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If you see the news in recent months, it is all about the financial and economic woes that the world is having right now.

We see retrenchments every where, and they are going by large numbers.

Businesses, big or small, are affected. All these are taking away people’s livelihood.

While watching the evening news today, it was reported that a man in America killed his entire family, including his wife and his young children because of his retrenchment from his job.

On the same night, a local TV drama was showing a man jumping off the building leaving his family behind because he lost his job too.

It is very sad to see all these unfortunate things happening, whether it is in real-life or TV drama!

Money is not everything in this world! So what if you lost your job? Just find the next job, or if you cannot find one, there are always other ways to earn some money! Maybe you will work harder and earn lesser for the time being, but as long as you still live in this world, you still have hope!

The same goes for people who lost all their money during this bad economic conditions. Please do not give up your life just because you lost all your money!

We, as human beings, have the power to create. Money is just one of them. We all came into this world without any money, so what if you lost it all?

Today, I have decided to re-publish one article from Ted Nicholas, the very famous direct response marketer about his money secrets. I read this article not long ago and today I deliberately digged up Ted’s email to share with everyone else because I think he has made some really good stuff about your money.

Let me know if you like it by leaving a comment below this post!

The below is a letter from Ted Nicholas:

**********************************************************

Just returned from a hugely successful seminar tour
in Australia over an extended five-week period.

What a great time Bethany and I had! We even took
a three-day trip on a five-star gourmet train from
Sydney to Perth. It’s called the Indian Pacific. On
the way we stopped for a few hours in interesting
places like Adelaide, Broken Hill and Kalgoorlie.

If you ever get a chance to experience this travel
adventure, especially if you love trains, don’t miss
it!

On the business scene, I was very surprised that
Australian entrepreneurs are completely tuned into
news about the U.S. economy and the fears of
recession. When the U.S. sneezes, the whole world
catches cold.

These are dangerous but exciting times.

I’m getting lots of subscriber questions from those
worried about their business and finances.

Let’s take a hard look at what makes the world go
round. Money. Let’s examine the money situation as
it applies to every first-world country, especially the
U.S.

There are currently 8 million houses with negative
equity in the U.S. right now. Millions of home
owners owe more on their house than it’s worth.

Everyone has been hit - the poor, rich and middle
class have all been severely affected. And it’s
going to get worse before it gets better.

By Christmas 10 million people will be unemployed
in the U.S. The experts say over 2,000,000 people
in England will be without a job. Even undesirable
jobs are tough to find.

The big three auto makers, G.M, Ford and Chrysler,
are all facing bankruptcy.

Consumers have begun to reduce their standard of
living by cutting spending.

But as always, as an entrepreneur, because of the
many options open to you, you can survive and
even prosper during these times.

To succeed in this environment you’ve got to look
at the realities. And stop buying all the nonsense
so-called experts and the media are currently
reporting.

Here is how I see it.

Every 20 years or so we experience a recession.
Recessions are therefore cyclical. And by their
nature temporary. This recession is worse than
most. But the medicine, the cure, the solution, is
evident.

In general consumers as well as most business
owners are tuning into and listening to the wrong
music.

You don’t have to follow the crowd. I’ve always
made far more money during recessions than so-
called good times. And so can you.

I’m going to provide, in a moment, some tough love.
I provide my suggestions on what action you can
and should take. But for many because the steps are
not easy, some may be a bitter pill to swallow.
Others will enjoy the process enormously.

When you pass through these times unscathed, you
will prosper like you never have before!

It’s a fact while many are suffering, there are some
who are getting very rich. And you can be one of
them.

Here are some survival strategies open to you:

** Debt **

You must become debt free as soon as possible.

There are lots of untruths told about money. Here is
the biggest money lie of all. You can spend your
way to wealth by taking on debt, according to many
people. English, European, Australian, Asian and
American consumers have accepted this myth.

This is, of course, ridiculous. The only long-range
beneficiaries of uncontrolled consumer spending are
banks and insurance companies. Consumers stay
broke while lenders get rich.

