My explanation usually goes something like this:
When we are working, money comes in on a regular basis.
That is much like having running water in abundant supply
gushing through the pipes and out of our taps.
But just ask this question of any retiree who hasn't
successfully figured out a way to create a steady flow of
passive income: How do you feel each time money is
withdrawn from a bank account that can no longer be
replenished by the active income of a salary?
If you probe a little, I believe you will find that many
such older people feel exactly the same about their
dwindling cash reserves that I feel about using water from
a reserve tank situated above my home's ceiling.
If you're fortunate enough to be reading this at a time
when you have at least several more years before entering
full blown retirement, I hope you will heed my advice to
immediately start 'laying the pipeline' for your own
personal supply of liquid (pun intended!) funds.
If you've ever used water drawn from a well, you will
agree that while it is useful to have such a supply, it is
far more convenient to have the water simply gush out of
your taps... as and when you need it! Well, in the realm of
financial planning, there is one way for you to ensure that
happens.
It requires making a conscious effort to follow this six-
step blueprint:
Step 1: Decide to begin saving money. If you can't save
10% of your net income now, relax! Begin with perhaps
just 1%. So, if for argument's sake you earn $5,000 a
month, after taxes and other statutory deductions, then
ask yourself if you can get by with spending 99%, meaning
$4,950 and saving 1% or $50? Of course, you can!
Step 2: Don't stop. Become fanatical in raising that
percentage by at least 1 percentage point every 3 months.
If you do that steadily, then after a little over a dozen
years, you will be at the magical 50% savings rate.
Because money saved attracts money earned, it is entirely
possible that over that multi-year period, your net
monthly income will have ballooned naturally to perhaps
$10,000, $15,000 or much, much, much more.
The key to growing your savings consistently is to make
each percentage increment small enough to slip under the
radar of your Spendaholic Self to meet the goals of your
Self-Disciplined Persona!
Step 3: Set aside at least three months' and perhaps as
much as twelve months' worth of expenses in your personal
reserve account or emergency buffer account. Additional
guidelines are available here:
Step 4: Think in terms of building a stable pyramid of
wealth. The lowest level should be dominated by your
emergency buffer and other savings in bank accounts, money
market funds and bond funds. The next level should
comprise a layer of dependable investments such as equity-
based funds, rental real estate and their like.
Step 5: If you feel so inclined, add a tiny, tiny portion
of speculative instruments that you are willing to suffer
major losses on in the hope of perhaps occasionally making
it big! This represents the narrow apex of your wealth
pyramid.
Step 6: Whenever you succeed in making money from layers 2
and 3, do make sure that you cascade that money down
toward your savings layer. You see, the larger and wider
that base grows, the higher you will eventually be able to
build your pyramid.
Please don't be fooled by the simplicity of this plan.
If you stick to it for at least a dozen years, you stand a
very high chance of ending up richer than most, if not
all, of your neighbours and friends, and you will succeed in
constructing your own personal money gusher to meet your
living and spending needs in retirement... in style and
comfort!
Take action today to begin implementing this future-rescuing,
dream-realising strategy. Just start with Step 1 and work
your way slowly up your personal pyramid of wealth.
Sunday, July 29, 2007
YOU are in control! YOU are responsible!
Do you ever think to yourself, "I can't do that?"
Most likely, it is your present beliefs that may be
causing you to doubt your own abilities. After all,
the only thing that can ever stop you from doing or
getting anything is a thought.
ˇ I'd better not try that.
ˇ I don't have a chance to win this one.
ˇ They'd probably turn me down anyway.
ˇ I can't see it working.
ˇ I doubt she'd go out with me.
ˇ What if I call him and he says no.
I could list thousands of these tension building and
confidence destroying instructions. Many of us wash
these types of negative instructions through our brains
every day. It's no wonder we are afraid to try new things.
We always lose when we expect to. Which is why we did.
It's self-fulfilling. Expect failure and get failure.
Which in turn breeds more expectation of failure.
If you want to change your situation and the results
you are currently getting - you first have to change
your beliefs. This means changing your mental
conditioning to get the results you want.
If you set yourself up to expect success you will achieve
more success - and so breeding more expectations
of success.
It starts by telling ourselves that we can do it.
It is about making things work rather than focusing
on what we can't do and telling ourselves we can't.
The basic concept is really that simple, but extremely
powerful.
Not all your results will change instantly, but some
will. I mean, it's not like a million dollars is going
to appear out of thin air. But, if you really do want
a million dollars, you can have it. However, firstly
you have to believe that it is possible.
It is a bit like a farmer planting seeds; he doesn't
expect the crop to pop out of the ground the instant
he waters it. He expects to nurture it and work at
making his crop a reality. Nor does a woman who
conceives a baby expect it to be born immediately
(thank goodness for that), without some sacrifice
or effort.
The point I'm making is that you have complete control
over your results (baring unforeseen natural disasters).
You have complete control over your future and you have
complete control over your mind.
Another thing I have discovered from my years in
business; is that in order have complete control
over your mind, you first have to take full
responsibility for the results you get in life.
When something happens to you, take full responsibility.
The problem is this. It is easy to blame any and
everyone, or everything else for our plight in life.
It's circumstances beyond my control. Oh Really?
It's the government's fault. Oh Really??
The economy is to blame. Oh Really???
It's the boss's fault. Oh Really????
It's everyone else's fault. Oh Really?????
Don't depend on events outside of you to provide the
happiness in your life. Get over blaming the world
around you. Get over guilt. Get over resentment.
Concentrate on getting your act together.
Take control and take full responsibility.
THINK BETTER! ...ACT BETTER! ...FEEL BETTER!
Every day is a new day. Don't let the past control the
future. Forgive others and forgive yourself for whatever
may have happened in the past. Get over it... it's done
with... let go. Think about the present and focus on the
future.
Tomorrow is the first day of the rest of your life.
You are in control. You are responsible.
Most likely, it is your present beliefs that may be
causing you to doubt your own abilities. After all,
the only thing that can ever stop you from doing or
getting anything is a thought.
ˇ I'd better not try that.
ˇ I don't have a chance to win this one.
ˇ They'd probably turn me down anyway.
ˇ I can't see it working.
ˇ I doubt she'd go out with me.
ˇ What if I call him and he says no.
I could list thousands of these tension building and
confidence destroying instructions. Many of us wash
these types of negative instructions through our brains
every day. It's no wonder we are afraid to try new things.
We always lose when we expect to. Which is why we did.
It's self-fulfilling. Expect failure and get failure.
Which in turn breeds more expectation of failure.
If you want to change your situation and the results
you are currently getting - you first have to change
your beliefs. This means changing your mental
conditioning to get the results you want.
If you set yourself up to expect success you will achieve
more success - and so breeding more expectations
of success.
It starts by telling ourselves that we can do it.
It is about making things work rather than focusing
on what we can't do and telling ourselves we can't.
The basic concept is really that simple, but extremely
powerful.
Not all your results will change instantly, but some
will. I mean, it's not like a million dollars is going
to appear out of thin air. But, if you really do want
a million dollars, you can have it. However, firstly
you have to believe that it is possible.
It is a bit like a farmer planting seeds; he doesn't
expect the crop to pop out of the ground the instant
he waters it. He expects to nurture it and work at
making his crop a reality. Nor does a woman who
conceives a baby expect it to be born immediately
(thank goodness for that), without some sacrifice
or effort.
The point I'm making is that you have complete control
over your results (baring unforeseen natural disasters).
You have complete control over your future and you have
complete control over your mind.
Another thing I have discovered from my years in
business; is that in order have complete control
over your mind, you first have to take full
responsibility for the results you get in life.
When something happens to you, take full responsibility.
The problem is this. It is easy to blame any and
everyone, or everything else for our plight in life.
It's circumstances beyond my control. Oh Really?
It's the government's fault. Oh Really??
The economy is to blame. Oh Really???
It's the boss's fault. Oh Really????
It's everyone else's fault. Oh Really?????
Don't depend on events outside of you to provide the
happiness in your life. Get over blaming the world
around you. Get over guilt. Get over resentment.
Concentrate on getting your act together.
Take control and take full responsibility.
THINK BETTER! ...ACT BETTER! ...FEEL BETTER!
Every day is a new day. Don't let the past control the
future. Forgive others and forgive yourself for whatever
may have happened in the past. Get over it... it's done
with... let go. Think about the present and focus on the
future.
Tomorrow is the first day of the rest of your life.
You are in control. You are responsible.
Saturday, July 28, 2007
Develop a Prosperity Consciousness
The starting point of all riches is the development of a prosperity consciousness. You must become a financial success in your thinking long before you achieve it in your reality. Both poverty and riches are the result of a state of mind, and the most important single step you ever take on the road to wealth and financial independence is the decision to change your thinking, to impress into your mind an unshakable belief that you can and will achieve your financial goals. This must happen before anything else happens.
When I was growing up, I was fascinated by stories of successful men and women and how they made and lost their fortunes, and then made them over again. I read about the importance of a prosperity consciousness in the book, Think And Grow Rich, by Napoleon Hill, several times. But I never fully understood what it meant until about five years ago. Then it hit me and I've never been quite the same since. Every aspect of my life has improved dramatically, especially in the area of accumulating wealth, since I finally understood what it meant by a prosperity consciousness.
Here are two of the most exciting principles ever discovered in the long search by mankind for the secrets of health, happiness and great personal wealth.
The first principle is this. All causation is mental.
All causation is mental. That means that everything that you are or ever will be will be as a result of how you use your mind. You are merely a mind with a body to carry it around with. The entire man made world that you see is simply an expression of thought. Your entire life is an expression of your own thinking. And since the quality of your thinking determines the quality of your life, if you improve the quality of your thinking, you must, you will, inevitably improve the quality of your life.
The second principle is what we call the law of expectations.
This law says that whatever you expect with confidence, positive or negative, becomes your reality. If you confidently expect to succeed, if you confidently expect to learn something from every experience, if you confidently expect to become wealthy as a result of applying your talents and abilities to your opportunities and you maintain that attitude of confident expectations long enough, it will become your reality. It will give you a positive optimistic cheerful attitude that will cause people to want to help you, and will cause things to happen the way you want them to happen.
Here are two things you can do immediately to practice these principles in your day to day life:
First Step
Start thinking today in a positive, optimistic, confident way about personal and financial success. Continually imagine what differences it would make in your life if you were financially independent. This is the starting point of developing a prosperity consciousness.
Second Step
Develop your own attitude of positive expectations. Look for the good in every situation. Look for the valuable lesson in every setback or difficulty. Be positive and cheerful about everything that happens and you will be amazed at the difference it makes in your life.
When I was growing up, I was fascinated by stories of successful men and women and how they made and lost their fortunes, and then made them over again. I read about the importance of a prosperity consciousness in the book, Think And Grow Rich, by Napoleon Hill, several times. But I never fully understood what it meant until about five years ago. Then it hit me and I've never been quite the same since. Every aspect of my life has improved dramatically, especially in the area of accumulating wealth, since I finally understood what it meant by a prosperity consciousness.
Here are two of the most exciting principles ever discovered in the long search by mankind for the secrets of health, happiness and great personal wealth.
The first principle is this. All causation is mental.
All causation is mental. That means that everything that you are or ever will be will be as a result of how you use your mind. You are merely a mind with a body to carry it around with. The entire man made world that you see is simply an expression of thought. Your entire life is an expression of your own thinking. And since the quality of your thinking determines the quality of your life, if you improve the quality of your thinking, you must, you will, inevitably improve the quality of your life.
The second principle is what we call the law of expectations.
This law says that whatever you expect with confidence, positive or negative, becomes your reality. If you confidently expect to succeed, if you confidently expect to learn something from every experience, if you confidently expect to become wealthy as a result of applying your talents and abilities to your opportunities and you maintain that attitude of confident expectations long enough, it will become your reality. It will give you a positive optimistic cheerful attitude that will cause people to want to help you, and will cause things to happen the way you want them to happen.
Here are two things you can do immediately to practice these principles in your day to day life:
First Step
Start thinking today in a positive, optimistic, confident way about personal and financial success. Continually imagine what differences it would make in your life if you were financially independent. This is the starting point of developing a prosperity consciousness.
Second Step
Develop your own attitude of positive expectations. Look for the good in every situation. Look for the valuable lesson in every setback or difficulty. Be positive and cheerful about everything that happens and you will be amazed at the difference it makes in your life.
The Parable of Talents
The Parable of the Talents is the primary reason for wealth or poverty throughout history.
Reasons for Rich or Poor
Why do some people retire rich and most people retire poor? This subject has fascinated philosophers, thinkers, mystics and teachers throughout the ages. There have been so many cases of hundreds or thousands and even millions of men and women who have started with nothing and become financially independent that people are naturally curious to know why it happened and what are the common rules or principles that others can apply to become wealthy as well.
Why People Become Rich
One illustration of this key principle is called the parable of the talents. In the Bible, it says, "To him that hath, shall more be given, and he shall have abundance. But from him that hath not, even that which he hath shall be taken away."
Accumulation Leads to More Accumulation
What does it mean? In the modern world, we say "the rich get richer and the poor get poorer." The fact is that people who accumulate money tend to accumulate more and more. People who don't accumulate money seem to lose even that little bit of money which they have. Why should this happen? The great success principle, the single idea that explains human destiny is simple. It says that, "you become what you think about, most of the time."
Control Your Thoughts
And whatever you dwell upon, grows in your reality. You create your entire world by the things you choose to think about and how you choose to think about them.
It just so happens that wealthy, successful people fill their minds with thoughts, words, pictures and images of wealth, affluence, success, productivity and solutions to problems in the marketplace, most of the time. These thoughts trigger the reticular activating cortex, the part of the brain that makes you more alert and sensitive to things that you have decided are important to you.
Activate Your Reticular Cortex
For example, if you decide to invest in a mutual fund, you will start to see news and information about mutual funds everywhere. Mentions in newspapers and magazines will jump out at you. These notices have always been there but now you have sensitized your brain to pick them up and draw them to your attention with far greater frequency and vividness. This is the function and power of your reticular cortex.
Avoid Poverty Thinking
On the other hand, what do poor people think about most of the time? Unfortunately, poor people fill their minds with thoughts of scarcity, lack, poverty, being unable to afford things. They are always thinking and talking about how little money they have, how much things cost and how they wish things could be better financially. What they think about most of the time is how little money they have.
