Posted by Eric Twitty on May 31, 2009
Welcome back!
by Nikola Grubisa
You have probably read or heard about various myths (these are the truths that are valid only for certain cases, but not in general) surrounding wealth and wealthy people, all of which hinder your quest for financial independence. Here are the most common and most destructive:
Myth No. 1: How much you earn depends on how hard you work
If this were true, then the physical, blue-collar workers, who have been working hard for years, would have been the wealthiest people on earth. Of course, this isn’t true. They form most of the workforce and the vast majority of the middle-class.
If you witnessed your parents coming home tired from a long day’s work in your youth, you probably learned that money wasn’t a sufficient reward for all that effort. People who work “just” for the money often have debts because they comfort themselves with whatever they can buy, beautiful things they lack when working.
Myth No. 2: Being paid for something you enjoy isn’t work and you shouldn’t ask for money for doing something that is enjoyable.
Check this with millionaires. They all have so much money that they don’t need to work anymore. Nevertheless, they work for other reasons, challenge, satisfaction, fullness of life, activity, fun … and all are connected to a love for their work. If there was no joy in doing a certain task, they would do something else that would make them much happier and that enables them to realize their dreams.
In fact, if you don’t enjoy your work, you will never become wealthy doing it! However, just because you enjoy your work doesn’t mean you shouldn’t get paid for it - in fact, that is the ultimate goal, to get paid for what you already enjoy so it never feels like you are at work!
Myth No. 3: You need to be in the right line of business to amass wealth
Do you think so? This must mean that all the people who are involved in the same business are millionaires. Of course, this isn’t true. In each business there are winners and losers; winners abound, even in businesses that consist of distasteful (to most) or “impossible” work like sweeping the streets, collecting the trash, working in a factory, pumping gas, selling newspapers, etc. On the other hand, there are just as many “losers” in businesses like selling real estate, management or being a stockbroker.
Myth No. 4: You need the right education to make a fortune
Are the most educated people really the wealthiest? Not at all! In this case, university professors would be the wealthiest people on earth. Ask them about their salaries, if you get the opportunity. The truth is vastly different - the wealthiest people are those who can convert their knowledge (or education) into money, in the best possible way. They can be highly educated people (like inventors, scientists, etc.) or almost ignorant.
Being formally uneducated does not equate to poor performance on the job or the inability to form a strong enough vision to carry a person to success - they can easily be experts without having a formal education.
Myth No. 5: It used to be easier
Statistics show an increase in the number of millionaires in the world every year. Talking about the “good old times” only offers comfort and a convenient excuse. If you look around, you’ll see there are people who behaved the same way in the “good old times” as they do now, yet their success has been recent. With technology and progress come new ideas, desires and needs and there are more business opportunities appearing daily to serve them.
Myth No. 6: I’m too old (young)
If you research the life stories of some of the most successful people, you’ll see that this isn’t true at all. Some became wealthy early in their lives (perhaps from the stock market), while others found their fortune in their old age. Ray Kroc, was more than fifty years old when he bought and made the first McDonald’s.
Myth No. 7: I don’t have enough money to start. You have to spend money to make money.
This is no different from any other excuse or “myth.” Like the others, it’s obvious this one isn’t true either. Many have made their fortunes starting from scratch, living in an apartment or working out of their garage and yet, they developed business empires that are worth billions of dollars today. The other elements of success are far more important than having seed money to start a business.
But yes, often money helps and it certainly doesn’t hurt. Like everything else discussed in other myths: it probably helps, but it is not always necessary.
Myth No. 8: I’ll begin when I know everything
Do you believe that you will know everything someday? Or even that you’ll know enough to ever be “really prepared now?” The more you learn, the more you see what you still need to learn. Success and obtaining wealth is a dynamic process. Even if you “could” come out of the gate knowing everything there is to know, some of those elements will change immediately and many will change rapidly. If you don’t decide now, nothing will happen. Live and learn.
Some millionaires have even allowed themselves to go bankrupt and then (even faster) recreated their wealth, sometimes even greater than before. Money itself isn’t the obstacle that is keeping you from being wealthy. If you’re really good in your business, don’t worry, because someone that will offer you money (a bank or business partner) will appear who will appreciate your talent knowing you are a very good investment opportunity. But you can’t sit around waiting for this - make it happen.
Exercise “taking action” as much as you can. Make your workplace better or more efficient. After all, even if someone else signs your paycheck, you really work for you. Even if you are an employee in a large corporation - it isn’t your corporation - but it is the only corporation through which you can prove what you are capable of right now.
All of us have what it takes to become a millionaire! Born winners, yet few of us know how to take advantage of and cultivate the possibilities hidden inside our own mind!
