Gain Confidence and Talk to That Crush of Yours!

I know you’ve had a secret crush on someone at one point in time. You just want to talk with them, laugh with them, and enjoy their company. I bet you’ve even pictured yourself and that person holding hands, going out on a date, and being able call them yours. Then after you came down from La La Land you actually go up to them, you choke up and mess up your first impression. Now your kicking yourself in the ass because you screwed up. You tell yourself that you should have written something down on paper and memorized it so you wouldnt’ve looked so dumb. Stop your wishful thinking. Get real.

I have a simple method for you to use so that you don’t act all retarded again when the time comes. Want to know what it is? I bet you dooooooo!…ok well enough pulling your foot. Here it is.

First off, you can’t just go up to someone and expect yourself to act all ”Rico Suave” in front of them. You’ve never been put in that situation before. So what now? You must practice. You must prep for the “test” by doing some sort of practice. How? Talk to ugly friends.

Wait, did I just say ugly friends? Hell yea I did, now listen up. You only have one shot at making a great impression as the cool cat you always wanted to be portrayed as by that certain someone. So you must practice. Go up to Big Bertha and start talking to her. It’ll be easy because you’ll relax, be yourself, and may even get a few laughs. Practice until you know that you are truly ready. Don’t try and “think” that your ready because if you screw up (again), that’s your bad. Also, don’t talk to a person who might have a crush on you. Don’t be a butthole and lead someone on. That’s just messed up. Talk to someone, then the next day another person, then another, until you’ve got your communication skills down. After that, you should be ready. Simple as that. If it takes you weeks or months, then so be it. That could be your future life companion, so make sure you are good to go when that day comes.

If you are really that shallow, then fine, talk to someone who isn’t so bad looking, or anyone of the opposite sex that you don’t have something for. After reading this I think it would be good to read my article titled Perfect Practice Makes Perfect under Self-Improvement. With all this being said, good luck to you and may you catch that special someone real soon!

Little Things add up to Big Things

There’s got to be something you buy everyday. I know food is a great example, but that is more of a necessity. Let’s take coffee each morning. Every morning Suan goes to Starbucks and orders a tall, non-fat gingerbread latte (I think that’s what it is). She pays $3.65 each morning. In this day and age, $3.65 is like 50 cents lying around. But think of $3.65 added up each day for 1 year. Let’s say she works Monday-Saturday each week, and she works for 40 weeks each year. If she buys coffee before work each day for a year, how much is that? $3.65 x 6 days a week x 40 weeks = 876.00/year! And after 10 years that’s $8,760.00! Have you ever thought of it that way? I’m pretty sure you have, but disregarded it because you pay in almost microscopic installments.

Let’s approach this at a different angle. What if I were to tell Suan that if she pays me $800.00 on January 1st, 2009, I will give her one cup of her non-fat gingerbread latte each morning before work? She would probably say “Hell No, Sir. Hell no.” Now why would she say that? I’m giving her a $76.00 discount aren’t I?

Don’t be an ignorant person. You can’t just view something from one point of view. If you only check if the front door is locked before you go to sleep, you might get robbed from the back. Does that make sense?

Not only does this cup of coffee add up, but it’s expensive! If you would never pay $876.00 a year for coffee, consider not buying a cup of coffee so frequently because that’s how much you’re really paying. Try and skip a day without coffee, or just make your own at home. I mentioned food in the very first sentence. If you buy a Super-Sized extra value meal from McDonald’s, order a medium or a small sized meal (and it won’t kill you as quickly, i guess). Brown-bagging-it is not such a bad idea either. Imagine if that $3.65 was the cost of lunch each day and not coffee. You save $876.00 each year by bringing food from home, and $3.65 isn’t even close to the true cost of dining out for lunch each day. Don’t disregard the few dollars that you take out of your wallet each time and just forget about it. It adds up big, REAL big.

Don’t Forget the Hidden Costs!

Have you ever bought something that you saved up so long for, and found that you couldn’t afford having it months later? It sucks. My friend recently bought a 6-month old, full bred male golden retreiver…if you know anything about full bred puppies, they cost an arm and a leg. He saved up for 7 months and got his $1,400.00 to buy it. Little did he know he was in for a surprise. He loved the puppy, but guess what happened? Yes, he ran out of money. He never really thought of the costs of food, pee pads, a collar and leash, brush, obedience school, license, time taken from other activities, and a whole lot more. He soon became broke after a few short months. Luckily, he was saved by his parents who received the liability of paying for all that (poor guys), and if it wasn’t for them I don’t know what would’ve happen.

