Being the Right Kind of Person

I’ve been looking back at some past posts, and one mentioned a book that has been super helpful since I first read it in 2005. The book is Goals! How to Get Everything You Want Faster Than You Ever Thought Possible. I’ve always felt it a privilege to call its author, Brian Tracy, a friend. He’s not only a warm, friendly person, but he’s also smart and wise. His advice in Goals! is fantastic. I have reaped huge rewards from following his wonderful and sage advice.

When I read, I often make notes on the ideas and quotes that I find particularly wise. In the front blank pages of Brian’s books, I scribbled page number references so I could go back to my favorite parts and lines such as, ‘Character is the ability to follow through on a resolution after the enthusiasm with which the resolution was made has passed.” That’s on page 263.

But what Brian wrote about the concept that gives a person a huge advantage to be successful that really influenced me was written under the subhead, “Get Around the Right People”. In that chapter, Brian says that you should, “make it a point to associate with the kind of people that you like, admire, respect, and want to be like sometime in the future. Associate with the kind of people that you look up to and would be proud to introduce to your friends and associates. The choice of a positive, goal-oriented reference group can do more to supercharge your career than any other factor.”

When I set my goal to be a millionaire, one of the first things I did was to set in motion a plan to meet and get to know wealthy people. On that list were two billionaires who didn’t know me from Adam but who, with persistence and a plan, I was able to meet and get to know as well as get advice and financial formulas from. The two billionaires were Ray Kroc, founder of McDonald’s, and Curt Carlson, founder of the TGIF restaurant chain.

However, my very first adviser, who also became a good friend, was a multimillionaire by the name of Larry Rosenberg. He not only referred me to the best books to read to lead a person to huge wealth, he also spent lots of time with me over lunches. He gave me great advice, hints, and direction concerning where to look for the best properties and what to do to fix them up to greatly increase value and then sell them. Later I was fortunate enough to connect with businessman Paul J. Meyer, who built a half-billion-dollar fortune starting from nothing. He shared many ideas and formulas for achieving success at a quick pace with me.

Besides the notes I made in the front of Brian’s book, I also found this note that his words inspired me to write in one of the margins: “In order for me to be able to associate with the right kind of people, I must work hard on myself to be that likable and right kind of person.” It’s a thought that has stayed with me ever since I wrote it.

When I think about it, I know that for me, and most people, we would all much rather do business with people who we really like, and we tend to shun people that are difficult or unfriendly towards us. I don’t even enjoy playing tennis with people I don’t like, even if I beat them. So, the bottom line here is that in order to meet the right kind of people you must work on yourself to become that right kind of person as well. Once you have, then you can surround yourself with the kind of people that will help you become the kind of successful person you want to be.

Find Your Formula

Having a ton of money does not make for a perfect life and I’m pretty sure that most of you would agree with that. Still, a lot of what I have written about in my life is about making big money because there are lots of great things and big benefits that large amounts of money can do for you and those around you. I think my readers here would probably agree with that too. But, if people know how great wealth can be for them, why are most people not wealthy?

I’m pretty darn sure I know the answer to that question and it’s not one of the answers many people might think it would be. Not having wealth isn’t because they …

… don’t have a very high IQ.

… didn’t earn a college degree from a top school.

… didn’t win the lottery.

… didn’t come up with a stunning new invention.

… didn’t get a big inheritance.

So, if those are the reasons why most people aren’t wealthy, then what is it?

Well, there’s actually several reasons, but the biggest factor is a failure to follow or use a proven formula or plan. And believe it or not, that reason is a pretty darn simple one to do. Notice that I didn’t say it was easy to do. Following a formula or plan can take a lot of hard work and it does take time. But once you have a plan, you simply follow it.

Sure, there are a lucky few that make fortunes almost overnight, getting a big inheritance, discovering a new invention, or winning the lottery but those cases are very, very rare and can’t provide most people with a way to wealth. Most fortunes are made over many, many years by following a solid, time-tested, and proven financial formula.

It’s rather sad that so many people still think and dream of the day they are going to suddenly “strike it rich”. That myth is constantly fed by the rare but widely reported occasions when someone does get lucky. Those very exceptional cases are magnified by the media, and it keeps people holding on to “the dream”.

