You’ve found your Core Desires.  You can feel the power of your Conquering Force surging in your very soul, pushing you forward to your brilliant future of self actualization and success.  So what’s stopping you?

In my last blog, I talked about how you can determine whether Invisible Barriers are holding you back.  Now let’s talk about what those barriers might be:

• First, the obvious one:  You haven’t yet found your Core Desires, so you’re trying to push yourself into future that you don’t realize you don’t want.
• You doubt your ability to succeed.  If you’ve spent most of your life trying to achieve goals that you weren’t really born to achieve, you’ve probably tasted your share of failure.  Now that you’re embarking on the right journey, you’ll begin to see successes like you’ve never seen before (punctuated by the inevitable setbacks) and you’ll start to trust your abilities.
• You’re so relieved/positive/excited to have discovered  your true Core Desires that you expect your path to be clear.  The path won’t be clear.  There are always setbacks and obstacles.  Unleashing your Conquering Force doesn’t eliminate challenges; it just gives you the power to get through them.
• You’re in too much of a hurry to do your research.  You’ve heard me use this phrase before:  due diligence.  It means giving a task the amount of time, money or energy that it deserves, considering what’s at stake.  This is your life we’re talking about, here.  Does that give some indication of how much due diligence your preparation deserves?
• Your pride prevents you from risking mistakes (because you’ll look bad) or from learning from them (because you don’t want to admit that you’re wrong).    There is a certain amount of exposure when you throw yourself into a new direction.  People will notice.  They may comment.  Some may even criticize.  Are you pursuing your Core Desire?  Yes?  Then turn your eyes forward and keep striding  toward self actualization.

You don’t know how many years you have on this earth, but you know for sure that they are limited.  You’ll either put them to good use or look back on them with bitter regret.  It’s such an old, hackneyed phrase, but you really do have to Go For It! Find your Core Desires.  Flip the switch on your Conquering Force.  Go over, around, under or through every obstacle, including Invisible Barriers.  Make your time count.

Are you ready to reach the kind of self actualization that comes with discovering your Core Desires and igniting your Conquering Force?  Let me help you overcome your Invisible Barriers and hit the “Jack”-pot of success like you’ve only dreamed of!

Christmas Eve 1881

Pa never had much compassion for the lazy or those who squandered their means and then never had enough for the necessities. But for those who were genuinely in need, his heart was as big as all outdoors. It was from him that I learned the greatest joy in life comes from giving, not from receiving. It was Christmas Eve 1881. I was fifteen years old and feeling like the world had caved in on me because there just hadn’t been enough money to buy me the rifle that I’d wanted for Christmas. We did the chores early that night for some reason. I just figured Pa wanted a little extra time so we could read in the Bible.

After supper was over I took my boots off and stretched out in front of the fireplace and waited for Pa to get down the old Bible. I was still feeling sorry for myself and, to be honest, I wasn’t in much of a mood to read Scriptures. But Pa didn’t get the Bible, instead he bundled up again and went outside. I couldn’t figure it out because we had already done all the chores. I didn’t worry about it long though, I was too busy wallowing in self-pity.

Soon Pa came back in. It was a cold clear night out and there was ice in his beard. “Come on, Matt,” he said. “Bundle up good, it’s cold out tonight.” I was really upset then. Not only wasn’t I getting the rifle for Christmas, now Pa was dragging me out in the cold, and for no earthly reason that I could see. We’d already done all the chores, and I couldn’t think of anything else that needed doing, especially not on a night like this. But I knew Pa was not very patient at one dragging one’s feet when he’d told them to do something, so I got up and put my boots back on and got my cap, coat, and mittens. Ma gave me a mysterious smile as I opened the door to leave the house. Something was up, but I didn’t know what.

