Experiment

 There are two verses I am going to use in order to conduct an experiment. 

Malachi 3:10 (Literal Standard Version)

Bring in all the tithe to the treasure-house, "" And there is food in My house; When you have tried Me, now, with this,” said YHWH of Hosts, "" “Do I not open the windows of the heavens to you? Indeed, I have emptied on you a blessing until there is no space.

and 

Matthew 6:33 (Good News Translation)

Instead, be concerned above everything else with the Kingdom of God and with what he requires of you, and he will provide you with all these other things.

I believe the Lord is calling me to divide my bi-weekly paycheck in half every time I get paid and separate that amount unto him and contribute that money to wherever he leads me. 

The last time He led me to do this (it was never His will that I stopped, that was on me) I saw spectacular super-natural financial provision come into my life. 

I'm expecting similar things this time as well.

I'm currently 38 years old and understand the ramifications of not prudently saving for retirement. I will do a post-year analysis of my finances 1 year from now which will show the growth of my brokerage accounts with no money added, vs what it would have been had I periodically added 1/2 my paycheck to the accounts and passively invested vs. investing where and when He tells me to with no money added. 

See you July 1, 2023.

 How to Make Money Without Sorrow

Want money? Then learn how to be content. When you learn how to be content, The Lord will show you where the opportunities are to make money. 

Do you look at fancy cars and opulent houses? You're not content.

Do you dream about what it would be like to live like the rich and famous? You're not content. 

Do you think about how great it would be to get that one really nice thing you've always wanted? You're not content

Contentment is satisfaction with what you have right now, completely lacking in desire for anything you don't currently possess outside of your basic necessities.  

You see the car you always wanted and you think, "I don't need that, I don't even really want that, actually getting that thing sounds like it would become a terrible burden". 

Your friend gets a house just like the house you always wanted; you're genuinely happy for them.

You considered making an investment, but ended up not. That investment ended up increasing dramatically in value; you don't care, they'll be another one. 

Contentment starts with humility and progresses into submission to God. When He says to go buy the Porsche, that's when you go buy it. When He says to buy that 10M house on the water, you go buy it, when He says to give millions away, you do it. When you submit your lifestyle expansion decisions to Him, no sorrow comes with those decisions. 

Peace 

How to Win Everyday

I have a secret to tell you. Not many people know it.

The status of being a winner is purely up to YOU.

Deciding if you are a winner is subject to the narrative you create for yourself in your head.

Take for example a father who works as a janitor for 35 years, but sees his children go to college and graduate. Many people would see that man and not see a winner, but he had a vision of his kids graduating from college while he was working and he defined winning as watching his children graduate from college, that's how he defined it, so he is a winner.

Or consider a hedge fund manager worth 250 million dollars, but he can't get his golf handicap below 10. In his mind he is a loser. He can't be and won't be excepted by his pears, he won't be invited to the best and most exclusive golf clubs all his friends are part of, and because of that, he wife will probably leave him because she sees him as a failure since he couldn't secure a position at "the" club to be at.

The janitor has a narrative which makes him content, happy, able to connect and have intimacy with his family.

The hedge fund manager's narrative will only lead to destruction and despair.

Both are solely capable of writing their own narrative and so are you.

Win, Win Some More, Then Win Again

Do you want to feel great? Are you depressed, anxious or worn out? Do you feel hopeless, in despair, maybe suicidal?
I have a solution for you. Go and win.

I don't care what it is that you do as long as it doesn't hurt someone, but winning is the way out.


I heard a quote recently,

"Life isn't a game. It's a set of games, if you aren't winning at one of the games, get up and go play a different game"

If you hate your job, go to another field, another industry that you believe you can win at, and go play with them.

Marriage not great? Play a different game with your spouse, one you believe you can win at. Change it to something you believe will help you win with them. What do they like? What makes them feel valued and appreciated, do that and you'll win....maybe.

Trading strategy not working? Try another strategy, overlay a strategy on top of the one you have, take a break from trading, don't trade for a while, then come back fresh. Could be a discipline problem, become more discipline and you will win.

Something I like which is a sure bet is exercise. Go to the gym, work out and you just won! You successfully engaged your muscles to the point of exhaustion, you increased your heart rate, you burned off some calories and sweat out toxins. You set out to do that before you left and succeeded, you are a natural born winner and now with those bulging muscles, you look like one too!

