Jon Bender

Good Water the Beginnings Of The Best Health Possible

Jon Bender — Sat, 16 Feb 2019 22:23:43 +0000

The quality of our natural waters are on the fast pace of decline and will continue to decline for the foreseeable future.

Like the earth on which we live, our bodies are approximately 70 percent water (and our blood is approximately 93 percent). It seems to reason that if we subsist on polluted water, we will have a polluted terrain. Overtime, this polluted terrain (and disruption within our gentle cellular bio-electrical systems) can give rise to devastation in our bodies (i.e. degenerative diseases, cancer, premature aging, blood diseases, etc.).

…the Terrain is everything, the Germ is nothing.—Louis Pasteur

The single most important thing you can do is to get your body plenty of GOOD water. The key word here of course is good. Good water simply put is alkalizing water. Ideally you will want to get 3-4 liters or approximately a gallon of alkalizing water every day. This might sound like a lot to you, but as you hydrate, you will develop more of a thirst for water. Often times feelings of hunger are in fact a cry-out from your body for good water.

You may be blessed to have our new Living Water alkalizing water system. However, if you do not yet, there are several waters on the market that have more alkalizing characteristics than others. Some of these waters are Fiji, Voss, Trinity or any other Artesian water that has a pH of 7.5 or higher. Please note the word Artesian has a legal definition in the water industry that means that this water has not been touched by human hands and/or bore taps during its bottling processes. Please note alkalizing water does not necessary have a negative ORP which has an additional anti-oxidant benefit. Yet alkalizing water is a giant leap in the right direction.

This week’s challenge is designed for you to give yourself a shower from the inside.

Your challenge is:

Drink 3-4 (preferably 4) liters of GOOD water daily (pH 7.5 to 10). If you have a Living Water System, try to work up to pH of 9.5 as soon as possible.

Guard Your Heart For Ultimate Relationships

Jon Bender — Thu, 14 Feb 2019 22:24:55 +0000

Guarding your heart is one of the most important things we can do. Whatever is in your heart will eventually come out…especially when you are under stress and/or feel “squeezed.”

It is very important in your marriage and/or other significant relationships that you realize that however you feel and what you say does not come out unless IT is ALREADY there.

It is quite natural to default to the old standard, “Well you bring it out of me…!” But the real question is: “Why is it there in the first place?” We are all experts on monitoring our partner’s behaviors, but how often do we really stop and monitor what is really in our own heart.

This week’s challenge is designed for you to guard your heart. You will be challenged to stop for about 60 seconds, feel, identify and call out what is in your heart.

Your challenge is:

Each day this week if you become bothered about something regarding your spouse/significant other/friend, before you speak: stop (for about 60 seconds) and ask yourself what you are feeling.
Give that feeling a specific name (i.e. anger, left-out, embarrassed, unappreciated, ugly, unloveable, inadequate, old, stupid, lonely, abandoned, scared, out-of-control, betrayed, picked-on, jealous, disrespected, insecure, etc.)
Now before you say what you would have typically said, instead say, “I feel name of your feeling. Yes, you make yourself vulnerable, but say it out-loud anyway.
If you are doing this challenge with your partner, if they say this to you. Your respond by ONLY saying, “Thank you so much for sharing that with me.” AND do not say anything else no matter how much you want to.

This exercise will be particularly challenging for men as we have difficulty with really monitoring our hearts…and even more difficulty doing it quickly. The typical man will say, “I am angry or I am frustrated” and that is it. But if you really want the best relationship possible, you have to go deeper and ask, “Why do I feel angry?” (Use the list of emotions above) This will reveal the true answer. I feel angry because…I feel unappreciated…or I feel disrespected…or I feel inadequate, etc.

Lastly, please note if you are doing this and your spouse/significant other is not, why you say, “I feel your specific emotion’s name,” instead of your typical comeback or response, you could get a negative response. For example, you say, “I feel disrespected” and they say, “Well if you stop being such a dreamer, maybe there would be something to respect.” Remember, your spouse’s words came out of their heart (unguarded as it may be), not yours. The real secret of this exercise is that when you call out the NAME of the emotion you are feeling it can no longer control you. Its power over you ceases. It’s the bringing it into the light that removes the darkness it possesses. Be patient, trust God and remember, you can best help improve your relationship (although not necessarily overnight) by above all things…guarding your heart.