Outside, I became even more dismayed. There in front of the house was the work team, already hitched to the big sled. Whatever it was we were going to do wasn’t going to be a short, quick, little job. I could tell. We never hitched up this sled unless we were going to haul a big load. Pa was already up on the seat, reins in hand. I reluctantly climbed up beside him. The cold was already biting at me. I wasn’t happy. When I was on, Pa pulled the sled around the house and stopped in front of the woodshed. He got off and I followed. “I think we’ll put on the high sideboards,” he said. “Here, help me.” The high sideboards! It had been a bigger job than I wanted to do with just the low sideboards on, but whatever it was we were going to do would be a lot bigger with the high side boards on.

After we had exchanged the sideboards, Pa went into the woodshed and came out with an armload of wood – the wood I’d spent all summer hauling down from the mountain, and then all Fall sawing into blocks and splitting. What was he doing? Finally I said something. “Pa,” I asked, “what are you doing?” You been by the Widow Jensen’s lately?” he asked.

The Widow Jensen lived about two miles down the road. Her husband had died a year or so before and left her with three children, the oldest being eight. Sure, I’d been by, but so what?

Yeah,” I said, “Why?” “I rode by just today,” Pa said. “Little Jakey was out digging around in the woodpile trying to find a few chips. They’re out of wood, Matt.” That was all he said and then he turned and went back into the woodshed for an other armload of wood. I followed him. We loaded the sled so high that I began to wonder if the horses would be able to pull it. Finally, Pa called a halt to our loading, then we went to the smoke house and Pa took down a big ham and a side of bacon. He handed them to me and told me to put them in the sled and wait. When he returned he was carrying a sack of flour over his right shoulder and a smaller sack of something in his left hand. “What’s in the little sack?” I asked. Shoes, they’re out of shoes. Little Jakey just had gunny sacks wrapped around his feet when he was out in the woodpile this morning. I got the children a little candy too. It just wouldn’t be Christmas without a little candy.”

We rode the two miles to Widow Jensen’s pretty much in silence. I tried to think through what Pa was doing. We didn’t have much by worldly standards. Of course, we did have a big woodpile, though most of what was left now was still in the form of logs that I would have to saw into blocks and split before we could use it. We also had meat and flour, so we could spare that, but I knew we didn’t have any money, so why was Pa buying them shoes and candy? Really, why was he doing any of this? Widow Jensen had closer neighbors than us; it shouldn’t have been our concern.

We came in from the blind side of the Jensen house and unloaded the wood as quietly as possible, then we took the meat and flour and shoes to the door. We knocked. The door opened a crack and a timid voice said, “Who is it?” “Lucas Miles, Ma’am, and my son, Matt, could we come in for a bit?” Widow Jensen opened the door and let us in. She had a blanket wrapped around her shoulders. The children were wrapped in another and were sitting in front of the fireplace by a very small fire that hardly gave off any heat at all. Widow Jensen fumbled with a match and finally lit the lamp.

“We brought you a few things, Ma’am,” Pa said and set down the sack of flour. I put the meat on the table. Then Pa handed her the sack that had the shoes in it. She opened it hesitantly and took the shoes out one pair at a time. There was a pair for her and one for each of the children – sturdy shoes, the best, shoes that would last. I watched her carefully. She bit her lower lip to keep it from trembling and then tears filled her eyes and started running down her cheeks. She looked up at Pa like she wanted to say something, but it wouldn’t come out.

“We brought a load of wood too, Ma’am,” Pa said.

He turned to me and said, “Matt, go bring in enough to last awhile. Let’s get that fire up to size and heat this place up.” I wasn’t the same person when I went back out to bring in the wood. I had a big lump in my throat and as much as I hate to admit it, there were tears in my eyes too. In my mind I kept seeing those three kids huddled around the fireplace and their mother standing there with tears running down her cheeks with so much gratitude in her heart that she couldn’t speak. My heart swelled within me and a joy that I’d never known before, filled my soul. I had given at Christmas many times before, but never when it had made so much difference. I could see we were literally saving the lives of these people. I soon had the fire blazing and everyone’s spirits soared.