The only sure road to lasting wealth presently is the
same as it ever was. Via savings and investment.

To be able to save you must take immediate steps to
get out of debt. This includes paying off credit card
debt, car loans. And finally your mortgage.

Just imagine what life would be like for you without
car payments, credit card payments and mortgage
payments!

Finally, you will be in position to help like never
before your family, loved ones and favorite
charities.

Instead of being a debtor your whole life, you must
become debt free. This will move you towards
becoming a creditor. A much more advantageous
position.

You also must learn to generate several new streams
of income.

What rich people know that poor people do not is
this. The best form of income is passive income.

Poor people exchange time for money. They live
paycheck to paycheck their whole lives.

Unlike poor people, rich people don’t work for
money. Instead they invest their money and make it
work for them. Thus they collect various forms of
passive income. This includes rents, dividends and
interest.

The rich also recognize the very best form of
passive income is from royalties. The resultant
passive income from intellectual property is
completely unique. You do the work once and
collect royalties forever from books, newsletters,
special reports, software and inventions.

The most outstanding wealth-building vehicle of all
is a business of your own. Every self-made
millionaire and billionaire owns their own business.

The good news. It’s easier, faster and costs less
today to become an entrepreneur while holding
down a job. You can start in your spare time while
keeping your day job. And you can build a business
working right out of your home.

During a recession some business categories
actually perform much better than in good times.
There may never be a better time to start a business
than right now.

But, as I’ve described, you must take steps to reduce
debt and expenses at once. Only then can you fully
cash in on all the opportunities that may be open to
you.

Debt reducing actions include:

* Get rid of car payments. Sell your car. You are
not really impressing anybody. Buy a pre-owned
compact car. Of course, you will also use less
expensive gasoline

* Sell or refinance your house. Alternatively, if you
are “under water” talk with your bank now about a
moratorium on further payments for a period of
time. Or negotiate to refinance and reduce your
payments until you sell it

* Live rent free. Once you sell your house look for a
duplex. Negotiate a 90 day lease option on a one
year lease on a duplex home in a decent
neighborhood. Before you close the deal and move
in, find a renter who pays you enough to cover your
lease. You can accomplish this and spend very little
or no money

And because a place to live is one of life’s
necessities there are always people who are
interested in renting

* Get rid of credit card debt. It’s costing you as
much as 22 per cent or more in interest. This level
of interest will kill your finances. Cut up all credit
cards except one until you can completely pay it
off. If you can’t pay cash, simply don’t buy it

* Slash clothing costs. Discover the beauty and
creativity of shopping for beautiful clothes in thrift
and “second hand” shops

** Savings **

You must master the art of delayed gratification. To
become very wealthy, discover what has been
correctly deemed the “8th wonder of the world” -
compound interest. Save and invest 15 per cent
of your earnings from here on. I’ve been doing
this starting at age 20.

If you save just $1 a day from age 20 to age 60 you
could retire with $1,000,000 in cash.

Start a recession-proof business in your spare time.
Some of the most attractive are those that help
customers earn or save money. There are numerous
examples. They include information publishing,
fast-food restaurants, cafes, discount stores and
services. Others are mail order companies, bargain
shops, temporary help agencies, repair services,
discount realtors, discount stock brokers, thrift
shops, second owner shops, etc.

** Governments **

Don’t make the mistake of fully trusting any
government on this planet. All work to perpetuate
their power, not protect your rights and freedom.
Employ a personal multi-flag system involving at
least three countries. (1) live in one county; (2) Set
up your business in a second country; (3) Keep your
money in a third country.

** Investment Advice **

Make sure your advisers are successful. Never take
investment advice from anyone unless they can
prove they are wealthy, or at least as rich as you.
And also have gotten rich by following their
recommendations to you.

Many investment advisers who I’ve questioned have
confessed to me their surprise that more clients
don’t ask them questions about their own wealth.

Choose advisers carefully. Ninety percent of
investment advisers I’ve grilled have surprisingly
little to show as far as wealth is concerned. Indeed,
many are broke. Stop taking business advice from “broke”
people. This includes friends and relatives. When I
stopped doing this I immediately started becoming
much more successful and wealthy.

