The Miracle of the Mind

My discussion is on THE MIRACLE OF THE MIND.

Listen, for him who has conquered the mind, the mind is the best of friends; but for him who has failed to do so his mind will remain his greatest enemy. This is because your mind can be likened to an undiscovered goldmine! The ultimate capacity of the mind is infinite. The only thing that can take you to the achievement of your goals is your mind. That is, its effective use. However we fail to realize this.

You see, your goal is in the future. To be a success in life, your duty is to bridge the gap between your goal (in the future) and where you presently are. How to bridge that gap now becomes a problem which you must solve! Success is being able to solve the problem (bridging the gap) between where you are presently and where you desire to be in the future.

That is where your mind/brain comes in!  Your mind was given to you by the Almighty for problem solving purposes. The reason why the mind is called an undiscovered goldmine is because of its problem solving capacity. It is even more powerful than the computer! However, man has only learned to utilize only a small fraction of his mind for problem solving.

Successful people are not exceptional or without problems. They are simply people who have learned how to solve their problems by making use of their minds/brains regularly for that purpose.  Problems are part of living. How you are able to solve your problems is what separates the successful from the failure.

What separates the human being from other creatures is the mind/brain. The use of your mind for problem is therefore infinite. Yet is the last place the average human being turns to for problem solving.

Therefore to be the success you are destined to be, endeavor to regularly make use of your mind for the problems you will encounter daily in your life. You see, as your muscle grows with regular exercise, your mind too increases in capability with continuous use.

As you therefore regularly continue using your mind for problems solving purposes it gets better and better. So also will you become more and more successful in your endeavors!

Think about this.

Change Your Thoughts and Change Your Being

My discussion today is on THOUGHTS.

‘Thoughts are things’, so said Napoleon Hill in the book ‘Think and Grow Rich’.

Why do men with goals succeed and those without goals fail?

The key is that we become what we think about all day. All philosophers agree on this. You are what you think about all the time! You can alter your life right now by altering the way you think. This is because wise thinking leads to right living while stupid thinking leads to wrong living. Therefore as you think, so shall you be!

Note, this world is a looking glass and it gives back to you a reflection of your thoughts, beliefs and enthusiasm. When you are able to harness the power of your thoughts positively, you will make life say ‘YES’ instead of ‘No’ to your plans and ambitions.

You should therefore think of good things, visualize and believe that you can achieve them. Build a filter in your mind so that it will filter away the negative thoughts that will often come into your mind. Your mind is like a magnet which attracts to it whatever you draw to it and manifests it into reality.

I think, therefore I am.

TRUST: The #1 Value in Your Life

My discussion today is on TRUST.

Trust is being able to predict what other people will do and what situation will occur. Trust is faith. It is the glue that holds followers and leaders together. It is the glue that binds love. Trust contains the secret to living a happy life. It is also another word for ‘allowing’. Without trust you do everything by yourself.

When you trust, the currents of life will carry you to all the destinations you want. With trust comes belief and expectation. So trust what? Trust God. That he is the provider of everything. Trust your emotional guidance. Trust that you can achieve your desire. Trust that the universe will accede to your acclamation. Free yourself from judging everyone. Trust in the natural order of things. Trust that all is well.

When you trust that all is well life becomes yummy and delicious for you. Trust is like a change in your pocket. Each time you make good judgments and decisions, you earn some change. Each time you make bad judgments and decisions you lose some change. You cannot lose trust and continue to earn the respect of others. It cannot happen.

You do not build trust by talking about it. You build it by achieving results always with integrity and in a manner that shows real personal regard for people.

Remember, he who does not trust enough will not be trusted.

Think about this.