The kids started giggling when Pa handed them each a piece of candy and Widow Jensen looked on with a smile that probably hadn’t crossed her face for a long time. She finally turned to us. “God bless you,” she said. “I know the Lord has sent you. The children and I have been praying that he would send one of his angels to spare us.” In spite of myself, the lump returned to my throat and the tears welled up in my eyes again. I’d never thought of Pa in those exact terms before, but after Widow Jensen mentioned it I could see that it was probably true.

I was sure that a better man than Pa had never walked the earth. I started remembering all the times he had gone out of his way for Ma and me, and many others. The list seemed endless as I thought on it. Pa insisted that everyone try on the shoes before we left. I was amazed when they all fit and I wondered how he had known what sizes to get. Then I guessed that if he was on an errand for the Lord that the Lord would make sure he got the right sizes.

Tears were running down Widow Jensen’s face again when we stood up to leave. Pa took each of the kids in his big arms and gave them a hug. They clung to him and didn’t want us to go. I could see that they missed their Pa, and I was glad that I still had mine. At the door Pa turned to Widow Jensen and said, “The Mrs. wanted me to invite you and the children over for Christmas dinner tomorrow. The turkey will be more than the three of us can eat, and a man can get cantankerous if he has to eat turkey for too many meals. We’ll be by to get you about eleven. It’ll be nice to have some little ones around again. Matt, here, hasn’t been little for quite a spell.” I was the youngest. My two brothers and two sisters had all married and had moved away. Widow Jensen nodded and said, “Thank you, Brother Miles. I don’t have to say , May the Lord bless you, I know for certain that He will.”

Out on the sled I felt a warmth that came from deep within and I didn’t even notice the cold. When we had gone a ways, Pa turned to me and said, “Matt, I want you to know something. Your ma and me have been tucking a little money away here and there all year so we could buy that rifle for you, but we didn’t have quite enough. Then yesterday a man who owed me a little money from years back came by to make things square. Your ma and me were real excited, thinking that now we could get you that rifle, and I started into town this morning to do just that, but on the way I saw little Jakey out scratching in the woodpile with his feet wrapped in those gunny sacks and I knew what I had to do. Son, I spent the money for shoes and a little candy for those children. I hope you understand.”

I understood, and my eyes became wet with tears again. I understood very well, and I was so glad Pa had done it. Now the rifle seemed very low on my list of priorities. Pa had given me a lot more. He had given me the look on Widow Jensen’s face and the radiant smiles of her three children. For the rest of my life, Whenever I saw any of the Jensens, or split a block of wood, I remembered, and remembering brought back that same joy I felt riding home beside Pa that night. Pa had given me much more than a rifle that night, he had given me the best Christmas of my life. Don’t be too busy today. Share this inspiring message. God bless you!

Let’s all be an “angel” to someone this Christmas season and through out the coming year. If you have children include them so they can experience the joy of helping others.

MERRY CHRISTMAS and HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Jack M. Zufelt

“Mentor to Millions”

P.S.-Don’t forget to get your Christmas gift from me!

Making Changes in Tough Times: Are You REALLY Ready to Take a Chance?

Axler’s traditional market, traditional Kosher Jewish consumers, was shrinking, and in spite of the trend toward more healthful living, no one was rushing in to fill the gap in sales.

So would you like to hear the bad news first, or the good?

I’ll start with the bad:  When he decided to develop Brekfish, Axler didn’t give his research due diligence.  Due diligence can be loosely defined as “giving a task the amount of work and attention that it deserves.”  When it comes to researching major decisions that could make or break your small business, that task deserves quite a bit of work and attention indeed.

Is Brekfish as bad product?  Quite the contrary:  All reports are that it’s delicious – crisp and flavorful.  It could very well become the healthy choice for bacon lovers.  The mistake Axler made was that, before making changes, failing to find out whether his hopes of getting Brekfish on the supermarket shelves were realistic.  Retailers were unwilling to put the product on the shelves until Axler created consumer interested with a big-budget campaign.  He simply didn’t have the resources.