** The Best Investment **

The best investment you can ever make is in your
own real-world education. When you build your
knowledge it can never be taken away from you.
Invest in books, DVDs, CDs and seminars. I’ve
invested over $50,000 annually for many years in
my education. And it continues - life is a continuing
learning process.

Remember, you can become an expert within three
years on any topic by reading just one hour a day.
You can become a world authority in 5 years.

** Skills **

Learn to sell. Effective selling may be the one skill
that practically guarantees you will get or keep a
job, especially during a recession.

Business is selling. You cannot make money unless
you master selling. This should be taught in school.
But it’s not.

Instead of honoring the selling profession it is often
criticized and even “put down” by professors,
books, movies and plays, i.e., “Death of a
Salesman” by Arthur Miller, etc.

Contrary to common belief, effective selling is the
highest paid job in the world.

Even less well known is this. Selling using the
written word is far more lucrative than personal
sales. And copywriting is a learned not an inborn
skill.

Bottom line is this. You can learn how to become a
wealthy and highly sought after copywriter. Many
of my students earn $100,000, $250,000, $500,000
and more. Several are millionaires.

During tough times copywriters tend to be busier
during these times than ever. Why? To survive,
business owners must continue to bring in new
customers regardless of the economic situation.

As a professional copywriter you can write your
own paycheck. And be completely free to create
whatever lifestyle you choose.

Sales are, of course, the lifeblood of every business.
If you are working for a company and can prove
you can bring in sales through creating sales copy,
you will never be laid off or fired.

** The Most Important Investment Decision No
One Talks About **

In what currency do you do business?

The strength of the currency in which you keep
your investments is crucial to your economic health.
This includes shares, bonds, insurance annuities.
Yet few advisers ever bring it up. The reality? Most
have no clue or knowledge about its importance.

It’s crucial to diversify the currencies amongst
several strong ones in which you hold investments.
The world’s wealthiest people utilize currencies
such as the Swiss Franc, Australian Dollar,
Norwegian Kroner and the Euro.

Unfortunately, the U.S. dollar has been one of the
worlds weakest currencies especially during the last
few years. That’s why the super wealthy such as
Buffet, Gates and Soros have moved their cash
completely out of U.S. dollars for at least three
years. I have not had a single investment denominated
in dollars for several years.

** The Bailout **

I oppose the bailout. Fannie Mae, Freddy Mac, IMG
and the “Big 3″ auto companies got into bad shape
due to poor decisions and ineffective management
who have made numerous blunders.

Each of these companies needs to be completely
restructured. Not given billions of dollars to the
same or similar weak, ineffective management that
caused the problems. And the U.S. taxpayer is
going to have to pay every penny. To put these
same people who have destroyed their companies in
charge of billions makes no sense whatsoever.

That’s like putting the fox in charge of the henhouse
and expecting a good result.

The solution? I personally don’t think bankruptcy of
these entities is the end of the world. Just like the
airlines have done they could reorganize and
restructure. They could bring in new management.
And financing could be done on the free market.
The market should be allowed to work and cleanse
itself of ineffective companies and management.

Instead, simply by giving money to these poorly run
companies, the U.S. is tossing out the free market.
And not solving the basic problem in any way. All
these companies will have their hands out for more
money very soon.

This is a very dangerous road indeed. Free markets
are what has made the U.S. the envy of the world.

There is a proven system in the U.S. for companies
who need to reorganize. It’s called Chapter 11
under the bankruptcy law.

What about consumers who are being foreclosed
upon? I don’t wish them any more suffering. But
what has happened to individual responsibility?

To expect the government (meaning other
taxpayers) to bail homeowners out of a house whose
price and payments without a down payment they
could never afford, should not be the responsibility
of other taxpayers. Especially the more responsible
and frugal ones.

** Obama the U.S. President Elect and the
Democratic Congress **

As a libertarian I favor free markets, small
government, and maximum individual freedom.

