Start From Nothing and Become Financially Independent
More than eighty percent of self-made millionaires in America began with nothing or in many cases, less than nothing. I can certainly relate to that because when I was growing up and right into my early 30s, I never had any extra money with which to start a fortune. It seemed to me that there was always enough, if not more than enough bills, to absorb every penny I earned. I was always in debt.
Be Ready for Your Opportunity
And even if a great business opportunity did come along, I wouldn't have been able to do anything with it. As I began studying financial success and self-made millionaires, I noticed that almost everyone around me was in pretty much the same boat. The idea of becoming really wealthy was a distant dream with very little possibility of coming true. You may be in the same situation, with more bills than money or assets.
Look at the Numbers
The statistics are a little scary. Of 100 people who reach retirement age, according to insurance industry statistics, only one will be wealthy. Four out of the hundred will be financially independent; fifteen will have some savings put aside. And the other 80 will be dependent on pensions, still working or broke - this after a lifetime of well-paid work in the most affluent society in human history. Now why does this happen?
Why People Retire Poor
There are two main reasons why people retire poor. First, they never decide to retire rich. They wish and hope and pray, but they never make a firm, unequivocal decision that they're going to do it. Second, even if they do decide to retire rich, they procrastinate until it's too late. They always have some good reason for putting it off.
Start With Desire and Decision
If you sincerely want to beat the odds, to achieve financial independence and retire wealthy, there are four critical steps that you must take, all starting with the letter D.
The first step is desire. You must want it badly enough to make an unshakable commitment and to be willing to make sacrifices. The second D is decision. You must make a decision right now to do whatever is necessary, to be willing to pay any price, go any distance, to achieve your goal.
Practice Determination and Discipline
The third D is determination, which is to keep at it until you succeed in spite of all the problems and obstacles you will experience. And the fourth D is discipline - the discipline to master yourself to develop the habits necessary for achieving financial independence.
Those are the four Ds. Desire, Decision, Determination and Discipline. And you can measure how successful you're going to be in the future by measuring how well you're doing in each of those on a scale of one to ten.
Action Exercises
Here are two things you can do immediately to put these ideas into action.
First, make a decision, right now, that you are going to be financially independent, no matter what obstacles you face in the short term. Then write it down, make a plan and start to work on it every single day.
Second, resolve in advance that you will persist in the face of every setback or obstacle you face. You will never give up. You will keep on moving forward until you finally achieve your goal.
Monday, August 20, 2007
The Golden Hour
You become what you think about most of the time. And the most important part of each day is what you think about at the beginning of that day.
Start Your Day Right
Take 30 minutes each morning to sit quietly and to reflect on your goals. You'll find when you read the biographies and autobiographies of successful men and women that almost everyone of them began their upward trajectory to success when they begin getting up early in the morning and spending time with themselves.
Feed Your Mind With Positive Ideas
This is called the Golden Hour. The first hour sets the tone for the day. The things that you do in the first hour prepare your mind and set you up for the entire day. During the first thirty to sixty minutes, take time to think and review your plans for the future.
Use Your Quiet Time Effectively
Here are four things that you can do during that quiet time in the morning. Number one is to review your plans for accomplishing your goals and change your plans if necessary.
Number two is think of better ways to accomplish your goals. As an exercise, assume that the way you're going about it is totally wrong and imagine going about it totally differently. What would you do different from what you're doing right now?
Number three, reflect on the valuable lessons that you have learned and are learning as you move toward your goals.
Practice Daily Visualization
Number four, calmly visualize your goal as a reality. Close your eyes, relax, smile, and see your goal as though it were already a reality. Rewrite your major goals everyday in the present tense. Rewrite them as though they already existed. Write "I earn X dollars." "I have a net worth of X." "I weigh a certain number of pounds." This exercise of writing and rewriting your goals everyday is one of the most powerful you will ever learn.
Fasten Your Seatbelt
Your life will start to take off at such a speed that you'll have to put on your seatbelt. Remember, the starting point for achieving financial success is the development of an attitude of unshakable confidence in yourself and in your ability to reach your goals. Everything we've talked about is a way of building up and developing your belief system until you finally reach the point where you are absolutely convinced that nothing can stop you from achieving what you set out to achieve.
Everything Counts
No one starts out with this kind of an attitude, but you can develop it using the law of accumulation. Everything counts. No efforts are ever lost. Every extraordinary accomplishment in the result of thousands of ordinary accomplishments that no one recognizes or appreciates. The greatest challenge of all is for you to concentrate your thinking single-mindedly on your goal and by the law of attraction, you will, you must inevitably draw into your life the people, circumstances and opportunities you need to achieve your goals.
Become A Living Magnet
Once you've mastered yourself and your thinking, you will become a living magnet for ideas and opportunities to become wealthy. It's worked for me and for every successful person I know. It will work for you if you'll begin today, now, this very minute, to think and talk about your dreams and goals as though they were already a reality. When you change your thinking, you will change your life. You will put yourself firmly on the road to financial independence.
Action Exercises
Now, here are two things you can do every single day to keep your mind focused on your financial goals:
First, get up every morning a little bit earlier and plan your day in advance. Take some time to think about your goals and how you can best achieve them. This sets the tone for the whole day.
Second, reflect on the valuable lessons you are learning each day as you work toward your goals. Be prepared to correct your course and adjust your actions. Be absolutely convinced that you are moving rapidly toward your goals, no matter what happens temporarily on the outside. Just hang in there!
Start Your Day Right
Take 30 minutes each morning to sit quietly and to reflect on your goals. You'll find when you read the biographies and autobiographies of successful men and women that almost everyone of them began their upward trajectory to success when they begin getting up early in the morning and spending time with themselves.
Feed Your Mind With Positive Ideas
This is called the Golden Hour. The first hour sets the tone for the day. The things that you do in the first hour prepare your mind and set you up for the entire day. During the first thirty to sixty minutes, take time to think and review your plans for the future.
Use Your Quiet Time Effectively
Here are four things that you can do during that quiet time in the morning. Number one is to review your plans for accomplishing your goals and change your plans if necessary.
Number two is think of better ways to accomplish your goals. As an exercise, assume that the way you're going about it is totally wrong and imagine going about it totally differently. What would you do different from what you're doing right now?
Number three, reflect on the valuable lessons that you have learned and are learning as you move toward your goals.
Practice Daily Visualization
Number four, calmly visualize your goal as a reality. Close your eyes, relax, smile, and see your goal as though it were already a reality. Rewrite your major goals everyday in the present tense. Rewrite them as though they already existed. Write "I earn X dollars." "I have a net worth of X." "I weigh a certain number of pounds." This exercise of writing and rewriting your goals everyday is one of the most powerful you will ever learn.
Fasten Your Seatbelt
Your life will start to take off at such a speed that you'll have to put on your seatbelt. Remember, the starting point for achieving financial success is the development of an attitude of unshakable confidence in yourself and in your ability to reach your goals. Everything we've talked about is a way of building up and developing your belief system until you finally reach the point where you are absolutely convinced that nothing can stop you from achieving what you set out to achieve.
Everything Counts
No one starts out with this kind of an attitude, but you can develop it using the law of accumulation. Everything counts. No efforts are ever lost. Every extraordinary accomplishment in the result of thousands of ordinary accomplishments that no one recognizes or appreciates. The greatest challenge of all is for you to concentrate your thinking single-mindedly on your goal and by the law of attraction, you will, you must inevitably draw into your life the people, circumstances and opportunities you need to achieve your goals.
Become A Living Magnet
Once you've mastered yourself and your thinking, you will become a living magnet for ideas and opportunities to become wealthy. It's worked for me and for every successful person I know. It will work for you if you'll begin today, now, this very minute, to think and talk about your dreams and goals as though they were already a reality. When you change your thinking, you will change your life. You will put yourself firmly on the road to financial independence.
Action Exercises
Now, here are two things you can do every single day to keep your mind focused on your financial goals:
First, get up every morning a little bit earlier and plan your day in advance. Take some time to think about your goals and how you can best achieve them. This sets the tone for the whole day.
Second, reflect on the valuable lessons you are learning each day as you work toward your goals. Be prepared to correct your course and adjust your actions. Be absolutely convinced that you are moving rapidly toward your goals, no matter what happens temporarily on the outside. Just hang in there!
Transformational Leadership
Advancing Your Career
As your career advances, you move along the scale from employee, to supervisor to manager and finally, to leader. Managers, and some leaders, engage in what is called transactional leadership, the deployment and management of people and resources to get results.
Arouse Emotion In Others
However, at the highest end of the leadership scale, we come to what is called "transformational leadership." Transformational leadership is defined as leadership that arouses emotion, that taps into the emotional and spiritual resources of an organization. Transformational leadership empowers people to greatly exceed their previous levels of accomplishment.
Make People Feel Terrific
Empowerment is the key. Transformational leaders are those who can elicit extraordinary performance from ordinary men and women. The superior leader is like a catalyst in a chemical process that causes the other ingredients to work together in a superior fashion
A Key Function of Leadership
Empowerment as a key function of leadership becomes even more important as the work force becomes dominated by members of the Generation X. These highly individualistic men and women are increasingly seeking higher meaning and purpose in their careers. They are not impressed by authority or hierarchy. If they don't get the satisfaction they are seeking from their work, they will go somewhere else. And the better they are at what they do, the more readily they will leave one job for another.
Provide the Emotional Glue
Transactional leadership is essential to getting the job done but transformational leadership is what provides the emotional glue that causes organizations and the people in them to excel.
Action Exercises
Here are two things you can do immediately to become a transformational leader and empower your people.
First, get excited about your work. The more excited and committed you are to your work, the more excited and committed will be the people around you. The leader always sets the tone for the department or organization.
Second, continually encourage and praise the people who work for you. The better you make people feel about themselves and their work, the more empowered they will feel and the more committed they will be to your company.
As your career advances, you move along the scale from employee, to supervisor to manager and finally, to leader. Managers, and some leaders, engage in what is called transactional leadership, the deployment and management of people and resources to get results.
Arouse Emotion In Others
However, at the highest end of the leadership scale, we come to what is called "transformational leadership." Transformational leadership is defined as leadership that arouses emotion, that taps into the emotional and spiritual resources of an organization. Transformational leadership empowers people to greatly exceed their previous levels of accomplishment.
Make People Feel Terrific
Empowerment is the key. Transformational leaders are those who can elicit extraordinary performance from ordinary men and women. The superior leader is like a catalyst in a chemical process that causes the other ingredients to work together in a superior fashion
A Key Function of Leadership
Empowerment as a key function of leadership becomes even more important as the work force becomes dominated by members of the Generation X. These highly individualistic men and women are increasingly seeking higher meaning and purpose in their careers. They are not impressed by authority or hierarchy. If they don't get the satisfaction they are seeking from their work, they will go somewhere else. And the better they are at what they do, the more readily they will leave one job for another.
Provide the Emotional Glue
Transactional leadership is essential to getting the job done but transformational leadership is what provides the emotional glue that causes organizations and the people in them to excel.
Action Exercises
Here are two things you can do immediately to become a transformational leader and empower your people.
First, get excited about your work. The more excited and committed you are to your work, the more excited and committed will be the people around you. The leader always sets the tone for the department or organization.
Second, continually encourage and praise the people who work for you. The better you make people feel about themselves and their work, the more empowered they will feel and the more committed they will be to your company.
