1)  Don’t Follow The Crowd

Because of the current markets’ volatility many people, reacting from fear, are racing to invest in government type commodities such as Treasury bonds or to the steadfast investment of gold. The smartest time to invest in gold instruments are when they are in a lower valuation not, as they are now, at the top trading price. Gold is currently trading for approximately $1400 an ounce. It would have been a great investment to buy a large amount when it was valued at $300 to $400 per ounce. Government type investments such as bonds are seen as extremely dangerous at this time with the huge debt that our country is burdened with.

As investors we can look where others may be ignoring such as EFTs (Exchange Traded Funds) and technology stocks. Many of these are still being traded far below their value thus they can bring great reward as part of a wise investment planning portfolio for those willing to take a little risk. It is said that steel and industrial production type stocks can be a smart long term holding investment instrument. These may bring the rewards we desire and will show our investing savvy that we didn’t follow the crowd.

2)  Build Multiple Investment Streams

It is common thought that tumultuous economies such as the one we are facing are the worst time to start our own business. However,this is fearful, lack and limitation thinking. The Internet provides us with a multitude of opportunities for building extra income streams. We can provide freelance writing services, ghost write books or offer editing and proofreading to writers. We could offer consulting to others in some field that we are well versed in. These are all excellent opportunities online to add anywhere from 100 to 1000s of dollars per month to our bank account.

A home based business can often be started with very little overhead. There are plenty of millionaires that will attest to the fact that they took their extra time and financial need and built a business that was rewarding and lucrative. Some examples of the types of businesses we can start part time are trash hauling, pet sitting, catering, errand services, child care, house cleaning and gardening. All of these could be started with little start up capital and turn into full time, financially rewarding endeavors.

This type of investing in ourselves is very appealing because most of us dream of being our own boss, working the hours we want and doing the kind of work that we enjoy. This isn’t a pipe dream; it is totally attainable. If we feel a little overwhelmed about how to start a business there is plenty of information for free on the Internet. We have no excuse for not venturing out other than fear or as my mentor calls it, “Chicken heartedness”.

3)  Invest In Real Estate

Because so many bought homes in the real estate bubble in the early years of the 2000s we are seeing the current financial devastation in the real estate market. Foreclosures are at an all time high with people literally walking away from their homes because they realize that they will never get the value out of their homes and they cannot afford to keep on paying the mortgage. There is much speculation about whether we at the bottom or if we will continue to see home values continue to drop.

In this real estate climate it is the perfect time to buy a home for our self or as an investment if we have the the money. When the markets start to recover prices will begin and continue to escalate thereby bringing a good return on investment. As part of our wise investment planning portfolio we want to invest in real estate as one of the most sound instruments available to us. Some are tempted to hold onto their money, stashing it under the mattress but real estate investing is a far superior strategy.

There are entire real estate courses that teach people exactly how to buy distressed (physically or financially) real estate in a market such as the one we are facing and will be for some time yet to come. There are specialist realtors that are savvy in creative ways to purchase distressed homes. They are happy to help us find real estate for our personal home or for our real estate investment portfolio using creative methods. Many times these kind of transactions are a win win scenario for all involved.

The Winning Mindset

What will it take to get us through this nerve wracking financial time? It’s going to take courage and tenacity. Some will, no doubt, lose everything they had. Others will become rich because they are tenacious and use sound investment strategies. Courage is feeling the fear and doing it anyway. We cannot afford to pull the covers over our head and hide if we want to prosper in this economic climate.

To succeed in these troubled waters we’re going to need to make creativity the ship that gets us through. We need to turn off the television and put on our thinking cap to come up with a viable investment strategy. All the bad news on the tv and radio will only raise our anxiety level. We don’t need to sit and listen to the newscasters chew over and over . . . and over the doomsday messages.

The winning mindset is one that can be nurtured with positive messages, books and music. We can choose to fill our brain with inspirational power that can keep us moving forward. I think of it as gasoline for my soul. There are scientific studies that prove that when we are thinking on positive, happy thoughts we have more energy, strengthen our immune system and are more productive. I believe that it is also like preparing fertile ground for the seeds of creative abundance to grow.

Whether we choose real estate investing, our own online or offline business, or stocks as ways to strengthen our financial picture we have the power to rule our own destinies with a wise investment plan. Let’s get started!

We tend to plan for tomorrow, and in many cases do not follow through on those plans. The fact is that the opportunities are there for you to take advantage of today and improve your quality of life far more than simply putting off your smart goals or planning for another day.

Smart goals will guide you to enjoy life and fulfill most of your dreams making them a priority from the moment you get out of bed. Outside of natural occurrences we are able to control our destinies and our own happiness. The point is to plan for a positive day and take note of instances that didn’t quite go your way and rectify them so they do not happen again.

