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

Belief of Success

Wealth creation and distribution is actually a vicious cycle that can be seen in every society around the world. The rich become richer and the poor become poorer. In reality, the glass ceiling that separates this both societies is only a mere different mindset of how they perceived the world. The rich will always look at the world in a positive manner and how to capture opportunities so they can become even richer. As the poor societies, they will always look into the world in a negative mindset. They always consider themselves as victims of the environments and can never change even opportunities are laid down just in front of their face.

The statement that we choose our belief is very true. We choose consciously or sub-consciously to be afraid of trying something new, we choose to not achieve financial freedom and we choose a lot of things that seems to be protecting ourselves from danger in the short term but actually is detrimental to us in the long run. Therefore in being aware that we can choose our beliefs, we can then determine our destiny and not depended on the pre-programmed subconscious beliefs that have been implemented in us by our parents and the environment.

Our beliefs also effects on how we solve our daily problems. We face problems in our everyday life. The only difference is how we perceive the magnitude of the problem. The only time that we are not burden with problems are when we are dead. As Albert Einstein once quoted that we should not solve problems based on the mindset and level of thinking when the problem occurs. Our belief and that current state of mind will eventually determine whether you can solve the problem or not. You must be ahead one level as to know what exactly the possible solutions that can be. Be above your problem. Be ahead of your problem. Break out of the box. You will tackle your problems more efficiently as ever before and create wealth for yourself and the people around you.

How to Create Positive Motivation Everyday

"People often say that motivation doesn't last. Well, neither does bathing - that's why we recommend it daily."- Zig Ziglar

“Man is a goal seeking animal. His life only has meaning if he is reaching out and striving for his goals. ” - Aristotle

People who plays string intruments must know the fact that their instruments need to be tune every now and then for it to be in perfect condition. They also know that if their string instrument, for example, guitar to be left unplayed for a while, it will also be out of tune. The same goes with our mind. Even if we have the necessary ingredient to achieve our goals, we need to tune the goal with motivation every now and then. By linking the goal with passion is not enough as the passion will die as time goes by. Tune the passion with positive motivation everyday and the fire that ignites the passion will kept blazing until we reach our ultimate goal.

Positive motivation and igniting it with passion is only useful if we live our life with a purpose. Just imagine a ship sailing towards the sea without any specific destination. The ship is all fire up and ready to go but the captain has no idea where it should go. The ship will just float adrift aimlessly in the open sea. A ship with a destination and also a time to arrive will be utilizing every resource in the ship to achieve it. Living with a purpose means living with the aspiration to achieve something. That is why goals are the most critical factor in determining whether we will have a happy life or not. The notion that we have something to achieve for that will bring much joy and impact to our life will definitely fuel and motivate us to learn, develop and take action. Set your goals today and write it in a piece of paper and commit to take action and achieve the goal that you have set for yourself.

Success

Success can be likened to the tip of a tail. Say if a cat runs to catch its tail, it would have to keep running forever. However if it walks in its own style, the tail naturally follows it.

Moral of the story, live your life with your own standards. Do not follow other people's standards of success. Do not take shortcuts to success, as you may failed miserably. Success will arrive to you if you are patient enough to take the proper road.

Think and Innovate, Do not Follow and Imitate

"What we think determines what happens to us, so if we want to change our lives, we need to stretch our minds." - Wayne Dyer

"I found that when you start thinking and saying what you really want then your mind automatically shifts and pulls you in that direction. And sometimes it can be that simple, just a little twist in vocabulary that illustrates your attitude and philosophy." - Jim Rohn

As Henry Ford once said, thinking is the hardest thing to do and therefore many people choose not to be thinking and leave the thinking part to someone else. This 'someone else' can be the internet, tv, media, newspapers, magazines and even your boss or friends. This is why this group of people will lead a normal and mediocre life. By letting other people think, and you just follow the patterns and trends set by 'someone else', you will never achieve your true potential. Patterns and trends are being set all the time by people, and this group of people that will benefit from the creation of wealth that comes with it. The famous quote "Innovate and do not Imitate" is very true if you really want to create wealth. Only the person who thinks harder than anyone else will truly explore their true potential and therefore achieve success and wealth.

Quotes on Fear

'The enemy is fear. We think it is hate; but, it is fear.' - Gandhi.

