This is my initial offering of “reasons to click”, which will be a series of posts that highlight web sites, blogs, articles/posts and videos that I’ve come across and consider to be “click worthy”. Take a look and give me your opinion.

1. The suicide of someone that you know is shocking.

It rocks you to your core. What could I have done? Why didn’t I see it? What should I have done? These questions and many more will confront you as you try to understand.

Tina Fukuchi at Public Spark posted a great article – Why do people commit suicide – that addresses some of theses questions. This is definitely an article that everyone needs to read.

2. Are you looking for help with your blog?

Have you ever seen a really cool blog or web site and thought, “I’d like to try that on my site”, but didn’t know how to start. I had this problem recently – How do you put all those links at the end of each post without having to key them in every time?

Fortunately, or by the Law of Attraction, its the same thing to me, I came across Average Joe Blogger. Nathan Snipes has some great articles about blogging and how to make your blog better. How to manually add Social Book marking links provided me with the raw information and a detailed map of how to do what I’d been trying to do for some time. Thanks Nathan.

3. A couple of new blogs.

Developing a new blog is hard work, especially if you have no idea where to start or how to start. It’s a lot more than just writing articles/posts. There’s the admin, finding ideas, theme development, building a readership as well as defining your writing persona.

Eric Sanders recently did a couple of guest posts on a blog that I co-author called My-Tool Talks. Eric has exceptional writing skills and having been bitten by the “self-expression” bug, has started a blog called Brainwavers.

It’s still developing (in fact, as I went over there just now, I could see that he was having trouble with his theme – but his text was still there and that’s the important part). Eric has the skills to create something special, given a little time and encouragement. Check out Brainwavers.

Brad Baggett has a new blog going a Juice of Champions. Brad is a connector. He is one of those people who “knows people”. In my endeavors to spread the word about the Rotater, Brad has put me in touch with a bunch of people who can help me that I could never have met without him. Thanks for your help Brad. Give him a click, you won’t be disappointed.

4. The Desiderata series.

Bob Clubbs at every, every minute has rounded up a number of the bloggers from Priscilla Palmers’ List of Personal Development Blogs to participate in the dissection of the Desiderata.

The Desiderata, a poem by Max Ehrmann, is quite thought provoking. Bob has asked for bloggers to volunteer to take one of the verses and expound upon it. My contribution to the cause will be posted on October 2.

Take the time to see how different minds look at the thought-provoking work.

5. A free online money management tool.

Take a look at this free money management software and see if it can help you get a grasp of your finances. Peruse Mint’s testimonials.

6. A couple of inspiring videos.

I originally posted an article about Nick Vujicic in an article entitled “Video of an incredible person doing normal things”. Please visit Adam Khoo’s site and see the video for yourself.

Adversity University is an inspiring blog that has recently come to my attention. Not only is the blog inspiring for what it has to say, but the author, Stephen Hopson, leads an inspiring life. Take a look at this video and you’ll feel the power of this motivational speaker.

Okay, this is the first installment of “soupornuts’ reasons to click”. If you have any sites or blogs that you would like to add to the list, then post them in the comments. Let me know what you think. – Chris

Tags: motivation, inspiration, reasons+to+click, inspiring+videos

Saving the youth

Howie is involved in sports marketing and entertainment. And he is entertaining, but he is also passionate about helping the youth of today avoid a lifetime of grief by becoming financially aware. His premise (and it is an excellent one) is: no one teaches us anything to prepare us for how to handle our financial affairs once we become adults. We learn:

• science
• english
• math
• social studies
• foreign languages
• government studies
• western civilizations

…but we do not learn financial preparedness before we are tossed (or willingly jump) into our early adult lives. The results have been disastrous and are demonstrated by:

• escalating credit card debt
• increasing bankruptcies
• people trapped in poverty or near poverty living conditions

Howie the credit counselor

Through his own life experiences, Howie has developed a unique outlook on how to help the youth – teach them about finances before they are exposed to the ruthless onslaught of credit card companies and sucked into a lifetime of debt.

Howie is a stand up comedian and wants to speak to the youth of America. Visit his site and see if he can help someone you know.

OTHER TOPICS:

• Get the soupornuts feed
• Get soupornuts via your email
• Find out about the Rotater

Tags: finances, financial+awareness, teaching+financial+awareness, credit+card+awareness

In his book THE MILLIONAIRE MIND, Dr. Thomas Stanley makes a distinction between those he categorizes as the “income statement” rich and the “balance sheet” rich.

The “income statement” rich are those people who have the super-nice, big houses in upper-class neighborhoods and drive the latest model, luxury automobiles. These people definitely have a lot of stuff, but they also have the large monthly payments that go along with their stuff. In effect, they earn a high income and pay out an equally high amount of their income in order to finance their lifestyle. There is little or nothing leftover at the end of each month and because of this, their wealth is dependent on maintaining an income stream. If they are out of work for any length of time, the money (illusory wealth) dries up. Therefore, being “income statement” rich is really an illusion.

The “balance sheet” rich, on the other hand, are those people whose balance sheet shows that the value of their assets exceeds the amount of their liabilities by at least one million dollars. According to Dr. Stanley’s research, these people seldom drive the newest cars or live in the largest houses. In fact, most of these people probably don’t look or live too differently than you or I.

The point of all this is that if your definition of success includes the accumulation of riches, then you need to learn what truly rich people do in order to be rich and then emulate them. THE MILLIONAIRE MIND is an excellent, eye-opening resource for learning a little bit about how true millionaires think and how they achieved their wealth. If you don’t have the time to read this book, don’t fret. THE MILLIONAIRE MIND is available as an audio book. Do as I do and make every drive a learning experience. The results will amaze you.

Tags: income+statement, balance+sheet, net+worth, millionaire+thinking, millionaire+mind