Most people go to work every day and perform their job as is required. How many actually have a good set of strategies in mind to step up and be noticed by pointing out a better way to do something? Maybe it saves the company money and eliminates wasted time. It could also get us noticed, increase our self esteem, maybe even gain a promotion; all because of our desire for improvement.

We simply cannot afford to stand still and wait for life to come to us. Opportunities are there for us to grab and run with. Let’s look at our everyday lives which often consist of waking up, grabbing a bite to eat, going to work, returning home, eating and simply relaxing for the night. It’s very routine and hardly showing up for life; it’s certainly not living life to its fullest or to your potential. We often look forward to the weekend and make social goals and plans we enjoy committing to. Why not do that every day?

The biggest cost of not showing up for life is that one day there will not be a tomorrow to find our inner happiness. So we must go into each day living for that moment. We can find something we want to accomplish that will make us feel good about our self in that free time after work. Maybe it’s spending productive time with children or simply a task we’ve always wanted to do and never made the time. Start that task and work on it daily, each we complete is a step forward and a positive feeling in our life. Keep your smart goals realistic and attainable. We do not need to climb Mount Everest to show up in life. We simply want to bring happiness and success into each and every day of our lives.

The smart goals we choose will be based on your circumstance at this present time. It may be that we have to deal with serious health concerns. In these instances we need to focus on living each day to our best ability. Focus on what we want to accomplish and move forward with it just as we would do if we had perfect health. We certainly do not want to dwell on the negatives when we can direct our energy to enjoying what we do have in our life today.

Focusing on the small things that make our days brighter is a method for getting the most out of our life. We can empower ourselves by setting our goals for those things that bring a smile to our face, make us feel better and most importantly be grateful for each minute that we have in our life. We can be a positive influence for others as well as allowing our life-force to shine through. When we choose to live happy despite rough circumstances others around us feel happy. They appreciate us so much more for our determination to not succumb to the appearance of limitations.

The costs of not showing up for life are immense and we often see them as regrets.  Consider that it is possible to not have these regrets by setting up some smart goals for success and joy and take the time each day to pursue them. Maybe a regret we carry involved a relationship that could have been rich and fulfilling but we let slip away because we waited too long due to fear. Maybe it was an opportunity for a better job that we didn’t pursue because we were
insecure.

A smart, simple success plan is to regularly write in a journal of your life. The reason for this is that we can benefit from the troubled times that we record by reading how we worked through it all years later. Likewise,we can reflect on happier times when we are in the messy parts of our life.

As mentioned above, we always plan for tomorrow but in many cases tomorrow never comes when it involves those plans and it is time that is lost, a smile that never was and an accomplishment that will never be. For these reasons alone, smart goals can be a life changer.

The main point here is to be positive; view life as though there is nothing wrong with the right now. This will empower us to make the best of any situation. We will probably find, as we journal, that we make note of lessons learned that we
don’t want to repeat.

Some points to remember as we build the smart goals for a fulfilling life are:

1) Focus on the good in life no matter what kind of day we think we’re having;
2) Take advantage of every good opportunity that shows up for us;
3) Make the best of the time we are given every hour of every day.

These will lead us to success, happiness and a better quality of life. All of these also play a role in how we are perceived by others. They will see us as strong and determined when we are basically just appreciating what we have each moment. When we start accepting life as a boring routine we stop showing up for life.

We never have to fear the need to change your direction as some things happen that will detour you from what you desire. We simply want to keep moving forward with our smart success goals and adjust accordingly to make the best of what we are given. By choosing to live this way we will not suffer the sad cost of not showing up for our life.

Living a well-balanced life is the best success plan for happiness. The reason is simple: if we only concentrate on business (being a typical example) we could find our family life falls flat, which will, eventually, impact our business and every area of our lives.

Therefore, let’s look at some of the procedures we’ll want to apply as a part of a successful life strategy. To best address this, we can take a seat and consider everything we could want in our lifetime.  We can begin envisioning our life as we want it to be as though the future date is right now, today.

Notice I’ve stated that we have to envision our life as though we currently have everything we desire; right now in this moment. It is far superior to act as if it is all already happening today than to wish and hope that it will, maybe, happen at some future date. This is a verified method to assist our subconscious mind to acknowledge the vision we desire to be fact; something we can accomplish.

The idea I am conveying about our life success strategy is comparable to this example. If we adhere to this guide we’ll arrive at our desired target; our life as we want it to be. It’s about taking actions within a rational order, but not falling in the trap of insisting all of it will be perfect. This will frequently result in procrastination; putting things off. There are many people with fantastic ideas which were never perfect that never got accomplished. They got stuck in the paralysis of analysis.

Which side on the success fence would you like to sit on? Strategy is definitely about planning as well as taking action.
We can find straightforward life strategies, which are effective and not too hard to set into practise, for accomplishing our desired life purpose.
Some of us today find that we’re living a life we would prefer to not be living while understanding that there’s much more available to us. Naturally we want our lives to be satisfying and enjoyable. And thus we can envision all this as being so right now.