An Investment Mistake That Taught Me More About Investing Than Any Book Ever Did

‘Gold slippeth away from the man who invests it in businesses or for purposes for which he is not familiar or which are not approved by those skilled in its keeping.’ - George Samuel Clason – ‘The Richest Man in Babylon’ There is this common adage that says knowledge is power. I have however come to realize that it is not knowledge that is power. Instead it is applied knowledge that is power. This therefore is the subject of my discussion in this post. Back in the year 2000 when I first read the book, ‘The Richest Man in Babylon’ by George Samuel Clason, I was so overjoyed that I made it a duty to share the practical knowledge encapsulated therein with all my friends and acquaintances. I felt then that this was a book that provided all the practical answers that could fast track your journey financially from where you are to where you want to be. However this could only happen if the principles are diligently applied. Come year 2007, I retired from paid employment and was paid a handsome gratuity running into millions of naira. Though this money was payment for my effort of almost two decades of work, I soon realized that easy money does not stick around. Think of those who have won lotteries and how have not been able to much save out of their winnings. You see the wealth that comes quickly often goes the same way if not properly handled. The year 2006 to early 2008 was the time when investment in stocks was at its prime. Thinking I had acquired enough knowledge in stock trading I invested heavily in it. In point of fact the bulk of my gratuity went into the stock market. Then came the eventual recession and economic melt-down of the years mid 2008 to 2010 and the bubble busted. I lost my entire gratuity to unrestrained spending and unwise investment in stocks. Rather than diversifying my investment, I only concentrated on stock trading. Why? It was because I wanted quick and immediate profit. It was therefore my greed that brought about my financial ruin. You see the worst thing that can happen to you in stock trading is to initially win big which I did. It made me think I was smart and knowledgeable in stock trading. It was the greed to win more that propelled me to invest more which consequently wiped off my gratuity and my other savings. My experience thereafter is a story for another day. What therefore is the moral in this story? The moral is that you should never invest in any business which you are not familiar! Apart from this, I also learned from this my investment mistake several other lessons out of which I will like to pick out ten which will benefit you my readers today. 1. Your past failure or mistake has no bearing on your future. 2. Be cautious with the advice of financial experts when it comes to the issue of investments. Most of them are not competent. They are only interested in the gain they stand to gain. 3. Success in investments comes from intelligent investment judgments. That is the intelligent choices and decisions you make in your investments. 4. Intelligent judgments/decisions come from experience. Your experience on the other hand comes from bad choices/judgments made in the past and what you have learned from them. 5. There is benefit in the ‘Principle of Accelerated Failure’ (Mark Morgan Ford coined this in his book, ‘The Pledge’). That is, the faster you learn from critical mistakes, the sooner you will acquire the knowledge and wisdom to succeed. Put in another words, never fear to make mistakes or fail. You should seek it out and learn from it. 6. Hard work though necessary does not necessarily bring about prosperity. 7. Money is a means of exchange and wealth is a state of mind. Wealth grows whenever men exert energy in the pursuit of a worthy goal. 8. You invest not for building assets but to generate income for the rest of your life. 9. To become a successful investor you have to seek and learn the secrets. You must learn how to invest. 10. There are investment principles/laws which if applied would generate for you income for the rest of your life. In spite of my mistake in this investment, have I really stopped investing in stocks? My answer is a resounding no! Rather I have made efforts to learn from this mistake. My judgments and decision making in investment have also become better and wiser. This has therefore brought me gains instead of pains. In addition, I also learned something which is priceless. I have learned the benefit in portfolio diversification. This then led to do a little bit of research on the topic and thus far, Tony Robbins seems to have provided the best insight. Portfolio diversification is what Tony Robbins referred to as Asset Allocation. In his video seminar titled, ‘Financial Freedom: 3 Steps to Creating the Wealth You Deserve’ Tony shared some practical financial and investment secrets which I have been putting into good use and have served me well till today. I belief if applied it will benefit you my readers and immensely too. You see, the secret to good investment is proper asset allocation. This I did not do when I collected my gratuity. I only concentrated on stock trading which is only one form of income generating medium. Asset allocation is the single most important investment decision in your life. It is the only thing that can protect you against loss of your investments. Asset allocation means creating three buckets into which your investments would go. So whatever amount of money you intend to invest goes into all three and not one. They are:  Security bucket: In this bucket you have the investment that gives you guaranteed rate of returns. It is the most secured against loss. Therefore your first investment has to go into this bucket. Examples of such investments are: bonds, insurance and of course your home.  Growth bucket: This kind of investment guarantees you greater returns on investment if successful. If you however screw up in your growth investment, you get zero returns. Examples are stocks and real estate. The two main strategies in this bucket of investment are the buy and hold strategy and the trading strategy (which is the strategy of the momentum players).  Dream bucket: These are the investment in your dreams. Examples are: travels, owning properties in choice part of the world, owning a boat, owning choice cars etc. How do you then decide how to fill up your investment buckets? This will depend on your stage in life. The older you are, the more you will need to fill up your security bucket first. As an elderly person (in your 40s, 50s or 6os), you need to fill up your security bucket first since you have less time to make up for your investment mistakes. This practically is how I allocate my investments today and I have been the better for it. However what do we have today when people want to invest? Most people tend to fill their dream buckets first. They want the best cars. They want to live in choice areas. They like to indulge in living big. You see you can only live big or indulge in your dreams when you are financially free and independent. That is when you consistently make money from your investments for the rest of your life and you never have to work again. Next they fill their growth bucket and finally the security bucket. This is wrong. I want to thank Tony for providing me this insight. I want to thank you too for taking your time to read this post. I hope you have benefited from reading it as much as I have enjoyed crafting it.

