creating wealth need not take 50 years of financial mediocrity devoured by decades of work, decades of saving, decades of mindless frugality, and decades of 8% stock market returns.
The object of life is not to be on the side of the masses, but to escape finding oneself in the ranks of the insane. ~ Marcus Aurelius
The Law of Victims says you can’t be a victim if you don’t relinquish power to someone capable of making you a victim.
The ultimate insanity is to sell your soul Monday through Friday for the paycheck of Saturday and Sunday. Yes, give me $5 today and in return I’ll give you $2 back tomorrow. 5-for-2. No? How about five loaves of bread today and in return, I’ll give you two back tomorrow. No again? Why? This is a smoking deal!
Yes, Monday through Friday is prostituted for Saturday and Sunday. While people easily recognize and reject a negative 60% return on their money, they do it willingly with their time.
The problem with a specialized skill set is, it narrows your useful value to a confined set of marketplace needs. You become one of many cogs in a wheel. And if that cog becomes obsolete or expendable? Guess what, you’re out of luck.
Any time you have an asset that has sustainable profits, an industry multiplier governed by prevailing market conditions determines the valuation of that asset. Other people or companies will buy that asset based on the asset’s net profit multiplied by the assessed multiple.
The primary wealth accelerant for the rich is asset value, defined as appreciable assets created, founded, or bought.
Wealth creation via asset value is accelerated by each industry’s average multiplier. For every dollar in net income realized, the asset value multiplies by a factor of the multiple.
Leases, royalty payments, and licensing are other forms of “rental systems” that can produce reoccurring monthly income.
What sets the Internet apart from real estate is it implicitly contains leverage. When you own a Web site, you’re accessible to millions. When you own a three bedroom home on Elm Street, it’s accessible to a few. This duality makes Internet systems one of the best business seedlings in existence.
If you have a passive income that exceeds all your needs and lifestyle expenses including taxes, you’re retired.
The Law of Effection states that the more lives you affect in an entity you control, in scale and/or magnitude, the richer you will become. The shortened, sanitized version is simply: Affect millions and make millions.
Scale creates millionaires. Magnitude creates millionaires. Scale and magnitude creates billionaires.
Effection of scale or magnitude always precedes money, either directly or indirectly. The more lives you impact, directly or indirectly, the more wealth you will attract.
Poor choices are the leading cause of poorness.
Value your time poorly and you will be poor. When time is wasted as a lifestyle choice you will be stranded in places you don’t want to be.
The average American watches more than four hours of TV each day. In a 65-year life, that person will have spent nine years glued to the tube.
The best investment you can make is in yourself. So be willing to pay for your education now, or be prepared to pay a much bigger price for your lack of education later.
Interest reads a book; commitment applies the book 50 times. Interest wants to start a business; commitment files LLC paperwork.
Stop thinking about business in terms of your selfish desires, whether it’s money, dreams or “do what you love.” Instead, chase needs, problems, pain points, service deficiencies, and emotions.
Want to make big bucks? Then start attracting money instead of chasing it.
Easy access roads carry more traffic. More traffic generates higher competition, and higher competition creates lower margins for the participants.
Second, money doesn’t change people; it just makes them more of what they already are.
Human nature plays a powerful role in the business models of producers. Get-rich systems sold on TV take advantage of human nature because it is human nature to seek events and avoid process.
When it comes to your ideas, your plans, and your business, you NEVER know what works until you put it out to the world.
Yes, I said it. Business plans are useless because they’re ideas jacked-up on steroids.
Angels to private equity never invest in business plans—they invest in people with track records of execution.
If an entrepreneur thinks they can’t compete because you’re too big and too well funded, you’ve won before they’ve even started. They either engage half-heartedly or defer to another industry with duller competition. Look big, but act small.
Ronald Reagan once said, “Trust, but verify.”
What is commoditization? Commoditization is a product or service that appears homogeneous among providers.
If you are too busy copying or watching your competition, you’re not innovating.
brand is the best defense to commoditization. When your business is in business just to make money and pay the bills for the month, you’re playing checkers and being one-dimensional.
The first step at building a brand is to have a Unique Selling Proposition or a USP. As a business without one, you’re adrift in a sea of me-too businesses without a rudder,
If you get someone’s attention, half the battle is won. The other half is letting selfishness take over your audience and tailor your messages to self-interest. In other words, the good old “What’s in it for me?”
The first human behavior you can count on is selfishness. People want what they want. People don’t care about you, your business, your product or your dreams; they want to help themselves and their family.
You don’t buy a drill; you buy a hole. You don’t buy a dress; you buy an image. You don’t buy a Toyota; you buy reliability. You don’t buy a vacation; you buy an experience.
Live below your means but seek to expand your means by focusing on income while simultaneously controlling expenses.
“The more people whose lives you affect in an environment you control, the more money you will make.” Impact millions and you will make millions.
Education begins at graduation. Pledge to never stop learning. What you know now is not enough to become the person you need to be tomorrow.
Ensure daily reading in short bursts by leveraging existing blocks of time often squandered: the train, the plane, while exercising, on lunch break, an hour in the morning before work, or while waiting at the post office.
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