That’s a great (yet sad) example of how not allocating hidden costs will ruin you financially, and this is only on a small scale! Think of those people who buy things everyday yet do not allocate for how much it will not benefit them in the future. Let’s take a look at another example.

I have a 21 year old friend who recently bought a BMW 5-Series (530 to be exact). He currently works at a karaoke joint making 15/hr. The car costed him $50,000, he put 10% down, and he currently pays 500/month. He’s been paying this for 3 months. He then bought 20-inch Beyern rims which he now pays for at 100/month. Add this all up. $5,000 Down payment + $6000/year in installments + $1200/year for rims = $12,200 in payments for the first year, and $7,200/year after that…for the car ALONE. Guess what he forgot about? Maintenance. Tires, Oil Changes, Wheel alignment and wheel balance, brakes, radiator fluid, transmission fluid, gasoline, possibility of an accident, and sooo much more. He basically bought a $100,000 car that he’s slowly paying for. His little $18,000/year job doesn’t help much does it? He can barely eat! What if he wasn’t living in his parents house?

Remeber, if you are going to purchase any tangible good, please don’t forget all the factors mentioned. When I buy something, I always double the cost of the good in my head to allocate for all these costs. If a cell phone was going to cost me $100.00 I would think $200.00 because of games, internet, going over minutes or text, etc., and that doesn’t even include the plan.

If you are a young guy like me, don’t go out a buy the finer things in life. Stop it with that champagne taste you have when you only have a beer budget. If you can’t afford it, don’t buy it to show off. Pretty soon people will forget about it, the item will depreciate, and you’ll be stuck paying for a good you don’t even want anymore. Spend your money wisely, and don’t forget to consider these expenses.

Dreamer vs. Doer

I firmly believe that knowledge is power. Knowledge has no price tag on it. It can make a homeless, uneducated man into a wealthy scholar. But what is knowledge if it isn’t put to use? Value everything that is taught to you by family, friends, and past experiences, but weep if they rot away in your mind, only to be digested and not acted upon.

Do you know what the number one difference between a dreamer and a doer is? The intention of achieving greatness. A dreamer can visualize a successful business, and coming home to a big house after a long day of work. On Friday, the dreamer tells their spouse to pack up because they are going on a carribean cruise. When they come back from the ship, they drive home from the port to their big house in Beverly Hills, CA in their Mercedes-Benz SL 65 AMG. The dreamer feels so confident that their great business idea will work. After they have their 5 minute day dream of what could be, they go back to their old habits and wait another day until they get another inspirational idea.

The doer, on the other hand, already had a thought out plan. Of course, they thought of acquiring a house on the hills with nice cars and enjoying life, but they actually know their idea will work. They write out a business plan, determine how much time must be put in to make it work, and they set a time frame by estimating when the project should be finished. They actually go out and make calls, file for the business license, negotiate prices with wholesalers, etc. Pretty soon, by tweaking the business plan here and there, they are on their way to financial freedom.

If you really have the entrepreneurial spirit like you say you do, you are going to find a way no matter how many road blocks come in between you and your desires. Don’t just think about it, DO IT! I know what’s going to happen. After reading this post you are going to feel so good because you filled yourself with inspiration and motivation. Then you are going to go to sleep and wake up forgetting the feeling you had the day before. You will go back to your old habits, stay at your 9-5 job, and claim that “you don’t have time for it.”

Are you sure you aren’t just going to be a couch potato? Let me tell you something, the reason why people don’t succeed is because they put things off and give excuses, and if work gets too hard they whine like a baby. Are you one of those people? Don’t be. After sitting down and actually attempting to try it out, don’t get all overwhelmed by what must happen in order to become great.

The nation’s affluent accepted way ahead of time that there was going to be hard work, sacrifice, and critiques about their undertaking. With all that, they remained stubborn as bulls and plowed right through everything. Start that idea already. What are you waiting for? If you’re scared of the risk factor because no one ever tried what you are about to attempt, and success is not guaranteed, at least you can say you tried to throw yourself out there. It will haunt you for the rest of your life if you just sit there and wonder what could have been if you just decided to take that opportunity.

