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Money: How To Get And Keep It

Years ago I bought a book by Micheal Phillips called The Seven Laws Of Money. It was a very interesting book and one I have gone back to read several times. I keep looking back and re-reading the book and examining how the laws have panned out in my life. The interesting thing is even though the laws are true, there are other things that happen in life that interfere with practicing the laws. Like the price of the book $4.00 at the time. You could not buy this book new for that price today. Even in the information age  when people have so much access to information. The information that  has the most value today is very expensive. It really cost to have the right information that serves you in the right way now days.

To summarize this book it teaches that if you want to do something and are willing to seek out the resources you need to do it, the resources will come. What is implied here and is really true is that profit does not begin with money. Let me repeat that "profit does not begin with money". Most people and some of you reading this article are saying this man  has lost his mind . Well let me assure you I haven't and you may agree with me after the next statement. Profit begins with time, how you use time determines weather you are profitable or not. The misuse of time is probably the biggest single reason people do not profit. One of the major ways this happens is by working on  jobs  that do not pay enough. The second reason is living above your means, that is to say not living the way we earn. I was watching soap opera today and two characters where talking about a change in lifestyle . One of the characters had taken up life in a small town  working as a waitress under an assumed name and hiding her wealth. The dialog went something like this.

1st character: What have you learned since been poor?
2nd character: Well I have learned that I can only buy what I can afford, what working here will pay for.
1st character: What do you mean?
2nd Character: Well if I don't have any money and I have a choice of going to a movie which cost money or watching T.V which is free.
I watch T.V.
1st Character What else did you learn?
2nd Character: That I can be happy watching T.V.

Ask yourself can you be happy watching T.V while using the money you save to seed new opportunities. Are you willing to use your time watching  T.V to work toward your success? It's that simple people who get and keep money spend there time wisely and there money even more wisely.

This Is A Must Read

                                       Self Discipline -

The Ultimate Path To Prosperity In Any Area Of Life!
                                                   By
                                    Dr. Stan Harris

You might be asking yourself, "What does a 10th Degree Black Belt know about business?" The answer becomes obvious in his bio: Dr. Stan Harris is not only a 10th Degree Black Belt (which in itself takes a lot of discipline and work to achieve), he is also present reigning champion of Karate World Rating System, a member of the Black Belt Hall of Fame, a member of the Motivational Speakers Hall of Fame with www.GetMotivation.com , Author, powerful speaker, AND VERY SUCCESSFUL ENTREPRENEUR! He has spoken in all 50 States and 19 Countries. If you'd like to learn more about this success dynamo, you can visit his website at www.DrBreakThrough.com or www.DrStanHarris.com Dr Stan is a BreakThrough expert that uses motivation, inspiration, imagination, education, and entertainment to assist his audience to "BreakThrough" to their next level. This article, if read, and applied will surely cause you to Break Through to your next level-let's get started now!

Self Discipline
The Ultimate Path to Prosperity In Any Area of Life!

I just successfully defended my Martial Arts title July 3, 2005 at the"Battle of Harrisburg." I won my first title 20 years ago, and now @ 45 years of age one of my fellow blackbelt friends of 36 years asked me a question, "how do you keep doing it, after all of these years how do you stay fresh? Well, it's not talent, like most of the world is after, but rather a secret weapon that most have forgotten about called Self Discipline, or good character! My dojo (place to practice) has a motto, "We forge our bodies on the fires of our wills." In essence, our minds make our bodies do what we want, not vice versa. Every great athlete understands this, and the winners practice it persistently! They push themselves to do things that they don't fell like doing, the body says "enough," the pain says "quit now, and I'll stop," the will says, "no!" Diamonds are nothing more than chunks of coal that have responded properly to discipline! My oldest son Joshua recently graduated from Marine Boot Camp with honors, my lovely daughter Christina is working on her Doctorate degree and something struck me that I had never thought of before. Without exception everyone that I personally know who has attained, or is in line to reach some type or level of success, has a background in some discipline. Let me explain, they either did (not just played) Sports, were in the Military, or took some form of Martial Arts training which we call Discipline. When I meet a serious Martial Artist, I don't ask what style, but rather what discipline they practice!

Conquering self!

