Archives for February 2019

I spent five years studying the daily activities of wealthy individuals.

One of the many things I learned is that self-made millionaires have a very different understanding about money than non-millionaires.

I’d like to share some of the myth’s about money I uncovered in my research. [Read more…]

Mark Twain was a gifted author and speaker. His books are still read by schoolchildren and adults to this day. Yet, despite all of his fame and the financial abundance his success produced, Twain was mired in debt and on the verge of bankruptcy towards the later part of his life.

Henry Huttleston Rogers, a close friend and astute businessman, took control of Twain’s finances late in Twain’s life, saving him from certain bankruptcy.

What put Twain on the brink of bankruptcy was his penchant for investing large sums of money in anything that caught his eye.

Mark Twain suffered from Bright Shiny Object Syndrome.

Individuals who suffer from Bright Shiny Object Syndrome are easily distracted by the latest fad or get rich quick proposition. They continuously shift their focus from one thing to the next, never seeing any one thing through.

They are like frogs leaping from lilly pad to lilly pad, never settling on one for very long.

One characteristic of the self-made millionaires in my Rich Habits Study was their ability to focus on one thing for a very long period of time – ten years, twenty years or even a lifetime.

As I learned from my study, success takes a long time.

Unfortunately, most people never succeed because, when something does not immediately pay off, they move on to the next bright shiny object.

These Bright Shiny Object Syndrome sufferers never experience success because they lack dedication, grit and persistence.

Success requires a significant amount of time to overcome failures, mistakes and many obstacles, all of which lead to growth.

Those struggling with Bright Shiny Object Syndrome, never grow enough to learn what to do and what not to do. They quit and move on when the next bright shiny object catches their eye.

Those who focus on one singular thing for a long time, build a strong foundation for success.

In fact, the longer success takes, the greater and more permanent the foundation will be.

We live in an age of instant gratification. This desire to achieve immediate success is a Poor Habit.

In my Rich Habits Study, it took the average self-made millionaire, who was pursuing a dream, twelve years to become rich and successful. That’s a long time and requires a lot of patience.

Those who seek instantaneous success, realize little success, because the foundation upon which their success is built is weak and shallow.

They never give themselves enough time to figure out what to do and what not to do.

They never become Virtuosos in what they do because they are constantly moving on to the next get rich quick scheme.

Success requires a laser-like focus along with relentless persistence. This takes time. The longer success takes, the longer it lasts.

Forge the Rich Habit of devoting yourself to something which makes your heart sing and never quit on that one thing. Eventually, you will figure it out and you will be rewarded with success.

My mission is to share my unique research in order to help others realize their dreams and achieve their goals. If you find value in these articles, please share them with your inner circle and encourage them to Subscribe. Thank You!

Those, like myself, who struggled with poverty growing up, face numerous uphill battles.

When you are a child raised in poverty, there are certain things you are forced to do without; things the non-poor take for granted.

Something as simple as getting help from a tutor, if you’re struggling in school, is problematic, since most tutors cost money – money your family does not have. So, you are forced to struggle academically.

Engaging in extracurricular activities, whether at school or outside of school, presents another problem, if those activities require money. Not having money, because you’re poor, forces you to pass on extracurricular activities that cost money. So, you miss out on opportunities to build relationships and learn new skills.

These limitations begin to infest your psyche at an early age. You form certain limiting beliefs, as a result of being poor.

Negative emotions also often accompany poverty. Especially anger.

Anger at your parents, at life, at society.

Anger at society can morph into a the belief that you are a victim. Those who see themselves as a victim, assign blame to everyone but themselves, for their circumstances.

These limiting beliefs, negative emotions and victim mindset create a poverty mindset. And, unless you become aware of this poverty mindset, it will follow you throughout adulthood. Even worse, it will infect your children, which does nothing but perpetuate a generational cycle of poverty, within the family.

A poverty mindset become a self-fulfilling prophesy or blueprint for your future life. With this blueprint in hand, you unknowingly build a life of poverty.

Essentially, this poverty mindset says: I was born poor, I’m a victim of my circumstances and the world is intent on keeping me poor.

That thinking and those beliefs transform temporary poverty into permanent poverty.

The solution is to never allow negative beliefs, negative thinking, negative emotions or a victim mindset permanent residence in your mind. You do that by embracing a positive outlook on life.

Those in my study who were raised in poverty, did just that. They forged a positive outlook, despite their poverty. They never allowed themselves to be victims. They took control over their emotions.

This positive outlook, or Rich Thinking, then became a blueprint with which they built their future prosperity.

