Generally the average person is sick and tired of trying to get ahead. They’ve had enough. They work from daylight to dark giving their whole life to their employer. All they get is survival. Every day we hear stories of people getting rich overnight. Why them and why not me, we ask?
Let’s resolve to change all that and if we want to find a way to get ahead, be somebody and create something worthwhile. It comes down to me, if it’s going to be. Yes make this year the year of resolve and it’s great resolutions that can make the difference.
As soon as we decide to get ahead, the Spanish crabs come out, the knockers. They’re not strangers, they’ve been around since history began.
Alexander Graham Bell had them. His problems were compounded by the knockers of his day. One of the problems was his impatient financial backer, Gardiner Hubbard, who wrote, “Your whole course Bell, has been a very great disappointment to me”.
Hubbard commented to his attorney, “Bell seems to be spending all his energies in the talking telegraph. It’s very interesting scientifically, but has no commercial value…I don’t want to spend my time and money for that which will bring no reward.” How wrong he was. How many times have we heard words like that in our life?
Alexander’s father and mother regarded his investigations as wasted time and money. His father advised him that the wisest course would be to sell his plans. Take what you can get and get out.
Did Bell listen to the knockers? We all know the outcome. Bell amassed a fortune and millions of dollars. Where did Bell learn about making money?
If I could find someone to give you the secrets of financial wisdom, wealth and fortune that are only known by the rich and wealthy, and I guaranteed it and backed that guarantee personally, what would you give me in return?
Let’s put it in its proper perspective. History has shown people have given their lives for honour, respect, loyalty, love and I believe that people would give most of what they have now in return for wealth, fortune and happiness.
Let’s assume we did find someone to give us the secrets but the condition to receive your prize was you had to climb and collect it from a very high mountain.
People being people are generally too incredulous and apprehensive. Some would say to themselves, “I couldn’t do that”. I’ve never climbed that high. I’d get half way and give up. This is what some people would say to themselves before they even tried, beaten by their thoughts before taking action.
People react that way because they’ve grown up in a world of negativity. In fact, over 95% of our thoughts are negative. It’s this type of thinking that gives people forlorn hope of getting ahead.
How do we fix it? There is only one way and that’s to train ourselves to think differently. To get a different result we’ve got to do something differently to what we’ve been doing. Little by little we can actually reverse the process from negativity to one of positivity.
For example, let’s start with how we feel about risk taking. Generally, people say they do not like taking risks and just the mention of the word, risk, conjures up negative thoughts in ones mind.
Forbes magazine and other industry data tells us there is a very strong correlation between ones willingness to take risks and ones level of wealth.
The truth is, we’re all risk takers. We do it every day and don’t realise it. Did you know we already hold within us the factors for wealth? It’s only the degree of risk that separates people.
Every time we cry we risk appearing sentimental or when exposing one’s inner feelings, we risk vulnerability. Every time we drive a car, we risk being in an accident. When we ask, we risk embarrassment and rejection. When we try to achieve, we risk failure.
People, who risk very little, generally get very little, but while they get very little the cost is extremely high. Whether we like it or not, we must take risks. The worst thing a person can do is to risk nothing. One can stay in a corner all their lives, but the person who risks nothing generally gets nothing and turns out to be nothing.
Sure, they may avoid suffering, but they lose the ability to learn, feel, change, grow or even love. Only a person who risks is truly free. The secret to living with risk is to keep risks to a minimum.
What do most self-made millionaires have in common? They have courage, and “risk mentality”. Do you have courage to take financial risk, given the right return? The courage to take financial risks doesn’t mean you have to be a gambler.
The most basic form of financial risk taking we all experience simply relates to our choice of occupation or vocation. A disproportionately high percentage of millionaires, decamillionaires and Billionaires are self-employed business owners and entrepreneurs.