The Rollercoaster Of Life

Up one hill

Down another

Face flat in the dirt

Stand up and run again

 

Up another hill

Halfway down the other

Bump into someone else

Pick them up

Go around

On the run again

 

Halfway up a bigger hill

Stop and smell the roses

Fall asleep

Wake up drained

Crawl to your feet

And run again

 

Round a corner

Hit a wall

Cry for hours

Dry the tears

Share your love

On the run again

 

Downward fast another hill

See someone hurt at the bottom

Rush to help them

Help them smile

Start and run again

 

Up another hill

Round another corner

Always on the run

Until He takes our breath away

To take us to that peaceful place

Where we long to be

 

No more hills

                No more tears

No more pain

Peace at last

Resting in his arms

Forever

 

 

RRR

5/15/91

A Lesson In Tithing – 10%

As a new Christian many years ago, I was introduced to tithing by the Pastor of the Church I attended. I gave – as many people do today, whenever I had the opportunity. I was quite ‘poor’ then, and had little to give financially, but would put whatever I could into the offering each week.

As time went by and I grew in my faith, one night the Lord spoke to my heart and reminded me of the one-tenth He asks of me… I was convicted in my heart to be obedient to God, so I started paying God first out of every check.  One tenth right off the top – went to my church for many years.

During all of those years, even through severe abuse (where I was strangled nearly to death twice), great debts, in which I lived in a run down duplex with old and torn second hand furniture (and very little of it mind you), the Lord proved that He is faithful when His children obey Him.  There were times I should have been dead – He spared me.  There were times they should have hauled me to jail for not paying my bills – He spared me.  There were times there was nothing to eat – He provided an abundance to me.  It went on, and on.  No matter the situation, I was well taken care of by my Father in Heaven.

A Shift

 Until that is – I got comfortable in my situation, and became financially successful.  It wasn’t intentional – I had moved, couldn’t find a church I liked in my new area, and I started stepping away slowly.  Before you know it, I was not tithing anymore.  Things went ok for awhile.  I rose to the top.  I gave of other things, and shared my money eagerly with others and my community.  I didn’t attend church, so I figured I was ‘tithing’ by giving an abundance elsewhere.  Wrong Answer!!!

I lost my very successful position, and could not find work for over a year in my field.  I was still taken care of – I had food to eat and a place to live, and received an Unemployment check – for awhile anyway.  After spending all my savings (which was supposed to go to buy me a home), and maxing out every credit card and any other avenue I had (I owed several people personally in the thousands!) – it got frightening.  I was seriously looking at being homeless and being forced to go bankrupt (of which I strongly refused to do if at all possible).

I was forced to move into a small garage, and take a job making much less than I was qualified for.  I worked all the overtime I could, but there still wasn’t enough money to ‘save me’.  I worked diligently with my creditors, and paid as much as I could.  I was still being blessed in my faith, as far as being taken care of.  The Lord allowed me to receive a consolidated loan based solely on my integrity, through a place that I had worked years before.  It was unheard of that a financial institution would do such a thing at the time, but it was my miracle.  It spared me from bankruptcy.  Though I did not tithe as He had asked me to, I was obedient in other things, and He took care of me.  But there was no abundance – of anything.  It was pay check to pay check and barely that.  My car was falling to pieces, and broke all the time.  It seemed like I would just get a breath of fresh air in the finances and then along would come something else to eat it up.

Not long after having my first child, my back went out severely.  I had to seek a chiropractor, yet again had no money nor insurance to do so.  The Lord led me to a wonderful office, who gave me a special ‘deal’ and proceeded to treat my spine.  In the process, I learned that the two doctors were believers.  I would have great conversations with one of them – a very sweet 7th Day Adventist believer.  And because I am vegetarian, we would talk about foods as well.  One day she happened to mention her parents, and how they had come to this Country with nothing but their faith.  But how they had always sought out a church and made sure they gave a tithe of at least 10% of anything they had been given or earned – resulting in their great financial success today in owning several (vegetarian) businesses – they tithe much more now.  🙂 As she spoke, chills went up my spine and I recalled what the Lord had said to me years ago about tithing.  It hit me like a brick in the head!  That was what was wrong – I had left Him out of my finances!

