Entrepreneurs: Thinking Differently About Wealth and Success

I've had several interesting conversations lately with people that want to start a business, be an entrepreneur and create wealth. These are individuals who want better financial results, they want their own business, and they want freedom. I'm amazed at how ready people are to listen to the broke, tired, negative, worn out people around them when it comes to making a business decision to become independent.

As a matter of fact, it's downright scary for a 97%-er to see a fellow drone break out of their drone-ness to contemplate a different experience out of life. It's like the old story of the crabs in the crab pot with the lid open. If there's just one crab in there, she'll easily and readily climb her way out to freedom. If there are multiple crabs and one makes a run for it, the other crabs will reach up and hold onto that crab preventing her from escaping.
For many people, it's a far too painful experience for them when someone in their circle breaks away to claim something significant for themselves -- whether it's wealth, a new business, a new relationship, or perhaps a new believe or value set. It's painful because of the light and clarity it sheds on what's so -- what's reality for the person who wants to prevent the change. They're painfully reminded of their own dreams that died months, years, or even decades ago.....

We are all creatures of choice and creation though. Nothing is as it is to us that we don't allow. We create our own experience moment by moment. It is our great gift and our greatest curse!! We are responsible 100% of the time for our experience here on the planet.

Taking responsibility for our own results is the very first step in setting forth an entrepreneurial course. It is the only way we will truly experience what our choices bring to our reality. To become wealthy, to acheive success in financial terms, relationships, creative endeavors all begins with personal responsiblity.

Ultimately, we are all responsible for our own reality. Let the naysayers, and the negative people in your circle be responsible for their experience -- You be responsible for yours.... it is the law of attraction and the law of the universe at work in it's purest representation.

Apologies for waxing philospophic here.... just finished reading "Conversations with God: An Uncommon Diaglogue", by Neale Donald Walsch.

Modeling Success- It's All In Your Mind

Welcome back to the Wealth Practicum - A practical application of tools, techniques and approaches to creating wealth in the 21st century.

Today, we're going to discuss the concept of modeling. One of the most critical actions to take when achieving your goals is modeling the person who already has the result you want to achieve. I think that many people get stuck though in modeling actions or steps. While it's important to understand the things that a person has done to achieve the things they've achieved, I believe its MORE IMPORTANT to study, then model how the person thinks. We've learned that how a person thinks is the single most significant driver in the results that manifest on the outside. I would rather understand how a super achiever thinks than just simply the steps they've taken to accomplish some huge goal.

I've been studying Tiger Woods this week a bit. There was an awesome article in Golf Digest that really broke down his swing and his game to almost painful minutiae. I never knew there were so many derivatives of swing psychology or structure to work on- guess that's why I shoot 95 and Tiger's the #1 golfer in the world. Obviously this guy has a great deal of natural born talent, but so do others. Why Tiger? and Why the overall consistency in phenominal results? I really believe it's how he thinks that leads all the other actions and results that he's able to produce. A couple things stand out 1) He's intensely competitive. He wants to win every time and he wants to be the best. It eminates from him in everything that he says and does. It's clear that the standards to which he holds himself are exact and demanding. He practices intensely to correct minor flaws in his game, that left untended, would result in deteriorating results. Again, it's not what he does necessarily, but it's how he thinks about what he does that's critical. 2) He actively visualizes the end result. They say that Golf is the ultimate mental game. Tiger understands that in order to produce the result on the course, he must first produce the result in his mind - Visualization is such a powerful tool. He's been known to walk the course dozens of time before a tournament simply visualizing shots from various lies and locations. When he playing the tournament, he's already completed every stroke he will take - in his mind. Again, it's how he thinks that is the ultimate instruction here on achieving goals. Next time I'm on the first tee, I'll take a moment to close my eyes and visualize a perfect, smooth swing that launches a rocket down the center of the fairway about 325 yards - my golf buddies are amazed at my newfound capabilites..... hey, it doesn't hurt to visualize right?

Back to Modeling. If we want to model not only what someone does, but how they think about what they do, look at the result. I recently saw an hour long interview with the great Warren Buffet on CNBC that was brilliant. As you know, Buffet recently gave to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation the biggest charitable donation ever. Gates was commenting on his first meeting with Buffet, "I was intrigued with the way he thinks", Gates said of Buffet. Interesting that the richest man in the country said he was focused on how Buffet thought, not the new company he acquired, or the airplane or the private island he bought or something.