How To Make Your Product or Offering Go Viral!

Jon Bender — Wed, 29 Aug 2018 13:23:05 +0000

What makes an idea, a product or a behavior go viral and spread widely without any real marketing input or expenditure?

You might be tempted to think this is just a matter of random luck but it’s usually not. According to Dr. Jonah Berger, Wharton School of Business, Products or ideas become contagious whenever and wherever six key STEPPS principles come into play:

S – Social Currency – You share those things which make you look good
You have social currency when you know about cool things which others are not yet
aware of. To get people talking, you have to figure out what is truly remarkable about your
product or idea and what you can do to make people feel like insiders.

T – Triggers – Whatever is top of mind is also at the tip of your tongue
Triggers prompt people to think about your product or idea and to talk about it. Find ways
to design products and ideas which are frequently triggered by cues in the everyday
environment. The more often people think about you, the more they will talk about you.

E – Emotion – When you care about something, you share
If you make people feel something, they will remember better. You can’t help sharing
something which is highly emotional – it’s what humans do. Make sure you pick the right
emotions to evoke and then build in clues which relate back to those emotions.

P – Public – If you build to show, you also build to grow
If people see someone using your product or idea, they’re more likely to want it for
themselves. Find ways to make your idea observable and you have something which not
only advertises itself but also creates a behavioral residue effect.

P – Practical Value – You like having news you can use
People like to help others. Therefore, if you have an idea that is a genuine benefit, they will
spread the word. Highlight the true value of your product or idea and then package your
knowledge and expertise so others can pass it on.

S – Stories – Information travels under the guise of idle chatter
People don’t share information – they tell stories. If you can wrap your idea into the
broader narrative of a story people want to share, they will spread the word. The trick is to
make your message so integral people can’t tell the story without it.

If you’re trying to make a product or an idea become contagious, find ways to build these six STEPPS
principles into the design of the product or into the messaging which arises around your product or
idea. If you can do that, you can make your product go viral.

The Power of Blessing Your Children

Jon Bender — Wed, 04 Jul 2018 14:11:04 +0000

Blessing Your Children/Family

A blessing is different from a prayer.

As parents, it is critically important for us to ask God’s blessing over our children DAILY.

Although Christians have been given a method/formula in how to pray by Jesus…The Lord’s Prayer…found in the Gospel of Matthew 6:9–13, it may not be as clear how to ask for God’s blessing. However, here is a popular, yet ancient, method of how to ask for God’s blessing. You may have heard of an example of asking for God’s blessing found in 1 Chronicles 4:9-10 referred to as the “Prayer of Jabez” made popular by the book The Prayer of Jabez: Breaking Through to the Blessed Life, an inspirational book published in 2000 by Bruce Wilkinson as the first book in the “BreakThrough” book series. This provides a good template for asking for God’s blessing over someone. My version of how to do this is below.

Here is what I have used for years while usually physically holding/touching my sons or daughter, “Father God, I ask You to bless my beautiful son, Alex, in a powerful way. Father God I ask for your super-natural blessing over this boy. I ask that You cause him to grow in a way today, God, that is pleasing to You and that he becomes more of the servant You have created him to be. I ask that Your hand be on him and show him great favor. I ask that You give him a sword and shield to protect against and to fight-off any deception, any infliction or infirmity that would otherwise keep away from your will Father. I ask that You give Him Your wisdom and peace today. Father I ask for Your blessing in Your precious son Jesus’ name. Amen!”

Regardless of how you ask God to bless your children (and/or your spouse, your extended family, your business and etc.), it is important that you do it every day YOU would like to SEE THEM BLESSED. Of course, you can skip the days where you don’t want them blessed. (Just kidding. This is why I suggest everyday.)

This week’s challenge is designed for you to bless your children. If you do not have children to ask a blessing over, may I suggest you ask for God’s blessing over your parents and/or siblings.