I was fortunate to meet a plumber in the neighborhood home improvement store recently and could not really believe my own ears! He informed me that there’s absolutely nothing he enjoys greater than repairing clogged toilet piping; the dirtier the work the better!

Right here was a Dad of young kids, very content as he found his purpose in everyday life. You see? This individual was fulfilled, inspired and enthusiastic; very excited about exactly what he was doing with his life. It’s that kind of inner pleasure we need to strive for in everything we do.

Another factor in our life success strategy is to determine what works the best for us individually. We can become familiar with ourselves throughout to find what lights us up the most. We can evaluate our own attitude. If it’s negative then we’ll come across other people that are the same way. We need to focus on ourselves. We need to become more receptive and positive. By holding the vision of the desired end result ever present, we actually magnetize it to become reality.

There is also the consideration that our choices may be determined by factors such as our individual personality traits. This would include the amount of tolerance that we have for individuals and obstacles that we encounter. We need to be honest with ourselves. Do we truly enjoy being around individuals or not? This one thing will confirm where we need to be in relation to our current working environment.

For optimal happiness in our success strategy we ought to discover what is the scenario that is most enjoyable for us to operate in. If we are an outgoing people person then we can pursue a career that suits us. If we’re a loner then we can select something in which we can have minimal interaction with other people.

We can do a simple exercise to assess our weaknesses and strengths by sitting down with a notebook and jotting down things that summarize our life experience. We may include everything we know already and then arrive at precisely what might appeal to us.

If we’re proficient at conversing and interacting with people (extroverted) we could consider work in sales, negotiations, public relations, people training and management. Or if we find that we enjoy working with our self without the necessary interaction with others we could choose work in the research, development, book keeping or engineering fields.

In choosing a happy life strategy we would also want to look at whether we want safety and security in our career or are we prepared to take risks? In our notebook we can create a list of the ideas that we carry around in our head; have a real brainstorming session about what makes us feel fully alive and excited.

We should also re-read them several times, add and take off items in the process right up until we ultimately arrive at a “shortlist”. This could take a number of weeks or perhaps months to achieve. There is no need to rush it.
It all boils down to focusing on our own interests testing our self by trying various things. The concept is for us to go out and get motivated; get busy! Have a look at a multitude of topics, be curious about exactly what other individuals are doing, see what is accessible. Then we can gauge our own personal reaction to what other people are busy with. Begin using these life success strategies for discovering your own life objective to get yourself to the point of obtaining our own inner desire for our happy life.

Instead of spending your lunch time re-hashing all the bad luck of the morning, spend it thinking about the happiness of the good luck you had. These things don’t catch our attention because they don’t pose a problem we need to address. We have to seek them out and make an effort to focus attention on them.  Maybe your kids brought home a good report card; you didn’t catch that cold going around the office; the traffic light turned green just as you approached; or the first bloom on your rose bush opened this morning. Let these things hold your attention.
This is a way of living, a way of thinking. If you practice it regularly you will find it’s a great help when the not-so-small problems pop up. A friend of mine was in a motorcycle accident a few years ago and broke his foot. About a year later he injured his shoulder in an on the job accident. Several months after that, he was in a car accident resulting in a minor concussion.

When I commented on his bad luck, he responded by asking what bad luck I was talking about. “Three times in the past two years I could have been killed. I’m alive and fully recovered – I call that good luck!” This small comment really made me realize how much the theory that life is mostly perspective applies even in serious cases.
For many people, the most difficult time to find happiness is when grieving. If you have lost someone you love, it doesn’t seem like there is an ‘upside’. The little good things don’t seem to matter. Yet, this is also the situation when the power of happiness is at it’s greatest. There is a reason you miss this person so much. You had good times; you still have good memories.

Don’t let your thoughts of your dearly departed focus on what you have lost, but what you have gained. Imagine if you had never known this person. Think of all the joy, all the love, all the good memories you would have missed out on. By far the most inspirational speech I heard at a funeral was along these lines. The speaker said “I will not speak of loss, but of gain. The world is a better place and we are all better people for the time we were blessed with my good friend. I will not mourn – I will celebrate the life and legacy of my good friend.”
In any situation, never underestimate the power of happiness. It can turn a cloudy day sunny, and turn bad luck into good. It can take you from simply existing to truly living. Most of all, never underestimate your own power to create happiness.