Wealth Building Lesson From A Mentor

Being in debt and being indebted is surely not an ingenious way to get rich.  A good recipe for wealth building is first getting rid of your indebtedness and staying out of debt. An arduous task in these days of materialism. However you could achieve these if you follow the advice of my mentor. He is one who has experienced it all and is in a better position to inform and educate. Hope you enjoy reading this article and learn from it as much as I did. Happy reading.

- Adekunle Agbaje.

 

How to Get Out of Debt Fast

By Mark Morgan Ford

Do you spend more than you make? I used to.

When I started working as an editor at a Washington, D.C.-based newsletter publishing company, my salary was $14,000. My wife was earning less than that. Our two salaries barely covered our basic living expenses. On top of that, I was attending graduate school and we were paying off student loans. Then our first son was born. For the first six months of his life, he slept in an open drawer in our bedroom.

Meanwhile, I was spending money I didn't have on things I couldn't afford. Struggling to pay for my education and brand-new family, I overspent because it seemed to provide some happiness, some relief.

But the thrill of buying stuff soon waned. Each new object brought less relief.

Eventually, I realized that I was getting 80 percent of my pleasure from experiences that didn't cost much money. But recognizing that you don't need junk food and kicking the habit are two distinct things.

Here's how I got myself out of debt:

First, I got rid of all my credit cards. I figured that what I couldn't buy with cash was either worthless or worth saving for. Although the fear of going without credit was great, I never experienced any anxiety after I trashed the cards. It seemed like a drastic decision before I made it, but after half an hour I never gave it another thought.

The second thing I did to get out of debt was to start saving. I had made myself a promise that I would save a percentage of my take-home pay, but I never did it. The breakthrough came when I was talking to a friend about how the IRS manages to collect a big chunk of our income through the evil genius of withholding. I recognized I had to do the same thing to myself. The only way I was going to save money was through force.

The solution was available in a new-at-the-time savings-bank program, one that withdrew a set amount of money from my primary account every month and put it in another one. That program allowed me to gradually increase my saving from 10 percent of my income to 25 percent and pay down my debt in a few years.

If you are spending more than you are making, get rid of your credit cards. And to get used to spending less, remind yourself repeatedly that most of the junk you buy (a) becomes unused after a few months and (b) doesn't provide you with much value anyway. Remember that the best things in life - the picnics you have with your family, the walks you take by yourself, the time you spend with your friends - are free, or nearly so.

Create a separate bank account that you'll use to pay down your debt, or have your debts automatically deducted from the one account you have. You might even consider a debt consolidator. (But watch out. Most of them are crooked.)

Increase the amount of your take-home that goes into debt payments every month. You might start, for example, with 10 percent and then increase that by 5 percent a month.

Six months from now, you could be living on half of what you spend now - and I'll bet you will be feeling a lot better about yourself. You'll have less stress, more energy, more confidence, and the beginnings of a lifelong habit of wealth building.

There are so many ways to save money. You can spend less on just about anything without giving up either the pleasure you take in buying or the quality you get from your purchases.

Instead of buying new clothes that will be out of style in a year, buy vintage clothing that looks great and distinguishes you.

Instead of signing a lease for an expensive car, buy something old but still good that has a personality.

