Reality Based Thinking

Reality TV seems to be by far the hottest thing on the tube right now. It amazes me that people watch so much reality TV, yet they don’t face reality in their own lives. You see, in “reality” there are two ways of viewing life that ultimately dictate how you choose to live. They are two dichotomous world perspectives. These two worlds are – the world of “Should Be” and the world of “As Is.” The sooner you get out of the world of “Should Be” and enter the world of “As Is”, the faster you will succeed in life.

There is a very common school of thought that suggests that a perfect balance of fairness and equality should exist amongst all people - there “should be” no racism, no sexism, no classism, no poor, no exceedingly rich, no this, no that, and SOMEBODY should Change the way things are so everyone has a chance to be equal because that would be fair. In a perfect world, all of that might be true, but… that is not REALITY.

The world of “As Is” puts the truth straight in your face and forces you to deal with it as it is. Once you deal with the world of "As Is", you make no more excuses for not being successful no matter what you are starting with or what obstacles are presented to you. You become solution oriented and no longer use HOPE as a strategy (Hoping things will change and be equal is a poor strategy. You accept the real world and navigate your way through the tough challenges of life. You will succeed or you won’t and no one will care except you… that’s the world of As Is.

The world of "As Is" says that even though the playing field is not level and there are many obstacles in front of me, I have the power to overcome them or to succumb to them, but either way it’s MY CHOICE.

Below are two examples to dramatically illustrate how crazy it is when you are stuck in the world of "should be" and how simple life can be when you enter the world of "as is."

Person #1 walks into a room with the intent to come out on the other side but soon realizes that there is no door to exit. He says to himself, “hmmm! There should be a door here,” and proceeds to walk into the wall. He backs up and gets angry and says again, “there should be a door here.” He continues bumping into the wall over and over until he finally gives up hope and sits down and progresses no further thinking to himself that life is not fair because there should be a door here.

Person #2 walks into the same room with the intention of coming out on the other side and also sees that there is no exit straight through. The thought does cross her mind that there should be a door there, but she does not hesitate or dwell on that thought. She simply walks back out the door having learned a valuable lesson, and then walks through the adjoining hallway that she discovered being solution oriented and passes by that room on to her desired destination.

Which world are you living in?

The Secret to Success Is No Real Secret

Let me first say that I enjoyed and appreciated reading Napoleon Hill’s classic wealthy mindset book, Think and Grow Rich. I can also say it was a brilliant strategy to take the principles of that book and put them in a modern medium (video) and create the “Secret,” another best seller and soon to be classic. They were both inspirational and chock full of exercises geared towards aligning your mind towards attracting wealth. I recommend anyone considering getting rich should own a copy of each. As a matter of fact, when surveyed, many self made millionaires said that “Think and Grow Rich” influenced them more than any other book except the Bible. That is pretty powerful.

As powerful as aligning your mind towards money is, it is NOT enough. Ultimately, only one thing will get you what you want – the one thing Napoleon Hill left out of the book and the “Secret” never addressed. That one thing is no real mystery – it’s DECISIVE ACTION.

“Rules such as ‘if I hold positive thoughts about prosperity, money will just start pouring into my life’ are just too simplistic to work… money exists in the physical domain. Money doesn’t come as the result of thoughts in the metaphysical realm; it comes as the result of actions in the physical domain." -Maria Nemeth, PhD; author of "The Energy of Money"

The bottom line is you can think about money, talk about it, write about it in your journal, list it with your things to do, hang it on the refrigerator in the form of an affirmation, and tell as many people that will bother to listen to you about your dreams, but none of that will make you successful unless you take decisive action. “Action speaks louder than words!”

Every day you must take focused and specific action towards your desired outcomes. If your thoughts and words are not congruent with your actions towards attaining wealth, then wealth will never be achieved. Once you align your thoughts, feelings and actions towards attaining wealth, it will come easy and continue to come for as long as you remain consistent.

Success Secrets of a Financial Champion

Success doesn’t happen by accident whether it is on the athletic field or in the financial arena. Although life may seem unfair, we all have the ability to maximize our talents, tools and resources to create the greatest financial outcome for ourselves possible. Some people seem to make it look easy; gliding through life with one financial success after another while others constantly struggle, rarely accomplishing the smallest financial goal. Having a long history of athletic success in track, football and martial arts as well as financial success in business and investing, I have been able to identify four distinct personality types that are consistent with the amount of success that people achieve. I don’t believe that you are stuck in any type. I believe with knowledge, skills and effort you can ascend to the highest level of success. The four types are Losers, Players, Winners, and Champions. I have described them below:

LOSERS

Don’t realize that they can determine the outcome of the game. They have no clue as to what the rules are. They just go with the flow and unhappily accept whatever happens. They often complain about the game being unfair, and make excuses why they can’t win. They don’t even bother trying to compete since they believe they are doomed from the start.