Second Shift

 I went home and immediately looked up the address to the church that I had attended in previous years.  I figured though I didn’t have a church to attend, I could mail my tithe to church I had attended before.  I also figured I probably owed them at least that much from all my years of attending there that I did not tithe.  I also asked the Lord to lead me to a church in my area that I could attend and tithe to instead.

You wouldn’t believe the blessings and how rapidly they poured in on me from the day I mailed the first check!  It was remarkable – debts were unexpectedly written off, interest rates dropped on only my debts, without explanation.  Slowly but surely with each paycheck – there was more left over.  But how?!!  I didn’t make any more, and I was paying out more with the added tithe in my budget – but I’m telling you – it was there!  Things just seemed to work all by themselves.  Even when I lost my job again, and was on unemployment once again, I tithed off of that – sent those checks (I still didn’t have a church to call ‘home’ yet), and I was still getting ahead financially!

Long story short – I was able to buy a home, get married, have another child, given more work opportunities paying me MUCH MORE per hour, buy what I wanted, and pay off all debts!!  Yes really!  Through diligent tithing and budget planning – I was debt free. I was led to a new church in 1998.  As soon as I started attending, I switched my tithe, and no longer sent it in the mail to my old church, but instead took it each week to the church I was attending.

Once again, I was blessed beyond measure, and was able to bless others through my abundance.  I am not worried – I have already tested the Lord in this, and He proved beyond measure what He will do, if we do what He asks of us.  In fact recently He led me to a book (Larry Burkett series) that showed me that all these years I was tithing, I was doing it wrong.  Can you imagine – I did it wrong and He still blessed me beyond measure?!  I recently learned that I was supposed to tithe on my gross income – not my net income.  Oh my!  I apologized to the Lord for my lack of knowledge, and immediately adjusted my budget to tithe on my gross income – ouch!

You see – if you look at it properly, all is given my God.  Therefore, your paycheck – before taxes (all of it in other words) belongs to God.  And if we follow Biblical principle appropriately, we are to pay the Lord first – 10% of what He gives us, then the government, and then us and everyone else.

So as uncertain as our economy is right now, with the unemployment rate so high, and many people out of work – I am faithfully adjusting my budget according to God’s Word.  You guessed it – the blessings poured in the first week!!!

It goes on and on – it is endless!  There are weeks that I do the budget and it looks like I am barely going to squeek by  — and suddenly a rebate comes from somewhere, or an ‘extra something’ gets done for me, or I am given things, or for some strange reason the bill is $100 less this month – what?!!!  You have no idea how many times that happens!!!  I love it – and each time I try to remember to thank the One who gives it all – my Father in Heaven.

I cannot say enough about tithing – when God said to test Him – He meant it.  Try it!  You have NOTHING TO LOOSE and EVERYTHING TO GAIN!  Have faith – I know how frightening it can be – believe me!  I’ve had no money for gas, I’ve had my car break AGAIN with no money to fix it, I’ve been jobless many times, I’ve had creditors call and harass me, I’ve been close to bankruptcy and even jail because of my debts. I’ve been full of pride and thought I could do it “when I got the money” – don’t go there.  If you’re there – run – get out of there – give to your church what the Lord asks of you.  We’ve all heard Pastors talk about it in some way or another, and maybe you’ve got a sour taste from a previous encounter – don’t let that spoil all the blessings that the Lord has to give you!  He loves you – He wants to give you all that He has for you, but He will not go against His Word.  It is written;

“Bring all the tithes into the storehouse so there will be enough food in My Temple.  If you do, says the Lord almighty, I will open the windows of heaven for you.  I will pour out a blessing so great you won’t have enough room to take it in.  Try it.  Let Me prove it to you” (Malachi 3:8-12) NKJV

If you see the Temple as the church today, and if you visualize the food as being His Word to feed those who are hungry for Christ – do you get it?  God has designed the church to be run with the appropriate funds of His people.  He provides the people with the money, and He provides the church.  He even goes a step beyond as we are faithful to Him in giving to the church – He gives us abundantly more!  Wow!!!  I don’t know about you – but I think we’ve got a pretty AWESOME God looking out for us!!!

