How to Create All of the Wealth and Success You Want In Your Life – Tip #12

This is tip #12 of at least 10 in the series (yes, we passed our minimum starting goal, and we will probably be rapping up the series soon). I have published most of them as e-zine articles, but if any are missing, they are all available on my blog. Thanks, and enjoy Tip #12…

Tip #12 – Give yourself permission… Several previous tips hit on the fringes of this, but I feel like this is important enough that it deserves its own article, too. What could I possibly mean when I say you need to give yourself permission to create and have all of the wealth and success you want in your life?

Well, most self-made millionaires started out poor, and wanted something better for their lives, but they had to overcome this major obstacle. Most of us, if we are born into a poor family, are programmed from the time we are babies to stay poor. Our parent(s), without thinking about the impact it has, say things like: rich people are greedy; money doesn’t grow on trees; what do you think we are, the Rockefellers; you want me to buy you what, do you know how hard I have to work for what little money we have; if you want it, go out and get a job and earn the money yourself. If you want to be rich, WOW, what tough programming to have installed in you from birth!!!

So we have programming from birth that says it is bad and wrong to be wealthy. Our programming is unlikely to say, “It is okay to be wealthy if you don’t take advantage of others, and if you make the world a better place through the earning and use of wealth”. Furthermore, it likely teaches that the only way to earn money is by the sweat of our brow. It is unlikely that we were taught that we can get wealthy by thought, creativity, ideas, wise investments, etc.

Then, more layers complicate things even more. We spend years in school learning how to be good employees. We are taught to follow the rules. Every child must do the same work, and act in the same way. Forget about what you are good at, or where your passions would lead you; you must do the three R’s like everyone else. Forget about being unique, or finding your true calling. Every student must conform to the herd. To some extent, conforming is necessary for the public school system to work, but oh how it stifles creativity and individual ideas!

But I tell you, God did not intend for us to be the pine caterpillar. You see, if you place pine caterpillars end-to-end, in a circle, they will follow each other around that circle indefinitely. You can place food in the center of the circle, and the pine caterpillars will continue to follow each other around that circle until they die of starvation, so strong is their follow-the-herd mentality. They won’t break away on their own and go to the food. But to be wealthy and successful, you must break away from the herd. You must break away from mediocrity, and chase greatness in something. Wealth and success generally requires that you be very good at what you do – whatever that may be. Brian Tracy says you want to get in the top 10%, because all of the rewards go to the top 10%.

However, for most of us who were raised poor, no where in our programming were we taught that it is okay to be wealthy and successful. Instead, we were taught that the wealthy are greedy, or that they should be put on a pedestal that is not meant for us to attain (Rockefellers, Carnegies, George Washington, Abraham Lincoln – we were taught about them, as icons, but we were not taught that we could become like them – why?).

What I am saying is, if this is how you were programmed from birth, then there is a giant step that is necessary for you to take before you can achieve wealth and success… You have to give yourself permission to break out from the herd. You have to decide that you deserve more and better. You have to recognize that rich and successful people are often the most kind, giving, caring, and compassionate people in the world. I think I mentioned before some of what helped me with this step – the mantra, “I get rich doing what I love. I deserve to be rich because I add value to other peoples lives.”

For those of us who grew up poor, we need to overcome programming that equates rich with negative connotations. Until we do, we might have hit and miss successes, but sooner or later we will sabotage ourselves.

In T. Harv Eker’s Millionaire Mind Intensive, we did an exercise where we wrote down all of the negative programming we received growing up, and then, for each thing we came up with, we reprogrammed with new, more beneficial statements. I suggest you do something like this yourself. As an example, ‘rich people are greedy’ can become ‘rich people are giving, intelligent, and free to live life on their own terms’ (and if you don’t believe it, go out and meet some rich people and discover the truth – most are the later, and not the former!). ‘You have to work hard to earn money’, might morph into ‘money can be made through my ideas, thoughts, creativity, businesses, and good investments’. If you were treated poorly as a child, perhaps ‘you are worthless’, might become ‘you are a child of the most high God, and you were created for great things’ (a line borrowed from Joel Osteen)!