Think Like Wealthy People Think
Wealthy people from an early age think about how much they have, how much they want and all the different things they can do to acquire and earn the money and things they desire.
Find Out How Rich People Think
Here's a rule for you. If you want to become successful, find out what failures do and don't do it. If you want to be wealthy, find out what poor people think about, and avoid thinking in those ways. Instead, find out how wealthy people think. Find out what they read. Find out how they spend their time. Study their lives, read their stories and autobiographies and listen to their words when they are interviewed and on tape. The more you find out what financially successful people think and talk about most of the time, and do the same things, the more rapidly you will enjoy the same rewards that they do.
Action Exercises
Here are two things you can do to put this parable of the talents into action:
First, make a decision today that from now on you will think and talk only about the financial success that you desire. At the same time, you will refuse to talk about or dwell upon your financial problems.
Second, instead of saying, "I can't afford it," instead ask the question, "How can I afford it?" When you think of something that you want or need that you don't have the money for at the time, the only question you ask is, "How?" How can you get it? What can you do to achieve it? What are your options? How can you get from where you are to where you want to go? This type of attitude will change your life.
Reasons for Rich or Poor
Why do some people retire rich and most people retire poor? This subject has fascinated philosophers, thinkers, mystics and teachers throughout the ages. There have been so many cases of hundreds or thousands and even millions of men and women who have started with nothing and become financially independent that people are naturally curious to know why it happened and what are the common rules or principles that others can apply to become wealthy as well.
Why People Become Rich
One illustration of this key principle is called the parable of the talents. In the Bible, it says, "To him that hath, shall more be given, and he shall have abundance. But from him that hath not, even that which he hath shall be taken away."
Accumulation Leads to More Accumulation
What does it mean? In the modern world, we say "the rich get richer and the poor get poorer." The fact is that people who accumulate money tend to accumulate more and more. People who don't accumulate money seem to lose even that little bit of money which they have. Why should this happen? The great success principle, the single idea that explains human destiny is simple. It says that, "you become what you think about, most of the time."
Control Your Thoughts
And whatever you dwell upon, grows in your reality. You create your entire world by the things you choose to think about and how you choose to think about them.
It just so happens that wealthy, successful people fill their minds with thoughts, words, pictures and images of wealth, affluence, success, productivity and solutions to problems in the marketplace, most of the time. These thoughts trigger the reticular activating cortex, the part of the brain that makes you more alert and sensitive to things that you have decided are important to you.
Activate Your Reticular Cortex
For example, if you decide to invest in a mutual fund, you will start to see news and information about mutual funds everywhere. Mentions in newspapers and magazines will jump out at you. These notices have always been there but now you have sensitized your brain to pick them up and draw them to your attention with far greater frequency and vividness. This is the function and power of your reticular cortex.
Avoid Poverty Thinking
On the other hand, what do poor people think about most of the time? Unfortunately, poor people fill their minds with thoughts of scarcity, lack, poverty, being unable to afford things. They are always thinking and talking about how little money they have, how much things cost and how they wish things could be better financially. What they think about most of the time is how little money they have.
Think Like Wealthy People Think
Wealthy people from an early age think about how much they have, how much they want and all the different things they can do to acquire and earn the money and things they desire.
Find Out How Rich People Think
Here's a rule for you. If you want to become successful, find out what failures do and don't do it. If you want to be wealthy, find out what poor people think about, and avoid thinking in those ways. Instead, find out how wealthy people think. Find out what they read. Find out how they spend their time. Study their lives, read their stories and autobiographies and listen to their words when they are interviewed and on tape. The more you find out what financially successful people think and talk about most of the time, and do the same things, the more rapidly you will enjoy the same rewards that they do.
Action Exercises
Here are two things you can do to put this parable of the talents into action:
First, make a decision today that from now on you will think and talk only about the financial success that you desire. At the same time, you will refuse to talk about or dwell upon your financial problems.
Second, instead of saying, "I can't afford it," instead ask the question, "How can I afford it?" When you think of something that you want or need that you don't have the money for at the time, the only question you ask is, "How?" How can you get it? What can you do to achieve it? What are your options? How can you get from where you are to where you want to go? This type of attitude will change your life.
Thursday, July 26, 2007
Are YOU Your Own Leader?
Perhaps you are wondering: what does it mean being my own leader? Well, among the aspects of being your own leader are that you are your own authority, you think independently, you live your life on your own terms, and you are authentic. And this regardless of whether it is popular or not, regardless of whether it is cool or not, regardless of whether it is trendy or not, regardless of whether it is common or not, regardless of whether your friends, family and peers think in the same way or not.
If you are your own leader you will find the inner freedom to be who you really are, and you will begin to know what your power is.
Sometimes we forget that on this planet we are more than 6 billion people, and that there has never been, there is not and there never will be another you. You are totally unique in your qualities, characteristics, likes and wants. You have a magnificent mind, a mind that would enable you to be, have and do anything you truly want in your heart of hearts.
But some people are so afraid of what other people think that they do not use their magnificent mind, they do not use their power. They are afraid to be unpopular, to be alone, not to be liked, not to be accepted for who they are, and they compromise their identity, their own unique magnificence, in order to be someone they are not.
And so they do things they later regret, they say things they later regret, they behave in ways that are not true to themselves; and later in life they realize that actually they have betrayed themselves in doing that. And the reason why they do this is simply because they do not like themselves enough to refuse to compromise on who they really are.
So, do you like yourself? And I am not speaking about superficial vanity, but about love. Do you cherish the most important person in your life; yourself? Do you cherish yourself enough to be who you really are, to stand up for who you really are, to treat yourself with kindness, to brush yourself off every time you fall, to keep going even when it is tough and it seems that you are alone?
If you are your own leader you decide what you believe in, you decide what is right for you, what feels right for you, you decide your values, your code of conduct, your ethics, and your morals; you decide what you think about things; you think with your head and think critically about all that is offered. You do not believe blindly everything you hear or see, but you carefully evaluate them, you choose what you believe in; you choose your thoughts, you choose what you say, you choose your life. You decide what you are going to do in your life, what you are going to create in your life. And your values, your choices, and your thinking will be the foundations of your life.
And there is nothing that you "should" do, have or be; you choose everything. You are your own authority. And this means taking the risk of being alone, of not being liked, of not being popular, of being rejected, but with the enormous treasure of being true to yourself.
And the funny thing is that when you are true to yourself, and it seems that you are unpopular, the truth is that people will actually like you more, because you are authentic, because you are doing something that they wish they could do themselves, and you are also showing them courage and the possibility that they could be able to be themselves as well.
Sometimes it might seem easier to follow rather than to lead yourself, less effort, but this is just at the beginning, and once you learn to be your own leader, everything is effortless. There is a quote that sums it up wonderfully:
"If we value independence, if we are disturbed by the growing conformity of knowledge, of values, of attitudes, which our present system induces, then we may wish to set up conditions of learning which make for uniqueness, for self-direction, and for self-initiated learning." --Carl Rogers
So, what are you going to choose?
If you are your own leader you will find the inner freedom to be who you really are, and you will begin to know what your power is.
Sometimes we forget that on this planet we are more than 6 billion people, and that there has never been, there is not and there never will be another you. You are totally unique in your qualities, characteristics, likes and wants. You have a magnificent mind, a mind that would enable you to be, have and do anything you truly want in your heart of hearts.
But some people are so afraid of what other people think that they do not use their magnificent mind, they do not use their power. They are afraid to be unpopular, to be alone, not to be liked, not to be accepted for who they are, and they compromise their identity, their own unique magnificence, in order to be someone they are not.
And so they do things they later regret, they say things they later regret, they behave in ways that are not true to themselves; and later in life they realize that actually they have betrayed themselves in doing that. And the reason why they do this is simply because they do not like themselves enough to refuse to compromise on who they really are.
So, do you like yourself? And I am not speaking about superficial vanity, but about love. Do you cherish the most important person in your life; yourself? Do you cherish yourself enough to be who you really are, to stand up for who you really are, to treat yourself with kindness, to brush yourself off every time you fall, to keep going even when it is tough and it seems that you are alone?
If you are your own leader you decide what you believe in, you decide what is right for you, what feels right for you, you decide your values, your code of conduct, your ethics, and your morals; you decide what you think about things; you think with your head and think critically about all that is offered. You do not believe blindly everything you hear or see, but you carefully evaluate them, you choose what you believe in; you choose your thoughts, you choose what you say, you choose your life. You decide what you are going to do in your life, what you are going to create in your life. And your values, your choices, and your thinking will be the foundations of your life.
And there is nothing that you "should" do, have or be; you choose everything. You are your own authority. And this means taking the risk of being alone, of not being liked, of not being popular, of being rejected, but with the enormous treasure of being true to yourself.
And the funny thing is that when you are true to yourself, and it seems that you are unpopular, the truth is that people will actually like you more, because you are authentic, because you are doing something that they wish they could do themselves, and you are also showing them courage and the possibility that they could be able to be themselves as well.
Sometimes it might seem easier to follow rather than to lead yourself, less effort, but this is just at the beginning, and once you learn to be your own leader, everything is effortless. There is a quote that sums it up wonderfully:
"If we value independence, if we are disturbed by the growing conformity of knowledge, of values, of attitudes, which our present system induces, then we may wish to set up conditions of learning which make for uniqueness, for self-direction, and for self-initiated learning." --Carl Rogers
So, what are you going to choose?
Tips To Develop Greater Self Confidence
Self-confidence is so important to maintaining good mental health. In this article, you'll discover 7 simple but effective techniques to boost your confidence levels and heighten self esteem.
Each week, work out exactly what you want to accomplish and set goals. This will bring structure to your week and you'll have clarity and purpose about what your life is about. Include work, family, social and personal aspects and each time you achieve a goal, give yourself a little reward. The feeling of accomplishment will increase your confidence significantly.
Give yourself a makeover. Knowing that you look good will make you feel good and this will increase confidence. So change your appearance - hairstyle, clothes you wear, colors you wear. Get more ideas from an image consultant, you'll find them in yellow pages. Perhaps your makeover could also involve a healthier lifestyle so you look even better?
Dump the past. Whatever has happened previously has gone forever. Today you can dump the past and start afresh. You can shape whatever happens from now on and create a new, confident you. Forget the past and begin taking action to build a brighter future. And just because things have been a certain way till now, it doesn't mean they always have to be this way. You can change, you can be confident. It's up to you.
Drop self-deprecation. If you repeatedly put yourself down it will knock confidence right out of you. Criticizing your looks, your body shape, your hair, your abilities and your personality is harmful. If you do this everyday, confidence will be non-existent. You wouldn't think this is a decent way to treat others so make it totally unacceptable for you to treat yourself this way. Be kind to yourself, respect yourself and never ever beat yourself up.
Frequently remind yourself of all of the good things you have done. If you remind yourself of all the mistakes you've made, your confidence levels will remain grounded. Learn from your mistakes and move on. Reminding yourself of the good things you have done builds self-esteem. Why beat yourself up when you can praise yourself instead?
Be aware of what you allow your mind to be exposed to. The media continually bombard you with image manipulation and tales of corruption, wars, crime, disasters and impending doom. This can give you a negative perspective on life. Reduce the amount of TV you watch and do something more beneficial instead. Read a book, workout, learn a new skill - whatever you want. This will replace a negative stream with a positive one, and will boost your confidence.
Mix with confident, positive people. Negative people erode confidence like rust upon metal. Who you spend your time with influences how you are. It can be hard to drop negative people but be strong and find a better quality of company. The more time you spend with confident people the more confident you'll become. Confidence breeds confidence.
That's 7 great ways for you to boost your confidence that you can use immediately and I urge you to try them all.
Each week, work out exactly what you want to accomplish and set goals. This will bring structure to your week and you'll have clarity and purpose about what your life is about. Include work, family, social and personal aspects and each time you achieve a goal, give yourself a little reward. The feeling of accomplishment will increase your confidence significantly.
Give yourself a makeover. Knowing that you look good will make you feel good and this will increase confidence. So change your appearance - hairstyle, clothes you wear, colors you wear. Get more ideas from an image consultant, you'll find them in yellow pages. Perhaps your makeover could also involve a healthier lifestyle so you look even better?
Dump the past. Whatever has happened previously has gone forever. Today you can dump the past and start afresh. You can shape whatever happens from now on and create a new, confident you. Forget the past and begin taking action to build a brighter future. And just because things have been a certain way till now, it doesn't mean they always have to be this way. You can change, you can be confident. It's up to you.
Drop self-deprecation. If you repeatedly put yourself down it will knock confidence right out of you. Criticizing your looks, your body shape, your hair, your abilities and your personality is harmful. If you do this everyday, confidence will be non-existent. You wouldn't think this is a decent way to treat others so make it totally unacceptable for you to treat yourself this way. Be kind to yourself, respect yourself and never ever beat yourself up.
Frequently remind yourself of all of the good things you have done. If you remind yourself of all the mistakes you've made, your confidence levels will remain grounded. Learn from your mistakes and move on. Reminding yourself of the good things you have done builds self-esteem. Why beat yourself up when you can praise yourself instead?
Be aware of what you allow your mind to be exposed to. The media continually bombard you with image manipulation and tales of corruption, wars, crime, disasters and impending doom. This can give you a negative perspective on life. Reduce the amount of TV you watch and do something more beneficial instead. Read a book, workout, learn a new skill - whatever you want. This will replace a negative stream with a positive one, and will boost your confidence.
Mix with confident, positive people. Negative people erode confidence like rust upon metal. Who you spend your time with influences how you are. It can be hard to drop negative people but be strong and find a better quality of company. The more time you spend with confident people the more confident you'll become. Confidence breeds confidence.
That's 7 great ways for you to boost your confidence that you can use immediately and I urge you to try them all.
5 Lessons For Manifesting Wealth
I don't have to tell you that household debt is at a record high. Personal bankruptcies have doubled in the last decade. Never before in history have people had so much stuff and so little freedom.
"Too many people spend money they haven't earned, to buy things they don't want, to impress people they don't like." —Will Smith
What is the key to being wealthy? Studies show that wealth has nothing to do with luck, education or intelligence. It is a simple fact that wealthy people understand the principles of accumulating wealth—and how to put them into effect.