“Whenever you see a successful business, someone once made a courageous decision.” – Peter Drucker, Father of Modern Corporate Management

PERFECT Practice Makes Perfect

Everyone knows that practice makes perfect, right? I guess it does, but it’s more of perfect practice making perfect. If someone were to shoot a basketball 1 hour a day, every single day for 1 year, he probably would be a lot better than he was a year ago. Now, if someone shot a basketball for 1 hour a day, and someone was there telling him how to drive to the hoop, how to finger-roll, and how to align their shot, then that person would definitely improve 10 times more than the person without any formal instruction. That’s fine if you rely on books, audio, or video instruction to help you out, but think of someone actually being there by your side to point out your every flaw. Remember that when you practice, practice “Perfectly”, and your chances of success will go through the roof.

I truly believe that anyone in this world is capable of anything. I don’t care what others may think. There are many factors such as believing in yourself, motivation, etc., but let me touch on the art of practicing. I know I am not the best when it comes to golf. I currently have a 6 handicap which is better than most people, but I know that there are certainly others better than me. I know that if me or Tiger Woods never picked up a golf club in our lives, and decided to play a round of golf, he would win. He’s a lot stronger and more talented than me athletically. Now let’s say Tiger never picked up a golf club in his life and he decided to challenge me today. I would win because I have been playing golf since I was 12, I knew how to position my ball for the next shot, avoid a lake or bunker when I needed to, and align my putts. Also, I had a golf coach teach me everything that I knew, and I practiced 2 hours a day, 4 times a week. Now, Tiger is obviously a fierce competitor which is why he is ranked #1 in the world right now. Yet if he never had formal instruction, or if he never practiced golf perfectly for countless hours each day, he wouldnt’ve been the outstanding player that he is today.

Don’t believe that you cannot do something because you think you aren’t as talented in a certain thing like other people. At least attempt and try to be better at something. Try it for 2 short weeks. 2 weeks of practicing something you’ve never done before, whether it’s drawing, dancing, etc. If you really try your hardest and put forth effort with someone checking up on you every now and then, I guarantee that you will be better at that activity you chose to pursue than you were 2 weeks prior. Try it out for yourself.

5% Physical, 95% Mental

It’s all in the mind. You need to know that from the start. Yes, there is the physical labor of typing, editing, driving, negotiating, calling, etc., but if you don’t do that stuff  because you give up, you are bringing failure upon yourself.

I recently took a jog with my 12-year old sister at the park. The distance around the whole park was about 3/4 mile long. We were over halfway done, and because the park is a bit hilly, she couldn’t see the end where we started our jog. “This is too much Oliver!” she yelled as she slowed down and gasped for air. I told her something that she still remembers up to this day. I explained how I was tired as well because I haven’t ran that much since high school. I told her, “There maybe pain, maybe there are even cramps along the way, but keep moving and don’t stop until we finish.” When we finally finished, she fell on the grass and took deep breaths. As she lay there I went up to her in an exhausted voice and said, “It doesn’t matter if you cramped up and limped to the end. Did you stop? No. Did you quit? No. Did you finish? Yes. You did, didn’t you? So what’s the problem? You wanting to stop is all in your mind. Your mind is telling you that your feet hurt, that you want to quit. But who cares if it hurts, you finished. If you quit you would’ve still been stuck out there.”

You need to know that even though the work may seem tedious and overwhelming in what you do, it was you who decided to quit, OR it was you who decided to keep on going. The choice was yours.

There was an exercise that I did for a particular meeting for the insurance company I worked for. There were 3 groups of 6 people, and the groups were told to go to their own separate room. I was in group #1. The representative came into our room and said, “Ok group #1, write down 75 ways you can use a paper clip, and the last group who did this exercise named 100 ways so lets see what you can do. Ready…GO!” We didn’t know when this lady was going to come back, so we all frantically wrote down different ways to use a paper clip.

From the corner of my eye, I saw her go into the room where group #2 was. I saw her talk to them but I had no clue what she said to them. Since we had to write a minimum of 75, we were naming silly ways to use a paper clip just to beat the previous team’s record. Our responses included a toothpick, a tool for piercing ears, a ring, and ear cleaner, and other things. After 5 minutes she said time was up.

