So many of us are guilty of letting our financial affairs slip past us because we always feel there are better things to do with our precious free time than to come to grips with our finances or plan a long-overdue life or career change.

Sometimes we are too busy doing our job that we forget the end goal – i.e., making some real money and constantly letting it grow to a point where our income exceeds our expenses. Instead, many prefer to stick to the 9-to-5 routine.

Lots of people work to live – and frankly speaking, without these people, the rich could not get richer. This does not mean that the workers are being exploited; it just means that since they choose to invest their time and energy in 9-to-5 jobs to work for wages, then there will always be other smarter people who see the opportunity and become prosperous – simply because they have their heads up and could see farther.

If you have to have a job and to go to work from 9 till 5 each day, it makes sense that you work to earn as much money as you can and want.

If you love your job but it cannot make you rich even if you stick to that job until your retirement, then you need to create a strategy for wealth creation that doesn’t rely on that ‘day job’ income.

Although you love your job and love what you do, if you want wealth, you need to be sure that you are not just doing the job you love and neglect to work out how you are going to get wealthy doing it, or consider other actions or strategies you need to implement to get a second income or alternative revenue generator.

If you are unhappy with your pay and/or hate your job, then you have to ask yourself why you are still doing it. The worst scenario is that you are not happy with your job and you are still busy doing it, causing you to reason out that you don’t have time to create a plan that will bring you to a life of greater prosperity and happiness. While you’ve got your head down earning a living, many opportunities may pass over your head which you’ll never get to see. Imagine waking up one day in ten years’ time and realizing that many opportunities have already passed you by. As a popular quote goes, “People can be divided into three groups: Those who make things happen, those who watch things happen, and those who wonder what happened.”

I like to talk about this topic. Like what I said in my previous post, anyone can be rich, even if you start late, say, at your 70s. Money does not know how old you are. It is whether you want it or not that matters.

There was an article in The Straits Time Singapore about the 70-year-old man named Mr. Lim. He was the one who started The Emporium Group, which was once Singapore’s best-known supermarket chain. He went bankrupt at 65 during an economic meltdown, re-started at 72, and “made it” at 82, and retired rich – with millions to his name. At age 72, many would have died or would’ve been half-dead, but Mr. Lim still pursued his dream despite his bankruptcy 10 years prior. The media referred him as “The Comeback Kid”.

Wal-Mart founder Sam Walton opened his first Wal-Mart Superstore at the age of 44. He turned the simple store, selling branded goods at low prices, to a huge billion-dollar giant with hundreds of stores across North America. Born in 1918, Walton died in 1992 at the age of 75, going down in history as the world’s second richest man, next only to Bill Gates.

KFC founder Colonel Harland Sanders started his search for wealth at the ripe old age of 65. In fact, his success did not come easy. Sanders did not have business skills – he only had the secret recipe. He thought of selling his recipe to a restaurant chain and asking for a share of the profits. His quest was a failure at the beginning. It was his determination that helped him finally get a restaurant to buy his recipe and have a joint venture with him. In fact, his formula for success was going door-to-door, selling his plans and his recipe to the owners. He got rejection after rejection. It is said that the old man got 1000+ rejections before he successfully landed a buyer.

However, if you think it is too late for you to start any business, you are probably right. That’s why THOUGHT is the first thing that the movie, The Secret and the book, The Science of Getting Rich stressed as an important step. If you think you are lost, old and have no more chance, you are probably right. If you think you can still do it, you are right, too. It is your THOUGHT that you begin your journey with.

Just shift your focus and your thoughts – it’s never too late. Just remember my previous post about the word “thought” in Chinese, which is “xiang’.

This mindset I want to push across does not contradict with my earlier post, “Penny Wise, Pound Foolish”. By the way, you should live within your means, but live well enough to be happy. If you don’t earn enough to have a nice luxury car to drive, then drive a simple Korean-made car. If you can’t earn enough to drive a car, then, don’t own a car; take public transport.

This mindset is about being informed and in control. The biggest mistake is not knowing what you are doing, where you are financially, and what is up ahead. Know your profile, know what you want and what the profile said you can do, and act on it with plans, goals and determination. If you have not analysis your profile, please do so.

