brian Tracy, a well-known motivational speaker, says, “Know the Right People! One of the greatest forms of financial leverage is contacts. Knowing the right people and being known by them can open doors for you that can save you years of hard work. The quality and quantity of your contacts and your relationships will have more to do with your success than perhaps any other factor.

Brian McFadin claims there are the 3 mistakes you are making that are keeping you from having what you want:

1) CLARITY: Not knowing exactly what you want, in measurable and reachable ways that are INTENSELY CLEAR, ultra specific, and totally inspiring to you.

2) S.M.A.R.T. GOALS: Not understanding how to set goals and act on them in ways that work for you and produce results at an exceptional level.

3) COACHING: Not having a powerful partner (coach), committed to your success, to challenge, cherish and cheer you along the way to victory.

QUESTION
Lord, what simple step can I take this week to better leverage what I have?

LINK of the Day
The Millionaire Secrets – watch 2 minute video “Brian Tracy: If You Could Achieve One Goal in 24 Hours”

PRAYER
Heavenly Father, we praise You as the God of leverage, the God of miracles. Teach me to do more with less. Teach me to let go and let God. In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen.

Blessings to LEVERAGE what you have!

R. Joseph Peck, M.D.
“Blessed to be a blessing”
THE CONNECTOR and The Journal Guy
Changing Lives to Disciple Nations
Community Transformation Specialist

P.S. I’m going to let you in on a little secret. A very quick way to leverage what you have is to share your blessings with others as they come into your life. Why not refer your friends to www.30-days-to-breakthrough.com TODAY?

Welcome to Day #13 of your “30 Days To Breakthrough” journey.

Today our topic is Join a Mastermind TEAM!

What is a Mastermind Team? People helping people achieve their professional and/or personal goals. An environment in which participants put their knowledge, ideas, and experiences together to create synergy and power!

QUOTE
“The future belongs to those who see possibilities before they become obvious.” – John Sculley, past president of PepsiCo, celebrated CEO of Apple

LESSON
Proverbs says there is safety in a multitude of counselors. Yet for most of my life, until my spiritual rebirth, I did not partake in any regular Christian fellowship other than going to church on Sundays.

In 2001, I began participating in a weekly morning Bible study with a handful of mature godly men.

Within a year, I progressed to participating in a weekly coaching group meeting with three other Kingdom-minded people who loved Jesus. Together we dreamed big dreams for God. This was so valuable and encouraging to me – a time of tremendous growth.

Now since 2007, I have had weekly meetings with Dr. Jerry Graham who has turned out to be my top coach and mentor.

My meetings and friendship with Jerry led to biweekly meetings with our Coaches Mastermind Group. These meetings are very inspirational and educational.

A Mastermind Team is more than a LIFE group. It’s a safe forum to share ideas, learn from others, and receive godly counsel. For small groups, ideally it is a place of profound TRUST and transparency.

A good Mastermind Team helps you BE Outstanding, SIMPLIFY, Focus, Think BIG, Act Small, Share, and Leverage what you have. In other words, be a good steward with all you have.

T.E.A.M. = Together Everyone Achieves More

You are invited to join Team Destiny’s 30-60-100 Fold Mastermind Team that will be starting in March 2010. This will be for people who want to dream really big dreams and have the resources to fulfill those. Stay tuned.

Profit from the Power of Many

QUESTION
Lord, what Mastermind Team can I join to help me grow the most in the next year?

LINK of the Day
Why a Mastermind Team?

PRAYER
Heavenly Father, I praise You as the God of teams. Please help me find the right Mastermind Team to grow to be all you have called me to be. In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen.

Blessings to find and join the right Mastermind Team to accelerate your growth and help you bear much eternal fruit!

R. Joseph Peck, M.D.
“Blessed to be a blessing”
THE CONNECTOR and The Journal Guy
Changing Lives to Disciple Nations
Community Transformation Specialist

Welcome to Day #12 of your “30 Days To Breakthrough” journey.

Today our topic is SHARE your blessing! Of all the topics I have written about, this is one of nearest and dearest to my heart. And so today’s message may be the longest.

My life slogan is “Blessed to be a blessing!” God blesses us so we can share those blessings with others. It’s that simple.

QUOTE
If you dare to care then share!
If you share, pay heed!!
God will reward every good deed!!!
- Hugh Traulsen’s poem “Caring/Sharing” in the Ronald Reagan Museum

LESSON
During a lunch meeting with my pastor about a year ago, Matt Gregory told me he thinks my journals will be the most valuable legacy I leave behind. They are filled with incredible God stories. During our biweekly Coaches Mastermind Group meeting with life coaches from 3 countries on February 11, 2010, Jerry Graham said he has never met anyone like me who is so full of JOY and can recognize the hand of God in everything.

Let’s me tell you my two secrets. They are journaling and SHARING. That’t it. Now YOU know.

Journaling is the LEAD DOMINO for my life. Journaling helps me slow down, allows God to be my Master Coach, builds my faith, and much more.