There is no such feeling as winning. Making the money, closing the deal, getting the girl, feeling loved and accepted. If this isn't happening to you, change your strategy, do something different that makes logical sense that will bring more victories in your life and depression will become a distant memory of someone you no longer are, because now you're a winner.

Things you may not have considered:

Changing jobs
Moving to another state
Downsizing to a more affordable apartment (more disposable income to go try new things to win at!)
Setting boundaries with friends and family, or a spouse
Investing heavily in a person so a deep friendship will form
Discipline yourself to meditate and find direction from the Holy Spirit, He loves to show people how specifically they can win.
Take action on what you already know to do and in that action, more knowledge and understanding will come.

Looking for More

In the book of Matthew, we see a man whom Jesus loved. I would speculate because he wanted
more...
This man we know as the "Rich Young Ruler" found in both books of Matthew and Mark. The
historical account goes as follows:

Mark 10:17-27  MSG

As he went out into the street, a man came running up, greeted him with great reverence, and asked, “Good Teacher, what must I do to get eternal life?”

Jesus said, “Why are you calling me good? No one is good, only God. You know the commandments: Don’t murder, don’t commit adultery, don’t steal, don’t lie, don’t cheat, honor your father and mother.”

He said, “Teacher, I have—from my youth—kept them all!”

Jesus looked him hard in the eye—and loved him! He said, “There’s one thing left: Go sell whatever you own and give it to the poor. All your wealth will then be heavenly wealth. And come follow me.”

The man’s face clouded over. This was the last thing he expected to hear, and he walked off with a heavy heart. He was holding on tight to a lot of things, and not about to let go.

Looking at his disciples, Jesus said, “Do you have any idea how difficult it is for people who ‘have it all’ to enter God’s kingdom?” The disciples couldn’t believe what they were hearing, but Jesus kept on: “You can’t imagine how difficult. I’d say it’s easier for a camel to go through a needle’s eye than for the rich to get into God’s kingdom.”

That set the disciples back on their heels. “Then who has any chance at all?” they asked.

Jesus was blunt: “No chance at all if you think you can pull it off by yourself. Every chance in the world if you let God do it.”

This man who earnestly sought out and found Jesus to ask him this question, I believe was looking for more. He knew there was more then just making money, donating money, obeying the commandments. He knew there was a way to interact with God, a higher, more selective calling, today we would describe this calling as "full time ministry". This calling is not for everyone, there are some people in "full time ministry", who should not be, and some people who aren't and should be based solely upon the will of God. The young man is someone who was operating in his correct place, his calling was to be a business man and serve the Lord in that, but he knew there was more and he wanted it, so he asked for it. What I find particularly amazing about this story is how Jesus actually offered it to him. See how it says, "Jesus looked him hard in the eye—and loved him!" This verse goes hand in hand with 1 Samuel 16:7 which describes how the Lord looks not on the outward appearance, but on the heart, and Jesus was looking right on the young mans heart and saw that he wanted more. 

An opportunity was presented, but it's not free, it's an amazing opportunity, but it is going to cost you and this young man was not willing to pay the price. He believed his money was more valuable then this precious opportunity the Lord was offering him. I call it precious because The Lord does not offer it to everyone who asks. 

I actually admire this young man. At least he was honest enough with himself to say, "no thank you, I'm happy enough where I am". I don't see the tragedy in this historical account that most people do. I believe this young man continued to serve the Lord in his lower calling for the rest of his life and was welcomed into heaven when he died, but once he arrived, I believe it became immediately apparent that he had the opportunity to receive much, much more honor and glory for much, much longer and on a much, much grander scale. I'm sure in the end, he regretted not readily accepting this precious and rare gift the Lord Jesus was bestowing upon him.  

From the Inside Out

It is wise for every human being to search for and determine a metric for which to measure what is important in life. Not just their life, but what is the metric by which we will all be measured. This should be in an effort to choreograph an end which is both satisfying and worth wile.
I personally started this journey with a question, "at what point will I be finished with this life?" and also, "what will be important to me then?". It was in these thoughts that I contemplated what would be next after death and what would be important to me then. It was with this thought that I have learned to measure every action, effort and resource I expel for the rest of my time here on earth. I want to prepare now and every waking moment from now on for that day, because that day is really the only one that matters at all. What will be important to me then will truly be what is important because the next life will not be measured in years, but will be never ending.

