Some people love Fridays, I love every day

So there was this person who loved Fridays, because that meant the weekend had arrived and they would have two days off from work to decompress and let their mind regenerate before having to start all over again on Monday. See, they hated their job. Sometimes on Sundays they would cry because they had to go to work the next day, work they hated, but which they had to do to pay the bills. Each day was drudgery and misery.

Am I talking about you?

I don't know, am I?

And, if I am, are you so miserable that you want to do something about it? Matt Morris tells the story of an old man sitting on a bench with a dog sitting beside him. The dog was howling in obvious pain, and a passerby asked what was the matter.

"The dog is sitting on a nail," the man said.

Confused, the passerby asked, "then why doesn't have get up and move?"

The old man thought for a minute, and said: "I guess it doesn't hurt bad enough yet."

So I guess for those folks who hate their jobs, but pooh-pooh the idea of actually doing something different, the pain just isn't great enough yet. Sure, the economy isn't the best, and we all may have to work at something we don't like for a while. But your situation today is because of the decisions you made three years ago; if you change nothing, nothing will change. You can either keep sitting on the nail and howling, in which case most people are going to get sick of hearing it, or you can get up and move and start to improve your life.

The choice is yours.

Really? Me?

Yesterday, a wonderful person said that I was one of the most positive people she had ever met. Naturally, I looked around to see to whom she referred, because I certainly didn't think it was me. But, lo and behold, it was.

Wow!

See, that's not who everybody else knows me as being. A year ago I was probably the most negative person in the city of Memphis. I didn't want to be, that's not my personality, but over the years I think we all get beat down by life and the bad stuff just sort of seeps in, like minerals seeping into bones until finally they become fossils. Until Kathy and I started this new adventure, I honestly did not know how to crawl out of the vortex of negativity that was sucking me down like a giant whirlpool.

But not anymore. That's not to say I don't still have those moments of snarkiness and downright pettiness, I do, but now I catch myself and try to correct the behavior, now I'm aware. And, frankly, now I'm happy.

So, to that wonderful lady who said this to me yesterday, bless you. We aren't always aware of how we come across to others, so to know that I now am a vessel for positivity is truly motivating for me. Everything the company promised they have delivered, and more. Thank God my wife said 'yes' to all of this.

Refuse to accept anything less than the best you deserve

Every day I meet people who are dissatisfied with some aspect of their life, usually financial, sometimes emotional or spiritual. I like this, because it means they are not willing to simply roll over and take whatever ill fortune comes their way, they want to fight back and make their life better. My frustration stems from how few of them actually follow through on their plans.

In the past six months Kathy and I have changed our lives completely. Yes, it has taken a lot of effort, most of which was personal. See, we had to change ourselves before we could do anything else, and while that process is ongoing and never-ending, just undertaking to improve yourself creates its own energy. An inertia builds up in your life for the positive that allows you to do more than you ever thought possible.

We have discovered this, but unfortunately, so many others will not even undertake the journey of discovery. All we can do is concentrate on those who will, and hope the others will join us. Yes, we have discovered something that works for us, something that has revolutionized our lives, but whether others join us or find their own path, we both just wish more people would try to be happy. We are no different than anyone else, we are constantly battling the fear of failure that accompanies any new endeavor, but it is far better to try and to fail than to never try at all.

No kidding

A blog post two days in a row. I know you're shocked. But it's Monday, after the storms last night the sun is shining brightly, it's very warm for January and life is just too good to miss the chance for a quick pick-me-up comment. I have really grown to love Mondays, which signal a fresh week waiting to be lived better than the one before.

Numerous folks have commented that my attitude has changed drastically in the past three months, and they are right, it has. I invite everyone to come along, and I hope that you take up my invitation. If you are not satisfied with your life right now, then make it better; you are the only one who can.

But experience already shows that a lot of folks don't really want to change, or to improve their outlook or situation. I'm still wondering why this is so, I have several answers but they all seem so...well, so silly. Or sad, I'm not sure which. But whatever the case, if you are not happy with where your life is now, do something different! Don't wait, the decisions you make today will determine your life a year from now. Change your life and be happy!