It was the FCA (Fellowship of Christian Athletes) Bible that got me to first start journaling in January 2002, a year after I committed my life to Jesus.

The FCA Bible taught me to use the PRESS method for journaling, which was my favorite method for about 5 years. PRESS stands for Pray, Read, Examine, Summarize, and Share.

Of those 5 things, I’ve come to realize that Sharing may be the most important one. Your God stories are unique to you. People may argue with your doctrine or your beliefs, but your God stories are another matter.

Sharing your God stories keeps God’s fresh living waters flowing through you. When you fail to share, you become spiritually stagnant, kind of like the Dead Sea that has the fresh waters from the Jordan River flowing in, but no outlet.

Look at the impact the Samaritan women at the well had on her community when she went back and told people about her encounter with Jesus. An entire community was transformed. The Samaritan women had not been read the Bible. She had not been to “church” (i.e. a synagogue) or a LIFE group. She had simply met the Son of God, believed and SHARED.

Using the PRESS method of journaling every day, reminded me to share something about Jesus or scriputres I had read every day. Eventually this became second nature.

My daily devotionals were born out of my habit of journaling and sharing. My desire to blog was birthed out of my passion to share. Our Web 2.0 courses were born out of my desire to share.

It’s been my experience that BLOGGING is the most powerful form of sharing there is. Why? Because every blog post (article) you write becomes available to the world. Being transparent in your blogging leads to breakthroughs. That’s when real relationship happens.

When you share your God stories on a blog to the public, it’s like a DAM BREAKING. God’s reservoir of living waters flow through you into other people’s lives.

Every month or so, we will be launching another course to help people start blogging regularly and showing them how to share their stories, products, and services with the world use Social Marketing (Web 2.0) strategically.

While these courses aren’t cheap, they are transformational if do the assignments. The overriding theme of all our ProsperNow777 training is “Feed My sheep!” which is what Jesus told Peter three times after his resurrection. In essence, Jesus was saying share your blessings.

If you’re interested in our ProsperNow777 course, please see today’s Link of the Day.

It you’d like to subscribe to our ProsperNow777 blog, please see

QUESTION
Lord, how can I do a better job sharing what you are doing in my life?

LINK of the Day
ProsperNow777 course teaching you to blog and use Web 2.0

PRAYER
Heavenly Father, we praise You as the God of HIStory, the best story teller of all time. Teach me to BE a better and more consistent story teller, sharing Your love and miracles. In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen.

Blessings to share your blessings!

R. Joseph Peck, M.D.
“Blessed to be a blessing”
THE CONNECTOR and The Journal Guy
Changing Lives to Disciple Nations
Community Transformation Specialist

P.S. A simple way to SHARE these blessings with your friends is to send them an email with a link to http://30-days-to-breakthrough.com

Welcome to Day #11 of your “30 Days To Breakthrough” journey.

Today our topic is Think BIG, Act Small!

QUOTE
Level 5 leaders embrace humility, strategic focus, discipline, and teamwork.

LESSON
On January 21, 2010, I had the privilege to attend my first-ever meeting with The C12 Group in Charlottesville from 9:30 am – 4 pm. What is The C12 Group? “Christian CEO’s and Owners Building Great Business For A Greater Purpose!”

What stood out for me the most while journaling the next morning was The C12 Group discussion pertaining to “Thinking Big While Acting Small.”

Increasing profits and improving a company’s financial performance have traditionally been done in one of three ways: by increasing revenues, cutting costs or downsizing, or cooking the books. For Think Big, Act Small, author Jason Jennings and his research team evaluated more than 100,000 American companies and discovered nine which have increased revenues and profits by 10 percent or more for more than ten consecutive years – the top one-hundredth of one percent of all American companies.

These companies, Jennings learned, use another strategy to consistently increase their performance. They have a culture based on a simple precept: they think big, but they act small. They think big about ideas, about solving customer problems, making better products, and creating value. Yet they never stop behaving like start-ups. They remain humble, they treat every employee like an owner, and their managers do not mind being hands-on on the front lines.

Organizations that “think small” tend to stay small and those who “act big” tend to get into trouble.

Level 5 leaders embrace humility, strategic focus, discipline, and teamwork.

Leadership Worth Following

1) Humility + vision + discipline
2) Team planning & execution
3) Excellence + value + innovation
4) Accountable win/win team culture
5) Focused on future and serving others

QUESTION
Lord, what is one step I can take to move toward becoming a Level 5 leader – thinking big, while acting small?

LINK of the Day
The C12 Group

PRAYER
Heavenly Father, we praise You as the God who things big while acting small. Thank You for caring about the small details in our lives. Help me to understand what it means to be a level 5 leader and lead me to become one. In Jesus name, I pray. Amen.

Blessings to think big while acting small!

R. Joseph Peck, M.D.
“Blessed to be a blessing”
THE CONNECTOR and The Journaling Guy
Changing Lives to Disciple Nations
Community Transformation Specialist

P.S.S. Spiritual Journaling will transform your life!