Happiness is a conscious choice, however it is not a switch you can flip. You can read all the ‘words of wisdom’ this world has to offer. Yet you still can’t go to bed a miserable person and wake up a happy one. It is like going on a diet – it takes effort or it won’t work and if you don’t change your eating habits, the weight will come right back. In the same manner, if you don’t work on being happy you won’t be, and if you don’t change your thinking habits the unhappiness will come right back.
As unpleasant as it is, unhappiness is easy – because it’s a habit. When we focus on the negative and expect the worst it becomes a habit. When we focus on the positive and expect the best, that becomes a habit. Every time you catch yourself thinking something negative, or dwelling on something that makes you unhappy counteract it. Deliberately think of something positive. Make a point of focusing your mind on something that will make you happy. Before long, it becomes a habit.
Certainly there will be times when happiness eludes you. Grief, anger, fear, and sadness are natural emotions. They are unavoidable, and at times healthy. However, it is never unavoidable nor healthy to wallow in these kinds of emotions. The darkest moments of your life need not be more than just that – moments.
A successful businesswoman in my town was asked her secret to success. She replied “…by finding an opportunity in everything. When our company meets a challenge, we turn it to our advantage in some way even if it’s a small advantage. That way, we always win.” This same principle can be applied in life just as easily as in business.
Crisis and tragedy are moments in a lifetime. They pass; they are not the everyday normal. However, the darkness you feel in these moments can become a normal that caries with you if you allow it. On the other hand, if you have the happy habit, your mind will naturally gravitate back to the normal lightness as those dark moments fade.
There is an expression ‘remember – it could always be worse’.

While this may sound like a cliché, it is good words to live by.  One of my best friends was trapped in an oppressive, abusive marriage with a cruel and controlling man for years. When she finally decided to end it, she fell into a depression for several months. Although it seemed she should be happy, she said that she couldn’t quit mourning the years of her life she had lost, and she didn’t even know how to be free after living under his thumb for so long.
When my friend seemed to turn a corner rather suddenly I was surprised.

She began gaining confidence, dating again, and seemed to be taking pleasure in life for the first time since before her marriage. When I inquired what had made the difference, she said it was the national news. After watching a story about women in a horribly, violently repressive third world country she kept thinking what if she had been born there.

What if she had never known freedom before her marriage; what if atrocities worse than she suffered were acceptable and legal; what if there had been no escape… “My heart broke for these women” she said “Seeing the opportunities they don’t have, suddenly made me see what opportunities I do have.” It’s all a matter of perspective, and a choice to see the happiness and light, or see the dark in your life.

If, as in the example used above, you’ve decided to exercise five days a week for forty five minutes are you someone that will throw that decision out the window when a work project comes up that will demand more of your time? Or will you simply be persistent and adjust your schedule so you can exercise and get the new tasks accomplished? Will you approach your exercise time with enthusiasm, (showing intensity) which is energizing, or with a gloomy attitude, which is energy draining.

Let’s look at three question that are pertinent to this discussion:

Q. Can we be motivated by some one else?
Q. Is motivation an internal drive or caused externally?
Q. How can we find greater motivation when we are feeling uninspired?

There really are no set answers to these questions because we are all individuals and our motivation factors vary both externally and intrinsically (internally). One of us might be super motivated to create a successful family so this will form our main external activities. The inner belief system causes us to make a decision (an activation) to put forth the extreme effort (persistence) with intensity to be successful in our goals for a happy family.

Another individual may be mainly motivated by making large amounts of money. Everything else will pale in comparison to this decision, even to the expense of the happy family life that the previous person chose. We are mostly driven by internal factors which are partially part of our core personality or temperament and partly due to the experiences we have had in life. There isn’t a right or wrong on these internal motivations; they just are.

We may learn by trial and error that our natural motivations need to be tempered or adjusted and then we get to start the three part process all over again: activation, persistence and intensity. Our lives really are a series of this equasion repeated over and over again throughout time. An example of this might be the person who is so motivated to make money that his family feels abandoned by him/her so they threaten to leave. In this case, a dramatic shift may happen because external influences are threatening the internal motivation.

We humans are so much the same as one another and yet so different. External factors that motivate some individuals can be reward based including (but not limited to) praise, trophies, social acknowledgement and monetary gain. These, when paired up with a strong internal drive of motivation can cause someone to step into their full potential. Funny enough, though, some people so what they do simply because they feel the inner joy of accomplishing the task. These individuals often don’t care what others think.

So, again we ponder the question, “What is motivation?” As we have seen it is not a question we can give an exact answer to because of all the human variables involved. There are times in our lives that we must pull our self aside and have a heart searching session to find out what our current motivations are now. As our lives change through different phases what motivates us can change drastically. It is a good thing to be in touch with why we are doing what we are doing.

While there aren’t necessarily “good” or “bad” motivations there are positive and negative motivators. We can be very excited to work a little extra to provide holiday presents for our loved ones. The motivation here is giving; it’s a good feeling. We can also be pushing ourselves to accomplish something out a fear motivation. When we act out of fear rather than joy we feel more drained from the effort put out. Life is much happier lived looking forward to something that will make us fulfilled than it is dreading what will happen if we don’t do something.