The election of President Elect Obama was clearly a
vote not for him, but against the enormously
unpopular President Bush.

I am actually happy about the historic choice of
an African-American U.S. president. This will
inspire in many ways the African-Americans,
Latinos and other minorities in the U.S. and
throughout the world.

Finally, many racial barriers have been lowered.

However, I’m also concerned about the near future.
Not just for myself. But for my children, friends
and clients who live in the U.S. Right now the U.S.
needs lower taxes and smaller government. Obama seems
to favor higher taxes and bigger government. This
clearly is the wrong direction and won’t work.

I can only hope and pray that once in office the new
president will be persuaded by taxpayers as well as
his advisers to reverse course on many big
financial issues.

I will share my thoughts and suggestions with
Obama. Whatever your views are, I hope you do the
same. Especially if you are an American citizen.

I trust your recession strategy will give your
business a success margin.

Your correspondent,
Ted Nicholas

**********************************************************

This article appears courtesy of THE SUCCESS MARGIN, the Internet’s most valuable success and
marketing e-zine. For a complimentary subscription, visit http://clicks.aweber.com/y/ct/?l=9C.0B&m=1fB5SGMF2MUI_H&b=1VyvaS53RzukHQqczGitog

Singapore’s millionaire poster boy Adam Khoo has released another new book called “Secrets of Building Multi-Million Dollar Businesses”.

You can access a free chapter from the book by clicking here.

More details about Adam Khoo can be found at www.SecretsOfAdamKhoo.com!

Hey everyone,

Please check out some free Tony Robbins trainings (videos) from Tony the man himself!

I had the privilege to attend his Unleash The Power Within (UPW) seminar in Singapore several years ago.

Wonderful guy with some awesome stuff for you to learn from!

Some quotes from Tony in his videos:

“Life will pay whatever you ask of it.”

“Your decisions are what shape your destiny. ”

There’s also A Personal Message From Tony Robbins on his new blog!

This site is a must see!

Drawing from some of the most pivotal points in his life, Steve Jobs, chief executive officer and co-founder of Apple Computer and of Pixar Animation Studios, urged graduates to pursue their dreams and see the opportunities in life’s setbacks — including death itself — at the Stanford University’s 114th Commencement on June 12, 2005.

Enjoy it ~ Leave your comments below if you have any thoughts…

Here’s the video of Steve’s speech:

Here’s the text for the speech if you prefer to read than watching the video:

I am honored to be with you today at your commencement from one of the finest universities in the world. I never graduated from college. Truth be told, this is the closest I’ve ever gotten to a college graduation. Today I want to tell you three stories from my life. That’s it. No big deal. Just three stories.

The first story is about connecting the dots.

I dropped out of Reed College after the first 6 months, but then stayed around as a drop-in for another 18 months or so before I really quit. So why did I drop out?

It started before I was born. My biological mother was a young, unwed college graduate student, and she decided to put me up for adoption. She felt very strongly that I should be adopted by college graduates, so everything was all set for me to be adopted at birth by a lawyer and his wife. Except that when I popped out they decided at the last minute that they really wanted a girl. So my parents, who were on a waiting list, got a call in the middle of the night asking: “We have an unexpected baby boy; do you want him?” They said: “Of course.” My biological mother later found out that my mother had never graduated from college and that my father had never graduated from high school. She refused to sign the final adoption papers. She only relented a few months later when my parents promised that I would someday go to college.

And 17 years later I did go to college. But I naively chose a college that was almost as expensive as Stanford, and all of my working-class parents’ savings were being spent on my college tuition. After six months, I couldn’t see the value in it. I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life and no idea how college was going to help me figure it out. And here I was spending all of the money my parents had saved their entire life. So I decided to drop out and trust that it would all work out OK. It was pretty scary at the time, but looking back it was one of the best decisions I ever made. The minute I dropped out I could stop taking the required classes that didn’t interest me, and begin dropping in on the ones that looked interesting.