'Inaction breeds doubt and fear. Action breeds confidence and courage. If you want to conquer fear, do not sit home and think about it. Go out and get busy.' - Dale Carnegie.

Fear is a great paralyser. It holds you from achieving the full potential of your life. Fear comes from human basic instinct of self protection. It helps humans to avoid any necessary danger. But too much fear stifles a person from doing any action that can promote personal growth. If you have fear of public speaking for example, the logic thinking of your brain is to avoid the circumstances as best as possible. By avoiding the thing you fear such as public speaking, you are not solving any problem. You also will not challenge yourself to grow. By doing the things you fear, you will in time conquer the fear and therefore will make you the master of your own destiny.

Quotes on Wasting Time

It is said that IKEA founder, Ingvar Kamprad segmented his day based on a 10 minutes segment. He was quoted to say that 10 minutes that have passed by will never be gain back again. So make use of your 10 minutes well. Isadora Duncan also once quoted that most human beings today waste some 25 to 30 years of their lives before they break through the actual and conventional lies which surround them. Even the legendary Bruce Lee also highlighted the importance of time by saying that if you love life, do not waste time, for time is what life is made of. These people knew the power of time and a time that is well utilised will bring significant impact to your life and contribution to the society. Therefore, treasure time, as time is a gift and that's why it is called the present.

Have Dreams, Explore Life

"You can either be an actor in your own life, or a reactor in somebody else's." - Hillary Rodham Clinton

"To have passion, to have a dream, to have a purpose in life. And there are three components to that purpose, one is to find out who you really are, to discover God, the second is to serve other human beings, because we are here to do that and the third is to express your unique talents and when you are expressing your unique talents you lose track of time." - Deepak Chopra

They always say that people who lives in depression are said to be people who have lost their ways. They lost their ways in life and are struggling to climb back. But actually, people in depression is not people who are lost. They are actually people who are drifting by in life without any specific destination in mind. Lost people in the other hand, have a destination in their mind, they just cannot find the way. People who are drifting are far more dangerous as they have no intention of living their life and does not even react to the happenings around their life. They only float by in life waiting for it to end. Referring to the above two quotes, it is important that we have a definite goals for ourselves as to not let us float by. The goal will drive us forward and live life to our potential and not let the environment control us. It does not matter how big or small the goal is. By having it, it will give the energy for us to take control of our life and pushing us to explore life and living it to the fullest.

Conquering Fear

'The enemy is fear. We think it is hate; but, it is fear.' - Gandhi.

'Inaction breeds doubt and fear. Action breeds confidence and courage. If you want to conquer fear, do not sit home and think about it. Go out and get busy.' - Dale Carnegie.

Fear is a great paralyzer. It holds you from achieving the full potential of your life. Fear comes from human basic instinct of self protection. It helps humans to avoid any necessary danger. But too much fear stiffles a person from doing any action that can promote personal growth. If you have fear of public speaking for example, the logic thinking of your brain is to avoid the circumstances as best as possible. By avoiding the thing you fear such as public speaking, you are not solving any problem . You also will not challenge yourself to grow. By doing the things you fear, you will in time conquer the fear and therefore will make you the master of your own destiny.

The Power of Now

We as a human being have always associate our image with relation to our past. What have happen, who we have grown up with, who have we met, what experience that we have gone through makes the very essence of what we are today. Therefore the feeling that we have now, whether it is good or bad, we assume that it is interlinked with our past. Eg:-I have grown and raised in a bad neighbourhood and therefore I deserve to be angry and resentful. I have bad experience and traumatised by past event and therefore I must feel depressed. This is not true. The moment you realised that the past does not equal the present and the future, the more you will feel that life does not control you at all.You are what you think right now. Do not be burden by the past and learn to live in the current as whoever who finish first is the one who does not look back.

Going with the flow .. or Making the flow ?

Going with the flow? or making the flow as you go along? Successful people tend to have an attitude of delayed gratification. Every action they made takes into consideration of short term and long term gain. Think wisely of any actions you made as some actions would lead to instant gratification but in the long term will cause negative outcome. For example, the attitude of buying the latest brand new car or the latest gadget available in the market. This are in the short term gratification as you only can enjoy it in a short term duration only. The misery of losing a huge chunk of money will cause negative consequences in the long run. The money spent can eitherwise be invested in a long term gain that will last much more longer. Learn the attitude of the rich so that in return you will become one.