I know it can be hard, especially when your cupboards may be empty, your car broke down, you may be jobless, and there may be seemingly incredible debts to pay.  But take it from one who’s been there – though it appears hopeless financially – there is hope.  Even if you have little, 10% is all He asks.  He promises to give you so much more in return – and I’m living proof that He does!

Robin R. Robbins

Where There Is A Will…

 To each of you

Who said, “you can’t”

To each who said, “you won’t”

To the one who said, “It cannot be done”

To all who said, “there’s no way”

I thank you

For

I can

            I have

And                 I WILL

There is not much greater than a sincere challenge for one who has a will and finds a way to use it; with extreme determination.

RRR

8/24/91

Empowering Teens for The Job Market

Robin R. Robbins - The Worlds Cheer Leader

Inspiring & Empowering YOU to live YOUR BEST LIFE!

 

I spent the majority of my day teaching my seventeen year old son about Job Hunting, Resume Writing, Interviewing, & Salary Negotiations.  He has been dreading the day he will graduate (this June) as he knows that he will be required to start work soon thereafter.

 

 

As we went through the various salaries and options, I could see the ‘lights’ go on in his head.  We ran through the numbers of minimum wage, then $10 per hour & $15 per hour.  As we calculated weekly and monthly salaries – he was clearly getting excited at how much money he could be making in a short period of time.

We also covered over-time and how it is paid at time+1/2, benefits (who pays what percentage), comp time, and employer paid schooling.

Then it was “how do we get there”.  I explained that employers pay more for skills and likeability in today’s job market and are more willing to train (to a point) in regards to the actual position.  I also explained how to detail skills on his resume.

We started by making a detailed list of all tools he has worked with, all machines (including those used in his household chores over the past 5 years), all computer skills and computer programs he has had experience with.  WOW – he had no idea he had so many important skills!  He has been fortunate enough to have worked for a couple of employers part-time, so we began his resume by listing those positions and then expanding on the skills area to include the many skills he has that most employers would find useful to their organizations.

Next we covered the cost of living expenses 1) If he were to move out and live on his own, and 2) If he were to stay here at home and pay rent etc.  We covered things like: Rent (if alone and/or with roommate), Heat, Cell Phone, Car, Insurance, Food, Gas, Auto Maintenance, Entertainment etc.  We detailed the approximate cost of each in both scenarios so that he could quickly see where his hard-earned dollars would be going and how quickly.

When we were finished he was excited to move forward to building his future.  We also discussed College & whether or not to attend now, or after working for a few years first (which I highly advise) in order to ‘get his feet wet’ prior to deciding where he might like to further his education and work experience.

After wrapping up our discussion (I had one excited Son!), I was reflecting upon all that we had discussed and thought — I sure wish I’d have had someone explain all of this to me when I was his age…

I encourage you to spend time with your teenager(s) and ‘show them the numbers’.  Here is a quick simple calculation you can use to get a general idea of Salaries for them.

Hourly wage X Hours (40 Hours per week) = Weekly Gross Salary

Weekly wage X 4.2 (average number of weeks in a month) = Monthly Gross Salary

Simple Budget: Add up Average MONTHLY Rent Cost (we figured for a studio apartment – currently about $750 per month in our area, and for a two-bedroom apartment/shared with roommate) vs $ Rent to Stay At Home + Heat + Car Payment or Maintenance + Auto Insurance + Gas + Groc/Food + Cell Phone + Entertainment.