It wasn’t all romantic. I didn’t have a dorm room, so I slept on the floor in friends’ rooms, I returned coke bottles for the 5¢ deposits to buy food with, and I would walk the 7 miles across town every Sunday night to get one good meal a week at the Hare Krishna temple. I loved it. And much of what I stumbled into by following my curiosity and intuition turned out to be priceless later on. Let me give you one example:

Reed College at that time offered perhaps the best calligraphy instruction in the country. Throughout the campus every poster, every label on every drawer, was beautifully hand calligraphed. Because I had dropped out and didn’t have to take the normal classes, I decided to take a calligraphy class to learn how to do this. I learned about serif and san serif typefaces, about varying the amount of space between different letter combinations, about what makes great typography great. It was beautiful, historical, artistically subtle in a way that science can’t capture, and I found it fascinating.

None of this had even a hope of any practical application in my life. But ten years later, when we were designing the first Macintosh computer, it all came back to me. And we designed it all into the Mac. It was the first computer with beautiful typography. If I had never dropped in on that single course in college, the Mac would have never had multiple typefaces or proportionally spaced fonts. And since Windows just copied the Mac, its likely that no personal computer would have them. If I had never dropped out, I would have never dropped in on this calligraphy class, and personal computers might not have the wonderful typography that they do. Of course it was impossible to connect the dots looking forward when I was in college. But it was very, very clear looking backwards ten years later.

Again, 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.

My second story is about love and loss.

I was lucky — I found what I loved to do early in life. Woz and I started Apple in my parents garage when I was 20. We worked hard, and in 10 years Apple had grown from just the two of us in a garage into a $2 billion company with over 4000 employees. We had just released our finest creation — the Macintosh — a year earlier, and I had just turned 30. And then I got fired. How can you get fired from a company you started? Well, as Apple grew we hired someone who I thought was very talented to run the company with me, and for the first year or so things went well. But then our visions of the future began to diverge and eventually we had a falling out. When we did, our Board of Directors sided with him. So at 30 I was out. And very publicly out. What had been the focus of my entire adult life was gone, and it was devastating.

I really didn’t know what to do for a few months. I felt that I had let the previous generation of entrepreneurs down - that I had dropped the baton as it was being passed to me. I met with David Packard and Bob Noyce and tried to apologize for screwing up so badly. I was a very public failure, and I even thought about running away from the valley. But something slowly began to dawn on me — I still loved what I did. The turn of events at Apple had not changed that one bit. I had been rejected, but I was still in love. And so I decided to start over.

I didn’t see it then, but it turned out that getting fired from Apple was the best thing that could have ever happened to me. The heaviness of being successful was replaced by the lightness of being a beginner again, less sure about everything. It freed me to enter one of the most creative periods of my life.

During the next five years, I started a company named NeXT, another company named Pixar, and fell in love with an amazing woman who would become my wife. Pixar went on to create the worlds first computer animated feature film, Toy Story, and is now the most successful animation studio in the world. In a remarkable turn of events, Apple bought NeXT, I returned to Apple, and the technology we developed at NeXT is at the heart of Apple’s current renaissance. And Laurene and I have a wonderful family together.

I’m pretty sure none of this would have happened if I hadn’t been fired from Apple. It was awful tasting medicine, but I guess the patient needed it. Sometimes life hits you in the head with a brick. Don’t lose faith. I’m convinced that the only thing that kept me going was that I loved what I did. You’ve got to find what you love. And that is as true for your work as it is for your lovers. Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking. Don’t settle. As with all matters of the heart, you’ll know when you find it. And, like any great relationship, it just gets better and better as the years roll on. So keep looking until you find it. Don’t settle.

My third story is about death.

When I was 17, I read a quote that went something like: “If you live each day as if it was your last, someday you’ll most certainly be right.” It made an impression on me, and since then, for the past 33 years, I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself: “If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?” And whenever the answer has been “No” for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something.

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. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart.

About a year ago I was diagnosed with cancer. I had a scan at 7:30 in the morning, and it clearly showed a tumor on my pancreas. I didn’t even know what a pancreas was. The doctors told me this was almost certainly a type of cancer that is incurable, and that I should expect to live no longer than three to six months. My doctor advised me to go home and get my affairs in order, which is doctor’s code for prepare to die. It means to try to tell your kids everything you thought you’d have the next 10 years to tell them in just a few months. It means to make sure everything is buttoned up so that it will be as easy as possible for your family. It means to say your goodbyes.

I lived with that diagnosis all day. Later that evening I had a biopsy, where they stuck an endoscope down my throat, through my stomach and into my intestines, put a needle into my pancreas and got a few cells from the tumor. I was sedated, but my wife, who was there, told me that when they viewed the cells under a microscope the doctors started crying because it turned out to be a very rare form of pancreatic cancer that is curable with surgery. I had the surgery and I’m fine now.

This was the closest I’ve been to facing death, and I hope its the closest I get for a few more decades. Having lived through it, I can now say this to you with a bit more certainty than when death was a useful but purely intellectual concept:

No one wants to die. Even people who want to go to heaven don’t want to die to get there. And yet death is the destination we all share. No one has ever escaped it. And that is as it should be, because Death is very likely the single best invention of Life. It is Life’s change agent. It clears out the old to make way for the new. Right now the new is you, but someday not too long from now, you will gradually become the old and be cleared away. Sorry to be so dramatic, but it is quite true.

Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. 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. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.

When I was young, there was an amazing publication called The Whole Earth Catalog, which was one of the bibles of my generation. It was created by a fellow named Stewart Brand not far from here in Menlo Park, and he brought it to life with his poetic touch. This was in the late 1960’s, before personal computers and desktop publishing, so it was all made with typewriters, scissors, and polaroid cameras. It was sort of like Google in paperback form, 35 years before Google came along: it was idealistic, and overflowing with neat tools and great notions.

Stewart and his team put out several issues of The Whole Earth Catalog, and then when it had run its course, they put out a final issue. It was the mid-1970s, and I was your age. On the back cover of their final issue was a photograph of an early morning country road, the kind you might find yourself hitchhiking on if you were so adventurous. Beneath it were the words: “Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish.” It was their farewell message as they signed off. Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish. And I have always wished that for myself. And now, as you graduate to begin anew, I wish that for you.

Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish.

Thank you all very much.

SR

Carnegie Mellon Professor Randy Pausch (Oct. 23, 1960 - July 25, 2008) gave his last lecture at the university Sept. 18, 2007, before a packed McConomy Auditorium. In his moving presentation, “Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams,” Pausch talked about his lessons learned and gave advice to students on how to achieve their own career and personal goals.

There are some really important life lessons for you to learn from in this video. Though it is 1+ hour long, take the time to view it, especially if you have a partner, or if you are a parent, , or if you are dying, or even when you are just bored with your life now. Hope the video can give you some inspiration or life-changing lessons to take away with.

I found this video and got to know about this guy when I visited google.com. Apparently Google is honouring him on their popular home page as Randy passed away few days ago. I did not know who Randy was until I researched on him online. In May 2008, Pausch was listed by Time as one of the World’s Top-100 Most Influential People.

“Leaders are readers.” I am pretty sure you have heard of this saying. And I think it is very true! Leaders have to read in order to keep them ahead. They constantly need good ideas to move ahead of their competitors and followers.

However, in this information age today, everyone is overloaded with information, they called it information overload. Unless you are not “connected” at all to this world or you are trying to “ignore” information, there is a very high chance that you are faced with this information-overload problem.

One common issue that all of us faced is that we just do not have enough time to read and absorb more knowledge or information, which sometimes can be pertinent to our successes that we need to acquire information, be it for personal or business successes.

Not too long ago, I came across the term “Photoreading” and I was introduced to this amazing technology called Photoreading by Jean Giam, a photoreading coach, based in Singapore. Apparently, I think she is the only Photoreading coach in Asia. To cut the whole story short, basically photoreading is a “skill” that enables you to read faster, so much faster than the usual way of reading that we were taught in school. And I know what you are thinking… it is Not Speed Reading… in fact I think Photoreading seems to be better than Speed Reading…

I guess this video below will give you a better idea of what Photoreading is all about, and whether Photoreading works or not!