Tuesday, August 14, 2007
Three Rules for Developing Courage
The step-by-step development of courage in yourself is the first responsibility of leadership. The second responsibility is to develop and instill courage in others, your staff, your children, your spouse, and your friends. But you must begin with yourself because you can't give away something that you don't have. You can only encourage others to the degree to which you experience and demonstrate courage yourself. You set the tone and determine the standard.
Control Your Fear
Here's the first rule: "Everyone is afraid." You're afraid, I'm afraid, everyone you meet is afraid in some way, often in many ways. As Mark Twain said, "Courage is not absence of fear; it is control of fear, mastery of fear." The brave person is the person who acts in spite of his or her fear, who faces the fear, feels the fear and moves forward regardless.
Here's the second rule: "Fears diminish and lose their power over you as you confront them and move toward them; conversely, every time you back away from a fear situation, the fear grows and becomes more powerful."
Confront Your Fear
The only way to develop courage is to consciously and continuously make a habit of confronting your fear of treating every fear-inducing situation as a challenge and as an opportunity to become stronger, more resolute.
Do the Thing You Fear
Here's the third rule: "Do the thing you fear and the death of fear is certain." Psychologists call this the process of "systematic desensitization," doing it over and over until it holds no fear for you at all. Many businesspeople who have been so afraid of public speaking that they couldn't lead a silent prayer in a phone booth have used this process of eliminating fear. By going to meeting after meeting of Toastmasters International, speaking and getting feedback each time, they have developed competence and confidence where once they experienced only terror. So can you.
Action Exercises
Here are two ways to apply these rules to develop courage in yourself.
First, confront your fears directly and immediately. Whenever you feel afraid for any reason, do it anyway! You'll be amazed at your success.
Second, do the thing you fear over and over until it has no more power over you. The more you repeat the action, the more courage and confidence you will have
Control Your Fear
Here's the first rule: "Everyone is afraid." You're afraid, I'm afraid, everyone you meet is afraid in some way, often in many ways. As Mark Twain said, "Courage is not absence of fear; it is control of fear, mastery of fear." The brave person is the person who acts in spite of his or her fear, who faces the fear, feels the fear and moves forward regardless.
Here's the second rule: "Fears diminish and lose their power over you as you confront them and move toward them; conversely, every time you back away from a fear situation, the fear grows and becomes more powerful."
Confront Your Fear
The only way to develop courage is to consciously and continuously make a habit of confronting your fear of treating every fear-inducing situation as a challenge and as an opportunity to become stronger, more resolute.
Do the Thing You Fear
Here's the third rule: "Do the thing you fear and the death of fear is certain." Psychologists call this the process of "systematic desensitization," doing it over and over until it holds no fear for you at all. Many businesspeople who have been so afraid of public speaking that they couldn't lead a silent prayer in a phone booth have used this process of eliminating fear. By going to meeting after meeting of Toastmasters International, speaking and getting feedback each time, they have developed competence and confidence where once they experienced only terror. So can you.
Action Exercises
Here are two ways to apply these rules to develop courage in yourself.
First, confront your fears directly and immediately. Whenever you feel afraid for any reason, do it anyway! You'll be amazed at your success.
Second, do the thing you fear over and over until it has no more power over you. The more you repeat the action, the more courage and confidence you will have
Four Steps to a Super Attitude
Decide How to React
It is not what happens to you that counts. It is how you react to what happens to you, especially when you have unexpected problems of any kind.
In this newsletter, you learn powerful strategies you can use to keep yourself thinking and acting positively and creatively.
Here are four things you can do to assure that your attitude is the very best it can be, under all circumstances.
Focus On the Future
First, whatever challenges you face, focus on the future rather than on the past. Instead of worrying about who did what and who is to blame, focus on where you want to be and what you want to do. Get a clear mental image of your ideal successful future, and then take whatever action you can to begin moving in that direction. Get your mind, your thoughts, and your mental images on the future.
Think About the Solution
Second, whenever you're faced with a difficulty, focus on the solution rather than on the problem. Think and talk about the ideal solution to the obstacle or setback, rather than wasting time rehashing and reflecting on the problem. Solutions are inherently positive, whereas problems are inherently negative. The instant that you begin thinking in terms of solutions, you become a positive and constructive human being.
Look For the Good
Third, assume that something good is hidden within each difficulty or challenge. Dr. Norman Vincent Peale, a major proponent of positive thinking, once said, "Whenever God wants to give us a gift, he wraps it up in a problem." The bigger the gift you have coming, the bigger the problem you will receive. But the wonderful thing is that if you look for the gift, you will always find it.
Seek the Valuable Lesson
Fourth, assume that whatever situation you are facing at the moment is exactly the right situation you need to ultimately be successful. This situation has been sent to you to help you learn something, to help you become better, to help you expand and grow.
Decide to Be Positive
A Positive Mental Attitude is indispensable to your success. You can be as positive as you want to be if you will simply think about the future, focus on the solution and look for the good. If you do what other successful people do, if you use your mind to exert mental control over the situation, you will be positive and cheerful most of the time. And you will reap the benefits enjoyed by all successful people.
Action Exercises
Here are three steps you can take immediately to put these ideas into action:
First, become solution-oriented with every difficulty you face. Make a habit of looking for the answers to your questions, the solutions to your problems.
Second, seek for the valuable lesson in every adversity. Make a list of every idea or insight you can gain from every setback or difficulty.
Third, think on paper. Take some time to write out every detail of the problem, and then take the most logical next step to solve it.
It is not what happens to you that counts. It is how you react to what happens to you, especially when you have unexpected problems of any kind.
In this newsletter, you learn powerful strategies you can use to keep yourself thinking and acting positively and creatively.
Here are four things you can do to assure that your attitude is the very best it can be, under all circumstances.
Focus On the Future
First, whatever challenges you face, focus on the future rather than on the past. Instead of worrying about who did what and who is to blame, focus on where you want to be and what you want to do. Get a clear mental image of your ideal successful future, and then take whatever action you can to begin moving in that direction. Get your mind, your thoughts, and your mental images on the future.
Think About the Solution
Second, whenever you're faced with a difficulty, focus on the solution rather than on the problem. Think and talk about the ideal solution to the obstacle or setback, rather than wasting time rehashing and reflecting on the problem. Solutions are inherently positive, whereas problems are inherently negative. The instant that you begin thinking in terms of solutions, you become a positive and constructive human being.
Look For the Good
Third, assume that something good is hidden within each difficulty or challenge. Dr. Norman Vincent Peale, a major proponent of positive thinking, once said, "Whenever God wants to give us a gift, he wraps it up in a problem." The bigger the gift you have coming, the bigger the problem you will receive. But the wonderful thing is that if you look for the gift, you will always find it.
Seek the Valuable Lesson
Fourth, assume that whatever situation you are facing at the moment is exactly the right situation you need to ultimately be successful. This situation has been sent to you to help you learn something, to help you become better, to help you expand and grow.
Decide to Be Positive
A Positive Mental Attitude is indispensable to your success. You can be as positive as you want to be if you will simply think about the future, focus on the solution and look for the good. If you do what other successful people do, if you use your mind to exert mental control over the situation, you will be positive and cheerful most of the time. And you will reap the benefits enjoyed by all successful people.
Action Exercises
Here are three steps you can take immediately to put these ideas into action:
First, become solution-oriented with every difficulty you face. Make a habit of looking for the answers to your questions, the solutions to your problems.
Second, seek for the valuable lesson in every adversity. Make a list of every idea or insight you can gain from every setback or difficulty.
Third, think on paper. Take some time to write out every detail of the problem, and then take the most logical next step to solve it.
The New Mental Diet
One of the most powerful personal programming activities you can engage in is positive self-talk. Be your own cheerleader and talk to yourself positively all of the time.
Think About Your Dreams
As it happens, the average person talks to himself in a negative way. As much as 94 percent of your inner dialogue tends to be about the things you fear, your worries, the people you're angry at, your problems, your concerns and so on. You have to consciously keep your words, your inner dialogue, consistent with what you wish to accomplish.
The Most Powerful Antidote
Psychologists have proven that the words, "I can do it," are the antidote to the fear of failure that often holds you back from trying. Repeat these words over and over to yourself whenever you feel fearful or doubtful about anything that you want to attempt. Say very enthusiastically to yourself, "I can do it, I can do it, I can do it!" When you start saying, "I can do it, I can do it," you drive that message deep into your subconscious mind. This message lowers your fears and builds your self-confidence.
Make A Million!
Another thing you can say to yourself is, "I make a million. I make a million." Impress that message into your subconscious mind. Whenever you think about your work, say over and over again, "I'm the best, I'm the best, I'm the best." Making any one of these three statements, or anything that is positive makes you feel good about yourself and causes you to be more motivated. You become more focused, more determined. Wealthy, successful people have a continuous inner dialogue that is positive and constructive and uplifting and consistent with their goals and objectives.
Feed Your Mind Continually
Feed your mind from morning to night with words, pictures, information and ideas consistent with your goals for financial success. Develop the habit of thinking positively and confidently about wealth accumulation. Read stories, books and articles about other successful people. Think about how you could be like them. Visualize yourself, imagine, fantasize, pretend in your mind that you are like the kind of people that you admire and respect and want to be like.
Select A Role Model
Psychologists have proven that role models are essential for magnetizing your mind with the qualities and characteristics that you wish to develop in yourself. Pick a person that you admire. Whenever you face any kind of difficult situation, ask yourself, how would this person act in this situation? What would this person do? How would this person behave? You'll find that when you think about how someone you admire might behave, your own thinking becomes better and you tend to act at your very best.
Become An Expert
Read everything you can find about your business. Become an expert in your field. The more you learn about your profession, your trade and your craft, the more confident you will become that you can do well in it.
Action Exercises
Here are two things you can do to put yourself on the new mental diet for financial success:
First, repeat to yourself, over and over again, the wonderful words "I can do it! I can do it! I can do it!" Whenever you are anticipating any new goal or opportunity. This affirmation builds your self-confidence and conditions you for success.
Second, monitor your mental diet the way you would your physical diet. Be sure that you feed yourself throughout the day with positive stories, words, pictures and conversations about the things you want to have in your life. Refuse to read, watch, listen to or discuss things that are negative or depressing. This will make a tremendous difference in how you feel and how you act.
Think About Your Dreams
As it happens, the average person talks to himself in a negative way. As much as 94 percent of your inner dialogue tends to be about the things you fear, your worries, the people you're angry at, your problems, your concerns and so on. You have to consciously keep your words, your inner dialogue, consistent with what you wish to accomplish.
The Most Powerful Antidote
Psychologists have proven that the words, "I can do it," are the antidote to the fear of failure that often holds you back from trying. Repeat these words over and over to yourself whenever you feel fearful or doubtful about anything that you want to attempt. Say very enthusiastically to yourself, "I can do it, I can do it, I can do it!" When you start saying, "I can do it, I can do it," you drive that message deep into your subconscious mind. This message lowers your fears and builds your self-confidence.
Make A Million!
Another thing you can say to yourself is, "I make a million. I make a million." Impress that message into your subconscious mind. Whenever you think about your work, say over and over again, "I'm the best, I'm the best, I'm the best." Making any one of these three statements, or anything that is positive makes you feel good about yourself and causes you to be more motivated. You become more focused, more determined. Wealthy, successful people have a continuous inner dialogue that is positive and constructive and uplifting and consistent with their goals and objectives.