Now for the good news:  While Axler failed to forage for the best information, the best information was thrust upon him.  Fortune Small Business sent three experts to offer him the best advice.  What gems of wisdom did they have to offer?

• Rather than targeting national-chain supermarkets, focus on his best local markets, like delis and specialty supermarkets.
• Narrow his brand. Because the company had been in business for so long, the various products had packaging that reflected the time of their development, and even different brand names. Business consultant Victoria Nessen Kohlasch, chief executive of Nessen Kohlasch & Associates, insisted that he had to select develop unified packaging to develop brand recognition.
• Update his website to give it more value (recipes) and make it easier to buy.
• Focus on the health benefits of his products in both advertising and packaging.

If you are currently the vice president of a small fish business, you will find these specific tips helpful.  If you aren’t (and I’m guessing you aren’t), you still have a great deal to learn from Alan Axler.  Chances are, a panel of experts won’t show up at your door to hand you the information you need.  You have to go get it!

Go to the library, take classes, find mentors, talk to people, search the internet – do whatever you have to so you can start making changes toward your brighter, happier, more successful future.  This is your future!  Give it all the due diligence it deserves.

Are you ready to invest in your future?  Check out my Making Money is Fun video series.  Learn all about the different types of investments that are out there (and find out my favorite choices) so you can begin now making changes that will lead you to major success!

Have you seen the headlines?

“Recession Is Over According to Financial Experts” – ABC News

“Recession is Very Likely Over” – Market Watch

“The Recession is Over” – Forbes.com

“The recession?  It’s Over, Economist Says” – MSN Money

“Really?” Brandy asks, looking around her toy strewn living room.  “Because my husband still doesn’t have a job, and the best I’ve been able to do is cleaning houses.  My best friend was just told that she can either move to Detroit and take a pay loss or sign up for unemployment.  And my mom got forced into early retirement with half the pension she was expecting.

“Where is this big recovery in the economy I keep hearing about?”

Brandy isn’t alone in asking.  While economists celebrate, many people are still struggling to pay their mortgages and pay their rent.  Consumer spending fell 0.5 percent in September, and we learned this week that the unemployment rate hit 10.2 percent.

Brandy knows that to get out of this situation and ensure a brighter financial future, it’s critical that she and her husband focus on making changes in their approach to money.  “I watched your Making Money is Fun videos,” she tells me.  “My Core Desire is to make sure we are never this vulnerable to the ups and downs of the economy again.  But I’m scratching to pay my electric bill – I’ve got nothing to leverage!”

This is where I had to disagree with Brandy.  It’s true that there are people in the world who are truly living hand to mouth – living under a corrugated tin roof and counting on strangers to bring them bowls of rice to fill their bellies.  There’s an old saying, “Of whom much is given, much is expected.”  Brandy, believe it or not, is one of those people.  As you are.  As I am.

The definition of “poor” in the U.S. and all developed nations tends to be very different from the corrugated/rice bowl version.  The truth is that while unemployment and worries about bills are very stressful and destructive, most of us still have untapped resources.

If you’ve already watched the Making Money is Fun Videos, you’ve probably already guessed one of Brandy’s resources:  her house cleaning business.  Although most businesses are suffering a downturn, professional home cleaners are continuing to stay afloat in many regions.  Brandy takes pride in her work, and has more requests than she can keep up with.  I suggested she leverage her time by hiring helpers and training them to meet her exacting standards.

“But what,” you may be asking, “does this have to do with me?  I don’t clean houses!”