Consider how you feel when you are studying something that you are passionate about. Time flies when you are involved in the topic. You can’t wait to get back to your studies and you wish you could continue when it’s time to end your session. This is a far cry different than studying something because you have to in order to get a degree in a college or to get a certain job.
To strengthen our motivation we need to look at what we feel passionate about; what is really important to us. Deciding what we want as a goal having to do with this passion is the next step. The mindset has to be that we know we can accomplish this goal. It must be attainable. Then we simply start brainstorming all the different parts and details of this passionate goal you’ve just set. I like to do my brainstorming on paper. I just start scribbling words, ideas and activities willy nilly without worrying about things being orderly. I go back later and put some order to it all. I like to call it my motivation map.

There are times when I have lost my motivation. It feels like being lost in a forest and not knowing how to get out. In these times my various motivation maps have come in handy. They help me remember why I have been doing what I’ve chosen. Sometimes an inner enthusiasm starts to simmer up inside as I am reminded of the reasons I chose the path I’m on. This can be enough for me to stir up my intensity and make a new motivation map and approach my life with new vigor.

“We don’t take time to sharpen the saw!” he told his students. He says it’s not “To be or not to be”, it’s 3B or not 3B. The three B’s that are vital for building a successful life in every area are: body, brain, being.

We are the tool that is building our lives. If we don’t take care of the sharpness of ourselves it’s like trying to cut our way through the jungle of life with a dull butter knife. Our effectiveness in this world relies upon our body, brain and being. Robert Allen asked his audience, “Have you ever been too busy driving to stop for gas?”  This brought the concept of living first things first into clear focus for me.

There is a brilliant exercise to illustrate this first things first concept. I will briefly describe it but you can watch the amusing and clever video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-VDxKLSyksI . You have in front of you a large bucket, some large rocks, gravel and sand. If you want to get it all in the bucket you’ve got to have the right strategy. Placing the big rocks into the bucket first, then filling in some of the gaps with the gravel and then finally adding the sand will get the job done.

The big rocks in the video are labeled with important parts of our lives such as family, meditation and prayer, service, our partner, and vacation. A life well lived will include all of these. Then the gravel and sand signify all the lesser important things (in comparison to the big rocks) that must be done in our lives. Many of us get bogged down in the small stuff of life and then don’t have time for the vitally important big stuff.

The main question we need to ask ourselves then is “what are the things we focus on the most?” This is perhaps the most vital element we need to determine, since our focus determines our actions. If one really wants to get things done properly, the most important thing is to bring awareness to what matters most.

The problem is that, most often, we cannot even identify what makes up the gravel and sand of our lives. We go on consuming ourselves with stress and trivial thoughts when there could be so many amazing things that we could achieve. Our power gets lost in the confusion.

Imagine how much you could get done in only 10 minutes of the time you invest in worrying or feeling reproachful about any past actions.

Of course, this doesn’t mean we have to stop thinking about the past or future altogether, since, after all, we can’t really function without a sharp memory or clear planning. The problem, however, is that we often focus so much on what the outcome could be or what things could have been like that we forget where our ultimate power lies: in the present moment. By prioritizing and taking care of the 3 B’s we can stay focused on the important rather than the urgent.

The rock exercise is meant to teach us just that. The seeds of the things we want so dearly to achieve such as happiness, wealth or inner peace actually depend on the everyday decisions that we make at a mental level. “Sharpening the saw” simply means that we need to become better in order to achieve better things, but we rarely realize what this entails. It starts first of all with the attitude we have towards ourselves.

Many people say “well I just can’t do this or that because I have so many things to worry about and focus on that I really don’t have the time.” However, time is what we make of it, and the only actual obstacles that stand in the way of the happiness and fulfillment we seek are the limitations we set upon ourselves. It’s not so much the planning that counts, but the state in which people find themselves when they plan their lives.

A positive state of mind has to come from within. You can’t wait for the world to become favorable before you start working on the things you want, because the world changes in its own pace. Thus, the key to success is to set aside the things that bother you and simply move forward focusing on what you want to do.

It is very important to realize that this is not ignorance. The world will not stop and nothing bad is going to happen simply because you take your mind off things for a little while. What will happen instead is that you will have more clarity than ever and perhaps this will help you shed a bit of light on what the possibilities really are. This is getting your priorities straight so you can get to your power and passion.

So, empty your mind of all the gravel and sand that would hinder you in organizing the most important stones you have in your life. Some people do this through meditation, prayer or yoga, but the truth is that even just sitting down for a few minutes and doing something seemingly unimportant like listening to a beautiful song or playing with your pet can get you into that state of inner power.

The important thing here is to stop figuring things out and allow an ounce of that innate intuition to sneak through. This is your passion bubbling up. However unlikely it may seem, this is when your best ideas come to the surface, showing you the very best way in which you can organize all your plans to make them perfectly synchronized with everything that is happening around you.

Everything will start making sense once you put these ideas into practice, and the confidence that you will gain from the positive experiences that follow will help you get everything done so much faster than you even thought possible.  At times you might even think back and say “how could I have been so worried about all of that? I never realized that it would be so easy.” This is the beauty of prioritizing your life to access your passion and inner power.