Verses to consider:

Revelation 2:26-28 MSG

“Here’s the reward I have for every conqueror, everyone who keeps at it, refusing to give up: You’ll rule the nations, your Shepherd-King rule as firm as an iron staff, their resistance fragile as clay pots. This was the gift my Father gave me; I pass it along to you—and with it, the Morning Star!

Revelation 3:5 MSG

“Conquerors will march in the victory parade, their names indelible in the Book of Life. I’ll lead them up and present them by name to my Father and his Angels.

Revelation 3:12 MSG

“I’ll make each conqueror a pillar in the sanctuary of my God, a permanent position of honor. Then I’ll write names on you, the pillars: the Name of my God, the Name of God’s City—the new Jerusalem coming down out of Heaven—and my new Name.

Revelation 3:20-21 MSG

 “Look at me. I stand at the door. I knock. If you hear me call and open the door, I’ll come right in and sit down to supper with you. Conquerors will sit alongside me at the head table, just as I, having conquered, took the place of honor at the side of my Father. That’s my gift to the conquerors!

Luke 12:32(AMP)   

Do not be afraid and anxious, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.

Matthew 13:44-46  (AMP)

   “The kingdom of heaven is like a [very precious] treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and hid again; then in his joy he goes and sells all he has and buys that field [securing the treasure for himself].   “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls, and upon finding a single pearl of great value, he went and sold all that he had and bought it.

Romans 8:18-21 (MSG)

     That’s why I don’t think there’s any comparison between the present hard times and the coming good times. The created world itself can hardly wait for what’s coming next. Everything in creation is being more or less held back. God reins it in until both creation and all the creatures are ready and can be released at the same moment into the glorious times ahead. Meanwhile, the joyful anticipation deepens.

Everyone of these verses describes what is to come. In Luke 12:32, Jesus totally spoils any mystery hidden in our future, He gives away what the end result will be. The Kingdom one day will be ours, but this is only accomplished by trading our lives, which is made up of our time, our resources, our status. We have the opportunity to trade what is relatively worthless (compared to the Kingdom of God) in exchange for something of infinite value. Of course the world sees this life as all there is, so they grab and get as much as they can. As Christians, we see the truth, that God has given us this time here and is patiently watching to see what we do, to see if we believe what His Son said about us inheriting the Kingdom, and if we obey Him here and now. Should we prove our faith here and now,
we will rule the nations, how the master will one day lead us in a victory parade and then present us by name to the Father and His angels followed by Him setting us in a permanent position of honor.  

I hope if you are reading this, you recognize the value in choosing to serve Jesus wholeheartedly, a decision which will cost you your entire life, I believe a deal worth making. 

Determining value is something I do on a daily basis. As a full time investor, I search for opportunities in which to trade something (US Dollars) for something which I believe will one day be more valuable then what I paid. If I'm going to trade $10,000 for 10 shares of ownership in a company, it should be because I believe the future value of those 10 shares will be significantly greater then $10,000 when I eventually sell. We must recognize that what we are going to eventually receive (The Kingdom) is far more valuable then this temporary place, we will receive a permanent, eternal place in the Kingdom of God. 

The Beginning of The End

As 2013 came to a close and 2014 appeared on the horizon, I began to become more and more pessimistic about the stock market i.e. the S&P 500. After several failed attempts to express a short opinion of it, and many lost thousands of dollars later, I relented.

This leads me to this past weeks market price action and an opportunity in our new possible friend SPXS, a triple leveraged inverse SPY etf (triple leveraged = not for the faint of heart)

A picture for your consideration

regards

2 year SPXS chart (notice the new breakout at arrow)

Pre-FOMC Minutes Trade

Over the past few months I have begun trading economic events using triple leveraged gold mining ETF's. One such trade presents itself today.

The precedent here are the previous FOMC meeting and it's respective meeting minutes release (Fed meeting and statement on 9/17/2014 and the meeting minutes release on 10/8/2014)

Like most I believe the Fed will continue to tighten it's policy (be hawkish), this would cause precipitation in the price of gold and of course gold mining ETF's. The catch is that although the statement on 9/17 appeared hawkish, the minutes released on 10/8 appeared dovish and caused massive gold futures buying (followed by the subsequent sell off of gold assets for a bottom on Nov, 5th.  So you could call this a two week trade from today (11/19/2014 1:40PM)

I'm buying a triple leveraged inverse gold mining ETF (if gold drops, it will go up in value) but only 1/2 position pre-2:00pm. Should the meeting minutes be dovish (following the precedent from the last meeting) then gold will get bought up leaving my triple inverse ETF to drop significantly, which is the exact time I will double the position (at the end of day) at that point I will expect gold to sell off similar to the last FOMC meeting minutes release, bring the trade into profitable territory.