No one can ever grant you greater potential than your heart already holds…you need only discover its contents to find the one true path to your success in life. Born with the seeds to our success, the greatest decisions must always come from the inside! You will discover a new, deep well of fortune – yourself!
================================================
Nikola Grubisa is a European Marketing and HRM Consultant and the co-author of a European bestseller “The Millionaire Mindset: How to Tap Real Wealth from Within”. If you are wondering how top marketers are marketing in Europe and at the same time want to discover the path to true wealth, please subscribe to his new free eZine “The Millionaire Weekly Memo”. Click here: http://www.TheMillionaireMind.net?a2-aa
Posted by Eric Twitty on December 18, 2008
By Tom Venuto, NSCA-CPT, CSCS
www.BurnTheFat.com
One of my favorite motivational speakers is a guy by the name of Brian Tracy, who is one of the world’s top experts on success psychology and personal achievement. In case you haven’t heard of Brian, he is sort of like a calmer, more “laid back” version of infomercial guru, Tony Robbins.
Not long ago, I had the chance to attend a seminar Brian held at the Jacob Javitz center here in New York City. One part of his talk really grabbed my attention, and I’d like to share it with you…
Brian said that that there are two diseases running rampant across America and much of the industrialized world today. If you had to hazard a guess, which two do you think they are? Cancer? Diabetes? Heart Disease? Osteoporosis? Obesity?
Guess what? They’re NONE of the above. In fact, they’re not even physical diseases – they are mental diseases.
The first mental disease, according to Tracy, is called something-for nothing disease. Something for nothing disease is contracted by people who believe they can take more out than what they put in. These are the people who want all the rewards without paying full price, or as Brian put it, “They want to go through the revolving door of life on someone else’s push.”
Quick fix disease is the second of the mental diseases. According to Brian, this disease is contracted by people who always want a quick way to reach their goals. They search for instant cures to solve problems that may have taken months or even years to develop. They seek short cuts to acquire key skills that actually take many months and years of hard work to master.
These diseases are not to be confused with the desire to constantly get better and search for more efficient ways to reach your goals (which is a positive trait). The “diseased” people are those trying to reach their goals faster than nature intended without any effort (which is a negative trait). As a friend of mine once said, “There’s a big difference between seeking efficiency and being lazy.”
Brian’s New York City seminar was mostly filled with businesspeople, sales professionals and entrepreneurs, so he referred to financial examples, such as: wanting to work fewer hours and earn more money, investing in get rich quick schemes, or buying lottery tickets.
However, I personally feel that quick fix and something for nothing disease are more rampant and insidious among people with fitness goals than they are among any other group.
Health and fitness seekers with something for nothing disease they think they can get twice the results in half the time. They want weight loss without dieting, fitness without exercise, and perfect health while eating, drinking and smoking whatever they want.
Those with quick fix disease want to take a pill, go to sleep, and wake up skinny. They are forever on a quest to find short cuts to fitness goals that that normally take months or years to attain.
People afflicted by quick fix disease are suckers for the latest “exercise in a bottle,” “fat burning cream,” “diet pill,” or “steroid replacement” scams. They impulsively buy miracle solutions on a whim, which they haven’t researched and know nothing about.
Saddest of all, they often waste YEARS of their lives on a misguided quest for the holy grail of weight loss or muscle growth, when they could have reached their goals with a better work ethic and a little bit of persistence.
People with these diseases are violating some of the most basic laws of the universe: Cause and effect, sowing and reaping, action and reaction. This is just as ridiculous as attempting to violate other natural laws such as the law of gravity. Jump off a cliff, and you’re going to plummet to the Earth below – 100% of the time.
But there’s more: Not only are you going to FAIL and hit bottom if you catch one or both of these diseases - the very act of seeking a quick fix or wanting something for nothing makes you a weaker person.
On the other hand, the act of setting a worthy goal for something you want and reaching it through diligence, determination, discipline and hard work changes the very fiber of your being. You literally change on a cellular level; you become a stronger person.
The purpose of having a worthy goal then, is not to possess the goal, it is to become a better person as result of pursuing and achieving the goal. If you get something for nothing, you may have that thing, but you have not become anything. Pity the person who wins a million dollars who has not become a millionaire in spirit and character.
It’s been said you don’t get what you want in life, you get what you deserve. If you want to achieve your perfect weight and improve your health… if you want success and achievement… if you want to win the championship title… then set the goal and go for it!
But whatever you do, don’t catch these two diseases. SHUN THE QUICK FIX, AVOID THE FREE RIDE and deserve it. You can have, do or be anything you want - just pay the price and it’s yours!