Instead of going out to lunch every day, eat some fish or other protein at your desk. This is one of the things I did. By eating a can of tuna every day instead of going to lunch with my co-workers, I saved almost $2,500 in a single year. Plus, I went from staff editor to publisher by applying that extra lunch-hour time to improving the business.

Instead of plodding along in your same old job, make the decision to earn more money.

I did that by making myself a more valuable employee. Until then, I was doing my job and leaving when my job was done. To prepare for my raise, I started working extra hours - even though I didn't have many. I used those extra hours to help my fellow workers do their jobs (which they appreciated) and launch a few new products. I didn't know anything about marketing at that time, but those two activities turned me into the go-to guy at the office.

Several months later, I walked into my boss's office and told him everything that was wrong with the business. "You are not telling me something I don't know," he said. "If you let me run this business I will fix all these problems," I promised. He liked my moxie - and he had no one else to turn to - so he let me take over. With my added responsibilities, he gave me a raise. Every six months, I asked for more money, and I got it. In three years, I had nearly doubled my salary.

In addition to working extra hard at my primary job, I earned a second income by teaching a class of undergraduates early in the morning. It wasn't a ton of money, but it helped pay off those debts.

I was working 14 hours a day, spending two hours with my family, and getting it done.

It wasn't easy but it was a lot of fun.

What I discovered was that working hard when you are motivated is a lot more fun than hardly working when you don't like your job. That was a lesson that made a big difference in my life. If you are in debt and have too little income, it's a lesson you should teach yourself.

Work more. Save more. Spend less. Waste less. You'll be out of debt and on your way to building real wealth in no time.

Learning from the Masters

If you want to be successful in life, try learning from those who have achieved success. You cannot learn tailoring from a carpenter. No, it is never done and it will not work. If you want to be rich therefore, try learning how to accumulate wealth from a wealthy person. There are principles responsible for wealth creation and could only be learned from someone who has accumulated wealth earnestly. That is the subject of the article posted here. It is culled from one of the sources where I get my principles of living a successful and fruitful life - Early to Rise. Hope you enjoy reading it and learn from it. 

-  Adekunle Agbaje.

A Rich Man's Greatest Secret

By "Cooper", the CEO

He's rich, powerful, respected and proud of the fact that he has the same best friends since he was an early teenager.

Nothing was handed to him; he earned it all.

If you ask him, as I did in 2011, he'll tell you his achievements all come down to the consistent application of his "greatest secret to success".

Think of it like a formula for gaining power and just about anything else you want in life. This formula can work for you. I'm sure of it. It can turn you into a powerful, wealthy businessperson if that's what you want. It can get you elected, if that is your goal. It can even help you find the love of your life.

However, here's the catch...

You'll probably reject it as too simplistic.

Most people do. You'll see it as risky. You'll have to start giving a lot more of yourself and, odds are, you won't want to do it. You'll think it's unfair so you won't really try.

Nevertheless - if you can get over yourself, apply and evolve the formula over time, you can have virtually anything you want.

Here's how it works.

Early in life, you probably discovered there are only two ways to get what you want.

1) You can try to find a way to take what you want.

Or

2) You can find a way for the things you want to be given to you.

Of course, 'taking' can often be unethical so that's not a long-term formula for success, which leaves us with convincing people and the world to give us things.

How does one encourage the world to give its fruits?

It sounds a bit harsh when put this way, but it's true: much of life is transactional.

We must give to get.

If I want something from the world, I know I have to earn it. Whether it is love or a job or even a pleasant greeting from someone, you can have it all if you're willing to give in advance.

As my rich and successful friend put it, "If you want people to do nice things for you and be a part of your life, you must always keep the 'friendship bank' in the black."

"Giving to Get" is the first step in developing a value creation disposition. Value creation is the secret to getting everything you ever wanted.

You will make great progress in all areas of life simply by developing the habit of always asking yourself, "How can I add value to this person/situation?"

It won't come naturally. It will require focus and training as you learn to set aside your desires so that you're more objectively able to help others.

A Giving to Get approach can take you far in life. Most of the successful folks I know have mastered at least this step.