I create my life

Are you an "I create my life" person? or are you a "Life happens to me" person? The "I create my life" person is a proactive person who does not wait for any favors. This type of person always believe that wealth will come by active action by their side. Misfortunes or problems arise from their own doing and it is up to them to resolve it without blaming on others. In a work environment, this type of person will always climb the corporate ladder fast as he does not blame others but only themselves in moving upwards in their career.

The "Life happens to me" person is a passive person who always tries to blame others for their misfortunes or problems. They believe that if they are poor, it is because it is destined that way. They always treat themselves as victims. In a work environment, this type of person will not move very far in their career. They will always complain about office politics or not being appreciated for their work. They will always have a victim mindset.

To succeed in life, active and affirmative action are required. Have positive mindset and do not let others to decide your fate. You yourself are the captain that decides the destiny of your life.

The Man who shape his destiny

Besides many admiration for his powerful martial arts, Bruce Lee is also admired by the principles that he holds and the belief that he controls his destiny. Therefore, he have become a legend in his own rights. Below are some quotes made by him during his lifetime that we can reflect and learn.

"I fear not the man who has practised 10,000 kicks once, but I fear the man who has practised one kick 10,000 times." - Bruce Lee

"To hell with circumstances, I create opportunities." - Bruce Lee

"If you love life, don't waste time, for time is what life is made of." - Bruce Lee

" Notice that the stiffest tree is most easily cracked, while the bamboo or willow survives by bending with the wind" - Bruce Lee

Self-Discipline

Elbert Hubbard once defined self-discipline as the "ability to make yourself do what you should do, when you should do it, whether you feel like it or not."

If passion can be define as the fuel for any person to succeed, self discipline is the engine that maximise the fuel to gear towards success. A passion without self discipline is like a car running wild without any self control. A person who have self discipline will be more productive and will not let any distraction hampers his way to success. They tend to be more organised and more proactive in handling things that matters the most.

The 80/20 Rule

"The first law of success is concentration - to bend all the energies to one point, and to go directly to that point, looking neither to the right nor to the left." - William Mathews

The power of effective action is by knowing what to focus on and making it happen fast. By applying the universal law known as Pareto rule, 80/20, we can be certain that in order to successfully complete a task efficiently is by focusing on the 20%, or the most critical part of the task. By tackling the 20%, the rest 80% will follow suit. We are bounded by time and therefore this law will be helpful in reducing the amount of time and work required in our journey to success.

Characteristics of Successful People

There is no one sure way of path to becoming rich. But there are certain characters and attributes of people that give them an advantage and the ability to create wealth. These people usually have these following characteristics:-
1) They are dilligent people.
2) They do not waste time, they do not procrastinate and work hard in everything they do
3) They will always try to be good and efficient in whatever they do
4) They have multiple streams of income
5) They control their spendings and moderate in living
6) They pay themselves first
7) They save more and spend less
8) They rise early in the morning

Success Quotes

"Most people live - whether physically, intellectually or morally - in a very restricted circle of their potential being. We all have reservoirs of life to draw upon of which we do not dream." - William James

"The great end of life is not knowledge but action." - Thomas Henry Huxley

Birth of Excellence

"The birth of excellence begins with our awareness that our beliefs are a choice..... The trick is to choose the beliefs that are conducive to success and the results you want and to discard the ones that hold you back" - Excerpt from Unlimited Power by Anthony Robbins

The statement that we choose our belief is very true. We choose consciously or sub-consciously to be afraid of speaking in public, we choose to be afraid of trying something new, we choose to not achieve financial freedom and we choose a lot of things that seems to be protecting ourselves from danger in the short term but actually is detrimental to us in the long run. Therefore in being aware that we can choose our beliefs, we can then determine our destiny and not depended on the pre-programmed subconcious beliefs that has been implemented in us by our parents and the environment.

What is defeat?

"What is defeat? Nothing but the first steps to something higher." - Wendell Phillips

Failure or defeat has no meaning unless it is define by us as something negative and destructive to ourselves. For a man whose spirit is high as the mountain, failure is just things that happens for him to go even higher. The larger the failure, the larger the lessons he learns and therefore the larger the improvement that he will make to improve further. He knows that for every hardships, dissappointment, obstacles and roadblocks will only brings him closer to success.