Feed Your Mind Continually
Feed your mind from morning to night with words, pictures, information and ideas consistent with your goals for financial success. Develop the habit of thinking positively and confidently about wealth accumulation. Read stories, books and articles about other successful people. Think about how you could be like them. Visualize yourself, imagine, fantasize, pretend in your mind that you are like the kind of people that you admire and respect and want to be like.
Select A Role Model
Psychologists have proven that role models are essential for magnetizing your mind with the qualities and characteristics that you wish to develop in yourself. Pick a person that you admire. Whenever you face any kind of difficult situation, ask yourself, how would this person act in this situation? What would this person do? How would this person behave? You'll find that when you think about how someone you admire might behave, your own thinking becomes better and you tend to act at your very best.
Become An Expert
Read everything you can find about your business. Become an expert in your field. The more you learn about your profession, your trade and your craft, the more confident you will become that you can do well in it.
Action Exercises
Here are two things you can do to put yourself on the new mental diet for financial success:
First, repeat to yourself, over and over again, the wonderful words "I can do it! I can do it! I can do it!" Whenever you are anticipating any new goal or opportunity. This affirmation builds your self-confidence and conditions you for success.
Second, monitor your mental diet the way you would your physical diet. Be sure that you feed yourself throughout the day with positive stories, words, pictures and conversations about the things you want to have in your life. Refuse to read, watch, listen to or discuss things that are negative or depressing. This will make a tremendous difference in how you feel and how you act.
Sunday, August 12, 2007
Ambitiously Pursuing Your Own Self-Direction
What is the origin of true ambition? There exists really only one place to find true ambition and that is within you – in every thought, in every movement, in every motivation. Your ambition is an expression of who you truly are, your own self-expression.
Self-expression. Isn't self-expression really self-direction? How you think, how you move, how you motivate yourself. Ambition is a result of self-direction and self-direction is one of the six key principles necessary for building ambition. Positive self-direction says, "I know who I am and I know where I want to go. I'm accumulating knowledge and experiences and feelings and philosophies that will help prepare me for opportunities that I know will show up without notice or any help on my part." Because you know where you want to go, you have already been working on the parts of your personality that will make you better. Working on your attitude, working on your health, working on your time management skills. Putting it all down on paper. And you constantly see yourself in the place you want to be, going in the direction you want to go.
Direction determines destination. So here is a question you must ask yourself, "Are all the disciplines that I'm currently engaged in taking me where I want to go?" What an important question to ask yourself at the beginning of the month, the beginning of the week, the beginning of the day. Because here is what you don't ever want to do - kid yourself. Kid your neighbor, kid me and kid the marketplace, but don't kid yourself - fingers crossed - hoping you will arrive at a good destination when you're not even headed that way. You have to ask yourself often, Am I? Am I doing the disciplines that are taking me in the direction I want to go? Don't neglect to ask these important questions, questions that help determine your direction, the set of your sail, your destination.
Is this the direction I want for my life?
Is this someone else's direction?
Is this a goal I have been ingrained with since my childhood?
Is this goal my parent's, my spouse's, my boss', my children's or is it Mine?
Ask yourself these questions and then debate them. After you have answered these questions within yourself, then take it one step further and ask, "What am I doing that is working or not working?" Debate it all. Work with your mind to figure out the best possible direction for you - your self-direction. And then ambitiously pursue your own self-direction. Let the power of your own ambition take you where you want to go, to do what you want to do, to create the life you want to live!
Self-expression. Isn't self-expression really self-direction? How you think, how you move, how you motivate yourself. Ambition is a result of self-direction and self-direction is one of the six key principles necessary for building ambition. Positive self-direction says, "I know who I am and I know where I want to go. I'm accumulating knowledge and experiences and feelings and philosophies that will help prepare me for opportunities that I know will show up without notice or any help on my part." Because you know where you want to go, you have already been working on the parts of your personality that will make you better. Working on your attitude, working on your health, working on your time management skills. Putting it all down on paper. And you constantly see yourself in the place you want to be, going in the direction you want to go.
Direction determines destination. So here is a question you must ask yourself, "Are all the disciplines that I'm currently engaged in taking me where I want to go?" What an important question to ask yourself at the beginning of the month, the beginning of the week, the beginning of the day. Because here is what you don't ever want to do - kid yourself. Kid your neighbor, kid me and kid the marketplace, but don't kid yourself - fingers crossed - hoping you will arrive at a good destination when you're not even headed that way. You have to ask yourself often, Am I? Am I doing the disciplines that are taking me in the direction I want to go? Don't neglect to ask these important questions, questions that help determine your direction, the set of your sail, your destination.
Is this the direction I want for my life?
Is this someone else's direction?
Is this a goal I have been ingrained with since my childhood?
Is this goal my parent's, my spouse's, my boss', my children's or is it Mine?
Ask yourself these questions and then debate them. After you have answered these questions within yourself, then take it one step further and ask, "What am I doing that is working or not working?" Debate it all. Work with your mind to figure out the best possible direction for you - your self-direction. And then ambitiously pursue your own self-direction. Let the power of your own ambition take you where you want to go, to do what you want to do, to create the life you want to live!
Life is Worthwhile if You..
Life is Worthwhile if You...
Life Tip 1) First, life is worthwhile if you LEARN. What you don't know WILL hurt you. You have to have learning to exist, let alone succeed. Life is worthwhile if you learn from your own experiences, negative and positive. We learn to do it right by first sometimes doing it wrong. We call that a positive negative. We also learn from other people's experiences, both positive and negative. I've always said it is too bad failures don't give seminars. We don't want to pay them so they don't tour around giving seminars. But the information would be very valuable – how someone who had it all, messed it up. Learning from other people's experiences and mistakes.
We learn by what we see - pay attention. By what we hear – be a good listener. Now I do suggest being a selective listener, don't just let anybody dump into your mental factory. We learn from what we read. Learn from every source. Learn from lectures, learn from songs, learn from sermons, learn from conversations with people who care. Keep learning.
Life Tip 2) Life is worthwhile if you TRY. You can't just learn; you now have to try something to see if you can do it. Try to make a difference, try to make some progress, try to learn a new skill, try to learn a new sport. Life is worthwhile if you try. It doesn't mean you can do everything but there are a lot of things you can do, if you just try. Try your best. Give it every effort. Why not go all out?
Life Tip 3) Life is worthwhile if you STAY. You have to stay from spring until harvest. If you have signed up for the day or for the game or for the project - see it through. Sometimes calamity comes and then it is worth wrapping it up. And that's the end, but just don't end in the middle. Maybe on the next project you pass, but on this one, if you signed up, see it through.
Life Tip 4) Life is worthwhile if you CARE. If you care at all you will get some results, if you care enough you can get incredible results. Care enough to make a difference. Care enough to turn somebody around. Care enough to start a new enterprise. Care enough to change it all. Care enough to be the highest producer. Care enough to set some records. Care enough to win.
Four powerful little words: learn, try, stay and care. What difference can you make in your life today by putting these four words to work?
Life Tip 1) First, life is worthwhile if you LEARN. What you don't know WILL hurt you. You have to have learning to exist, let alone succeed. Life is worthwhile if you learn from your own experiences, negative and positive. We learn to do it right by first sometimes doing it wrong. We call that a positive negative. We also learn from other people's experiences, both positive and negative. I've always said it is too bad failures don't give seminars. We don't want to pay them so they don't tour around giving seminars. But the information would be very valuable – how someone who had it all, messed it up. Learning from other people's experiences and mistakes.
We learn by what we see - pay attention. By what we hear – be a good listener. Now I do suggest being a selective listener, don't just let anybody dump into your mental factory. We learn from what we read. Learn from every source. Learn from lectures, learn from songs, learn from sermons, learn from conversations with people who care. Keep learning.
Life Tip 2) Life is worthwhile if you TRY. You can't just learn; you now have to try something to see if you can do it. Try to make a difference, try to make some progress, try to learn a new skill, try to learn a new sport. Life is worthwhile if you try. It doesn't mean you can do everything but there are a lot of things you can do, if you just try. Try your best. Give it every effort. Why not go all out?
Life Tip 3) Life is worthwhile if you STAY. You have to stay from spring until harvest. If you have signed up for the day or for the game or for the project - see it through. Sometimes calamity comes and then it is worth wrapping it up. And that's the end, but just don't end in the middle. Maybe on the next project you pass, but on this one, if you signed up, see it through.
Life Tip 4) Life is worthwhile if you CARE. If you care at all you will get some results, if you care enough you can get incredible results. Care enough to make a difference. Care enough to turn somebody around. Care enough to start a new enterprise. Care enough to change it all. Care enough to be the highest producer. Care enough to set some records. Care enough to win.
Four powerful little words: learn, try, stay and care. What difference can you make in your life today by putting these four words to work?
Earn Ten Times As Much
Earn Ten Times As Much
Here's an exercise for you; imagine that it's possible for you to earn ten times your current annual wage. If you're earning $25,000, imagine for a moment that it's possible for you to earn $250,000, a 1000% increase.
Don't Sell Yourself Short
The first reaction of most people to that exercise is to smile briefly and then to begin thinking about why it isn't possible. One man said to me, "If you knew how many years it's taken for me to get to what I'm earning today you wouldn't be suggesting that I could earn ten times as much."
Never A Good Excuse
Mark Twain once wrote that there are a thousand excuses for every failure but never a good reason. The tragedy of the average American is that whereas his or her main preoccupation seems to be money, or the lack thereof, the average person has the inherent potential to earn far more than he or she is doing currently.
Is the manager earning $250,000 per year ten times as smart as the manager earning $25,000? 10 times as experienced? Does he or she work 10 times harder? Of course not. None of these are physically or mentally possible, but there are people in every business earning many times more than others with the same average age, experience and intelligence.
The Results Are In
In fact, a few years ago in New York, a thousand men and women were selected at random and tested for I.Q. Between the one having the highest I.Q. in this sample and the one with the lowest, there was a difference of only 2 1/2 times. But between the person earning the most, who by the way, was not the one with the highest I.Q. and the one earning the least, who was not the one with the lowest I.Q., there was a difference of 100X in income.
Action Exercises
Here are two things you can do to start increasing your earnings.
First, identify the highest earning, most successful people in your field and find out what it is that they are doing differently from others who aren't doing as well. Copy them every day.
Second, set a goal to double your earnings over the next two or three years and then figure out how to accomplish that goal.
Here's an exercise for you; imagine that it's possible for you to earn ten times your current annual wage. If you're earning $25,000, imagine for a moment that it's possible for you to earn $250,000, a 1000% increase.
Don't Sell Yourself Short
The first reaction of most people to that exercise is to smile briefly and then to begin thinking about why it isn't possible. One man said to me, "If you knew how many years it's taken for me to get to what I'm earning today you wouldn't be suggesting that I could earn ten times as much."
Never A Good Excuse
Mark Twain once wrote that there are a thousand excuses for every failure but never a good reason. The tragedy of the average American is that whereas his or her main preoccupation seems to be money, or the lack thereof, the average person has the inherent potential to earn far more than he or she is doing currently.
Is the manager earning $250,000 per year ten times as smart as the manager earning $25,000? 10 times as experienced? Does he or she work 10 times harder? Of course not. None of these are physically or mentally possible, but there are people in every business earning many times more than others with the same average age, experience and intelligence.
