You Were A Champion Before You Were Even Born!

The start of this sounds like it might be pornography, but bear with me. There is a message.

A fertile male human ejaculates between 2 and 5 mililiters (ml) of semen (on average about a teaspoon). In each ml there are normally 50-100 million sperm. Only a small fraction of the sperm deposited in the woman's vagina end up in the uterus. From those that make it to the
uterus, only a small fraction of those find their way to the oviducts
(fallopian tubes). Usually the egg is all the way up at the other end of the oviduct. Of those that are in the oviduct, a small fraction might make their way from the lower to the upper oviduct. So, in fact, the number of sperm that might successfully arrive at where the egg is located is actually very small. Another problem is that the egg is not just waiting to be fertilized by the first sperm to come along. The egg is usually covered by a thick layer of cells called the corona radiata that serve as a blockade to restrict sperm from getting into the egg. Sperm cells contain enzymes that break this barrier down. It may actually require an assault of many sperm to break down the corona sufficiently to let one sperm get through to the egg.

So picture the process like a marathon… Run in a maze… Filled with mucus… Followed by attempting to break into a heavily guarded fortress. More often than not, nobody completes the triathlon. That one sperm that finally makes it, is the champion of Mother Nature's triathlon. So, just to be born, you not only had to complete this triathlon, but you had to be #1 out of over 100 million sperm… Just being born makes you a champion!!!

So, think about your dreams, and tell me, are your odds better or worse than your odds were of being born at all??? I dare say, nothing you ever want to accomplish in this life will come with worse odds than your odds were of being born in the first place!!! So you might as well get started now!

Napoleon Hill says...

"The best job goes to the person who can get it done without passing the buck or coming back with excuses." -Napoleon Hill

A child and a dollar...

"What should a child do with a dollar? Here's one philosophy: It's only a child and it's only a dollar, so what difference does it make? Wow, what a philosophy! Where do you suppose everything starts for the future? Here's where it starts - it starts with a child and a dollar. You say, 'Well, he's only a child once. Let him spend it all.' Well, when would you hope that would stop? When he's fifty and broke?...".

-Jim Rohn

Probably my last 'original' post for a while...

Well, this decision has been a long time coming... It has been a tough decision to make, but at least for the time being, I am going to quit writing 'The Lund Letters'. I guess to some extent I quit a while ago, and this is just finalizing the decision.

I started out with the idea that eventually, at some future point in time, my writing would blossom into something bigger than just me... That it would take on a life of its own, and grow, help a lot of people, and that God would show me what to do to make it something wonderful. The truth is, I had a great time writing, and I still plan to eventually do something with my writing, but now is not that time. The time and energy that I put into writing seemed to be more for me than anyone else, and right now I feel that my time and energy is better spent being a husband, and a Dad, and a real estate investor.

I am still an active real estate investor, and will gladly share advice if any of you need it. In fact, the real estate investing is a big part of why I am on sabbatical from my writing. I have been doing mostly buy and hold real estate for about 11 years now, and I see a window of opportunity in real estate right now that I do not believe will ever exist for me again. What do I mean?

This is just my opinion, so take it for what it is worth, but what I mean is that I think we are in a position in Central Florida to buy cash flowing residential real estate that we have never seen before, and that we are unlikely to see again in my lifetime. During the five or so years when the market was going up like crazy, any so-called investor could use the dart board pattern of buying property and make money because of appreciation. Anyone and everyone was making money in real estate. That was just dumb luck. What I am talking about now is an opportunity for skilled investors, and only a few people will make the most of it, and I intend to be one of them. Let me go into more detail.

What I see now is a brief window of opportunity, that may last as little as one year, or as long as several years, where knowledgeable buy and hold investors can buy properties for significantly below their true value, that will cash flow like crazy, without having to spend countless hours scouring hundreds of properties to find a needle in a haystack. I have been a very successful real estate investor over the years because I got good at finding the needle in a haystack - the diamond among the rocks, if you will - and let me tell you, the diamonds are popping up like crazy right now! The game stays the same, only the rules have changed. Today, success in real estate investing will not go to the person who can find the diamond in the rough, but to the person who is able to successfully raise funds, buy the right properties, and is skillful at managing them. Success in this real estate market go to the people that know how to play the game Cash Flow (LOL)! Cash Flow is back, and it is king!