Take out your magnifying glass – it’s time to find your untapped resources.  Do you have:

• A large unused lot of land? Rent it out for out-of-season recreational vehicle storage?
• A postage stamp collection that grandpa left you? Find a reliable collector and sell it.
• Two free mornings a week? Use them to start the home business you’ve always dreamed of on a small scale.
• Bulky antique furniture stashed in your basement? Sell it and make the money work for you in a way that maple credenza never did?
• A talent or expertise you neglect – singing, photography, writing, word-working, an exhaustive knowledge of WWII battles? When Janene Snyder of Eudora, KS was faced with her husband’s unemployment and her own job uncertainty, she set about making changes by turning her love of garage sales into a $4000/year bonus. So give your own talent or expertise four or five hours a week and see what it can bring you.

The key to success in leveraging these unused resources it not only tap them, but apply the benefit toward building the future you want.  In other words, if you sell your amazing nutrolls to co-workers over the holidays, don’t use the money to buy more extravagant Christmas gifts.  Leverage the money by putting it toward making permanent changes in your financial outlook.  Invest it in education, resources, or people that will make you money.

Has the economy recovered?  In the Money magazine article “Earth to Economists,” David Rosenberg, chief economist at Gluskin Sheff, is quoted as saying, “Only economists see the recession as being over; the man on the street sees it a little differently.”  So does that mean, sit tight and keep your head down, because this is no time to be making changes?

No.   Refusing to change your strategy will be as devastating to your future as making a radical change without doing your research.  So start analyzing the corners of your life and make a list of possible untapped resources.  But don’t make any major decisions yet – not until you read my next blog about due diligence!

If you want to learn more about making changes by leveraging your time, influence and money to build the future you crave, the Making Money is Fun videos will get you started – telling you everything you need to know about leveraging and giving you the run down on the various investment options out there.  Find out what two investment options I think are the best for most people in this rocky economy!

Seven Words to Change Your Life: Are You Waiting For Someone To Figure Out What You Want?

Her pride was also a liability, though, because it prevented her from asking for the help she needed.  She took a full-time job in an office, but she also signed on with a network marketing company to sell household products, with the intent of building that into a full-time business.  She liked the products and enjoyed selling them, but when it came to taking the next step in the company, she faltered.

“I know I need to sign people,” she said.  “In fact, I know some people who would do really great at this, and it would help them out.  They already use the products and they love them.”

So why hadn’t she signed anyone?

“I just can’t say it.  I can’t get the words out.”

We’re working our way through the Seven Words To Change Your Life right now, and the word for today is “Ask.”   Your friends and family may love you, and your colleagues may respect you, but that doesn’t mean they can intuitively sense what you need.  They have their own concerns and pursuits, and they can’t read your mind.

Most people aren’t shocked or horrified when someone asks them for something; they simply respond with a “yes” or “no.”  But many of those same people can’t get a request past their own lips.  How can you let go of this  aversion and get the words out?

• First, don’t fall prey to assumptions, even about yourself. Sit down and take the time to define exactly what your needs are.
• Once you know what you want, figure out how to express it precisely, so there’s no room for confusion or error. Practice if you need to, or write the words out.
• Be prepared to feel uncomfortable if you aren’t accustomed to making requests. It isn’t selfish or wrong to have needs or express them; it is the nature of humans to function as a inter-dependant community.
• Be ready to put your pride in neutral. Asking for candid feedback won’t help you unless you’re open to it. Directions won’t help you if you don’t take them. You can’t ask for solutions without exposing your problems.

Asking didn’t come easily to Marian, but her fierce determination drove her forward.  “I started with my sister.  I mean, it should have been simple.  We used to take naps together, for pete’s sake.  I figured out what I was going to ask for – could she host one party.  I had to practice saying it, and then I braced myself for her reaction.  I mean, she wasn’t going to hate me for asking or anything.  It was so hard!”

She was shocked to discover that her sister was actually a little hurt that she hadn’t asked before.  The sister hosted the party, and soon signed on with the company.  Buoyed by her success, Marian was soon able to build a successful business.  She quit her job and enjoyed the benefits of having a flexible schedule and passive income.

It’s time to discover how to activate the Seven Words To Change Your Life, bringing your Core Desires to reality and propelling yourself into the life you’ve always dreamed of.   Learn how now with the Conquering Force Audio/Book Package (save over $400!).