The Results Are In
In fact, a few years ago in New York, a thousand men and women were selected at random and tested for I.Q. Between the one having the highest I.Q. in this sample and the one with the lowest, there was a difference of only 2 1/2 times. But between the person earning the most, who by the way, was not the one with the highest I.Q. and the one earning the least, who was not the one with the lowest I.Q., there was a difference of 100X in income.
Action Exercises
Here are two things you can do to start increasing your earnings.
First, identify the highest earning, most successful people in your field and find out what it is that they are doing differently from others who aren't doing as well. Copy them every day.
Second, set a goal to double your earnings over the next two or three years and then figure out how to accomplish that goal.
Thursday, August 09, 2007
The Five Biggest Changes You Can Make in Your Company to Help Your Employees Succeed this Year
Take some bold steps and help your employees and business partners open up to real change and help them start thinking again to the longer term. Send a message that you are ready to commit to new ways of thinking and that that includes a commitment to the success of your employees in the changing workplace.
1. Reconsider your company vision.
A vision statement uses the future to help analyze the present. It must have a message that everyone from the CEO to the receptionist to your freelance workers can understand and put into practice daily. Vision is the match that lights the fire of potential in people. To do its job, a vision must be long-term, meaningful in a human context and appeal to a higher purpose. Make several drafts of your vision and circulate them to people who’s opinion you value inside your company and out.
Ask yourself and others these questions:
Does our vision lead to action?
What will your customers be looking for from your company?
Can you live with this vision? Are you willing to act in accordance with it even if times get rough?
2. Devote more time to the management of people power.
People issues only seem to capture our full attention during times of crisis. Give them the time they deserve by setting up regular monthly staff meetings to discuss HR issues only.
Try this exercise: Managers rate the effectiveness of each employee on a simple scale from one to ten. Employees you rate 4 or below are clearly not making it in your workplace. Take action to move them within the company or help them move out of the company within the next 30 days. Employees you rate 8 or higher should have ongoing leadership development plans - they are your superstars. Spend more time with these people than any others. Make sure they know how you think about them and put them in coaching programs to be sure they continue to develop.
3. Start a 360 degree performance review process.
Have employees reviewed not only by their supervisor, but by their peer group as well. Make these reviews optional for the first year, but mandatory for employees who want to be considered for promotions.
A Caveat: It takes at least 6 months of preparation to introduce a 360 degree review process effectively. Show employees the evaluation materials you intend to use up front. Train employees how to accept criticism by giving them a system to take it in and process it before reacting. Also train employees to give feedback that is work-related and objective with factual examples not feelings.
4. Have the employees review the company.
Ask employees to hold the company up against its own standards. Do this survey annually and check the trend over time.
Ask yourself and others these questions:
Does the company walk the talk of its vision and values?
Are management employees role models for ethical behavior?
Do you take short-cuts with safety?
Do you encourage honesty in reporting or do you shoot the messenger?
5. Create action plans for each individual tied to your vision.
Make a direct connection between employee actions and the company vision.
Consider this process:
1. Develop a more specific mission statement from your overall vision, by defining your focus to what markets you are serving and balancing your commitments to quality, value, and service.
2. Determine the factors key to your company’s success and focus on specific, but long-term, goals in these areas.
3. Create annual corporate objectives related to your goals.
4. Have each department manager develop department objectives derived from the corporate objectives.
5. Post the results of 1-4 and ask each employee to develop individual objectives related to his or her department’s objectives.
1. Reconsider your company vision.
A vision statement uses the future to help analyze the present. It must have a message that everyone from the CEO to the receptionist to your freelance workers can understand and put into practice daily. Vision is the match that lights the fire of potential in people. To do its job, a vision must be long-term, meaningful in a human context and appeal to a higher purpose. Make several drafts of your vision and circulate them to people who’s opinion you value inside your company and out.
Ask yourself and others these questions:
Does our vision lead to action?
What will your customers be looking for from your company?
Can you live with this vision? Are you willing to act in accordance with it even if times get rough?
2. Devote more time to the management of people power.
People issues only seem to capture our full attention during times of crisis. Give them the time they deserve by setting up regular monthly staff meetings to discuss HR issues only.
Try this exercise: Managers rate the effectiveness of each employee on a simple scale from one to ten. Employees you rate 4 or below are clearly not making it in your workplace. Take action to move them within the company or help them move out of the company within the next 30 days. Employees you rate 8 or higher should have ongoing leadership development plans - they are your superstars. Spend more time with these people than any others. Make sure they know how you think about them and put them in coaching programs to be sure they continue to develop.
3. Start a 360 degree performance review process.
Have employees reviewed not only by their supervisor, but by their peer group as well. Make these reviews optional for the first year, but mandatory for employees who want to be considered for promotions.
A Caveat: It takes at least 6 months of preparation to introduce a 360 degree review process effectively. Show employees the evaluation materials you intend to use up front. Train employees how to accept criticism by giving them a system to take it in and process it before reacting. Also train employees to give feedback that is work-related and objective with factual examples not feelings.
4. Have the employees review the company.
Ask employees to hold the company up against its own standards. Do this survey annually and check the trend over time.
Ask yourself and others these questions:
Does the company walk the talk of its vision and values?
Are management employees role models for ethical behavior?
Do you take short-cuts with safety?
Do you encourage honesty in reporting or do you shoot the messenger?
5. Create action plans for each individual tied to your vision.
Make a direct connection between employee actions and the company vision.
Consider this process:
1. Develop a more specific mission statement from your overall vision, by defining your focus to what markets you are serving and balancing your commitments to quality, value, and service.
2. Determine the factors key to your company’s success and focus on specific, but long-term, goals in these areas.
3. Create annual corporate objectives related to your goals.
4. Have each department manager develop department objectives derived from the corporate objectives.
5. Post the results of 1-4 and ask each employee to develop individual objectives related to his or her department’s objectives.
Living Without Limits
The starting point of great success and achievement has always been the same. It is for you to dream big dreams. There is nothing more important, and nothing that works faster than for you to cast off your own limitations than for you to begin dreaming and fantasizing about the wonderful things that you can become, have, and do.
As a wise man once said, “You must dream big dreams, for only big dreams have the power to move the minds of men.” When you begin to dream big dreams, your levels of self-esteem and self-confidence will go up immediately. You will feel more powerful about yourself and your ability to deal with what happens to you. The reason so many people accomplish so little is because they never allow themselves to lean back and imagine the kind of life that is possible for them.
A powerful principle that you can use to dream big dreams and live without limits is contained in what Elihu Goldratt calls the “Theory of Constraints.” This is one of the greatest breakthroughs in modern thinking. What Goldratt has found is that in every process, in accomplishing any goal, there is a bottleneck or choke cord that serves as a constraint on the process. This constraint then sets the speed at which you achieve any particular goal.
What Goldratt found is that if you concentrate all of your creative energies and attention on alleviating the constraint, you can speed up the process faster than by doing any other single thing.
Let me give you an example. Let us say that you want to double your income. What is the critical constraint or the limiting factor that holds you back? Well, you know that your income is a direct reward for the quality and quantity of the services you render to your world. Whatever field you are in, if you want to double your income, you simply have to double the quality and quantity of what you do for that income. Or you have to change activities and occupations so that what you are doing is worth twice as much. But you must always ask yourself, “What is the critical constraint that holds me back or sets the speed on how fast I double my income?”
A friend of mine is one of the highest-paid commission professionals in the United States. One of his goals was to double his income over the next three to five years.
He applied the 80/20 rule to his client base. He found that 20 percent of his clients contributed 80 percent of his profits, and that the amount of time spent on a high-profit client was pretty much the same amount of time spent on a low-profit client. In other words, he was dividing his time equally over the number of tasks that he does while only 20 percent of those items contributes 80 percent of his results.
So he drew a line on his list of clients under those who represented the top 20 percent and then called in other professionals in his industry and very carefully, politely, and strategically handed off the 80 percent of his clients that only represented 20 percent of his business. He then put together a profile of his top clients and began looking in the marketplace exclusively for the type of client who fit the profile; in other words, one who could become a major profit contributor to his organization, and whom he in turn could serve with the level of excellence that his clients were accustomed to. And instead of doubling his income in three to five years, he doubled it in the first year!
So what is holding you back? Is it your level of education or skill? Is it your current occupation or job? Is it your current environment or level of health? Is it the situations that you are in today? What is setting the speed for you achieving your goal?
Remember, whatever you have learned, you can unlearn. Whatever situation you have gotten yourself into, you can probably get yourself out of. If your real goal is to dream big dreams and to live without limits, you can set this as your standard and compare everything that you do against it.
The three keys to living without limits have always been the same. They are clarity, competence, and concentration.
Clarity means that you are absolutely clear about who you are, what you want, and where you’re going. You write down your goals and you make plans to accomplish them. You set very careful priorities and you do something every day to move you toward your goals. And the more progress you make toward accomplishing things that are important to you, the greater self-confidence and self-belief you have, and the more convinced you become that there are no limits on what you can achieve.
Competence means that you begin to become very, very good in the key result areas of your chosen field. You apply the 80/20 rule to everything you do and you focus on becoming outstanding in the 20 percent of tasks that contribute to 80 percent of your results. You dedicate yourself to continuous learning. You never stop growing. You realize that excellence is a moving target. And you commit yourself to doing something every day that enables you to become better and better at doing the most important things in your field. Concentration is having the self-discipline to force yourself to concentrate single-mindedly on one thing, the most important thing, and stay with it until it’s complete.
The two key words for success have always been focus and concentration. Focus is knowing exactly what you want to be, have, and do. Concentration is persevering, without diversion or distraction, in a straight line toward accomplishing the things that can make a real difference in your life.
When you allow yourself to begin to dream big dreams, creatively abandon the activities that are taking up too much of your time, and focus your inward energies on alleviating your main constraints, you start to feel an incredible sense of power and confidence. As you focus on doing what you love to do and becoming excellent in those few areas that can make a real difference in your life, you begin to think in terms of possibilities rather than impossibilities, and you move ever closer toward the realization of your full potential.
As a wise man once said, “You must dream big dreams, for only big dreams have the power to move the minds of men.” When you begin to dream big dreams, your levels of self-esteem and self-confidence will go up immediately. You will feel more powerful about yourself and your ability to deal with what happens to you. The reason so many people accomplish so little is because they never allow themselves to lean back and imagine the kind of life that is possible for them.
A powerful principle that you can use to dream big dreams and live without limits is contained in what Elihu Goldratt calls the “Theory of Constraints.” This is one of the greatest breakthroughs in modern thinking. What Goldratt has found is that in every process, in accomplishing any goal, there is a bottleneck or choke cord that serves as a constraint on the process. This constraint then sets the speed at which you achieve any particular goal.
What Goldratt found is that if you concentrate all of your creative energies and attention on alleviating the constraint, you can speed up the process faster than by doing any other single thing.
Let me give you an example. Let us say that you want to double your income. What is the critical constraint or the limiting factor that holds you back? Well, you know that your income is a direct reward for the quality and quantity of the services you render to your world. Whatever field you are in, if you want to double your income, you simply have to double the quality and quantity of what you do for that income. Or you have to change activities and occupations so that what you are doing is worth twice as much. But you must always ask yourself, “What is the critical constraint that holds me back or sets the speed on how fast I double my income?”
A friend of mine is one of the highest-paid commission professionals in the United States. One of his goals was to double his income over the next three to five years.