As we walked back into the main room where all the groups were, we were nervous to tell her we only wrote down 49 ways. As she made us tell her our results, we had 49, group 2 had 40, and group 3 had 31. I was confused, and she explained the different variations in results. She explained to all the groups how we were told to write down 75 ways, and that the last group in group #1 got 100. She then told us that group #2 needed to write down 50 ways, and the last bunch in group #2 wrote down 75 ways. Group #3 was just simply told to list all the ways they could have though of using a paper clip and then to stop when she returned to the room.

Understand what I am trying to tell you. You, and only you, set the limits to your success. People by nature do not push hard if they aren’t pushed. Self motivation is a whole lot tougher than many people by your side cheering you on, but you’ve got to keep on going when the going gets tough. That defines a persons true character. Why do you think I posted my article on thinking big? If I were to say that I wanted to become a billionaire, many people would laugh and say, “Not in this lifetime, pal.”

Don’t let others influence you either. You need to practice some mental toughness if you want to be successful, because no one will approve of what you decide to put your mind to. It’s sad to see people be proved wrong, because the person who is proved otherwise will continue their close-minded way of thinking. They will probably think, “He got lucky” or “He was rich to begin with” or some other stupid remark. Nothing replaces hard work and discipline. Set the bar as high as you can, but attainable so that it can be reached in a reasonable amount of time. Once you get the gist of it, you can start setting higher standards for yourself.

“Aim for the moon. Even if you don’t reach it, you’ll land amongst the stars.”

Do what you love most, and money will follow.

Most of us are trying to find ways where we can find a job that we can tolerate, and at the same time make a decent living. If I lived like that, i’d probably shoot myself in the head from going crazy. People tend to value the place where they can get the highest paying job, and hopefully go up the ranks to earn more. Confucious said, “Choose a job that you love, and you’ll never have to work a day in your life.” When I was a freshman in college, I would sometimes hear people getting mad that they didn’t get enough hours of work time from the manager, therefore receiving a smaller paycheck at the end of two weeks. My thought was, “They are always complaining about how they hate their job, and now they bitch and moan because they didn’t get enough hours?” I didn’t understand that concept, in fact to this day I don’t understand why people still have those same feelings.

 I used to work at Sav-on Drugs (now CVS Pharmacy) my freshman year for 8 months, the job was ok until I found that I really wasn’t getting paid well, and I learned nothing. I felt like a robot; straightening out the products and pushing them to the front, re-stocking shevles, and playing the role of cashier. It was only for side money, but I never complained because I didn’t work as much as the week before. You know what I did? I created my job. I was given free textbooks by students who couldn’t sell their books back to the bookstore because they carried the old edition. I knew that someone in the United States still needed these “outdated” textbooks, so I sold it on Amazon.com. I made a little under $1000.00 each month. That may sounds like peanuts, but I only worked 5 hours a week. In fact, I received more than what I did working for $7/hr at Sav-on! Ok, I understand that people support themselves and they need those hours to pay bills and all that good stuff, but if they complain about how bad that job is, why don’t they move somewhere else where they are happy? In this example, I used my smarts. I worked smart, outsmarting those who feared being laid off. Outsmarting those who believed in searching for a high paying job as a priority. Outsmarting the working robots. I liked the Wendy’s Commercial(below) where people are kicking trees for no apparent reason, and one guy with Wendy’s red pigtails stops kicking his tree, and wants a hot juicy burger, knowing that he doesn’t need to each frozen patties if he doesn’t want to. He later speaks to those around him, influences them, and leads them into the world to get what he wants. I know I know it’s retarded, but think of the deeper meaning, and translate that into business.

 

If you can honestly do the things that you love, you know you are going to do them well with all your heart. You would never except anything less than perfect when it comes to what you love to do best. Let me give you an example I found: A woman named Carlotta Lennox from Texas walked her dog one day in the park. She observed how many other dogs were slowing down in pace as the sun blasted down on their backs. The dogs were obviously tired and hungry She decided to do something about it. One day in July, she created a company called Hey Buddy! that had vending machines stocked with tennis balls, water bottles, dog glasses, and other pet needs. Her sales are now expected to be at $100,000 this year.