But winning the lottery or inventing the next big thing is not something you can plan for, much less depend on. Planning and finding a formula that works is the only way to make wealth happen for you. There are never any guarantees but if you plan, work hard, and keep at it, you are more than likely going to reach your goal and you’ll certainly be much better off than if you sat around waiting for wealth to find you.

So, don’t just dream about having large amounts of money. Do something about it. I have sure-fire formulas that you can read about in my books like The Next Step to Waking up the Financial Genius Inside You. Find your formula, make a plan, and get on track to improving your life with great wealth.

The Rewards of Sharing

Recently, I was thinking back about the time I met a very ambitious young man who had some big, big dreams for the future. I was really impressed and fascinated by what he told me about his life plans and could easily see myself in him. Well, I could see the me I was 40 plus years before in him. I too had huge dreams of success back then.

I remember that, as I listened to him, many sweet memories came back. My younger years were such fun and exciting times. I was very fortunate to have gained both fame and fortune (even though the fame only lasted the traditional 15 minutes but it was great!)

This young man was telling me his story because he wanted me to give him some advice and help on a plan and formula for success. So, basically, I told him my road to riches story, about how I started with nothing but eventually found my fortune, far exceeding my wildest dreams.

The thing is, even though I became a multimillionaire, it wasn’t my first big dream and goal. I had initially aimed to be an NBA basketball star. I had led my American High School team from Ankara, Turkey to a come-from-behind finals victory in the Olympic stadium in Rome. I was on top of the mountain then and thought I could do anything but when I got to Utah State University on a scholarship and found myself sitting on the bench, I realized I needed to alter my goals a bit.

I quickly shifted my thinking from being all about basketball to gaining knowledge through books on goal setting and fortune building. I became fixated on making a million dollars and wrote the goal down with a drop-dead date — my 30th birthday. Although I missed the deadline by one year, I did become a millionaire, and then, much more than that.

So, my advice to this kid was to set a big goal, or goals, write those goals down, and then be sure to set a time deadline on those goals. I added that it’s also better to set goals around things that you love, enjoy doing, and know you have some talent for.

Then I told him about the habit I had formed when I was only 19 years old — the habit of keeping a journal of my life and, more important, of my inner most thoughts. I told this young man that those many journal entries over the years lead me to write a book that not only enhanced my own life but also pushed me to do more. That book gave me virtually instant fame and even added to my fortune. I was so blessed and lucky to eventually sell more than 2 million copies of my first book, How to Wake Up the Financial Genius Inside You, and that was just the beginning.

Thinking about all I’ve done with my life, I have to say I get as much joy and satisfaction from sharing my success and mentoring others as I get from reaching my goals. It’s why I write this blog, hoping I can continue to help and motivate others to keep reaching for those big goals.

Another Kind of Reward

I certainly have had some very great rewards in my life from writing my books and posting my weekly blog. Now, I’m not talking about rewards of money, although I’ve had great monetary rewards along the way and have ended up with much, much more money than I ever dreamed of making. But there are many more rewards that have nothing to do with money.

So, what are these huge, non-monetary rewards? They are receiving letters, emails, or phone calls from people who have read my writings and, having followed those words, have cashed in big time. For some, the results have been huge.

One of the first notes I received was years ago when a guy who was going to college read my book and start putting some of the strategies, methods, and systems into practice. He soon began to make big bucks. Later this guy wrote me a letter to thank me for writing the book he’d read and for sharing with my readers how to make big bucks by following the formula that had made me a fortune, ensuring readers that anyone can do the same thing.

In the end, this guy made many millions more than I did and he gave me almost all the credit. Dell Loy Hansen is a billionaire now and is still going strong. He has some very huge office buildings and even owned a terrific professional soccer team for a while.

If you have read my book, The Next Step to Waking Up the Financial Genius Inside You, you may have seen that I copied the first letter he sent me in which he thanked me for helping him make a fortune. I love his postscript in the letter. It reads, “Thanks a Million — or more appropriately, ‘Thanks a Billion’.”

Dell is just one of many people that have thanked me and given me so much credit for helping them make tons of money. Helping people and getting lots of thanks and appreciation is a huge reward! It just makes you feel so, so good to know that you changed a person’s life in such a positive way.