If the meeting minutes are hawkish, I expect gold to sell off and the inverse ETF to increase.

Best

All Scientists' [who believe in evolution] Are Liars

This is a plain and simple fact. Notice how I single out scientist's in the title of this article, that's because out of almost every profession in the modern world, they should know better and as a group they are deceiving themselves.

I admire scientist's, I used to be one before I dove head first into the financial world, and thus am well aware of the vigorous training and studying it takes to understand the complex molecular interactions occurring millions of times per second, of every second, of every day that goes on in even the simplest of all living creatures, that is the cell.

I like science. And why wouldn't anybody? It's the relentless search for truth. Through testing and experimenting and testing and experimenting some more, scientist's seek to find answers, causes, solutions, and cures to many problems afflicting many people. This is why I do not understand why so many of them CHOOSE to believe a lie, that is evolution. The belief that in some freak random occurrence, the first living cell was accidentally thrown together by trillions of random happenings. Out of everybody, scientist's are trained and should be able to see past this non-sense and to seek the truth. A matter of fact the only explanation possible explaining this complete breakdown in moral fiber by an entire profession group is just a lack of courage. We are teaching our children a lie because we lack the courage as a society to stand up and say, “this crap doesn't make any sense!” and the people I blame most are scientist's. They should know better, they have the light, they know the truth and are just choosing to continue to believe a convenient lie. The sad part is, the more time that goes by, the more and more foolish those who are scientific will appear. Very soon, the amount of knowledge available to humans concerning this masterpiece of creation we call our bodies will be so vast, and the understanding of it so great, that those who aren't scientific will begin to question and yes, even make fun of the choice so many intelligent people have chosen to believe which is the theory of evolution. It reminds me of hearing about how many people chose to believe African-American people were some how less human not all that long ago. A belief that is now laughed at and if still believed by someones silly great-grandmother, eyes are rolled and pacifying phrases like, “oh grandma, you don't really believe that, right?” in an effort not to disrespect, but not condone those out of date and just plane foolish people... I mean ideas.

As an ex-scientist, please allow me to be the first to scream, “what is this 800 lb gorilla still doing here? Would someone please tell me. Oh, nothing? Then do away with it, and good riddance! Let's stop talking about evolution like it's a real science, let's stop teaching it to our children like it's a viable theory, and lets just accept the obvious truth. The true is actually proven based on it's own existence. That we are a masterpiece creation, formed through wisdom and understanding by someone with vast intelligence that loves us more then we could possibly comprehend.  

How to Prosper

How to Prosper Financially.

1. Give control of your life over to God. This is accomplished by saying a prayer, and choosing to believe that God heard you.

The prayer would sound like this..."Father, in the name of Jesus, I give control of my life over to you, what you say, I will say and where you go I will go. I ask you to come into my life and I confess that Jesus is the Son of God and Lord of my life. In the name of Jesus I pray, amen."

2. In order to prosper financially, your soul must prosper first. (3 John 1:2). Prosperity of your soul is accomplished by you controlling your soul. Your soul consists of your 1. Will 2. Mind 3. Emotions.

Learn to control what you think on (think on what the Bible tells you to think on (Philippians 4:8)), where you allow your emotions to go and by submitting your will to the will of God, your soul will be prospering.

3. Put the Kingdom of God first (Matthew 6:33). Instead of building your kingdom, your bank account, your house, always putting your stuff first, put the plan and works that God has told you to do, first place, a place of priority in your life.

4. Begin to sow. The law of planting and harvesting is paramount and must be used in order to prosper in God. This is accomplished in several ways, but the most prominent way this is done is by investing in the Gospel. When you give money into a ministry that is making progress in building the Kingdom of God, you become partnered with that ministry and part of the return for that investment comes on you. (Mark 4)

5. When this is accomplished, God is able to bless you abundantly and He will bless you abundantly because He loves you so much and it pleases Him to bless His children.