The Jar Money Management system from T. Harv, again, could help you kick the bad habit of ‘spending more than you earn’. In the money management concept of T. Harv, you are supposed to put aside money for savings, education, etc. and a budget for spending on your pleasure and the things you want to enjoy. It helps you to plan, and slowly but surely, you will adopt the discipline of spending your money wisely. You will start to develop the habit of knowing what you are doing and where you are financially. Isn’t this habit a habit that we all find in public corporations and companies? Yes, we all need to be accountable to ourselves. If we are not accountable to ourselves, how can we be able to look after a huge organization? The habit starts within ourselves; i.e., managing ourselves.

Some people tell me this: “But you see, I do not have the skills and education like you have do, to earn enough money.” I say this is bullshit If you have that mindset of not finding a way to earn more, you will not have more.

There are many ways to earn more:
1. Educate yourself by learning new and more skills that can help you generate more money.
2. Have a second stream of income, such as MLM, Internet Marketing, and more; this can be done after office hours.
3. See if you can JV with some of your family members to start some businesses. They can be full time, and you support them part-time – like on weekends.

I see people complaining that they don’t have enough time to do my suggested method above, and yet they spend lots of time wandering around pubs, loitering in the streets, drinking away, wasting time. I guess they do not have the needed motivation. So, getting rich is a decision…a mindset you need to cultivate. Once this is in your mind, and your desire and passion are in your body, you are on your way to success –regardless of whether you have money now or not.

Before we make any important decision, knowledge and analysis are keys. Therefore, it is important to act fast when making a decision. When a decision is made, MAKE IT RIGHT! Call it determination. Once you know yourself and your wealth dynamic path, chances are, you can make quick and good decisions and strategies. When you know yourself well and you have designed your wealth path and you know you are extremely passionate about it, you will become a powerhouse and are unstoppable. So, you will Make The Decision Right.

Making the Right Decision

Tony Robbins said, “Decisions shape our destiny.” Decision-making is so important that if we make a wrong decision, sometimes, we may suffer for life. And yet, making decisions are necessary in life. In some cases, we have to make decisions every day. When it comes to making important decisions, especially those that can affect our jobs, future, and fortune, we tend to slow down and worry. I have seen this before. And yet when we take such a long time to make critical wealth creation decisions, it is still possible for us to make the wrong ones.

Well, before you can go forward, you need to know where you want to be. Some important concepts I learn are: Know my wealth path and get a strategy of building wealth according to my path of least resistance to wealth. When I learned this strategy, which was recommended by the creator of Wealth Dynamics, I began to make decisions knowing that they fit into my wealth creation strategy. I had my dynamic wealth profile analyzed and I have been categorized as a Supporter. The person with a Supporter profile is an extrovert and is people-oriented. Many entrepreneurs need a “Supporter” in their organization to help motivate and execute their strategies. I encourage all who have not had their profiles done to do so.

It only costs US$100, and it is definitely worth it to know who you are and what strategies you should take to become wealthy. You would appreciate it when you know who you are. Take a look at my profile: Click here. Once you have clarity on your path of least resistance, you gain incredible clarity on how to invest your time, what the next steps are, who you need to learn from, where you need to be, what you need to do - and equally important, what not to waste time on any further. From that point onwards, every step is a step in the right direction.

Making the Decision Right

Many people, after making decisions on what to do and how to achieve what they want, do not get there because they do not know about themselves. Whenever you see someone having a lot of energy to do what he wants to do and is successful, you probably wonder, “Is it luck?” My answer is Yes and No. Luck probably contributes only 30% of it, but the other 70% will depend on your determination, execution, passions, and your will to do it.

Take small actions, and small positive actions will lead to greater confidence to go for more small actions…you “spiral up.” Similarly, if you don’t take small actions but wait and do nothing, your confidence will deteriorate and spiral down. In fact, I wrote an article about taking actions: Click this to read more.