Understand that money is, by itself, not the goal. If you are only after money, you are missing the point. Money, in and of itself, is a form of energy. Energy is only either bad or good in context—it all depends on particular circumstances and attitudes of the person who is working with this form of energy.
We get only a limited perspective of wealth from our current media, which focus on hyping the sensational aspects of every story rather than on presenting a balanced account of the facts. Most media struggle to meet their news quotas and have therefore lost complete sight of their role in this process.
If you follow the 5 lessons below, your life will change and you will become wealthy. These lessons are very simple; however, they require your commitment and a change in how you presently deal with money. It requires a change in your current model of thought.
Lesson 1: Decide To Be Wealthy
Make a decision today to be wealthy. Write down this goal, and either pin it on your board or carry the paper with you at all times. Take a look at your goal every day: "Today I decide to be wealthy." Your conscious decision to make a choice is the beginning of all your journeys. The moment you make a decision your consciousness will automatically start working on the solution to create that reality.
Lesson 2: Take Responsibility For Your Money
If you don't control your money, your money will control you! Controlling your money simply means that you need to know how much money you have, where you spend it and where it comes from. Take a piece of paper and write these three items down as precisely as possible. Make this list as detailed as you can. Get a feeling of what your money is doing. The entire point of this exercise is to make your money work for you (you control your money) - and not the opposite (your money controls you).
Lesson 3: Keep A Portion of Everything You Earn
Wealthy people pay themselves first, and then pay the bills! From time to time you hear stories about celebrities going bankrupt or having to wait tables. What happened? They obviously never saved a portion of their income and put it aside. If they had, they would still be wealthy.
Take at least 10% of your income every month and put it aside. Never ever touch this money for anything other than for investment purposed to make this money work for you. Don't kill the goose that lays the golden eggs.
Lesson 4: Win In The Margins
Always strive to improve your income and watch your costs. Reduce the money you spend. Do you really need that electric sock dispenser? Drive a more economical car and move into a smaller house with less expensive rent or mortgage. Replace the common belief that consuming for its own sake is a necessary part of your life, with something that is more balanced. Accumulating possessions will not make you happy! More stuff only reduces your free attention, and you'll have less attention left to focus on building your wealth.
Lesson 5: Give Back
Would you like to live in a society where everybody has more than enough, where everybody is mostly focused on helping and supporting others? I bet you do. If everybody focuses only on themselves, our society would soon starve to death and be split into winners and losers. If everybody focuses on giving back and on contributing to a better society, we would all have more than enough happiness. Peace and abundance would be the common ground.
Understand that we are not truly separate from one another; we all depend on each other. The very things we all need the most - like fresh air, healthy food and loving hearts - are the things we most depend on others to create for themselves and for others. The more we understand that this is a cooperative process and not an individual, separate one, the more we will reap the benefits from it.
Sharing your wealth and time is love made visible.
"Too many people spend money they haven't earned, to buy things they don't want, to impress people they don't like." —Will Smith
What is the key to being wealthy? Studies show that wealth has nothing to do with luck, education or intelligence. It is a simple fact that wealthy people understand the principles of accumulating wealth—and how to put them into effect.
Understand that money is, by itself, not the goal. If you are only after money, you are missing the point. Money, in and of itself, is a form of energy. Energy is only either bad or good in context—it all depends on particular circumstances and attitudes of the person who is working with this form of energy.
We get only a limited perspective of wealth from our current media, which focus on hyping the sensational aspects of every story rather than on presenting a balanced account of the facts. Most media struggle to meet their news quotas and have therefore lost complete sight of their role in this process.
If you follow the 5 lessons below, your life will change and you will become wealthy. These lessons are very simple; however, they require your commitment and a change in how you presently deal with money. It requires a change in your current model of thought.
Lesson 1: Decide To Be Wealthy
Make a decision today to be wealthy. Write down this goal, and either pin it on your board or carry the paper with you at all times. Take a look at your goal every day: "Today I decide to be wealthy." Your conscious decision to make a choice is the beginning of all your journeys. The moment you make a decision your consciousness will automatically start working on the solution to create that reality.
Lesson 2: Take Responsibility For Your Money
If you don't control your money, your money will control you! Controlling your money simply means that you need to know how much money you have, where you spend it and where it comes from. Take a piece of paper and write these three items down as precisely as possible. Make this list as detailed as you can. Get a feeling of what your money is doing. The entire point of this exercise is to make your money work for you (you control your money) - and not the opposite (your money controls you).
Lesson 3: Keep A Portion of Everything You Earn
Wealthy people pay themselves first, and then pay the bills! From time to time you hear stories about celebrities going bankrupt or having to wait tables. What happened? They obviously never saved a portion of their income and put it aside. If they had, they would still be wealthy.
Take at least 10% of your income every month and put it aside. Never ever touch this money for anything other than for investment purposed to make this money work for you. Don't kill the goose that lays the golden eggs.
Lesson 4: Win In The Margins
Always strive to improve your income and watch your costs. Reduce the money you spend. Do you really need that electric sock dispenser? Drive a more economical car and move into a smaller house with less expensive rent or mortgage. Replace the common belief that consuming for its own sake is a necessary part of your life, with something that is more balanced. Accumulating possessions will not make you happy! More stuff only reduces your free attention, and you'll have less attention left to focus on building your wealth.
Lesson 5: Give Back
Would you like to live in a society where everybody has more than enough, where everybody is mostly focused on helping and supporting others? I bet you do. If everybody focuses only on themselves, our society would soon starve to death and be split into winners and losers. If everybody focuses on giving back and on contributing to a better society, we would all have more than enough happiness. Peace and abundance would be the common ground.
Understand that we are not truly separate from one another; we all depend on each other. The very things we all need the most - like fresh air, healthy food and loving hearts - are the things we most depend on others to create for themselves and for others. The more we understand that this is a cooperative process and not an individual, separate one, the more we will reap the benefits from it.
Sharing your wealth and time is love made visible.
Keys to Financial Success
Keys to Financial Success
Although making resolutions to improve your financial situation is a good thing to do at any time of year, many people find it easier at the beginning of a new year. Regardless of when you begin, the basics remain the same. Here are my top ten keys to getting ahead financially.
1. Get Paid What You're Worth and Spend Less Than You Earn
It sounds simplistic, but many people struggle with this first basic rule. Make sure you know what your job is worth in the marketplace, by conducting an evaluation of your skills, productivity, job tasks, contribution to the company, and the going rate, both inside and outside the company, for what you do. Being underpaid even a thousand dollars a year can have a significant cumulative effect over the course of your working life.
No matter how much or how little you're paid, you'll never get ahead if you spend more than you earn. Often it's easier to spend less than it is to earn more, and a little cost-cutting effort in a number of areas can result in big savings. It doesn't always have to involve making big sacrifices.
2. Stick to a Budget
One of my favorite subjects: budgeting. It's not a four-letter word. How can you know where your money is going if you don't budget? How can you set spending and saving goals if you don't know where your money is going? You need a budget whether you make thousands or hundreds of thousands of dollars a year.
3. Pay Off Credit Card Debt
Credit card debt is the number one obstacle to getting ahead financially. Those little pieces of plastic are so easy to use, and it's so easy to forget that it's real money we're dealing with when we whip them out to pay for a purchase, large or small. Despite our good resolves to pay the balance off quickly, the reality is that we often don't, and end up paying far more for things than we would have paid if we had used cash.
4. Contribute to a Retirement Plan
If your employer has a 401(k) plan and you don't contribute to it, you're walking away from one of the best deals out there. Ask your employer if they have a 401(k) plan (or similar plan), and sign up today. If you're already contributing, try to increase your contribution. If your employer doesn't offer a retirement plan, consider an IRA.
5. Have a Savings Plan
You've heard it before: Pay yourself first! If you wait until you've met all your other financial obligations before seeing what's left over for saving, chances are you'll never have a healthy savings account or investments. Resolve to set aside a minimum of 5% to 10% of your salary for savings BEFORE you start paying your bills. Better yet, have money automatically deducted from your paycheck and deposited into a separate account.
6. Invest!
If you're contributing to a retirement plan and a savings account and you can still manage to put some money into other investments, all the better.
7. Maximize Your Employment Benefits
Employment benefits like a 401(k) plan, flexible spending accounts, medical and dental insurance, etc., are worth big bucks. Make sure you're maximizing yours and taking advantage of the ones that can save you money by reducing taxes or out-of-pocket expenses.
8. Review Your Insurance Coverages
Too many people are talked into paying too much for life and disability insurance, whether it's by adding these coverages to car loans, buying whole-life insurance policies when term-life makes more sense, or buying life insurance when you have no dependents. On the other hand, it's important that you have enough insurance to protect your dependents and your income in the case of death or disability.
9. Update Your Will
70% of Americans don't have a will. If you have dependents, no matter how little or how much you own, you need a will. If your situation isn't too complicated you can even do your own with software like WillMaker from Nolo Press. Protect your loved ones. Write a will.
10. Keep Good Records
If you don't keep good records, you're probably not claiming all your allowable income tax deductions and credits. Set up a system now and use it all year. It's much easier than scrambling to find everything at tax time, only to miss items that might have saved you money.
Reality Check
How are you doing on the top ten list? If you're not doing at least six of the ten, resolve to make improvements. Choose one area at a time and set a goal for incorporating all ten into your lifestyle.
Although making resolutions to improve your financial situation is a good thing to do at any time of year, many people find it easier at the beginning of a new year. Regardless of when you begin, the basics remain the same. Here are my top ten keys to getting ahead financially.
1. Get Paid What You're Worth and Spend Less Than You Earn
It sounds simplistic, but many people struggle with this first basic rule. Make sure you know what your job is worth in the marketplace, by conducting an evaluation of your skills, productivity, job tasks, contribution to the company, and the going rate, both inside and outside the company, for what you do. Being underpaid even a thousand dollars a year can have a significant cumulative effect over the course of your working life.
No matter how much or how little you're paid, you'll never get ahead if you spend more than you earn. Often it's easier to spend less than it is to earn more, and a little cost-cutting effort in a number of areas can result in big savings. It doesn't always have to involve making big sacrifices.
2. Stick to a Budget
One of my favorite subjects: budgeting. It's not a four-letter word. How can you know where your money is going if you don't budget? How can you set spending and saving goals if you don't know where your money is going? You need a budget whether you make thousands or hundreds of thousands of dollars a year.
3. Pay Off Credit Card Debt
Credit card debt is the number one obstacle to getting ahead financially. Those little pieces of plastic are so easy to use, and it's so easy to forget that it's real money we're dealing with when we whip them out to pay for a purchase, large or small. Despite our good resolves to pay the balance off quickly, the reality is that we often don't, and end up paying far more for things than we would have paid if we had used cash.
4. Contribute to a Retirement Plan
If your employer has a 401(k) plan and you don't contribute to it, you're walking away from one of the best deals out there. Ask your employer if they have a 401(k) plan (or similar plan), and sign up today. If you're already contributing, try to increase your contribution. If your employer doesn't offer a retirement plan, consider an IRA.
5. Have a Savings Plan
You've heard it before: Pay yourself first! If you wait until you've met all your other financial obligations before seeing what's left over for saving, chances are you'll never have a healthy savings account or investments. Resolve to set aside a minimum of 5% to 10% of your salary for savings BEFORE you start paying your bills. Better yet, have money automatically deducted from your paycheck and deposited into a separate account.
6. Invest!
If you're contributing to a retirement plan and a savings account and you can still manage to put some money into other investments, all the better.
7. Maximize Your Employment Benefits
Employment benefits like a 401(k) plan, flexible spending accounts, medical and dental insurance, etc., are worth big bucks. Make sure you're maximizing yours and taking advantage of the ones that can save you money by reducing taxes or out-of-pocket expenses.
8. Review Your Insurance Coverages
Too many people are talked into paying too much for life and disability insurance, whether it's by adding these coverages to car loans, buying whole-life insurance policies when term-life makes more sense, or buying life insurance when you have no dependents. On the other hand, it's important that you have enough insurance to protect your dependents and your income in the case of death or disability.
9. Update Your Will
70% of Americans don't have a will. If you have dependents, no matter how little or how much you own, you need a will. If your situation isn't too complicated you can even do your own with software like WillMaker from Nolo Press. Protect your loved ones. Write a will.
10. Keep Good Records
If you don't keep good records, you're probably not claiming all your allowable income tax deductions and credits. Set up a system now and use it all year. It's much easier than scrambling to find everything at tax time, only to miss items that might have saved you money.
Reality Check
How are you doing on the top ten list? If you're not doing at least six of the ten, resolve to make improvements. Choose one area at a time and set a goal for incorporating all ten into your lifestyle.
Tuesday, July 24, 2007
Managing Your Time
Perhaps the greatest single problem that people have today is “time poverty.” Working people have too much to do and too little time for their personal lives. Most people feel overwhelmed with responsibilities and activities, and the harder they work, the further behind they feel. This sense of being on a never-ending treadmill can cause you to fall into the reactive/responsive mode of living. Instead of clearly deciding what you want to do, you continually react to what is happening around you. Pretty soon you lose all sense of control. You feel that your life is running you, rather than you running your life.
On a regular basis, you have to stand back and take stock of yourself and what you’re doing. You have to stop the clock and do some serious thinking about who you are and where you are going. You have to evaluate your activities in the light of what is really important to you. You must master your time rather than becoming a slave to the constant flow of events and demands on your time. And you must organize your life to achieve balance, harmony, and inner peace. Taking action without thinking is the cause of every failure. Your ability to think is the most valuable trait that you possess. If you improve the quality of your thinking, you improve the quality of your life, sometimes immediately.
Time is your most precious resource. It is the most valuable thing you have. It is perishable, it is irreplaceable, and it cannot be saved. It can only be reallocated from activities of lower value to activities of higher value. All work requires time. And time is absolutely essential for the important relationships in your life. The very act of taking a moment to think about your time before you spend it will begin to improve your personal time management immediately.
I used to think that time management was only a business tool, like a calculator or a cellular telephone. It was something that you used so that you could get more done in a shorter period of time and eventually be paid more money. Then I learned that time management is not a peripheral activity or skill. It is the core skill upon which everything else in life depends.
In your work or business life, there are so many demands on your time from other people that very little of your time is yours to use as you choose. However, at home and in your personal life you can exert a tremendous amount of control over how you use your time. And it is in this area that I want to focus.
