"Whatever may be said in praise of poverty, the fact remains that is not possible to live a really complete or successful life unless one is rich"
Wallace D Wattles
If there is one thing I am sure about, I hated being poor, although we were luckier as a family than most. My mother was an amazing seamstress and knitter so we always had good quality clothes. My family grew most of their own fruit and vegetables, so we never went hungry, even through mass layoffs and strikes were the norm during my childhood. My father never went down the pits, although his father and his brothers and nephews did, so the miners strike hit them hard, all of a sudden they went from earning lots of money and spending it to earning little or nothing. My aunt said "we can't afford steak anymore" ... my mother turned around and said " ....... we've never been able to afford steak", which rather took the wind out of her sales. It took my parents an entire year to save for the family holiday, but we went away - every year. Nothing was bought on credit - if they wanted something - they did some overtime and saved the money.
Today we live in a world of instant gratification and credit cards, anything can be bought for three easy payments and no interest for ...
My neighbours have no less than half a dozen flat screen TV's and a camper trailer that has never been used. And I know they've re-mortgaged several times to pay off the debts they've accumulated. But the truth is they are pretending to be rich, but are in fact living a poverty existence. I tell you this because you probably live next to someone just like them, in fact you may be just like them.
You may argue that "you" are not living a poverty existence - but I would have to challenge you just a little.
Money does give you choices. But are you living from week to week? What happens when the bubble bursts? Would you be able to survive long enough to pay your bills before you landed another job? That's the kind of poverty mentality I am talking about. Then there is another kind, where you buy the cheapest thing on the menu, never offer to pay for a "round" of coffee's and hoard your money like a miser - saying I'll do that next week, and of course, the next week you are still saying you'll do whatever it was you said you were going to do.
Now I am not rich by any means, and I do still have a mortgage - but I do consider I have if not a millionaire mindest at least it's a tens of thousands-aire one (although I do have quite a way to go) - BUT my daily actions follow my thinking. If I want to be "rich" then I am going to have to be careful about what I spend my money on. But neither do I want to compromise the lifestyle I do lead.
Which sounds like a misnomer - but let me explain how you can live a rich life.
The one secret of success to living a rich life is this:
Spend less than you earn.
That's what the rich do. When they receive money, they know what their budget needs so they put away what they know they can save into a special account, and then they use what is left for day-to-day living. Most people do it the other way round. They spend first and then save what's left... and we all know what's left don't we.
Truth is we should take 10% of everything we earn and put it somewhere safe, don't think you can save 10% yet? Well if you have never saved 10% it will be hard at first. But you need to have the mindset that says I save money. How do you save money - by not spending it of course.
Start with those little purchases, the cups of coffee and the bought lunches. For one week carry on as normal but make a note of what you are spending. At the end of the week, add it all up - what % would that equate to out of the 10%? Do you smoke? How much do you drink? Do you have a magazine subscription you don't have time to read? Each decision adds up to the 10% and before you know it you will have saved several thousand dollars and once you start to see it grow you won't want to spend it. Did you know it takes an average of 20 years to become a millionaire? And you too can join the ranks, and I don't care if you are earning a thousand dollars a week or a couple of hundred, start early enough and you can do it. You can do it by saving 10% of what you earn and adding compound interest and time to the equation. Obviously if you have a damn good idea then the process does shorten, but here's the thing. If you have always spent up to and over what you earn, what happens when you have more money - I'd say you'd be like my neighbours who have all the gadgets and toys and then waste even more money buying new ones. Of all the people who become instant millionaires thanks to the roll of the numbers on the lottery, how long do you think it would take before they were back to where they started. Believe it or not, the average is about 3 years. Sure they may have had a great time, but if they had had the millionaire mindset they could have enjoyed their windfall for the rest of their lives.
As you know I've been working on what I call "ad-hoc" spending purchases for the challenge. Those odd cups of coffee here and there, and no purchases unless they come from a supermarket. Now I am the first to admit I have failed a few times - but by tightening up my ad-hoc spending I have created monetary space to start the process of re-decorating my house without touching any of my capital. And I shall continue with this way of living my life beyond this round of the challenge - because I now know how to live a rich life. It's quite exciting seeing the changes. Yes there are still things I need to do, I am a work in progress just like you. But my thinking goes - I don't want to touch my savings, I like seeing those numbers.
Dump your debt - it's true you can't grow wealth if your debt is out of hand, so if you are working from a negative as I was - it does take a little longer to begin the process, but if you -
Ditch your poverty, instant gratification way of thinking you can -
Live a rich life
Monday, November 29, 2010
Saturday, November 27, 2010
Add Value
Some might say it's just their job, others might say it's just customer service, but I have to say I believe it's called "adding value".
This morning, after a rather rude awakening by a clock I didn't know had an alarm on it (sorry honey) and subsequently attempting to go back to sleep for an hour, I headed into the city. I love the city in the very early morning. Not only do you have your choice of parking spot, you get to see wonderful examples of both good and bad customer service. As usual I was way too early for the meeting I had partly organised (others had had a hand in the today's meeting you understand). Anyway,. that's just me - always like to be the first through the door to meet and greet the people who are coming to see us, and it means I can get organised and set up.