Books to learn more about this subject that I would highly recommend:

The Laws of Prosperity, by Kenneth Copeland

Managing God's Mutual Funds; Yours and His, Understanding True Prosperity, by Kenneth Copeland

Free Downloads from Keith Moore, check out the "Week of Increase" series. He hosts one every year at his church. You can download the entire series off his website.

Make Your Decisions

The decision to be wealthy and prosperous can be made right now. If your reading this text, chances are you are prosperous when compared to the poorest people in the word. Some people have absolutely nothing. No food, no shelter, no family; this is true poverty. when compared to your wealth, you are most likely infinitely more wealthy then the person who has nothing, yet so many people are unhappy with what they have and strive to get more stuff in order to be happy. I would hypothesize that people aren't really after nice cars, money and houses, if you dig deeper you can see people just want to be happy and they figure that if they obtain more physical possessions it will make them more happy. History tells us this is not true. There are many examples of people with great wealth who no matter what they accumulated or possessed, remained bitter and upset. These people have made a decision to remain discontent and unhappy. The poor can make the same decision but in the opposite direction. They can decide to be happy despite their lack.

Make a decision today to be content with what you have, this should help to increase your general happiness, which is in my opinion, the best measure of wealth.

Relative Risk

The definition of "risk" is - The possibility of suffering harm or loss; danger.

The relative perspective of investment risk is a subject of interest of mine. The abnormal way people consider risk can be explained by an example... If someone suggests taking a large (> 50% of your portfolio) position in a certain company, some people's automatic response is to imagine the worst possible outcome for that company, like "what if the CEO walks outside and gets hit by a bus?" or "what if one of their products is found to cause cancer?" etc. The possibility of one these highly improbable occurrences happening is near zero, so why do people seriously consider these possibilities as realistic? It's because risk is relative. But when it's taken into the perspective of reality, we can ignore the outlying data points and assume the norm will happen. At least thats what I do whenever I board an airplane.
A general rule I like to follow when considering the level of risk I'm exposing myself to is a saying by Warren Buffet. "Risk comes from not knowing what you're doing. " The more deeply you understand a situation, the less risk exists.

Building A Stock Investing Strategy

My friend Adrian over at Shareyournumber.com asked me to write a post on how to build a strategy to invest in stocks.

To check out the post and comment click here. Enjoy!

Letting The Winners Run

Fear is a dominant player in the markets. Stocks drop, people get scared, and the stock drops more because people are selling...because their scared. Good companies selling at depressed values make excellent opportunities, if you can ignore the fear.

The same applies to stocks increasing in value while you hold a position in it (always a good thing). As the shares increase in value, some people become more and more afraid, especially in these market conditions (April 16, 2009), the questions pass through the mind... is this a true rally, or is this stock about to slide back down, erasing all profits earned.

It is important to ignore fear in both examples. This is accomplished by committing to an entry price and exit price BEFORE taking on a stock position. Before entry, you are thinking clearly, unaffected by the bombardment of emotions as the share value fluctuates. The key to allowing your winners to run is to stay the course and allow the value to raise to the predetermined price...then sell.

A principle I recently acquired and have taken as my own is the 7% rule (found in Jack D. Schwagers' book "Market Wizards"). If you have a working theory about a stock, based on fundamentals and sound reason, take the position, but set a limit order to sell or cover after a 7% loss. This will keep you from losing your shirt on any one trade.

Market Timing

I left this comment on 7million7years.com and thought I might expound on it.

The term "market timing" reminds me of double dutch. With the jumper waiting on the outside of the ropes, waiting until they believe they have the rhythm of the ropes, and can predict them.
I tried this a few times in grade school and got whacked in the face.

This is the type of trading you don't want to participate in. It may turn out well a few times, but for the long term, you will inevitably lose money.

While double dutch is the sport I liken "market timing" to, consistent, successful investing is more like surfing. The surfer waits patiently for the perfect wave, there is no rhythm or signal to tell him the wave is coming, it just arrives (there is a rhythm to ocean waves, but to catch the perfect wave takes patience). He can either take advantage of it without hesitation, or let it pass him by.
When observing a market inefficiency, I know its time to invest, and the opportunity won't be around for long. This has nothing to do with "timing" and more to do with fundamentals and anticipating the emotions of the market.

