ARE YOU TOO BUSY EARNING A LIVING

TO LIVE YOUR LIFE

1. If a person wanted to purchase your life, where would they have to go for the "Pink Slip"? (In other words, what obligations and demands do you need to meet in the hours of your life?)
   • A)...I work full time and have a family, pay a mortgage or rent, have car payment(S) and misc debts.
     
   • B)...I work full time and have misc. debts and payments but no family.
     
   • C)...I only need to cover food, rent (or house payments), I have no other debts.
     
   • D)...There are no demands on my time. I am competely financially free and independent. I don't need to work in order to meet my obligations.

2. How "free" are you? If your current source(s) of income were to stop today....how much time would you have before the wolf came knocking at your door?
   • A)...One week or less
     
   • B)...Up to 6 months if I'm careful
     
   • C)...1 to 4 years.
     
   • D)...5 years or more.

3. At some point in our lives, (usually when we are young), we dream about what we would like to do, be, and have in life. Have you accomplished those dreams in your life yet?
   • A)...No, and I don't even allow myself to think about them anymore.
     
   • B)...I tried for awhile, and I think about them occasionally, but I doubt I'll ever accomplish them now.
     
   • C)...I'm still working on some of them.
     
   • D)...Absolutely! I've accomplished all of those and I regularly set new ones, which I accomplish on a regular basis.

4. In your current profession or job are you getting paid what you know you're worth?
   • A)...I don't even get paid a fraction of what I'm worth.
     
   • B)...I am underpaid.
     
   • C)...I am paid what I am worth.
     
   • D)...Actually, I think I get paid incredibly well for what I do.

5. A group of Boston researchers were shocked to find that the HIGHEST RISK FACTOR FOR HEART DISEASE is job dissatisfaction! And the second is unhappiness! Are you truly satisfied with your job and/ or occupation?....and are you really happy?
   • A)...I'm not very happy or satisfied at all.
     
   • B)...I wouldn't say that I'm unhappy. Numb is the better word.
     
   • C)...I don't consider myself deeply satisfied with my life, but I guess that I'm happy.
     
   • D)...I love life and consider myself to be very happy and satisfied.

6. How are you set for retirement?
   • A)...I'm not...I'm just hoping that Social Secuurity won't go broke.
     
   • B)...I barely make it on my full time salary now, I can't imagine how I will be able to live on half that amount.
     
   • C)...I won't be rich, not with what I've saved now, I will be financially secure when I retire.
     
   • D)...My retirement is all set. I'll have time and money to spend.

7. Imagine what an ideal lifestyle would be like for you. Compare the way you DO spend your time now to the what you WOULD spend it IF YOUR LIFESTYLE WERE IDEAL.
   • A)...There is no simularity. I have no time in my real life for the things I would consider in my ideal lifestyle.
     
   • B)...Once in a while I do something that is from my ideal lifestyle.
     
   • C)...Approximately one-half of my life is what I would consider my ideal lifestyle.
     
   • D)...My ideal life and my real life are almost identical.

8. With the rapidly changing world economy and vulnerability of every field, experts say that the only real way to develop or to have real security is to HAVE MULTIPLE STREAMS OF INCOME. DO YOU?.
   • A)...I have one stream or less.
     
   • B)...I have two streams of income.
     
   • C)...I have three streams of income.
     
   • D)...I have four or more streams of income.

9. What about cash flow.... or spendable income? Could you easily come up with an extra $1,000 cash anytime you need to make a major purchase? ...or pay off a debt?
   • A)...My cash flows straight from my paycheck to my creditors. I could never come up with an extra $1,000.
     
   • B)...Almost all of my money is spoken for. An extra $1,000 would wipe me out.
     
   • C)...I have a pretty steady cash flow. I could handle an extra $1,000 --but not regularly.
     
   • D)...I have ample positive cash flow. A bill for an extra $1,000 would be no problem at all.

10. Imagine what you would do if you had all of the money that you needed to do the things you want to do....consider all of the things you would do, that you would buy....consider all of the needs in the lives of others and in ministries that you would meet. HOW CLOSE ARE YOU TO DOING THOSE THINGS NOW?
    • A)...I'm so far from that reality that AT&T would sock me with long distance charges just for thinking about it?
      
    • B)...At my current rate of earning an spending, none of it looks probable.
      
    • C)...I have solid plans for achieving that state, and I'm moving steadily toward those goals.
      
    • D)...I'm already enjoying that state....doing the things I want to do, buying what I want to buy, and most importantly GIVING ABUNDANTLY TO all the people/ MINISTRIES that I want to give to.

11. How do you like the people with whom you work?
    • A)...I have to work in a pretty bad environment, with tyrants and jerks!
      