Rich Thinking eradicates a poverty mindset and breaks the cycle of generational poverty, enabling the poorest of the poor to achieve great things in life. If this was not true, there would be no Andrew Carnegie’s, no Oprah Winfrey’s, no Ralph Lauren’s, and no Howard Schultz’s (Starbucks).

The only limitations in life are the ones we set.

A positive outlook releases your brakes, allows you to soar above your temporary poverty and completely transforms your life circumstances.

My mission is to share my unique research in order to help others realize their dreams and achieve their goals. If you find value in these articles, please share them with your inner circle and encourage them to Subscribe. Thank You!

I often am asked by those pursuing some dream – how do I know if I am on the right path and not just wasting my time and money?

You know you’re on the right path in life when:

• You Feel Uncomfortable – Pursuing any dream takes you outside your comfort zone. It makes you feel uncomfortable. When you perpetually feel uncomfortable, you are on the right path.
• You Feel Awkward – Pursuing a dream forces you to learn. Learning something new feels awkward at first. When you feel awkward, you are on the right path.
• You Experience Ah Ha Moments – When you pursue a dream you will struggle in the beginning. It is the struggles that force you to dig deep for solutions. These solutions often reveal themselves in the form of Ah Ha moments, the inspired genius inside each one of us that comes to our rescue. Solutions only happen when you struggle with problems. When you start to experience Ah Ha moments, you know you are on the right track. Those solutions lead to fool-proof processes. Fool-proof processes automate success.
• You Feel Frustrated – Frustration accompanies action. When things do not go your way, you get frustrated. It’s normal to experience frustration, especially in the beginning.
• You Get Angry –  You will experience many emotions. Anger is one of them. You will get angry for not knowing something or for making a mistake. It’s all part of the process.
• You Get Happy – When things go right, it’s exhilarating. Success will make you feel happy.
• You Feel The Flow – When you are in the flow, time seems to stand still. You can work for hours without stopping. When you begin to experience flow, you know you are on the right path.
• You Become Obsessed – When you find yourself thinking about your dream 24/7, you are on the right path. Obsession is a prerequisite for success. It fills you with persistence. And luck finds the persistent. When you become obsessed, you are most definitely on the right path.

My mission is to share my unique research in order to help others realize their dreams and achieve their goals. If you find value in these articles, please share them with your inner circle and encourage them to Subscribe. Thank You!

Assumptions are, by definition, the act of accepting as fact, something which is unknown.

The habit of making assumptions is a bad one because it can lead to unexpected consequences, oftentimes bad ones that cost you not only time but money.

In my five year study of the daily habits of the rich and poor (Rich Habits Study), 72% of the poor in my study had this False Assumption Poor Habit.

Sixty-seven percent of the self-made millionaires in my study were entrepreneurs, or individuals who were pursuing some dream. When you are an entrepreneur, you figure out what to do and what not to do through the school of hard knocks.

In this school, the entrepreneurs learn the hard way the fallout of making assumptions. Those assumptions can lead to mistakes which cost them time and money.

Time is one thing, but money is a precious commodity to budding entrepreneurs who need every dollar. They simply cannot afford to lose too much money.

Successful entrepreneurs quickly realize that making assumptions jeopardizes their business. So, they make a habit of vetting all assumptions.

I found in my research that individuals make assumptions in one of four ways:

1. You do not ask enough questions.
2. You do not ask enough of the right questions.
3. You don’t seek feedback from experts in your industry.
4. If you do seek feedback, you ignore it.

Successful entrepreneurs do not make important decisions until they have evaluated all of the feedback they receive from many different sources. This helps them avoid making false assumptions.

Seeking feedback from others, prior to making any important decision, is a firewall against making a false assumption.

My mission is to share my unique research in order to help others realize their dreams and achieve their goals. If you find value in these articles, please share them with your inner circle and encourage them to Subscribe. Thank You!

There are essentially four types of millionaires:

1. Savers/Investors
2. Senior Executives at Large Publicly-Held Corporations
3. Virtuosos
4. Dreamers/Entrepreneurs

Everyone who wants to be wealthy, needs a bow and arrow.

Your particular bow and arrow, however, really depends on which type of millionaire you want to be.

For the Savers/investors, their bow and arrow is keeping their expenses low. This enables them to save 20% or more of their income, which they then prudently invest over many years.

For Senior Executives, their bow and arrow is building powerful relationships with others within their company and industry.

For Virtuosos, their bow and arrow is an advanced skill or some advanced knowledge in a specific area or niche.

For Dreamers/Entrepreneurs, their bow and arrow is perpetual learning in order to figure out what works and what doesn’t work.