Just a couple of weeks ago, I received a great heartwarming text from Scott Keller, another real estate expert and entrepreneur, who had just been interviewed by Jimmy Rex for his podcast. Here’s is what Scott wrote to me:

“I was interviewed by Jimmy Rex on his podcast today. Are you happy and all good? I hope you are well. Thank you for your great influence in my success. I exceeded the $1B mark, which had much to do with your early influence and book, Waking Up the Financial Genius Inside You.”

There was one more thing Scott said on The Jimmy Rex Show podcast that I would like to share. He said that he gave me a shout out. To be precise, he said, “I gave a shout out to you as the best financial book I read out of 12 books.” What a heartwarming shout out and what a great reward.

The Power of Personal Questioning

Last week I talked about having a great passion and how, especially when you lose that passion, it can be really hard to move forward and chase what you want. The uncertainty and fear and can be such a big hurdle. So, as I promised in my last post, here are some things you can do to move forward.

First of all, doing some writing for yourself can be a huge boost in helping you reach your goals and improve your life. Ask yourself specific questions, like the ones below, then, don’t just think about them. Write down the thoughts that these questions bring up to make them more substantial and harder to ignore.

• Do I want to significantly raise my level of contentment and fulfillment?
• Do I want to become a better person?
• Do I want to be known as a person of accomplishment?
• Do I want to be in great physical and mental shape with ideal health my entire life?
• Do I want to live a very long, active life?
• Do I want to make a fortune—a million dollars, $10 million, or even $100 million? (Just think how much good you could do with that much money!)
• Do I want the increased choices and possibilities in my life that making my own fortune could give me?
• Do I want to leave the world a better place than I found it?
• Do I want to help others as I help myself?
• Do I want to travel and experience the world and its cultures?

Again, write down your honest responses to these self-searching questions. Develop some of your own “life questions” and answer those as well.

If it’s really about the missing passion in your life or because you are feeling unfulfilled, try answering these questions instead of, or in addition to, the ones above.

• What do you have a true passion for in your life?
• What part of your recent or past life—even during your childhood—really got you excited, to the point that you totally lost track of time when involved in it?
• Think about specific things you love and how they make you feel. Do you get excited about music, art, ballet, sports, outdoor adventures, writing, gatherings, social interactions, running your own small business, helping others…?
• What kind of breakthrough would you be ecstatic to have in your life right now? Would it be in the area of health, wealth, personal expression, spiritual development, or something else?
• In what would you love to excel?

Think about all that. You may find, after taking time to really go through all your interests, that you have many unfulfilled passions. Which ones do you get the most excited about?

After all this questioning, take some time to contemplate and think about it, then write down what you believe to be your true, unfulfilled passions.

If you are doing something you are passionate about, there are a few more questions you should ask.

1. Am I actually doing that special something that I have a great passion for?
2. If so, am I doing it for the right reasons?
3. What are those reasons?

Asking questions gives us the opportunity to really come to understand ourselves, what we are thinking, and maybe even what we want. But mostly, asking and writing our thoughts down make them more concrete and can jumpstart a plan to get more out of life, to find or chase a passion you may have been ignoring because you were afraid, uncertain, or just let life distract you.

The new year is just around the corner, so this is the perfect time to define what you want and start in on a plan to make that happen for you so you are living a fulfilling and passionate life in 2023.

The Priority Mission

Last week I wrote about my great friend, Paul J Meyer, who was a major contributor to my making millions of dollars. Yes, he was a financial genius that helped thousands and thousands of people make a huge success of their lives. His book is a must read for anyone that wants to lift their lives to huge heights, and not just financially. His book is called Fortune, Family, and Faith—24 Keys That Bring Complete Success.

One area of his life that Paul talked a lot about was how to keep your priorities after you set your goals for various parts of your life. As I promised in last week’s blog, here are the 13 things he committed to in order to stay focused on his priorities. I recommend you use them as well.

1. Write down my priorities.

2. Decide that I will keep my priorities/commit to them.

3. Post my priorities in highly visible places.

4. Start with a very small action each day that reinforces my priorities.

5. Learn to do that small action right away.

6. Refuse to go to bed until I have done what I intended to do.

7. Create visible checklists or tracking systems.

8. Find an accountability partner, someone I can be honest with who will be honest with me.

9. Have picture reminders.

10. Concentrate on the benefits.

11. Review regularly to see if I am on target.

12. Choose to never make excuses.

13. Craft a personal mission statement.

About that last one, Paul felt that a mission statement would also help ensure that your priorities are the right priorities. 