He applied the 80/20 rule to his client base. He found that 20 percent of his clients contributed 80 percent of his profits, and that the amount of time spent on a high-profit client was pretty much the same amount of time spent on a low-profit client. In other words, he was dividing his time equally over the number of tasks that he does while only 20 percent of those items contributes 80 percent of his results.
So he drew a line on his list of clients under those who represented the top 20 percent and then called in other professionals in his industry and very carefully, politely, and strategically handed off the 80 percent of his clients that only represented 20 percent of his business. He then put together a profile of his top clients and began looking in the marketplace exclusively for the type of client who fit the profile; in other words, one who could become a major profit contributor to his organization, and whom he in turn could serve with the level of excellence that his clients were accustomed to. And instead of doubling his income in three to five years, he doubled it in the first year!
So what is holding you back? Is it your level of education or skill? Is it your current occupation or job? Is it your current environment or level of health? Is it the situations that you are in today? What is setting the speed for you achieving your goal?
Remember, whatever you have learned, you can unlearn. Whatever situation you have gotten yourself into, you can probably get yourself out of. If your real goal is to dream big dreams and to live without limits, you can set this as your standard and compare everything that you do against it.
The three keys to living without limits have always been the same. They are clarity, competence, and concentration.
Clarity means that you are absolutely clear about who you are, what you want, and where you’re going. You write down your goals and you make plans to accomplish them. You set very careful priorities and you do something every day to move you toward your goals. And the more progress you make toward accomplishing things that are important to you, the greater self-confidence and self-belief you have, and the more convinced you become that there are no limits on what you can achieve.
Competence means that you begin to become very, very good in the key result areas of your chosen field. You apply the 80/20 rule to everything you do and you focus on becoming outstanding in the 20 percent of tasks that contribute to 80 percent of your results. You dedicate yourself to continuous learning. You never stop growing. You realize that excellence is a moving target. And you commit yourself to doing something every day that enables you to become better and better at doing the most important things in your field. Concentration is having the self-discipline to force yourself to concentrate single-mindedly on one thing, the most important thing, and stay with it until it’s complete.
The two key words for success have always been focus and concentration. Focus is knowing exactly what you want to be, have, and do. Concentration is persevering, without diversion or distraction, in a straight line toward accomplishing the things that can make a real difference in your life.
When you allow yourself to begin to dream big dreams, creatively abandon the activities that are taking up too much of your time, and focus your inward energies on alleviating your main constraints, you start to feel an incredible sense of power and confidence. As you focus on doing what you love to do and becoming excellent in those few areas that can make a real difference in your life, you begin to think in terms of possibilities rather than impossibilities, and you move ever closer toward the realization of your full potential.
Increasing Your Earning Potential
Throughout most of human history, we have been accustomed to evolution, or the gradual changing and progressing of events in a straight line. Sometimes the process of change was faster and sometimes it was slower, but it almost always seemed to be progressive, from one step to the other, allowing you some opportunities for planning, predicting and changing.
Today, however, the rate of change is not only faster than ever before, but it is discontinuous. It is taking place in a variety of unconnected areas and affecting each of us in a variety of unexpected ways. Changes in information processing technologies are happening separately from changes in medicine, changes in transportation, changes in education, changes in politics and changes in global competition. Changes in family formation and relationships are happening separately from the rise and fall of new businesses and industries in different parts of the country. And if anything, this rate of accelerated, discontinuous change is increasing. As a result, most of us are already suffering from what Alvin Toffler once called, “future shock.”
You can’t do very much about the enormity of these changes, but the one thing that you can do is to think seriously about yourself and your basic need for security and stability. In no area is this more important than in the areas of job security and financial security. You must give special attention to your ability to make a good living and provide for yourself in the months and years ahead.
Above all, to position yourself for tomorrow, you must think continuously and seriously about your work today, your earning ability , and the work that you will be doing one, three, and five years from today. You must plan to achieve your own financial security, no matter what happens.
Charles Kettering said that you should give a lot of thought to the future because that is where you are going to spend the rest of your life. One of the greatest mistakes that people can make, and the one with the worst long-term consequences, is to think only about the present and give very little thought to what might happen in the months and years ahead.
When our grandfathers started work, it was quite common for them to get a basic education and then go to work for a company and stay with that same company for the rest of their working lives. When our parents went to work, it was more common for them to change jobs three or four times during their lifetime, although it was difficult and disruptive.
Today, with increased turbulence and change in the national and global economy, a person starting work can expect to have five full-time careers between the ages of 21 and 65, and 14 full-time jobs lasting two years or more. According to Fortune Magazine, fully 40 percent of American employees in the 21st Century will be “contingency” workers. This means that they will never work permanently for another company. They will continue to move as needed, from company to company, from job to job, earning less money than full-time employees and accruing very few, if any, benefits in terms of health care and pension plans.
Imagine what your job will look like five years from today. Since knowledge in your field is probably doubling every five years, this means that fully twenty percent of your knowledge and your ability in your field is becoming obsolete each year. In five years, you will be doing a brand new job with brand new skills and abilities. Ask yourself, “What parts of my knowledge, skills and work are becoming obsolete? What am I doing today that is different than what I was doing one year ago and two years ago?” What are you likely to be doing one year, two years, three years, four years and five years from today? What knowledge and skills will you need and how will you acquire them? What is your plan for your economic and financial future?
We are now in the knowledge age. Today, the chief factors of production are knowledge and the ability to apply that knowledge to achieving results for other people. Your earning ability today is largely dependent upon your knowledge, skill and your ability to combine that knowledge and skill in such a way that you contribute value for which customers are going to pay.
The Law of Three says that you must contribute three dollars of profit for every dollar that you wish to earn in salary. It costs a company approximately double your salary to employ you in terms of space, benefits, supervision, and investment in furniture, fixtures, and other resources. For a company to hire you, they have to make a profit on what they pay you. Therefore, you must contribute value greatly in excess of the amount you earn in order to stay employed. To put it another way, your earning ability must be considerably greater than the amount you are receiving, or you will find yourself looking for another job.
To position yourself for tomorrow, here is one of the most important rules you will ever learn: “The future belongs to the competent.” The future belongs to those men and women who are very good at what they do. Pat Riley, in his book The Winner Within, wrote that, “If you are not committed to getting better at what you are doing, you are bound to get worse.” To phrase it another way, anything less than a commitment to excellent performance on your part is an unconscious acceptance of mediocrity. It used to be that you needed to be excellent to rise above the competition in your industry.Today, you must be excellent even to keep your job in your industry.
The marketplace is a stern task master. Today, excellence, quality, and value are absolutely essential elements of any product or service, and of the work of any person. Your earning ability is largely determined by the perception of excellence, quality, and value that others have of you and what you do. The market only pays excellent rewards for excellent performance. It pays average rewards for average performance, and it pays below average rewards or unemployment for below average performance. Customers today want the very most and the very best for the very least amount of money, and on the best terms. Only the individuals and companies that provide absolutely excellent products and services at absolutely excellent prices will survive. It’s not personal. It’s just the way our economy works.
To earn more, you must learn more. You are maxed out today at your current level of knowledge and skill. However much you are earning at this moment is the maximum you can earn without learning and practicing something new and different.
And here’s the rub. Your accumulated knowledge and experience is becoming obsolete bit by bit, day by day. The knowledge in your field is doubling every three to five years. That means that your knowledge must double every three to five years just for you to stay even.
The solution to the dilemma of unavoidable change and restructuring is continuous self-development. Your personal knowledge and your ability to apply that knowledge are your most valuable assets. To stay on top of your world, you must continually add to your knowledge and your ability. You must continually build up your mental assets if you want to enjoy a continuous return on your investment. And only by building on your current assets do you stop them from deteriorating.
By engaging in continuous self-improvement, you can put yourself behind the wheel of your own life. By dedicating yourself to enhancing your earning ability, you will automatically be engaging in the continuous process of personal development. By learning more, you prepare yourself to earn more. You position yourself for tomorrow by developing the knowledge and skills that you need to be a valuable and productive part of our economy, no matter which direction it goes.
Today, however, the rate of change is not only faster than ever before, but it is discontinuous. It is taking place in a variety of unconnected areas and affecting each of us in a variety of unexpected ways. Changes in information processing technologies are happening separately from changes in medicine, changes in transportation, changes in education, changes in politics and changes in global competition. Changes in family formation and relationships are happening separately from the rise and fall of new businesses and industries in different parts of the country. And if anything, this rate of accelerated, discontinuous change is increasing. As a result, most of us are already suffering from what Alvin Toffler once called, “future shock.”
You can’t do very much about the enormity of these changes, but the one thing that you can do is to think seriously about yourself and your basic need for security and stability. In no area is this more important than in the areas of job security and financial security. You must give special attention to your ability to make a good living and provide for yourself in the months and years ahead.
Above all, to position yourself for tomorrow, you must think continuously and seriously about your work today, your earning ability , and the work that you will be doing one, three, and five years from today. You must plan to achieve your own financial security, no matter what happens.
Charles Kettering said that you should give a lot of thought to the future because that is where you are going to spend the rest of your life. One of the greatest mistakes that people can make, and the one with the worst long-term consequences, is to think only about the present and give very little thought to what might happen in the months and years ahead.
When our grandfathers started work, it was quite common for them to get a basic education and then go to work for a company and stay with that same company for the rest of their working lives. When our parents went to work, it was more common for them to change jobs three or four times during their lifetime, although it was difficult and disruptive.
Today, with increased turbulence and change in the national and global economy, a person starting work can expect to have five full-time careers between the ages of 21 and 65, and 14 full-time jobs lasting two years or more. According to Fortune Magazine, fully 40 percent of American employees in the 21st Century will be “contingency” workers. This means that they will never work permanently for another company. They will continue to move as needed, from company to company, from job to job, earning less money than full-time employees and accruing very few, if any, benefits in terms of health care and pension plans.
Imagine what your job will look like five years from today. Since knowledge in your field is probably doubling every five years, this means that fully twenty percent of your knowledge and your ability in your field is becoming obsolete each year. In five years, you will be doing a brand new job with brand new skills and abilities. Ask yourself, “What parts of my knowledge, skills and work are becoming obsolete? What am I doing today that is different than what I was doing one year ago and two years ago?” What are you likely to be doing one year, two years, three years, four years and five years from today? What knowledge and skills will you need and how will you acquire them? What is your plan for your economic and financial future?
We are now in the knowledge age. Today, the chief factors of production are knowledge and the ability to apply that knowledge to achieving results for other people. Your earning ability today is largely dependent upon your knowledge, skill and your ability to combine that knowledge and skill in such a way that you contribute value for which customers are going to pay.
The Law of Three says that you must contribute three dollars of profit for every dollar that you wish to earn in salary. It costs a company approximately double your salary to employ you in terms of space, benefits, supervision, and investment in furniture, fixtures, and other resources. For a company to hire you, they have to make a profit on what they pay you. Therefore, you must contribute value greatly in excess of the amount you earn in order to stay employed. To put it another way, your earning ability must be considerably greater than the amount you are receiving, or you will find yourself looking for another job.
To position yourself for tomorrow, here is one of the most important rules you will ever learn: “The future belongs to the competent.” The future belongs to those men and women who are very good at what they do. Pat Riley, in his book The Winner Within, wrote that, “If you are not committed to getting better at what you are doing, you are bound to get worse.” To phrase it another way, anything less than a commitment to excellent performance on your part is an unconscious acceptance of mediocrity. It used to be that you needed to be excellent to rise above the competition in your industry.Today, you must be excellent even to keep your job in your industry.
