Nonprofit finance, accounting, and tax news. Other tidbits of interest to the charity community.
“It” is your dream. The thing you wanted to do since you were a kid. That incredible idea in the back of your mind that would change the world, make life better for oh-so-many people, or end the social injustice that fires righteous fury in your heart. Take your pick.
You know what “it” is. Make it happen.
“Most people are about as happy as they make up their minds to be” – Abraham Lincoln. Today’s explanation of that theme is from Seth Godin, which I quote in its entirety:
“My will shall shape my future. Whether I fail or succeed shall be no man’s doing but my own. I am the force; I can clear any obstacle before me, or I can be lost in a maze. My choice, my responsibility, win or lose, only I hold the key to my destiny. ”
Asking how your spiritual life is going will lead to evaluating your prayer life and devotional habits. Those questions will probably lead to a very discouraging answer of not well enough, or not as good as it should be.
Instead try these suggestions from John Ortberg in The Me I Want To Be:
Cooks Source continues to draw my interest. That is due to the convergence of three factors: a fascinating story, my having this very small platform from which to opine, and my long-time interest in how wonderful some people are at not apologizing. (more…)
“If you’ve never failed, you’ve never lived” – best motivational video ever (hat tip Mark McReynolds via one of his contacts)- what a great closing statement: “Life = Risk”.
I started a new blog today, Attestation Update, www.attestationupdate.com. It will provide news and updates to the CPA community on audits, reviews, and compilations. Some posts are only at the new site and some attestation posts will be left here. In the future, posts that are focused more on the CPA community will be at the new site.
Why make this change? I realized there are very two distinct audiences for my writing: the non-profit community and CPAs. While there is a lot of overlap, particularly with the CPA firms in Southern California with whom I count as friends at the same time as competitors, the interests are very different. Thus, two blogs. This will allow for more focused attention by time constrained readers. Enjoy them both!
Got a good laugh at myself looking at my blog while drafting a different post. Here are two consecutive posts: (more…)
Sometimes we see trends or patterns and think they are pretty dumb. Maybe even reach the level of stupid. When those dumb things are at a societal level, we need to realize that is the way the world is working and engage the world as it is, not as we think it ought to be. (more…)
Since starting my own CPA firm, the amount of time I spend out of town has dropped dramatically. Yeah! That lets me see air travel through a new perspective. You road warriors are bored with the wonders of the modern era. (more…)
Time to start thinking more seriously about your privacy. One particular online tracking company gathers everything they can about you and accumulates it into a very detailed profile. The cutting edge capacity of one company also aggregates your name and email address. (more…)
Fascinating display at the Reuben Fleet Science Museum in San Diego listing the top 10 causes of death in 1850, 1900, and 2000 caught my interest while on vacation. Focus of their discussion is on the change over time, particularly the change from infectious disease to other causes. Look at this list (more…)
Wish I’d written this: “Where, precisely, do you go in order to get permission to make a dent in the universe?” Seth Godin said that and discusses it further in “Do you need a permit“? To completely restructure his comment for our community — you do not need permission from anyone to change the world for Christ. Go for it!
Everyone knows the days of working for one or two companies for your entire career are gone and will never return. That is even more true in the audit world. As a result, every one of us needs to take ownership of our personal brand (our reputation, our presence in social media, our career) and manage it. (more…)
We live in an age of overwhelming complexity. Things will not get simpler, the change will only accelerate.
Do I really need to explain that the complexity of everything is overwhelming? Consider merely the new 990, increasing regulation of every area of running a ministry or business, and the exponential growth of fantastic technology tools.
We need to decide whether we are going to adapt or not. It is actually possible to opt out of the growing complexity. Consider the cost though. If our ministries do not adapt they may die. More likely they will shrivel, then shrink into irrelevance. At a personal level, we need to adapt or get left behind.
I choose to adapt. I may be struggling and bumbling in my efforts, but I will move forward. How about you?