Imagine you live in an oppressed nation.  Your oppressor overtaxes you, reaps the benefits of your hard work, and periodically brings you and your fellow citizens in line with outbreaks of violence.  Must you fight for your freedom?

Are you thinking, “I don’t really have a choice, do I?”

Seven Words to Change Your Life: Do You Have A Choice?

We say that pretty regularly – “I don’t have a choice” – but it’s rarely true.  Work late or get fired?  Take the medicine or die?  Follow the traffic laws or lose your license?  These are all choices.  What we mean to say, of course, is that one of those choices is so undesirable that you feel compelled to go with the other choice.

Not only do you genuinely have a choice – you can pick the less desirable option – but you frequently have alternatives that weren’t even presented to you.   You can pick a choice that wasn’t even presented to you.   Bring in a crew so you don’t have to work late.  Find an effective alternative to the medicine.  Hire a driver so you don’t even have to think about the traffic laws.

In the situation above, a very influential man took another road.  He was presented with two choices – A:  Endure the oppression and B:  Fight for freedom.  He chose Choice C:  Resist tyranny through mass civil disobedience.    His name was Mohandas Karamchand Ghandi, better known as Mahatma Ghandi, and not only did he lead India into freedom from Great Britain, but he inspired other non-violent movements for freedom and human rights across the world.

You have a choice.  With rare exceptions, you always have a choice. “Choice”  is one of the seven words that can change your life, but having a choice is meaningless if you don’t acknowledge it – if you feel constrained to always behave a certain way or make certain choices.

It’s time to live as if you have choices.

• Make sure you have mentors and friends who will give you honest feedback, challenging reactive points of view and self-deception. These are more precious than the most reliable stock tip (and, of course, they’re legal). Cherish them, and seek their in-put often.
• Question yourself. If you find yourself in a situation that you wouldn’t have chosen, figure out how you did choose it. Did you act on a false assumption? Choose impulsively?
• If you find yourself repeatedly in an undesirable situation, don’t vow that you’ll never go there again. Instead, figure out what pay-off keeps drawing you back there. Then you can satisfy that need or impulse so you don’t go there again. For example, let’s say parking is very limited in the area where you work. You’ve accumulated fourteen parking tickets, and just barely dodged having a boot put on your car. First figure out why you’ve gotten the tickets: ex, you don’t have a choice because you don’t have time to look around for a legal parking place. The pay-off for parking illegally is, you make it to work on time. However, that pay-off costs you about $25 a day, plus fines and impound fees if they boot the car. Now, address the pay-off. You’re allotted the same twenty-four hours as everyone else, so what are your other options? Leave home earlier? Take the bus? You do have options, but until you acknowledge that you have a choice, you won’t make a different one.
• Stop and think. At intervals throughout your day, stop and ask yourself whether you’re acting out of habit, or you’re actually making the best choice for the situation you’re in.

You can choose to grow, or choose not to grow.  There are always going to be setbacks, obstacles and external factors that will complicate your progress, but you don’t have allow them to define who you are or where you’re going.  You have the choice.  You can change your life.

Once you determine your Core Desires, you unleash the Conquering Force that will change your life.  forever.  Learn how to harness this power now by taking advantage of the over $400 savings on the Conquering Force Audio/Book Package.

Do you understand the concept of leverage?  A lever is a rigid object that is used with a fulcrum or pivot point to multiply the mechanical force that can be applied to another object.  Did you get that?

No?  Well, maybe, if you’re a physics professor.  But in case you’re not, I’ll put it in friendlier terms.

When you leverage, you use a little (effort, money, time) to get a lot (results or wealth).

Manifest Money: How Can You Start Right Now To Use The Concept of Leverage?