Please.

Commentary on THE WEALTH FILES Part Three

Someone asked me if I wasn't being presumptuous commenting on The Wealth Files, but that's not the point here; I'm sure more capable people than me have written more insightful comments on this topic. No, I'm not trying to set myself up as a financial guru; that's not the point of this blog at all. This is about Kathy and my journey through uncharted territory, including the trials, tribulations, lessons learned and overall experiences gleaned from the effort.

So my commentaries are my thoughts about what I am reading, and the lessons that I am taking from the experience. I share them so that others might think about the same lessons and discover their own truths. Because whenever we try to internalize a lesson in whatever it is that we are learning, we each think the matter through in our own way.

Today's quote from T. Harv Eker's The Wealth Files is this one:

"Rich people admire other rich and successful people,
Poor people resent rich and successful people."

There is an obvious connection happening today in our society, but I will not choose that example. Instead I will try to think about it in a different way.

If I could change one thing about this it would be to qualify 'rich and successful people' as those who have achieved this through their own efforts, or have taken an inheritance and turned it into something greater than they received. But if you consider the quote, you realize just how true it is. How many times have you, or I, seen a rich or successful person and thought 'man, how lucky can you get?' I know I've been guilty of that in the past, but if that person built their own wealth, took risks, failed, perhaps failed often and miserably, but kept going until they ultimately succeeded, then who am I to be jealous of them? They worked for what they have, and they have earned the right to enjoy the fruits of their labors.

How many people do we see just sitting around doing little to improve their own lot in life, but complaining about how much others have? We see it all around us, I run into it every single day. People are given opportunities but they fail to take them for a variety of reasons: fear of failure, laziness, circumstances in life that have left them depressed or broken...there are as many reasons for failures to act as there are people. I've heard every excuse in the book a hundred times, including 'the dog ate my Daytimer.' And to be honest, I have also made just about every excuse in the book; I speak about excuses from personal experience.

The bottom line, to me, is pretty simple: if your circumstances are not what you would like them to be, then do something about it. If you just complain and pout, if you do the same thing you have always done but expect a different result, then you will forever be one of the poor people who are resentful of success. There are no good reasons for failures to act, only poor excuses.

But remember, I'm talking to myself here. This is a very personal journey that just happens to be public. If you see yourself in any of these blogs, then I hope they are of value. If they are, please subscribe; like anybody else, I could use some positive feedback too.

Like a tidal wave

The positive momentum surrounding my family and I is palpable, you can feel it building and moving forward like an inexorable tide. This is because we started working toward our goals for 2012 and have kept at it, knowing that even if results do not come right away, you cannot quit. Perseverance is the single biggest key to success. Granted, we had to reboot our efforts due to unforeseen circumstances, but viewed another way, it was a test from God to see if we had learned our lessons.

Monday is going to be huge; we cannot wait. How often do you get to hear a certified business mogul who charges big money for his seminars give a talk for free? Not very often. If we have learned nothing else lately, it is to find successful people and take whatever advice they give. Too many times in the past we have listened to well-meaning friends and relatives who told us not to do something, or that something would not work...broke friends and relatives, not rich ones.

No more. Now we have found our mentor, a self-made man who is sharing his road to success with us, and this time we are following the road less traveled. Whatever else it may turn out to be, it's going to be new and fun!

Attitude is a choice

Wow, did anybody get the number of the bus that ran over me? Feeling pretty tired today after a long weekend doing something I would have preferred to put off indefinitely. Kathy and I were both up late attending to work that had gone undone while we were busy elsewhere, and it would be very easy to say that we deserved a day off today, to just kick back and relax. It's probably even a good idea.