I believe that in showing your teen the actual numbers in these calculations, it is much easier for them to form a good ‘picture’ and plan for their future.

Many Blessings,

RRR

 

Social Media Marketing – It’s All About Relationship!

 

Social Media is truly all about Relationships.  One of the biggest mistakes I see continually on many Pages/Platforms is too much ‘self-promotion’ and not enough relationship building.

Facebook, Twitter, Google+, LinkedIn etc. are fantastic ways to get your Business ‘out there’ and let people know what you are all about.  However, if you are not genuinely engaging with your clients/customers on a daily basis, and showing your ‘social media audience’ that you truly care about THEIR wants/needs – you are quickly going to get ‘lost in the shuffle’.

We are all daily bombarded with advertising – just about everywhere we go, somebody is trying to sell us something.  So if you are treating your Social Media Pages strictly like an advertising platform – you are going to be hidden in the news feeds rather quickly and/or ‘dis-connected’ from your potential customers/clients.  This results in ‘shooting yourself in the foot’ so to speak as your efforts can end up being a waste of your valuable time.

The main key to remember when using all Social Media is that it is not about YOU nearly as much as it is about THEM.  If you keep in mind that Social Media is about Building Relationships (not selling) and you strive to post content that is of value to your ‘audience’ – you will fare much better in promoting your Business.

It has been proven that the best ‘rule of thumb’ for posting on Social Media is to go by the 80/20 rule (80% of your results will come from 20% of your actions).  Strive to post content of value to your ‘audience’ (aka potential clients/customers) at least 80% of the time.  Answer their comments and questions on your posts within 24-48 hours and engage with them regularly.  Actual promotion of your Business should be kept at a 20% minimum – and again, all comments/questions from your audience should be responded to within a 24-48 hour time frame.  This will keep your audience engaged, (relationship building) and establish a trust between you and them.  As you continue to build the relationships and gain the trust of your audience – they will share your content and posts willingly, which in turn helps in building and ‘advertising’ your Business for you.

Examples: If you are running a Construction/Renovation company, then 80% of your posts on Social Media (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn etc.) should be tips/tricks in Home/Office Renovations.  If your company provides Office Support Services – 80% of your posts should be Tips/Ideas to help out those seeking your services.

Since RRR Consulting & Publishing is about motivating others and helping them succeed at all levels you will see us post many different types of tips/tricks/success tips/motivational quotes & videos about 90% of the time.  You can ‘follow our lead’ at: https://www.facebook.com/rrrconsultingnpublishing.

Resume Advice 2012

Having worked with many of the Top Companies in the Seattle area, off and on for approximately 25 years now.  I can tell you what it takes to get you in the door, and what the Employers are looking for, as many of them have hired me to do their internal recruiting.  I have also written literally thousands of Job Descriptions and researched hundreds of position Salaries.

Some things that many Hiring Professionals may not tell you are:

We get 150 – 300 resumes per position advertised with up to 600 applicants at times. When hiring – many Hiring Professionals will take a 5 second (YES –that is 5 SECONDS) scan of your resume.  If we do not see within that first scan the skills that show us “can you do the job I am hiring for” – your resume is thrown into the ‘no’ pile and generally not looked at again.  Once we see if you can do the job the second glance is to “stability” – how long on any given job – are you stable or do you move around a lot from job to job.  After reviewing those two things, if we are satisfied with what we see we will ‘dig’ further into necessary qualifications such as Schooling and/or Certifications.

Without a quality resume that shows an Employer right up front – that you can do the job you are applying for – you will not be called in for an interview. Hiring is very time consuming, and the more of a Hiring Professional’s time it takes in having to ask questions, or dig (aka; read all day) to find the necessary information – the less likely we are to do it.  We will simply move on to the next candidate.