Here are some ways you can use leveraging to take a shortcut to success:

• Money – Invest a little to get a lot
• Time – Outsource or hire efficient help
• Contacts – Meet people, then meet people through those people, then meet more people . . .
• Knowledge – Know what you know and how to make it work for you
• Influence – Make the effort to be an effective influence on the people in your immediate sphere, so they will pass that influence on to others.

No matter where you are in your journey to success, you can use leveraging to use a little to gain a lot and manifest more money than seems possible today.  My focus this week will be to give you practical ideas on how you can do that.  “Give me a lever long enough,” said Archimedes.  “And a fulcrum on which to place it, and I shall move the world.”

I want to see you on the path to success, which is why I created the affordable program Success in 5 Minutes a Day.  There’s a lot to learn, but I’m here to help you.  Sign up now to learn to manifest money.

I promise – it’s as simple as that – I promise that if you learn the DNA of Success, you will find the success you dream of.

Skeptical?  If you’re just starting out on the path to your real future, you might very well be.  You might be saying, “Sure, Jack, easy for you to say.  You got breaks I can only dream of.”  (You’re not saying that if you read my biography).  You might be saying, “Jack, you’re talking about leveraging time and money and multiple streams of income.  Newsflash, buddy.  I’m just trying to keep the light bill paid.”

File history

I know.  I’ve been there.  When money is tight, it can feel like it’s going to be tight forever.  Maybe you can’t see exactly how you’re going to dig yourself out . . . yet.  But if you just step out in faith and start following some simple steps to success, you’ll get there.

Step 1:   Know your Core Desires. I know – I keep saying that.  But if you don’t know what you want, how can you get it?  And once you know – really know – what you want, you’ll unleash your Conquering Force.  Look inward.  As Marcus Aurelius said, “Look well into thyself; there is a source of strength which will always spring up if thou wilt always look there.”

Step 2:  Leverage your income . . .  but first, stop leveraging your expenses.  Leveraging your income means, very simply, to use a little money to get something of much greater worth.  Leveraging your expenses, then, means to buy something worth a little and spend a lot; for example, buying $40 dress, but paying with a high-interest credit card so that you ultimately pay $65.  Your first step in getting out of financial crisis is to take control of your debt.  Check your credit report, so you know exactly where you stand.  Look into consolidation.  Call the credit card companies and ask for lower interest.  And then, most importantly, live within your means.  If you can’t, adjust your life until you can.

Step 3:  Do your homework. Remember the seven mistakes people make over and over?  One common mistake is to skip the research and strategy stage before taking a risk.  Know how the credit system works, what the current rates are, and possible pitfalls, before you even begin applying for a business loan.

Step 4:  Save money. Old fashioned advice, but it still applies.  Financial success isn’t about how much you earn, but about how much you keep.  Saving money takes a lot of discipline, especially in this consumer credit, have-it-all-right-now culture.  You should be putting away at least 10% of your income.  I know this is a tough adjustment, but there are some tricks that can get you there less painfully.  Arrange to have a percentage of your pay automatically routed to an account that isn’t easily accessible.  Use online bill payment systems to pay yourself with a monthly check sent to a savings account.  If 10% feels like too much, start with 1%, and increase the amount by one percentage point every month.

If you learn sound financial principles and incorporate them into your habits, you really can get out of the mud of debt and living paycheck to paycheck.  Don’t let your discouragement over your current circumstances mire you into permanent financial stress.  Follow these steps for success so that one day you can have the peace that comes from knowing that you can easily meet all of your obligations and beyond.

If you’re ready to learn the essential truths about success, why not commit just 5 minutes a day for the next 30 days, and learn the steps for success that you need to finally taste the financial freedom you’ve always dreamed of.

I have a friend – let’s call him Happy – who wasn’t satisfied with his life.  His marriage was rocky, he hated his dead end job, and his friends didn’t respect him.  One evening, at a get together with friends, someone gave him some good news:  “Dude, you’re totally capable of becoming a major success!   You just have to learn how to work with the universe, instead of against it.”