Your challenge is:

Each day this week ask for God’s blessing over each one of your children/grand-children. Speak this blessing out loud and into the air. (Be loud and clear…do not be without passion…say it as though you expect God to release his favor upon your children/grand-children.) Again if you do not have children to ask a blessing over, maybe ask for God’s blessing over your parents and/or siblings instead.
If they are grown or out of the house, pick AT LEAST one day (more is better) that YOU CALL THEM up and while on the phone with them (always BETTER in PERSON) just ask if they are okay if you ask for God’s blessing over them. (If you are saying, they would never do that. Please read below.)
GET READY – THIS IS THE HARD ONE – if you have never had your mom and/or dad say a blessing over you “live and in person” while you were there in front of them, if they are still living, call them on the phone and say, “Mom/Dad, I am part of a group of men and women focusing on gratitude who are committed to becoming our personal best week-after-week. This week’s assignment is to ask if you would ask God’s blessing over me while we are on the phone…mom/dad I know it is a little weird, but could you please do that for me?” When they say, how do I do that? Just tell them, “…you are just supposed to ask God to bless me in whatever way God puts on your heart.” Keep asking until they say yes. This is so important. Don’t let DECEPTION steal this opportunity away from you. NO MATTER what their faith or lack thereof, ask them to do this and let GOD take over from there. Let us all know what happens!!When I asked my dad to do this, after thinking I was some kind of cyclops or something weirder, he reluctantly agreed. As he started, his voice began to quiver and then he paused and choked back tears as he finished. Very powerful. And even though we didn’t talk about it too much after, I know we both will remember it as something both special and powerful the rest of our lives. Don’t miss this chance if they are still around!

This is going to be extremely challenging for those of you who have estranged relationships from your children/adult children/parents, but DO IT ANYWAY. Remember, part of having grateful wealth is being the BEST you were created to be…REGARDLESS of how painful or difficult. Make the decision to do whatever it takes to SUCCEED AT THIS CHALLENGE. DO NOT FAIL HERE. NO EXCUSES!

Lastly, I want to encourage you to extend this challenge to include your business! You might be amazed at how HE releases His favor. Remember, God is ALWAYS ON TIME! So if you don’t get what appears to be a miraculous change in your business or relationship with your son/daughter/grandchild etc, please know that asking God to bless them is not going in vain and will prove to make an incredible impact…at the exact perfect time!

How To Stay Grateful! Keep Your Tank Full!

Jon Bender — Sat, 24 Mar 2018 05:10:00 +0000

What fills your tank?

You have an emotional tank. It has a funnel that fills it and it has a drain that drains it. When your emotional tank is filled you are at your best. It is easy to be more grateful!

What fills your tank and what drains your tank?

Take a minute and get a piece of paper and a pen. Draw a square that represents your “well being” tank. Now draw a funnel that feeds into it from above and a tube out of the bottom that drains it. Things we experience daily either fill or drain our emotional tank. Psychologists have shown that when your emotional tank is filled to 100% you are at your best and being grateful is easy. When your tank drops to 75% full, you tend to experience anxiety and overwhelm and being grateful is much more difficult; at 50%, you have an emotional breakdown and at 25% a nervous breakdown and being grateful for most is virtually impossible. If this is even remotely true, the key then is to keep your tank full as close to 100% as possible.

So the question is: what fills your tank and what drains your tank?

For me, it is pretty easy to answer what fills and drains my tank. How about for you? Can you list 5 things that you know fills your tank…5 things you are grateful for? Can you list 5 things that you know drain your tank?

Does your daily rhythm (your normal routine) typically fill or drain you? Do you even have a daily rhythm that you can readily identify? If not, what would be necessary for you to get into a rhythm that is filling your tank? Yes I know you don’t have time, but what if you made the time? What if you decided you couldn’t afford (especially for those around you) for your tank to get any lower than it already is.

Here’s the secret to a more grateful fuller tank.

Have you heard of Dr. Stephen Covey’s famous term of “Sharpening the axe?” This term came from a little story about two woodcutters who challenged and bet each other to see who can cut down more trees in one day. At daybreak, the first one began furiously chopping down trees. He worked up a sweat and by noon had cut down sixteen trees. The other woodcutter only cut down four, because he took the first two hours to sharpen his axe. As he sharpened it, his challenger laughed at him knowing he was doomed to lose the bet with all that wasted and unproductive time.