Due to the high rate of foreclosures, REOs (Real Estate Owned), which means primarily bank owned properties, are flooding the market. This is the best buyers market I have ever seen, and I believe that it is once in a lifetime. I can buy dozens of properties today at prices lower than I could buy one needle in a haystack for 11 years ago. Then, taking it a step further, the property I buy today pulls in a significantly higher rent than it did 11 years ago. The last few years may have put some of you 'through the fire' as real estate investors, and you may be afraid to 'get back into the game', but, let me share my opinion that if you don't, you may miss the opportunity of a lifetime.

Let me share a couple deals I just bought and/or I am buying right now in Lakeland. First deal: 3 bedroom, 1 bath block home in fairly decent area (very good schools), about 900 square feet living area. Price - $36K. What I spent on repairs - $1,220. Cash flow - got $2K down, $650/month, rent to own, sell price $69.9K (which is a very fair price), with contract and deposit in hand before I even closed on the house. Tenant/buyer started moving in the day we closed. If they pay on time for 6 months, which I have no doubt they will (I do my homework), I will owner finance, and when they file for the 10% first time homebuyer tax credit, I will get the $6,990 (balloon second mortgage). Eleven years ago, this house would have been a needle in a haystack if I could have bought it for $40K, and rented it for $500/month. No rent to own, and no tax credit incentive. Second deal: 1,822 square feet living area duplex (2/1 both sides). Price - $42K. Estimated repairs - $2-4K. Rents - $550-600 each side. Eleven years ago, it would have been a steal at $50K with rents of $400 each side.

Further, I am seeing the possibility of deals still getting better every day right now. IT WON'T LAST!!! Mark my words here, folks. We are in the middle of a once in a lifetime opportunity!

Do you want to know how many of the mega rich people in our country created their wealth? There is a very simple pattern. They bought when everyone else was selling. HELLO?!!!!!!!! J. Paul Getty was buying oil wells and equipment late in The Great Depression. Everyone was getting out, and Getty was leveraging himself to the max buying for pennies on the dollar. Everyone in oil said he was crazy and would be bankrupt in less than a year. What those people didn't realize was, the country still needed oil. Getty went on to be the richest man in America for a time. Today in real estate - guess what - people still need a place to live!

If you buy properties that cash flow like crazy, no matter what else happens, you can hold them for the long term. In the long term, they will go up. History proves this. Plus, if I am right, the gems that are available today won't need a real long time to go up. If you buy the best cash flowing properties at the best prices, they will have equity in them when you buy them, and they will increase in value even more when this market corrects. The real estate market was completely overbought, way too high, and now, select properties (not all of them!) are being completely oversold. This spells O-P-P-O-R-T-U-N-I-T-Y! Many investors I know are still running scared, but let me tell you what I am doing. In the past month, I have made offers on about a dozen properties. They were low ball offers, on properties that were already bargains at the asking price! Only two of them stuck. Good E Nuff.

These two properties will give me combined positive cashflow after all expenses of $800-1,000/month. I paid cash, but, 100% financed, I would still be positive about $300-600, with none of my own money invested! N-O-N-E! Anybody else need a raise? I do!

Anyhow, a final note... If any of you know of someone who wants to make solid returns on their money, with no risk, please let me know. I have a credit score over 700. I have never been a day late or a dollar short with any payments. I have an 11 year track record of successful real estate investing, including the last 2 years when a lot of people got clobbered. I own over a half dozen properties free and clear, and I am willing to give first mortgages at 50% LTV (loan to value), rate and terms TBD. Will also consider equity sharing.

They can contact me by e-mail: reinvestorsfl@aol.com
Home Phone #(863)904-8082
Cell Phone #(863)398-7099

If you know of people/companies that are lending money to buy and hold investors today, please get me contact information and I will gladly follow up. Thank you!

'You can have your excuses, or you can have your dreams, but you can't have both!'

Best wishes,Chris Lund

Lee Iacooca says...

"There ain't no free lunches in this country. And don't go spending your whole life commiserating that you got the raw deals. You've got to say, 'I think that if I keep working at this and want it bad enough I can have it.' It's called perseverance."
-Lee IacoccaBusinessman and Former CEO of Chrysler

Quote for the Day - Ben Franklin...

"Wealth depends chiefly on two words, industry and frugality; that is, waste neither time nor money, but make the best use of both." -Benjamin Franklin

A Chris Lund original quote...

Keep doing what it takes to get where you want to go until the world can no longer deny you... your destiny!!! -Chris Lund original

Quote for the Day...

"Make each day useful and cheerful and prove that you know the worth of time by employing it well. Then youth will be happy, old age without regret and life a beautiful success."
-Louisa May Alcott1832-1888, Author

Winston Churchill quote...

