For the past ten years I have had a personal motto that was "One Life to Live... Live it Free! - One Life to Live... Make it Count!" While it inspired us to design a "free" life with no traditional job, no boss and no schedule imposed on us; and while the "making it count" part kept us accountable to create Sharing-Books, a project that we believe will be part of our legacy, my wife Bonnie and I felt that it was time to re-examine our personal purpose statement.

We looked at what is really important in this troubled economy and we agreed that relationships were central to our lives. But our need to contribute is also central to our personalities. So we revised our motto to "Helping Friends Prosper".

Helping: We both like to serve others. We find helping very rewarding. Our definition of helping is to equip people to tap into their potential. Often in our circle of friends, all it takes is words of encouragement to put someone back on track. In the current economy friends can get discouraged. Remind them that they have no less talent than before. Remind them that they are no less valuable as people than before. They just got affected by the gloomy mood of the media. Share the truth of "this too shall pass" with a smile. And with words of appreciation reminding a friend how great he/she is, we can recharge a friend's spirit.

Friends: Bonnie and I are quick to make new friends so we find new people to help all the time. Today, social networking services help us expand our circles and stay connected with the people we chose as friends. I am amazed at how easy it is to relate with friends around the globe. I now care a lot for friends I have never spoken to - I only exchanged emails with them. What a wealth of friends we all have access to in 2009. Rather than de-humanizing, the web connects us if we make the effort to use the tools. We have all experienced the conversation on an airplane when the person in the seat beside us shares his/her life and we get to know them well in a few hours of travel. In the past these friendships were temporary - now we can stay in touch very easily.

Prosper: Probably because I grew up speaking French and had 5 years of Latin and 4 years of ancient Greek in high school, the word prosper means to me more than financial success. I look at prosperity from a holistic point of view. In our new motto we chose prosper to mean financial success but also to mean: health, joy, happiness, energy, to thrive, to bloom, and to flourish. So when you and I help friends prosper we touch their lives in important ways. It may be the nudge that makes them start the business they have talked about for so long, or the nudge that makes them start an exercise program, or to start dealing with a negative situation rather than keep procrastinating. If we all help one another in this way, we will create initiatives that will put our countries back on the path of progress rather than succumbing to the prevalent fears and gloom.

So we are choosing to help friends prosper. This new business venture called Sharing-Books has already blessed us with many new friends. We will do our best to help them prosper.