That’s when things got interesting. By early afternoon, the first woodcutter’s strength (his tank) was starting to wane. It took him almost an hour to cut down one tree, all the while his challenger was picking up speed. How could this be? Certainly he was as strong as strong as the challenger. Unfortunately, strength wasn’t the most important thing anymore. It was all about whose axe was sharper. (i.e. tank was fuller) The sharper the axe – the quicker the trees came down. (i.e. the ability to stay grateful) By late afternoon, the second woodcutter who sharpened his axe had passed up his challenger by several trees and won easily. It seemed like such a waste of time to sharpen the axe earlier that day, but eventually, it had proved not only to save him time, it had brought him winning results.

In Ecclesiastes 10:10 it says: “If the axe is dull and he does not sharpen its edge, then he must exert more strength. Wisdom has the advantage of giving success.”

Your challenge is:

STEP 1 – Write out 5 things that you are grateful for and that YOU KNOW fill your tank…these “sharpen your axe.”
STEP 2 – Write out 5 things that YOU KNOW drain your tank.
Recognize if you are in a “season” of over abundance or a season of drainage (being miserable) or neither.
If you are in a relationship, share this list with your spouse or significant other and discuss how you can spend more time helping fill the other person’s tank…especially if either or both of you are in a “season” of drainage.
STEP 3 – Find away to change your daily rhythm this week by doing some of the 5 things to fill your tank and fewer of 5 things that drain your tank.
Reflect each night before going to bed on how you did in “sharpening your axe” by filling your tank. Also, reflect on if you provided an environment to help fill your spouse’s or significant other’s tank.

[Pt. 2] You’re Selling An Idea; Not A Product Or Service

Jon Bender — Mon, 21 Aug 2017 04:23:09 +0000

Say Goodbye To Failing To Convert On Your Online Sales

Yes, I admit it! I was teasing you with the Zeigarnik effect at the end of the first post in our series,”If You Have Trouble Selling Online, Please Read This....”

Go here to watch a video version of this article.

So I won’t leave you hanging any longer. The #1 conversion killer is your market messaging alignment or MMA. (No not the Conor McGregor type of MMA – we’ll look at him in another article on market polarization.

To better understand the “messaging” type of MMA, let’s go ahead and talk a little bit more about what’s happening out there. Now, as more and more businesses have moved away from traditional media and switched to internet marketing, learning the best way to quickly get across the idea of your product, service, or information is no longer optional or something that’s a nicety. No, it’s one of the most critical skills that you can have.

Without this one skill, thousands, even hundreds-of-thousands of dollars get spent on advertising with little to no contribution to your overall profits. (Again, I know this from experience… and now I’m saving you from making the same mistake.) Maybe you’re already feeling the pain of spending money and getting poor returns. I can tell you, almost all my clients do. I can tell you that working with clients from a variety of industries, this problem is even worse and even more pervasive than you might even imagine.

Some are spending literally tens of thousands of dollars a week on online marketing and advertising and they cannot even tell me its actual contribution to new customers coming in, the unit of sale, the frequency of purchase or overall profitability. They just keep spending the money because they feel like… “Well, it’s just part of doing business today.”

In fact, I can’t mention the name of the company, but I will tell you that a good friend of mine works with one of the largest confectionaries in the world who spends over $3 million a month in social media advertising and doesn’t have one clue to what the real net return on investment of their ad spend is.

The good news is, using what I’m about to show you, you’ll never have to worry about this. I promise you.

So, let’s begin by breaking down a big problem. It essentially breaks down to

How do you get more bang (or any “bang”) for your buck online?
How to gain crystal clarity on your online marketing ROI and
How to not get lost in your industry’s marketing noise to make sure you become that “BMW” in a crowd of old Ford Escorts.

Now here’s the good news…with every problem, comes huge opportunities.

Remember, you’re not the only business that struggles with this. Almost every traditionally selling business that’s moving online, does.

Now, despite all the challenges out there, businesses in your space, even new businesses online, that are literally crushing it and getting more customers at a fraction of the price, and they’re leading the field.

So what are they doing differently?

You Are Selling An Idea!

No matter what kind of business you have, no matter where you are in the growth process, you can get more customers with higher conversions and lower costs than you might have ever imagined, but only if you understand this very important point. That is, this: you are not selling a product. You are not selling a service. You are not selling information. You are selling an idea. Let me say that again; you’re selling an idea. Not just any idea, but a compelling, exciting idea.