“Writing a life mission statement is quite simple,” he wrote. “You begin writing out your priorities in descending order and then answer the question, ‘What do I want to accomplish in life by keeping my priorities?’ or ‘Why do I have these priorities?’”

Paul also said that “You can keep improving your mission statement as time goes by. By fine-tuning it, you are simultaneously fine-tuning your overall life’s direction.”

Paul emphasizes that “a mission statement is not an exercise to complete and then forget.” As he goes on to note, and as I have seen myself, the mission statement provides things like direction, focus, and consistency in the things you do while keeping you on track with your goals.

There is more about mission statements and other thoughts on priorities in his book 24 Keys That Bring Complete Success. Pick it up and find more great words of wisdom to live by.  

Seek Great People

Many years ago, I read about a guy who started with nothing. He was extremely poor, but his father told him that he could become and accomplish anything he wanted, if he wanted it bad enough. He also discovered a lot about setting goals and keeping motivated, so he really grabbed a hold of what he was observing and pushed himself in all he did. He set goals for himself and put a timeframe on those goals and wrote them down.

Eventually, he turned his life around and later became one of the world’s most influential people in the personal achievement industry. He condensed those hard-learned lessons of life into books from which many people taught others. Seeing this, he also put his knowledge on 12-inch LPs and then on 8-track tapes and then, as technology progressed, onto cassettes, CDs and DVDs. He sold more than 2 billion dollars’ worth of those great reprinted and rerecorded motivational and goal setting directions and information.

In my younger years, I followed this man’s work and got very interested in him as a person, so I went after him. Yes, eventually, I got to meet him and know him very well. We even took trips together to places like the Grand Cayman Islands. He came to Salt Lake City and met my wife and me at our home. During that time, I followed his example and what I learned from his tapes helped me make a huge financial leap in my income, up into the millions. This wonderful man was Paul J. Meyer.

Yes, there were other people who have done astounding stuff in the financial arena who also helped me. That was because I would seek out and find those people who have accomplished big things in my field. So, in my personal experience, you should go out and get to know the people who have hit it big time in your area of interest by reading any written works or stories of theirs and, yes, push and push until you get to meet them. Then spend all the time you can with them and pick their brains. Most of these super successful people do like to share and help others do what they did. Yes, I’m saying just go do it!

There is so much more I want to share with you about Paul J. Meyer that I learned through his book Fortune, Family, and Faith. He gave me a copy of that book and signed it with a very nice note back on August 4th, 2008, the year before he passed away.

Next week I want to share more of what I learned from this great man, like his list of 13 ways of how to keep your priorities, which is just one of many treasured lessons he has to teach us all.

Never Stop Asking

Here’s a great question that all of us should ask ourselves: What do I really want out of life?

If you seriously want to improve your life, spend some intense time thinking and meditating on what your life has been in the past and what you want it to be in the future. Doing so can, and will, lift your mind and body to a new and higher level. This will raise the success and satisfaction in your life over and above any material success or other success you derive from going after your goals.

Hinduism tells us that every human being wants four things:

1. Pleasure

2. Success.

3. Responsible discharge of duty.

4. Liberation.

It’s up to you to determine what each of these things means in your life, but you do want to ask yourself if you’re achieving some version of these in a way that adds to the happiness and quality of your life.

Regularly examining our life helps us keep on track and reevaluate what we’re presently doing. Here is a great list of questions that we all should all ask ourselves on a regular basis.

1. Do you want your life to be just another life?

2. Do you want to be average?

3. Do you want to make a difference in this world?

4. Does accomplishment mean a lot to you?

5. Do you want to become a better you, a better person?

6. Do you want to be in great physical and mental shape with ideal health your entire life?

7. Do you want to live a very long, active life?

8. Do you want to make a fortune—a million or ten million or even 100 million dollars?

9. Do you want your own fortune so you’d have more choices in your life?

10. Do you want to leave the world a better place than you found it?

11. Do you want to help others as you help yourself?

12. Do you want to travel and experience the entire world and its cultures?

13. Do you want to substantially raise your level of contentment and fulfillment?

Going over this list and thinking of all I could do if I just focused on what I truly wanted raised my mind and feelings to a new high level. I hope that it does the same for you!!