About the Author:
Tom Venuto is a lifetime natural bodybuilder, an NSCA-certified personal trainer (CPT), certified strength & conditioning specialist (CSCS), and author of the #1 best-selling e-book, “Burn the Fat, Feed The Muscle.” Tom has written hundreds of articles and has been featured in print magazines such as IRONMAN, Australian IRONMAN, Natural Bodybuilding, Muscular Development, Exercise for Men and Men’s Exercise, as well as on hundreds of websites worldwide. For information on Tom’s Fat Loss program, visit: www.burnthefat.com.
Posted by Eric Twitty on November 12, 2008
When you look around and see the situation most people are in, why would anyone want to be in a similar situation? People are stressed and looking for any way out of their situation they can find. To turn things around you must first change your mindset.
Thinking differently from the crowd and adopting the mindset of the successful will put you on track to making positive changes in your life.
Let’s take a look at the average person, then we will look at what successful people do.
What is average?
So what is average in the United States today? The statistics show that most Americans are:
- Overweight
- Have little or no savings
- Have lot’s of debt
- Completely dependent on their job for financial stability
If this is what is average in the U.S., why would you want to be average?
Do what successful people do
These are the habits of the successful:
- They exercise and eat well- eating well and exercising keeps you healthy and energetic
- They build wealth for themselves- actively save and invest a portion of your income to build financial stability
- They avoid debt- avoid debt by living frugally and not worrying about owning all the superficial things with little or no value that most Americans purchase
Take steps to better your health. Build wealth for yourself so that you can retire and enjoy life. Avoid debt. Develop other sources of income. These are things that very few people do yet everyone should strive for.
This is what successful people do. They have a different approach to life.
Be Different
Imagine living a life where you are in shape and healthy, have little or no debt, and have money invested in various asset classes that have been proven to appreciate in value over time. This is a life that anyone can have. It does take work and sacrifice though. It doesn’t come easy.
“The hardest struggle of all is to be something different from what the average man is.”
Charles Schwab
People will try to bring you down and tell you to live your life, eat what you want, and spend your money, but resist their temptations. Look at the person that’s trying to bring you down. Are they living the life they want?
Toxic people will always attempt to sabotage your productive habits but don’t let them. This is too important to you. If you are unhappy with your life then you must change it. Don’t let anything or anyone get in your way.
Don’t be like most people. Strive to be different. It will put you on the path to success.
Posted by Eric Twitty on November 4, 2008
Are the people you spend your time with holding you back? Do they constantly want you to do things with them that aren’t exactly productive?
People like this are keeping you from realizing your potential. Successful people surround themselves with other successful people. We are extremely susceptible to the way of thinking of the people we are around most often.
When you spend time with a negative person with negative habits it tends to rub off on you. You begin to adopt those negative habits. These habits are counter-productive in achieving your goals.
When you spend time with a successful person the opposite occurs. You begin to adopt their successful habits. One of the best ways to become successful in anything is to mimic what a successful person in your chosen field is doing.
Successful people know that it takes hard work to achieve your goals and they will be more supportive and encouraging. They will keep you motivated and on the right path.
Avoid Toxic People
Avoid negative people that are insecure and jealous of your actions to improve your life. There is nothing to be gained by spending time with these “toxic” people. They will bring you down and sabotage your efforts in achieving your goals.
Many discouraging people have a negative mindset and they really aren’t aware they are behaving towards you in a toxic way. Usually making them aware of their behavior is all you need to do to end it. It will be very hard for them to continue their sabotaging ways once you make them aware of what they are doing.
A great book about dealing with toxic people is “Toxic People” by Dr. Lillian Glass. It will give you specific ways of dealing with the people in your life that are holding you back.
Determine Who is Holding You Back
Write down everyone that you spend time with. Who is supportive and who is not? Do these people encourage you, or do they generally tell you that you can’t do something or you are crazy for trying? Consider each person on the list and make a decision whether they are toxic or supportive.
You should really consider spending less time with the discouraging people or make them aware of the negative effect they have on you.
Spend Your Time With the Successful
Choose to spend your time with people who are successful. Their positive way of thinking will rub off on you. By spending time with these people you have nothing to lose and everything to gain.
Posted by Eric Twitty on October 30, 2008
Want to make sure that you struggle financially for the rest of your life? Be sure to do these things:
1) Buy the nicest, most expensive car you can find
Go out there and get that car you always wanted but never really could afford. It’s fine as long as it makes everyone jealous right? Just think about how many people will want to be like you.
2) Buy the nicest house you can find
You can’t have a nice car without the nice house. Go find a big, expensive home that will impress your friends and make them even more jealous of you. They will really want to be like you now.