Do You Have A Compelling, Exciting Idea That Makes A Big Believable Promise?

Imagine having a business offering that promises something that emotionally grabs your prospective customer in such a way that it’s not just interesting, but they instantly understand it and feel compelled to buy from you before they even reach the call to action.

Not Converting? Chances Are It’s Your Messaging…

That’s exactly what happened to the well-known author, Tim Ferriss when he wrote the now-famous book, The 4-Hour Work Week. In only a few months, he sold over 1.5 million copies of this book essentially on outsourcing your life using the actual steps we’re about to cover. In fact, other authors had written books on outsourcing, showing how to find virtual assistants, how to outsource people to delegate work to virtually, etc.

Now, those books had the same basic content, but the maximum success that they had, even the number one book, was around 7,000 to 8,000 copies, which is okay for a business book. But, Tim Ferriss comes along and puts into practice the five secret techniques that we’re going to go through here in just a moment. He understood these methods, and he was able to literally crush it; 1.5 million copies sold.

You see, Tim Ferriss understood that you needed to have something that was emotionally compelling — something that had some type of unique mechanism of delivery. He created something that was intellectually interesting, and self-evident, something so incredibly powerful that he made millions almost immediately off something that had gotten just okay results for other authors, immediately taking it to the stratosphere with 1.5 million copies. Tim Ferriss isn’t the only one who has done this…or who can do this. You can too!

Anyone who follows the process that you’re about to see can absolutely crush the competition with these five secret steps.

In fact, what I’m going to share with you is going to help you rise above the top 10% of websites, which by the way, average about a 11.45% conversion rate today, which will last forever, because what you’re going to learn will always work and never change regardless of how Facebook changes their ranking, their ad serving, or regardless of how Google changes their SEO algorithms. It doesn’t matter because the way you’re going to do it will put you always at the top because you are one of the few becoming incredibly conscious and savvy on why and how people think when they buy something.

Let me ask you a question: How successful would your business be if you could produce substantially more ongoing conversions at half the price of your competition and have customers that are already pre-sold, just waiting to hand you their money in their outstretched hands?

Well, let me introduce the five little-known steps you can start putting into place immediately. Even if you have your basic foundational marketing your lead magnets, opt-in pages, your page layout, email sequencing, webinar indoctrination sequencing, etc. You’ve got all the good stuff going, but you’re still not converting the way you want, here’s why. It’s your messaging.

Do You Want All 5 Secret Steps Now?

It all comes down to our first (1st) of our 5 secret steps which aligning your market messaging for the maturity of the market. In our next post, we will take a deeper dive into MMA and step-by-step how to quickly find the proper messaging for your market that magnetically attracts your customers with conversions rates that amaze!

If you like this kind of stuff but don’t want to wait for more of my posts to walk you step-by-step through it..then go grab my book right now…it’s FREE!

Go here now >> The 5 Secrets To Skyrocket Your Online Sales!

Talk with you on the next post…

Skyrocket Your Online Sales And Feel “Super-Human!”

Jon Bender — Wed, 02 Aug 2017 20:15:57 +0000

If You Have Trouble Selling Online, Please Read This…

It’s a privilege to be able to share with you today something that 99.9% of business people online today just don’t get, and once you do, you can easily boost your online sales conversions over even your most aggressive competition by 100, even 1000%. Even if they’re in the top 10% of your space or industry!

So if you’re a business owner or marketing executive and you want to figure out how to grow your online sales to epic proportions, this may very well be one of the most important marketing insider documents you ever read.

That’s a big promise. So as you might imagine, it’s not going to be something obvious….another “me too” read. So I am going to break it into multi-post training series so we can take a look at each of the five areas in greater detail.

Now, I know that sounds too good to be true, and normally at this stage, you’re like yeah, yeah, yeah, right but listen, hang with me here. I promise you, it’s something that most online marketers wish they knew about, especially if your desire is to lead the field.

There’s An Easier Way To Get Online Sales!

Let me tell you why this report is different from the million other reports promising to show you the “secret way” and why I strongly recommend you keep reading and invest your valuable time in what I’m about to tell you.