PLAYERS

Realize that they are in the game, but lack sufficient knowledge of the rules and skills to win. They want to win, but rarely do consistently. They fail to study the game or their competition and put little effort into perfecting their skills. They rarely seek to compete in tough arenas that bring greater rewards because they fear losing. They would rather accept a small victory than to take a chance and lose a big game.

WINNERS

Try harder than the others to win. They put in an enormous amount of personal effort to win. They try to understand and master every aspect of the game. They take personal responsibility for their wins and losses. They win more often than they lose, but are always one step short of being a champion.

CHAMPIONS

They make the game look easy. They win consistently. Even when they lose, they bounce right back seemingly stronger than before. The champion plays to his/her strengths and supplements his/her weaknesses with the resources available to everyone (i.e a great coach, great teammates, and great fans). They understand how to maximize their talent, skills and resources by having a mentor (coach) that can help guide them and develop their skills, a team that compliments their skills (no one can do it alone), and the support of fans (family, friends, etc.)

Everyone has the same opportunity to succeed financially, but you must first learn the rules of the game. I have briefly outlined the basic rules below:

Rule #1 - You must realize that you are only limited by your own beliefs.

If you do not believe that you are capable of the highest levels of success, it is impossible to make it happen. You cannot accomplish what you do not believe is accomplishable.

Rule#2 - You must commit 100% to victory.

The commitment to victory starts long before the actual competition. Alabama football coach Bear Bryant once said, “The will to win compares little to the will to prepare to win.” Your commitment has to be stronger than the pain, discomfort, fear and anxiety you will inevitably feel when it is time to play the game.

Rule#3 - You must have a powerful strategy.

It takes more than just desire and skills to win. It takes a well thought out plan based upon thorough research of the arena that you are in, your competition, your strengths, weaknesses and the likelihood of success.

Rule#4 - You must recognize your strengths and weaknesses.

Make an honest assessment, without judgment, of your strengths and weaknesses. No one is strong in every area. The quicker you can identify what you are working with, the quicker you can ensure a course for victory.

Rule#5 - You must supplement your weaknesses with the strengths of others.

Play to your strengths and supplement your weaknesses. Having a solid team that compliments each other’s skill sets is critical to your success. You do not need a group of people with the same skills that duplicate efforts. Find teammates with different skills but with a common goal.

Wealth Building Secrets

I want to welcome you to a new and revolutionary look at wealth building that transcends any economic swing – positive or negative. I want to share with you the fundamentals of how a free market economy, such as that which we live in, has the potential to produce wealth consistently if you are able to both see and, in a timely fashion, seize the abundance of opportunities that are constantly created.

Wealth building starts with a shift in perspective that requires a close examination of how the entire system works. Once you understand the rules (allowances and restrictions), and the nature of the economy it becomes easy to master over time.

This starts with understanding the foundation of our economy which you can find in Adam Smith’s 1776 masterpiece, “An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations.” Without getting into a long winded economic explanation of what a free market economy is based upon, it can be summed up in three major points:

1. It allows competition domestically and is open to trade with the rest of the world
2. It has institutions that make an economy work
3. It has a judicial system that enforces the rights of ownership

In the coming weeks, I will explain exactly how to employ these fundamental rules to creating an abundance of wealth through business ownership, real estate investing and securities investing that can be passed on from generation to generation.

To understand the nature of free market economies and how wealth is developed requires you to tap into your primitive survival mindset. It requires you to understand that “the market” like nature can provide everything you need to flourish, but “the market” just like nature is unforgiving if you do not pay attention. Mistakes can be catastrophic if you do not respect the power of the market.

Alan Greenspan summed it up best in this quote:

“Market economies have succeeded over the centuries by thoroughly weeding out the inefficient and poorly equipped, and by granting rewards to those who anticipate consumer demand and meet with the most efficient use of labor and capital resources.”

We are about to witness the greatest transfer of wealth in US history. For those who have the courage and tenacity to succeed, I will be offering - from my personal experience and the experience of others - tips, secrets and opportunities to be on the receiving end of this massive shift of wealth. I welcome any and all questions or comments and look forward to sharing with you.