3) Use credit cards to buy what you can’t buy with cash
Who cares if you don’t make enough money to buy the things you want. That’s what credit cards are for. Charge up those cards. You can buy something for $500 and only spend $10 per month.
4) Don’t save your money, you can’t take it with you when you die
Why save money? If you don’t spend it someone else will right? Buy whatever you want. Have you been wanting the latest designer jeans? No problem. Buying jeans is way more fun than investing.
5) Don’t let your neighbors out-do you
You can’t still be driving a 2008 Mercedes when your neighbor just got a 2009 model. Go out there and not only get a 2009, but a more expensive model too. Never let your neighbors have nicer things than you.
6) Don’t waste time buying groceries and cooking when you can go out to eat every night
You don’t have time to go to the grocery store and cook. If you are eating at home, who is going to see you in your 2009 Mercedes? They don’t even have a valet at the grocery store. You should go to expensive restaurants to eat because that’s where the rich people go. You drive a Mercedes. You are rich too, aren’t you?
7) Make sure you have all the latest technological gadgets
You can’t live without the latest IPhone. You have to have the 60 inch plasma t.v. in your living room. Do you have the little 10 inch plasma t.v.’s in every bathroom? What about the newest Blue-Ray DVD player? And last but not least, you must have one of those automatic vacuum cleaners that vacuum your floor for you.
Is this you?
Are you doing these things? If you are then you are well on your way to going broke and staying there until you change your habits.
Posted by Eric Twitty on October 17, 2008
Your daily habits greatly influence the success you achieve in life.
Focusing on productive habits while minimizing non-productive habits will go a long way in giving you the life you want.
These five habits will make you healthier, smarter, and give you more money to invest in your future. At the same time, these habits will replace non-productive habits that are holding you back.
Here they are:
Habit 1: Devote at Least an Hour a Day to Reading
Reading has so many benefits. Not only is it good exercise for the mind, but it also is a great escape from the problems you are facing in your life. It is a much more productive habit than watching television. Take at least an hour out of your television time and devote that time to reading something that will make a positive difference in your life. Read about the topics that interest you. Read about improving the areas of your life that you want to improve. Read some of the great literature out there. It doesn’t matter what you read, just read.
Habit 2: Make a Daily To-Do List
To-do lists are great at getting you to do the things you need to do but keep putting off. Making a list of things that you want to accomplish daily will make you much more productive and a more efficient person. You will be amazed at how much you get done. Take some time each night and write down the things you want to accomplish the next day. Write down enough things to keep you busy. Challenge yourself.
Habit 3: Walk an Hour a Day
Walking is a great low intensity exercise. It’s great for fat burning and even relaxing. If you need some time alone, go outside and take a walk. A daily walk will help you shed the pounds and keep them off, while at the same time give you some time to yourself.
Habit 4: Drink Lots of Water
Drinking water instead of soft drinks is about the best thing you can do for your health. Try to drink at least half a gallon of water a day. I went out and bought an aluminum water bottle. I just refill it with filtered water when I finish the bottle. This saves me money because I don’t have to buy bottled water, and its great for the environment because I have no plastic to throw away.
Habit 5: Pack your Lunch for Work
Taking your lunch to work is great because it gives you better flexibility on your food choices. It’s also much cheaper than going to a restaurant for lunch. I like to cook my meals on Sunday and pack them for the week. If you are not sure what to cook, check out my healthy recipes section and read my Only Diet You Will Ever Need article.
Incorporate These Habits
You should definitely incorporate these habits into your life as soon as possible. They replace the nonproductive habits with more productive ones. These habits are a positive step towards your health, mental, and financial goals.
Posted by Eric Twitty on October 16, 2008
There was a very inspiring article in the Wall Street Journal about six months ago titled “If at First You Don’t Succeed, You’re in Excellent Company.” It talks about why some people rebound from defeats and go on to greatness while others give up. This is an article everyone should read.
Read the entire article here.
Posted by Eric Twitty on October 13, 2008
Successful people are successful because of their way of thinking. Success in any area of life has little to do with luck. If there is any area of your life you would like to improve then you should follow these eight steps:
Step 1: Know What You Want and Make a Plan
Sit down and visualize being the person you want to be. What areas of your life do you want to improve? You need to know what you want to become before you can get there. Write these thoughts down. It helps you stay focused when you have them down on paper. Make a commitment to yourself to improve these areas. Make a plan.
“Failing to plan is planning to fail.” Alan Lakein
Step 2: Learn, Learn, Learn
There is tons of information out there on just about any subject you can think of. After you have decided on what areas of your life you want to improve, acquire the knowledge necessary to get where you want to go. Read everything you can. Go to seminars. Do what you have to do. Learn the subject inside and out.