Personal time management begins with you. It begins with your thinking through what is really important to you in life. And it only makes sense if you organize it around specific things that you want to accomplish. You need to set goals in three major areas of your life. First, you need family and personal goals. These are the reasons why you get up in the morning, why you work hard and upgrade your skills, why you worry about money and sometimes feel frustrated by the demands on your time.
What are your personal and family goals, both tangible and intangible? A tangible family goal could be a bigger house, a better car, a larger television set, a vacation, or anything else that costs money. An intangible goal would be to build a higher quality relationship with your spouse and children, to spend more time with your family going for walks or reading books. Achieving these family and personal goals are the real essence of time management, and its major purpose.
The second area of goals are your business and career goals. These are the “how” goals, the means by which you achieve your personal, “why” goals. How can you achieve the level of income that will enable you to fulfill your family goals? How can you develop the skills and abilities to stay ahead of the curve in your career? Business and career goals are absolutely essential, especially when balanced with family and personal goals.
The third type of goals are your personal development goals. Remember, you can’t achieve much more on the outside than what you have achieved on the inside. Your outer life will be a reflection of your inner life. If you wish to achieve worthwhile things in your personal and your career life, you must become a worthwhile person in your own self-development. You must build yourself if you want to build your life. Perhaps the greatest secret of success is that you can become anything you really want to become to achieve any goal that you really want to achieve. But in order to do it, you must go to work on yourself and never stop.
Once you have a list of your personal and family goals, your business and career goals, and your self-development goals, you can then organize the list by priority. This brings us to the difference between priorities and posteriorities. In order to get your personal time under control, you must decide very clearly upon your priorities. You must decide on the most important things that you could possible be doing to give yourself the same amount of happiness, satisfaction, and joy in life. But at the same time, you must establish posteriorities as well. Just as priorities are things that you do more of and sooner, posteriorities are things that you do less of and later.
The fact is, your calendar is full. You have no spare time. Your time is extremely valuable. Therefore, for you to do anything new, you will have to stop doing something old. In order to get into something, you will have to get out of something else. In order to pick something up, you will have to put something down. Before you make any new commitment of your time, you must firmly decide what activities you are going to discontinue in your personal life. If you want to spend more time with your family, for example, you must decide what activities you currently engage in that are preventing you from doing so.
A principle of time management says that hard time pushes out soft time. This means that hard time, such as working, will push out soft time, such as the time you spend with your family. If you don’t get your work done at the office because you don’t use your time well, you almost invariably have to rob that time from your family. As a result, because your family is important to you, you find yourself in a values conflict. You feel stressed and irritable. You feel a tremendous amount of pressure. You know in your heart that you should be spending more time with the important people in your life, but because you didn’t get your work done, you have to fulfill those responsibilities before you can spend time with your spouse and children.
Think of it this way. Every minute you waste during the waking day is time that your family will ultimately be deprived of. So concentrate on working when you are at work so that you can concentrate on your family when you are at home.
There are three key questions that you can ask yourself continually to keep your personal life in balance. The first question is, “What is really important to me?” Whenever you find yourself with too much to do and too little time, stop and ask yourself, “What is it that is really important for me to do in this situation?” Then, make sure that what you are doing is the answer to that question.
The second question is, “What are my highest value activities?” In your personal life, this means, “What are the things that I do that give me the greatest pleasure and satisfaction? Of all the things that I could be doing at any one time, what are the things that I could do to add the greatest value to my life?”
And the final question for you to ask over and over again is, “What is the most valuable use of my time right now?” Since you can only do one thing at a time, you must constantly organize you life so that you are doing one thing, the most important thing, at every moment. Personal time management enables you to choose what to do first, what to do second, and what not to do at all. It enables you to organize every aspect of your life so that you can get the greatest joy, happiness, and satisfaction out of everything you do.
On a regular basis, you have to stand back and take stock of yourself and what you’re doing. You have to stop the clock and do some serious thinking about who you are and where you are going. You have to evaluate your activities in the light of what is really important to you. You must master your time rather than becoming a slave to the constant flow of events and demands on your time. And you must organize your life to achieve balance, harmony, and inner peace. Taking action without thinking is the cause of every failure. Your ability to think is the most valuable trait that you possess. If you improve the quality of your thinking, you improve the quality of your life, sometimes immediately.
Time is your most precious resource. It is the most valuable thing you have. It is perishable, it is irreplaceable, and it cannot be saved. It can only be reallocated from activities of lower value to activities of higher value. All work requires time. And time is absolutely essential for the important relationships in your life. The very act of taking a moment to think about your time before you spend it will begin to improve your personal time management immediately.
I used to think that time management was only a business tool, like a calculator or a cellular telephone. It was something that you used so that you could get more done in a shorter period of time and eventually be paid more money. Then I learned that time management is not a peripheral activity or skill. It is the core skill upon which everything else in life depends.
In your work or business life, there are so many demands on your time from other people that very little of your time is yours to use as you choose. However, at home and in your personal life you can exert a tremendous amount of control over how you use your time. And it is in this area that I want to focus.
Personal time management begins with you. It begins with your thinking through what is really important to you in life. And it only makes sense if you organize it around specific things that you want to accomplish. You need to set goals in three major areas of your life. First, you need family and personal goals. These are the reasons why you get up in the morning, why you work hard and upgrade your skills, why you worry about money and sometimes feel frustrated by the demands on your time.
What are your personal and family goals, both tangible and intangible? A tangible family goal could be a bigger house, a better car, a larger television set, a vacation, or anything else that costs money. An intangible goal would be to build a higher quality relationship with your spouse and children, to spend more time with your family going for walks or reading books. Achieving these family and personal goals are the real essence of time management, and its major purpose.
The second area of goals are your business and career goals. These are the “how” goals, the means by which you achieve your personal, “why” goals. How can you achieve the level of income that will enable you to fulfill your family goals? How can you develop the skills and abilities to stay ahead of the curve in your career? Business and career goals are absolutely essential, especially when balanced with family and personal goals.
The third type of goals are your personal development goals. Remember, you can’t achieve much more on the outside than what you have achieved on the inside. Your outer life will be a reflection of your inner life. If you wish to achieve worthwhile things in your personal and your career life, you must become a worthwhile person in your own self-development. You must build yourself if you want to build your life. Perhaps the greatest secret of success is that you can become anything you really want to become to achieve any goal that you really want to achieve. But in order to do it, you must go to work on yourself and never stop.
Once you have a list of your personal and family goals, your business and career goals, and your self-development goals, you can then organize the list by priority. This brings us to the difference between priorities and posteriorities. In order to get your personal time under control, you must decide very clearly upon your priorities. You must decide on the most important things that you could possible be doing to give yourself the same amount of happiness, satisfaction, and joy in life. But at the same time, you must establish posteriorities as well. Just as priorities are things that you do more of and sooner, posteriorities are things that you do less of and later.
The fact is, your calendar is full. You have no spare time. Your time is extremely valuable. Therefore, for you to do anything new, you will have to stop doing something old. In order to get into something, you will have to get out of something else. In order to pick something up, you will have to put something down. Before you make any new commitment of your time, you must firmly decide what activities you are going to discontinue in your personal life. If you want to spend more time with your family, for example, you must decide what activities you currently engage in that are preventing you from doing so.
A principle of time management says that hard time pushes out soft time. This means that hard time, such as working, will push out soft time, such as the time you spend with your family. If you don’t get your work done at the office because you don’t use your time well, you almost invariably have to rob that time from your family. As a result, because your family is important to you, you find yourself in a values conflict. You feel stressed and irritable. You feel a tremendous amount of pressure. You know in your heart that you should be spending more time with the important people in your life, but because you didn’t get your work done, you have to fulfill those responsibilities before you can spend time with your spouse and children.
Think of it this way. Every minute you waste during the waking day is time that your family will ultimately be deprived of. So concentrate on working when you are at work so that you can concentrate on your family when you are at home.
There are three key questions that you can ask yourself continually to keep your personal life in balance. The first question is, “What is really important to me?” Whenever you find yourself with too much to do and too little time, stop and ask yourself, “What is it that is really important for me to do in this situation?” Then, make sure that what you are doing is the answer to that question.
The second question is, “What are my highest value activities?” In your personal life, this means, “What are the things that I do that give me the greatest pleasure and satisfaction? Of all the things that I could be doing at any one time, what are the things that I could do to add the greatest value to my life?”
And the final question for you to ask over and over again is, “What is the most valuable use of my time right now?” Since you can only do one thing at a time, you must constantly organize you life so that you are doing one thing, the most important thing, at every moment. Personal time management enables you to choose what to do first, what to do second, and what not to do at all. It enables you to organize every aspect of your life so that you can get the greatest joy, happiness, and satisfaction out of everything you do.
Losing Perspective: The #1 Mistake Senior Executives Make
Losing Perspective: The #1 Mistake Senior Executives Make
Most executives approach the corner office with good intentions: they want to lead effectively, be fair, articulate goals, and motivate their employees to follow them up any hill. But too many get blindsided along the way because they lose perspective. Loss of perspective is one of the greatest landmines you can trip over and one of the most dangerous leadership vulnerabilities.
Here are some important tips for maintaining your perspective about your power, your impact on your employees, the way you are seen by others, and the influence you wield
Sizing Up the Team: Find ways to signal appreciation for your employees’ efforts, like celebrating birthdays and anniversaries. Beware of the two major traps new bosses often fall into: hiring weak staff members, and bringing in a member of the team who doesn’t "fit" with the company’s culture.
Overstepping Boundaries: Don’t make the mistake of choosing a staff member to serve as a confidante. Instead, pull together a personal Board of Directors from outside the company.
The Unanticipated Pitfall: Beware of unpleasant surprises that can come from places where you least expect them: from above.
Avoid Out of Sight Oversight: Since not all of your subordinates may work in the same building as you do, it’s essential that you maintain your perspective about everyone who reports to you. When you manage outside offices, show up on-site unannounced.
One More Look in the Mirror: Be aware of your own biases in dealing with staff. Always remember that the last time you’ll ever hear completely honest and undistorted information about what’s going on in your company is the day before you start arranging those pictures of your family on your new desk.
You have the challenge of creating an environment that invites high morale, low turnover, consistently peak performance, and a reputation for integrity and fairness. Remaining vigilant and learning how to spot potential landmines will help you avoid derailing your career.
Most executives approach the corner office with good intentions: they want to lead effectively, be fair, articulate goals, and motivate their employees to follow them up any hill. But too many get blindsided along the way because they lose perspective. Loss of perspective is one of the greatest landmines you can trip over and one of the most dangerous leadership vulnerabilities.
Here are some important tips for maintaining your perspective about your power, your impact on your employees, the way you are seen by others, and the influence you wield
Sizing Up the Team: Find ways to signal appreciation for your employees’ efforts, like celebrating birthdays and anniversaries. Beware of the two major traps new bosses often fall into: hiring weak staff members, and bringing in a member of the team who doesn’t "fit" with the company’s culture.
Overstepping Boundaries: Don’t make the mistake of choosing a staff member to serve as a confidante. Instead, pull together a personal Board of Directors from outside the company.
The Unanticipated Pitfall: Beware of unpleasant surprises that can come from places where you least expect them: from above.
Avoid Out of Sight Oversight: Since not all of your subordinates may work in the same building as you do, it’s essential that you maintain your perspective about everyone who reports to you. When you manage outside offices, show up on-site unannounced.
One More Look in the Mirror: Be aware of your own biases in dealing with staff. Always remember that the last time you’ll ever hear completely honest and undistorted information about what’s going on in your company is the day before you start arranging those pictures of your family on your new desk.
You have the challenge of creating an environment that invites high morale, low turnover, consistently peak performance, and a reputation for integrity and fairness. Remaining vigilant and learning how to spot potential landmines will help you avoid derailing your career.
Monday, July 23, 2007
Opportunities Are Unlimited
Opportunities Are Unlimited
There have never been so many opportunities to start and build a successful business than there are today.
One Million Every Year
Ambitious individuals like you, with dreams and hopes, are starting new businesses today at a faster rate than ever before. Over one million new enterprises are being launched each year, and the rate is accelerating. The opportunities for finding or developing a new business idea are all around you, and with proper preparation, the possibilities for your success are enormous.
No Better Time Than Today
As many as 80 percent of all the products and services in common use today at home, in business and in organizations large and small, will be obsolete in five years. They'll be replaced by new and better products and services. The rapid development of new technology and the desire of people for new or better or cheaper products or services means that you can start your fortune easier today than at any other time in history.
Avoiding Failure, Assuring Success
However, we know that 80 to 90 percent of new businesses fail in the first three years due to a variety of factors. One of those factors is managerial incompetence. It is an inability to sell the product or an inability to control costs or both. Another major reason for failure is offering the wrong product at the wrong price to the wrong market at the wrong time, or a combination of these. In which case, even the best marketing efforts and cost controls won't help you.
Imagine if you could become a millionaire today!
Your life would be easier and more fun. You could be taking more vacations, and spending the kind of time with your family that you really want.
If you're like me you want financial success, and you want to know the secrets of how all these millionaires made their money.
Determine the Need
The first principle with regard to selecting any new product or service is to determine that it fills a genuine, existing need, that it solves a problem of some kind for the customer, or that it makes the life or work of the customer better in some way. You must be very clear about this.
Sell a Quality Product or Service
The second principle for success with a new product or service is that it must be of good quality at a fair price. And if it is in competition with other similar products or services, it must have what is called a unique selling proposition. It must have some beneficial feature or attraction that makes it different from and superior to its competitors.
Your Area of Uniqueness
We call this its area of uniqueness. And it is central to success in business. No product or service can succeed unless it is somehow unique and superior to any other product or service like it. There is seldom any real opportunity in what is called a "me too" product - one that is just the same as all the others. At the same time, the safest business strategy is to start off with an accepted product that you can improve. In other words, instead of trying to invent a whole new business or industry, start off with something that people are already doing, people are already buying and using, and find some way to improve it.
Action Exercises
Here are two things you can do immediately to put these ideas into action:
First, determine exactly what is different and special about your product or service that will cause people to buy it in competition with similar products or services. Build your entire sales and marketing around this unique selling proposition.
Second, investigate before you invest. Be prepared to look at a variety of different business opportunities until you find one that really excites you before you make a decision to get started.
