Archive for October, 2009

Probate disputes over whether a will or trust was valid, or instead was signed at at time when the person was mentally incompetent or subject to undue influence, are common.  They’re also very emotional and difficult for everyone involved.  The Anna Nicole Smith case – the Granddaddy of all probate disputes — illustrates this more than any other. I discussed the case in this article , including how the estate executor/lawyer/former boyfriend, Howard K

Read more here at Original Post:
FBI investigated Anna Nicole Smith for murder of “step-son

Martin Luther King, Jr.'s three children have been fighting with each other in court over control of his estate and financial legacy.  Here are my prior articles about the Martin Luther King, Jr.

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Martin Luther King, Jr. Estate fight is resolved

The Michael Jackson probate dispute between his mother and his two executors has been active since it started this summer.  But it looks like it’s about to really get heated up. For starters, Katherine Jackson, Michael’s mother and a primary beneficiary (along with his children and unnamed charities), has been challenging decisions made by co-executors John Branca and John McClain on a regular basis.  She had asked for, and received, permission from the judge to allow her to challenge them based on conflict of interest and undue influence without jeopardizing her rights as a beneficiary under the “no contest clause” of Jackson’s will and trust

Read more here at Original Post:
New evidence coming in the Michael Jackson Estate case

Looking back over the last 25 years, it’s exciting to see how far we have come as women. I was watching Meet the Press on Sunday and was thrilled to learn about the new report just released by Maria Shriver and the Center for American Progress called, A Woman’s Nation, showing that women now make up 50 percent of the workforce and are the primary breadwinners for the family. (Four out of ten women are the primary breadwinners, while an astonishing 62.8 percent are “co-breadwinners.”)

We have been aware of these issues here at Smart Women’s Coaching and invite you to participate in our poll by telling us, “What is the Single Biggest Challenge Holding you Back from Living Your Perfect Life?”

In fact, we are just now launching our new Free Video Training and invite you to sign upto receive your free Twitter training video and Brian Tracy’s free report, The Way to Wealth.

The Smart Women’s Cafe is a forum where women can receive live coaching on their most pressing issues related to life balance, finances, time management and creating lifetime passive income while following your passion. Visit the Cafe now to learn what’s new!

What are you doing to live with more purpose, passion and prosperity and how can you tie this into making a difference in the world that you live in? Good question, eh? Well, this must just be part of my DNA, because ever since I was a small child, I have been doing some sort of fundraising, helping the less fortunate and following my passion.

Learning to give back: As a y0ung girl, I attended a four room parochial school where we were constantly asked to go door to door selling things like Texas fruit cakes, boxes of Florida oranges, candy and even zip code books. My mother was the mastermind behind all of this. When we were asked to sell zip code books, for example, my mother took me to each of the local businesses in town, and had me introduce myself as, “Wiley Galbraith’s granddaughter.” My grandfather was the manager of the local bank in town, so this carried a lot of clout. Also, since businesses new they would soon need to be using zip codes, I ended up selling more than everyone else in the school combined. I still remember getting up on the stage to collect first prize which was a clock radio! This was back in the early 70s, so a clock radio was very cool.

School of lifelong learning: In addition to selling things, I also went door to door every holiday collecting “holiday dollars” for the poor and the needy. I was like the “Kirby Vacuum Salesperson”. My mom would drop my friend Brenda and me off at one end of the street and allow us to canvas the entire street with my brothers doing the opposite side of the street. This was during a Michigan winter where it was dark, cold and snowy. I had lots of doors shut in my face, many who would peek out and not even answer the door, but many more who gladly gave me a dollar. In fact, one man actually gave me a $20 bill once! This one experience had a huge impace on my future confidence when I really needed to “stretch”. For years, I would come back to the church with at least $100 for the evening’s work. This is just one way that I learned to make a difference as a child.

Volunteering: Another way was after church on Saturday (I was raised Seventh Day Adventist) we would go to nursing homes or to visit “shut-ins”. Shut-ins were normally members of the church who did not have family and were unable to get out of the house anymore. For years, I remember going to visit Nettie Harp, Mrs. Little and Fidelle offering to help them with chores like cleaning house, gardening, laundry and cooking.

What does all of this have to do with Living on Purpose while Making a Difference? For me it has everything to do with it. All my early childhood experiences have given me the tools to do what I need to accomplish during this lifetime–My Life Mission. It’s just up to me to take those experiences and take action today.

What I learned as a child:

• helped me strive to do my best
• gave me the confidence to take risks
• to handle rejection
• and to enjoy helping others.

