Goal Setting- The Master Skill You Need to Succeed In Life
People with clear, written goals, accomplish far more in a shorter period of time than people without them could ever imagine. -Brian Tracy Sandy is a lovely middle-aged woman who I have known over the last one year . She is a public officer single mother with three dependent children. We relate well and have the occasional banter during lunchtime break in the office. She worries about her financial situation and the state of the economy. She seeks my advice from time to time about what to do. I offer her advice from time to time…however, I am very careful not to impose my ideas on her. I had the opportunity one day to explore her ideas about success , money and relationship. I knew I had to be gentle with her, so I asked her this question …what goals have you set to sort your finances and career in the next 5 years?. Sandy looked up at me puzzled, she stared away from me with head bowed and then looked up muttering, “I do not know” then made the next sentence that startled me… “I feel trapped working here but I have to pay my bills” I felt sad and guilty asking her this question…The truth is Sandy is not the only one in this situation. According to experts in the field of psychology, only 3 percent of adults have written goals that they work on every day. The other 97 percent have either vague or fuzzy goals or no goals at all. The top 3 percent that have clear, written , specific goals earn five and 10 times the amount of people without goals. This is astonishing given they both start at the same starting line in life with the same abilities and opportunities. When you set goals, you develop a clear vision about the direction of your life. In his book, what they don’t teach you in the Harvard Business School, Mark Cormack talks about a 1979 study of the graduating Harvard MBA students. Only 3 percent had set clearly written goals about their future. The study after 10 years showed the 3 percent who had clearly written goals were earning on the average 10 times more than the remaining 97 percent who had no goals or had set goals My point is simple. Setting goals will propel upward towards success in life. Why Set Goals? Your ability to set goals and make plans for their accomplishment is the “master skill” of success A person with clear written goals, written down, who works on them every day will run circles around a genius who is unsure about what he or she really wants. Zig Ziglar says, “You must become a meaningful specific rather than a wandering generality” A person with goals makes progress on even the roughest road and the face of the most incredible difficulties. A person without goals just goes back and forth even though the road is smooth and the course is clear. This is why you see many people in their adult life bumping from one job to the other. You can only develop a rich mindset if you are focused and clear about what you want in life. This brings me to a very important principle in goal setting…Idealization. Brian Tracy Motivational speaker, and bestselling author of Goals introduced me to this concept. I must admit I have been practicing idealization without knowing about it. Idealization helped me to move from earning less than $5000 in my country to six-figure income in England within a decade. Idealization is so simple and yet so powerful. All it requires is a pen, a pad of paper and yourself, plus a few minutes. In idealization, you stand back, look at ever part of your life, and then decide on upon the ideal outcomes that you desire. The key to idealization is to ask yourself question to help your creative mind come out with answers. The following are key questions to ask… If everything were perfect in my life what will, what would it look like? What would it look like? What would I be doing? What would I be or have? Perhaps the most important question that you will ever ask and answer, one that returns over and over again is this: What do I really want to do with my life? What is it that you really want to do with your life? What is it that you really, really want to do? What is it you really, really, really want to do. The truth is most people are really unclear and confused about this answer , and this is why most people accomplish far less than they are truly capable of achieving in their lives The truth is you know what you want for yourselves a. Various studies going back to the times of Aristotle have come with one the same answer …. You want to know the answer…take a guess What you want above all is to be happy… However, you decide what will make you happy Happiness is the common denominator to all people . Everything you we do is an attempt to achieve our happiness in some way. A good way to check how well you are doing in life is to ask what percentage of the time you feel you are genuinely happy. The answer to this question will tell you how far you have come and how far you still have to go. Inasmuch as the topic today is on happiness , I will like to leave you with four essential ingredients to happiness. Brian Tracy identifies these four ingredients are common to every person, everywhere under every circumstances. They are: High levels of health and energy. if you have your health you have everything Loving relationships. The more you surrounded yourself with people who love and respect you and whom you love and respect , the happier and healthier you are. meaningful work, work that makes a difference and you do well Financial
Chicken Entrepreneur-The Low Risk Way To Start Your Business
