Reason 1: Lack of “Know –How”
As our education system does not teach the art of making money it is up to you to gain the necessary knowledge.
Gaining the knowledge is not easy ; it takes time, discipline and effort. How many non-fiction books do you think the average person would have read in the last year? One? Two? Five? In all probability, none. Even a best selling non-fiction book sells in pitiful numbers, testimony to the indifferent attitude that most people have to learning.
If you want to succeed in any pursuit, be it the art of making money or whatever, you must gain knowledge. Learn by talking with those who have been successful, gain from their experience. And of course, do more of what you are doing right now. Read books or take the knowledge from web site, attend seminars and listen to tapes on education and motivation. In other words, actively pursue knowledge.
Reason 2 : Failure to set plans
Imagine a rugby game without try lines. It wouldn’t be much of a spectacle would it? Well that is exactly what most people do in life. They kick around in various directions and when the whistle blows at the age of retirement they wonder what the score was!
Did you know that only five per cent of the population set goals and only two percent have any form of written goals? Their actions have a sense of purpose- they are results orientated, they are motivated, they are positive- they are life’s winners.
Where do you want to be in five years time? What is the motivating force that gets you out of bed each morning? – and don’t say it’s your spouse! If it is because someone else is telling you to ‘get up and be here by 8.30 from Monday to Friday” then you need to set goals.
The reality is that most people do not get out of bed. They sleep throughout their day. Unfortunately some people never wake up!
Without a plan it is too easy drift aimlessly, being tempted by the many lures that marketers dangle to separate you from your money.
If you have set goals you will know what you want to achieve and you will have a good reason to say NO to the many sweet temptation that will be laid before you.
People fail to succeed because they never PLAN to succeed. It is not that they plan to fail, they fail to plan.
Reason 3 : Inefficient use of time and poor work habits
This reason for financial failure is related to poor planning. I wish I had a dollar for every time. I have heard someone say “ I haven’t got the time”. Nonsense!
Everyone has the same amount of time, it’s just that some use their time more efficiently. A good time manager can achieve up to 50 per cent more in a day than someone who manages their time poorly. In other words, a good time manager will create time by being efficient.
Reason 4: Lack of foresight
Having foresight is having the ability to predict the eventual outcome of a certain series of events well before that outcome is obvious.
No doubt you have at some time visualized a snowball rolling down an ice capped hill, increasing in size and reaching unbelievably large proportions. As it begins its decent it is difficult to imagine the accumulation effect and the proportions to which it will eventually grow.
This snowball effect is exactly like the process of accumulating riches. Save something of everything you earn and like the snowball, your wealth will grow to unbelievable proportions. Visualize that potential and the sacrifices and obstacles along the way will appear trivial.
Achievers have an ability to look beyond the immediate and into the future. Although some may see your vision as dreams, do not forget that you have to have a dream to make a dream come true.
Reason 5 : The need to conform
If you behave like the majority, you will become part of the majority. Being part of a crowd may be comforting, but it is not financially rewarding.
Dare to be different and you will be prepare to take the opportunities that surround you. It is the creative minority that seize the opportunities, and it is they who will eventually win through.
Remember all great causes start with a minority, and great achievements are done by those prepared to challenge convention.
Accept that if you are to achieve a worthwhile goal you will need to be one of the five percent who dare to be different, not one of the 95% who seek comfort in the conforming majority.
Reason 6 : Poor debt management
There is nothing wrong with borrowing money, but one very basic rule should be obeyed: the income generated from it must exceed what it costs. Unfortunately so many people ignore this very basic rule. To their detriment they borrow money to buy consumable or luxury items such as cars, holidays or household items. Not only do they have to pay interest, but the asset itself loses value.
Reason 7: Lack of desire
Desire is to achievement what yeast is to baking. Obviously if you want to become financially secure you must have the desire to achieve because desire motivates action. A strong desire will give a person confidence and they will begin looking at every situation as an opportunity to achieve their goals. Anyone who is content with mediocrity will always be mediocre.
