“Income Statement” rich vs. “Balance Sheet” rich

Success is defined differently by different people.  To some it may mean a wonderful family life, to others it may be having lots of friends.  For you, success may mean something entirely different and that’s O.K.  But any discussion of success ultimately involves some reflection on financial embellishments as well it should.

In his book THE MILLIONAIRE MIND, Dr. Thomas Stanley makes a distinction between those he categorizes as the “income statement” rich and the “balance sheet” rich.

The “income statement” rich are those people who have the super-nice, big houses in upper-class neighborhoods and drive the latest model luxury automobiles.  These people definitely have a lot of stuff, but they also have the large monthly payments that go along with their stuff.  In effect, they earn a high income and pay out an equally high amount of their income in order to finance their lifestyle.  There is little leftover at the end of each month and because of this, their wealth is dependent on maintaining an income stream.  Therefore, being “income statement” rich is really an illusion.

The “balance sheet” rich, on the other hand, are those people whose balance sheet shows that the value of their assets exceeds the amount of their liabilities by at least one million dollars.  According to Dr. Stanley’s research, these people seldom drive the newest cars or live in the largest houses.  In fact, most of these people probably don’t look or live too differently than you.

The point of all this is that if your definition of success includes the accumulation of riches, then you need to learn what truly rich people do in order to be rich and then emulate them.  THE MILLIONAIRE MIND is an excellent, eye-opening resource for learning a little bit about how true millionaires achieved their wealth.  If you don’t have the time to read this book, don’t fret.  THE MILLIONAIRE MIND is available as an audio book.  Do as I do and make every drive a learning experience.  The results will amaze you.

A novel approach to riches and wealth – part 2

…continued

As ideas flow into your mind, stop and record every one of them with as much detail as you can.  At first, there will only be a trickle of innovative thoughts, but this will soon turn into a deluge that you cannot stop.  Record every single one of them.

Step 4:  Research, Write, Research, Write

You have probably acquired several good but vague ideas of how to translate your passion into profitability.  It now becomes your quest to acquire and develop the needed data that moves your passionate ideas from the dim, lightbulb of vagueness to the focused, high-powered dot of a laser beam.  The wild, web-slinging data acquisition machine that you are is now primed and ready to proceed.  Begin by searching websites that have products and services related to your passionate idea.  Go to www.score.org.  This site has a wealth of information that extends from providing information to connecting you with a mentor.  In their words, “…dedicated to providing resources and expertise to maximize the success of existing and emerging small business.”  And it’s all free.  Another site that has a tremendous storehouse of information is www.sba.gov/.  This is the U. S. Small Business Administration, another free site.

If you have trusted friends or relatives, discuss your ideas with them.  Network to locate contacts that can provide you with help, information or more contacts.  Don’t be afraid to ask for help.  You’ll be surprised at who you know that has knowledge, access to knowledge or contacts that will be more than willing to help, if you can clearly communicate your ideas and are willing to ask for their help. 

Are you beginning to see the necessity of having a passion?  Of recording every thought and idea?  This information and passion are the tools you need to communicate to others how you plan to accomplish your dream.

Step 5:  Persist & Plan

At this point you should have an idea for a product or service that your are “on fire” about.  You should have the information and /or the contacts needed to help you develop your passionate idea.  Now, all the legwork, emails, phone calls and meetings can begin.  There will be numerous small speedbumps, that if considered collectively, form a mountain of opposition to the realization of your passion and if not dealt with effectively will grind you into submission.  Stop and record each of the speedbumps individually.  Study each one individually and then write a short plan for how to deal with it, who will deal with it (if you have help), and when it will be completed.  Set a deadline and then reevaluate at that time.  Brian Tracy’s book, “Eat that Frog” will help you immeasurably at this stage. 

