Create a plan: It is essential to know what you are going to do before you do it. Doesn't it make sense? Yes, it makes a lot of sense, yet so many people every day do things not knowing what they are doing. They start building a house without a firm foundation. If you asked any of the richest personalities in the world how they became so successful, I am very sure that a part of their answer would be that they had an effective plan of action. In other words, they knew everything they had to do to get what they wanted.
Set deadlines to accomplish what you plan: Besides creating a plan, it is also very important to set deadlines to accomplish each one of your goals described in your plan. In other words, you should always assign final dates to the different goals that you have and not let anything interfere in the completion of these goals by such dates. This will allow you to avoid a mental "disease" that every human being possesses: Laziness!!! That is right. Laziness is a mental "disease" that affects even the richest man in the world. This is why setting deadlines is so important. It is extremely important that you complete them and accomplish them on time. This will determine your success.
Do not waste time: It is important that from this moment on you start accounting for your time. You should consider every day as if it were the last day of your life. Why? Well, if you do this, you would not want to waste any time on things that are not worth spending time on. Do you get my point? Each and every minute of your life should be used in the wisest way possible. Very often I hear people saying that they have no time to do anything other than work and pay the bills. When I hear something like this, I know for sure that they are wasting their time. How do I know this? Very simple; I used to be like them. I used to work 16 hours a day. I did not have any time to do anything other than work, pay my bills, sleep, and have a little family reunion once in a while. Nobody would think that a man working 16 hours a day could be wasting his time. Neither did I. But in reality I was. I was actually wasting 16 hours a day. I was throwing away 16 hours of my life every day. Now I work between 5 to 7 hours a week; the rest of my time is free time. And you know what? I am not wasting any second of it and I am making 300 times the money I was making when I was working 16 hours a day. This is what I mean when I tell you not to waste time.
If you have any contact with negative people, you are going to have to shut them out: There is nothing more frustrating to me than to have a conversation with negative people. They have a negative response to everything I say. Fortunately, I have learned that the best way to deal with them is not to deal with them at all! That is right, and you should do the same. From now on, whenever you notice any negativity in anybody you speak with, get away or simply tell them that you are sorry but you can no longer have any kind of contact with them. It may sound kind of harsh and rude, but believe me, negative people can and will bring you down only by talking to you. Have you ever bought a pair of shoes that you thought were the best, and all of a sudden after some friend of yours tells you that they look really bad, you do not wear them anymore or you feel some kind of shame when you do? This is just a minor example of how negative people can influence you. Imagine what they could do if you let them influence you in your financial life. From now on, do not let negative people get in your way to success. Shut them out!
Stop listening to people unless they are doing better than you: A long time ago I got this idea of getting involved in the stock market. I did not know anything about it (I still don't know much) and therefore I decided to consult a financial advisor whose number I had found in a newspaper. After we talked for a while, he got me really excited! He said that he knew a way of getting $500,000 with just a $125 investment in stocks, but it would cost $2,000 for him to reveal that secret. I found that very strange because if he knew the "secret" to make $500,000 with only $125, why would he be working in a old and ugly office, driving a real mess of a car, and wearing really discolored clothes? I mean, it seemed to me like he was going through a lot of financial difficulties. Anyway, I decided to give it a try. I tried several times what he had told me but it did not work at all. A few months later, I went back to his office. As soon as I got there, I found out that he had closed it because he had gone broke. He had actually filed bankruptcy! Today, I remember that experience and I admit that it was all my fault. I mean, what was I thinking? His office was terribly abandoned, his car looked like it was ready to be thrown away, and yet he was offering me a secret to make $500,000 with a $125 investment. From that day on, I promised myself that I was not going to listen to anybody unless they were doing better than I was. And let me tell you something, it has worked wonderfully! This is the reason why I have included this personal lesson as one of "The Ten Steps To Success." From now on, do not listen to anybody unless they are doing better than you! You can get their opinion, you can hear what they are saying, but you cannot let them influence you. On the other hand, if they are doing better than you, then they probably know a little bit more, they have a little bit better attitude, and they probably have a little more experience.
Have fun: Enjoy what you do. The probabilities are that right now you do not enjoy what you are doing to make a living. To me, that is understandable because I do not believe in working for a living; I believe in working for the fun of working. Does that sound crazy? I am sure it does. Let me explain it to you. Years ago I used to work for a living. I hated it of course, but I had to do it otherwise I was not going to have any food on the table. Today, I work for the fun of working. Sure there are other reasons other than fun (reasons like recognition), but to be honest, if it was not for the fun, I would not work at all. I would probably be traveling the world all year long. But no! Even though I do not need to work anymore, I still do it because I have fun doing so. I am very sure that once you stop working for a living you will realize what I am talking about. Of course to be working for the fun of working, you need to be doing something that is fun doing. This is where the "$ecrets 2 $uccess" come in play. You will soon learn that work can actually be fun! Also, before going to the next step, I would like to tell you what I do to have fun in life: I make it a game! It may sound silly, but if you make life a game, you will have fun at it. If you think of life the same way you would think of a tennis match, you will have great fun at it. I guarantee it!
