How I Will Be Rich

I will admit that life has been a little hectic lately. I put in about sixty hours per week at work and I’m in charge of about thirty employees. I’m on an accelerated learning course at my college in which I take one class per month. I have either lectures or assignments every single night of the week. I have an exam every Saturday with a final on the last weekend of every month. It is a lot of studying and it’s been a bit crazy. It’s only my first month and I’ve got about seventeen more to go. Finishing a higher education is one the steps on my path to wealth. I must make it one of my biggest priorities. Often times it is very hard to keep up with everything going on in life.

Over the last six months my favorite blog has been Zen Habits. It is a great site that offers so much advice on how to keep your head in the right place when life gets hectic. It also offers up some advice on how to keep certain aspects of life from getting too hectic. I’ve adopted a lot of Leo’s philosophies and my life has been a lot less stressful because of it. I’m not sure what specific posts some of these ideas came from but they are various ideas that I’ve adopted that have really cut down on my stress.

Prioritize the things that are important and cut out the things that aren’t.
This is basically the theme of the entire Zen Habits website. The things that are important in my life are my family, my girlfriend, my education and my job. I also love my blog but, in reality, it is just a hobby. I will always update it when I feel compelled to write. I love sharing my personal goals, my financial goals and the journey that I’ve embarked upon. It will always be here for me to vent and for me to give and receive advice. I love it, it is an outlet and I will never let it die. It may slow down when my priorities need more attention but I will never let it go to waste.

Take time in silence to reflect and listen to your thoughts.
I basically wrote an entire post on this subject over at Lazy Man and Money. Sometimes you just need to take some time and relax in silence. Let ideas run through your head and see what comes out. This concept has a few benefits. You get to relax your body. You can find a comfortable quiet spot, kick off your shoes and just relax. You may be a genius and not even realize it. Who knows what kind of ideas will pop in to your head while you are relaxing. I do this for a little bit every afternoon. It is kind of my post-work/pre-school ritual.

Keep organized.
The biggest lifestyle change that I have made since I’ve begun blogging is the organizational habits that I have adopted. I’ve gotten in the habit of always keeping everything clean and organized all of the time. It’s not like I’m constantly cleaning either. I clean up as I go. I make sure anything I take out, I put it away immediately after using it. Every morning when I wake up, I do a real quick room cleaning. It takes me about two minutes. You have no idea how much stress this relieves. Being clean and organized feels so good and I always know where everything is. I’ve adopted the same philosophy at the office and I’m more productive because of it.

Don’t carry things around on you.
This is one of the little tips that Leo suggested in one of his older posts. It seems like a small thing but it feels so liberating to never have anything in your pockets. Everyday when I arrive at work; I take my wallet, my keys and my cell phone out of my pocket and throw them in my desk drawer. I’m not sitting on a lump all day, I don’t have bulges in my pocket and I’m not concerned with who’s calling me in the middle of the day. Whoever it is, it can wait until after work. It’s a great little liberating, productivity-boosting tip.

Always be positive.
I am going to finish with this tip but I believe it is the most powerful. I have made a real conscious effort to be positive about everything. Even when things get stressful or deadlines get tight, I honestly try to stay positive. Sometimes it’s hard but it makes people like to be around me more, it helps others around me stay positive and with a can-do attitude, things get done. If you believe in the “law of attraction” type stuff (like I do), there are only benefits to always being positive. Good things come to people who are positive and never lose focus. I see nothing but good things in my future.

Photo Credit: ajusticenetwork

By the way, I want to congratulate Leo from Zen Habits on making the leap in to Professional Blogger. It’s what all of us bloggers strive for one day and it is awesome to see the success that he has made for himself in so little time. It is a great achievement.

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December was a bad month for me as far as goals go. Work got really hectic coming in to Christmas, I got sick on Christmas and then I went out of town. I have lots of excuses. I will review the goals that I had set for myself anyway…

Personal Goals

• Complete all of my Christmas shopping within a budget of $500
  Success. I think I spent a total of $350. I’m not sure the exact number but it is in that range.
• Open up a separate bank account for my side business
  I failed here. I never got around to getting to the bank to set up an account.
  