A chicken entrepreneur is somebody who keeps his day job while he gets his ideal career going in the evenings and on weekends. He is an entrepreneur because he is taking the initiative to start his own business. He is chicken because he is not willing to quit his job and lose the income. -Michael Masterson When it comes to business success stories, the media will make you believe that most successful entrepreneurs are risk takers-who quit their jobs and bet their last savings, house on starting their business. We have heard some inspirational stories of such entrepreneurs like Hugh Hefner, Mary Kay Ash -because they stand out from the norm. These stories are the exceptions not the norm. Majority of successful entrepreneurs started out the “chicken entrepreneur” route. In his book the millionaire mind Thomas J Stanley cautions that most millionaires have the courage to start a business but they are not gamblers. He goes on to point out that, the higher a millionaire net worth the less likely he is to gamble. Who is a chicken entrepreneur? A chicken entrepreneur is someone who starts a side business while pursuing his chosen career. Becoming a chicken entrepreneur is the route most successful entrepreneurs have taken to success. I first became aware of this concept while reading an article by Michael Masterson best selling author and founder of Early to Rise newsletter He talks about two qualities you need to be a chicken entrepreneur: brass loins when it comes to risk discipline, tenacity faith and a very understanding family-if you are already married He concludes by saying” anybody with modest intelligence and drive can be a chicken entrepreneur”. When I read this article, I was free of the guilt of not quitting my job and striking it out in business. This also made sense to me because I had experienced the pain of losing my money in my first start-up venture. I was able to cushion the loss of my businesses in the past because I had a regular job. The idea of being a chicken entrepreneur supports the investing mindset…. Let me explain When the investing mindset becomes aware of opportunities he realises it’s an opportunity to become poorer or richer. The next thing an individual with an investing mindset does is to- analyze the situation. The bottom line for the investing mindset is to take smart risk. He does not have to quit his day job -because he cannot predict if his ideas will work out. The Essential Business Skills You need to Succeed Mr. Masterson’s article identified the essential skills you need to succeed in any business. You need to master the fundamentals of direct marketing. You need to know direct marketing because it’s by far the most efficient way to sell products and services profitably You must learn about marketing on the internet. internet marketing is the easiest and least risky way to enter any market and the reach is global You must learn about the kinds of products your marketplace desires. You must know how your business makes the first sales. this means how you can generate a sale without spending too much money to get a customer You must understand how to upgrade a new customer into buying higher-profit-margin products. he call it the “back end” of the business The good thing is you can acquire these skills before you invest any money in your new business. Here are some tips to learn these skills. Use the internet to research and test new products. EBay is a great place to test your new product online. if you have physical product you can go to flea markets You can learn the back end of the business by becoming a customer of companies selling products similar to the one you want to sell. you can create your own back-end strategy by seeing you get from these companies after you make your first purchase Common Start-up pitfalls you want to avoid. Wasting precious time and effort to bring something brand- new and exciting to the market place. You should avoid this. it’s better to start with a better or cheaper version of a product that has proven demand Spending too much time on non-essentials, (like business cards and office furniture). Devote 80 percent of your initial resources to making you first sales This article made me wiser in my business ventures. I am grateful to Mr Masterson for this insight. Have you reached the fork in the road of your career? Before you take the leap to start quit your job, I want you to think about what I have just discussed. Listen to Mr. Masterson’s simple advice. Master the essential skills. avoid the pitfalls. But don’t quit your job yet. Start small and build your business gradually. Think rich and grow rich Related links To this article Early to rise.com Seven Years to Seven Figures: The Fast-Track Plan to Becoming a Millionaire (Agora Series)
Real Estate Investing-How To Seize Opportunity Even In a Recession
One of the great benefits of having a rich mindset is- being aware that every opportunity that presents itself is a chance -to become richer or poorer. When you have an investing mindset, you can analyze situation-that is think well. In addition, have the emotion to take action. I had the opportunity to see the above qualities in action recently. Let me explain. I live about 30 miles from London in Luton, a Bedfordshire town of approximately under 250k people. The town has a university, the University of Bedfordshire that has the highest rate of enrolment in England. The Luton airport is home to Easy jet one of the largest budget airlines in Europe. In addition, the airport is rapidly expanding. The town also has a car manufacturing plant owned by General Motors. The General Motors plant reduced production and laid off many workers in last decade. Luton is a 25-minute commute by train to London. In addition it cost less to live in Luton vis-à-vis London. You can easily buy a 3-bedroom house under £200,000 ($300,000) However, Luton has a major problem… It has little room for further expansion as it is hill locked… The other problem stems from economic misfortune…Luton was