As the speedbumps begin to smooth out, all the hard work (which is really not hard work at all because this is your passion) will begin to pay dividends.  To reach this point is a huge accomplishment.  You began with a passionate desire and exceeded the good intentions of 98% of those who think they want to succeed.  By researching your passion, you have found income producing possibilities and opportunities waiting to be exploited.  You have continued to fine tune your research while manually recording your plans for achieving your passionate idea.  You’ve discovered contacts, information and skills that have lain dormant within you awaiting your passion.  By now, you have all the information or access to the information necessary for your success. 

The novel approach to riches & wealth is that it all resides within you.  It’s seed is your passion.  Water it with knowledge.  Feed it with possibility.  Reap the harvest of your diligent effort.

A novel approach to riches and wealth – part 1

Somewhere, right now, there is an infomercial being shown, telling the world how to get rich.  Some tell you how to get rich quick, others just tell how to get rich — if you will just purchase the requisite “Get-Rich” program materials.

Now one thing is for sure.  Someone is getting rich.  My opinion is that the only ones guranteed to get rich are the ones selling the “Get-Rich” progam materials.  Do these programs work?  Probably, by some, to some degree.  But we’ll never know for sure because the “Get-Rich” and the “Get-Rich-Quick” companies don’t post or reveal definitive statistics on success and failure rates.  Again, do they work?  Probably for some small (read that – miniscule) number, but as my good friend J. S. likes to say, “Even a blind squirrel finds an acorn every once in a while” (this is also a miniscule number).

So, here’s my novel approach:

Step 1:  Find something that you are passionate about.

It makes no difference what your passion is.  It could be stock car racing or butterfly collecting.  But, it must be your passion and not someone else’s.  It can’t be a parent’s dream for your life.  It can’t be a friend’s suggestion.  It must be yours.  This step is critical — What are you passionate about?

Step 2:  Research, Research, Research

This is where 98% of people will choose to “op-out”, drop out and lose interest.  They will quit because they did not choose a topic that inspires their passions.  If you choose a passionate topic, you can’t quit.  You refuse to quit.  If doing a great deal of research bothers you then you have obviously not chosen something that stirs you.  Stop reading now or go back to step one.  For those of you that have a passion, then let’s move on.

Why do research?  As your knowledge of a subject increases, so to does the awareness of the opportunities for profitability.  For example, have you every purchased an item that you felt was relatively unique only to realize that after you purchased it that there are many more of these items “out there” than you thought?  Did you set a trend?  Maybe, but probably not.  Because of your passion to have this item, you bought it.  With this passionate item in your possession, you became more aware that others have the same passionate desire for this item.  The number out there did not change, only your awareness of them based on your passion.

It is your goal to find as many areas of potential profitability as possible.  This is not a problem for you because you are web-saavy.  You have the great, vast databases of the internet quivering with anticipation of your keystrokes.  So let the games begin.  Search, research, download, read and analyze.  Use sites like Del.icio.us (great for bookmarking research – tag and store your pertinent web page research).  Now, do it again.  Use different search engines, search different phrases, but don’t stop until you see or feel the “BIG” idea begin to take shape.

Step 3:  Write, Write, Write

Yes, I know that this is the computer age, but there is a method to my madness.  By using pen and paper, you activate different parts of your brain, creating or reinforcing neural pathways.  (Remember a time when you injured one of your hands and had to learn how to do all the things you did with your injured hand with your uninjured hand.  At first this was difficult, but with time and repetition theses tasks became much easier. This demonstrates the creation of new neural pathways and you soon became capable of most tasks with your “good” hand).  New neural pathways increase the awareness of your passion while at the same time increasing your memory of other facts and ideas about your passion that you’ve already recorded and cataloged.

Once you begin your quest, it is imperitive that you keep a pencil and paper handy at all times.  Keep them with you as you do your research, ride in your car (please stop and pull over to write), or even sleep.  You may find this hard to believe now, but ideas don’t wait for you to get ready and they seldom hang around in your brain’s RAM for very long.  Also, get ready to write a lot.  By focusing on your passion, you will begin to be bombarded with thoughts, ideas and plans for your passion.

to be continued…