So, the next time you have a goal or a result you want to achieve, find someone who has already achieved that goal and model them- but model their mind, not just their actions and watch the results manifest for YOU that you deserve.

Welcome back to the Wealth Practicum - A practical application of tools, techniques and approaches to creating wealth in the 21st century.

I wanted to share some key things I believe are essential in creating wealth. The first is Leverage. Leverage comes in many forms. As an employee, no matter howWell paid you are, you are a source of leverage for your employer. As a real estate investor, you utilize leverage by borrowing money from the bank (opm or other people's money, right?) The more leverage you have, the less of your own money you're using. The key here is that you will never become wealthy as an employee working for hourly wages or on a fixed salary. You are a SOURCE of leverage for your employer and are not USING leverage to build your own wealth.

So what does that mean for the average person that wants to create an abundant, prosperous lifestyle? Clearly you need to be in a position where you are maximizing leverage, and that means for most people, being a business owner vs. an employee. Did you know that close to 90% of all people earning over $100,000 per year are running their own business and that the Home Based Business market is growing at around 12% per year. Over 20,000 people a day are responding to "start your own home business ads". Lets face it, most people are tired of working so hard for so little. The Rules are different today than they were just 10 years ago; if you are truly going to prosper you need to be entrepreneurial AND you have to have LEVERAGE.

The hard part is figuring out the best business to start and run. First of all you have to know that there is a lot of junk out there and I include Franchises in that mix as well. The internet has made it so easy to throw things up against the wall and see if they stick. There are all kinds of money games out there and you want to make sure you are picking something that has some meat on it. Also, there are a ton of people out there that are more than willing to tell you what to look for, that are totally unqualified to do so. Alternatively, I've been a home business entrepreneur now for 2.5 years, have done very, very well with it and I'm totally comfortable and versatile in the home business world -- and happy to share my observations with you...

1. First lets start with you. You have to know that a real business is going to require your effort. If they are saying that you don't have to talk to people or that its fully automated then be a little skeptical. Talking to people is still a necessary part of business. Also a business requires money to run it. If you have no money then starting and running a successful business is going to be a little tough unless you are someone who doesn't mind going out and meeting people face to face, or you have access to capital (OPM). In addition, you have to market. There is not a business on the planet that does not have to do some form of marketing to get customers, no customers no business.

2. Remember, leverage is important in selecting a home business -- here's an example -- what provides the greater degree of leverage? A) Coffee shop that costs $75K to open, $15K/month to run and throws off $10K/ month in profit? or B) Home business that costs $20K to start, $2K/month to run and throws off $10K/month in profit. Business "B" is obviously using leverage to a greater degree because it produces the same result with less money up front and less money ongoing.. Also, is there some form of residual income possible through the business -- In other words, can you do the work once, and get paid on your efforts over and over again. There's very powerful LEVERAGE in creating Residual income.

3. Is the product something that solves a problem or fills a need for people? Does it enrich someones life or experience while here on the planet? Also, is it a high end product? Remember to look for leverage -- you want a high end product that will pay you substantially more than alot of stuff that's out there. I would much rather do the work to create one customer that will provide a $1,000 profit than have 15 customers that will provide a $25 profit each. Same amount of work, same number of customers, and an EXPONENTIAL difference in profit. Also, with higher end products, there is a natural filtering/weeding out process that is critical to your growth. You don't want to work with people that are stuck in a poverty or survival mentality. Remember that creating wealth begins with mindset. If you're groveling around with a bunch of people fighting over a quarter in profit, or with a $500 dollar a month mindset, you're not going to create wealth.

3. Do you have other "add on" products to market once your customer is delighted with the first product they've purchased. Ask any major corporation out there in the market place, be it a software solutions company, car manufacturer, Sandwich shop or consulting company -- it is far more effective to sell additional product to existing customers than to continually create new customers. Find a business that provides you LEVERAGE in the ability to sell additional products to existing customers.

4. Is there a business system, marketing systems and effective sales presentations in place that assist you in running your business. Entrepreneur magazine is pretty clear that a business with out a system will experience 95% failure rate and that businesses with a system will experience a 95% success rate. This is why Franchises are so popular, you are buying a system that in most cases has been proven to work. Just remember a Franchise or any other business without a good market, products or a proven model will still fail. You want to have a business system that provides you LEVERAGE so you don't have to do it all yourself.

