My Method of Navigation Planning and Structure - adapted from The Law of Navigation by John C. Maxwell

1. I plan to plan.

2. I determine my primary purpose in each role

3. I assess the situation.

4. I prioritize the needs.

5. I ask questions.

6. I set specific goals.

7. I clarify and communicate.

8. I identify possible obstacles.

9. I plan no more than twelve weeks.

10. I schedule everything I can.

11. I budget everything I can.

12. I measure lead and lag indicators.

13. I study the results and make corrections where necessary.

14. I do less and obsess.

Remember, anyone can steer the ship, but it takes a leader to chart the course - John C. Maxwell

The Transforming Power of Mental Renewal

http://www.geistchapel.org/content.cfm?id=213&download_id=307

Jordan Raynor: Passion - Competence ≠ Calling

Discerning Your Calling Devotional 3 of 4 "We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us. If your gift is prophesying, then prophesy in accordance with your faith." Romans 12:6 (NIV) Last week, we saw that identifying our passions are key in the process of discerning our calling. But passion without competence is worthless. In Romans 12:6, Paul said, "Since we have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, each of us is to exercise them accordingly." We have largely ignored this verse in the Church today, choosing to define calling as simply what we are really passionate about, rather than the intersection of both our passions and giftings. Our work won't feel like a calling until we reimagine it as service to our Caller and the world. It's impossible to serve someone well if you aren't gifted at your craft. You may be really passionate about wanting to fly an airplane, but if you've never been to flight school, you won't be serving others by taking the controls in the cockpit. You may really want to be an entrepreneur, but if you've started multiple companies and have consistently lost investors' money and laid off employees, are you really serving others through your chosen work? In order to best glorify our Creator and serve others, we should do the work we are best at, work that God has equipped us to do exceptionally well. In her classic essay, Why Work? renowned British novelist Dorothy Sayers said, "The Church's approach to an intelligent carpenter is usually confined to exhorting him not to be drunk and disorderly in his leisure hours, and to come to church on Sundays. What the Church should be telling him is this: that the very first demand that his religion makes upon him is that he should make good tables." Nobody starts their career knowing what they will be exceptionally good at. We learn what giftings God has given us through continual trial and error. Individual failures don't necessarily mean that we aren't gifted and called to a particular line of work. But if we are to glorify God and serve others through our vocations, we should be in a continual process of analyzing where our passions and giftings align. It is that intersection that brings us one step closer to discerning our calling. -- Jordan Raynor Author, Called to Create Share Tweet Share Forward

Is Interest on Home Equity Loans Tax Deductible?

The Internal Revenue Service recently advised taxpayers that interest on a home equity loan used to build an addition to an existing home is typically deductible, while interest on the same loan used to pay personal living expenses, such as credit card debts, is not. Click here to view the announcement.  Here are three examples from the announcement:

• Example 1: In January 2018, a taxpayer takes out a $500,000 mortgage to purchase a main home with a fair market value of $800,000.  In February 2018, the taxpayer takes out a $250,000 home equity loan to put an addition on the main home. Both loans are secured by the main home and the total does not exceed the cost of the home. Because the total amount of both loans does not exceed $750,000, all of the interest paid on the loans is deductible. However, if the taxpayer used the home equity loan proceeds for personal expenses, such as paying off student loans and credit cards, then the interest on the home equity loan would not be deductible.