Discover how to Achieve ALL of your Goals and live the life you've always dre amed of!
If you're like me, you've always wanted to know the secret to unlimited joy, health, money, relationships, love: everything you have ever wanted.
We've both seen people who have gotten everything they've ever wanted... whether it's driving expensive cars, traveling the world or having fanta stic relationships with their family and friends... the question is... how did they get this life style?
It's simple... these people have discovered the techniques that allow them to achieve ALL their goals.
I have compiled these techniques into 1 easy-to-follow program that will teach you how to create your goals, program yourself for success, take action now and have everything you have ever wanted.
By applying these techniques now YOU can be the one driving the expensive car, traveling the world and enjoying phenomenal relationships. YOU can be the one to enjoy this life style.
There have never been so many opportunities to start and build a successful business than there are today.
One Million Every Year
Ambitious individuals like you, with dreams and hopes, are starting new businesses today at a faster rate than ever before. Over one million new enterprises are being launched each year, and the rate is accelerating. The opportunities for finding or developing a new business idea are all around you, and with proper preparation, the possibilities for your success are enormous.
No Better Time Than Today
As many as 80 percent of all the products and services in common use today at home, in business and in organizations large and small, will be obsolete in five years. They'll be replaced by new and better products and services. The rapid development of new technology and the desire of people for new or better or cheaper products or services means that you can start your fortune easier today than at any other time in history.
Avoiding Failure, Assuring Success
However, we know that 80 to 90 percent of new businesses fail in the first three years due to a variety of factors. One of those factors is managerial incompetence. It is an inability to sell the product or an inability to control costs or both. Another major reason for failure is offering the wrong product at the wrong price to the wrong market at the wrong time, or a combination of these. In which case, even the best marketing efforts and cost controls won't help you.
Imagine if you could become a millionaire today!
Your life would be easier and more fun. You could be taking more vacations, and spending the kind of time with your family that you really want.
If you're like me you want financial success, and you want to know the secrets of how all these millionaires made their money.
Determine the Need
The first principle with regard to selecting any new product or service is to determine that it fills a genuine, existing need, that it solves a problem of some kind for the customer, or that it makes the life or work of the customer better in some way. You must be very clear about this.
Sell a Quality Product or Service
The second principle for success with a new product or service is that it must be of good quality at a fair price. And if it is in competition with other similar products or services, it must have what is called a unique selling proposition. It must have some beneficial feature or attraction that makes it different from and superior to its competitors.
Your Area of Uniqueness
We call this its area of uniqueness. And it is central to success in business. No product or service can succeed unless it is somehow unique and superior to any other product or service like it. There is seldom any real opportunity in what is called a "me too" product - one that is just the same as all the others. At the same time, the safest business strategy is to start off with an accepted product that you can improve. In other words, instead of trying to invent a whole new business or industry, start off with something that people are already doing, people are already buying and using, and find some way to improve it.
Action Exercises
Here are two things you can do immediately to put these ideas into action:
First, determine exactly what is different and special about your product or service that will cause people to buy it in competition with similar products or services. Build your entire sales and marketing around this unique selling proposition.
Second, investigate before you invest. Be prepared to look at a variety of different business opportunities until you find one that really excites you before you make a decision to get started.
Discover how to Achieve ALL of your Goals and live the life you've always dre amed of!
If you're like me, you've always wanted to know the secret to unlimited joy, health, money, relationships, love: everything you have ever wanted.
We've both seen people who have gotten everything they've ever wanted... whether it's driving expensive cars, traveling the world or having fanta stic relationships with their family and friends... the question is... how did they get this life style?
It's simple... these people have discovered the techniques that allow them to achieve ALL their goals.
I have compiled these techniques into 1 easy-to-follow program that will teach you how to create your goals, program yourself for success, take action now and have everything you have ever wanted.
By applying these techniques now YOU can be the one driving the expensive car, traveling the world and enjoying phenomenal relationships. YOU can be the one to enjoy this life style.
Parkinson's Law
Why People Succeed or Fail
Parkinson's Law is one of the best known and the most important laws of money and wealth accumulation. It was developed by English writer C. Northcote Parkinson many years ago and it explains why most people retire poor.
The Way the Law Works
This law says that, no matter how much money people earn, they tend to spend the entire amount and a little bit more besides. Their expenses rise in lockstep with their earnings. Many people are earning today several times what they were earning at their first jobs. But somehow, they seem to need every single penny to maintain their current lifestyles. No matter how much they make, there never seems to be enough.
The Key to Financial Success
The first corollary of Parkinson's Law says: "Financial independence comes from violating Parkinson's Law."
Parkinson's Law explains the trap that most people fall into. This is the reason for debt, money worries and financial frustration. It is only when you develop sufficient willpower to resist the powerful urge to spend everything you make that you begin to accumulate money and move ahead of the crowd.
Slow Down Your Spending
The second corollary of Parkinson's Law is: "If you allow your expenses to increase at a slower rate than your earnings, and you save or invest the difference, you will become financially independent in your working lifetime."
This is the key. I call it the "wedge." If you can drive a wedge between your increasing earnings and the increasing costs of your lifestyle, and then save and invest the difference, you can continue to improve your lifestyle as you make more money. By consciously violating Parkinson's Law, you will eventually become financially independent.
Action Exercises
Here are two things you can do to apply this law immediately:
First, imagine that your financial life is like a failing company that you have taken over. Institute an immediate financial freeze. Halt all non-essential expenses. Draw up a budget of your fixed, unavoidable costs per month and resolve to limit your expenditures temporarily to these amounts.
Carefully examine every expense. Question it as though you were analyzing someone else's expenses. Look for ways to economize or cut back. Aim for a minimum of a 10 percent reduction in your living costs over the next three months.
Second, resolve to save and invest 50 percent of any increase you receive in your earnings from any source. Learn to live on the rest. This still leaves you the other 50 percent to do with as you desire. Do this for the rest of your career.
Parkinson's Law is one of the best known and the most important laws of money and wealth accumulation. It was developed by English writer C. Northcote Parkinson many years ago and it explains why most people retire poor.
The Way the Law Works
This law says that, no matter how much money people earn, they tend to spend the entire amount and a little bit more besides. Their expenses rise in lockstep with their earnings. Many people are earning today several times what they were earning at their first jobs. But somehow, they seem to need every single penny to maintain their current lifestyles. No matter how much they make, there never seems to be enough.
The Key to Financial Success
The first corollary of Parkinson's Law says: "Financial independence comes from violating Parkinson's Law."
Parkinson's Law explains the trap that most people fall into. This is the reason for debt, money worries and financial frustration. It is only when you develop sufficient willpower to resist the powerful urge to spend everything you make that you begin to accumulate money and move ahead of the crowd.
Slow Down Your Spending
The second corollary of Parkinson's Law is: "If you allow your expenses to increase at a slower rate than your earnings, and you save or invest the difference, you will become financially independent in your working lifetime."
This is the key. I call it the "wedge." If you can drive a wedge between your increasing earnings and the increasing costs of your lifestyle, and then save and invest the difference, you can continue to improve your lifestyle as you make more money. By consciously violating Parkinson's Law, you will eventually become financially independent.
Action Exercises
Here are two things you can do to apply this law immediately:
First, imagine that your financial life is like a failing company that you have taken over. Institute an immediate financial freeze. Halt all non-essential expenses. Draw up a budget of your fixed, unavoidable costs per month and resolve to limit your expenditures temporarily to these amounts.
Carefully examine every expense. Question it as though you were analyzing someone else's expenses. Look for ways to economize or cut back. Aim for a minimum of a 10 percent reduction in your living costs over the next three months.
Second, resolve to save and invest 50 percent of any increase you receive in your earnings from any source. Learn to live on the rest. This still leaves you the other 50 percent to do with as you desire. Do this for the rest of your career.
Relax and Recharge Completely
Regular relaxation is essential for a long life and personal effectiveness. Here are some techniques for relaxing physically that are used by the most successful and highest paid people in America.
Take Time Off Every Week
First of all, work only five or six days per week, and rest completely on the seventh day. Every single study in this area shows that you will be far more productive in the five or six days that you work if you take one or two days off completely than you ever would be if you worked straight through for seven days.
Get Your Mind Busy Elsewhere
During this time off, do not catch up on reports, organize your desk, prepare proposals, or do anything else that requires mental effort. Simply let your mind relax completely, and get busy doing things with your family and friends. Maybe work around the house, go for a walk, engage in physical exercise, watch television, go to a movie, or play with your children. Whatever you do, discipline yourself to shut your mental gears off completely for at least one 24-hour period every seven days.
Get Away on Mini-Vacations
Second, take one three-day vacation every three months, and during that time, refrain from doing any work. Do not attempt to catch up on even a few small things. If you do, you keep your mental gears in motion, and you end up neither resting nor properly doing work of any quality.
Take Big Chunks of Down Time
Third, take at least two full weeks off each year during which you do nothing that is work-related. You can either work or relax; you cannot do both. If you attempt to do a little work while you are on vacation, you never give your mental and emotional batteries a chance to recharge. You'll come back from your vacation just as tired as you were when you left.
Give Yourself a Break Today
If you are involved in a difficult relationship, or situation at work that is emotionally draining, discipline yourself to take a complete break from it at least one day per week. Put the concern out of your mind. Refuse to think about it. Don't continually discuss it, make telephone calls about it or mull it over in your mind. You cannot perform at your best mentally if you are emotionally preoccupied with a person or situation. You have to give yourself a break.
Go For a Walk in Nature
Since a change is as good as a rest, going for a nice long walk is a wonderful way to relax emotionally and mentally. As you put your physical body into motion, your thoughts and feelings seem to relax all by themselves.
Eat Lighter Foods
Also, remember that the process of digestion consumes an enormous amount of physical energy. Therefore, if you eat lighter foods, you will feel better and more refreshed afterward. If you eat more fruits, vegetables, and whole-grain products, your digestive system will require far less energy to process them.
Be Good to Yourself
Since your diet has such an impact on your level of physical energy, and through it your levels of mental and emotional energy, the more fastidious you are about what you put into your mouth, the better you will feel and the more productive you will be. We know now that foods high in fat, sugar, or salt are not good for your body. The lighter the foods you eat, the more energy you have.
Action Exercises
Here are three things you can do immediately to put these ideas into action:
First, plan your weeks in advance and build in at least one day when you will relax from work completely. Discipline yourself to keep this date.
Second, reserve, book and pay for your three day vacations several months in advance. Once you've paid the money, you are much more likely to go rather than put it off.
Third, decide that you will not work at all during your vacations. When you work, work. And when you rest, rest 100% of the time. This is very important.
Discover how to Achieve ALL of your Goals and live the life you've always dre amed of!
If you're like me, you've always wanted to know the secret to unlimited joy, health, money, relationships, love: everything you have ever wanted.
We've both seen people who have gotten everything they've ever wanted... whether it's driving expensive cars, traveling the world or having fanta stic relationships with their family and friends... the question is... how did they get this life style?
It's simple... these people have discovered the techniques that allow them to achieve ALL their goals.
I have compiled these techniques into 1 easy-to-follow program that will teach you how to create your goals, program yourself for success, take action now and have everything you have ever wanted.
By applying these techniques now YOU can be the one driving the expensive car, traveling the world and enjoying phenomenal relationships. YOU can be the one to enjoy this life style.
Take Time Off Every Week
First of all, work only five or six days per week, and rest completely on the seventh day. Every single study in this area shows that you will be far more productive in the five or six days that you work if you take one or two days off completely than you ever would be if you worked straight through for seven days.
Get Your Mind Busy Elsewhere
During this time off, do not catch up on reports, organize your desk, prepare proposals, or do anything else that requires mental effort. Simply let your mind relax completely, and get busy doing things with your family and friends. Maybe work around the house, go for a walk, engage in physical exercise, watch television, go to a movie, or play with your children. Whatever you do, discipline yourself to shut your mental gears off completely for at least one 24-hour period every seven days.
Get Away on Mini-Vacations
Second, take one three-day vacation every three months, and during that time, refrain from doing any work. Do not attempt to catch up on even a few small things. If you do, you keep your mental gears in motion, and you end up neither resting nor properly doing work of any quality.
Take Big Chunks of Down Time
Third, take at least two full weeks off each year during which you do nothing that is work-related. You can either work or relax; you cannot do both. If you attempt to do a little work while you are on vacation, you never give your mental and emotional batteries a chance to recharge. You'll come back from your vacation just as tired as you were when you left.
Give Yourself a Break Today
If you are involved in a difficult relationship, or situation at work that is emotionally draining, discipline yourself to take a complete break from it at least one day per week. Put the concern out of your mind. Refuse to think about it. Don't continually discuss it, make telephone calls about it or mull it over in your mind. You cannot perform at your best mentally if you are emotionally preoccupied with a person or situation. You have to give yourself a break.
Go For a Walk in Nature
Since a change is as good as a rest, going for a nice long walk is a wonderful way to relax emotionally and mentally. As you put your physical body into motion, your thoughts and feelings seem to relax all by themselves.
Eat Lighter Foods
Also, remember that the process of digestion consumes an enormous amount of physical energy. Therefore, if you eat lighter foods, you will feel better and more refreshed afterward. If you eat more fruits, vegetables, and whole-grain products, your digestive system will require far less energy to process them.
Be Good to Yourself
Since your diet has such an impact on your level of physical energy, and through it your levels of mental and emotional energy, the more fastidious you are about what you put into your mouth, the better you will feel and the more productive you will be. We know now that foods high in fat, sugar, or salt are not good for your body. The lighter the foods you eat, the more energy you have.
Action Exercises
Here are three things you can do immediately to put these ideas into action:
First, plan your weeks in advance and build in at least one day when you will relax from work completely. Discipline yourself to keep this date.
Second, reserve, book and pay for your three day vacations several months in advance. Once you've paid the money, you are much more likely to go rather than put it off.
Third, decide that you will not work at all during your vacations. When you work, work. And when you rest, rest 100% of the time. This is very important.
Discover how to Achieve ALL of your Goals and live the life you've always dre amed of!
If you're like me, you've always wanted to know the secret to unlimited joy, health, money, relationships, love: everything you have ever wanted.
We've both seen people who have gotten everything they've ever wanted... whether it's driving expensive cars, traveling the world or having fanta stic relationships with their family and friends... the question is... how did they get this life style?