5. Finally, does the business fully leverage technology, tools and trends in place right now and looking forward into the future. If you want a business that delivers a multiple SIX FIGURE INCOME from home, you must be prepared to use the internet, conference call systems, audio and video technology, and online training and communications tools to the fullest. You must LEVERAGE technology to your benefit.

There is a lot to consider when purchasing a business but I will tell you the number one mistake people make when buying a business or starting a home business and that's picking a business based on what it costs vs. leverage criteria laid out here. You can get into a business with very little or no cost, but it will likely not provide the leverage you require to really make alot of money. Remember -- look for the leverage in any business decision and watch your bank account grow.

You can view my advertising website at www.yournewlegacy.com or www.richnewlife.com for additional ideas on leverage, business and creating wealth working from home. I can also be reached at matt@yournewlegacy.com with questions.

Wealth Practicum - Creating Wealth for the Average Joe

Welcome to the Wealth Practicum. Matt Hempel here - just another ex-corporate guy now working from Home with an internet based business making a fortune. I'm very straight with people when they (usually ex-corporate colleagues, or other acquaintances) ask "how do you make so much tangible, real, spendable, investable money working from home"? After researching this question, and really analyzing how it works, and why it works for me, and many other self-made entrepreneurs, the answer is quite simple -- irritatingly so, actually -- IT'S ALL IN HOW YOU THINK. www.richnewlife.com

The WEALTH PRACTICUM. I'll be back on a weekly basis and really expose you to some very real tools, techniques, practices and disciplines to provide you with the capacity to create wealth in your life. After all, isn't that what a Practicum does? -- It is the practical application of theoretical concepts to produce a tangible result.

Let's start with the first concept -- "BE, DO, HAVE". This is the basic principle upon which all else it built. It's basic blocking and tackling. It's learning the alphabet in order to read and write. It's fundamental to YOU acheiving the end result you desire - whether it's a burgeoning bank account, or a whole and complete relationship. Be, Do, Have - use it and get results.

BE, DO, HAVE.....

Understand that most people in the world follow a different principle called Have-Do-Be. These are the people that always say, if I only had more money I could invest, if only I had more time I could start a business. If I only had bla, bla, bla, I could then be wealthy.

Now most of you have heard the national statistic that 97% of the people by age 65 are either dead or dead broke.

The reason is, these people think that making more money and having more time has to do with working harder or getting lucky and has nothing to do with the way they come to making a decision.

Most people when you talk to them and ask them what they want out of life say things like, I want to spend more time enjoying life and be able to travel the world, yet statistically only 21% of the entire population even have a passport, however 54 Billion dollars was spent on lottery tickets in 2005 alone.

Which group of people do you think are more likely to travel the world?

Exactly.

Now let me share some statistics of the people who are waking up literately in the thousands each day to a new way of thinking.

Currently there are over 8 million people who have a net worth of a million dollars.

600,000 people entered the world’s millionaire group last year alone

And there are currently 430,000 US households that have a net worth of 10 million and up.

What are these people all of a sudden learning? They are learning about the principle Be-Do-Have.

Let me share it with you.

The Be-Do-Have principle says that in order for you to have something you must first take on that roll of already having it. So if your goal is to be a Millionaire then every choice you are given on a daily basis you simple ask yourself the question: If I already was a millionaire what would I choose….

Be-Do-Have is simply, Be the person first, do what that person would do then you will have what that person has.

To make it stronger, what I do is pick someone who is already making the kind of money I want to be making.

For example Donald Trump or Howard Hughes.

So if given a decision which I feel will take me closer to my goals but seams to be bigger then I can handle at the time, I simply ask the question “what would Donald Trump do?” and I immediately get the answer.

So what ever decision you are faced with that you feel you don’t have the money or the time to take advantage of a situation simply ask yourself the question if I was already a millionaire what would I do?

It really is as simple as that.

If what I am saying defies logic for you then there is no doubt that you are going to one of the people who are dead or dead broke by age 65.

If that’s the case I would heavily study the Be-Do-Have principle until I did understand it because whether you know it or not or whether you believe it or not. The principle does apply to your life.

This is Matt Hempel - see you next week on the wealth practicum report. www.richnewlife.com