In all my jobs, I tied these experiences and passions of helping others and making a difference into my work. I believe this is what helped me to become successful, and also helped me to move on to the next level when the time was right.

Living with Purpose and Passion means you are living authentically within your values system. When you can tie your values and passions into the way you generate income you not only will enjoy your work much more, but most of the time, you will end up earning more money because the energy you are sending out will be very positive, and in return, you will attract abundance back into your life.

What are you doing in your life today that allows you to live with passion, follow your purpose, attract abundance while giving back? Let me give you some examples:

• Help someone else and by utilizing a long lost hobby: (My mother is an artist, and had stopped painting after being diagnosed with dementia…I used to paint 25 years ago before my daughters were born.) I started painting with her on Sundays at my home, and guess what? I found I was a wonderful artist too and I found absolute join in painting AND spending more time with my mom. I found my passion, by helping her!
  

  My first painting with mom!

• Find out how to tie your passion into what you do for a living: After 20 years as a Certified Financial Planner, I felt a tugging to create new programs for women in transition, but was hampered by compliance and SEC regulations. I was able to walk through my fear of “losing my financial security” to start Smart Women’s Coaching where I could write, create and lead programs specifically for helping women live with more purpose, passion AND prosperity. As a financial planner, I could only help people who were already wealthy…now I could help people learn how to create wealth based on their purpose, while following their passions.
• Take a painful experience and use that experience to help others: During the first 20 years of my life, I experienced my fathers death at six years old, saw my mother struggle as a widow and then marry an abusive husband who left her homeless with cancer. I then married at 19 and found myself abused and in the hospital. These experiences helped me not only become a much better financial planner, but inspired me to start a foundation to help disadvantaged women and girls. It’s called, Smart Women Empowerment and we have partnered with the HAVEN, a domestic violence shelter, to coach four women this next year.
• Make a committment to yourself and others: I married a Detroit Symphony French Horn Player, and love classical music . To ensure I make time to go to concerts, I purchase season tickets with two of my former financial planning clients who are widows. We all win! Beth who is 90 could not attend if I did not drive, I share her wonderful box seats that she has had for decades, we have a blast sharing stories on our drive to and from the concert, they are mentors to me by sharing their life lessons.
  

  Beth, Katana and Amal at DSO concert

Spend some time thinking about ways you can bring more joy into your life and the life of others. You may end up with some very pleasant surprises just like have. Tell me, what are you doing to live with more purpose, passion and prosperity while making a difference in the world?

As a woman that specializes in finance, I find answers in numbers. To me, statistics can say a lot about an issue. So this months theme, Making a Difference: A Smarter Approach to Philanthropy, made me question how many people in America contribute to the greater good. My findings pleasantly surprised me. According to the “Giving and Volunteering in the United States Survey, 89 percent of households give on an annual basis. Actually, the average annual contribution for contributors was $1,620 in 2008.

How do you give back to your community? What kinds of emotions are evoked when one is charitable? The interesting thing is, happiness and giving are directly related to each other. One of the longest-running social-science studies on happiness began in the 1920s, in Oakland, California. An astonishing 90 percent of the 200 studied have stayed participating in the survey, offering insight into what exactly a “happy life is. According to psychologist and researcher Paul wink, one of the MAIN elements is generativity, the ability to give to others.

I have found this to be true, through my career, into retirement and now in my personal life. Thats why when I created the Smart Womens Cafe, I didnt just want to create a business. I wanted to create a resource of aid to a community of women that have nowhere else to turn. Augusts fundraiser to support the organization HAVEN was a success. We presented HAVEN with $1,000 and we will soon award four women a $1,500 scholarship each, along with the support of a life coach for one year, free of cost.

International charities are a wonderful option too. Just this past Tuesday I interviewed Humanitarian and Founder of Village Empowerment, Don Smith, on Smart Women Talk Radio. Dons mission is to help solve the problems of starvation and crime in the poorest regions of Africa. Food shortages occur on a very constant annual basis, predominately in September and October, according to Don. If youd like to donate or learn more about Village Empowerment, please visit www.VillageEmpowerment.org. Stay tuned to this months weeklynewsletters (click the hyperlink to be added to our mailing list) to find out different ways on how YOU can help.

If youre interested in travel, the Smart Womens Coaching program and Gutsy Women Travel are joining forces to bring you a 9-day retreat to Costa Rica in January! Scroll down to read more about it!

Please tell me what are you doing to tie your purpose to your passion and prosperity?  Thank you!