Make sure you are passionate about what you do. If you are not, you probably did not do that make-the-right-decision process properly in the first place. I mentioned in my previous blog that if you do not have your passion linked with your vision and wealth profile, you will lose your motivation and energy quickly when you meet with problems.

I observed that those people who can “make their decision right” are those that have a clear vision, mission, and passion to get things done. They know their “why” and they are very focused on what they want to do. They have a powerful energy from within. Also, they have clear goals in their mind. Goal-setting is one of the major tasks you need to do after your have made your decisions. I recommend this tool: Achieve-IT For less than US$40, you can change your life. For those who need to have a clear step-by-step approach to setting goals, Achieve-It should help.

Make the Right Decision and Make the Decision Right.

Everybody can benefit from some thought about where their income comes from and how they could create another source of income.

It is a little like being a busker. Try busking in certain places, and when you can no longer get the results you’re looking for, pack up and move on. In the physical world, if an activity is proving unprofitable, you can pack up and go somewhere else to busk. However, in cyberworld, instead if having a go at it alone, you may want to duplicate yourself – i.e., “clone” yourself and carry on busking where you started and at the same time busk at a new place as well.

Let’s take a look at the super rich – Bill Gates, Robert Kiyosaki, Michael Dell and many others. They duplicate their systems, themselves, their materials, and their ideas so that they are being diversified and in the process, they unlock their prosperity. The rich usually have several money-making schemes working for them.

This is especially important for anyone who loves his or her work but where the work doesn’t pay well. What this person needs is another income stream to supplement the other cash source.

There are some ways to do this. First is to turn some surplus cash into assets that will work for you and bring in the income. I did that, and it has given me an additional cumulative 12% yearly return in the past 5 years.

Another way is to find other means of using your skills and expertises in more than one setting so you aren’t just swapping your labor for a paycheck in your day job. I travel a lot and I have learnt Internet Marketing techniques from some seminars, boot camps, and the World Internet Academy. Being a travelling sales man, I have a need for an effective communication tool. Under my Internet Marketing teacher’s recommendation, I joined an MLM program whose product is about sending video messages instead of text emails.
Because I use this product for my work, I have also been doing some good MLM business with it. I started blogging a year ago, and since then have benefited from a small passive income from it.

Do some ‘sidelines’ that would not conflict with your day job. I have found Internet Marketing and MLM to be effective alternatives. What if there was a program that enabled you to learn and earn about Internet Marketing and offer you a leveraging money-making component as well? I just did that. I’m now a member of MyVideoTalk as well as the World Internet Academy. Both help me earn some side income while I keep and enjoy my day job.

I took up MyVideoTalk because it has helped me communicate better via the Internet. It’s so simple – I just speak into the mic while the webcam captures me in motion. I simply upload and send it. The other side will then receive my video-email and see and hear me while I talk. This improves communication a lot even without me traveling to my business contact’s location. This method is the closest thing to being there, having a face-to-face talk. Some of my friends received this video-talk email and joined in as well. A few more may come in, and I’ll soon have my monthly subscription paid for. Not bad. Now start making your own part-time passive income.

The World Internet Academy is another great discovery. I learnt my Internet Marketing skills here for a mere US$54 per month subscription. Best of all, I get it free now by introducing more people to subscribe and earn referrer fees. I make money from it and also help people earn their own passive income.

Yes, Internet Marketing + Network Marketing is the best combination for a second or multiple-income stream source today. And I have that terrific combination under my belt now.

No, I’m not talking about gambling. I’m talking about taking calculated risks. Risk is still risk, which means you can lose a lot. Hence, it is important that you study entrepreneurship a lot. Knowledge is power.

Think deeply to understand your subject – you can take mentorship from others and then some – that’s the reason why I learnt a 4-step strategy:

1) Know yourself by taking the Wealth Dynamic Test. Its test report will reveal your Path of Least Resistance to Wealth. What path, what kind of role you should play. What business is right for you, and what type of personality you have. I have written about Wealth Dynamics in my previous posting. Click the word Wealth Dynamics to read it if you have not done so.

2) After you know yourself well enough have clarity of your path, your personality, and the types of roles you can play to bring to light that Least Resistance to Wealth, you can then devise a wish list – a VISION.