But because I really was too early even for me, I stopped off at a tiny little bakery I didn't know existed to have a coffee. The smell of the baked cakes and pastries straight out of the oven at 6.30 was phenomenal - and no, I didn't buy anything but the coffee - and for those in Perth - Terrace Bakery (opposite DOME) had coffee for $3 and it was hot, fresh and not bad at all. But the smile on the face of the gentleman serving me, as well as the polite, "If you take a seat I'll bring it over to you" made the experience even better for me.
But that wasn't the reason behind the message today.
The hotel where we were holding our function this morning was a place just along the road from the 5 stars, and a couple of stars down, but you would never know. The welcome board was prominent, the room clean and easy to find and when I walked into the room, a colleague who also likes to arrive before the guests was there along with a member of the functions staff. Normally those kinds of people are here, there and everywhere - not him. He stayed with us all morning, replenishing supplies without asking, quietly "doing his job". But not only that, the functions manager who you don't normally see, was there too and introduced herself and the trainee who would also be helping to look after us. I have to say, the food was superb and the coffee hot and plentiful - and if there are 2 things breakfast seminar attendees like it's good, hot food and lots of coffee. They weren't disappointed and neither were we.
It was the little things that made the biggest difference to us.
* The attention to detail
* The attentiveness
* The genuine smiles at 6.30am
* The fact that we weren't rushed or felt the need to hurry
And a hundred other things that said - when we next run a breakfast seminar I know who I'm going to call.
I was also fortunate to see and speak to one of the readers of the Daily Dose of Motivational Medicine - no it wasn't a Motivate Me seminar, but an industry one of which we are both part of. I loved her comment "those annoying messages you send out" - they're working then!! and the comment "It's great to see things don't always go smoothly for you" ... of course they don't and that's why I like to write from a very personal perspective rather than the high-fallutin motivational messages other organisations tend to send out. There is value in the high-fallutin don't get me wrong, it's just I like you to know that I do stuff up and things get stuffed up on occasion - it's not that it happens, it's how you and I cope with the stuff ups - that's important, along with the motivation to keep going even when you don't want to.
Now you know I am going to give you some homework don't you.
Could you honestly say of the work you did today / this week that you went above and beyond people's expectations? The hotel and function staff did today, and I hope so did we (the organisers of the event);
Can you make some small but significant changes to the way that you work so you do go above and beyond even your own high expectations?
I hope so, because to me it's those little things that can mean the most
This morning, after a rather rude awakening by a clock I didn't know had an alarm on it (sorry honey) and subsequently attempting to go back to sleep for an hour, I headed into the city. I love the city in the very early morning. Not only do you have your choice of parking spot, you get to see wonderful examples of both good and bad customer service. As usual I was way too early for the meeting I had partly organised (others had had a hand in the today's meeting you understand). Anyway,. that's just me - always like to be the first through the door to meet and greet the people who are coming to see us, and it means I can get organised and set up.
But because I really was too early even for me, I stopped off at a tiny little bakery I didn't know existed to have a coffee. The smell of the baked cakes and pastries straight out of the oven at 6.30 was phenomenal - and no, I didn't buy anything but the coffee - and for those in Perth - Terrace Bakery (opposite DOME) had coffee for $3 and it was hot, fresh and not bad at all. But the smile on the face of the gentleman serving me, as well as the polite, "If you take a seat I'll bring it over to you" made the experience even better for me.
But that wasn't the reason behind the message today.
The hotel where we were holding our function this morning was a place just along the road from the 5 stars, and a couple of stars down, but you would never know. The welcome board was prominent, the room clean and easy to find and when I walked into the room, a colleague who also likes to arrive before the guests was there along with a member of the functions staff. Normally those kinds of people are here, there and everywhere - not him. He stayed with us all morning, replenishing supplies without asking, quietly "doing his job". But not only that, the functions manager who you don't normally see, was there too and introduced herself and the trainee who would also be helping to look after us. I have to say, the food was superb and the coffee hot and plentiful - and if there are 2 things breakfast seminar attendees like it's good, hot food and lots of coffee. They weren't disappointed and neither were we.
It was the little things that made the biggest difference to us.
* The attention to detail
* The attentiveness
* The genuine smiles at 6.30am
* The fact that we weren't rushed or felt the need to hurry
And a hundred other things that said - when we next run a breakfast seminar I know who I'm going to call.
I was also fortunate to see and speak to one of the readers of the Daily Dose of Motivational Medicine - no it wasn't a Motivate Me seminar, but an industry one of which we are both part of. I loved her comment "those annoying messages you send out" - they're working then!! and the comment "It's great to see things don't always go smoothly for you" ... of course they don't and that's why I like to write from a very personal perspective rather than the high-fallutin motivational messages other organisations tend to send out. There is value in the high-fallutin don't get me wrong, it's just I like you to know that I do stuff up and things get stuffed up on occasion - it's not that it happens, it's how you and I cope with the stuff ups - that's important, along with the motivation to keep going even when you don't want to.