However, the thing that will give you the most satisfaction is that you know it wasn’t easy but you did it anyway. You will start to realize that there is really nothing you cannot do because all the secrets and answers are right in front of you, should you choose to simply look at them. You can become the sculptor of your own life, molding even the toughest stones into any shape you want and turning the world into a crystal-clear reflection of your most beautiful dreams. Start with putting first things first.

I talk to so many young people (and older people) that speak in such apathetic, pessimistic tones and views. I find it sad in the face of a world so full of opportunity. While it is true that many are going to go to or are in college they are doing it as a means to an end not because their hearts are in it. They aren’t inspired with a heart dream. They think that a college degree will give them the income that they want.

In much the same way many individuals work their lives away doing things they don’t enjoy just to have a paycheck. Mary Kay Ash was going to college to become a doctor but she realized that her real passion and talent was in sales. She quit her education to follow her heart. She advanced to the position of sales director but then was continuously passed over for promotions whcih went to men that she had skillfully trained. In those days men were the ones that got the big positions.

The world was a different place back when Mary Kay was starting her cosmetics company. She didn’t let gender bias stop her from achieving great things. Many of us get stopped in following our dreams because we feel the deck is stacked against us. We may feel that failure is inevitable so why even bother trying. This is the mindset of lack and limitation. We truly can accomplish whatever we want but we must have a winners mindset; that being that we will handle whatever comes up on our road to success no matter what it is. Hugely successful people identify a problem and find a way to overcome it.

The first step for Mary Kay was in starting to write a book which evolved into a business plan for her dream cosmetics company. When we take the first step in following our dream it always leads us to the next step. Sometime it is something we didn’t see coming. Mary Kay started her business with her son, Richard Rogers having only $5000. She operated in a small store in Texas with nine sales consultants. A tiny start up ended up with almost $200,000 profit the very first year.

Passion and tenacity equal power in realizing our goals. Mary Kay’s success won her an interview on 60 Minutes which caused her business to skyrocket even further. Mary Kay Cosmetics became a household word and her trademark bonus for her stellar consultants, the pink Cadillac, could be seen on city streets everywhere. Her sales consultants followed her coaching and became a loyal tribe committed to her vision of caring for people and providing excellent products.

When we look at why Mary was so hugely successful in building a giant sales force we find that it was because she treated people honorably and kindly. People felt that she really did care about them. Her consultants were mostly home makers that wanted to be part of a big vision. These women believed in Mary Kay and her “You can do it!” motto. They believed in themselves because of her zeal.

There are some great lessons to be learned here for us:
1) Truly caring for the people we serve is the best sales tool;
2) Our enthusiasm for our product can be contagious and cause our product/service to go viral;
3) Following our dream and taking the first step can take us to levels of success we only imagined

When we start our business we may have the idea that the people that work for us are serving us. Having a heart attitude of caring for those that work with/for us can cause people to care about us, our vision and our product more than if we are detached and strictly business minded. Mary Kay saw into the hearts of the women who wanted to achieve success; she had been there. She helped thousands of women to believe that they were more than their circumstances. It is because of this caring attitude that she went from nine sales people to over 1.6 million consultants today.

Having passion and enthusiasm for our product or service is a vital key to success. This is why it’s important to create or choose a product to market that is close to our heart. Picking something to market simply because it can make us money isn’t a good plan. Enthusiam is contagious and people crave that kind of excitement. People want to believe in good things so when we are bubbling over with passion about what we believe in they want to be a part of it.

So many people live their whole lives carrying a dream inside their heart but never following that dream. Success requires action to move us forward. Mary Kay could have given up when she saw that men had it better in the work place. Instead she created a plan that gave hundreds of thousands of women around the world the opportunity to realize their financial goals. I’m sure she didn’t expect her actions to manifest in such huge proportions but she took the first step and then the next one. This is what successful people do Mary Kay Ash is one of the world’s outstanding entrepreneurs showing how to successfully build a huge empire from scratch. She will be held dear in the hearts of millions around the world because she created new opportunities for women to realize their financial dreams.

“Fortune magazine recognized Mary Kay Inc. with inclusion in “The 100 best companies to work for in America.” The company was also named one of the best 10 companies for women to work. Her most recent acknowledgements were the “Equal Justice Award” from Legal Services of North Texas in 2001, and “Most Outstanding Woman in Business in the 20th Century” from Lifetime Television in 1999″   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Kay_Ash

There are many real estate professionals that work mainly with real estate investors. These people can be a good resource in this market. They know the numbers and the best deals in their area. Even with prices at rock bottom people can hurt themselves by purchasing properties unadvised.

There is money to be made in any economy. Some markets are best for investing in buy and hold properties such as the one we’re in right now. At other times it is possible to make large amounts of money quickly by buying ugly houses, refurbishing them and then sell or renting them. This method is called “flipping”.  It is hard these days to find a house with enough equity to make this kind of technique profitable. This is why it is better to have a longer term strategy such as holding the property until the market recovers.