Blogging Goals

• Post 5 blog posts per week
  I failed here too. I only posted 15 blogs posts for the entire month of December.
  
• Get to 200 subscribers
  Failed. I maxed out at 135 subscribers. This is probably due to my lack of posting for the month.
• At least 2 carnivals per week
  Failed. I think I participated in 4 carnivals all month.
  
• Break $150 total money made
  Success! This was actually the first month I started to see a little bit of blogging income. The blog made $75 for the month. That puts my total income as a blogger at $197.14 (Over a 6 month period).
  
• At least 2 guest posts on other (more popular) blogs
  Failed. I only managed one guest post this month. You can read it over at Lazy Man and Money.

January Goals:
For January I’m going to tone down my goals a little as far as blogging goes. I start back to school on Monday and I have a feeling that it’s going to consume a whole lot of my time. Blogging is very important to me because I love sharing my goals and being held accountable when I fail (kind of like this month). I do think pursuing my degree in finance will fuel my blog; I just know that my free time is going to be harder to come by. With that being said…

Personal Goals

• Complete my first month of school (without going insane)
  Work is hectic enough. I’m starting back to school on an accelerated program. I will be completing one class per month for the next seventeen months. I will attend class three times a week for four hours per session. It is going to be intense.
• Open up a separate bank account for my side business
  I’m going to try to squeeze it in somewhere this month.

Blogging Goals

• Post at least 4 blog posts per week
  I’m going to shoot for five posts per week but I’m being realistic. Four is probably much more obtainable.

That’s about it. I’m not setting too many goals for myself until I see what my new life is going to be like. Next month, once I have a better feel for how hectic my school schedule is really going to be, I’ll set some more ambitious goals. For now, I’m just hoping to make it through my first class.

Thank Yous
I’ve never really had the StumpleUpon effect before December. For some reason, my site got stumpled like crazy though. That was the number one source of traffic for this month. Here are the blogs that sent me the most traffic in December.

1. Lazy Man and Money
2. Get Rich Slowly
3. Cash Money Life
4. Brip Blap
5. Plonkee Money
6. Consumerism Commentary
7. Stock Trading To Go
8. Moolanomy
9. I’ve Paid For This Twice Already
10. Be Healthy and Relax

Thanks so much to everyone who reads my blog and to all the other bloggers who support and help my blog. I appreciate it so much.

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Last week I wrote a post about The Secret. I received a few responses back from people and it seems like most people have a very similar opinion of the whole idea. I thought I’d share what others had to say about it and also share my thoughts on the whole concept.

A reader named Tim said;

I saw The Movie and I was intrigued too. The whole premise of the movie is based on the law of attraction. The law of attraction says you can change the way you think and doing so will bring whatever you want into your life. To me, it is more symbolic than a known fact. It is symbolic of positive thinking, focusing, and perceiving opportunities. Be careful though, one of the characters is in trouble for taking money for investing and he spent it on himself.

Fiscal Musings said;

I also haven’t read this book, but I’ve heard a lot about it. I think they did a great marketing job by shrouding everything in secrecy, but ultimately it’s not really a new concept.

Napoleon Hill wrote a book on the subject that most people have heard of, Think and Grow Rich. I don’t really have any desire to read this new book though.

Brip Blap said;

I have seen (and own) the DVD, but haven’t read the book. I’m actually going to recommend Think and Grow Rich, too, because it’s the “original” motivational book - it inspired The Secret, Rich Dad, Poor Dad, and a bunch of other books. My copy of it is so beat up and marked up it looks like it’s been attacked.

I doubt I’ll read The Secret, simply because I think the DVD is probably a fair representation of the book; at least that’s my guess based on reviews I’ve read. But who knows, might be something else in there that’s not in the DVD.

Martin Saenz said;

I’ve read the book and live the principles. Much of what is written is actually taken from “The Science of Getting Rich” by Wallace Wattles written in 1890 or something. The Secret does a nice job of wrapping the concept.

My thoughts:

I’ve actually had a few people recommend Think and Grow Rich to me. I think I am convinced enough to go buy it now.