The reason is simple. I learned this the hard way wasting hundreds of thousands-of-dollars in trial and error and even more costly… many wasted years, too. However, the silver-lining is I’ve learned something that I can pass on to you so you don’t waste your valuable time, and especially not your hard-earned money by chasing things that don’t work.

I’ve been selling online since 1998. Since that time, my online sales and marketing systems have been responsible for over $350 million in sales. I’m not trying to impress you, but I want to impress upon you that I’ve learned a lot during that time, unfortunately, by making a lot of mistakes and getting a lot of things wrong.

But hey, that’s how you learn and it has given me the power to share insider information that once you really take in, you’ll be able to completely dominate as a leader in your space, and as I mentioned, get over 100% higher conversions than your closest competitor in your marketplace.

The best part is, you’ll be able to deploy these simple steps today, and here’s something equally important; they’ll continue to serve you year after year without fail, regardless of accelerating change in technology and marketing. How do I know this? Because they’re based on basic human psychology and desires, which fundamentally never change.

Success Leaves Clues

We both know the world of sales and marketing has changed over the last 20 years due to the internet, in such an amazing way. But the basic psychology that drives all sales and marketing has stayed the same.

Additionally, there’s nothing hidden anymore. Everything is out in the open and since success leaves clues and since most successful companies are simply copying each other, marketing and specifically marketing online has become basically this sea of the same old noise that is quite numbing to your potential customers or prospects, losing their attention before they even have a chance to start.

The average attention span right now is seven seconds (that’s less than a goldfish!), so how we say something to our online prospect becomes more important than ever.

So, these five secret steps I’m going to share with you will ensure your business stands out like a brand-new BMW in a crowd of old Ford Escorts, attracting people like a magnetic force to your product, service, or information.

Okay, now there’s a huge problem today that literally affects all of us in business, and it’s getting only worse. There seems to be almost this arrogance that to sell online is just a matter of putting up a website and viola, sales come pouring in. Well, if you’re reading this and you’re in business and you’ve been out there online for any time, you know it doesn’t work that way, not even close.

It’s more like you invest thousands in a beautiful website, set up your email client, set up your auto responders, get out there with great opt-in pages, your lead magnets, your sales pages. Heck, you even set-up your own continuity plan and then you spend thousands on traffic and do your best to track your ad spend using Google Analytics and/or Facebook Ads Manager, and then BAM! Virtually no sales to speak of, or if any sales typically it’s such a small percentage of your business it feels like what’s the point. And then when you finally run the numbers, you’re upside down net-net on almost every sale you make.

What’s Are The Successful Online Sales Businesses Doing Different?

Here’s the thing, you know people are selling online. You see the evidence, but how are they doing it without losing money? Do they have just deeper pockets than you? Do they have some incredible back-end that’s somehow allowing them to make it all up at the end of the sales process or value ramp? Do they have an overall greater lifetime value of a customer? It seems like a mystery.

If this sounds familiar, you’re not alone. Even some of the biggest companies right now, in fact, the large majority, 75% online, across all industry websites, have conversion ratios of less than, 2.4%. That’s because most business people, they don’t realize and understand the human psychology of marketing, leaving the other 97.6% with ZERO desire to buy. This means greater than three out of every four business owners or executives who are successfully selling through other channels feel that they struggle or even worse just plain fail to get results online.

Now, there’s a myriad of reasons for this. Some of them are foundational like web page architecture, multiple landing pages, lead magnets, poorly constructed opt-in pages, email sequence, upsells, continuity programs, web classes, you name it.

But the most important reason, what we’re going to be discussing in our next post, is the number one online sales conversion killer out there.

Are you ready to know what it is?

If you like this and want more…asap, get my book – The 5 Secrets To Skyrocket Your Online Sales!

Yes Baby! You Are In Sales…

Jon Bender — Mon, 24 Aug 2015 05:56:56 +0000

Today, we’re all in sales whether we realize it or not.

No matter what your job title is if you honestly analyze what you really do you’ll probably find you spend upwards of 40 percent of each day persuading, convincing and cajoling others to part with their resources in exchange for what you’re trying to do. Trying to move others is selling pure and simple.