    • B)...I guess some of them are OK....but there are several I would not work with, if I had a choice.
      
    • C)...I enjoy most of the people in my life and workplace.
      
    • D)...I get to choose the people with whom I work....and they are great, compatible, team-oriented, positive, etc.

12. They say that stress and overload are on the rise in our fast-paced society. How do YOU rate on the stressed-out scale?.
    • A)...I'm so wired that I could light up Las Vegas...and so tense that if I snapped, I would shoot all the way to Australia!
      
    • B)...Stess and tension in my life have been slowly increasing and I don't feel they will let up any time soon.
      
    • C)...I rarely feel stressed out or tense.
      
    • D)...I don't have any stress....and I'm totally at peace.

SCORING INSTRUCTIONS

Count the total number of times you chose each letter:

A_________________....B_________________
C_________________....D_________________

Transfer the numbers to the spaces below.
Each A is worth ( 0 ) points;
Each B is worth ( 1 ) points;
Each C is worth ( 2 ) points;
Each D is worth ( 3 ) points;
NEXT: Ad the totals.

A___________ x 0 =_______0_________
B___________ x 1 =_________________
C___________ x 2 =_________________
D___________ x 3 =_________________

TOTAL SCORE________________________

Take a serious look at your score. REALIZE THAT THIS IS YOUR LIFE! THIS IS NOT A DRESS REHEARSAL! When you are on your deathbed, you're going to want to be able to look back at your life and be thankful for the many accomplishments you were enabled to do. You'll want to have assurance that you did THE IMPORTANT, VITAL things....and that you are ready for eternity!

I doubt you will find anyone on their deathbed saying, "Gee, I sure wish I could have put more hours in at the office or the factory"....NOR will you find anyine saying "GEE I'm glad I didn't waste my life spending time with my loved ones, or traveling to see the great sights of the world with my family, or waste my life helping, serving and giving to others".

No, it's much more likely you'll find them (you?...I hope not!) lamenting: "How could I have wasted so many years? My priorities were all wrong. I didn't have time for my children. OR.... IF ONLY I COULD LIVE MY LIFE OVER AGAIN!"

Each day that passes is one more BUILDING BLOCK that should be on the "castle of your life". Time waits for no man....If you are too busy to "do a life worth living"....it's gone before you know it! THE BLOCKS DON"T PILE UP AND WAIT UNTILL YOU ARE READY...YOU CAN"T CRAM AND BUILD YOUR "CASTLE" AT THE VERY END....How many "blocks" do you have left?....INSANITY IS CONTINUING AS YOU ALWAYS HAVE AND EXPECT DIFFERENT RESULTS!

Take some time. Be still. Find out what your life should be about. [DID YOU INCLUDE: loving, giving, sharing, growing, serving, traveling, teaching, creating, building up others?]

FOR CHRISTIANS ONLY: JESUS CHRIST MUST BE FIRST, FOREMOST, AND PREEMINENT....and thus, we are to be "rivers of living water" overflowing with CHRIST TO OTHERS.

NOTE: We have a responsibility to "....HAVE TO GIVE!...." While gaining financial wealth is never to be the primary goal, nor is it to be done at the expense of people....WE HAVE A RESPONSIBILITY TO BLESS THOSE AROUND US THROUGH GIVING, NOT ONLY WITH THE GOSPEL BUT ALSO THROUGH GIVING MONEY OR THAT WHICH IT CAN PURCHASE! MONEY BUYS BIBLES AND SENDS MISSIONARIES!! We are to "work in order to have to give" !....Shouldn't you seek to find a way....so that you can start doing those things THAT MAKE A DIFFERENCE?!

1. If you scored between 0 an 12...
   Serious changes need to be made.

2. If you scored between 13 and 20....
   Your life is still a strain....Life can be more fulfilling, with time to smell the roses....
   FIND A WAY TO GO FOR IT !!!

3. If you scored between 31 and 28...
   You are on the fence between struggle and true success....Keep focused....Keep moving in the right direction....Break the barriers and go forward!

4. If you scored between 29 and 35....
   You should be reasonably happy and fulfilled....Enjoying a life of LIVING GIVING....BUT YOU HAVE ONLY JUST BEGUN....KEEP TRUCKIN'....AND TAKE OTHERS WITH YOU!

5. If YOU SCORED 36....
   CONGRATULATIONS! YOU "OWN YOUR OWN LIFE"....THAT IS, YOU NOW HAVE THE TIME AND FINANCIAL FREEDOM TO FULLY BE A BLESSING TO MULTITUDES....NEVER FORGET: YOU ARE BLESSED TO BE A BLESSING!

FINAL NOTE:

RIGHT NOW, CALL: