Drew Karczewski

12/12/2023

Just passed my 1 year mark here at Empower Financial Group, and I am still here! The year flew by and I learned a ton! As part of my 2024 goals, social media presence is going to be a priority! Really excited to be a part of a special team here at Empower and share my journey throughout the way.

05/30/2022

“No duty is more urgent than that of returning thanks.” -James Allen

04/11/2022

In my opinion there is no one way to interpret this quote. I have seen tons of scenarios where this quote can be applicable, some more obvious than others. To me, this quote describes how everyone is born with unlimited potential within their life, yet most people will not break the shackles of normality, following the herd to mediocrity. Again there are countless other scenarios, so I ask, how do you interpret this?

04/08/2022

James Bond has taken a break from being 007 and now is solving mysteries in Knives Out! Now James Bond is uncovering the mystery of bond laddering. Check out this fun video and grab a 007 style Martini!

Agent Jane Bond wants you to know about how can be to generate .

https://www.winnfinancialgroup.com/

Agent Jane Bond is on the case, uncovering the mystery of bond laddering.

04/06/2022

Every year for the past few years in August, I have attended the Global Leadership Summit. Based in Chicago, with host sites around the world, the main purpose is to gather entrepreneurs from around the world to share their stories. Some share life accomplishments and hurdles, others motivation, and some speak about actionable concepts and strategies that you can apply to your life and business. With a different lineup each year, there is always diversity and new ideas. However there is one annual constant, the champion speaker Craig Groeschel, who gets me really excited. In my first year he taught the following concept that has stuck with me ever since and I am constantly asking the question; is this good enough to move on?

Think about being in high school. Your teacher just assigned you a project that you have to complete, its a PowerPoint, and you have one weekend to get it done. Thinking that it is unfair, you put your head down and start grinding away at the project. Knowing you have other homework and responsibilities, you put in 10 hours in the project. After analyzation, you think your project is A work but not perfect, so now you have reached a decision that you have to make. Do you put in the roughly 2 hours of extra work to make the work perfect, or do you move on and tend to your other responsibilities? Most people would tend to say put the two hours in, and make it your best work, thinking the rest will get done with the response "you'll make it work". However is that the right response, with this concept Craig Groeschel begs to differ.

Firstly, you should analyze the concept of ROI. Often times people forget that time has a value, and in this case it is the investment that you need to return on. Is the time you are missing out on your other responsibilities, homework, sleep and potential enjoyment worth the extra 10% on the grade. Now lets shift the scenario to a business construct. Is the extra time on a presentation that you already are confident will be successful, worth time away from your family? Is it worth time away from your healthy habits and routines? Is it worth the possibility of missing crucial life moments? In most cases the answer is no. Like all good things, there is a top to a curve, or a sweet spot where the effort put in has a maximum gain, where you do not overdo it. There is a time when analyzing that curve where you have to make the decision that your time becomes worth more than the value you can bring.

Now I am not promoting doing average work and expecting great results, however as I referenced a few weeks ago with the Eisenhower quadrants, your time is valuable. When it comes time to decide or delete, and you have completed something fulfilling all the requirements and now focused on the details of the project, eventually you have to ask yourself, at what point is it "good enough to move on?"

04/05/2022

When all parts are moving in the right direction, and all pieces are coming together, it is easy to ride the momentum of success. When sales are skyrocketing, relationships are blossoming, and opportunities are presenting themselves the grind does not feel like a grind. In these situations where adversity is lacking, mental toughness is pristine. However, when the first inconvenience becomes apparent, this is when most endurance begins to dwindle. People begin to question their talents and prior decisions. They question if they chose the right career, got the right degree, have the capacity, have the knowledge, their adequacy. Don't give up. When these situations comes about, remember this quote and remember your why. Remember what it is that drives you and motivates you and keep pushing. Endurance is always tested by those deep in the valley, when it seems like nothing is going your way. But remember, though the walls may seem steep and dark, if you look straight up there is light and you just have to keep pushing for it. Have you ever reached your valley and climbed back out again?

04/04/2022

WOO HOO you got married now it’s time for the real fun to begin, being married and handling money, a house and everything in between. Check out these tips for new married couples. If you or someone you know is a newlywed or is about to be one look into this article and reach out to Winn Financial Group to start getting prepared for the future.

10 tips that can head-off marriage money problems.

https://www.winnfinancialgroup.com/

Couples may be able to head off many of the problems in a marriage that money can cause.

03/30/2022

When entering the business world, likely one of the first questions you are presented with is your why? Whether it is a mentor, interviewer, or client, in some way or form by someone you have likely encountered this question. In most situations you come up with an answer that sounds good, and then from there on out you roll with it. You make changes here and there as you hear others to make yours sound less and less superficial, but almost always it is just an alteration from your initial response. Now this system works, and dodges the bullet of further questioning, however I want to challenge you to think deeper. Have you ever left a conversation where your why was discussed and you felt uneasy that you did not honestly capture the descriptive words to describe your why? Have you defined you way based on the perspective of others, thinking that if it sounded more selfless than selfish, you would achieve more credibility? If you answered yes to either of those questions than your why is not adequate to describe your inner wiring. Most construct their why on the preconceived notion that whys must be built on selflessness and charity. I have encountered several with the response of "they just want to be able to give back to their parents and provide for their wife and kids". That is an awesome response, and superficially does the job, but why do you want to give back? Why do you want to help your kids? The easy answer to that is because they are family, but then again dig deeper, why is it important to help family?

That was me for quite a while. You see, I spent so much time crafting and honing my why based upon what others perspective of me would be. If my response included helping my family and having a flexible schedule to be able to provide, I thought that my why was sufficient. However, with deeper thought and further digging I realized it was more than that. I kept asking myself more and more until finally I got to one word that I felt described me. My why is generosity. You might follow up and question why it is important for me to be generous, and my selfish response follows; because it makes me feel good. For me generosity in wealth, knowledge, love and goods and the ability to share is my why. I challenge you to dig down and find your why. Ask questions until you get to a point that you cannot ask any more questions. It is a difficult thing to do, however it is truly enlightening.

03/29/2022

Taxes are arriving, events and vacations are back on this year. It’s important to sit down with your coffee and review your bills and find ways to cut back and budget.

Check out this article to help you combat rising inflation and rethink your budget.

As inflation continues to run hot, you may need to rethink your budget. Here are some tips.

03/23/2022

I am sure most of you are familiar with these four quadrants, however do you follow this philosophy as well as you should? Ever since I have made a conscious effort to organize and prepare myself for uncertainty, it has allowed me to avoid the DO box almost entirely. So if the "Do" quadrant is the wrong quadrant to be in, what is the right one? For maximum efficiency to stay ahead and on top of things, the best box to be within is the "Decide" box. When consistency within this box is present, it allows for grouping of tasks, futuristic thinking, and planning while promoting less stress and efficiency with a more complete and creative outcome. How about those bottom two boxes though, the time waster and the delegative tasks? Well exactly as you would describe them in the boxes should be the way you handle them. Delete the distractions and delegate the things that can be completed by others.

After reading this post I think you should re-evaluate your tasks and how you handle them. Do you focus most of your time in the Decide quadrant and do you delete and delegate the non important tasks? How are you with avoiding the Do quadrant? Do you feel like you are consistently fighting fires, or are you prepared for the uncertain?

03/21/2022

As Hernan Cortez was marching in to the Aztec city of Tenochtitlan, he and his men were outnumbered. Weary of their defeat, soldiers of the Spanish army were distracted and unmotivated to continue with the plan. Frustrated from the lack of motivation of his soldiers Hernan Cortes instructed his soldiers to burn the boats. Remove the one thing connecting them to the home land. Remove all other options to retreat, forcing them to come together to complete the task at hand. Though this angered the army, it pushed their backs against the wall with one thought on their minds, victory. As predicted, the Spanish were successful with a complete conquer of the land in a record 93 days.

Many of us find ourselves struggling to make the jump that needs to be taken for personal growth. We are comfortable in the situation that we are in and though we crave more, we are unwilling to take the risk and therefore stay complacent. Until the full immersion into the goals you are trying to pursue, you will lack the outcome that is desired. In a world that is not infinite take the jump, take the risk, and burn your ships. Remove the safety blankets that are associated with comfort and embrace uncertainty. When there is a will there is a way, so make it happen. What things are you uncertain to try? Make it a goal this year to try at your fullest potential and see what the outcome is, it may surprise you.