Here’s a list of things you should write down before you decide to go out and do what you love:

1. Write down a list of activities you love most.
2. Write down your most prized strengths and assets, and your past and presents accomplishments.
3. If money were not an issue, write down choices you would make for yourself regardless of whether you have talent or an opportunity to pursue them.
4. Dare to dream where others don’t. The only boundaries you create are those in your mind.

When you do something, do it with all your might, do it with all your heart, do it with all your soul. If you continue to do what you love, and capitalize on ways it can make you wealthy, go for it. Don’t let anyone hold you back. Only you know what you enjoy doing most, so take advantage of those opportunities before it simply expires.

The Giant vs. The Wiseman: Overcoming Procrastination and Laziness

Everyone has two people inside of them: A giant, and a wiseman. The giant is a very strong person who fears nothing, but he is a very dumb fellow. The wiseman is a gentle genius with tons and tons of knowledge, yet he is very weak. Have you ever tried to wake up, then hit the snooze button and went back to sleep until it went off again 9 minutes later? Uh yea, I think we all have. Pretend the giant and wisemen are handcuffed to each other. Let me tell you a story about the two. At 6:15, George Smith has to wake up in order to get to work 10 min early. When the alarm goes off the wiseman inside him yells in a feeble voice: “Wake up George, time for work!” Seconds later, the giant pulls on the handcuffs and drags the wiseman across the ground saying, “NOOOOO….SLEEEEEEPYTIME!” They continue to go back and forth inside George’s head, and the giant is obviously getting his way. So if the giant is so strong, how the hell do I listen to that smart inner voice? It’s a good thing the giant is dumb, because if you use the giant’s strength in your favor, you will be the most punctual and persitent person alive. Let me continue: Now George’s wife Barbara tells him that everytime he gets up in the morning, he makes too much noise and almost wakes up the kids each time. Barbara tells him that if he wakes up the kids she is going to throw a fit. That gave George an idea. That night, he set his alarm to 6:14am, and he set the alarm clock in his kids room to 6:15am. Why? If George doesn’t wake up in that 1 minute timeframe to turn the alarm off, Barbara will go nuts. The next morning George woke to his alarm at 6:14am, jumped out of bed and, quiety but swiftly tip-toed down the hall to turn off the alarm in his kid’s room. This got George’s blood running early, and he was always able to make it to work on time.

Did you see how he used the dumb giant into his favor? The wiseman whispered into the giant’s ear about how the wife would get mad if George didn’t wake up to turn off that time bomb he set up in the other room. The giant immediately dragged the wiseman in the other direction yelling, ” GEEEET UUUUUP NOOOOWWW!!!!!” allowing George to get up and get ready for work.

We know that there are many times we know we have to get going on something that has been set aside for a long time, and many times we don’t get to it because we supposedly “have no time.” Sometimes things just need to be done. Just do it. Plain and simple. “Just do it” is the most simple formula, yet the most annoying and irritating thing in the world, because sometimes we just want to relax, have fun, and enjoy life. We constantly tell ourselves, “i’ll do it later.” There’s a quote that goes “An ounce of prevention is better than a pound of cure.” Instead of exercising, we watch the season premiere of Desperate Housewives or Celebrity Apprentice because the “gym isn’t going away any time soon.” I tell you, I bet those people who had to undergo triple bypass surgery or got a stroke wish they listened to the wise advice given to them when someone told them to eat better and live healthier. Do you think medicine and care will solve the problem? You could’ve saved the time and headache of being at the hospital and risking your life because you were too lazy to do something as simple as moving your body 20 minutes daily.

Apply this to business as well. When you see an opportunity no one else sees, grab it. Digesting the information and believing in a business opportunity is great, but it ain’t worth crap if your not going to do anything with it. When you see someone down the road with a Ferrari F430 who actually executed that same opportunity you had, it’s gonna hurt. You’re going to regret not taking that opportunity that you could have had. Now look at you, you’re stuck in the same situation, and the same boring lifestyle. No one wants that. If you ever feel like you don’t want to do something, use the big dumb giant in your favor. I guarantee you, if you practice this method over and over again for years to come, you’re going to go places. You’re going to reach new heights all because you simply decided to take action. You can’t expect to be at the top with a genius idea rotting away in your head. I leave you with this quote, “You need to make a committment, and once you make it, then life will give you some answers.” Just do it. It doesn’t hurt to try.

