Nessa's Notes

One thing about me - other than my near obsession with helping folks pull themselves out from the bottom of the financial heap - is that I enjoy playing games. Most of my online "biographies" note that fact. Cards, board games, puzzles; it doesn't matter. I just like friendly competition. There's an online game I play from time to time. In this particular game you get points by making the best hand according to a sliding scale. But the only way to make a good hand is by cooperating and trading with other players. Some players will only trade for higher points. It usually takes them a longer time to assemble a good score. Then there are other players who seem to always give away the best pieces they get to other players in order to help them make good scores. You might think this would keep them at the lower scores for themselves. But that's not the case. I've tried it myself, both in the game and in business. When I enter the game giving and helping others, I

Thinking about wealth creation often leads me to also think about poverty, especially the extreme poverty that causes many to become homeless. There was a time after my divorce when I didn’t have my own place, and though we weren’t “out on the streets”, we were technically homeless. So I empathize with people who are going through that particular situation. One thing that I believe is that everyone must give. I think not being able to give is one of the worse aspects of poverty. Of course, this is something of a universal concept, expressed differently in various philosophies and belief systems. Some refer to the golden rule. Some call it the law of attraction or reciprocity. Whatever you want to call it, the principal is simple: you’ve got to give to receive. My pastor often says “you’ve got to be a blessing in order to get a blessing”. One of my clients is always talking about planting money so he can find some. For me, I believe in tithing and I also provide a significant amount of