The friend taught Happy about the Law of Attraction.  He coached him in thinking positive, visualization and affirmations.  Together, they went to see motivational speakers, and left the seminars glowing with the prospect of their imminent success.

Blueprint for Success: With All The Advice Out There, How Do You Find the Facts About Finding Success?

Happy was so excited about his new path to success that he told other people about it.    By the time Happy realized that his good feelings hadn’t been accompanied by any kind of actual success – his career was still stalled; his wife was still considering leaving him –  he’d already spread the word.  Ten, maybe even twenty, caught his contagious enthusiasm, and were doing affirmations and visualizations of their own, and telling others to do the same.

When he confessed that tapping into the universe hadn’t actually made any difference, he was set-upon by well-meaning zealots – “You’ve just got to think positive, man!  Here – have you read this self-help book?”

Have you been down that road?  If not – don’t go there.  The momentary high of artificial motivation isn’t worth the wasted time and money.

The only way to get to success is to know the truth – to understand how Core Desires can become the Conquering Force that propels you to success.

• It’s the root cause of all achievement.
• It’s the automatic mechanism that takes you to tangible results.
• It silences the myths once and for all and mines the solid gold of the truth inside you.
• It’s simple, powerful and razor edged.

Happy had the capacity for success within, and so do you.  But you need accurate information about how the principles of success really work.  Once you do, you unleash an unstoppable force – it’s like flipping on an internal power switch.

If you’re ready to learn the essential truths about success, why not commit just 5 minutes a day for the next 30 days, and get the blueprint for success that you need to reach immeasurable success.

An aspiring writer I know became friends with the creator of a complicated role-playing game.  The creator asked him if he could write a novel featuring characters in the imagined world of the game.  “It’ll promote the game,” he said to the writer.  “And it will give you a book in print.  Maybe we’ll make it a series.”

Blueprint for Success: Why Put Success Off For Tomorrow When You Can Have It Today?

Now. this writer knew that he’d just been handed the opportunity of a lifetime.  Fiction writing is a very tough business – for many writers, a career high point is getting a rejection slip that has a handwritten note across the top instead of only the pre-printed text.

Writing fiction, without a doubt, was this young writer’s Core Desire.  Unfortunately, he made Mistake # 6 of the Mistakes People Make Over and Over: succumbing to procrastination and analysis paralysis.

Here’s how it goes:

• You make the big first effort. In the writer’s case, he dedicated every spare moment for a full month to his new novel. He wrote at the library, on the bus, and in the bathroom. He poured everything he had into that first third of the book.
• Then he got tired. “I’ve got to get away from this computer!” The plot to his story got convoluted and unclear. The end of the book began to feel out of reach.
• He fell into what I call analysis paralysis. “I can’t go on until I resolve the flaws to this plot!” I assume you do need to create some kind of blueprint for success for your plot, but he got caught up the planning. He read books about plotting. He watched movies with a similar genre. He wrote flow charts of potential plot lines. He didn’t write.
• In the end, only a month before his deadline, he realized that he had no more time. His paralysis shifted to a frantic effort. He did produce a finished product, a week after his deadline, but it was pieced together, full of flaws and inconsistencies. It didn’t reflect his ability. The game creator published the book, but there was no offer of a series.

The writer knew his Core Desire, and he had the Conquering Force to drive him through obstacles.  He was handed an opportunity to take him to success, but he effectively sabotaged it by procrastinating.

You are going to have to watch for this.  Whether it’s fear of failure, bad work habits, or lack of emotional maturity, you might find yourself veering off course.  This is not the time for affirmations or visualization (see Monday’s blog).  This is the time to reconnect with your Core Desires and make sure you’re on course.  You will need to make course corrections, but make sure you haven’t veered into a completely different direction.

Procrastination and analysis paralysis is an easy trap to fall into, but I can help you avoid it.  Join me for the very affordable Success in 5 Minutes.  I’ll give a blueprint for success that will get you on course once and for all.