It's simple... these people have discovered the techniques that allow them to achieve ALL their goals.
I have compiled these techniques into 1 easy-to-follow program that will teach you how to create your goals, program yourself for success, take action now and have everything you have ever wanted.
By applying these techniques now YOU can be the one driving the expensive car, traveling the world and enjoying phenomenal relationships. YOU can be the one to enjoy this life style.
Double Your Earnings
You probably have the ability to produce and earn easily twice as much as you are producing and earning today.
Put Key Ideas Into Action
I have taught time management strategies to more than 100,000 people over the last few years and the successes these people have had have often been amazing. Many of them have doubled their output in as little as one or two days. One businessman in Philadelphia tripled his income and doubled the amount of time he spent with his family within twelve months. Another businessman from Montreal increased his income by 700% over a period of two years by disciplining himself to practice these principles every hour of every day.
Small Effects Yield Large Results
The good news is that even a small effort on your part to implement the very best of time management principles into your life will yield a tremendous return in increased productivity, performance and output. It is like stepping on the accelerator of your own life and moving yourself onto the fast track in your career.
Efficiency Starts At School
We usually learn how to work efficiently and effectively in our teenage years by doing our schoolwork and our homework in an excellent way and handing it in on time. If a young person does not learn how to work during their school years, he or she will have a tough time working when they actually take a paying job.
Most People Are Poor Workers
According to the studies, fully 50% of adults could not work a full day if their life depended upon it. They cannot stay on task. They are continually diverted and distracted into idle socializing, personal phone calls, shooting the breeze, arriving late, leaving early and taking too much time for coffee breaks and lunches. Then they wonder why they are not entrusted with increased responsibilities and offered greater pay.
Be Paid More And Promoted Faster
The fact is that if you do an excellent job in a timely fashion, you cannot help but be paid more and promoted faster. We live in the first great meritocracy in human history. In a meritocracy, you are paid and rewarded purely on the basis of the valuable contribution you make to the lives and work of others. There are no glass ceilings and no barriers to advancement.
Action Exercises
Here are two things you can do immediately to put these ideas into action.
First, select the most valuable and important task you have to do right now, and start on it immediately.
Second, resolve to "work all the time you work" once you get started. Aim for 100% productivity. This could change your life.
Put Key Ideas Into Action
I have taught time management strategies to more than 100,000 people over the last few years and the successes these people have had have often been amazing. Many of them have doubled their output in as little as one or two days. One businessman in Philadelphia tripled his income and doubled the amount of time he spent with his family within twelve months. Another businessman from Montreal increased his income by 700% over a period of two years by disciplining himself to practice these principles every hour of every day.
Small Effects Yield Large Results
The good news is that even a small effort on your part to implement the very best of time management principles into your life will yield a tremendous return in increased productivity, performance and output. It is like stepping on the accelerator of your own life and moving yourself onto the fast track in your career.
Efficiency Starts At School
We usually learn how to work efficiently and effectively in our teenage years by doing our schoolwork and our homework in an excellent way and handing it in on time. If a young person does not learn how to work during their school years, he or she will have a tough time working when they actually take a paying job.
Most People Are Poor Workers
According to the studies, fully 50% of adults could not work a full day if their life depended upon it. They cannot stay on task. They are continually diverted and distracted into idle socializing, personal phone calls, shooting the breeze, arriving late, leaving early and taking too much time for coffee breaks and lunches. Then they wonder why they are not entrusted with increased responsibilities and offered greater pay.
Be Paid More And Promoted Faster
The fact is that if you do an excellent job in a timely fashion, you cannot help but be paid more and promoted faster. We live in the first great meritocracy in human history. In a meritocracy, you are paid and rewarded purely on the basis of the valuable contribution you make to the lives and work of others. There are no glass ceilings and no barriers to advancement.
Action Exercises
Here are two things you can do immediately to put these ideas into action.
First, select the most valuable and important task you have to do right now, and start on it immediately.
Second, resolve to "work all the time you work" once you get started. Aim for 100% productivity. This could change your life.
Evaluating A Business
Do Your Homework
The best time to do your market research is in advance. Here are some key ideas to help you make the right choice before you invest in a product, a service or a business.
Bootstrap Your Way To Success
One of the best ways to build a business is to start off on a bootstrap. This means that you start off with very little mo ney and you grow your business with the mo ney that you ear n in the business, rather than outside financing, borr owing, l oans from friends and so on.
Ask The Right Questions
The first thing to do is to research all competitors for the product or service and ask this: "Why would someone switch to buy from me?" If there's already a similar product or service in the market, why would someone leave a product or service that they're comfortable with for your product or service that they don't know anything about? Is your product or service better, or is your idea cheaper or of higher quality? And can you convince enough customers of this to stay in business?
Look For The Fatal Flaw
The second way to do fast, cheap market research is to be suspicious. Be wary. Develop a cyn ical, pessimistic attitude and accept nothing on faith. Look for the fatal flaw. Whenever I've done consulting for a corporation, especially when they've asked me to research an investment, I always look for the fatal flaw. I always look for the one thing that's wrong with this investment that could cost my client a lot of mo ney. And do you know something? In 99 out of 100 cases, I find the fatal flaw. I find something in a contract or a mor tgage agreement or something in the way the land is laid out or the way the distribution arrangements are designed.
Find Out Why It's For Sale
I often find something that is fatal, something that if it were not caught, would lead to the failure of the business. When you're thinking of getting into somebody else's business or if somebody else is trying to sell you an existing business, look for the reason. There's always a fatal flaw when someone is trying to sell you a successful mo ney -making opportunity. If you can't find the fatal flaw, only then should you go ahead with it.
Don't Lose Mo ney
The third thing that you can do when considering a business that is for sale is find out why it's being sold. Very few people will try to sell you a successful business. Usually people who are selling a business are selling it because they're losing mo ney on it. Many people say they're selling a business because they want to concentrate on something else. No. The reason they're selling the business is that they're losing mo ney on it. And you must find out why a person would sell a successful business.
Think Long Term
Finally, number four, look at the business before you go into it as though you were going to be in it for 20 years. The long-term perspective sharpens short-term decision-making. If you look at any business venture, any product or service, as though you were going to be doing this 20 years from now, you'll find that you'll make much better decisions.
Action Ex ercises
Here are two things you can do immediately to put these ideas into action.
First, look for the fatal flaw in any investment that someone tells you is a good idea. Look for a critical weakness that could cause the business to fail.
Second, think about being in this business, or selling this product or service, for the next 20 years. When you think long-term about business decisions, you make much better decisions in the short-term.
The best time to do your market research is in advance. Here are some key ideas to help you make the right choice before you invest in a product, a service or a business.
Bootstrap Your Way To Success
One of the best ways to build a business is to start off on a bootstrap. This means that you start off with very little mo ney and you grow your business with the mo ney that you ear n in the business, rather than outside financing, borr owing, l oans from friends and so on.
Ask The Right Questions
The first thing to do is to research all competitors for the product or service and ask this: "Why would someone switch to buy from me?" If there's already a similar product or service in the market, why would someone leave a product or service that they're comfortable with for your product or service that they don't know anything about? Is your product or service better, or is your idea cheaper or of higher quality? And can you convince enough customers of this to stay in business?
Look For The Fatal Flaw
The second way to do fast, cheap market research is to be suspicious. Be wary. Develop a cyn ical, pessimistic attitude and accept nothing on faith. Look for the fatal flaw. Whenever I've done consulting for a corporation, especially when they've asked me to research an investment, I always look for the fatal flaw. I always look for the one thing that's wrong with this investment that could cost my client a lot of mo ney. And do you know something? In 99 out of 100 cases, I find the fatal flaw. I find something in a contract or a mor tgage agreement or something in the way the land is laid out or the way the distribution arrangements are designed.
Find Out Why It's For Sale
I often find something that is fatal, something that if it were not caught, would lead to the failure of the business. When you're thinking of getting into somebody else's business or if somebody else is trying to sell you an existing business, look for the reason. There's always a fatal flaw when someone is trying to sell you a successful mo ney -making opportunity. If you can't find the fatal flaw, only then should you go ahead with it.
Don't Lose Mo ney
The third thing that you can do when considering a business that is for sale is find out why it's being sold. Very few people will try to sell you a successful business. Usually people who are selling a business are selling it because they're losing mo ney on it. Many people say they're selling a business because they want to concentrate on something else. No. The reason they're selling the business is that they're losing mo ney on it. And you must find out why a person would sell a successful business.
Think Long Term
Finally, number four, look at the business before you go into it as though you were going to be in it for 20 years. The long-term perspective sharpens short-term decision-making. If you look at any business venture, any product or service, as though you were going to be doing this 20 years from now, you'll find that you'll make much better decisions.
Action Ex ercises
Here are two things you can do immediately to put these ideas into action.
First, look for the fatal flaw in any investment that someone tells you is a good idea. Look for a critical weakness that could cause the business to fail.
Second, think about being in this business, or selling this product or service, for the next 20 years. When you think long-term about business decisions, you make much better decisions in the short-term.
10 STEPS TO IMPROVE YOUR FINANCIAL SITUATION
Here are ten tips you can use to help improve your financial personal financial situation and inevitably save more money:
1. Pay Yourself Weekly
This may seem a bit odd, but this is an excellent way to start building a substantial savings. On a weekly basis, pay yourself $25-$50 and immediately put it in a safe place. You can even open a special savings account where this weekly "payday" can by placed to help minimize or eliminate impulsive spending. Think about it this way, if you paid yourself $25 a week, in two years you'll have accumulated $2600 (not including interest)!!! That's almost $3000 from just putting $25 aside every week! Take advantage of this money-saving opportunity. Simple, yet very effective.
2. Don't Shop
For those of you that love to shop, you may find that this is one tip that could save you hundreds, maybe even thousands every year. Start using the "Need or Want" strategy. Before you spend a single dollar on anything, ask yourself, "Do I really NEED this item, or do I just WANT it??" You may find that many of the items we purchase, we do so just because it "caught our eye" or it was "an impulse buy" or "my friend bought the same thing". All these excuses just add up to wasteful spending. You can probably get by without another sweater, or a new pair of jeans, so just buy what you absolutely need, and pass on those items that aren't necessities.
3. Use Your Bank's Own ATMs
Some banks will charge you money for using other ATM machines. Even though you will be able to withdraw money using your ATM/debit card from literally any machine, banks will charge you $2 (generally) for using a machine other than theirs, in addition to a standard $1.50 charge the machine charges for its use. In other words, if you use the ATM at your local 7-11 to take out $20, you'll most likely end up paying $3.50 in additional charges! If you do that 5 times a month, you'll lose $17.50 for that month, or $210 per year! What a waste! Try and stick with your own bank's ATMs whenever possible.
4. Track Your Spending
Take the time to track your spending habits for one week. Take note of every single dollar you spend, even those sodas and candy bars purchased here and there. This will give you a "birds-eye" view of exactly where your money is being spent, thus allowing you to refine your spending habits to essentially save more money.
5. Lower Credit Card Balances
Another very important tip that many often overlook. Pay off those pesky credit cards as soon as possible because you are losing up to 19% of the total. What a waste of your hard earned money! Keep chopping away at the balances until you get to an amount that is reasonable $100-$500 dollars.
6. Use Your Debit Card Instead of Credit Cards
Get in the habit of using your debit card instead of your credit cards. For the most part, debit cards are accepted anywhere a credit card is accepted, however as you know, with a debit card the amount is taken directly from your checking account whereas credit card usage is billed at a later date (along with a hefty interest rate).
7. Changing Jobs? Roll-Over that 401(k)
When people change jobs/careers they will be faced with a decision to either "rollover" their 401k (retirement plan) or to withdraw it. It will be ever so tempting to withdraw the money since it will be a substantial amount, but don't! You will be charged fines and penalties for an early withdrawal that will cut YOUR total by 40%-60%! That's like giving half of your earned retirement savings away to a stranger. Why would you do that? Even though you may want the money now, resist the temptation and roll it over. It will be well worth it in the long run.
8. Avoid Getting Too Many Credit Cards
Why have eight credit cards? That's just going to provide you with more opportunities to go further into debt. It's fine to keep 1-3 cards to build credit, establish yourself, and for emergencies, but credit cards are double-edged swords. They can help or hurt you depending on your self-control.
9. Check Your Credit Score/Report
It's important to know where you currently stand as a consumer and since your credit report is the most important historical list of your financial past and present, it's a very good idea to check it from time to time. There are a number of places where you can get your credit report, however the most detailed compares information from the top three national credit bureaus: Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion. Once you get your report, look through it carefully to see if all the information is accurate. If there are any discrepancies, get those solved as quickly as possible to improve your credit rating - a score of up to 800. Often times, consumers are unaware of unsettled accounts, or accounts that are still open/active when they should be closed. Pay close attention to this when inspecting your report.
10. Finally: Review - Revise - Retry
Once you start implementing these tips and become more familiar with the money saving opportunities you have, take the time to REVIEW your progress. Check and see where it may be possible to REVISE some of your techniques or where you can implement new ones. Once you have revised your plan, RETRY to see if your results improve. The more frequent you review, revise, and retry your saving ideas, the more "in tune" you'll be with your finances and spending habits, and learn what works and what doesn't for you.
1. Pay Yourself Weekly
This may seem a bit odd, but this is an excellent way to start building a substantial savings. On a weekly basis, pay yourself $25-$50 and immediately put it in a safe place. You can even open a special savings account where this weekly "payday" can by placed to help minimize or eliminate impulsive spending. Think about it this way, if you paid yourself $25 a week, in two years you'll have accumulated $2600 (not including interest)!!! That's almost $3000 from just putting $25 aside every week! Take advantage of this money-saving opportunity. Simple, yet very effective.
2. Don't Shop
For those of you that love to shop, you may find that this is one tip that could save you hundreds, maybe even thousands every year. Start using the "Need or Want" strategy. Before you spend a single dollar on anything, ask yourself, "Do I really NEED this item, or do I just WANT it??" You may find that many of the items we purchase, we do so just because it "caught our eye" or it was "an impulse buy" or "my friend bought the same thing". All these excuses just add up to wasteful spending. You can probably get by without another sweater, or a new pair of jeans, so just buy what you absolutely need, and pass on those items that aren't necessities.
