I really got a chance to see the value of the InVeStworks model system (or TIMS for short) recently when I was experiencing a cash flow crunch. You probably have experienced something like this before: you seem to have more month than money, so you start thinking of expenses that you can eliminate in order to make it through.
So there I was, looking at how I could tighten my belt. I’m embarrassed to admit it, but one of the first “expenses” I thought of eliminating were the investments I’ve been making in my InVeStworks portfolio. After all, I reasoned, it’s an extra expense. It’s not essential to my well being.
Actually, I couldn’t be more wrong. In the top two companies in my portfolio, Music Forte and Abundant Living Legacy, I am averaging a 200% return on each company! This means that these investments are not only paying for themselves but they’re providing me with income. I would venture to say that there probably are other areas of investing where you could make that kind of return or maybe better, but only after investing a much higher amount and at much greater risk. In any case, even if I were interested in those areas of investing (I’m not), I don’t think I’d be able to live with that kind of risk-taking at this point in my life.
Nonetheless, I was ready to cash in my InVeStworks chips (only for a short time, I told myself) because I didn’t properly see it as a source of income — a source of income I can certainly use at this point. How many of us are also blinded by money astigmatism? You know, the kind of short-sightedness that has us overspend for the holidays on gifts the kids just “have to have” but then has us telling them we can’t afford the new school uniform after the first of the year? As a recovering bookaholic, I blush to admit that there have been times in my life when my book budget affected my food budget.
The beauty of TIMS is that it forces us to re-assess our priorities and provides us with multiple streams of income in a way that the average worker doesn’t usually dare to dream about. But TIMS is the perfect way for the average worker to begin investing in their future, the future of their family and also their world, as they begin to be cash-flow positive and distribute some of that extra cash to causes they deem worthy. This is the power and the beauty of InVeStworks.
The only obstacle to success in InVeStworks or any worthy endeavor, financial or otherwise, is our limiting beliefs and skewed perspectives. They are like weeds in the garden of our hearts and minds. They keep us from seeing the opportunities that are right in front of us. They keep us from hanging in there when we don’t see the results we want to see. They even make us think a source of income is really an expense!
Perhaps you’ve heard of the story, Acres of Diamonds, a story that was told in a sermon by Russell Conwell about a man who had a farm that was failing and who lost everything in his search for riches in the form of diamonds. When the poor farmer had lost everything and killed himself, the man who took over the farmer’s property discovered diamonds on the same piece of land the farmer had thought was worthless. In fact, the failing farmstead turned out to be one of the richest diamond mines in the world, the Golconda. Moral of the story? Well, there are lots of them, but for the purposes of this particular blog post, the moral is, “know your territory.” That’s right. Know your territory.
Pay close attention to what’s in your life. There are opportunities in every seeming setback. A broken down farm could just turn out to be a diamond mine. What seems like an expense could really be a source of income that will tide you through a lean time. The only way you’ll know is if you don’t give up. And the only way to stop being an underdog financially is to know your territory. Something to think about…