The marketplace is a stern task master. Today, excellence, quality, and value are absolutely essential elements of any product or service, and of the work of any person. Your earning ability is largely determined by the perception of excellence, quality, and value that others have of you and what you do. The market only pays excellent rewards for excellent performance. It pays average rewards for average performance, and it pays below average rewards or unemployment for below average performance. Customers today want the very most and the very best for the very least amount of money, and on the best terms. Only the individuals and companies that provide absolutely excellent products and services at absolutely excellent prices will survive. It’s not personal. It’s just the way our economy works.
To earn more, you must learn more. You are maxed out today at your current level of knowledge and skill. However much you are earning at this moment is the maximum you can earn without learning and practicing something new and different.
And here’s the rub. Your accumulated knowledge and experience is becoming obsolete bit by bit, day by day. The knowledge in your field is doubling every three to five years. That means that your knowledge must double every three to five years just for you to stay even.
The solution to the dilemma of unavoidable change and restructuring is continuous self-development. Your personal knowledge and your ability to apply that knowledge are your most valuable assets. To stay on top of your world, you must continually add to your knowledge and your ability. You must continually build up your mental assets if you want to enjoy a continuous return on your investment. And only by building on your current assets do you stop them from deteriorating.
By engaging in continuous self-improvement, you can put yourself behind the wheel of your own life. By dedicating yourself to enhancing your earning ability, you will automatically be engaging in the continuous process of personal development. By learning more, you prepare yourself to earn more. You position yourself for tomorrow by developing the knowledge and skills that you need to be a valuable and productive part of our economy, no matter which direction it goes.
Tuesday, August 07, 2007
The Definition of Wealth
If you want to be wealthy, you must understand what wealth is. Here is the best definition of wealth you will ever find. Wealth is "Cash flow from other sources."
Make Your Money Work For You
What this means is that, you are not wealthy just because you earn a lot of money. You are only wealthy when your money works for you. To become wealthy, your main job is to acquire money and then put it to work making more money for you.
Add Value Continually
The key to creating wealth is simple. It is called "adding value." Successful people are those who are always looking for ways to add value in some way to a person, a company, a product or a service.
Do It Faster
Here is an example of adding value: Domino's Pizza. The founders of Domino's Pizza took a common food, offered by thousands of little restaurants and added a value to the pizza by delivering it more rapidly than anyone else. The added value of speed enabled Domino's to create a billion dollar empire and made the founder of Domino's, Tom Monahan, one of the richest men in the world.
Buy It Cheaper Somewhere Else
Another way to add value is to buy something in one place at one price and then make it available in another place for another price. For example, buying a product or service manufactured in Europe or Asia, importing it to the United States and making it available to people to whom it was not available before, is a way of adding value for which you can charge a higher price.
Improve The Life or Work of Others
All manufacturing and marketing is based on this principle of added value. All importation and distribution aims to add value. Performing a service that enhances the life or work of another person adds value. A dentist who takes away pain is adding value. An accountant who saves a client money on taxes is adding or actually creating value. A salesperson who introduces a new product or service to a customer that helps that customer in some way is adding value. All financial success, especially business success, is based on adding value. It is based on the old saying, "Find a need and fill it."
Combine and Recombine The Elements of Value
All successful business is based on someone bringing together the factors of production, such as labor, capital, raw materials and management, and creating a product or service that a customer will pay a price for that is in excess of the cost of producing it.
How All Fortunes Are Made
Adding value is the way that all fortunes are made. Whenever you see an opportunity to give people what they want at a price greater than it costs you to produce that product or service, you see an opportunity to make a profit, build a business and begin moving toward financial success. Almost any business or occupation can make you financially independent if you can find a way to add enough value.
Make Your Money Work For You
What this means is that, you are not wealthy just because you earn a lot of money. You are only wealthy when your money works for you. To become wealthy, your main job is to acquire money and then put it to work making more money for you.
Add Value Continually
The key to creating wealth is simple. It is called "adding value." Successful people are those who are always looking for ways to add value in some way to a person, a company, a product or a service.
Do It Faster
Here is an example of adding value: Domino's Pizza. The founders of Domino's Pizza took a common food, offered by thousands of little restaurants and added a value to the pizza by delivering it more rapidly than anyone else. The added value of speed enabled Domino's to create a billion dollar empire and made the founder of Domino's, Tom Monahan, one of the richest men in the world.
Buy It Cheaper Somewhere Else
Another way to add value is to buy something in one place at one price and then make it available in another place for another price. For example, buying a product or service manufactured in Europe or Asia, importing it to the United States and making it available to people to whom it was not available before, is a way of adding value for which you can charge a higher price.
Improve The Life or Work of Others
All manufacturing and marketing is based on this principle of added value. All importation and distribution aims to add value. Performing a service that enhances the life or work of another person adds value. A dentist who takes away pain is adding value. An accountant who saves a client money on taxes is adding or actually creating value. A salesperson who introduces a new product or service to a customer that helps that customer in some way is adding value. All financial success, especially business success, is based on adding value. It is based on the old saying, "Find a need and fill it."
Combine and Recombine The Elements of Value
All successful business is based on someone bringing together the factors of production, such as labor, capital, raw materials and management, and creating a product or service that a customer will pay a price for that is in excess of the cost of producing it.
How All Fortunes Are Made
Adding value is the way that all fortunes are made. Whenever you see an opportunity to give people what they want at a price greater than it costs you to produce that product or service, you see an opportunity to make a profit, build a business and begin moving toward financial success. Almost any business or occupation can make you financially independent if you can find a way to add enough value.
The Law of Accumulation
The Law of Accumulation: how your financial fortune accumulates slowly over time and then becomes enormous, like a snowball. The Law of Accumulation: Every great financial achievement is an accumulation of hundreds of small efforts and sacrifices that no one ever sees or appreciates.
Develop Discipline
The achievement of financial independence will require a tremendous number of small efforts on your part. To begin the process of accumulation, you must be disciplined and persistent. You must keep at it for a long, long time. Initially, you will see very little change or difference but gradually, your efforts will begin to bear fruit. You will begin to pull ahead of your peers. Your finances will improve and your debts will disappear. Your bank account will grow and your whole life will improve.
Build Up Momentum
The first corollary of the Law of Accumulation says: "As your savings accumulate, you develop a momentum that moves you more rapidly toward your financial goals."
It is hard to get started on a program of financial accumulation, but once you do get started, you find it easier and easier to keep at it. The "momentum principle" is one of the great success secrets. This principle says that it takes tremendous energy to overcome the initial inertia and resistance to financial accumulation and get started, but once started, it takes much less energy to keep moving.
Start Slow, Finish Fast
The second corollary of the Law of Accumulation says, "By the yard it's hard, but inch by inch, anything's a cinch."
When you begin thinking about saving 10 or 20 percent of your earnings, you will immediately think of all kinds of reasons that it is not possible. You might be up to your neck in debt. You might be spending every single penny that you earn today just to keep afloat.
If you do find yourself in this situation, instead of saving 10 percent, begin saving just 1 percent of your earnings in a special account, which you refuse to touch.
How can you attract more wea lth and more abundance?
We are now surrounded by more wea lth than at any time in our history. The real question is how do YOU gain this abundance? I can show you how...
Increase As You Go Along
This small amount will begin to add up at a rate that will surprise you. As you become comfortable with saving 1 percent, increase your savings rate to 2 percent, then 3 percent, then 4 percent and 5 percent and so on. Within a year, you will find yourself getting out of debt and saving 10 percent, 15 percent and even 20 percent of your earnings without it really affecting your lifestyle.
Action Exercises
Here are two things you can do to apply this law immediately:
First, decide upon your long-term financial goals and then resolve to work toward them one step at a time. The first steps are the hardest and you must discipline yourself to avoid backsliding into old habits.
Second, practice the law of accumulation in other parts of your life as well. Resolve to master a subject one page at a time. Lose extra pounds one ounce at a time. Learn a language one lesson at a time. The cumulative effect can be enormous.
Develop Discipline
The achievement of financial independence will require a tremendous number of small efforts on your part. To begin the process of accumulation, you must be disciplined and persistent. You must keep at it for a long, long time. Initially, you will see very little change or difference but gradually, your efforts will begin to bear fruit. You will begin to pull ahead of your peers. Your finances will improve and your debts will disappear. Your bank account will grow and your whole life will improve.
Build Up Momentum
The first corollary of the Law of Accumulation says: "As your savings accumulate, you develop a momentum that moves you more rapidly toward your financial goals."
It is hard to get started on a program of financial accumulation, but once you do get started, you find it easier and easier to keep at it. The "momentum principle" is one of the great success secrets. This principle says that it takes tremendous energy to overcome the initial inertia and resistance to financial accumulation and get started, but once started, it takes much less energy to keep moving.
Start Slow, Finish Fast
The second corollary of the Law of Accumulation says, "By the yard it's hard, but inch by inch, anything's a cinch."
When you begin thinking about saving 10 or 20 percent of your earnings, you will immediately think of all kinds of reasons that it is not possible. You might be up to your neck in debt. You might be spending every single penny that you earn today just to keep afloat.
If you do find yourself in this situation, instead of saving 10 percent, begin saving just 1 percent of your earnings in a special account, which you refuse to touch.
How can you attract more wea lth and more abundance?
We are now surrounded by more wea lth than at any time in our history. The real question is how do YOU gain this abundance? I can show you how...
Increase As You Go Along
This small amount will begin to add up at a rate that will surprise you. As you become comfortable with saving 1 percent, increase your savings rate to 2 percent, then 3 percent, then 4 percent and 5 percent and so on. Within a year, you will find yourself getting out of debt and saving 10 percent, 15 percent and even 20 percent of your earnings without it really affecting your lifestyle.
Action Exercises
Here are two things you can do to apply this law immediately:
First, decide upon your long-term financial goals and then resolve to work toward them one step at a time. The first steps are the hardest and you must discipline yourself to avoid backsliding into old habits.
Second, practice the law of accumulation in other parts of your life as well. Resolve to master a subject one page at a time. Lose extra pounds one ounce at a time. Learn a language one lesson at a time. The cumulative effect can be enormous.
The Law of Compensation
You Get What You Give
Ralph Waldo Emerson, in his essay, "Compensation," wrote that each person is compensated in like manner for that which he or she has contributed. The Law of Compensation is another restatement of the Law of Sowing and Reaping. It says that you will always be compensated for your efforts and for your contribution, whatever it is, however much or however little.
Increase Your Value
This Law of Compensation also says that you can never be compensated in the long term for more than you put in. The income you earn today is your compensation for what you have done in the past. If you want to increase your compensation, you must increase the value of your contribution.
Fill Your Mind With Success
Your mental attitude, your feelings of happiness and satisfaction, are also the result of the things that you have put into your own mind. If you fill your own mind with thoughts, visions and ideas of success, happiness and optimism, you will be compensated by those positive experiences in your daily activities.
Do More Than You're Paid For
Another corollary of the Law of Sowing and Reaping is what is sometimes called the, "Law of Overcompensation." This law says that great success comes from those who always make it a habit to put in more than they take out. They do more than they are paid for. They are always looking for opportunities to exceed expectations. And because they are always overcompensating, they are always being over rewarded with the esteem of their employers and customers and with the financial rewards that go along with their personal success.