I have lived by the philosophy (sometimes I fail) that a great old orator said, "The greatest of all victories, is the conquest of ones own self." My good friend Les Brown (whom I have shared the platform with) says he often askes his audiences, how many of you know that you could do more, or be more if you had more self discipline, every hand usually goes up, although some heads go down. Solomon, the wisest man in the world said, He that is slow to anger is better than the mighty, and he that ruleth his spirit, than he that taketh a city! Another words, the person who has self discipline is mightier than the greatest General that cannot control his own passions! You see habits are usually too small to be noticed, until they're too big to be overcome, however, a person working on self discipline will nip bad habits in the bud, before they grow. "You must be willing to pay for your dreams with self discipline, so you wont have to live with nightmares of regret." Dr.S.Harris

Every Failure or Problem has a root

You see, just about every failure, or problem is in essence a self discipline problem! The only thing keeping me back from being or doing more is my own lack of self discipline. We were not born winners or losers, but rather Choosers, chose to win through self discipline! The enemy, is in-a-me! Did you get that? No one can stop you, but you. The African proverb says, If there's no enemy within, the enemy without can do you no harm." Don't play the blame game! Take responsibility, be a real man/woman, it's okay to be honest with yourself. Stop looking at the fruit, check the root. Stop looking at the symptoms, look at the root cause! Being Overweight (with a few exceptions), a lot of physical, social, marital, relationship, business, financial problems etc. can be traced to a lack of discipline in some area. As kids we mistakenly thought that maturity comes with age, but I tell young men that "mustache, and muscles don't make the man." Young ladies, "hips and curves don't make the woman." Maturity is when you get to the place (not necessarily age) that you do by your self what at one time someone had to tell you to do. It's when you do by your self (self-discipline) what at one time a boss had to make you do. It's when you go from the baby stage of being undisciplined (no control over self or faculties), past the Teen stage of having discipline (ability to do what your told) to the adult stage of being Self disciplined. I tell young people all the time, you have it easy now, all you have to do is what you are told, but one day, you will have to be the one telling yourself what to do, and then following thru without any outside help! Our nation has a lack of discipline problem, our Men, Women, and young people all have one major problem-lack of self discipline! Successful people discipline themselves to do daily, what ordinary people only do occasionally!

If Networking is not working for you, you need to work on you!

When I started in the powerful industry of Network Marketing. I shot to the top of my companies pay scale (my annual income, became my monthly income), I was awarded a company bonus car (Black Lincoln Navigator) as well as many free cruises and awards. I was asked a question, "How did you do it?" Well I first confessed I didn't do it, God gave me the wisdom, strength, etc. however it was also because I recruited a team of disciplined, thus very influential people. I want you to understand something, and never, ever, under any circumstances forget it, "we may not have it altogether, but together, we have it all." ( author unknown) To be successful in this industry, you need a good team (T= Together, E=Each, A=Accomplishes, M=More). My secret, I had surrounded my self with a team of disciplined, thus very influential people! Don't kid yourself, if you can't influence yourself, listen to yourself, or discipline yourself, how can you expect to influence someone else successfully? That's why my friend Jim Rohn (whom I have shared the platform with, and taken a personal trip together, with he, and his mentor Bill Bailey) says, "If you work on your business, you can make some money, if you work on yourself, you can make a fortune." The most powerful system (S=Save, Y=Your, S=Self, T=Time, E=Energy, M=Money) of distribution of goods and services that people want and need can be found in good Network Marketing companies. If Networking is not working for you, you need to work on you! (contact me for my article, and CD on, When Networking is notworking) The problem has always been that people get excited, get started, get rejected, and give up eventually or just doggy paddle in the shallow income, instead of diving into the deep end and swimming with high income. If you will discipline yourself to listen/watch CD's/DVD's, (These things cost, but they pay for themselves) read good books, articles like this one (smile), attend great events like Street Smart Live, Audio Fire, or one of my "BreakThrough"
Training's, etc. (Empty your wallet into your mind, and your mind will fill your wallet-B.Franklin) and most importantly, implement (practice which takes discipline) what you learn, success is inevitable, you will eventually travel the beaches of the world as you deserve!

The Silver Bullet of Success

If you are looking for the silver bullet of success- here it is- every great Soldier, Athlete, Statesman, Actor, Preacher, Speaker, Network Marketer, etc. did so because behind the scenes, they sowed the seeds of self discipline, and reaped the Harvest of success! Self-respect is the fruit of self-discipline; your sense of dignity grows with the ability to say no to your passions. Abraham Lincoln said it best, " I will prepare myself, and my time will come." The more self disciplined you become, the "luckier" you will get! Learn to make yourself do what others won't, and you will soon have what others don't! (wow, that's good, read that again) Learn to make yourself do what others won't, and you will soon have what others don't!Just like in your business, It's the start that stops most people, don't let the start, stop you, get started right now! We don't need to learn anything else, you don't need a new way to recruit etc. we just need to practice what we already know! I know you will start working on being more disciplined, and like my friend Zig says (whom I've spoken for) I'll see you at the top or from the top (my paraphrase) the choice is up to you, but to those who implement what you just read, I know I'll see you over the top-because you rock!