Some real estate investors have made the mistake of spending too much of their disposable income too quickly in properties. It is vital to research the best deals around and to only spend that amount that you wouldn’t be hurt by if you lost it. Reflect on which properties are most appealing to you. Different investors have niches that they enjoy more than others.

Beginner real estate investors sometime think that they would like to have rental properties . . . until they find out there is a lot of work involved in the responsibility of being a landlord. There are calls at all hours of the day and night to take care of repairs. There are difficult tenants that don’t pay their rent on time or destroy your property. It takes some thick skin to be a good landlord. This should be considered carefully when thinking of investing in real estate rentals.

Real estate investing is probably a more lucrative investment than Treasury bonds or gold right now. It is always the wisest investment strategy to buy when the market is at it’s lowest price. Gold has skyrocketed in price but many still continue to buy, even at outrageous rates, because gold has proven itself to be a solid investment over time. Treasury bonds are not an aggressive investment vehicle. The returns are lower than other more lucrative investments. However, some people still see them as the safest of all investments to be had.

Some people will choose safe rather than the higher risk/ higher return on investments. Unfortunately fear can overcome a wise investment plan. It is good to take calculated risks after doing all of our due diligence. The greater the risk is usually the greater the reward. It is to make a solid investment plan with the aid of a skilled investment advisor. Taking a steady, precise course, rather than racing  out foolishly to buy something simply because the market is so low. Bad purchases can still be made which will take years, maybe decades, to overcome.

Consider all the tools at your fingertips: real estate investing books, audio series, courses, investment counselors, mortgage specialists and the internet are all here to help us be self educated and empowered. Successful people always do their research diligently so they can make wise choices rather than impulsive ones. Surrounding yourself with powerful information can help you maintain a winner’s mindset that will set you up for success. This is time better spent than watching mindless tv shows. Successful people use every minute they can to make sure they are “lucky”.

Luck is nothing more than being properly prepared when the right opportunity comes around. The smartest people were saving a large portion of their money when times were strong in our economy. This is called having foresight. Theses peole practiced the powerful law of delayed gratification. They did without even though they could have spent more money because they know that what goes up must come down. These investors know that this economy can set them up for a lifetime of healthy profits and a pleasurable retirement.

In times like these it is an excellent opportunity for young people to purchase their first home. The best place to start in forming a strong real estate portfolio is to find the home you will want to live in to weather out this storm. Buying smart may even turn this cozy home into a long term real estate investment years down the line.

Take advantage of this prime real estate market if you have been one of the wise ones to ferret money away. With the proper guidance of real estate professionals you can help yourself build strong financial wealth which will stand the test of time.

Successful people always write their visions, goals and timelines. They have an accurate history recorded that shows them if they are hitting the mark that they aspire to.  Even lists that have chores crossed off can be a guiding time management tool. We can feel like we aren’t getting anywhere and yet we’re working all the time. We can check with our journal and see what we’re doing with our time. Maybe we need to find a way to delegate the trivial tasks so we can tackle the things we are best at that must be done.

What is true time management? There are some things that just aren’t worth our time. So when we make our list we should include everything that is urgent and mundane. If work requires more of our energy right now then it might be a good idea to hire someone to do our gardening or housework. The key time management strategy is to discern what is worthy of our time. Maybe everything on the list won’t get done today. The things that don’t get done can be moved to tomorrow’s list.

Maybe we’ll see from reviewing our journal at the end of the week that we spent valuable time watching television instead of taking care of important things that need to be done by us. It may seem like stress relief to sit and veg out but in reality we are adding to our stress level because thos urgent things left undone are rattling around in our head while we are trying to distract ourselves. The best stress buster is knowing that we are taking care of ourselves and our responsibilities.

Can we really do more in less time? Richard Koch, in his book, “The 80/20 Principle” says it is possible by finding the 20% of your time when you get 80% of the necessary tasks done. He approaches the time management challenge by going to the heart of the matter. He compares quality time with quantity time. By living a life that is filled what we really enjoy doing we feel more satisfied and productive.

Maybe it’s very important to you to pick up the kids from school and spend some time with them. This is an example of something that might not be productive at work but it is something that will make your heart glad, you will feel happy and then you will be able to get all the rest of the “must do’s” done feeling like you are truly living not just doing.

The stress and ineffectiveness we often feel in our day/week is because so much of what we do isn’t pointing in the direction of what we want to accomplish. This is why a journal is vital to help us navigate our lives. From time to time we all need to sit down with ourselves and evaluate what is working and what isn’t. If we’re crabby with our children or mate because we distracted with undone tasks it is defeating the purpose of what we say we want. Most of us are working to give ourselves and our families the kind of lifestyle that is comfortable and secure.