Once you come up with new programming, take it a step further. Harv says, wisely, that physical is memorable. So, first, write down your new statements, and say them out loud every day (the louder the better – you want to convince your subconscious mind). Second, make it physical. Put a large rubber band on your wrist, and every time you think the old negative thoughts, snap the rubber band hard enough so it stings real good (physical is memorable). Now you are taking steps to remove the old programming, and replace it with more beneficial new programming. Now you have better things in your future, and you are starting to give yourself permission!!!

Again, please pass this on to anyone you know who may benefit from it… Together, let’s get inspired, let’s get motivated, let’s create some buzzzz, and let’s help some people (family, friends, and ourselves) create all of the wealth and success we want in life!!!

How to Create All of the Wealth and Success You Want In Your Life – Tip #11

This is tip #11 of at least 10 in the series. I will try to publish most of them as e-zine articles, but if any are missing, they will all be available on my blog. Thanks, and enjoy Tip #11…

Tip #11 – Be thankful for what you have, instead of complaining about what you don’t have. Since I and many of you are real estate investors, the timing of this tip couldn’t be better. We need to stop complaining about what the market is doing, and start giving thanks for things we are doing that are working! We need to stop complaining about escalating property taxes and insurance, and start giving thanks that we are of able enough body and mind that investing is an option for us!

Let’s take a little timeout here, and do an exercise. For those of you who have been with me long enough, we have done this once before, but it was long enough ago that I can’t find it on my blog or in my material, so I guess we can do it again.

Take out a blank sheet of paper, and write down something you have to be thankful for. You must stop, and do this now, or you will not get the desired effect from the exercise. It won’t take long – just a few minutes… Seriously, stop reading now and get you a blank sheet of paper, and a pen or pencil, and write down something you have to be thankful for. Now write down something else you have to be thankful for. Then, get a little crazy, and write down everything you can think of that you have to be thankful for. Don’t be stingy here… Even include simple things like having arms and legs that work, and eyes and ears… Not everyone has those things. Family. Friends. Include things like having a roof over your head, and food in your belly… Not everyone has those things, either. Since most of my readers are Americans (yes, we have some international readers/subscribers now – thank you and welcome aboard!), let’s be thankful for living in the land of opportunity… Not everyone lives in a country where upward mobility in life is even possible. So really go after this list, and write down everything you can think of that you have to be thankful for, including the basics. Timing being what it is, tip #11 will be our Thanksgiving article. Now, you must complete the assignment of writing down things to be thankful for before you go to the next step, or, again, you will diminish the benefits of the exercise.

Next, after you have finished writing down things to be thankful for, go back to the top of your list, and start numbering the things you wrote down. Now what are you doing? You are counting your blessings!!! What’s more, if you were not stingy about it, and you really wrote down all of the things you have to be thankful for, you should find that the things you have to be thankful for probably far outnumber your problems in life… Interesting that people, in general, seem to have 90% blessings, and only 10% problems, yet we spend more time worrying about and focusing on our problems than we spend being thankful for our blessings.

Referring back to tip #2, we said that what we focus on expands. If we focus on our problems, we seem to have more and more problems. Do you know anyone in your life that just seems to be constantly mucked down in problems and issues? Someone that constantly complains about everything that is wrong in the world? Well, if what we focus on expands, and we always focus on the crap in our lives, guess what happens? We become a giant crap magnet!!! (I think the giant crap magnet terminology is borrowed from T. Harv Eker)

If, instead, we focus on what we have to be thankful for, we will start to notice more and more things in our lives that we have to be thankful for, and we will start attracting more and more good!!! Try this out in your life, and see if it isn’t true for you! Personally, I have fallen off of this horse lately, but from past experience, I can vouch that it works, and I am going to get back on this horse starting tonight (I like the things I have to be thankful for in my life much more than I like the crap!)! I hope you all do the same!!!

How to Create All of the Wealth and Success You Want In Your Life – Tip #10

This is tip #10 of at least 10 in the series. I will try to publish most of them as e-zine articles, but if any are missing, they will all be available on my blog.

