LV Alter-egos

From Hoarder to LifeVestor

by Andy Wood on May 16, 2008

in Five LV Laws, Hoarders, Life Currency, Love, LV Alter-egos, Money, Principle of Increase, Time

Hoarding MoneyHoarding’s back. 

I’m sure it never went away, but it’s been back in the news over the last month.  Banks are hoarding money.  People worldwide are hoarding rice.  Myanmar officials and residents are warned about hoarding aid.

People are scared, and when they’re scared, they hoard.  OR, somebody else hoards and looks to make a killing off the really scared people.

In a previous post, I mentioned that there are four alter-egos to LifeVestors – consumers, hoarders, gamblers, and codependents.  Hoarders are the most unique of these.  While consumers live as if there is no tomorrow, hoarders live as if there is a tomorrow, and wherever/whatever it is, it’s gonna be ticked off.  Hard.  Terrible.  And we have to plan for it today.

It’s one thing for literally starving people to make sure they have something to eat for the next few days.  It’s another to live with a spirit of fear, even while you’re being wonderfully blessed.

It’s one thing to save and invest for retirement or a rainy day.  It’s another thing to create an ongoing bunker mentality based on fear of the future.

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Laughing at the Future

by Andy Wood on April 23, 2008

in Allocating Your Resources, Consumers, Enlarging Your Capacity, Executing Your Plan, Five LV Laws, Life Currency, LV Alter-egos, LV Cycle, Money, Principle of Increase, Time

LaughterI mentioned in my previous post that it’s possible to live in such a way that laughs at the future. Just so we’re clear, we’re in “life hack” territory.  We’re talking about what to do with your money, your time, your relationships, your attitudes, and your spirit.

Look at this biblical description:

“She is clothed with strength and dignity, and she laughs without fear of the future.” (Proverbs 31:25)

What is it about this woman that put her in a place where she wasn’t wringing her hands every time somebody predicted the end of life as we know it?

1.  Establish trust in those who know you best.

“Her husband can trust her, and she will greatly enrich his life. She brings him good, not harm,all the days of her life” (v. 11-12, NLT).

For years I assumed that her husband trusted her in a moral sense, but this is much deeper.  This man trusted her with his business, his family, and his money.  She had earned his trust.  How?  By adding value to his life.

By doing a little more, being faithful to tasks assigned, or by keeping the trust of those who know you best, you create a compelling future.  Take it from somebody who has both earned and betrayed trust:  it takes months and years to earn trust, and you can destroy it – and your confidence in the future – in a matter of minutes.

2.  Buy like an investor, not like a consumer.

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From Consumer to LifeVestor

by Andy Wood on April 3, 2008

in Consumers, Life Currency, LV Alter-egos, Money, Time

Scarlett“I can shoot straight, if I don’t have to shoot too far.” 

“I can’t think about that right now. If I do, I’ll go crazy. I’ll think about that tomorrow.”

-Scarlett O’Hara, “Gone With the Wind”

Everybody is fascinated with Scarlett.  But nobody wants to admit how much like her we can be.

One way to understand LifeVesting is to define it in terms of what it isn’t.  LifeVestors have four alter-egos:  consumers, hoarders, gamblers, and codependents.  Today I’d like to introduce you to the first.

While in the purest economic sense everyone is a spender, the Consumers I’m talking about are takers.  They spend their money, their time, their relationships on today’s wants and needs.  Their primary focus is on themselves – though not always in an intentionally selfish way.  They come to church for what they can get out of it.  They spend their time and money in ways that, when spent, are gone forever.  For them, there is no other moment but now.  Tomorrow will take care of itself. 

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How’s THIS for a Tip?

by Andy Wood on February 20, 2008

in Consumers, Gamblers, Hoarders, LV Alter-egos, LV Stories

MarvinThen there’s Marvin Burchall.

Two years ago, Marvin is on the job in his native Burmuda, waiting tables at a resort. And from his perspective, that’s all he was doing. His job.

Lynn Bak saw it a bit differently. She saw an outgoing, approachable young man whose impeccable service and attention to detail revealed a professionalism way beyond his 23 years.

Lynn Bak is paid to know these kinds of things. She coordinates the School of International Education in Bermuda for Endicott College, whose main campus is in metropolitan Boston. She travels to the Elbow Beach Bermuda resort every three weeks or so. And a couple of years ago, she got to know Marvin.  You won’t believe what happened next.

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Road Rage – The Next Generation

by Andy Wood on November 28, 2007

in Gamblers

Antique CarOn November 25, 1907, the Mobile Press Register printed the following report:

“Yesterday afternoon about 2 o’clock Jim Wilson , chauffeur for Mr. Louis Forcheimer , while driving the automobile of Mr. Forcheimer to the garage on St. Joseph street, passed the Bienville Hotel corner at a rate of speed which (he) himself said was not over ten miles an hour, when the speed limit is eight. He narrowly escaped running over a little son of Mr. George Hervey , who was crossing the street. … The complaint was made to Steward Jack Dair , who located (the driver), and Wilson was placed on the docket to answer the charge of furious driving.”

How’s that for road rage? Needless to say, we’ve changed the rules. It makes me wonder what “furious driving” will look like a hundred years from now:

• “Driver arrested for flying too low. Insists it was his clone.”

• “Wilson cited for hovering in a school zone.”

• “Forcheimer and Hervey purchase Bienville Hotel; Wilson appointed to oversee new helo-auto docking stations.”

• “Chauffer crashes car when Great-great-great-great-great-great grandson of George Hervey sends a holographic image into St. Joseph street. ‘Revenge at Last!,’ exclaims little Georgie.”

Regardless of how technology changes, human nature will still be, well, naturally human.

There will always be somebody testing the limits.

There will always be somebody moving at a different pace (either faster or slower) than you.

There will always be somebody putting themselves in danger without realizing it.

There will always be somebody who will want to cite you, charge you, humiliate you, or lock you up whenever you do something “furious.”

There will always be somebody to announce your issues to the world – if not the press, somebody in your network.

There will always be somebody saying, “It’s not my fault.”

And a hundred years (or days, or hours) later, there will be somebody – like me – who thinks the whole thing is really funny.

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Post-It Notes to God

by Andy Wood on November 20, 2007

in Consumers, Five LV Laws, LV Alter-egos, Photos, Principle of Eternity

Temporary PrayerCovenant Lakeside Hospital is under construction. Hey, it’s a hospital – nothing unusual about that. But down the hall and around the corner from what is normally the main entrance, there is an interesting sign. In big, bold, red letters on a yellow background, the Pastoral Care office trumpets, “TEMPORARY PRAYER ROOM.”

People pass this on stripped-down concrete floors, and the word “temporary” is routinely used with “under construction.” So nobody questions what the sign means. This is the place to go until the normal prayer room is available again.

But my twisted brain being what it is, when I saw it last week, it stuck me as kind of funny. [click to continue…]

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The Curious Power of Showing Up

by Andy Wood on November 8, 2007

in Hoarders, LV Cycle, Protecting Your Investment

arriving “I was saved at age 6, and Spirit-filled at age 9,” she said plaintively.  “Now I don’t even know there is a God.  How do I get my faith back?”

I blurted out an answer that distressed more than blessed.  But I still think it’s true.

“You start by showing up.”

Human nature – at least my human nature – has a tendency to self-destruct in the areas where peace or healing or restoration or growth is concerned.  How?  By isolating.  Withdrawing.  Withholding or running away from the situation.  The myth is that: [click to continue…]

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