3. Use Your Bank's Own ATMs
Some banks will charge you money for using other ATM machines. Even though you will be able to withdraw money using your ATM/debit card from literally any machine, banks will charge you $2 (generally) for using a machine other than theirs, in addition to a standard $1.50 charge the machine charges for its use. In other words, if you use the ATM at your local 7-11 to take out $20, you'll most likely end up paying $3.50 in additional charges! If you do that 5 times a month, you'll lose $17.50 for that month, or $210 per year! What a waste! Try and stick with your own bank's ATMs whenever possible.
4. Track Your Spending
Take the time to track your spending habits for one week. Take note of every single dollar you spend, even those sodas and candy bars purchased here and there. This will give you a "birds-eye" view of exactly where your money is being spent, thus allowing you to refine your spending habits to essentially save more money.
5. Lower Credit Card Balances
Another very important tip that many often overlook. Pay off those pesky credit cards as soon as possible because you are losing up to 19% of the total. What a waste of your hard earned money! Keep chopping away at the balances until you get to an amount that is reasonable $100-$500 dollars.
6. Use Your Debit Card Instead of Credit Cards
Get in the habit of using your debit card instead of your credit cards. For the most part, debit cards are accepted anywhere a credit card is accepted, however as you know, with a debit card the amount is taken directly from your checking account whereas credit card usage is billed at a later date (along with a hefty interest rate).
7. Changing Jobs? Roll-Over that 401(k)
When people change jobs/careers they will be faced with a decision to either "rollover" their 401k (retirement plan) or to withdraw it. It will be ever so tempting to withdraw the money since it will be a substantial amount, but don't! You will be charged fines and penalties for an early withdrawal that will cut YOUR total by 40%-60%! That's like giving half of your earned retirement savings away to a stranger. Why would you do that? Even though you may want the money now, resist the temptation and roll it over. It will be well worth it in the long run.
8. Avoid Getting Too Many Credit Cards
Why have eight credit cards? That's just going to provide you with more opportunities to go further into debt. It's fine to keep 1-3 cards to build credit, establish yourself, and for emergencies, but credit cards are double-edged swords. They can help or hurt you depending on your self-control.
9. Check Your Credit Score/Report
It's important to know where you currently stand as a consumer and since your credit report is the most important historical list of your financial past and present, it's a very good idea to check it from time to time. There are a number of places where you can get your credit report, however the most detailed compares information from the top three national credit bureaus: Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion. Once you get your report, look through it carefully to see if all the information is accurate. If there are any discrepancies, get those solved as quickly as possible to improve your credit rating - a score of up to 800. Often times, consumers are unaware of unsettled accounts, or accounts that are still open/active when they should be closed. Pay close attention to this when inspecting your report.
10. Finally: Review - Revise - Retry
Once you start implementing these tips and become more familiar with the money saving opportunities you have, take the time to REVIEW your progress. Check and see where it may be possible to REVISE some of your techniques or where you can implement new ones. Once you have revised your plan, RETRY to see if your results improve. The more frequent you review, revise, and retry your saving ideas, the more "in tune" you'll be with your finances and spending habits, and learn what works and what doesn't for you.
Using Your Inner Guidance System
Using Your Inner Guidance System
You have incredible powers of mind and emotions that give you timely and accurate feedback in every area of your life.
In this newsletter, you learn how to "tune in" to yourself so you can make the right decision in every situation.
Using Your Inner Guidance System
We know that the body has a natural bias toward health and energy. It's designed to last for 100 years with proper care and maintenance. When something goes wrong with any part of our body, we experience it in the form of pain or discomfort of some kind.
We know that when our body is not functioning smoothly and painlessly, something is wrong, and we take action to correct it. We go to a doctor; we take pills; we undergo physical therapy, massage or chiropractic. We know that if we ignore pain or discomfort for any period of time, it could lead to something more serious.
How to Tell Right From Wrong
In the same sense, nature also gives us a way to tell emotionally what's right for us and what's wrong for us in life. Just as nature gives us physical pain to guide us to doing or not doing things in the physical realm, nature gives us emotional pain to guide us toward doing or not doing things in the emotional or mental realm. The wonderful thing is that you're constructed so that if you simply listen carefully to yourself-to your mind, your body and your emotions-and follow the guidance you're given, you can dramatically enhance the quality of your life.
Just as the natural physical state of your body is health and vitality, your natural emotional state is peace and happiness. Whenever you experience a deviation from peace and happiness, it's an indication that something is amiss. Something is wrong with what you're thinking, doing or saying. Your feeling of inner happiness is the best indicator you could ever have to tell you what you should be doing more of and what you should be doing less of.
The Messenger
Unhappiness is to your life as pain is to your body. It is sent as a messenger to tell you that what you're doing is wrong for you.
Very often, you'll suffer from what has been called "divine discontent." You'll feel fidgety and uneasy for a reason or reasons that are unclear to you. You'll be dissatisfied with the status quo. Sometimes, you'll be unable to sleep. Sometimes, you'll be angry or irritable. Very often, you'll get upset with things that have nothing to do with the real issue. You'll have a deep inner sense that something isn't as it should be, and you'll often feel like a fish on a hook, wriggling and squirming emotionally to get free.
Divine Discontent
And that is a good thing. Divine discontent always comes before a positive life change. If you were perfectly satisfied, you would never take any action to improve or change your circumstances. Only when you're dissatisfied for some reason do you have the inner motivation to engage in the outer behaviors that lead you onward and upward.
Listen to yourself. Trust your inner voice. Go with the flow of your own personality. Do the things that make you feel happy inside and you'll probably never make another mistake.
Action Exercises
Here are three steps you can take immediately to put these ideas into action.
First, listen to yourself and trust your own feelings. If there is a part of your life that causes you stress and unhappiness, resolve to deal with it.
Second, identify those areas of your life where you are dissatisfied or frustrated for any reason. What changes should you, could you make?
Third, remember that nature wants you to be happy, healthy, popular and prosperous. Any deviation from those conditions is a signal to you that action is necessary.
You have incredible powers of mind and emotions that give you timely and accurate feedback in every area of your life.
In this newsletter, you learn how to "tune in" to yourself so you can make the right decision in every situation.
Using Your Inner Guidance System
We know that the body has a natural bias toward health and energy. It's designed to last for 100 years with proper care and maintenance. When something goes wrong with any part of our body, we experience it in the form of pain or discomfort of some kind.
We know that when our body is not functioning smoothly and painlessly, something is wrong, and we take action to correct it. We go to a doctor; we take pills; we undergo physical therapy, massage or chiropractic. We know that if we ignore pain or discomfort for any period of time, it could lead to something more serious.
How to Tell Right From Wrong
In the same sense, nature also gives us a way to tell emotionally what's right for us and what's wrong for us in life. Just as nature gives us physical pain to guide us to doing or not doing things in the physical realm, nature gives us emotional pain to guide us toward doing or not doing things in the emotional or mental realm. The wonderful thing is that you're constructed so that if you simply listen carefully to yourself-to your mind, your body and your emotions-and follow the guidance you're given, you can dramatically enhance the quality of your life.
Just as the natural physical state of your body is health and vitality, your natural emotional state is peace and happiness. Whenever you experience a deviation from peace and happiness, it's an indication that something is amiss. Something is wrong with what you're thinking, doing or saying. Your feeling of inner happiness is the best indicator you could ever have to tell you what you should be doing more of and what you should be doing less of.
The Messenger
Unhappiness is to your life as pain is to your body. It is sent as a messenger to tell you that what you're doing is wrong for you.
Very often, you'll suffer from what has been called "divine discontent." You'll feel fidgety and uneasy for a reason or reasons that are unclear to you. You'll be dissatisfied with the status quo. Sometimes, you'll be unable to sleep. Sometimes, you'll be angry or irritable. Very often, you'll get upset with things that have nothing to do with the real issue. You'll have a deep inner sense that something isn't as it should be, and you'll often feel like a fish on a hook, wriggling and squirming emotionally to get free.
Divine Discontent
And that is a good thing. Divine discontent always comes before a positive life change. If you were perfectly satisfied, you would never take any action to improve or change your circumstances. Only when you're dissatisfied for some reason do you have the inner motivation to engage in the outer behaviors that lead you onward and upward.
Listen to yourself. Trust your inner voice. Go with the flow of your own personality. Do the things that make you feel happy inside and you'll probably never make another mistake.
Action Exercises
Here are three steps you can take immediately to put these ideas into action.
First, listen to yourself and trust your own feelings. If there is a part of your life that causes you stress and unhappiness, resolve to deal with it.
Second, identify those areas of your life where you are dissatisfied or frustrated for any reason. What changes should you, could you make?
Third, remember that nature wants you to be happy, healthy, popular and prosperous. Any deviation from those conditions is a signal to you that action is necessary.
Two Principles for Financial Success
The Two Great Principles for Success
There are two great principles for achieving financial success. The first Principle is what we call the law of attraction. The law of attraction says that you are a living magnet. It says that your thoughts create a force field of energy that radiates out from you and attracts back into your life people and circumstances in harmony with them. Any thought you have, combined with an emotion, positive or negative, radiates out from you and attracts back into your life the people, circumstances, ideas and opportunities consistent with it.
How to Attract the Success You Desire
Many people feel that this is perhaps the most important of all mental laws. It says that if you have a very clear idea in your mind of your desired goal, to become wealthy, and you can hold that idea in your mind on a continuing basis, you will inevitably draw into your life the resources that you need in order to achieve it. Every person who has become wealthy or successful has become wealthy and successful as a result of holding the idea of wealth and success in their mind long enough and hard enough, until they drew into their lives the resources they needed to accomplish it.
Your World Reflects Your Thoughts
The second principle is called the law of correspondence. This mental law is very powerful. It says, "as within, so without." It says that your outer world is like a mirror that reflects back to you what is going on in your inner world. And this law of correspondence says that everything that happens outside of you corresponds to something that's going on inside of you. When we say that your outer world is a reflection of your inner world, we mean both at a conscious and at a subconscious level.
Visualize Your Goals Clearly
If you consciously believe that you have the ability to achieve your goals and you can hold a picture of those goals clearly in your mind long enough and hard enough, eventually your outer world will correspond with it.
Three Reflections of Success
There are three places where we see this law of correspondence. First of all, your outer world of people will correspond exactly with your own attitude. You will always see your attitude reflected back to you in the faces and the behaviors of the people around you. If you have a positive, optimistic attitude, people will respond to you almost immediately, even before you open your mouth, in a positive and cheerful way.
Relationships Show You Who You Are
The second area where we see the law of correspondence is in your relationships. Your relationships will always mirror back to you exactly the kind of a person you are. When you are happy and optimistic and at peace, your relationships will be happy and harmonious and loving. But when your thinking is disrupted or negative for any reason, consciously or unconsciously, this will be immediately reflected in your relationships.
Inner and Outer Wealth
The third place you see the law of correspondence is with regard to your wealth. Your external world of wealth and financial accomplishment will be a mirror image of your inner world of preparation. The only part of the equation that you can control is your conscious thoughts, and if you can keep your conscious thoughts on what you want, on your images of wealth and affluence, eventually your external world of reality and experiences will reflect it back to you.
Action Exercises
Here are two things you can do to apply these principles in your financial life:
First, guard your thoughts carefully. Whatever you think about, combined with the emotions of desire or fear, you will attract into your life. Be sure that you are attracting what you want by continuing to think only about what you want.
Second, keep feeding your mind with new information, ideas and pictures of the person you want to be and the life you want to live. By creating this inner attitude of mind, you change the outer aspects of your reality.
There are two great principles for achieving financial success. The first Principle is what we call the law of attraction. The law of attraction says that you are a living magnet. It says that your thoughts create a force field of energy that radiates out from you and attracts back into your life people and circumstances in harmony with them. Any thought you have, combined with an emotion, positive or negative, radiates out from you and attracts back into your life the people, circumstances, ideas and opportunities consistent with it.
How to Attract the Success You Desire
Many people feel that this is perhaps the most important of all mental laws. It says that if you have a very clear idea in your mind of your desired goal, to become wealthy, and you can hold that idea in your mind on a continuing basis, you will inevitably draw into your life the resources that you need in order to achieve it. Every person who has become wealthy or successful has become wealthy and successful as a result of holding the idea of wealth and success in their mind long enough and hard enough, until they drew into their lives the resources they needed to accomplish it.
Your World Reflects Your Thoughts
The second principle is called the law of correspondence. This mental law is very powerful. It says, "as within, so without." It says that your outer world is like a mirror that reflects back to you what is going on in your inner world. And this law of correspondence says that everything that happens outside of you corresponds to something that's going on inside of you. When we say that your outer world is a reflection of your inner world, we mean both at a conscious and at a subconscious level.
Visualize Your Goals Clearly
If you consciously believe that you have the ability to achieve your goals and you can hold a picture of those goals clearly in your mind long enough and hard enough, eventually your outer world will correspond with it.
Three Reflections of Success
There are three places where we see this law of correspondence. First of all, your outer world of people will correspond exactly with your own attitude. You will always see your attitude reflected back to you in the faces and the behaviors of the people around you. If you have a positive, optimistic attitude, people will respond to you almost immediately, even before you open your mouth, in a positive and cheerful way.
Relationships Show You Who You Are
The second area where we see the law of correspondence is in your relationships. Your relationships will always mirror back to you exactly the kind of a person you are. When you are happy and optimistic and at peace, your relationships will be happy and harmonious and loving. But when your thinking is disrupted or negative for any reason, consciously or unconsciously, this will be immediately reflected in your relationships.
Inner and Outer Wealth
The third place you see the law of correspondence is with regard to your wealth. Your external world of wealth and financial accomplishment will be a mirror image of your inner world of preparation. The only part of the equation that you can control is your conscious thoughts, and if you can keep your conscious thoughts on what you want, on your images of wealth and affluence, eventually your external world of reality and experiences will reflect it back to you.
Action Exercises
Here are two things you can do to apply these principles in your financial life:
First, guard your thoughts carefully. Whatever you think about, combined with the emotions of desire or fear, you will attract into your life. Be sure that you are attracting what you want by continuing to think only about what you want.
Second, keep feeding your mind with new information, ideas and pictures of the person you want to be and the life you want to live. By creating this inner attitude of mind, you change the outer aspects of your reality.