In Tip #9, we discussed the need for creating a budget. Now, in Tip #10, I am going to discuss a budget in more detail. Thanks, and enjoy Tip #10…

Tip #10 – I am going to cover the best budget I have ever seen, heard of, or used, and to give credit where credit is due, much of this comes from T. Harv Eker and his 3-day ‘Millionaire Mind Intensive’ (which, with tickets from his book “Secrets of the Millionaire Mind”, is FREE!!! FYI, I personally found ‘MMI’ to be awesome.

First, you have heard 1,000 times, you need to keep track of any and all expenses for at least 1-2 months, and the longer the better. If you don’t know where your money is going now, how can you budget it? Managing your money requires that you know where your money is going.

Now, for the budget itself… T. Harv Eker suggests a system of jars, with a percentage of your income designated for each jar. This can be tweaked to meet your needs, but here are some suggested guidelines:

Necessity Jar – 50%
Education Jar – 10%
Long Term Savings Jar – 10%
Give Jar – 10%
FFA (Financial Freedom Account) Jar – 10%
Play Jar – 10%

Now, on to the main objection most of you will have immediately… “I can’t live on 50% of my income”. Noted. So here is what you do. First, you determine what amount of money you can spare for the jars, and you use that money to do your jars. If you can only spare $10/month to do your jars, spend $5 of it on necessities, and $1 on each of the other five jars. What matters here is not the amount, but creating the habit of managing your money properly. “It’s not the amount; it’s the habit!”

Also, how serious are you about creating all of the wealth you want in your life? If you are real serious, then go a little further. First, put 10% into your FFA jar. Next, consistently throw all of your spare change into your FFA Jar every day. Also, when you come into a windfall of any kind, put that in your FFA Jar. What you will find is, when you start to effectively manage your money, and you focus on it, all kinds of wonderful things will start to happen. You will get a bonus that you don’t need for necessities, and you can put it in your FFA Jar. You will get a raise, and you won’t need the extra money for necessities, so you can increase what you are putting in your FFA Jar. You will find unnecessary expenses you can eliminate, or ways to make some extra money you weren’t making before, and you will be able to add that to your FFA Jar. No matter how small it starts, if you manage your money effectively, over time what you are able to put away for your Financial Freedom Account will grow and increase in ways and amounts that you can not currently fathom! It will turn into a giant snowball, that continues to gather size and speed as it rolls down the hill!

Now, on to some details about the jars, what they are for, and the purpose they serve.

The Necessity Jar (50%) is fairly obvious. This is living expenses that you must pay on a regular basis. Rent or mortgage, utilities, insurance, phone, food, car payment, gas, etc.

The Education Jar (10%) is money spent to make you better, like taking courses and seminars in your field. Stay on top of your game. The learners inherit the earth, while the learned are wonderfully prepared for a world that no longer exists (or something like that).

The Long Term Savings Jar (10%) is saving for occasional large expenses. This might be a down payment on a house, a child’s college tuition, or, depending on your preferences, maybe even for Christmas (if you have a hard time covering Christmas out of your Necessities Jar).

The Give Jar (10%) is for charitable giving, and it serves at least three purposes. First, giving is Biblical. God instructs that we give the first 10% of our income. Further, we are told that if we give, it will come back to us magnified many times. Second, helping out others when you don’t “have to” feels great. You are making a contribution to society. Third, without even realizing it, many people sabotage themselves when it comes to building wealth because they don’t feel worthy. Let me use a personal example here. I grew up poor, and I learned that rich people were greedy and selfish. Well, that mentality wasn’t exactly conducive to creating great wealth. When I started trying to improve my finances, family and friends would give me the standard guilt trips, both Biblical and otherwise, and, unsure how to respond, I would feel guilty and dejected. When I started consistently tithing, and the guilt trips came my way, I was happy to respond. “Well, I am doing win-win-win business, without ever taking advantage of any one. I am providing jobs and income for my help and/or contractors. ‘I get rich doing what I love. I deserve to be rich because I add value to other peoples lives.’ Also, I am tithing my church, and giving to some other causes as well, which I was never able to do when I was poor. Can you point out to me the flaws in what I am doing?” Wow, did that change things!!! No more guilt. No more feeling dejected. No more wondering why I was working so hard to get ahead in life. Now I felt great, and it reflected in my business and other areas of my life! FYI, when I started giving, jumping up to 10% all at once hurt too much, so here is what I did… I started giving a smaller amount, and I pledged that every time I had a windfall or a blessing to count, I would increase my giving. I quickly got up over 10%, and it was not painful at all. I only share that because it may be a good option for others who find 10% giving immediately to be unpalatable.