UNCOMMON Journaling is the key
to unlock YOUR dreams!

Welcome to Day #10 of your “30 Days To Breakthrough” journey.

For the past two days we discussed the importance to BE Outstanding and SIMPLIFY. Today our topic is Live on PURPOSE!

QUOTE
“Purpose powers passion!” – John G. Miller

LESSON
One of the things that kept me going through significant trials over the past few years is knowing my life purpose.

To live on purpose, you must know your purpose.

If you haven’t already done so, I suggest you write out your life purpose statement and then read that frequently. Keep it short. It doesn’t have to be perfect or final. It just needs to be. Over time you will refine that.

If the ladder isn’t leaning against the right wall, it doesn’t matter how fast you climb it.

Besides knowing your life purpose, it’s important to live each day, week, month, and year on purpose. Having written goals helps you do that.

What would you do if you knew you had one month to live?

In the Spring of 2009 I read a book called “One Month To Live” by Kerry and Chris Shook. That had a profound impact on me. I particularly liked this Day 1 assignment:

As quickly as possible, without thinking too hard or too long, make a list of five things you’d change about your life if you knew you only had a month to live. Choose at least one to begin changing today, right now.

Give that a try and see what happens. This “30 Days To Breakthrough” is fruit of my doing that.

QUESTION (write down what comes to your heart)
Lord, what one thing do you recommend I change about my life this month?

LINK of the Day
One Month To Live – Kerry and Chris Snook’s online resource

PRAYER
Heavenly Father, thank You for the precious gift of life. Help me to know and live the purpose you created me for. Teach me to live each day with a sense of urgency, as if I had only one month to live. In Jesus name, I pray. Amen.

Blessings to live on purpose!

R. Joseph Peck, M.D.
“Blessed to be a blessing”
THE CONNECTOR and The Journaling Guy
Changing Lives to Disciple Nations
Community Transformation Specialist

P.S. Sign up TODAY for my free E-course ““30 Days To Breakthrough” God wants to transform your life NOW!

P.S.S. Spiritual Journaling will transform your life!

UNCOMMON Journaling is the key
to unlock YOUR dreams!

Welcome to Day #9 of your “30 Days To Breakthrough” journey.

Yesterday we discussed the importance to BE Outstanding. Today we discuss the importance to SIMPLIFY.

QUOTE
“Less is more!” – Mac Anderson, founder of Simple Truths

LESSON
The longer I live and the more I experience, the more I become convinced of the importance in simplifying my life.

Instead of us owning our possessions, they can easily end up owning us or at least consuming much of our time.

Our basic needs are food, clothing, and shelter. Everything else is gravy.

Have you ever heard the expression, “The harder I work the further behind I get.” I’ve been on that path far too many times.

If you really want to be a godly steward with your talent, your must let go and let God.

STOP trying to run the universe. Enjoy each day. Take care of yourself. Honor God with the firstfruits of your talent and He’ll take care of the rest.

According to Bernadette Doyle, “The fastest way to have everything is to focus on one thing.”

What will be that ONE THING for you?

Incidentally, I was first referred to Bernadette by Kevin Nations on June 29, 2009 in his email titled “There’s a BIG DIFFERENCE between those who SOAR and those who STRUGGLE.”

The next day, June 30, I listened to Bernadette’s teleseminar titled “How to Do What You Love, When You Want, Wherever You Want, With Whoever You Want, and Make The Money You Want.”

I have come to discover Bernadette is someone worth listening to. She’s a great teacher and definitely knows what she is talking about when it comes to more leads, more clients, and more sales.

Bernadette’s business has tripled for 3 consecutive years, allowing her to generates more than $1 million in sales annually working out of her home just 3 days per week. She made this choice to work part-time out of her home to be able to spend lots of quality time with her two little children.

That kind of flexible lifestyle where one can give generously to others is very appealing to me. I’ll bet it’s appealing to you too.

Always remember there is tremendous POWER in focus. White light can be focused through a prism to create a laser beam that can cut through steel.

For me, focusing on completing and improving these daily messages for 30 Days To Breakthrough will play a very important part in my eternal legacy.

QUESTION (write down what comes to your heart)
Lord, what simple things can I do to SIMPLIFY my life?
What is the ONE THING you want me to FOCUS on?

LINK of the Day
Simple Truths by Mac Anderson

PRAYER
Heavenly Father, teach me what it really means to seek Your Kingdom and Your righteousness first each day. Help me to SIMPLIFY my life and trust more in You to accomplish Your purposes through me. In Jesus name, I pray. Amen.

Blessings to SIMPLIFY and FOCUS on ONE THING!

R. Joseph Peck, M.D.
“Blessed to be a blessing”
THE CONNECTOR and The Journaling Guy
Changing Lives to Disciple Nations
Community Transformation Specialist

P.S. I encourage you to help your friends SIMPLIFY their lives too by referring them to
www.30-days-to-breakthrough.com

P.S.S. Spiritual Journaling will transform your life!

UNCOMMON Journaling is the key
to unlock YOUR dreams!