Giving to Get, or giving first and hoping for benefits later, is the root of all successful relationships. Give love if you want to receive love. Give a kind word first if you're hoping for one in return. Give trust if you hope to be trusted. Give your full faith and effort toward common cause if you want the same.

Giving to Get vs. Going to Bat

Giving works all the time, but most people feel it's risky so they hold back. That's precisely why the Give to Get crowd finds much greater success then average. Being willing to take on the little bit of risk and give in advance moves Give to Getters up the ladder quickly.

Giving to Get is effective and is why, unfortunately, most folks stop here, at step one, thinking they've reached the top. This tactic produces results, but only in relatively tiny ways and in limited circles.

The truth is, Giving to Get is superficial.

It's a start, but it's the two dimensional version of value creation... productive in the short term and simply unwise in the long game.

[The "long game" is a topic for another day, but trust me, this is the game you want to be playing.]

So, what's better than giving to get?

Try this for a change.

Try going to bat for someone.

Look to a friend or colleague who's been struggling to beat back some demon or overcome an overwhelming obstacle. Steel yourself and say to them, "Don't worry. I've got this one."

I'm suggesting you do this without regard for any gain on your part. I'm telling you to throw down for them. To go to the ends of the earth for them. To back them up in their time of need.

Make their plight your own, not to be swept up in the drama of it, but to sweep it aside for them as a demonstration of your power and love for that other person.

In his words, my rich friend advised, "It is truly amazing how learning to be generous, at all times, can change your life. As you know, it's not an effort to 'buy' people -- that doesn't work. It's just an effort to let people know that you're not ever going to 'take' from them. And that their being with you -- whether it's dinner out on the town or working in your company -- is always going to be over-the-top."

Try going beyond the Give to Get step and see what happens.

Creating Wealth – Effect of Our Emotions in Money Making

“The main reason so many people
struggle financially is not because they lack
good education or are not hard working.
It is because they are afraid of losing.
If the fear of losing stops them, they are lost”
- Robert Kiyosaki.


Studies have revealed that wealth creation is closely linked to our emotions. As part of being human, we have emotions. Our emotion includes fear, anger, greed, love, joy, happiness, disappointment, sadness and hate. What separates us as individuals however is how we are able to control these emotions or how our emotions control us. From studies the greatest cause of financial struggle in life is the fear of losing money which is caused by human emotion. The rich too experience fear when risking their money. The difference between the rich and those who are poor is however how they handle this fear.
To those who struggle financially, the emotion of fear generate a certain thought in their minds which is “Play it safe, do not take risks”. The rich on the other hand think differently thus “Play it smart, learn to manage risks”. This is the reason why the rich who take risks make mistakes, recover from their mistakes and often accumulate more wealth than those struggling financially who have learned not to make mistakes because of the fear of taking risks and losing money. From the foregoing therefore, it is evident that the emotional thought of the poor is stronger than their rational thoughts. It is the other way round in respect of the rich.
Creating wealth with regards to the rich and those struggling financially is found in the difference between their thoughts and their internal dialogue with themselves. The rich never thinks or says anything derogatory about themselves because they know whatever they say or think could become their reality. To be financially free and avoid financial struggle, we need to avoid thinking negatively, make mistakes financially, correct them and learn to manage risks. While those who struggle financially are concerned with financial security, the rich are concerned with financial freedom. To move from struggling financially to financial freedom therefore, one will have to change the process of thinking. You will have to distinguish which thoughts are emotion driven and which one is logic driven. Wealth creation requires a change in our core emotional thinking, feelings, beliefs and attitude.
Most people are poor because their emotions control their thoughts about wealth creation. As human BE-ings we all have the same emotions. What differentiate us however are what we DO (to create wealth) and what we HAVE (in terms of wealth accumulation) which is primarily a function of how we handle our emotions about wealth. While the emotion of fear causes the poor to become financial cowards, it on the other hand causes the affluent to be courageous.
To this extent, the creation and losing of wealth is an emotional subject. The rich use their positive emotions like trust, courage, faith and good friends to move them forward. They take risks and make mistakes which when corrected often lead to wisdom and knowledge. They know that failure and mistake is part of the process of success in wealth building.
Wealth creation is not a function of our emotions alone. There are several other factors that affect our quest to build wealth. You can learn more about one of such factors by clicking here now.