heavily dependent on the car manufacturing plant of General Motors in the past, so there was a decline in the town centre for some time. However, Luton’s economic fortune is turning the corner with an influx of service companies providing jobs, coupled with the rapid expansion in the local airport… This brings me to the point of how a rich mindset comes into play The scenario Luton has only one major shopping mall called the Arndale Centre and the owners of the mall have a virtual monopoly on parking… I have watched with consternation-at how the shopping mall has increased the price for the parking lot in the last 1 year. The local authority has demolished the alternative parking for shoppers leaving us at the mercy of the management company To the average resident and shopper… we can only complain and still pay the parking fees anyway. Not so, for some rich minded investor………. A few days ago, I noticed a new parking lot built from wasteland. The owners were charging a 50 percent discount to the price of the monopoly’s parking fees. In addition they are offering monthly, quarterly and annual tickets for half the price of the main mall. With the parking lot rates charged at 50 percent discount to the main mall’s parking rates. I was not surprised to see the parking lot full of vehicles waiting to park. Here is the moral of this story… You can create opportunity to make money when the bigger more established companies have neglected their customers. In this case study, the larger company have a monopoly over the parking-the competition is breaking into this market with a low price offer. It takes a rich mindset to analyze the situation and take advantage of this opportunity. You need to change your mind set to see your world as a world of abundance….A world full of opportunity, think only of creating value and you will get riches The good news is you too can start to do the same….. Here are some few tips to get you started. Decide today to start thinking abundance Drive to work or home using a different route tomorrow Observe to see if there are any changes in your neighbourhood or county Ask yourself the following questions are there any opportunity to create value? Study your present workplace or industry and ask yourself is there any way I can increase the value of my service Make a list of ideas you have identified as a result of your brainstorming sessions Narrow your list to 3 possible ideas or project Take action, discuss with your mastermind group or invest in the opportunity If you cannot come up with any ideas , keep trying Think rich and grow rich Related Links Luton Airport Luton Business Property University of Bedfordshire
Investing For Beginners- The Formula For Getting Rich Easily
When you are starting out as a beginner investor, you need to take care not to become overwhelmed with information on strategies techniques, on how to invest. You should aim towards investing in a vehicle…you know well, you have an entry and exit strategy and you can cut the risk of losing your capital. I know this because I faced this challenge over 15 years ago, when I started as a beginner investor. My story Let me tell you a true story about myself so you can understand why I urge caution… My first foray into investing was in my first year of leaving medical school. I had studied the economic situation in my country… We were officially in recession and my country was under United Nations sanctions. The local currency experienced a sharp devaluation on the dollars, 1 US dollars being equal to 100 units of local currency. Despite the economic depression, I maintained an open mind to opportunities that may present itself. This brings me to a very important quality of the investing mindset… The rich mindset understands this…. Every adversity brings with it a seed of equal prosperity A flash of inspiration came into my mind…. while pondering over the economic situation one morning in my dingy studio flat… My flash of inspiration came in form of two questions. The first question was… How much do I need to live a luxurious life? And what is the fastest way to start enjoying my dream life? As a result, I brainstormed on various income possibilities… The options that I narrowed down on were…. Overtime work as an intern. This option did not appeal to me because I was fresh out of medical school and I was too frightened to work without supervision. The second option was to start a part-time business on campus…I lived and worked in a teaching hospital at the time. I chose the latter option creating my first business venture- a secretarial service business. The business failed within 6 months… but I walked away with a rich experience on how to invest and not to invest. Now this brings me my advice to give you if you are a beginner investor… I read about this in a book called multiple streams of income by Robert Allen…. I wish I had read this book 10 years earlier …because I would not have lost my entire 3 months’ salary as an internist on my first venture. Robert Allen calls this “The Money Tree formula” Money tree The basic concept of the money tree formula is to generate streams of cash flow that requires little or none of your presence. The money tree formula also allows you to diversify your portfolio, reducing your risk However, before you can create “money tree” business-you need to have capacity to create control and own the income stream. In other words, you need to have the mindset of an entrepreneur. Types of Entrepreneurs There are four types of entrepreneurs • Intrapreneurs- generally remain employees within their companies. They are skilled in knowing how to influence, persuade, and lead. CEOs of fortune 500 companies fall into this category, The hefty pay and compensations they get is for three skills I have