I know that you are used to the hard life, and the long hours of work. This is why this whole idea of having fun may sound like nonsense to you. Again, do not worry! Once you start experiencing the easy part of life and the 5 to 7 hours of work per week, you will surely realize what having fun in life is all about.
Have a good attitude: A good attitude is worth a billion dollars. Have you ever heard that expression? You should have a good attitude towards anything that you do in life, even towards the things that go wrong and towards your mistakes. Yes, a good attitude even towards your mistakes. I am sure you have been told that you should learn from your mistakes. Have you been told this? Or at least, have you heard this? Well, it is very true. And this is true to anybody in the world. Let me explain something to you. On your way to true wealth, it is very likely that you will make some mistakes. But who doesn't? We all do; we are all human beings; the key is to have a good attitude towards them and to truly learn from them. Personally, I make mistakes everyday, but because of my good attitude, they do not affect me at all. What I try to do is to make a lot more accurate decisions than mistakes. When this happens, I literally feel like I have done everything perfectly even though I have made a few mistakes. This is also what you should do. Once you have this kind of attitude towards life you will notice the change! This is why I urge you to have a good attitude. But do not start tomorrow, or the day after; start RIGHT NOW!
Take care of your health: I am sure you realize how important your health is. Without it, having all the money in the world would be worthless because you would not be able to enjoy it. I have heard so many stories of people who work so hard to accumulate money, and once they become wealthy, they die of a heart attack, or cancer, or are condemned to live in a hospital for the rest of their lives. This is not what you want, nor what I want for you. As I said before, true wealth is about having all the money that you could possibly want in a lifetime along with the time to enjoy it. This is why you should take care of yourself. Do healthy activities; exercise; eat healthy food. I know that you probably do not have the time right now to do all these activities, but hopefully soon you will have it. When you do, please take care of yourself. I know that you and I do not know each other personally, but believe me, the last thing that I want to happen to you or anyone in the world is to get harmed. This is why I urge you to take care of your health and the health of your loved ones.
Stop thinking job: Most of us are taught since we are kids that the rule in life is to have a job. Most of us go to school, then we go to a university or college, we get a degree, and finally we get a job for the rest of our lives (others simply jump from school straight to a job). Are you one of these people? Probably. Do you think this is the right way to live life? If you say yes, you are Wrong! Life is not about a job. There is no way you are ever going to be truly happy with a job; I do not care how good it is. I am sure of this because you cannot be happy when you are working for someone else; you cannot be happy when you have to get to your office or place of work every day at 8 o'clock in the morning or otherwise you will get fired; you cannot be happy when you have to ask your superior for permission to take a week off. I mean, what kind of life is this? Where is the freedom? Where is the happiness? I have to get you out of this way of thinking and living. Believe me, you will not find true wealth with any kind of job, I do not care what it is. The only way you will ever find true wealth is if you are the owner and judge of your actions, and this is only achieved when you become the owner of your business. Stop! I know what you are thinking. You are probably saying: "I need a lot of money and time to have my own business." Relax! The kind of business that I am talking about is not that kind of business that you are used to. It is actually very different and revolutionary. It is a new concept that you probably have not heard of before. As I have been saying, you will have the opportunity to make at least $5,000 a week, week after week, and you will have the opportunity to accomplish this in just 30 days. But I am not going to get into details right now because I am going to tell and teach you in the upcoming chapters everything you need to know about it. For now, I just want you to stop thinking job! You want to be able to go where you want when you want to; you wa nt to be able to work wherever and whenever you feel like working; you want to have the freedom to decide what to do for the rest of your life. There is no way you can do all this if you are stuck to a job. I guarantee it. Therefore, from now on: STOP THINKING JOB!
Do for others: I decided to leave this "step to success" for last not because it is the least important, but because it is the most important of them all. When I help other people, I feel good about myself. Right after I do something for somebody else (it does not matter what it is) and my help is actually effective, I get a feeling of satisfaction and completion almost the same to that feeling that I get when I solve one of my own problems. It is unbelievable! I am not saying this to look good or to impress you. No! That is not my intention at all. I am telling you this to let you know that in order to be able to have a lot of money and be very wealthy, you do not have to be stingy and self-centered. See, some people believe that to become wealthy you have to keep every dollar that you make. They say that selfish and tight people are the only ones with the capacity to become rich because they only care about themselves and no one else. Well, this might apply to some wealthy people. I am not denying that. But I assure you that a good majority of them are not happy at all. They are probably grouchy and mad about life. I can tell you for sure that they do not know what true wealth is all about. You do not want to be that way, do you? Of course not! You want to do for others. And when I say "do for others" I am not only talking in terms of money or possessions. Doing for others could be as simple as helping your neighbour fix his car, or giving a hand to a friend of yours who is moving to a new apartment. Simple things like these could make a great difference in your life. I assure you that your life will be 10 times better.
article by : Bill Bartmann
Contributed by : Jegan