Provide the Causes, Enjoy The Effects
One of your main responsibilities in life is to align yourself and your activities with Law of Cause and Effect (and its corollaries), accepting that it is an inexorable law that always works, whether anyone is looking or not. Your job is to institute the causes that are consistent with the effects that you want to enjoy in your life. When you do, you will realize and enjoy the rewards you desire.
Action Exercises
Here are two things you can do immediately to put these ideas into action.
First, remind yourself regularly that your rewards will always be in direct proportion to your service to others. How could you increase the value of your services to your customers today?
Second, look for ways to go the extra mile, to use the Law of Overcompensation in everything you do. This is the great secret of success.
Ralph Waldo Emerson, in his essay, "Compensation," wrote that each person is compensated in like manner for that which he or she has contributed. The Law of Compensation is another restatement of the Law of Sowing and Reaping. It says that you will always be compensated for your efforts and for your contribution, whatever it is, however much or however little.
Increase Your Value
This Law of Compensation also says that you can never be compensated in the long term for more than you put in. The income you earn today is your compensation for what you have done in the past. If you want to increase your compensation, you must increase the value of your contribution.
Fill Your Mind With Success
Your mental attitude, your feelings of happiness and satisfaction, are also the result of the things that you have put into your own mind. If you fill your own mind with thoughts, visions and ideas of success, happiness and optimism, you will be compensated by those positive experiences in your daily activities.
Do More Than You're Paid For
Another corollary of the Law of Sowing and Reaping is what is sometimes called the, "Law of Overcompensation." This law says that great success comes from those who always make it a habit to put in more than they take out. They do more than they are paid for. They are always looking for opportunities to exceed expectations. And because they are always overcompensating, they are always being over rewarded with the esteem of their employers and customers and with the financial rewards that go along with their personal success.
Provide the Causes, Enjoy The Effects
One of your main responsibilities in life is to align yourself and your activities with Law of Cause and Effect (and its corollaries), accepting that it is an inexorable law that always works, whether anyone is looking or not. Your job is to institute the causes that are consistent with the effects that you want to enjoy in your life. When you do, you will realize and enjoy the rewards you desire.
Action Exercises
Here are two things you can do immediately to put these ideas into action.
First, remind yourself regularly that your rewards will always be in direct proportion to your service to others. How could you increase the value of your services to your customers today?
Second, look for ways to go the extra mile, to use the Law of Overcompensation in everything you do. This is the great secret of success.
Thursday, August 02, 2007
The Five Most Important Principals for Prosperity
Many years ago, forty to be exact, I started my own business at the tender age of nineteen. The street markets in and around Manchester England was my happy hunting ground. Every day was an adventure and despite the weather and difficulties of getting a stall on the street market, life was always fun and enjoyable. There was always some comical incident, even when I had to stand in the pouring rain, with no customers in sight. And if there was no amusing event to focus on I created one and made other people laugh.
Within a few years my business progressed and I opened a wholesale textile company. I went on to become a very successful businessman not only making money in my original business, but also in commercial property and the stock market. I retired from the business world forty-six years of age.
After a six year, time-out period, so that I could understand why I was successful with no effort, I reinvented myself and became...... An author, poet, philosopher, motivational/inspirational/financial speaker, radio show host, director, producer and many other labels, within the past five years. How was all this achieved with not a mention of the word "work" in my vocabulary.. Well, you see, I just enjoy everything I am doing and if it is enjoyable, how can it be classed as work?
When I read the headlines in the newspapers describing the corruption and scandals in large and small corporations I wonder why the executives had to lie and cheat to earn money? It is far easier and less risky to make money the honest way, so why do people do things the hard way and end up in disgrace?
What makes some people believe they need a billion dollars to be happy?
Why has greed become so fashionable?
Why in many instances do we seem to treat our fellow human worse than a wild dog? Our animal instincts, although contained in a civilized package, can be savage and uncaring, especially in the business world. It has literally become Dog-eat-Dog.
In life there is always an easy way and a hard way to do everything, so how about I share with you five principals of business that cannot fail.
As we climb the ladder of success there are many other folks on higher rungs who may try to kick us down. There are also those who have not got on the first rung yet who will try and pull us down. So how do we cope in a modern day world of hungry hounds eager to get their hands on as much money as possible any way they can?
Levy's Five Principals for Prosperity
Principal Number One
Enjoyment.
We should understand the world does not owe us a living. We will succeed or fail by the amount of Joy we have for the project we will call our work. The number one ingredient is enthusiasm and commitment for the job in hand. We have to understand that very few things will go in the direction we desire and the more we practice our skills, the luckier we will become. We manufacture our own luck and to recognizing opportunities is the key to success. Every viewpoint, in every business day, has to be explored. Never say no to anything until we have examined every possibility and outcome. Even if we find that it is not what we desire, we leave the door open for future development. If we are only interested in what we can get out of any action of the moment, we are doomed for failure.
Principal Number Two
Giving
A key ingredient in a successful venture is giving rather than taking. In other words give the best and you will receive the best. If you do not have the ability to give the best, keep on trying different approaches until you can give the best. Whatever you give you will get back in abundance. There are those who have achieved money and status by devious means. They may have all the trappings of the luxury lifestyle, but they do not possess the clear mind to enjoy the fruits of their labor. Therefore, they are not a success to themselves. All the stresses and strains of cheating will one day manifest into an illness. You can mislead other people but you cannot lie to your immune system. So, it pays big dividends to give others a helping hand up the ladder of success.
Principal Number Three
Overcome Adversity.
Enjoy the failures more than the successes. Understand there is no such thing as failure. Each lesson learnt, is a lesson gained. Just don't keep making the same mistakes. Everything is a gain, gain situation. Negative people are our stepping stones to wealth. The more they tell us it can't be done, the more energy they give us to get the job done successfully. Adversities are sent to test our resolve. Become a good hurdler and learn how to jump over them.
If we require an answer to a difficult problem we need to solve, this is what we do. We ask any questions we need to solve, a few minutes before we go to sleep and then forget about it. We then go into a sound, deep sleep. The next morning on awakening we may get an idea from out-of-the-blue that solves the issue. If not that morning, then it may take more time to solve. Ask the question every night until the matter resolves itself.
Principal Number Four
Debt free
It is far better to walk before we can run. We must not pile up too much debt. If we cannot afford something then we work a little harder and longer until we have the funds to expand. I know this is not the modern way of thinking and there are always exceptions to the rule, but being debt free sure makes for 'Peaceful Sleep.' Being 'Under Pressure' to pay bills is no way to live. Our purpose is to enjoy life and our labor must be a labor of love without demands.
Principal Number Five
Enjoy Endurance.
Remember the three P's Patients Persistence, Perseverance. If we trust in our ‘True Self' then we cannot fail. As long as we are enjoying our business activities in the same way as we enjoy our leisure, success is assured. If it takes a few years more than we thought to achieve our goal, then so much the better, because we have more time to gain extra experience.. It will allow for more time for you to exhibit to people that you are trustworthy and reliable. Integrity cannot be bought, therefore once you gain authentic credibility, everything else you do eases into its appropriate space. It will eventually mean other business people will regarded us as an expert in your field of proficiency. You have mastered time and space.
It is never too late in life to explore our minds links to creativity. Even when we retire from our occupation, we must never retire from life. The secret to retirement is to keep an active mind. I have a friend aged eighty-seven who still enjoys working as a realtor selling apartments. He tells me it makes him feel like a young pup. There are many hobbies we can enjoy and maybe they will make money? Regular exercise will keep us healthy and it also keeps the sex drive in gear. Aging signifies, life is still a joyride to an active mind.
Just one other point.. It is important to note that we will never actual own anything. We only possess what we can take on our eternal journey. We are just renting space and time, so our success is not measured by our bank balance. We live in a materialistic world and to become truly prosperous we need to ascertain that, when we reverse our conditioned minds way of thinking, we find.. ( in whatever form our image-creation observes creativity) A universal spirit guiding us on an authentic life course. What a power-force to guide us and establish an easy way to follow to prosperity
Within a few years my business progressed and I opened a wholesale textile company. I went on to become a very successful businessman not only making money in my original business, but also in commercial property and the stock market. I retired from the business world forty-six years of age.
After a six year, time-out period, so that I could understand why I was successful with no effort, I reinvented myself and became...... An author, poet, philosopher, motivational/inspirational/financial speaker, radio show host, director, producer and many other labels, within the past five years. How was all this achieved with not a mention of the word "work" in my vocabulary.. Well, you see, I just enjoy everything I am doing and if it is enjoyable, how can it be classed as work?
When I read the headlines in the newspapers describing the corruption and scandals in large and small corporations I wonder why the executives had to lie and cheat to earn money? It is far easier and less risky to make money the honest way, so why do people do things the hard way and end up in disgrace?
What makes some people believe they need a billion dollars to be happy?
Why has greed become so fashionable?
Why in many instances do we seem to treat our fellow human worse than a wild dog? Our animal instincts, although contained in a civilized package, can be savage and uncaring, especially in the business world. It has literally become Dog-eat-Dog.
In life there is always an easy way and a hard way to do everything, so how about I share with you five principals of business that cannot fail.
As we climb the ladder of success there are many other folks on higher rungs who may try to kick us down. There are also those who have not got on the first rung yet who will try and pull us down. So how do we cope in a modern day world of hungry hounds eager to get their hands on as much money as possible any way they can?
Levy's Five Principals for Prosperity
Principal Number One
Enjoyment.
We should understand the world does not owe us a living. We will succeed or fail by the amount of Joy we have for the project we will call our work. The number one ingredient is enthusiasm and commitment for the job in hand. We have to understand that very few things will go in the direction we desire and the more we practice our skills, the luckier we will become. We manufacture our own luck and to recognizing opportunities is the key to success. Every viewpoint, in every business day, has to be explored. Never say no to anything until we have examined every possibility and outcome. Even if we find that it is not what we desire, we leave the door open for future development. If we are only interested in what we can get out of any action of the moment, we are doomed for failure.
Principal Number Two
Giving
A key ingredient in a successful venture is giving rather than taking. In other words give the best and you will receive the best. If you do not have the ability to give the best, keep on trying different approaches until you can give the best. Whatever you give you will get back in abundance. There are those who have achieved money and status by devious means. They may have all the trappings of the luxury lifestyle, but they do not possess the clear mind to enjoy the fruits of their labor. Therefore, they are not a success to themselves. All the stresses and strains of cheating will one day manifest into an illness. You can mislead other people but you cannot lie to your immune system. So, it pays big dividends to give others a helping hand up the ladder of success.
Principal Number Three
Overcome Adversity.
Enjoy the failures more than the successes. Understand there is no such thing as failure. Each lesson learnt, is a lesson gained. Just don't keep making the same mistakes. Everything is a gain, gain situation. Negative people are our stepping stones to wealth. The more they tell us it can't be done, the more energy they give us to get the job done successfully. Adversities are sent to test our resolve. Become a good hurdler and learn how to jump over them.
If we require an answer to a difficult problem we need to solve, this is what we do. We ask any questions we need to solve, a few minutes before we go to sleep and then forget about it. We then go into a sound, deep sleep. The next morning on awakening we may get an idea from out-of-the-blue that solves the issue. If not that morning, then it may take more time to solve. Ask the question every night until the matter resolves itself.
Principal Number Four
Debt free
It is far better to walk before we can run. We must not pile up too much debt. If we cannot afford something then we work a little harder and longer until we have the funds to expand. I know this is not the modern way of thinking and there are always exceptions to the rule, but being debt free sure makes for 'Peaceful Sleep.' Being 'Under Pressure' to pay bills is no way to live. Our purpose is to enjoy life and our labor must be a labor of love without demands.