"Never, never, never give up!" -Winston Churchill

Quote for the Day...

"If you think about disaster, you will get it. Brood about death and you hasten your demise. Think positively and masterfully, with confidence and faith, and life becomes more secure, more fraught with action, richer in achievement and experience."
Eddie Rickenbacker1890-1973, American Fighter Ace, Race Car Driver and pioneer in air transportation.

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!!!

How to Create All of the Wealth and Success You Want In Your Life – Tip #8

This is tip #8 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; now let’s take the next two or three tips to get specific and focus in on the other part of our series title – wealth!

Tip #8 – Follow my three rules for creating wealth in your life.
Rule #1 – Live below your means.
Rule #2 – Save and invest the difference.
Rule #3 – Continuously improve on rules #1 and #2.

Again I will return to the slogan, it is simple, but it isn’t easy. Common sense dictates that if you follow these rules, eventually, at some point in the future, you will become wealthy. However, the killer is in the doing.

Wealth building is not rocket science. Contrary to what many want to believe, it is actually very basic, simple math. Make ten dollars. Subtract nine dollars to live on. Save and invest the one dollar difference. Repeat over and over again. Then, as the one dollar differences add up over time, learn to invest them better and better. Eventually they become a massive pile of money that begins growing itself quickly and easily, and instead of you working for your money, your money works for you. The formula for wealth is so simple, it is actually boring.

Where does everyone go wrong? If I shared the long version – well, that would be a book in itself. So, the short version… We live in a consumer society. We are bombarded by hundreds or even thousands of messages a day saying spend, spend, spend. Don’t think so – when you wake up in the morning, start counting the television and radio commercials, billboards you drive past, banners in store windows, ads in magazines, phone calls from telemarketers, flyers in the mailbox, e-mails pitching you everything under the sun, etc. I would be surprised if you didn’t give up counting before lunch time! If you buy this product you will be beautiful. If you buy this product you will have a beautiful spouse. If you buy this product you will feel great. If you buy this product you will… blah, blah, blah, blah.

From children to adulthood, through home and school, we are taught how to be responsible, conform to society’s rules, get a good job, buy nice things that are beyond our means, etc. However, very few of us are taught how to manage our money (aka follow my three rules)!

Instead of having a solid, long term plan, we chase instant gratification, which, to use Robert Kiyosaki’s terminology, keeps us stuck in the rat race. We work to make money, which we spend to make ourselves feel good, then the money runs out, and we feel lousy. So we work harder and longer to make more money, which only allows us to spend more money, which predictably runs out again, so we feel even lousier. Then the trap starts all over again.

Brian Tracy says this is Parkinson’s Law – that expenses rise to meet income. Make a little more money – spend a little more money. Get a raise – and we immediately go out and upgrade our car, or our cable television, or our health club membership, or our home, etc.

The first step to living by my three rules – recognize the pattern you are currently in, and, assuming it is the pattern of the average American (Parkinson’s Law), make a decision to change it. More on how to do that coming soon in tip #9.

There are a lot of things you can do to improve your situation once you have made a decision to do so; there is very little you can do to improve if you haven’t yet decided to!

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!!!

Reminder: E-mail subscriber list...

Since my on-going tips on "How to Create All of the Wealth and Success You Want In Your Life" are drawing a lot of new people to my blog, I thought I should remind readers quickly of my e-mail option. For those who are interested, e-mail me at reinvestorsfl@aol.com, and, on your request, I will e-mail you whenever I write new material (errr, most of the time). I also occassionally share information with my readers that I do not put on my blog, and I will never intentionally sell or share your e-mail address. Period. Thank you, and remember, "You can have your excuses, or you can have your dreams, but you can't have both!"

Some Quotes On Habits, borrowed from Dennis Waitley...

"First we make our habits, then our habits make us." Denis Waitley

"The truth is, you don't break a bad habit; you replace it with a good one." Denis Waitley

"Being miserable is a habit; being happy is a habit; and the choice is yours." Tom Hopkins

"Good habits are as addictive as bad habits, and a lot more rewarding." Harvey Mackay

"To change a habit, make a conscious decision, then 'act out' the new behavior." Dr. Maxwell Maltz

"Winning, and losing, are habit forming." Denis Waitley

How to Create All of the Wealth and Success You Want In Your Life – Tip #7

This is tip #7 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…

Tip #7 – Choose who you spend your time with carefully… Learn from people who have already successfully done what you want to do.

