Secret of the Riches: Small Step at a Time

"People who write their financial goals get rich. It's a fact." - David Bach, The Automatic Millionaire

I once have been asked this riddle, "how do you eat an Elephant?’. After pondering it for five seconds and thinking that it might be a trick question, I answered, "Eat it with your mouth, of course." It was a nice try but it turns out it was not the answer. The answer to the riddle was a very simple one "Eat the elephant piece by piece."

Even though the riddle is just for fun, the answer for the riddle has made me thinking in terms of financial perspective. I change the question and ask to myself "How can you get a million dollars?" The answer to that of course, similar to the eating the elephant's riddle, is "small step at a time". Your goal can be as large as an elephant, but the step towards it can be one step at a time. The trick is to keep on moving and never stop. Slow and steady progress is better that a stagnant position. Do not feel dwarf by your ambition and goals. With patience and perseverance, you can achieve impossible dreams.

If you look at all the giant corporations, you must remember that they are all once a small corporation and was started by a small group of people. With perseverance and hard work, this small corporation blossom into giant and successful corporation as we can see them today. Individuals who have attain great wealth today also starts somewhere small. Richard Branson started his business empire small with selling student magazines. Steve Jobs started his Apple Computer business in his home garage. The only thing that stayed the same was their passion in achieving their dreams. In achieving your dreams, you must always take small step towards your goal in a constant basis. With determination, you can achieve mammoth dreams with small step at a time.

A Video Interview with Richard Branson

The Secret of the Riches - Continuous Learning

"The real horror of ghetto life is not the daily frustrations and deprivations. People can overcome those. The real nightmare is the effect the environment has on beliefs and dreams. If all you see is failure, if all you see is despair, it's very hard for you to form the internal representations that will foster success."

- Excerpt from Unlimited Power, Anthony Robbins

Everyone knows the magic of compounding. Even Albert Einstein was once amazed by the power of compounding and labels it as the eighth wonder of the world. But do you know that not just money but knowledge also can be compounded over time. Try gathering as much knowledge as possible in your early years. In time, your knowledge on a particular area will grow as you grow old.

For example, if you know a thing or two about computers when you are young, the knowledge will start to grow as you start to read here and there. You will also start to notice things related to computer even without trying. This is human nature that psychologist called Reticular Activating System or short 'RAS'.

Continuous learning is the absolute requirement for success in any field. The only moment in time when you are not learning is when you are dead. We start learning the moment we are born into this world. Everything that we venture for the first time has a learning curve. Whether they are playing sports, learning musical instruments or starting in a new job has its own learning curve. Successful people will always try to learn as much as they could in their new field and speed up their learning curve in order to become competent. A person who fails usually has fewer patients and tends to quit early. By staying focus and adopting a continuous learning attitude, you can excel in any field you choose as long as you can withstand the learning curve barrier.