3) Recheck that your vision is well-linked with your passion. Your passion is what you like to do and find meaning in doing, even though you may meet with difficulties and hardships along the way. In fact, you will. So when you meet with difficulties and hardships, your passion will be the factor that will keep you moving forward when others will have given up. You will be a powerhouse when your vision and passion are well-linked.

4) Using clarity of your Vision, create a Vision Board. The board is a picture or visible diagram of your vision and what you want to achieve – drawn out on a board. Look at it every day and it will be like a magnet and motivational chart to propel you, increase your determination, raise your confidence level, and remind you of the reasons ( your “WHY” ) for going after it. If your vision, passion, and “WHY” are strong, you will be an unstoppable powerhouse and it is a way of propelling you forward.

Once you determine your risk level and decide your attitude to risk, it will make your planning easier. You can then tailor how you intend to become prosperous. I notice that young people are able to cope better with risk. Family commitment is another factor, and this is a tricky matter. I have found that people with family take risks but put their hearts into their ventures as well. Younger people may be willing to take more risks but some of them take reckless (uncalculated) risks…and this is a paradox.

The best entrepreneurial risk that older people can try is MLM and/or Internet Marketing which they can do part-time or full-time, anywhere.

Life itself is a risk. We cannot tell when our health will fail us or when we may suddenly pass away. Your wealth profile will give you a clue as to what your risk profile is. At the end of the day, we can say that life is an adventure, so why not take advantage of what life can offer you while you’re still strong and capable?.

I have observed that wealthy people did not indulge in small pleasures and small economies.

The right thing to do is to go ahead and live comfortably; set aside a certain amount to pamper yourself. This mindset is confirmed by T. Harv’s Jar Money Management concept where he suggested putting aside 10% for a PLAY account.

Don’t get me wrong. Warren Buffett’s being rich and living simply does not mean he lived poorly. If you need to spend, do so. T. Harv’s Jar Management concept discusses putting aside money with discipline. What successfully rich people do is be consistent and stay away from drugs, alcohol, gambling, and stuff that can suddenly suck their money away.

Trying to make scrimp too much in order to become prosperous is doomed to failure. It won’t make you rich, but it will make you miserable. It is not a great way to start your day when you are miserable. You need decent meals, decent clothes, a car to transport you and your family, and most important, a positive attitude. In the movie “The Secret,” the Law of Attraction is about having positive thoughts and feelings.

Hang on here - doesn’t the teaching from T. Harv Eker’s Millionaire Mindset say that we should spend a little less on pleasure such as taking a budget holiday while we are in the process of getting our finances in order? Once these are in order, we can then work on getting rich. And getting rich doesn’t mean you have to scrimp your way through. Saving money is important, but earning money is MORE important. Wealthy people do not scrimp and save. Surely some of them are overly restrained with their spending and you need to use a crowbar to open their wallets. But while they may be prudent about their big purchases, they don’t buy cheap coffee and jam in the hopes that these acts of economizing can substantially add to their wealth.

I have seen here in my country that people buy luxury cars and houses, yet they cannot even afford a Starbucks coffee every morning to indulge in. They live hand-to-mouth. This is dangerous and is the wrong way of ‘saving’ your money.

What’s important is for you to ask yourself whether you really need that Benz, those big houses, or that fourth or fifth Rolex watch.

Save, by all means, for all those big purchases, but perhaps you should take stock of your lifestyle and ask yourself if you really need them. Don’t think that giving up those little pleasures and those little luxuries which enhance your life will increase your wealth. A mindset of escaping from penury is probably one of the keys to success and paths to prosperity. When you’re on a diet, for instance - if you deny yourself every small pleasure (i.e., your favorite food), you’ll most likely fail. Little pleasures are the way forward.

Read about the Jar Money Management System, or buy a copy of the Secret of the Millionaire Mindset to understand how you can manage your money well without having to scrimp along the way. T. Harv’s concept is a proven system to do just that.