Now you know I am going to give you some homework don't you.
Could you honestly say of the work you did today / this week that you went above and beyond people's expectations? The hotel and function staff did today, and I hope so did we (the organisers of the event);
Can you make some small but significant changes to the way that you work so you do go above and beyond even your own high expectations?
I hope so, because to me it's those little things that can mean the most
Prevention is better than cure
It is better to try to keep a bad thing from happening than it is to fix the bad thing once it has happened.
* You've spent a fortune buying the car of your dreams, but you forget to schedule in regular service checks.
* You fail to get an annual physical from your doctor
* You eat what you like, drink what you like, smoke goodness knows what - but don't do any kind of physical activity, and your clothes no longer fit you, in fact you look at yourself in the mirror and wonder who the stranger is staring back at you.
* Your house is falling down around your ears and the garden is over run with weeds
* You don't do your homework, preferring to sit on your rear playing war games or chatting on facebook
* You neglect your clients, going to pseudo business meetings where you can pretend to be important rather than bringing in income to a business that is running on fumes relying on cash flow of new clients to feed the debt you have let accumulate.
* Your spouse and kids don't know you anymore
* You can't remember the last time you saw your friends
We can all be guilty of neglect, but any day you can choose to stop it and begin the process of change. What areas are you neglecting? And what are you going to do about it?
* You've spent a fortune buying the car of your dreams, but you forget to schedule in regular service checks.
* You fail to get an annual physical from your doctor
* You eat what you like, drink what you like, smoke goodness knows what - but don't do any kind of physical activity, and your clothes no longer fit you, in fact you look at yourself in the mirror and wonder who the stranger is staring back at you.
* Your house is falling down around your ears and the garden is over run with weeds
* You don't do your homework, preferring to sit on your rear playing war games or chatting on facebook
* You neglect your clients, going to pseudo business meetings where you can pretend to be important rather than bringing in income to a business that is running on fumes relying on cash flow of new clients to feed the debt you have let accumulate.
* Your spouse and kids don't know you anymore
* You can't remember the last time you saw your friends
We can all be guilty of neglect, but any day you can choose to stop it and begin the process of change. What areas are you neglecting? And what are you going to do about it?
Follow your passion
"No matter what others think you should do or become, you must always follow your passion, and your passion only"
p21 The Angel Inside by Chris Widener
I love the story that is "the Angel Inside" of why and how il Gigante was created and by whom, and why this story is so relevant to everyone today.
Michelangelo went against his father's wishes. His father wanted him to become a merchant, but Michelangelo wanted to follow his passion - and be an artist. I think you would agree Michelangelo was correct in doing so.
* Are you doing what you love to do?
* Do you wake every day and long to begin the tasks that will fulfil your dreams and ambitions?
* Do you lay awake at night excited at what lies ahead?
Or are you the opposite
* Are you doing things because someone told you you should?
* Do you go to work not for the pleasure it brings but because it's a job and you need the money?
* Are you studying a subject that holds no joy for you - because it was someone else's suggestion of what might be a good career move?
But what do I mean by living your life "without wax"
It is often stated that the word sincere is derived from the Latin sine = without, cera = wax. According to one popular explanation, dishonest sculptors in Rome or Greece would cover flaws in their work with wax to deceive the viewer; therefore, a sculpture "without wax" would mean honesty in its perfection.
If you apply that principle to your own life, are you being sincere or are you hiding under a layer or two of wax?
As we are nearing the end of yet another year, now perhaps is a good a time as any to determine if you are living honestly or whether you need to make some changes.
p21 The Angel Inside by Chris Widener
I love the story that is "the Angel Inside" of why and how il Gigante was created and by whom, and why this story is so relevant to everyone today.
Michelangelo went against his father's wishes. His father wanted him to become a merchant, but Michelangelo wanted to follow his passion - and be an artist. I think you would agree Michelangelo was correct in doing so.
* Are you doing what you love to do?
* Do you wake every day and long to begin the tasks that will fulfil your dreams and ambitions?
* Do you lay awake at night excited at what lies ahead?
Or are you the opposite
* Are you doing things because someone told you you should?
* Do you go to work not for the pleasure it brings but because it's a job and you need the money?
* Are you studying a subject that holds no joy for you - because it was someone else's suggestion of what might be a good career move?
But what do I mean by living your life "without wax"
It is often stated that the word sincere is derived from the Latin sine = without, cera = wax. According to one popular explanation, dishonest sculptors in Rome or Greece would cover flaws in their work with wax to deceive the viewer; therefore, a sculpture "without wax" would mean honesty in its perfection.
If you apply that principle to your own life, are you being sincere or are you hiding under a layer or two of wax?
As we are nearing the end of yet another year, now perhaps is a good a time as any to determine if you are living honestly or whether you need to make some changes.
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