But that's not how we roll. She is off doing her thing and I'm plunging right back into the work that I love. So what if I'm tired, the day is dreary and the weekend was potentially depressing, attitude is a choice and I choose to be excited. I speak to people all the time who are so scared of doing anything new that they are paralyzed...it happened just yesterday. Someone is given an opportunity but don't even show up for an appointment because they are so scared of...of what, exactly? Beats me. Last week I invited someone to meet me for lunch, but all of a sudden there were pre-conditions on our meeting, 'I'll come if this' or 'I won't come if that'. If somebody invited me to have a cup of coffee, I would never say 'fine, as long as...' I would either say 'yes' or 'no', depending on if I wanted to have a cup of coffee with them.

However, I now understand the 17 Rules of Wealth much, much better than I did before launching this newest venture. Wealthy people hear of an opportunity and pursue it, poor people hear of an opportunity and run the other way. I'm not sure why yet, but I know it happens. I see it everyday. As Napoleon Hill wrote, and I blogged about recently, poor people want to be paid for their time, rich people want to be paid for their results.

Yep. It's true. I don't yet know WHY it's true, but it is. Just like how you view opportunity is your choice, so is attitude. I could be very down today, but I choose the opposite. I choose to be fired up and ready to go. Rock and roll!

Happily swamped

When I hear people say that they can't find a job, or they don't have anything to do, I confess that I just don't get it. It's probably my fault, not theirs, but these days I am absolutely swamped. There literally are not enough hours in the day to do everything I need/want to do, the money-making ideas come thick and fast, I barely have time to make a quick list of tasks and, on top of everything else, I own one of the absolute coolest things in the world that I need to find time to use!

But this morning it dawned on me that all of my life I have been happiest when I was being paid for my results, not my time. That's probably why I was Salesman of the Year three times with two different companies (commission sales, being paid for what I did, not how long I spent doing it), and National Employee of the Year (for my job description) one year (they gave me a cruise for that). Even though I was being paid a salary on that last one, I still wanted to be paid for results above and beyond my job description, and I achieved that.

When was I most miserable? When being paid for my time, X numbers of dollars for Y amount of time. I had not actually realized all of this until now, but it explains why I am so thrilled about the direction of my life now. I simply can't wait for what happens next, or the achievements yet to come.

Let's get this party started!

Sorry about the long delay in blog entries, but somehow the holidays just take over and squeeze out of all your time. Now they are done, the sun is shining, it is seasonally warm in Memphis and 2012 is shaping up to be the best year ever!

When people ask me how the new business is going, the only truthful answer I can give them is that "it's life-changing." See, it really IS life-changing. I know that sounds pat, maybe even trite, but it's true. Kathy and my outlook is radically different than a year ago, we are completely convinced that the future is bright, and really the only thing we want to do now is help others who see our vision of hope.

This is hard to understand, I know, and sounds utopian (but definitely NOT dystopian), but it's entirely true. We could not be happier at what we have chosen to pursue. And this is a strange thing, because when you have reached your mid-50's, it's hard, very hard, to change the path you are on. Or even to walk a second path simultaneously, which is what we are doing.

I mean, think about it...if you are past 40, and you have training or a career that are not the most in-demand skill sets at the moment, how do you go about changing your circumstances? Look for a new job? Okay, but doing what? In most circumstances you will wind up doing something that has a low entry-threshold but also requires immense effort for success. That is, the company that hires you because it does not cost them much to do so, but they also do not have to put many resources into your success or failure because they don't really care which happens, they are looking at the numbers. Hire a lot, lose a lot, pan for the gold and keep that while discarding the rest. When someone succeeds, THEN they put resources into them. Until then, you're on your own. Your only other real choice is to trade your time for money, and while we all have to do that sometimes, as Napoleon Hill discovered only poor people want to be paid for their time, rich people want to be paid for their results.

Thank God we have found something where it's all-for-one and one-for-all, where everybody helps everybody else. What are the odds that at our age such a golden opportunity would have come our way? Low. So don't think for one second that we don't know how blessed we are. We do know it, and that's why we're convinced 2012 is going to be spectacular, and the heck with the Mayans!