Another big mistake I see on many resumes is that many people ASSUME that you know what they did because of their Job Title.  Unless you are being reviewed by a 10+ year hiring professional and they have dealt with thousands of Job Descriptions, most of those checking your resume have no clue what you did based on your Job Title alone.  It is imperative in this highly competitive job market that you detail your skills and leave nothing to question on your resume and cover letter. Some companies are still using strict ‘old-school’ or OCR databases to do all the screening for them, so if you do not have your skills spelled out in detail – you more than likely will not be picked for an actual person to review your resume.

Forget the ‘fluff n stuff’… a large majority of individuals lean heavily on the fact that they have many accomplishments, and or hold several Degrees. Oftentimes Hiring Professionals are leery of such information as it appears that individuals may be trying to “dazzle them with BS” so to speak.  Therefore, things such as; Volunteer activities, Hobbies, Major Accomplishments, etc. should not be on a resume.  Any information of this nature pertinent to the job you are applying for (such as being stated in the job qualifications in the job add or job description) should be stated in the Cover Letter, otherwise it is irrelevant, may hinder you more than help you, and should be left out completely.

A mistake I see quite a bit in Job Hunting is that many are using sites like www.monster.com and www.careerbuilder.com as their sole sources of job hunting.  Not good.  Here is why: It can cost an Employer between $300 – $700 PER ADD (30 days), PER POSITION to advertise their positions.  On sites such as www.worksource.com and www.craigslist.org it is MUCH CHEAPER to advertise for open positions – especially if you have several to fill.

Also, many individuals think that by simply putting their resume online – the jobs will come to them.  Not true. All employers EXPECT you to come to them for any valid position online.  Therefore, they post the jobs and wait for the resumes to come to them. The great thing about monster and careerbuilder is that you can create job searches specific to your skill set – those work quite well as long as you create SEVERAL of them and not just one specific to any ONE Job Title.  You are also able to apply directly for positions listed on those sites once you have uploaded your resume, that too is a good thing.  I suggest that you use all avenues/websites available and apply frequently for the positions that fit your skill set.  However do not think that by posting your resume (which I recommend you post it as ‘private’ and not ‘public’) that the employers are going to come to you.

Another aspect is that often times many positions are miss-posted on ALL the job sites. It is difficult sometimes for an employer to find a good match in a job category in order to post an advertised position, and therefore you might find a mechanic job under non-profit because it is being posted by a Non-Profit Company.  You must look in several different categories and/or create various searches in order to find a valid position – not simply the one specific to your desired Job Title.

The bigger mistake overall however, one that I see on a daily basis, is generally in how the resume and cover letter are set up.   Many years ago I created two resume formats that have worked for every individual who ever used them.  Both are easy to read and the information necessary in finding a given job is presented properly.

Today, there are so many resume programs out there and faulty formats that leave so many people wondering what it is they are doing wrong in finding a job. I know, because every time I hire for someone I see literally thousands of poorly written resumes that do not describe even a portion of what a person is qualified to do.  Not to mention some of the firms out there charging people for those same faulty resumes.  I am hoping that by sharing this information I can help empower people and direct them to the job they are looking for.

Some general Resume rules to follow:

1.      Detail your skills

2.      Put Education at the bottom of the resume – not at the top

3.      An objective is not necessary and seldom read on a resume – instead incorporate
your summary or objective in your Cover Letter – don’t put it on your resume

4.      Go back no more than 10 years (usually 6 years is plenty)

5.      Keep Resume to 1 page for General Labor, General Office etc.  Two to three pages for Professional/Executive Positions

6.      Do not put references on your resume – have them prepared on a separate page and ready to present only when asked for them

If you would like more information, or need help in creating a quality resume and cover letter, do not hesitate to contact us at rrrconsulting@q.com.

Many Blessings,

Robin R. Robbins

President/CEO/Executive Business Management Consultant & Business Coach

Mentor/Personal Development Coach, Social Media Mgr

RRR Consulting & Publishing
PH: 206-778-5509
Email: rrrconsulting@q.com
WebSite: http://www.rrrconsulting-publishing.com

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