Archives for July 2018

Decisions are significant players in determining the financial circumstances of your life.

One bad decision can cost you significant money and put you behind the eight ball for many years.

Bad decisions are like dominos – they lead to more bad decisions.

When a bad decision costs you significant money, it puts you in a position of weakness.

When you are in a position of weakness, all future decisions you make are made out of necessity – to solve some immediate short-term immediate need, which is usually a financial one.

This immediate financial need, a need you created by making a bad decision in the first place, then forces you to take shortcuts that an individual in a position of strength would never take:

• Out of desperation, you fail to do your due diligence (homework) before making an investment;
• Out of desperation, you partner with someone whose background you really don’t know enough about;
• Out of desperation, you ignore facts or details that a non-desperate person would never ignore.

One bad decision can put you in a position of weakness and cause a cascade of poor decisions that act like an anchor, dragging you further down into a financial abyss.

Here’s the rule when it comes to major decisions:

Never make a major decision when you are in a position of weakness. Only make major decisions from a position of strength.

Position of Strength Decisions are almost always sound decisions.

Position of Weakness Decisions are almost always poor decisions.

Fear is the stop sign along the path towards success.

Fear of failure, fear of mistakes, fear of risk, fear of embarrassment, fear of inadequacy, fear of how others perceive you, fear of being wrong, fear of losing what you have, fear of poverty, fear of bankruptcy, fear of destroying a relationship – there are so many things to be afraid of.

What you should be afraid of is dying without any legacy that says you lived.

The courageous have fears, just like everyone else.

Dreamers who take action on their dreams have fears, just like everyone else.

Entrepreneurs have fears, just like everyone else.

Fear never goes away. It follows you every step of the way on your march towards success.

The key is to get comfortable being afraid, as you take action.

Those who pursue dreams, goals or step outside the herd to take a risk, are never fully prepared.

The truth is, you only need to be 80% prepared. You only need to know 80% of what must be known. You’ll figure things out but only if you take action. The remaining 20% will reveal itself during the pursuit of success.

Don’t let the fear of that missing 20% stop you from taking action.

What if should not be your legacy.

I tried should be your legacy.

Wealth comes in many shapes and sizes. In my Rich Habits research, I identified three levels of wealth.

LEVEL 1 RICH – THE SAVERS

Just less than 22% of the rich people in my Rich Habits study fell into this category. Level 1 Rich means you have zero debt and the passive income generated by your wealth is enough to meet or exceed your standard of living.

The Level 1 Rich have five things in common:

1. They have a low standard of living and
2. They typically make a modest income and
3. Their modest income exceeds their low standard of living and
4. They save 20% or more of their income for many years and
5. They invest their savings prudently for many years.

It took Level 1 Rich people in my Rich Habits study about 32 years to accumulate an average of $3.2 million.

LEVEL 2 RICH – THE VIRTUOSOS

Approximately 27% of the rich people in my study were the Level 2 Rich. Level 2 Rich were virtuosos in their career, industry or profession. They were among the best at what they did.

These individuals either worked for large, publicly-held corporations, in which a significant portion of their compensation was stock-based compensation or they ran small businesses that were highly profitable.

It took Level 2 Rich people in my Rich Habits study about 20 years to accumulate an average of $4 million.

LEVEL 3 RICH – THE DREAMERS

This is the uber-rich. Approximately 51% of the rich people in my study were individuals who pursued some big dream and were able to turn that dream into a reality. Their dream eventually provided them with an enormous amount of income, profit or gain.

According to my Rich Habits study, the Level 3 Rich accumulated the most wealth ($7.4 million) in the shortest period of time – 12 years.

The point in all this is that there is more than one way to skin a cat. If you’re risk averse, it does not disqualify you from becoming rich. If you have no dream or you’re not interested in saving your way to wealth, become a virtuoso in what you do for a living. If you are not a saver or a virtuoso, pursue some dream that makes your heart sing.

If you want to be rich, the only important thing is to pick one path and stick with it for many years. The one common denominator all levels of wealth share is time – it takes many years to become rich.

I am the living, breathing embodiment that success is totally within your control.

I never felt I was good enough.

I never had much, if any, confidence in myself.

I never thought I was smart.

I still struggle with being lazy, or thinking I’m lazy.

And worst of all, I spent most of my life thinking success was all about luck. Luck I believed I sorely lacked.

But that all changed.

It changed the moment I decided to pursue a dream.

That dream was to become JC Jobs, the world’s #1 self-help expert.

JC Jobs is the main character in many of my books. He is the embodiment of success. And he helps millions believe in themselves, realize their dreams and transform their lives.

I do not know if I will ever become JC Jobs. But here’s what I do know.

My dream revealed my potential. Potential I never knew I had.

It was there all along.

Now, every day I wake up and try. I read to learn. I write. I rack my brain trying to inspire others to believe in themselves, through my writing. I respond to every comment, every email, every text message and I try to mentor others who have a dream and who are struggling to realize their dream.

I believe that’s what JC Jobs would do. So, I’m doing it.

And one day I believe I will become JC Jobs. Do you know why?

Because I am good enough. I am smart enough. I am a hard worker.

All of those things I wasn’t, I became, all because I decided to follow my heart and pursue my dream.

Every great, amazing thing you want to be in life is hidden away inside your dreams.

Dreams are flowers that reveal your inner magnificence and inner beauty.

Let them bloom.

How many of you have lied to yourself or others about the real reason you failed a test?

How many of you have lied to yourself or others about the real reason you got fired from your job?

How many of you have lied to yourself or others about the real reason you had to file for bankruptcy?

How many of you have lied to yourself or others about the real reason you got divorced?

Everyone has an ego. Unsuccessful people, however, allow their egos to get in the way of the truth.

They offer up excuses as to why something went wrong in their lives. They give into their precious egos.

And, sadly, they are never able to learn and grow from the mistakes they’ve made.

Successful people, on the other hand, forge the habit of being brutally honest about their failings in life. As a consequence, they are able to learn and grow from their mistakes.

Successful people check their egos at the doorway to success.

When it comes to success, mistakes matter.

While it is very true that success is often built on top of a mountain of mistakes, the fact is, mistakes cost you a significant amount of time and money.

This is why I am such a big advocate of mentors.

Mentors, good ones, ones who have years of experience, can teach you what to do and, more importantly, what not to do.

Entrepreneurs who are able to survive their mistakes often become very successful. However, the key word here is SURVIVE. You generally only hear the stories about the entrepreneurs who were able to survive because those survivors go on to become self-made millionaires and that’s more newsworthy than say a story about an entrepreneur who failed.

Here’s the brutal truth – you can only survive mistakes if you have the money to weather those mistakes.

The #1 reason entrepreneurs and small business owners fail is – they do not have enough money to survive their mistakes. Experts call this under-capitalization.

This is precisely why my Rich Habits Study incorporated the habits of poor people. Poor people are poor because they are doing things wrong. Knowing what they are doing wrong empowers you. It is another tool in your tool belt.

Here’s another brutal truth – those who know what not to do, make fewer mistakes, saving them time and money, which improves their chances of surviving.

This is the main problem I have with pundits who only focus on the traits, habits, behaviors, thinking, etc. of successful people.

They are only telling half the story when it comes to success.

Focusing only on what to do will only get you half way down the field. When you know what not to do, that takes you the rest of the way down the field and across the goal line.