Studies have shown that your income is the average of your peer group. Think about the five people or groups of people that you spend the most time with, and odds are your income is about the average of that group. If your peer group is pulling you down, or keeping you down, then you need to fix that, or decide that you are content to stay put.

Personally, I had a big issue with this, because my group of family and friends were poor, but I couldn’t or wouldn’t change my family or close friends of many years. Still, a couple of points that can help you… First, find a mentor who is already at where you want to be, and find a way to get them to help you. Keep in mind, it wouldn’t be fair to just expect someone who is very successful to help you out of the kindness of their heart (though sometimes they may); offer them as much or more value in return for their mentoring you, and don’t give up until you find the mentor you need.

Also, I increased the average income of my peer group in part through books, CDs, web sites, etc. Robert Allen, Robert Kiyosaki, Mark Victor Hansen, Jack Canfield, Ron LeGrand, Brian Tracy, Robyn Thompson, CREonline… I spent/spend time with these big thinkers every day!

Let me share a little story with you… Fishermen of old sometimes used crabs for bait. What they found was, if they had one crab in a container that was several inches high, the crab would climb out and get away every time. However, if they put a bunch of crabs in a container together, they could use a container that was only one inch high, and the crabs would never get out of the container. What happened was, every time a crab tried to climb out of the container, the other crabs grabbed him and pulled him back into the ‘safety’ of the group. They didn’t want to let one crab get out, because who knows what dangers may lurk beyond the walls of the container!

Are you seeing this safety net in your life, and among your peer group? Every time you talk about new ideas, or getting rich, or trying something you have never done before, are there people in your life shooting it full of holes and trying to talk you out of it? If so, is it time to find some ways to increase your exposure to peers who will pull you up instead of down? We all need more positive associations in our lives!

Before I close this tip, more on making sure that you learn from people who have already successfully done what you want to do. If I am having problems in my marriage, should I talk to a parent that has been divorced four times and is struggling in their current marriage? If I want more money and success in my life, should I talk to a family member or friend who hates their job and lives paycheck to paycheck with no idea of how to ever change that? A great rule for getting anything you want in your life – find someone who already has what you want, and steal if from them… (hopefully you know I am kidding). Study them. Read their books. Ask them to mentor you. Learn how they did it, and then you do it too. If you think what wealthy people think, and you do what wealthy people do, eventually you will have… what wealthy people have!!! It is simple, but it isn’t easy!

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!!!

A few more quotes for the day...

"The reason most people face the future with apprehension instead of anticipation is because they don't have it well designed". -Jim Rohn

"Most people are about as happy as they make up their minds to be." -Abraham Lincoln

"When you see yourself as good, the world you live in has a different design." -Richard Flint

How to Create All of the Wealth and Success You Want In Your Life – Tip #6

Tip #6 – Excellence…

To create all of the wealth and success you want in your life, it would behoove you to aim at being the best in your field. Brian Tracy says all of the rewards go to the top ten percent. Further, he says if you took all of your time, energy, and money, and put it into becoming the best in your field, it would pay you back over one thousand fold over your lifetime.

Mediocre people are easily replaced, so their value is extremely limited; when you get paid by the hour, there is an automatic ceiling placed on your income. However, if you are the best in your field, you can switch from getting paid by the hour to getting paid for the value you add, and now the only limits are the ones you place on yourself. Jim Rohn says “Learn to work harder on yourself than you do on your job (personal achievement). This is where you can go from making a living to making a fortune.”

“The quality of a person’s life is directly proportionate to their commitment to excellence.” -Vince Lombardi

Let’s look briefly at pricing… If you are selling a commodity item, something where ten other people are selling the same thing right along side you, the price you can charge is extremely limited. Nobody can make large margins, because you are competing based largely on one thing – price. That is mediocrity. However, if you have something exclusive, that nobody else has, you can demand whatever price you want as long as the perceived value is higher than the cost. That is being the best. You have the best product, or the best service, or whatever it is that makes you far superior to any competitor, and now when somebody wants what you have, the price of a competitor is no longer a factor.

As a final way to evaluate excellence, let’s look at its opposite – failure. Jim Rohn says, “Failure is not a single, cataclysmic event. You don’t fail overnight. Instead, failure is a few errors in judgment repeated every day.”

“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.” -Aristotle

So, there you have tip #6 – decide on Excellence for you or your company!!!

This is tip #6 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. Also on my blog are some motivational quotes that have become quite popular, as well as other articles, so earmark my blog as one of your favorites, make a habit of going there, share the link with others, and let’s see if we can create some magic in your life!