The Indispensable Quality
The Indispensable Quality
Dare to Go Forward
Winston Churchill once said, "Courage is rightly considered the foremost of the virtues because upon it, all others depend." Courage is the chief distinguishing characteristic of the true leader. It is almost always visible in the leader's words and actions. It is absolutely indispensable to success, happiness and the ability to motivate other people to be the best they can be.
Follow Through On Your Vision
In a way, it is easy to develop a big vision for yourself and for the person you want to be. It is easy to commit yourself to living with complete integrity. But it requires incredible courage to follow through on your vision and on your commitments. You see, as soon as you set a high goal or standard for yourself, you will run into all kinds of difficulties and setbacks.
Refuse to Compromise
You will be surrounded by temptations to compromise your values and your vision. You will feel an almost irresistible urge to "get along by going along." Your desire to earn the respect and cooperation of others can easily lead to the abandonment of your principles, and here is where courage comes in.
Stick to Your Principles
Courage combined with integrity is the foundation of character. The first form of courage is your ability to stick to your principles, to stand for what you believe in and to refuse to budge unless you feel right about the alternative. Courage is also the ability to step out in faith, to launch out into the unknown and then to face the inevitable doubt and uncertainty that accompany every new venture.
Avoid Your Comfort Zone
Most people are seduced by the lure of the comfort zone. This can be likened to going out of a warm house on a cold, windy morning. The average person, when he feels the storm swirling outside his comfort zone, rushes back inside where it's nice and warm. But not the true leader. The true leader has the courage to step away from the familiar and comfortable and to face the unknown with no guarantees of success. It is this ability to "boldly go where no man has gone before" that distinguishes you as a leader from the average person. This is the example that you must set if you are to rise above the average. It is this example that inspires and motivates other people to rise above their previous levels of accomplishment as well.
The Attack of Alexander the Great
Alexander the Great, the king of Macedonia, was one of the most superb leaders of all time. He became king at the age of 19, when his father, Philip II, was assassinated. In the next 11 years, he conquered much of the known world, leading his armies against numerically superior forces.
Lead the Action
Yet, when he was at the height of his power, the master of the known world, the greatest ruler in history to that date, he would still draw his sword at the beginning of a battle and lead his men forward into the conflict. He insisted on leading by example. Alexander felt that he could not ask his men to risk their lives unless he was willing to demonstrate by his actions that he had complete confidence in the outcome. The sight of Alexander charging forward so excited and motivated his soldiers that no force on earth could stand before them.
Action Exercises
Here are two things you can do immediately to put these ideas into action:
First, set big goals for yourself and force yourself out of the comfort zone by acting boldly - even when there is no guarantee of success. Go boldly where no one has ever gone before.
Second, resolve to act quickly and decisively when you are confronted with a difficult or dangerous situation. Dare to go forward. Practice audacity in all things. Acting with courage builds your courage and confidence higher and higher.
Dare to Go Forward
Winston Churchill once said, "Courage is rightly considered the foremost of the virtues because upon it, all others depend." Courage is the chief distinguishing characteristic of the true leader. It is almost always visible in the leader's words and actions. It is absolutely indispensable to success, happiness and the ability to motivate other people to be the best they can be.
Follow Through On Your Vision
In a way, it is easy to develop a big vision for yourself and for the person you want to be. It is easy to commit yourself to living with complete integrity. But it requires incredible courage to follow through on your vision and on your commitments. You see, as soon as you set a high goal or standard for yourself, you will run into all kinds of difficulties and setbacks.
Refuse to Compromise
You will be surrounded by temptations to compromise your values and your vision. You will feel an almost irresistible urge to "get along by going along." Your desire to earn the respect and cooperation of others can easily lead to the abandonment of your principles, and here is where courage comes in.
Stick to Your Principles
Courage combined with integrity is the foundation of character. The first form of courage is your ability to stick to your principles, to stand for what you believe in and to refuse to budge unless you feel right about the alternative. Courage is also the ability to step out in faith, to launch out into the unknown and then to face the inevitable doubt and uncertainty that accompany every new venture.
Avoid Your Comfort Zone
Most people are seduced by the lure of the comfort zone. This can be likened to going out of a warm house on a cold, windy morning. The average person, when he feels the storm swirling outside his comfort zone, rushes back inside where it's nice and warm. But not the true leader. The true leader has the courage to step away from the familiar and comfortable and to face the unknown with no guarantees of success. It is this ability to "boldly go where no man has gone before" that distinguishes you as a leader from the average person. This is the example that you must set if you are to rise above the average. It is this example that inspires and motivates other people to rise above their previous levels of accomplishment as well.
The Attack of Alexander the Great
Alexander the Great, the king of Macedonia, was one of the most superb leaders of all time. He became king at the age of 19, when his father, Philip II, was assassinated. In the next 11 years, he conquered much of the known world, leading his armies against numerically superior forces.
Lead the Action
Yet, when he was at the height of his power, the master of the known world, the greatest ruler in history to that date, he would still draw his sword at the beginning of a battle and lead his men forward into the conflict. He insisted on leading by example. Alexander felt that he could not ask his men to risk their lives unless he was willing to demonstrate by his actions that he had complete confidence in the outcome. The sight of Alexander charging forward so excited and motivated his soldiers that no force on earth could stand before them.
Action Exercises
Here are two things you can do immediately to put these ideas into action:
First, set big goals for yourself and force yourself out of the comfort zone by acting boldly - even when there is no guarantee of success. Go boldly where no one has ever gone before.
Second, resolve to act quickly and decisively when you are confronted with a difficult or dangerous situation. Dare to go forward. Practice audacity in all things. Acting with courage builds your courage and confidence higher and higher.
Sunday, July 22, 2007
Developing A Vision For Your Future
What Only Leaders Can Do
The one quality that all leaders have in common is that they have a clear and exciting vision for the future. This is something that only the leader can do. Only the leader can think about the future and plan for the future each day.
Develop A Clear Vision
Excellent leaders take the time to think through and develop a clear picture of where they want the organization to be in one, three and five years. Leaders have the ability to communicate this vision in such a way that others "buy in" and eventually see the vision as belonging to them.
How to Motivate People
It is the vision of the future possibilities, of what can be, that arouses emotion and motivates people to give of their best. The most powerful vision is always qualitative, aimed at and described in terms of values and mission rather than quantitative, described in terms of money. Of course, money is important, but the decision and commitment to "be the best in the business" is far more exciting.
To encourage others, to instill confidence in them, to help them to perform at their best requires first of all that you lead by example.
Develop amazing self-confidence and be unstoppable in everything you do!
Think of all the things you could do if you enjoyed super levels of self-confidence... your career would be booming, offers would be flying your way, everyone would want to be with you. You would have more opportunities to find that "special someone."
Be A Great Team Player
A study at Stanford Business School examined the qualities that companies look for in promoting young managers toward senior executive positions, especially the position of Chief Executive Officer. The study concluded that there were two important qualities required for great success in leadership. The first is the ability to put together a team and function as a good team player. Since all work is ultimately done by teams, and the managers' output is the output of the team, the ability to select team members, set objectives, delegate responsibility and finally, get the job done, was central to success in management.
Keep Your Cool
The second quality required for rapid promotion was found to be the ability to function well under pressure, and especially in a crisis. Keeping your cool in a crisis means to practice patience and self-control under difficult or disappointing circumstances.
Everyone Is Watching
The character and quality of a leader is often demonstrated in these critical moments under fire, when everyone is watching, observing and privately taking notes. As Rudyard Kipling once said, "If you can keep your head when all around you are losing theirs and blaming it on you, then the world is yours and all that's in it".
Your job as a leader is to have a clear vision of where you want to go and then to keep your cool when things go wrong, as they surely will.
Action Exercises
Here are two things you can do immediately to put these ideas into action.
First, project forward 3-5 years and imagine your ideal future vision. What does it look like? What steps can you take immediately to begin turning your future vision into your current reality?
Second, resolve in advance that, no matter what happens, you will remain calm and cool. You will not become upset or angry. You will take a deep breath and focus on the solution rather than on the problem.
The one quality that all leaders have in common is that they have a clear and exciting vision for the future. This is something that only the leader can do. Only the leader can think about the future and plan for the future each day.
Develop A Clear Vision
Excellent leaders take the time to think through and develop a clear picture of where they want the organization to be in one, three and five years. Leaders have the ability to communicate this vision in such a way that others "buy in" and eventually see the vision as belonging to them.
How to Motivate People
It is the vision of the future possibilities, of what can be, that arouses emotion and motivates people to give of their best. The most powerful vision is always qualitative, aimed at and described in terms of values and mission rather than quantitative, described in terms of money. Of course, money is important, but the decision and commitment to "be the best in the business" is far more exciting.
To encourage others, to instill confidence in them, to help them to perform at their best requires first of all that you lead by example.
Develop amazing self-confidence and be unstoppable in everything you do!
Think of all the things you could do if you enjoyed super levels of self-confidence... your career would be booming, offers would be flying your way, everyone would want to be with you. You would have more opportunities to find that "special someone."
Be A Great Team Player
A study at Stanford Business School examined the qualities that companies look for in promoting young managers toward senior executive positions, especially the position of Chief Executive Officer. The study concluded that there were two important qualities required for great success in leadership. The first is the ability to put together a team and function as a good team player. Since all work is ultimately done by teams, and the managers' output is the output of the team, the ability to select team members, set objectives, delegate responsibility and finally, get the job done, was central to success in management.
Keep Your Cool
The second quality required for rapid promotion was found to be the ability to function well under pressure, and especially in a crisis. Keeping your cool in a crisis means to practice patience and self-control under difficult or disappointing circumstances.
Everyone Is Watching
The character and quality of a leader is often demonstrated in these critical moments under fire, when everyone is watching, observing and privately taking notes. As Rudyard Kipling once said, "If you can keep your head when all around you are losing theirs and blaming it on you, then the world is yours and all that's in it".
Your job as a leader is to have a clear vision of where you want to go and then to keep your cool when things go wrong, as they surely will.
Action Exercises
Here are two things you can do immediately to put these ideas into action.
First, project forward 3-5 years and imagine your ideal future vision. What does it look like? What steps can you take immediately to begin turning your future vision into your current reality?
Second, resolve in advance that, no matter what happens, you will remain calm and cool. You will not become upset or angry. You will take a deep breath and focus on the solution rather than on the problem.
Seven Steps to Success
Discipline yourself to do what you know you need to do to be the very best in your field. Perhaps the best definition of self discipline is this: "Self discipline is the ability to make yourself do what you should do when you should do it, whether you feel like it or not." It is easy to do something when you feel like it. It's when you don't feel like it and you force yourself to do it anyway that you move your life and career onto the fast track.
What decisions do you need to make today in order to start moving toward the top of your field? Whatever it is, either to get in or get out, make a decision today and then get started. This single act alone can change the whole direction of your life.
Seven Steps to Success
There is a powerful seven step formula that you can use to set and achieve your goals for the rest of your life. Every single successful person uses this formula or some variation of this formula to achieve vastly more than the average person. And so can you. Here it is:
Decide What You Want
Step number one, decide exactly what it is you want in each part of your life. Become a "meaningful specific" rather than a "wandering generality."
Write it Down
Second, write it down, clearly and in detail. Always think on paper. A goal that is not in writing is not a goal at all. It is merely a wish and it has no energy behind it.
Set a Deadline
Third, set a deadline for your goal. A deadline acts as a "forcing system" in your subconscious mind. It motivates you to do the things necessary to make your goal come true. If it is a big enough goal, set sub-deadlines as well. Don't leave this to chance.
Make a List
Fourth, make a list of everything that you can think of that you are going to have to do to achieve your goal. When you think of new tasks and activities, write them on your list until your list is complete.
Organize Your List
Fifth, organize your list into a plan. Decide what you will have to do first and what you will have to do second. Decide what is more important and what is less important. And then write out your plan on paper, the same way you would develop a blueprint to build your dream house.
Take Action
The sixth step is for you to take action on your plan. Do something. Do anything. But get busy. Get going.
Do Something Every Day
Do something every single day that moves you in the direction of your most important goal at the moment. Develop the discipline of doing something 365 days each year that is moving you forward. You will be absolutely astonished at how much you accomplish when you utilize this formula in your life every single day.
Action Exercises
Here are two things you can do to put these ideas into action immediately.
First, decide exactly what you want, write it down with a deadline, make a plan and take action - on at least one goal - today!
Second, determine the price you will have to pay to achieve this goal and then get busy paying that price - whatever it is.
What decisions do you need to make today in order to start moving toward the top of your field? Whatever it is, either to get in or get out, make a decision today and then get started. This single act alone can change the whole direction of your life.
Seven Steps to Success
There is a powerful seven step formula that you can use to set and achieve your goals for the rest of your life. Every single successful person uses this formula or some variation of this formula to achieve vastly more than the average person. And so can you. Here it is:
Decide What You Want
Step number one, decide exactly what it is you want in each part of your life. Become a "meaningful specific" rather than a "wandering generality."
Write it Down
Second, write it down, clearly and in detail. Always think on paper. A goal that is not in writing is not a goal at all. It is merely a wish and it has no energy behind it.
Set a Deadline
Third, set a deadline for your goal. A deadline acts as a "forcing system" in your subconscious mind. It motivates you to do the things necessary to make your goal come true. If it is a big enough goal, set sub-deadlines as well. Don't leave this to chance.
Make a List
Fourth, make a list of everything that you can think of that you are going to have to do to achieve your goal. When you think of new tasks and activities, write them on your list until your list is complete.
Organize Your List
Fifth, organize your list into a plan. Decide what you will have to do first and what you will have to do second. Decide what is more important and what is less important. And then write out your plan on paper, the same way you would develop a blueprint to build your dream house.
Take Action
The sixth step is for you to take action on your plan. Do something. Do anything. But get busy. Get going.
Do Something Every Day
Do something every single day that moves you in the direction of your most important goal at the moment. Develop the discipline of doing something 365 days each year that is moving you forward. You will be absolutely astonished at how much you accomplish when you utilize this formula in your life every single day.
Action Exercises
Here are two things you can do to put these ideas into action immediately.
First, decide exactly what you want, write it down with a deadline, make a plan and take action - on at least one goal - today!
Second, determine the price you will have to pay to achieve this goal and then get busy paying that price - whatever it is.
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