It seems that the best thing to do when you see someone very rich, or more particularly, someone who became rich by doing something right, is to not whine or be jealous of that other person. Study what he did to reach that status and modify it to suit your own situation. Set up a plan to get there. When you have enough money, use it wisely to get richer and have a goal to help the less fortunate to get there, too. This is the best mindset I feel that a ‘not-rich’ person should have.

Some ‘Not-Rich’ persons I have met seem to have the wrong mindset about getting rich. They hold the following myths:
1) You have to be ruthless, manipulative, and greedy enough to make lots of money;
2) To become rich, you have to sell your soul, your grandparents’ souls, and your principles as well;
3) Being rich can make you end up with health problems;
4) Being wealthy ultimately forces you to put your family, friends, and happiness on the altar of wealth…
…and other beliefs of the narrow-minded.

Well, some end up like that, but you don’t have to. In fact, you shouldn’t! From the book “Secret of the Millionaire Mindset,” we are taught to set aside money for charity and giving.

You can enjoy making money and have a healthy life while making lots of money, and still manage to sleep well at night. You just need to decide on what you want to do with your money no matter what, and stick to it. Once you have the money, you will be surprised with how quickly it can grow if you invest in wisely.

The reason why many are jealous and why many religious leaders are telling us not to think about getting rich is because only a handful of people know the secret of getting rich.

When you start to lose sleep and fail to find enjoyment in what you do, you need to reassess your situation, evaluate the reasons why you’re doing what you’re busy with at present, and perhaps make some changes. I know many rich people who are living a happy and ethical life and enjoy making lots of money – many of them are very nice people to be with.

Don’t envy someone who is successful and rich. “Learn from them and copy them,” was an advice I got from a rags-to-riches person I got to meet recently. Money is a tool – not a cure.

Of course, DON’T make money by doing what’s immoral. If you need to be so in order to make money, or if making money a certain way doesn’t give you fulfillment, then it is NOT worth doing it. Change your style or method and even your mindset.

How do we get a breakthrough while working for people and getting by from one paycheck to another?

Part-time Entrepreneurship

One of my answers to this problem is to have another income stream - a second income stream that you can work on part-time while still holding that day job. The day job is to provide you with money to pay your bills and the nighttime job should be the income that can grow exponentially one day. This should be your fallback for when you lose your day job, or something you can move on to when it begins to make enough money such that you can commit to it full-time.

What part-time business is good? I suggest Internet Marketing and Multi-level Marketing. Please refer to my old blog posts where I wrote “Part-Time Entrepreneurship-Can This Work?” and “Why Network Marketing is the Ideal Part-Time Business for Today’s Working Class”.

Good Money Management - The Money Jar System

Another way to make a breakthrough is to develop a good money-managing habit. Manage your money in such a way that you are able to pay for all your bills, have a reasonably good lifestyle, and most important of all, save some for investment. I find that T. Harv Eker’s money management system works well. You can also read about this system in his bestselling book, “Secrets of the Millionaire Mind”. Click the image below.

I attended one of these Millionaire Mind Intensive seminars near the end of last year, and this is what I learned. T. Harv’s money management system actually uses physical jars. The jars actually give you a physical system to VISUALISE where you are putting your money, and these will motivate you to put away your extra money for a good cause instead of spending unnecessarily. It forces you to put aside money for what you may consider more important pursuits, such as investments or education. Here are the accounts you are to look at:

Necessity Account. Call it NEC – it is recommended that you devote 55% of your income to this account. This account is meant to pay for your rent, mortgage, utilities, bills, taxes, food, clothes, etc. – literally, anything that you need to live - hence, it uses the term “necessity”.

Financial Freedom Account. This is called the FFA – it is recommended that you devote 10% of your income to this account. This is tantamount to your goose that would lay your golden eggs. The amount that goes into this jar is reserved for investments and for creating your passive income streams. The money here should not be spent. The only time you’re allowed to touch this money is when you consider yourself financially free; but even then, only the returns on your investment should be used, never the principal. Otherwise, you’ll most likely go broke!

Education Account, or EDU. You should put aside about 10% into this account. You should use this money for your education and personal growth, such as for buying books, CDs, seminars, and things that give you educational value. You are your most valuable asset and you need to upgrade yourself. Knowledge gets obsolete and you have to update yourself. Never forget this.