“Knowledge is the food of the soul.” Plato
Step 3: Think Positive
Know that you can achieve what you have set out to do. Positive thinking is a trait that all successful people have. They know they can succeed.
“For myself, I am an optimist–it does not seem to be much use being anything else.” Winston Churchill
Step 4: Take Action
Be a doer, not a thinker. This is the most important step. Anyone can spend countless hours researching the area they want to improve, but the truly successful take the knowledge they have acquired and do something with it. Read The Most Important Key to Success for more on taking action.
“I know of no more encouraging fact than the unquestionable ability of man to elevate his life by conscious endeavor.” Henry David Thoreau
Step 5: Be Willing to Take Risks
Successful people know they are not perfect. They know they will make mistakes. The key is to control your risk. As long as you are able to try again, no risk is too great. Don’t let the fear of failure keep you from trying.
“Our doubts are traitors,And make us lose the good we oft might win by fearing to attempt.” William Shakespeare
Step 6: Be Persistent
Never give up. The only true failure is when you stop trying. They say it took Thomas Edison 1,000 tries before he invented the light bulb. Now that is persistence.
“Continuous effort–not strength or intelligence–is the key to unlocking our potential.”
Winston Churchill
Step 7: Network
Get out there and make some contacts. Find people that are good at what you want to be good at. Surround yourself with successful people. I’m sure you have heard the saying “It’s not what you know, it’s who you know.” I disagree. It should be “It’s what you know, and who you know.”
“Position yourself as a center of influence - the one who knows the movers and shakers. People will respond to that, and you’ll soon become what you project.” Bob Burg
Step 8: Be Patient
Patience is important. No one becomes successful at anything overnight. As long as you strive to make a positive step towards your goals everyday, success will come. Enjoy the journey.
“The value of achievement lies in the achieving.” Albert Einstein
Follow the Path
This is the path to success. It has been laid out for you. Now it is up to you to take these steps and achieve the things you always wanted. Don’t accept failure. If you follow these steps you will become successful in any area you want to improve.
Posted by Eric Twitty on October 9, 2008
There are many keys to success. Knowledge, persistence, and the willingness to take risks are a few. There is one in my opinion that stands out above all others. That key is the ability and willingness to take action. Without action all other keys are meaningless.
This is a common problem with the self-improvement programs out there. Some do a good job teaching you a particular subject but it is up to the reader to apply what they have learned to their life. Every one would like to improve their quality of life but few are willing to put forth the effort necessary. They spend countless hours studying the areas they would like to most improve but they never take the actions necessary to turn their dreams into reality.
Remember a dream is just a dream until you turn it into reality. Vision without action is meaningless. Stop telling yourself that you will take action when you have the time, or have more money, or have more knowledge. Excuses have no place in the path to success.
There are very few reasons out there that you cannot achieve what you want. If you keep thinking that you will take action when your situation is better you are kidding yourself. You have to take action to make positive changes in your life. Don’t wait around for the changes to happen for you.
Don’t let the life you want to live pass you by. Don’t be one of those people who look back 10 years from now and say, “I wish I would have started when I was younger.” Take the knowledge you learn and start applying it to your life immediately. Even if you take action and fail that is fine. Not taking action is admitting failure. At least if you try you have the chance of making positive changes in your life.
Action is what ties together all the other ingredients of success. Without it you accomplish nothing. Your entire life is left to chance. Leaving my life to chance is not good enough for me. I prefer to take my life into my own hands and start making things happen.
So how do you make things happen? It all begins with the decision to make positive changes in your life. You have to want it. Success doesn’t come easily. It’s easy to revert back to your old habits. Don’t settle for anything less than what you expect to achieve.
Next you need to take some time and think about the areas of your life you want to improve. What would you like to achieve in these areas? Only you can answer these questions.
Now you need a plan of action. What actions will it take to accomplish your objectives? Do you need to become more knowledgeable on the particular subject? Once you begin to acquire the knowledge required it will become clearer to you the steps that you need to take to get closer to your goal. Write everything out and hold yourself accountable. Set goals for yourself and smash through them.
Taking action cannot be taught. It is something that is left completely up to you. I think more often than not, it is what separates the successful from the unsuccessful. There are plenty of books and programs out there to teach you the particular subject you are interested in. You can check my recommended reading page for suggested books covering various subjects. It is not the amount of knowledge you have that matters though, it is what you do with that knowledge that will determine your chances of success.
For a complete step by step guide to achieving success in anything, have a look at my Path to Success article.