Principal Number Five
Enjoy Endurance.
Remember the three P's Patients Persistence, Perseverance. If we trust in our ‘True Self' then we cannot fail. As long as we are enjoying our business activities in the same way as we enjoy our leisure, success is assured. If it takes a few years more than we thought to achieve our goal, then so much the better, because we have more time to gain extra experience.. It will allow for more time for you to exhibit to people that you are trustworthy and reliable. Integrity cannot be bought, therefore once you gain authentic credibility, everything else you do eases into its appropriate space. It will eventually mean other business people will regarded us as an expert in your field of proficiency. You have mastered time and space.
It is never too late in life to explore our minds links to creativity. Even when we retire from our occupation, we must never retire from life. The secret to retirement is to keep an active mind. I have a friend aged eighty-seven who still enjoys working as a realtor selling apartments. He tells me it makes him feel like a young pup. There are many hobbies we can enjoy and maybe they will make money? Regular exercise will keep us healthy and it also keeps the sex drive in gear. Aging signifies, life is still a joyride to an active mind.
Just one other point.. It is important to note that we will never actual own anything. We only possess what we can take on our eternal journey. We are just renting space and time, so our success is not measured by our bank balance. We live in a materialistic world and to become truly prosperous we need to ascertain that, when we reverse our conditioned minds way of thinking, we find.. ( in whatever form our image-creation observes creativity) A universal spirit guiding us on an authentic life course. What a power-force to guide us and establish an easy way to follow to prosperity
Build Your Own Safety Net Savings
Do you walk the high wire of personal finance? Is every month a balancing act that works only as long as the next paycheck arrives on time? What happens if that next paycheck doesn't arrive? The cause could be many things which you cannot control: an illness, a layoff, a sales slump.
If some unexpected event interrupted your next paycheck, would your household's financial balancing act come crashing to the ground? Would you be forced to resort to debt to fill the money gap?
Financial emergencies happen to just about everyone at one time or another -- and usually when you least expect them. Prevent an emergency from turning into a disaster by building your own Safety Net Savings. A safety net account is a reserve of savings that allows you to pay your normal expenses in the event of a sudden drop in income. And it helps avoid the need to turn to credit as a solution, which can result in a perpetual cycle of debt. Resorting to debt to cover lost income can mean years spent digging yourself out of debt.
The safety net account is the second step in a three-step savings program for financial fitness, that also includes your:
Anti-emergency fund™: Money set aside monthly to pay for the non-monthly expenses that often get left out of our financial equation, such as quarterly insurance, car repairs, appliance replacement, holiday spending, taxes and the family vacation.
Investment savings: Money set aside for retirement, college and other long-term financial goals.
Build Safety Net Savings by setting aside a specific amount from your paycheck each pay period, with the understanding that the money will not be touched unless a justifiable financial need arises. How large a safety net account should you build? That depends on your personal financial situation.
Are you self-employed? Or does your income fluctuate seasonally or due to commissions? Do you have a medical situation that could cause added expenses or loss of work income? You may need to plan for a larger safety net.
Are you well-settled in a stable job? Do you have plenty of sick leave or vacation built up? Does your company provide a good severance package in the event your job is eliminated? You may be able to get by with a smaller fund.
Most financial planners suggest a fund cover three to six months of normal and necessary expenses. The most important thing, though, is to just get started!
Use your monthly spending plan to determine the total of those normal and necessary expenses. You don't need to include everything from your monthly spending plan -- in times of lost income you probably shouldn't be thinking about new clothes, vacations or entertainment expenses. Do include costs of food, mortgage or rent, household utilities, credit payments and other necessary expenses (DON'T forget non-monthly expenses such as insurance, car maintenance, and taxes). Multiply that figure by three or six months -- or whatever period you've decided is necessary -- to arrive at your Safety Net Savings goal.
Now start saving -- emphasis on the "now!" One of my favorite phrases is "Save early and often". And pay your savings first. If you don't, you'll likely find some other way to use that money. If you think all your income is going toward necessary expenditures, try recording your spending. You'll probably see that some of the things you spend money on really aren't that necessary and may not even give you any real pleasure! Cut those out first and put that money toward your safety net.
Safety Net Savings is intended to be accessible in the event of an emergency, so don't sock it away in a long-term investment. Keep it in money market funds or short-term CD’s. Of course, you won’t earn much interest, but the point of the Safety Net Savings is to avoid having to use credit cards at much higher interest rates.
Safety Net Savings offers benefits even when you're not using it -- the benefit of security and peace of mind. Knowing that you'll be able to take care of your needs, and those of the people who depend on you, can relieve a huge mental burden you may not be aware you're carrying. Experiencing that sense of security may also make you feel more comfortable taking a few personal risks to enhance your quality of life, like changing jobs or starting your own business.
Remember, when you have a safety net beneath you, you can be a lot more fearless walking a tightrope!
If some unexpected event interrupted your next paycheck, would your household's financial balancing act come crashing to the ground? Would you be forced to resort to debt to fill the money gap?
Financial emergencies happen to just about everyone at one time or another -- and usually when you least expect them. Prevent an emergency from turning into a disaster by building your own Safety Net Savings. A safety net account is a reserve of savings that allows you to pay your normal expenses in the event of a sudden drop in income. And it helps avoid the need to turn to credit as a solution, which can result in a perpetual cycle of debt. Resorting to debt to cover lost income can mean years spent digging yourself out of debt.
The safety net account is the second step in a three-step savings program for financial fitness, that also includes your:
Anti-emergency fund™: Money set aside monthly to pay for the non-monthly expenses that often get left out of our financial equation, such as quarterly insurance, car repairs, appliance replacement, holiday spending, taxes and the family vacation.
Investment savings: Money set aside for retirement, college and other long-term financial goals.
Build Safety Net Savings by setting aside a specific amount from your paycheck each pay period, with the understanding that the money will not be touched unless a justifiable financial need arises. How large a safety net account should you build? That depends on your personal financial situation.
Are you self-employed? Or does your income fluctuate seasonally or due to commissions? Do you have a medical situation that could cause added expenses or loss of work income? You may need to plan for a larger safety net.
Are you well-settled in a stable job? Do you have plenty of sick leave or vacation built up? Does your company provide a good severance package in the event your job is eliminated? You may be able to get by with a smaller fund.
Most financial planners suggest a fund cover three to six months of normal and necessary expenses. The most important thing, though, is to just get started!
Use your monthly spending plan to determine the total of those normal and necessary expenses. You don't need to include everything from your monthly spending plan -- in times of lost income you probably shouldn't be thinking about new clothes, vacations or entertainment expenses. Do include costs of food, mortgage or rent, household utilities, credit payments and other necessary expenses (DON'T forget non-monthly expenses such as insurance, car maintenance, and taxes). Multiply that figure by three or six months -- or whatever period you've decided is necessary -- to arrive at your Safety Net Savings goal.
Now start saving -- emphasis on the "now!" One of my favorite phrases is "Save early and often". And pay your savings first. If you don't, you'll likely find some other way to use that money. If you think all your income is going toward necessary expenditures, try recording your spending. You'll probably see that some of the things you spend money on really aren't that necessary and may not even give you any real pleasure! Cut those out first and put that money toward your safety net.
Safety Net Savings is intended to be accessible in the event of an emergency, so don't sock it away in a long-term investment. Keep it in money market funds or short-term CD’s. Of course, you won’t earn much interest, but the point of the Safety Net Savings is to avoid having to use credit cards at much higher interest rates.
Safety Net Savings offers benefits even when you're not using it -- the benefit of security and peace of mind. Knowing that you'll be able to take care of your needs, and those of the people who depend on you, can relieve a huge mental burden you may not be aware you're carrying. Experiencing that sense of security may also make you feel more comfortable taking a few personal risks to enhance your quality of life, like changing jobs or starting your own business.
Remember, when you have a safety net beneath you, you can be a lot more fearless walking a tightrope!
Money Saving Truths
Becoming financially secure is a goal of many of us, yet most of us still live from pay to pay and just scrape by. The basic rules of becoming financially free are really quite simple and can be learnt by anyone, but it's the implementation of these rules week after week, year after year that is the challenging part. Below is a list of simple truths to set you up for financial freedom.
Knowledge and Information
If you are going to be successful in business or investing you have to acquire as much knowledge as you can. That doesn't mean you have to spend six hours everyday watching the stockmarket or going to university to get a business degree, it simply means you should have a good general knowledge of the basics which will give you more intelligent options to choose from. As you learn to earn you will also learn to avoid making poor decisions that cost you money.
Patience and Time
With time anyone can get rich and the earlier you start putting money aside the better. Most financial advisors rave about the magic of compounding interest because it is so effective. Compound Interest is where your earnings from investments are reinvested. So when you are first getting started your reinvested earnings will be quite small, but over time they begin to create a snowball effect. The secret is to get started and be patient!
Persistence and Discipline
Despite what many "get rich quick" peddlers would like you to believe, it's generally not easy to get rich and it will not happen overnight, unless you're extremely lucky and win the lottery. Getting rich is about taking many small disciplined steps over a long period of time.
Goals and Flexibility
Having a set of financial goals will give you strength and give you a clear target to head towards when things get tough. Get clear about where you are now and where you want to be in 12 months, 5 years, 10, and even 20 years. Keep reviewing your goals regularly and be prepared to be flexible and change things if circumstances change. A good financial advisor that has been recommended by a friend can help with some of the financial details of this step.
It's important to get the basic money making steps right in the beginning. Once you have a solid foundation built for creating wealth and are putting away a percentage of your income each week, set about learning a little more about finance and investing everyday.
Keep up to date with the business news and learn about different investment products and services. But most importantly, keep moving a little bit closer towards your goal each week and do not ever give up!
Knowledge and Information
If you are going to be successful in business or investing you have to acquire as much knowledge as you can. That doesn't mean you have to spend six hours everyday watching the stockmarket or going to university to get a business degree, it simply means you should have a good general knowledge of the basics which will give you more intelligent options to choose from. As you learn to earn you will also learn to avoid making poor decisions that cost you money.
Patience and Time
With time anyone can get rich and the earlier you start putting money aside the better. Most financial advisors rave about the magic of compounding interest because it is so effective. Compound Interest is where your earnings from investments are reinvested. So when you are first getting started your reinvested earnings will be quite small, but over time they begin to create a snowball effect. The secret is to get started and be patient!
Persistence and Discipline
Despite what many "get rich quick" peddlers would like you to believe, it's generally not easy to get rich and it will not happen overnight, unless you're extremely lucky and win the lottery. Getting rich is about taking many small disciplined steps over a long period of time.
Goals and Flexibility
Having a set of financial goals will give you strength and give you a clear target to head towards when things get tough. Get clear about where you are now and where you want to be in 12 months, 5 years, 10, and even 20 years. Keep reviewing your goals regularly and be prepared to be flexible and change things if circumstances change. A good financial advisor that has been recommended by a friend can help with some of the financial details of this step.
It's important to get the basic money making steps right in the beginning. Once you have a solid foundation built for creating wealth and are putting away a percentage of your income each week, set about learning a little more about finance and investing everyday.
Keep up to date with the business news and learn about different investment products and services. But most importantly, keep moving a little bit closer towards your goal each week and do not ever give up!
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