5 Steps to Making it Big

Each person is different, having their own set of rules, view, and ways of doing things. There is one common underlying factor though: They understand the process and steps of becoming great. Let me give you some of the most vital steps one takes into becoming a successful genius.

Step One: Organization and Planning

People who put their thoughts together and make a to-do list succeed in almost everything they prepare for. They write things down, and plan for the next hours, days, weeks, months, and years to come. Everything is broken down in a formal manner. For example, the first thing I do when I wake up every morning is write a list (in no particular order) of things that must be done for the whole entire day. This includes, but is not limited to: Homework, studying, gassing up, washing the car, eating at a certain time, buying a book, seeing the doctor, feeding the fish, walking the dog, and writing a blog . Then I re-list them by priority. I number the most important task #1 and then so on until i’m done with the list. The next thing I do is write how long each task will take right next to the task I will be doing. You know how long it will take to create a list like this? A strenuous and grueling 3 whole minutes. Think of all the time that saves! Don’t drive around arbitrarily to places that you need to go to because you remember those tasks from the night before. Imagine what kind of stressed you’d be bringing upon yourself. If you can’t do that or if you’re too lazy to do it…I’m sorry but you will not succeed in this demanding world. When I come home feeling accomplished about my tasks, I check on a list that I have been working on for a long time. That list is the list that contains the goals and plans I have for myself for the next week, month, year, and several years. On it are pictures of what I dream of having, such as a Lamborghini, Big house with a home theater and gym, and a picture of places I would like to travel. This keeps me motivated to do the things that I love to do that I know will work IF I put my heart and soul into it. Get into the habit of list-making.

Step Two: Vision

The place where I grew up had a lot of pool halls, and that’s where i’d go many times. You would see the old school pool hall junkies go up against new school. The young guy would come up, and he’d hit his first shot into a pocket and get all excited. I was the old school guy, and i’d just smirk in the corner to myself. Because I knew when I went up to the cue ball, I was going to set up my 1st shot, up to my 2nd shot, up to my 3rd shot, rock the table, and game over. You don’t necessarily need to know what you want to being doing exactly 5 to 10 years from now, but you know it’s going to take hard work, discipline, sacrifice, and committment. That’s what it’s all about. Don’t see yourself working on a certain project and hope it work out for a while, envision your venture working for your whole lifetime, and take the necessary steps to get there.

Step Three: Surround yourself with the Right People

My dad once told me, “Tell me who your friends are, and i’ll tell you who you are.” Makes sense doesn’t it? My friend Bill has a simple philosophy in making sure that he secures a successful future: He only hangs out with people similar to his goals and ambitions, or anyone who is more successful than he is who has been through thick and thin. If you aren’t worth his time, he won’t bother conversing with you. Now don’t be shady and not talk to long time friends because they want to be a civil engineer or serve in the army, but when it comes to financial and entrepreneurial advice, speak to the wise ones who’ve been in the game for a while and can offer you helpful tips in making your dream a reality. If you surround yourselves with party-goers all the time, don’t think you’re going to have that mental toughness and not give in to social gatherings. The temptation is out there no matter what, and if you want to assure yourself that your goal with come true, immerse yourself in success.

Step Four: Spend Below Your Means

If you really research this fact online, you’ll find out that 40% of Americans spend over their means. This isn’t surprising, everyone knows about the U.S. having consumer debt, cashing out of our home’s equity like a big ATM machine, and just simply trying to beat the Joneses. With that mindset, people are stressed out, and become knee deep in debt. Our economy is currently slowing down, and the subprime housing market is ripped to shreds. Robert Kiyosaki mentions in one of his books that there is good debt and bad debt. Bad debt is consumer debt: BMW’s, Ferragamo glasses, Gucci purses, Coach shoes, etc. The good debt is the debt you invest to make more money, whether it is a business, stocks, options, real estate, etc. Save your money! Don’t be another statistic on the verge of bankruptcy because you bought something you forgot about and threw away a day later. Don’t give in to peer-pressure because all your friends have the latest laptop or Nintendo Wii. When you go out to eat, you don’t need the 30 oz. Porterhouse Steak from Lawry’s. Try and substitute your most desired wants for something less expensive. The money you save will add up in the long run, and like Benjamin Franklin said, “A penny saved is a penny earned.” SAVE SAVE SAVE!   