Author's Bio

Dr Stan" Break Through" Harris

At age 6 young Stan was jumped, beaten, tarred and feathered by a teenage gang. He started in Martial Arts ( Isshin'ryu Karate) to learn how to protect himself, now 38 years later he is one of few who have attained the highest honors, the 10th degree Black Belt. He has been inducted into the Black belt Hall of Fame, as well as the Motivational Speakers Hall of fame with Get Motivation.com. He has driven over 2 million miles using a combination of his martial art skills, along with his energetic speaking ability to move crowds as large as 17,000. He has spoken in all 50 States and 21 Countries. He has been a College Professor with a Doctorate in Divinity, Successful Network Marketer, and Life and Business Trainer/Coach. He has been to the top of 4 different companies. He built an organization recently from 0 to 22,000 distributors in only five short months earning over $250,000.00. He is perhaps the most entertaining, enlightening, and electrifying speaker on the circuit today. He recently Co-authored a book called "Walking with the Wise Entrprenuer" along with Donald Trump, Les Brown, Suze Orman, T. Harv Eker, Zig Ziglar, Dan Kennedy etc. Dr Break Through believes, you may be one step from your next Break Through, contact him today www.DrBreakThrough.com!

The Truth About Habits

We all have them but most of us will deny it. Especially when it comes too bad habits. And many times the good habits we have we don't often acknowledge. The truth is we go about our day to day business in kind of a fog just walking or running through it without giving it much thought.

Many times when we do think about our behavior as being a habit, we excuse it as just being the way we are. In most cases it is others who observe behaviors we do regularly enough to be considered a habits. Because we do these things so often we don't notice them.

This is the very reason that it is so hard for us to develop good habits. We don't know how many of them we are presently practicing or, how many bad habits we have. Most of the time we just do what we do without thinking. This day to day zombie state is our daily existence. Many of us are unhappy with it but, we don't know how to change.

There is a myth that any habit can be established or broken in ninety days. The truth is you have to acknowledge the habit and then replace it with another habit. In other words every time you think about doing the negative habit you replace it with the positive habit. Most of the time our actions are in response to something we are experiencing or someone we are dealing with. In most cases the people we are around and the environment we are in determine the things we do and the habits we develop.

Here are is the summery of this exercise.

Observe and take honest notes of what you do daily, if possible minute by minute. Circle the negative things you did. Some examples would be time wasters (doing nothing or something none constructive, when you have other important things that need to be done). Notice who you where with or what happened to distract you from positive action. Next look at what you could have done to correct this. The same is true about smoking or any other bad habit. At the end of the week review all of the negatives and replace them with positive things that you could have done instead.

Now the next week do the same exercise but review your notes daily. Make your positive corrections the next day.

Note:
Dealing with people and environment is a little different and much harder. Unfortunately we can't always change our environment or the people we are around, but we can change how we respond to them. Most of the time we don't do this because we are not aware of how they effect us. Many times our habits change when we become aware of what is making us do the things we do negatitively. The truth is you can do whatever you really want to do, you just have to know you want to do it. Do you want to change then try this exercise it may seem simple, but there is power in the simple.

Every Meeting Should Be Timely and Effective

I found this article about Marrisa Mayers at the following link article

These tips should help anyone with there meeting skills

1. Set a firm agenda.
Mayer requests a meeting agenda ahead of time that outlines what the participants want to discuss and the best way of using the allotted time. Agendas need to have flexibility, of course, but Mayer finds that agendas act as tools that force individuals to think about what they want to accomplish in meetings. It helps all those involved to focus on what they are really trying to achieve and how best to reach that goal.

2. Assign a note-taker.
A Google meeting features a lot of displays. On one wall, a projector displays the presentation, while right next to it, another projector shows the transcription of the meeting. (Yet another displays a 4-foot image of a ticking stopwatch.) Google executives are big believers in capturing an official set of notes, so inaccuracies and inconsistencies can be caught immediately.

Those who missed the meetings receive a copy of the notes. When people are trying to remember what decisions were made, in what direction the team is going, and what actions need to be taken, they can simply review the notes.

3. Carve out micro-meetings.
Mayer sets aside large blocks of time that she slices into smaller, self-contained gatherings on a particular subject or project. For example, during her weekly two-hour confab with the co-founders and CEO Eric Schmidt, she sets aside five- to 10-minute segments—or longer, depending on the subject—devoted to such specific areas as weekly reports on how the site is performing, new product launches, etc.