Hard Working Spies

My dear wife Kimberly read a very fascinating book which she then talked me into reading. The book’s title is The Spy and the Traitor written by Ben Macintyre. It’s a true story about spies and counter spies in Russia, England, Denmark, France, and the Netherlands. I was not too interested, at least not at first, but with her request and gentle prodding, I picked it up while on vacation in Kauai and began to read.

Wow, what a book it is! Now, I’m only 100 pages in out of 335, but it’s really got me hooked. It’s a very fascinating read about some very dangerous spy and counter spy activity that I’m pretty sure is still going on. But the thing that really impressed me was the lengths these spies would go to accomplish their objectives.

The main character is a guy by the name of Oleg Gordievsky who is working for the Russian KGB, but the more he sees the western world of Denmark and England with its free market, freedom of speech, and all those things that go with Western and free enterprise countries, the more he realizes that communism is not the best way to go for human beings. So, Oleg is drawn towards the free enterprise cultures but as a top Russian spy he has to hide his thoughts and beliefs so as not to be sent back to Moscow where he could be imprisoned or even put to death.

Reading this great book about the true story of Oleg and so many of his friends and enemies certainly made me stop and think of how good we have it living in a great free country that allows us to think our own thoughts, write about them, and publish them without fear of being arrested or put to death. Plus, we have this amazing freedom to make a terrific living, maybe even making millions of dollars without bribing anyone or dodging the law.

The spies on both sides in this book were pushed to lengths that were almost unbelievable. They worked, studied, and spent unbelievable amounts of time planning what they were told to do and accomplish. It made me think that if we, as free men and women in America, were pushed half as hard by others or by ourselves, it would almost be a certainty that our success would be astronomical. So many of us could be making millions, or even billions, as well as helping others to do the same thing or to chase other great and noble causes that don’t involve money.

Our problem is that so many times we have it way too easy and we just move along at a normal, or even slow pace, depending on where we live and what our friends and relatives around us are doing. For the most part, it seems like we follow our family, friends, and neighbors rather than push ourselves to great new heights. But it doesn’t have to be that way. It’s all up to you and me. Think about how hard you push yourself and whether you can push yourself further to gain even more in your life.

 

 

Rediscovering Passion

Passion for life is a very important thing and as we get older, unfortunately, many of us lose our passion for life. I’m sure you have noticed that little kids seem to have the most passion for life. For a kid, most things are new to them and, as we all know, novelty is what they thrive on.

In our later years, we’ve seen so much and done so much that most things are not new to us. That makes it easy to lose our passion. You may feel that you have lost some of your passion and you ask yourself, “Why don’t I have passion for my life now?” or “Why don’t I know what I want in life?” Those two questions are particularly bothersome if you once had great passion for the things you did and then, as you got older, you lost some of that passion.

If that has not happened to you, maybe someone you know and care about has hit that wall. Far too many people give up on life. They fear striking out in aggressive, new directions. They fear risk. They fear the possibility of failure and losing what they have.

With some new insight and some very directed work, that passion for living can come screaming back for you or someone you love that you want to help. It’s all about continuing to turn what you really want, what you dream of, into specific goals and then transforming them step-by-step into reality – your reality!

A good way to start is to write it all down. First, ask yourself specific questions, like the ones I list below. Write down the thoughts that each of these questions stimulate. Don’t just think about them.

1. Do I want to substantially raise my level of contentment and fulfillment?
2. Do I want to become a better person?
3. Do I want to be known as a person of accomplishment?
4. Do I want to be in great physical and mental shape with ideal health my entire life?
5. Do I want to live a very long, active life?
6. Do I want to make a fortune – a million dollars, or $10 million, or even $100 million? (Think of all the good you could do with that much money!)
7. Do I want the choices and possibilities in my life that making my own fortune could give me?
8. Do I want to leave the world a better place than I found it?
9. Do I want to help others as I help myself?
10. Do I want to travel and experience the entire world and its cultures?

Again, be sure to write down your honest responses to the self-searching questions above. It’s a good idea for you to develop some of your own life questions and answer those too!

In fact, add two last questions for yourself:

1. What do you have a true passion for in your life?
2. What part of your life or past life, including your childhood, got you so excited that you totally lost track of time?

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