The FFA Jar (10%) is your Financial Freedom Account. This is your “save and invest the difference” money. This is where your money starts to work for you, instead of you working for your money. Your FFA money can never, ever, be spent! Ever! It is the proverbial goose that lays the golden eggs, and you must never kill the goose!

The Play Jar (10%) is money that is for just that – play. Many people, especially those of us who grew up poor, are not very good at receiving (goes back to the feelings of guilt already mentioned). The Play Jar serves to strengthen our receiving muscles. This is not for average, every day stuff… The Play Jar is for the kinds of fantastic things that we can not normally afford, but now we can because we have money set aside just for that purpose. This is the kind of stuff we would love to do ‘when we have more money’. This is not just dinner out, but a fancy dinner with dessert, candlelight and ‘the best wine on the list’! This is not just a visit to the spa, but getting the massage with the hot rocks and the cucumbers! The play jar is where you get to experience a slice of the good life, and, used properly, it will serve to motivate you because you want more!

Now, I just shared with you the best budget I have ever seen or used, and it works (if you work)!!!

Please pass this on to anyone you know who may benefit from it… Together, let’s get inspired, let’s get motivated, let’s create some buzzzz, and let’s help some people (family, friends, and ourselves) create all of the wealth and success they want in life!!!

How to Create All of the Wealth and Success You Want In Your Life – Tip #9

This is tip #9 of at least 10 in the series. I will try to publish most of them as e-zine articles, but if any are missing, they will all be available on my blog…

In the first seven tips, we focused largely on things applicable to success in general; in Tip #8 I said we would take the next two or three tips to get specific and focus in on the other part of our series title – wealth! So, without further ado, Tip #9…

Tip #9 – Create a budget. “A budget is people telling their money where to go instead of wondering where it went.” -John Maxwell

Almost everyone has heard that failing to plan is akin to planning to fail… Well, so it is with your money and finances. If you don’t have a budget, and/or a method of consistently keeping track of your net worth, then, by default, you are planning to fail. Instead of you controlling your money (and wealth), your money is controlling you.

Most people have heard that one of the secrets to wealth is to pay yourself first… However, most people don’t do it. I said in a previous article, getting rich is simple, but it isn’t easy. T. Harv Eker says something akin to, “If you pay yourself first, you will never miss it. If you pay yourself last, you will never do it”, and he is, to my experience, 100% right.

You work all year to pay Uncle Sam, the grocery store, restaurants, the utility company, gas stations, Wal-Mart… But ask yourself, what part of the year do you work to pay yourself? If you are like most people, the answer is little to none. Does it make sense to work hard to pay everyone else, and not pay yourself?

Here is a little reality check. It is not, “When I have more money, I will start to manage it.” It is, “When I manage my money, I will have more… money to manage.”

I am not sure, but this sounds like Robert Kiyosaki… “With every dollar we get in our hands, we hold the power to choose our future to be rich, poor, or middle class… Poor people simply have poor spending habits.” “It is the lack of self-discipline that is the #1 delineating factor between the rich, the poor, and the middle class.”

On the lighter side, Stuart Wilde said, “The trick to money is having some!”

Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “Shallow men believe in luck. Strong men believe in cause and effect.” So it is with wealth and budgeting. If you pay yourself last, and wait for luck to make you wealthy, it is likely to be a very long wait. However, if you believe in cause and effect; if you manage your money (spelled B-U-D-G-E-T), and follow my three rules from Tip #8, you will quickly find yourself amassing a pretty good nest egg of wealth.

If you enjoy my tips, please pass this on to anyone you know who may benefit from it... Together, let’s get inspired, let’s get motivated, let’s create some buzzzz, and let’s help some people (family, friends, and ourselves) create all of the wealth and success they want in life!!!