Reason 8: Inadequate protection against unforseen events
We are all aware of unfortunate examples where a family has lost everything because of an unforseen event. It may be the loss of a home due to natural disaster, or the death or disablement of the breadwinner. Adequate protection against these events is vital to financial success. Failure to do so could see decades of saving lost within minutes.
Reason 9 : Lack of discipline
Most people find it difficult to save because they save – buy – save – buy , while others simply buy.
It is easy to spend because it is easier to say yes than no. Those who lack the discipline to say “no” will find financial success an impossible achievement.
Reason 10: Lack of action
How many times have you heard someone say “ I am getting around to it.” Getting around to it is not good enough. To achieve anything requires action.
At some point you must say “I have thought about it, I have laid my plans – now I am going to do something about it.” By breaking that goal or dream into many small tasks, the action becomes a series of small steps in an evolution rather than an immediate metamorphosis.
Sunday, November 25, 2007
Tuesday, November 20, 2007
EARNED INCOME
Financial success is:
Having enough capital to generate a permanent income flow to provide your desired standard of living.
Financial success therefore involves:
Establishing a measurable financial goal with a specific time frame and progressively achieving it according to predetermined strategy.
Permanent vs Temporary Income
In general terms you can make income by going to work yourself, by putting your capital to work or by luck.
Total income= you at work + your capital at work + windfall gain
Temporary Income
1. Salary and Wages 2. Business Profits 3. Directors Fees
Permanent Income
1. Interest 2. Rents 3. Dividends 4. Royalties
Windfall Gain
1. Inheritance 2. Marriage 3. Lotteries
Income is classed as temporary if the income flow ceases the day you cease work.
Permanent income on the other hand, does not depend on your active involvement.
It will continue to work for you for the rest of your life and can even be passed onto your beneficiaries and remain with them for their lifetime (if that capital is invested prudently).
With a permanent income flow you are free to choose your own destiny, without the hardship
of poverty.
The other main source of income is by way of benefactor or simply luck. As this is more good fortune than good management it is not discussed further.
If you were given the choice between $1000 now or $100 each year for the rest of your life which would you take?
Although you may not realize it, this is a choice you have to make throughout your life. You can either spend your income, or invest it. If you choose to invest it, the money itself creates the ongoing, and permanent, flow of income we are talking about.
The ideal is to continually invest savings so that the permanent income flow continues to increase to the point where you can break the hand to mouth cycle that most of us are cought up in.
Thinking in this way you can see that by saving $1000, you have earned yourself another $100 in permanent income for the rest of your life.
The choice is yours, spend now or invest in an income stream that will work for you for the rest of your life. Invest in that income stream and one day you will achieve financial independence and financial security.
Most of us have a feeling of inevitability about our financial destiny. We accept that we are going to have to work for the rest of our life, and some people even accept that others will have extreme wealth while they won’t. But this need not be so. Take command of your finances and command your destiny. Save so that one day you can achieve financial success. The more you dedicate yourself to increasing savings the easier it will be to become financially secure.
Your dominant desire must be to save more money. To do this, you must invest as much as you can. This will mean that you earn more, invest more, earn more, invest more, and so on, until you hit a desired wealth level. When that stock of wealth is sufficient to provide an income flow which will support your desire lifestyle, then you could retire and enjoy yourself.
Don’t be fooled into thinking that retirement is for the aged. Each of us can earn that luxury before our geriatric graduation. Remember the first dollar is the hardest to make. Having reached your first target, congratulate yourself, reflect, smirk, and then motivate yourself on to your next goal.
The other main source of income is by way of benefactor or simply luck. As this is more good fortune than good management it is not discussed further.
If you were given the choice between $1000 now or $100 each year for the rest of your life which would you take?
Although you may not realize it, this is a choice you have to make throughout your life. You can either spend your income, or invest it. If you choose to invest it, the money itself creates the ongoing, and permanent, flow of income we are talking about.
The ideal is to continually invest savings so that the permanent income flow continues to increase to the point where you can break the hand to mouth cycle that most of us are cought up in.
Thinking in this way you can see that by saving $1000, you have earned yourself another $100 in permanent income for the rest of your life.
The choice is yours, spend now or invest in an income stream that will work for you for the rest of your life. Invest in that income stream and one day you will achieve financial independence and financial security.