This method offers enough flexibility to modify the agenda just before the meeting, should anything pressing occur. It also instills discipline that keeps the meeting tightly focused. Mayer does the same with members of her teams who might need only five or 10 minutes of her time instead of 30 minutes—the shortest block of time her calendar permits. By setting aside micro-meetings within a larger block of time, she accomplishes more.

Mayer, who has a background in engineering and computer science, jokingly refers to micro-meetings as "reducing latency in the pipeline." That means if she has an employee with an issue that comes up Tuesday, he or she can schedule a 10-minute micro-meeting during Mayer's large time block, instead of waiting for her next 30-minute opening, which might not be available for two weeks.

4. Hold office hours.
Mayer brought this idea from her experience teaching computer science at Stanford, where she first met the two guys who would go on to revolutionize how the world gets its information. Beginning at 4 p.m., for 90 minutes a day, Mayer holds office hours.

Employees add their name to a board outside her office, and she sees them on a first-come, first-serve basis. Sometimes project managers need approval on a marketing campaign; sometimes staffers want a few minutes to pitch a design (see BusinessWeek.com, 6/30/06, "Inside Google's New-Product Process").

Says Mayer: "Many of our most technologically interesting products have shown up during office hours. Google News, Orkut [Google's social networking site], Google Reviews, and Google Desktop all showed up first in office hours." During office hours, Mayer can get through up to 15 meetings, averaging seven minutes per person.

5. Discourage politics, use data.
One of Mayer's "Nine Notions of Innovation" is "Don't politic, use data" (see BusinessWeek.com, 6/19/06, "9 Notions of Innovation").

This idea can and should apply to meetings in organizations in which people feel as though the boss will give the green light to a design created by the person he or she likes the best, showing favoritism for the individual instead of the idea.

Mayer believes this mindset can demoralize employees, so she goes out of her way to make the approval process a science. Google chooses designs on a clearly defined set of metrics and how well they perform against those metrics. Designs are chosen based on merit and evidence, not personal relationships.

Mayer discourages using the phrase "I like" in design meetings, such as "I like the way the screen looks." Instead, she encourages such comments as "The experimentation on the site shows that his design performed 10% better." This works for Google, because it builds a culture driven by customer feedback data, not the internal politics that pervade so many of today's corporations.

6. Stick to the clock.
To add a little pressure to keep meetings focused, Google gatherings often feature a giant timer on the wall, counting down the minutes left for a particular meeting or topic. It's literally a downloadable timer that runs off a computer and is projected 4 feet tall.

Imagine how chaotic it must look to outsiders when the wall shows several displays at once—the presentation, transcription, and a mega-timer! And yet, at Google, it makes sense, imposing structure amidst creative chaos. The timer exerts a subtle pressure to keep meetings running on schedule.

Mayer does have one caveat when it comes to the timer—maintain a healthy sense of humor about it. (The timer was counting down to the end of my interview with Mayer—but she turned it into a fun and friendly reminder instead of an abrupt end to our discussion.)

Please keep in mind that these meeting techniques work well for Google. They may or may not be appropriate for your place of business. But these six keys should give you some new ideas about how to transform your meetings from a waste of time to time well spent.

What You Say to Yourself is more important than what you say to others

Everything you say to yourself either serves you or sabotages you. Do you tell yourself you can do it, do you tell yourself you deserve it or do you tell yourself something different, something less supportive? Turn those thoughts around and replace them with positive self talk. When you take note of what you are thinking do you hear yourself. Most of us can't hear ourselves,  at least we don't hear ourselves the way others do. The truth is we don't do a very good job of listening to ourselves. One way to be mindful of what we are saying to ourselves and the way others hear us, is to closely observe others as we are speaking. Are people smiling when you talk. Do people even acknowledge that you are speaking. The next time you talk to someone take the time to ask yourself how you want to be heard by the person you are talking to. Actors and Actresses do this all the time, they do it so well that people believe them to be the characters they play.

Many times people don't see us the way we want to be seen  because we haven't taken the time to see ourselves first. The same is true of the way you speak, even if you have to rehearse listen to yourself, think of it as looking at yourself in the mirror to make sure everything is in place. The next time you are in a conversation take the  time to think before you talk. Do you want to be positive,honest and confident with others, it all begins with what you believe about yourself and what you say to yourself.

Yes It has Been A While

I know I have been a way for awhile. Go to www.DavidCRandle.ws  to see what I have been up to.