The Long-Term Saving for Spending Account is called the LTSS and you are encouraged to put in 10% of your income here. This could be the savings you want to have to buy a house or to send your kids to a good university. If you manage this well, you will have the money when the need for it arises. A small monthly contribution goes a long way.

Your Play Account is called PLAY, and this gets a 10% share. I like this account, as all work and no play makes me dull. The purpose of this jar is to nurture yourself. You could purchase an expensive holiday with the money here or indulge yourself at a spa.

Finally, we have the Give Account – let’s call it GIVE - and this is where I usually put in 5%. The money in this account is for giving away to charity or some worthwhile cause. You can also give away your time as opposed to giving away money. You’re telling the universe that you have plenty of everything; you’re abundant. Giving indicates abundance and will magnetically attract more abundance to you. The movie, “The Secret” asks us to show gratitude and have a positive mindset of abundance.

In the book, One Red Paperclip: Or How an Ordinary Man Achieved His Dream with the Help of a Simple Office Supply, a story is told of a man, Kyle MacDonald, whose deal making skills are remarkable. He took advantage of Internet marketing via blogging to begin his barter trading. He barter-traded almost everything – from a red paper clip to a fish pen to a smiley-face door knob – and his deals culminated with a house in Kipling, Saskatchewan, all within a year, involving about 11 deals.

From Kyle, I learned the following mindsets:
- We all have something to trade and start with. He started with a paper clip!
- We need to be open to opportunities. In other words, we should always keep our minds open.
- We need to have clear objectives. Clarity is important for any successful venture or cause.
- We must take advantage of Free Publicity.
- We should network with people with the same hobby or cause that we are pursuing.
- And of course, we should work hard!

It also revealed in the book that he learned this valuable skill of bartering when he was young. As a child, he loved to play the childhood game called Bigger and Better, where he began looking for things to trade.

Evidently, he developed the important skills of deal making during those early years. This brought me back to another point I learned from Warren Buffet. During an interview, Warren revealed that he bought his first share at age 11, and a farm at age 14. These accomplishments are nothing short of mind-boggling. Indeed, how many of our children understand trading? Is it really possible to teach our kids the art of deal making and trading at a very young age?

These are the reasons why I have been putting a lot of effort in teaching my kids, who are now aged 13 and 11, the meaning of business and commerce.

Yes, it is never too early to teach your kids about commerce. Early training would give them the mindsets that would serve them well in their adulthood. Our schools systems (especially in Singapore) DO NOT teach this kind of valuable business mindsets to our kids. Instead, most curricula are centred on equipping them for a ‘good, high-paying job’ in the future.

When you are swapping, selling, or ironing out any deal, you need to know about the art of negotiation. Basically, the art of negotiation is about making the other person feel he is getting as much as you are.

If fact, I am currently in the process of negotiating with my entrepreneur-employer about giving shares of the company if I can bring in capital from my affluent friends who are looking for reliable companies to invest in. They (the company founder and the investors) get what they want, and I get what I want; i.e., to partly own a company without capital outlay and potentially be rich with it. Surely, this is a win-win-win situation for everyone.

Here are 10 points I learned from my 18 years in business development, sales, and marketing:

1. Know your bottom line
2. Know what you want
3. Always aim for a win-win situation
4. Be prepared to give up things in order to secure other things that are more important to you
5. Know as much as possible before you start. In the words of Sun Tzu, ‘If you know your enemy and you know yourself, you will not be imperiled in one hundred battles.’
6. Negotiate successfully for everything you want in the beginning. You cannot negotiate again later when the contract is signed; this will be detrimental to your reputation.
7. Try not to make a concession if possible. If this is unavoidable, you should always get something in return.
8. Create more value.
9. Go for the highest values because it is easier to go down rather than up.
10. Bring things out in the open and encourage potential partners to lay their cards on the table as well. Assumptions are not good.

You have to learn how to be bold enough to ask for what you want and to trade what you have with what you want. These are two of the most important mindsets in getting rich.