At first glance, the idea of being in sales may be repugnant – particularly if you’ve always viewed salespeople as sleazy types who glide through life with polished shoes and a smile – but fortunately, sales isn’t what it used to be. In fact, selling has changed more in the past ten years than it did in the previous hundred years and many of the assumptions which people have always had about selling have crumbled. Today selling is all about asking the right questions; not just answering them.

Like it or not, we’re all engaged every day in influencing others to trade something they’ve got in exchange for what we’ve got. In other words, we’re all in selling now – so the smart thing to do is to figure out how to get better at moving others to your way of thinking. It really is the most valuable skill-set of the future.

Is Having A Job Gambling With Your Retirement: 3 Easy Ways To Protect Yourself.

Jon Bender — Wed, 19 Aug 2015 05:52:20 +0000

Let’s face it.

You go to work. You work. You come home. You are tired, but your brain’s gears are turning…

You are grateful to have your job. But could having a job “only” be gambling with your retirement?

Could having a job “only” be making you less secure?

The answer is: Yes!

According to Wells Fargo in their 2014 report the average retirement age family in the USA only has $28,000 in retirement savings. This is incredibly scary considering this doesn’t even cover 1 year of retirement for most.

You may say, well that’s not me. We have xxxx in retirement and we have planned really well. But I want you to consider something. I have counseled high-figure income earners now for over 20 years and if all you have is a job and that goes away…and it can in a flash, things can unravel very quickly. You make think you are marketable and highly employable, but with each year that passes this becomes more-and-more in question….truly. No matter what your experience, no matter what your pedigree, I have seen it over and over and over again. If you are forced to live on your investments for anytime, burning through up to 10-14K /mo or more quickly erodes all you have worked so hard and so many years to create

Furthermore, having a job “only” can give you an excuse (albeit understandable) not to do anything else. After all you come home exhausted right?? Who has the energy to do anything more? Hopefully, you do and getting passionate about doing something beyond having a job to protect your future may be easier than you think.

Three Things To Do Now To Protect Yourself (Or turn things around quickly)

START A BUSINESS – I am not talking about anything big. Start something small that is built around what you love to do or what you are good at doing. In fact, I will be doing a seminar soon to show you how to make a career level income starting a little business centered around whatever you love to do ….from fly-fishing to speed walking. I will show you how to make more than enough income with what you love.
TAXES – Did you know that most of us work at a our jobs from January to May…just to pay our tax bill? When you start a business, spend 5 hours a week on it, try to make money and keep some basic records, you can on average cut your current W2 tax bill in half. Dr. Ron Mueller,Ph.D., America’s number 1 tax educator says that the average family can see between $3,000 to $6,000 in tax savings annually by having a real part-time business.
LEARN MORE – Eric Hoffer the philosopher was quoted as saying, “In the times of greatest change, the learners inherit the earth and learned find themselves beautifully equipped to deal with a wold that no longer exists.” This is so true. It is so easy to hide behind our job, seniority and our title and think we are all that, but please take it from me. We need to grow…now! We need to learn more…now! After making making millions in personal income and being often called a “guru” in teaching grateful wealth and marketing, I cannot afford to rest on my laurels or press-release…regardless what “they” say. I need to learn. I need to seek mentoring from those specialist in the areas I seek to grow. I need commit myself to take personal responsibility to keep learning and growing not for just for me, but more importantly for those that I consult with and mentor.

These 3 things can change everything for you. Fast! Not only potentially make and save you more money now, but can protect you from an uncertain future including possible career and/or economic melt-downs.

What if you could live off of the money from your very own business doing what you love most? What if you could have 100% confidence that you are self-sustaining? How would that feel? What if you could show your own adult kids how to do the same thing? Well, in a future webinar, I will spend sometime walking you through 3 little-known principles and my concept called LOUD that can help you do just that…live free…and financially free at that.

How To Save Your Marriage…Permanently!

Jon Bender — Tue, 16 Jun 2015 03:19:14 +0000

Which Is It? Happiness Or Holiness When It Comes To How To Save Your Marriage?

Gary Thomas writes in his best-selling book, Sacred Marriage, “The idea that marriage can survive on romance alone, or that romantic feeling is more important than any other consideration when choosing a spouse, has wrecked many a marital ship.” If your marriage is struggling or certainly not where you want it to be, how to save your marriage must start from a completely different place.