Trading and Black Jack

If you've ever played Black Jack, you know what the term "double down" means. This option is available for every hand you play, but should only be taken advantage of when the odds are in your favor. To utilize this option, you tell the dealer, "I would like to double down". At this point you would put the maximum amount of chips next to your original bet, which can be up to 100% of your original bet, the dealer would then give you one more card, and one more card only.

If you could apply the rules of the New York Stock Exchange to Black Jack, you would be able to see your hand and the dealers hand before you ever had to bet anything, and if the odds were in your favor, you could wager all your money, and even borrow up to your chip count from the casino!

Good practice for investing in stocks, much like Black Jack, is to wait for the most opportune time (when the odds are in your favor) and get as much of your money in as you can! Unfortunately at the casino, you have to bet a least the table minimum (the minimum amount of money you can bet per hand) just to see your cards, then evaluate if the odds are in your favor and whether this hand is qualified for the "double down" option.
The great thing about investing in stock, is you get to see the "cards" (company accounting records, conference calls, price to earnings) before you ever commit any cash. You determine if the odds are in your favor and how much of your bank role you think this opportunity demands.

The tough part is determining when the best risk to reward ratio is in place for that hand....... I mean investment.

Discipline Is Imperative

Discipline is the characteristic needed to:

• push yourself past the point most others stop at
• Resist the urge to spend more then you should
• Pull second shift working on your part time business after getting home from your day job
• See the potential in that stock, ignoring the fear
• Continue to learn, grow and risk

...succeed in whatever you want to succeed in.

I'll leave you with some motivational quotes.

"Discipline is choosing between what you want now and what you want the most."
"Discipline is the bridge between goals and accomplishments."

How to Determine the Market Bottom

This is an obvious question because if you can determine it correctly, just about any investment you make will be profitable.

The bottom is... when you think the economic world as we know it will end, very soon there will be no stock market and your prediction of the future economic structure of the United States is a hunter - gatherer society.
That is the bottom and it is now time to buy. This is based on the assumption that because you are experiencing this fear, everyone else is as well. During this time only the logical can stand back and notice everyone has lost their minds and the deals of the decade are being presented.

The individual who can pull the trigger at this point, manifests discipline and courage. Basically a complete absence of fear while maintaining faith that people will continue to be people and buy goods and services, hence lifting the economy, spurring optimism which only spurs more buying, turbocharging the profits of good companies as well as their shareholders.

Just be mindful of the flipside...when people are too greedy. This marks the top of the market and the perfect time to sell.

Motivate Yourself To Make Money Part 2

This is the second part of an X-part post (I'm gonna just keep posting on this subject as I come up with ideas) which focuses on becoming motivated from the inside, because most likely you don't have a personal motivation coach just waiting in the wings to cheer you on when you don't feel like pushing forward.
My tip for this month is to constantly tell yourself, "my time is valuable" whether you think it's true or not. Would someone who's time is valuable watch television, stumble aimlessly online, or socialize to much? The answer is obviously, no.
I also find this statement empowering and enlightening in a plethora of situations. So try it the next time you find yourself evading a task you need to accomplish.

How To Motivate Yourself To Make Money

This is something I struggle with often. Motivation is the fuel needed to launch those projects and ideas you have that need sweat equity before any profits come out on the other end. Usually the source for long term motivation is clear (i.e., infinite freedom, time with family, etc), but what about short term motivation. What is going to put the fire under your ass when all you want to do is sit on the couch and watch a night of T.V. pass you by (while you should be working on your business for example).

I believe I have a solution: DEBT

For someone who has strong, basic financial principals down (saving, no consumer debt, etc) debt can be an excellent motivating factor for making money.

If I can't pay my bills one month, and I have to carry over a balance on my credit card (after paying the minimum), or I'm carrying a balance on my checking plus account with my bank, these facts role around in my head all the time, 24 hours a day, I'm even dreaming about where I'm going to get the money to pay for these expenses. This acts as a fuel to think of new ways of coming into some money. Now that extra "motivation" pushes me into coming up with new ideas, working on previously abandoned projects and forces me to put down the remote control, and find new/old ways to make some cash.

As for how to get into debt, there IS a certain way to do this: Instead of paying off all your monthly expenses, let the non-urgent expenses wait, and deposit those extra funds into some sort of investment vehicle. I believe this strategy is also called "paying yourself first".

What strategies do you use to motivate yourself?