I recently had the opportunity to interview a police officer who really has planned for success in his life and his career.
Chuck Rylant began his law enforcement career in 1998 with the Lompoc Police Department in California. During those four years, he worked in a patrol car and later as a field training officer. While working graveyards on patrol, he chipped away at his bachelor degree by taking one class at a time. Looking back, he can remember struggling to stay awake while doing homework between 3:00 AM – 6:00 AM when there were only a few calls during his patrol shift. Unfortunately, he went through a divorce and had to put off finishing college for a couple of years while he got his “life in order”.
I can think of so my topics to write about using this title but in honor of George Carlin I’m going to write about “stuff”. Check out George’s thoughts on “Stuff”.
These thoughts struck me as we are thinking about moving into a new home and have way too much stuff, which is what I worked hard for as a cop for over twenty years. Now I’m wondering if I really ever needed all this stuff (and what I could have done with the money had I not bought all of this “stuff”).
Yesterday the United States celebrated it’s Independence Day. Many countries celebrate such a day to denote their coming of age and independence from the input and control of another’s influence. Not many people celebrate such a day for their life but maybe we should.
What in your life do you NEED to become independent from? A mortgage? A bad relationship? A job? An unhealthy lifestyle? What would financial independence look like for you? What would freedom look like to you? CopsAlive is built upon the premise that we should have a plan to survive and thrive in life and in our job. What’s your plan?
Another good cop fell in the line of duty last week. Nicholas Heine was 30 year old, but he wasn’t killed by an assailant’s bullet nor was he stabbed or beaten.
Quoting from Nick Bonham of THE PUEBLO CHIEFTAIN “Nicholas “Nick” Heine, a seven-year veteran of the Pueblo Police Department and a decorated and well-liked officer, collapsed about 2 a.m. while running between bar disturbances in the Historic Union Avenue District.
Heine died shortly later at Parkview Medical Center. He was 30.
Heine’s mother and co-worker, Detective Pat Heine, a 19-year veteran of the police department, said her son died of a heart problem that no one knew he had.
I met Ted earlier this year on a Carnival Cruise to the beautiful islands in the Caribbean. Coinsidentally we were both also in a group that came onto that cruise from around the world to learn more about operating a business on the internet.
It was an amazing trip. Not only did we spend eight days and seven nights on a beautiful ship but we also visited Puerto Rico, St. Thomas USVI, Antigua, Tortola and the Nassau in the Bahamas. What’s more we were part of a group of over 125 internet marketers from 7 countries. While the ship was at sea we spent time together in various facilitated learning sessions exchanging ideas and learning from one another. Ted and I became fast friends and have stayed in touch.
He has had an amazing life, not just an amazing career and is in my mind a success story that other cops can learn from. What does it take to be a success in law enforcement? Well as we used to say, if you come home alive you’ve had a good day.
Everyone is talking these days about higher gasoline prices, higher food costs and generally higher costs for everything we enjoy. At the same time the financial markets of the world are struggling, record numbers of people are losing their homes and the misuse of credit has become a global problem.
As a cop, how’s your financial health? Are you unsettled by all around you? Are you in the middle of some of these problems? How well to you manage the financial resources you have?
Whether or not you’re in financial crisis or not, now may be an excellent time to plan for your financial well being.
Have you ever wanted to start your own business on the internet. Maybe you’re tired of working off-duty security gigs and want to work from home any time you want. Consider joining me on an 8 day Caribbean Cruise to learn about doing business on the internet and talk to your accountant about whether it is an acceptable business tax deduction for you.
Yesterday was Memorial Day here in the United States. A holiday that was created to honor our valiant heroes who gave their lives in military service to this country. According to the United States Department of Veterans Affairs the Memorial Day Holiday started to honor the veterans of the American Civil War.
“Three years after the Civil War ended, on May 5, 1868, the head of an organization of Union veterans — the Grand Army of the Republic (GAR) — established Decoration Day as a time for the nation to decorate the graves of the war dead with flowers. Maj. Gen. John A. Logan declared that Decoration Day should be observed on May 30. It is believed that date was chosen because flowers would be in bloom all over the country.”
I recently had the opportunity to interview a police officer who really has planned for success in his life and his career.
heroes who gave their lives in military service to this country. According to the 