In my podcast last week, I talked about how easy and natural it is for all of us to point our love “arrows” inwardly and seek love for ourselves rather than outwardly pointing them as exampled by our creator. This is nowhere more evident than in relationships especially marriage. How many times have you heard someone say or perhaps have even said yourself, “I am just not feeling it anymore.” “They have changed” or “I have changed.” “I do so much more than they do…” “It’s just not fair.” If you have ever heard or said these words, there is a strong chance that the relationship is not built on a solid foundation.

When you start to feel this way and/or your “romantic feelings” are slipping away and if you believe and follow popular philosophy as dispensed in TV shows, magazines, and talk shows, you might find it easy to say, “Well if I feel this way…they must not really be my soul-mate.” The idea that a healthy marriage is based at any time upon how you feel does indeed set you up for a martial ship wreck and is not how to save your marriage. Here is the reason. Biblical love is based upon commitment, not feelings. Can you imagine if God loved us based upon how HE felt about us at any given moment? I don’t know about you, but for me, I might be in a heap of trouble. Furthermore, the concept of “grace” would be totally thrown out the window as well.

I like what Gary Thomas says when he poses this question, “What if God designed marriage to make us Holy more than to make us happy?” Okay, I can hear you saying “…well that’s a real encouraging question…and anyway, I just want to be happy!” Well if you want to become happy…really happy then become Holy! To understand how, we need to look at the definition of the word, Holy. Simply put, Holy means “dedicated and devoted unconditionally to” another …most often God as in a Holy man. However, if you were Holy in your love for your spouse, you would put their needs above that of your own. In other words, you would love them unconditionally. That especially means loving them when it isn’t fair…when they don’t deserve it and when the score card is 1000 to 1 when comparing your giving to their giving. You might say, “Why should I love them unconditionally?” The answer is easy. Because that is how God loves you. He loves you regardless of how many times you screw up. Regardless of how many times you are disrespectful. Regardless of how many times you are self-consumed. Little-by-little…when we experience (are aware of) His incredible and unconditional love, we begin to change. We slowly and gradually want to do more for Him and to become more pleasing to Him. This is exactly what happens when your spouse experiences YOUR “true” unconditional love. Even the hardest-of-hearts (often under the greatest deception) are…over time… returned to their unhardened state when they are bathed in unconditional love. You may have heard it said that love conquers all…and it is so true. This is how you save your marriage…the more holy you are in your love for your spouse the better your marriage will become permanent.

This week we want to focus on seeking to understand our spouses and then loving them unconditionally. You want to fight as hard to understand them, as you fight to be understood by them. To learn more on how to do this, please see my blog post on guarding your heart. This means that you will have to extend them the courtesy of the benefit-of-the-doubt and seek to understand why they are saying or doing what they are saying or doing. This also means you will love them unconditionally no matter what even though they may not DESERVE it. When you find yourself saying, “Why am I doing this?” Just quietly whisper to yourself, “Because HE (God) loves me this way too…even though I don’t deserve it either.” Then, compose yourself, ask for God’s strength and favor and continue to love unconditionally. Plus, know that this is how you save your marriage permanently and ultimately make it 100 x better.

Ask God to cover you supernaturally this week. Ask Him to give you supernatural patience and protection against deception and anger. Ask Him to give you a double or triple portioning of His intended favor as you commit yourself to giving 100% unconditional love and understanding.
Don’t react! Stop count to 10 and ask yourself what is really going on behind the words or actions before you even think about speaking. Seek to understand no matter how wronged you “feel.”
Ask yourself, “How can I love him/her even more…even though I have just heard him/her say or do this or that?”
Remember why you are doing this. This is how you save your marriage and turn it around for both YOU and YOUR spouse…not to mention everyone else in your family who loves you.
Lastly, a recent study reported in Dr. Phil’s book, Relationship Rescue, found that the divorce rate among faith-based people and non-faith-based people was about the same a little over 50%. Yet the same report found that for couples who prayed together daily, the divorce rate in this group was…get ready…1 in 10,000. What if it turned out that the most powerful form of intimacy is not having sex together, but instead praying together…how could this transform the world?