Talk with you later.
David

The Next Big Thing

Does anyone remember the time before email? Well very few computer users do. Email has been a part of internet technology from the beginning and for a long time was the only way to interact on the internet. For most internet users it still is there primary way of communicating on the internet. Some have  began to use VIOP ( Voice Over Internet Proto-call) as a means of communication. VIOP is simply a phone using the Internet for connectivity.

This is very interesting because as technology moves forward it always leaves a trail of people still doing it the old way. Yes I am even willing to bet there is someone still using a horse for transportation ( and if that person is you I am sorry for the insult). The point here is that technology is moving faster than the people who use it. This can mean profit for some and confusion for others. And like everything else only a few are profiting while the masses are confused.

There was a time when the model for technological sales was the mass market, and there are still a few examples of that ( the Iphone is one that comes to mind). But in large part the marketing strategy is trickle down, or if you prefer the food chain model. The big boys get it first and then they decide who gets what for how much. Believe me there are thousands of agents out here looking for the next best or biggest thing.

My concern here  is for those of us on the lower end of the food chain. I want to make sure that we get our share of the power of the Internet. I wrote this article for those of you who use email and snail mail. This is a preview for the Businessplus blog's next big thing. In the next article I will share with you one of the new power tools I am very impressed with.

Until the next time
David

 

Apes That Talk And People Who Don't Use Computers

I can't believe it but I have been  into technology and the Internet for eleven years now. That's since the beginning of the Internet around 94 or 96 for the public. I remember Geo before AOL and what about the overly priced Compuserve. Well I was just thinking about the number of people I run into daily that use computers and the Internet rarely or not at all.

Add to this the number of people who only use computers on there jobs and not for personal use.and you come up with a amazing fact people resist change, and to this day they are still reluctant to embrace things they know little about. Even when we know that the only way we grow is by increasing what we know.

I ran across this story tonight on ABC Nightline  Talking Apes . I was amazed at what these creatures could understand. I wondered why it was easier for some of these Apes to learn to talk than it is to get some people to sit down in front of a computer, or discover the Internet.

As I watched I noticed that the Apes had been trained by a reward system. When people begin to understand the many benefits of the Internet and how it can help them, maybe they will learn just like the Apes learned to talk.

 

Change or Transition

The other day I was talking with a friend of mine Jason Womack. He  is an excellent motivational speaker and business skills management coach. We were talking about why people do what they do or fail to do what they need to do. This is one of my favorite topics, the old social worker in me  comes out. Most people in business would do well to look into applied Psychology. In the course of the conversation we talked about why people resist change.  And we came to the conclusion that the word change implies that there is something wrong with what you are  doing, and of course no one wants to be wrong.  As a matter of fact the word change is so strong that it also implies that there is nothing good about the person or business model we want to work with. Far be it for me to challenge  other business thinkers. But, I believe that we would be better off working to improve what some individuals or businesses are doing right, than to point out what they are doing wrong. There is a new helping model centered around this concept called strength based social work that may be a good model for business transition.

Notice I did not use the word change, but transition. Actually as Jason and I talked further we changed the word transition to transcend meaning to move above or go beyond. So,  maybe what all of us best practice technology guys should be saying is, " let us help you do better." After all there are very few individuals and businesses organizations who don't want help. And even fewer who don't want to do better. The proof is in the pudding, help them do better and they will come back for more.

 

Step By Step

The first step to business success is knowing if you offer a service or product people want. Many times people we talk to say they don’t need our service without thinking. The truth is many of the people who say no to your service or product don’t know what they are saying no to. Let me give you an example: Ask your self; how many things do you have that you don’t need? In most cases we have many things we purchased that we don’t need. This is  also true for most of the people we offer our services and products to. Because  we  often buy things we don’t need we question everything that is offered to us. Often we turn down things we need. The key here is to be honest in your assessment of your clients need for your service. Most business people have been trained to screen objections and ask for the sell. But the most important step is to ask yourself if  the potential client really needs your service or product. You won’t find out by telling him what you do or by giving him a business card or even your URL.  No the only way successful businesses sell there products or service is by identifying what there clients really need and showing them how you can meet that need.

The next time you watch one of those 30 sec ads on television notice how many questions they ask. Here is the important point; every time you answer a question you sell yourself. Notice I said you sell yourself, that’s right you sell yourself. The best example of this type of sell is the pharmaceutical commercial that ends by saying; ask your doctor if this product is right for you. Now I ask you when was the last time you really ask a perspective client what they do and how they do it, while asking yourself how what you do or provide can really help them.