mentioned. • Extrapreneurs– have the skills of being creative and entertaining. Artists, actors, songwriters, producers fall into this category. Michael Jackson is still making money even in the grave! • Infopreneurs– organize, simplify, and teach. They make money selling information products. Bill Zanker of learning annex comes to mind. Authors, game software creators also fall into the category • Autopreneurs– can analyse, see hidden value, and invest. Venture capitalist, investors in companies, hedge fund investors fall into this category. The discussion about the entrepreneurial personality is a topic for future posts. I have talked about being an entrepreneur because…. an entrepreneur’s mindset creates businesses that need little or none of your presence. Here are the nine essential characteristics of an ideal income stream Multiple streams of income– the business is an extra stream of income and can grow exponentially to create other streams of income Outstanding-the business is unique and has a unique selling proposition that distinguishes from the competition Nothing down-the business needs little to no capital to start. You can start the business on a shoestring. Employee resistant-the business should need little or no employees at all; you can outsource the non-essential task cheaply. Yield– the business have high margin, high profit built into the products you sell. Trends and timing-the business is in the trend and timing for a boom in the market it serves Residual income –the business generates residual income long after you stopped working Essential to everybody everyday -the business is essential and used to a large segment of society. In addition, the product motivates your market to use the product. Enthusiasm. This means you should love what you do. Gary Hulbert says to become rich you need to love what you sell. Reading Robert Allen’s book revolutionized my thinking about investing in general. I decided never to get involved in any sort of business that failed the money tree formula. I found myself rejecting many business opportunities that pitched to me; I became hungry for knowledge and have attended business seminars to learn more. I have enrolled and completed business mentorship and coaching programs. I have not yet achieved my goals but my batting averages have improved. With the money tree formula, I have narrowed my interest and focus in investing to the three great money mountains… I shall talk about this in my next post What about you? Are you looking at your investing with a filter? If you are not, the good news is you can start beginning today. I will leave you these words of wisdom by Jim Rohn You cannot change your destination overnight, but you can change your direction overnight. Think rich and grow rich
Investing for Beginners-The Secret To Becoming A Wealthy Investor
When you are starting out as an investor you can get inundated with how to start. There are tons of mutual funds, millions of stock….. to add to your confusion you get bombarded with infomercials on the next business opportunities and…… spammed with emails for investing in the ” next millionaire internet opportunity” Heck ! how do you wade through all these tons of information.? I must admit it could be daunting but easy to do. The editors at MSN Money put together a Beginners Guide to Investing. The beginners guide listed the following steps…. Determine how much you plan to invest Choose one mutual fund or build a portfolio of funds follow a guru open an account and get started The problem with this guide is that it only talks about mutual fund investing…..diversifying into mutual funds it also wants you to follow a “guru” , whose performance is unrelated to his canny skills in investing. I think this is the worst form of advice an investor can ever get and…. it only serves the interest of Wall street who advertise in MSN money. This brings me to my next point…..how to get wealthy starting out as a beginner investor. I think above anything else you need a change of mindset. Why should you change your way of thinking?… because what the media and Wall Street is selling you about wealth is wrong.. The decision to become an investor involves a change in mindset By this, I mean the way you think. When it comes to thinking about investing the ultimate aim is… wealth creation In addition, wealth can also be unencumbered value. I had the privilege of attending a Seminar organized by Michael Masterson, bestselling author and Founder Early to Rise.com He classified wealth as any activity or venture you invested in that gave you equity… wealth was is directly related to having assets. Before we go on lets quickly look at what wealth is not… Wealth is not… Having high income Having physical possession of luxury cars Owning a self employment business Your personal house However, wealth is having Financially valuable skills…we will talk about more about that in my next post Equity in a business Rental real estates Intellectual property and licensing rights liquid savings in the bank Marketing skills The important distinction about wealth is that you have…. assets that add value to your net worth. How does an investor recognize the subtle difference… It’s by having a rich mindset? Here is what my criteria is #1. You recognize reality that every time you become aware of investment opportunity is an opportunity to make yourself richer or poorer #2. You have courage to take action and seize the opportunity #3. You can analyze the situation and make the right judgment I can easily apply this criteria to my last post on Donald Soffer You can see that he recognized that the marshland in Miami was an opportunity to get wealthy, he took action by buying the marshland and he developed a luxury real estate destination-ultimately becoming wealthy