Time management tips include:
**Knowing why we’re doing something because this will help us to keep a healthy perspective on our activities.
**Plan to succeed and keep a roadmap of how you want to get “there” and the course you’ve taken so far.
**Make time a family event. Helping our children to be disciplined in how they use their time can be one of the      greatest  tools we give them.
**Don’t be afraid to delegate activities that drain you of valuable mental and physical energy.
**Get real with yourself; what is really important to you?

One smart businessman I know sat his family down one weekend and told them why he had impatient with them. He let them help him re-plan his day so he could have more time to spend quality time with them. The children all agreed to be ready for breakfast at a certain time so they could start their day off together. They also agreed to get most of their homework done before he got home from work so they could go do something fun, if only to take a walk together. The family sat down and made a chore schedule and made plans for a special event together each month. By doing this the whole family felt more connected and like they had some common goals  they could work on as a team.

We have one chance to do this life. If we are doing something we enjoy and we do it well it is going to make a difference in our mental happiness and quality of life. Knowing why we’re doing something gives us the feeling of purpose. When we are living according to our life purpose we feel gratified and energetic. Time management strategies simply empower us to run a steady course to accomplish what’s already in our hearts.

“Live like you were dying” is an inspiring song by Tim McGraw, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XiOcW_YR1G8, that talks about what one man did when he found out that his life was coming to an end soon. How would we choose to live; what would be important; what would we regret we hadn’t done in our lives if we knew we just had a short time to live. That’s how we should be living instead of being afraid of the “what if’s.”

Sometimes it’s hard to follow your heart but what is the cost if we don’t? Steve Jobs didn’t finish college because he felt there was nothing in it for him. He was taking classes because he had to in order to get a degree. He chose to follow his gut, his intuition, to find his path in life. He said, “I want to put a ding in the universe.” in an article on www.Macstories.net. By doing that one thing, not always a simple thing, he evolved into a man that changed the world and ended up one of its richest men.

Becoming rich isn’t the highest motivator for us to pursue our dreams. Steve Jobs did what he did because he loved it. He didn’t settle for what everyone else thought was a good life path. He found other brilliant people to work with and they spurred each other onward to the magical vision they saw in their hearts. Having abundant wealth can make our lives easier and give us more choices but it is not an indicator of happiness.

The road to becoming a legend in his own time wasn’t always a smooth one for Steve Jobs, When he was only thirty years old he was fired from Apple, the company that he had co-founded. He said in an interview for the CBS show “60 Minutes”, http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504803_162-20116402-10391709.html, that it was a humiliating time for him. He wanted to move away and hide. Instead he moved into the mentality that now he had the opportunity to start something new and exciting; that he could learn new things.

It was in the years that followed that Steve took over the computer graphics division of Lucasfilm Ltd, which became Pixar Animation Studios. Pixar has been the innovators in cgi (computer generated images) producing some of the greatest animation (cgi) movies in history such as Toy Story. There is a wonderful example here for us to learn from. When life knocks us down we can sit and cry and give up or we can figure out what we want to do with ourselves next.

Steve started a company called “Next” that produced a NeXTstep system as a programming environment standard called OpenStep. Openstep became a “prominent early example of a web server based on dynamic page generation rather than static content.” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NeXT  The Mac OS X system is based on this Onestep system. (And let’s note here that Microsoft is simply a different spin off from the Apple Mac.) Here, again, we see the unfolding of events that started with Steve Jobs doing what he loved and following his heart.

“… You can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something – your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life.” – Steve Jobs in his Stanford University commencement address , June 2005. http://www.stanford.edu.

We never know where our intuition will lead us down the road but when we look back we can see clearly that one thing lead to another and then another which lead to even more opportunity. This can only happen if we choose to feel the fear and do it anyways. When we focus on the passion of what we love it all becomes rather simple. Steve put it this way, “That’s been one of my mantras – focus and simplicity. Simple can be harder than complex: You have to work hard to get your thinking clean to make it simple. But it’s worth it in the end because once you get there, you can move mountains.” – Business Week, 1998.

Steve’s follow your heart quotes can become mantras for us to live like we are dying every day of our lives, however long that is. In his commencement address in 2005 at Stanford, before he knew that the cancer he had been fighting would claim his life, Steve told the audience that “death is very likely the single best invention of life. It is life’s change agent.” The benefit of death, he said, is you know not to waste life living someone else’s choices.”

“Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition.”

How often have we done that in our lives; listened to others rather than listen to our own inner voice? It is entirely possible that if we were to follow our heart we could make a significant difference in this world. Living like we are dying can become a wonderful gift to our mental outlook. In Steve’s words, “Remembering that I’ll be dead soon is the most important tool I’ve ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything – all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure – these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important.”

The world will never be the same because of this brilliant innovator who followed his intuition. I will miss him. My eyes get misty as I sit typing away at my laptop. I feel his brave and beautiful spirit. Thank you so much for your gifts to us Steve and for following your heart.