As far as The Secret goes, I really like the concept. I know a lot of other people out there claim that it is B.S. or that it doesn’t work and I guess those people will just never know. The way I look at it is that it seems a little out there but what is it going to hurt. The people that are nay-sayers are not going to think positively because they don’t think it will make them successful? I think that it’s always good to think positively. If there’s really something to all of this then you will enjoy the benefits.

I don’t believe that you can have whatever you want just by thinking about it. I do believe that, by constantly thinking about something, you do whatever it takes to make sure it happens. Your mind, subconsciously, helps you figure out how to achieve your goals. This is what I believe the true secret is. Your mind is constantly working to figure out problems for you.

I have more thoughts on the whole concept and believe that a lot of this is related to Neural Linguistic Programming. You can mold your mind in to anything you want it to be. I will get more in to that topic at a later time…

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I want to know if anyone has read The Secret The book has been endorsed by Oprah and has topped best seller lists. I have yet to talk to a single person who has read the book. I am bringing this up because, a few months ago, my girlfriend’s aunt gave us a copy of the DVD. We finally got around to watching it over the weekend and I must admit, I was intrigued.

The idea of The Secret isn’t any new idea. The simple concept is that if you want something and you visualize yourself with it, one day you will achieve your goal. That’s the whole idea… You just think positive thoughts and you never let yourself believe that your goal is unattainable.

There is more complex theory behind it all. When looking at The Secret on a quantum physics level, the DVD explains that everyone and everything is made up of energy. When really broken down, everything in the universe is made up of the same thing. The concept explains that your brain sends off signals and the universe receives those signals and, ultimately, helps you get what you want.

I’ve never read the book. I know it promises a lot. It claims that with “The Secret”, you can have money, good relationships and anything you can ever want. I don’t want to give my opinions on the theory just yet. I want to know if people have actually read the book and I want to know what they thought. To tell you the truth, I haven’t completely made up my mind on what I think about this book.

If you get some discussion going, I’ll repost some of your thoughts on the idea and also give you a more detailed version of what my thoughts actually are.

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I was talking to my dad the other day about our company and the way things were going over the last few years. With the economy the way it is, we’ve had some rough patches. Somewhere in the conversation he brought up a poem that he had heard that really struck a chord with me. The poem is about a person writing the autobiography of their life in five short chapters. I couldn’t remember the entire thing so I scoured the internet, looking for the poem. I wanted to make sure that if I repeated it, it was accurate.

Autobiography in Five Short Chapters
by Portia Nelson

I
I walk down the street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk
I fall in.
I am lost … I am helpless.
It isn’t my fault.
It takes me forever to find a way out.

II
I walk down the same street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I pretend I don’t see it.
I fall in again.
I can’t believe I am in the same place
but, it isn’t my fault.
It still takes a long time to get out.

III
I walk down the same street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I see it is there.
I still fall in … it’s a habit.
my eyes are open
I know where I am.
It is my fault.
I get out immediately.

IV
I walk down the same street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I walk around it.

V
I walk down another street.

This poem holds a very valuable lesson.
This can be pretty much a metaphor for almost anything you do in life. You make a mistake once and you feel really bad, you make the same mistake again and just can’t understand it. At some point you must come to the realization that you need to take another path to avoid the same mistakes.

Take investing for example.
I made a huge mistake in the stock market when I was first getting in to it. I dabbled in penny stocks a little. I invested a lot of money in a stock that traded for less than one dollar per share based on a tip in a message board. Based on the theme of this post, it’s not hard to imagine what happened next. The company went bankrupt. Penny stocks are like gambling in a casino. I had to make my money back. I invested in a different penny stock, thinking that I could make all my money back and more. How could I be so stupid and make the same mistake twice? I learned from it and have never as much as looked at a quote for a penny stock since.

This advice holds true in almost anything in life.
The people in this world that are the most successful have gotten there by making many mistakes. The only way that you can really learn that some paths shouldn’t be taken is by traveling them yourself and experiencing it first hand.

I am really interested in hearing other’s interpretations of the poem. I’d also love to hear stories of people making the same mistakes repeatedly but eventually finding their way around it.

Photo Credit: Helga’s Lobster Stew

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