Choosing the wrong bow and arrow for your particular path is why so many are unable to achieve the success and wealth they desire.

For example, if you are a Dreamer/Entrepreneur, it may be impossible to keep your expenses low. You may need to spend significant amounts or money and perhaps even go into debt in order to fund your dream, so keeping your expenses low, just won’t be possible.

If you are a Senior Executive, specializing in something in order to become a Virtuoso may actually prevent you from rising up the corporate ladder, which requires a broader scope of skills and knowledge.

You must, therefore, first decide on the path you want to take in order to become rich. Then you may choose the right bow and arrow. This dramatically increases your odds in achieving the success and wealth you desire.

My mission is to share my unique research in order to help others realize their dreams and achieve their goals. If you find value in these articles, please share them with your inner circle and encourage them to Subscribe. Thank You!

Most disease is self-inflicted.

Poor lifestyle habits can, over time, overwhelm the body’s ability to repair itself. In effect, your rain barrel fills up and then overflows, resulting in disease.

When you engage in poor lifestyle habits, your immune system becomes chronically activated and the DNA within the cells of your body become damaged. This chronic activation is known as inflammation.

When your immune system becomes overwhelmed, when your rain barrel overflows, it loses its ability to do its job and this overflow results in disease.

There are six Toxic Health Habits that cause your rain barrel to fill up and overflow:

1. Over Eating – When you over eat, your body stores the excess calories, and the toxins from excess food, in fat cells throughout the body. Over eating is a habit, something you have 100% control over.
2. Eating Too Much Junk Food – Any food you consume that is high in calories and low in nutritional value, is junk food. Think of all processes foods as junk food. Alcohol is a junk food. Eating too much junk food is a habit, something you have 100% control over.
3. Excessive Toxic Exposure – When you eat many of today’s manufactured or grown food products, you are also consuming toxins in the form of additives, preservatives or pesticides. What you eat is a habit, something you have 100% control over.
4. Chronic Stress – Chronic stress produces cortisol, which depresses the immune system, leading to disease. It is triggered by constant worry, anxiety and fear. Worry about your job, anxiety about money, worry about your health, your family, etc. Worry, anxiety and fear is a thinking habit that you can, to a large extent, control.
5. Physical Inactivity – Daily exercise improves your health, boosts your immune system and optimizes brain health and performance. When you do not exercise, you forgo all of the benefits daily exercise produces.
6. Inadequate Sleep – Sleeping between 7-8 hours a day is critical to good health. When you sleep, the body’s janitorial crew, the lymphatic crew and the cerebrospinal fluid crew go to work to clean all of the cells in the body. If you do not get enough sleep, your janitorial crew is unable to complete the job.

Maintaining good health is one of the few things you have absolute control over. You maintain your good health by forging good health habits. You destroy your health by adopting bad health habits.

As I found in my research, habits dictate the circumstances of your life, health and otherwise.

My mission is to share my unique research in order to help others realize their dreams and achieve their goals. If you find value in these articles, please share them with your inner circle and encourage them to Subscribe. Thank You!

When you think about the word “wealth”, what immediately comes to mind?

Money, or investments right?

When I began writing my first book, Rich Habits, it occurred to me that there were many habits of the rich (see Rich Habits Study) that seemed completely unrelated to the accumulation of money.

There were things like exercising aerobically every day – 76% of the rich in my study exercised 30 minutes or more every day, aerobically.

I found many other habits that seemed unrelated to the accumulation of money, but that nonetheless, had beneficial effects on the lives of the rich.

Thanks to my study, I now understand that there are numerous types of wealth.

In fact, I’ve identified seven types, which I’d like to share with you.

#1 Financial Wealth – Having more money than you need to live the life you want to live.

#2 Health Wealth – Lean, healthy, physically fit and the absence of disease.

#3 Relationship Wealth – Surrounded by an abundance of upbeat, optimistic, happy people who love you, care about you and who encourage and support everything you do.

#4 Time Wealth – Having enough free, non-work time to spend with family and friends and to do the things you like to do.

#5 Intellectual Wealth – Possessing expert knowledge that you put to use in providing an income for you and your family.

#6 Talent Wealth – Possessing unique talents that you put to use in providing an income for you and your family.

#7 Peace of Mind Wealth – Low levels of day to day stress. Mentally calm and relaxed.

Wealth isn’t always about money. There are many ways you can be rich.

My mission is to share my unique research in order to help others realize their dreams and achieve their goals. If you find value in these articles, please share them with your inner circle and encourage them to Subscribe. Thank You!