Step 5: Stay Focused

You’ll find that the more that you get involved into your venture of choice, the more the path gets windy and you’ll find that you are by yourself. It is a hard road because at times the only cheerleader, the only supporter, the only person who believes in your work, is yourself. I have done much research on a certain business project and I wanted to pursue it, but when people asked me what I was doing, they either scoffed at me, or asked me tons of questions to check for the validity of my endeavor and see if it contained any faults. Now, maybe it could have had kinks, maybe it couldnt’ve. At least I tried. At least I had the audacity to go head on with the beast instead of waking up and watching cartoons all day. Don’t give in to negative comments. What you want to do probably hasn’t been done before, and it will probably be unique compared to the exisitng companies out there. The point is, don’t get distracted by your peers, because whatever you put in, you get out ten-fold. Remember that. Don’t let anyone get you down.

Think Big. Dream Big. You can do it.

Think millions and billions of dollars every year! You can do it! It’s very much possible no matter who or how old you are, and it’s as simple as believing in yourself. For all those who did not believe in the last statement I just made, please get the hell off my website and close your browser because what i’m about to say will hurt your precious little ears.

Everyone always has the thought of becoming rich somehow, but they did it the wrong way. They did it the traditional, middle class way: Working overtime for money, buying lottery tickets and scratchers, and working up the corporate ladder. Let me tell you something. Look at Bill Gates, Donald Trump, Robert Kiyosaki, Steve Madden, Oprah Winfrey, Magic Johnson, and just recently the www.whateverlife.com teenage millionaire Ashley Qualls. Tell me, are they employed? Are they clocking in everyday? Are they trying to work hard to earn a high spot in a company? Oh heeeellll naw! Answer this: Are these moguls engineers, accountants, or surgeons who must take continuing education to get somewhere? Again, No. These people have worked hard for their place in the sun. I’m not saying that the working class do not, but these people think smart, act smart, and do things quicky. Do not think for a second that I think it’s not good for people to be architects or scientists, because in order to life a fulfilling and happy life one must love what they do, and we need people like those mentioned to keep our society diverse and running. Making crucial decisions while under pressure with no money whatsoever is not for the faint of heart, or those who do not enjoy it. You have to remember that you must be true to yourself, and anything that you do half-heartedly will end up failing in a short amount of time. So now you ask, how do I make millions? Ask yourself: How creative am I? How much time am I willing to spend on an idea that MIGHT work? How am I going to organize my day? How resourceful am I? Please read my next post on 5 Steps to Making it Big for more infomation on these questions.

If you have a chance, read the New York Bestseller called The Millionaire Mind by Thomas Stanley, he’s got great points on how millionaires have a different approach on life and how they go against the grain in order to acheive success. One of the things they did was very simple (Hint: It’s the title of this subject.) Yes! They thought BIG. They thought ENORMOUS. They believed in themselves, when everyone thought they couldn’t. Here’s an exact quote from Will Smith who played Chris Gardner in the Pursuit of Happyness: “If you have a dream, you’ve got to protect it. People can’t do something themselves, they wanna tell you, you can’t do it. You want something, go get it. Period.” I memorized that verbatim. That movie made me cry, and usually movies don’t make me feel sad at all. I saw reviews and comments for the film, saying the first parts of the movie were too slow, there could have been better dialog, etc. All I have to say is “DUDE, YOUR MISSING THE FREAKIN POINT!” Listen to quote I just told you, and now listen to those comments about the movie. You see what i’m trying to say? There’s a reason why people like Chris Gardner make it to the top while other people continue with their critiques and pessimitic attitudes. No wonder they file for a W-2 every year, and feel scared out of their minds all the time of being laid off. You’ve also got to think positive. Where is a negative attitude going to get you nowadays? It never has brought people to greatness. Look at Martin Luther King, he ended discrimination because of his vision. He didn’t wake up every morning and say to himself, “Man I hope I don’t get another death threat, it’s scary out there.” He had a plan in mind, and it felt like the whole world was against him. Look what he did to humanity. He ended discrimination once and for all. Remember that anyone can become great, but it is up to you to take the opportunities. Think big. Dream big. You can do it.