Most of us have a feeling of inevitability about our financial destiny. We accept that we are going to have to work for the rest of our life, and some people even accept that others will have extreme wealth while they won’t. But this need not be so. Take command of your finances and command your destiny. Save so that one day you can achieve financial success. The more you dedicate yourself to increasing savings the easier it will be to become financially secure.
Your dominant desire must be to save more money. To do this, you must invest as much as you can. This will mean that you earn more, invest more, earn more, invest more, and so on, until you hit a desired wealth level. When that stock of wealth is sufficient to provide an income flow which will support your desire lifestyle, then you could retire and enjoy yourself.
Don’t be fooled into thinking that retirement is for the aged. Each of us can earn that luxury before our geriatric graduation. Remember the first dollar is the hardest to make. Having reached your first target, congratulate yourself, reflect, smirk, and then motivate yourself on to your next goal.
Monday, November 12, 2007
How to Prepare your EBook pages
Let's begin with the very first steps you need to take before you compose your E-book.If you want to have people download your E-book, there are a few rules to follow.
The purpose in following these rules is to ensure that you will send out a perfect E-book of high quality. Of course you already know that your spelling, grammar structure and link relevance should be checked twice to guarantee an excellent product.
Once your E-book pages are written (this can be in .HTML or Word), you need to compose them. Do this just like you create a web site. -Put all your pages and images in one directory on your hard disk, give it the name of your E-book, and make sure that you make a back up copy of them, in case the worst should happen to your PC system. You wouldn't believe how many people forget to make back ups, and find themselves in complete dispair when bad luck strikes.
Think about all those hours of inspiration and perspiration that get wasted! If you design your E-book pages, try to focus on being consistent and informative.
* Make it easy for your readers to navigate trough your book pages, or they will skip your material.
* Put navigation links on every book page.
* Do not use fancy colors or buttons. Or have you ever seen a newspaper or magazine with orange text on a yellow background? -There’s no need to revolutionize the way publishing is done with your E-book. :-)
* Check and re-check to see if all the hyperlinks or forms work, and if all the images show up correctly. - An often made mistake in E-books is not linking the images or banners to the right file or URL.
* Try to limit the use of images, because they take up a lot of space, and your E-book should not be too large to download.
* Put your ad banners (if you use any) at the bottom of your book pages. -Remember, never distract your readers! Once this is done, you can create an opening page. This page shows up first when your E-book gets opened.
Place your E-book title on this page, and make an clickable index of all the different pages or chapters. Now that all the pages and images are properly linked, you’re ready to compress your book pages into E-book format.
The purpose in following these rules is to ensure that you will send out a perfect E-book of high quality. Of course you already know that your spelling, grammar structure and link relevance should be checked twice to guarantee an excellent product.
Once your E-book pages are written (this can be in .HTML or Word), you need to compose them. Do this just like you create a web site. -Put all your pages and images in one directory on your hard disk, give it the name of your E-book, and make sure that you make a back up copy of them, in case the worst should happen to your PC system. You wouldn't believe how many people forget to make back ups, and find themselves in complete dispair when bad luck strikes.
Think about all those hours of inspiration and perspiration that get wasted! If you design your E-book pages, try to focus on being consistent and informative.
* Make it easy for your readers to navigate trough your book pages, or they will skip your material.
* Put navigation links on every book page.
* Do not use fancy colors or buttons. Or have you ever seen a newspaper or magazine with orange text on a yellow background? -There’s no need to revolutionize the way publishing is done with your E-book. :-)
* Check and re-check to see if all the hyperlinks or forms work, and if all the images show up correctly. - An often made mistake in E-books is not linking the images or banners to the right file or URL.
* Try to limit the use of images, because they take up a lot of space, and your E-book should not be too large to download.
* Put your ad banners (if you use any) at the bottom of your book pages. -Remember, never distract your readers! Once this is done, you can create an opening page. This page shows up first when your E-book gets opened.
Place your E-book title on this page, and make an clickable index of all the different pages or chapters. Now that all the pages and images are properly linked, you’re ready to compress your book pages into E-book format.
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