Just in case you are keen to find out more about it, Jean is offering a free introductory seminar on Photoreading in Singapore. You can visit www.learnphotoreading.com to find out more information about this reading skill as well as to sign up for the free Photoreading seminar.

If you are complaining about what life is doing to you, the current situation that you are in, feeling down or depressed over what had just happened to you, I think you should watch this.

This is the power of our incredible mind at work! When something bad or unimaginable happened to you, there are always 2 clear options that you can take:

1) Give up and let the bad incident overwhelm you and take you down forever!

2) Stand up, do something that the normal person never thought is possible and earn the utmost respect of everyone else and inspire others!

Before you give me an answer to the choice that you will make, I want you to watch this video first:

So, do you want to give up or stand up to your current situation?

Here is the story of the 2 Chinese dancers featured in the video above:

What you have seen is a footage at a Chinese modern dance competition broadcasted on one of the China’s TV stations.

One couple won one of the top prizes. The lady has one only arm and the guy has one only leg. In spite of their own limitation, they performed gracefully and beautifully.

The lady in her 30s was a dancer and was trained as one since she was a little girl.

Later in her life, she got into an accident and lost her entire left arm. She was depressed for a few years from then on.

One day, someone invited her to coach a Children’s dancing group. From that point on, she realised she could not forget dancing. She still loved to dance. She wanted to dance again. So she started to do some of her old routines.

But because of the loss of her arm, she also lost her balance. It took a while before she could even make simple turns and spins without falling. Eventually she got it.

Then she heard that a guy in his 20s had lost a leg in an accident. This guy also fell into the same state of denial, depression and an emotional roller coaster of anger.

She looked him up and persuaded him to dance with her. He had never danced before.

“Dance with one leg? Are you joking with me? No way!” But she did not give up.

Finally, he reluctantly agreed. “I have nothing else to do anyway.” So, she started to teach him dancing.

The two broke up a few times because the guy had no concept of using his muscles, controlling his body, and a few other basic things about dancing.

When she became frustrated and lost patience with him, he would walk out.

Subsequently they came back together again and started training. They also hired a dance choreographer to design new dance routines for them. She would fly high (held by him) with both arms (a sleeve for an arm) flying in the air. He could bend horizontally supported by one leg and she leaning on him, etc. They danced beautifully and they legitimately beat others in the dancing competition.

This is one of the most magnificent and touching performance one can ever see! And it is a living proof that an unbreakable spirit or mind can conquer any physical limitations and make the impossible become possible!

If you think you can, you can.

If you think you can’t, you can’t!

Either way, you ARE RIGHT!

Many years ago, I had the privilege of getting to know a wonderful lady at an events company in Singapore. Her name is Dolly Yeo.

Over the years, our friendship had developed further to that of a business relationship. She has been one of my first clients for my web design and hosting business that I started many years ago, and today she is still with me and I really appreciate her loyalty in sticking with me and my business.

Dolly is the chief coach and founder of Mindset Coaching which specialises in life coaching. She is also a Results Certified Coach (Australia) and a member of the International Coach Federation, Singapore. She is also an Active Parenting Certified Leader as well as a Certified Parent Facilitator for Parenting Workshops.

Dolly is an amazing lady that is passionate about what she is doing, always full of energy and she never fails to leave an impression on many who have met her.

I had the honour of working quite closely with Dolly and from her, I have learned some really useful and important things about myself and my business.

I am writing this today because I want my readers to know about Dolly and the wonderful work that she is doing in Singapore. And if you are looking for that something in your life, I want you to meet her.

To find out more about Dolly Yeo and what she is actually doing, I invite you to visit http://www.mindset-coaching.com

During the 1st Millionaire Mind Intensive seminar in Singapore, Harv Eker introduced to people from all over Asia about the world’s simplest, easiest and most effective money management system.

Harv suggested that everyone can use the JARS system to better manage one’s money. The key between rich and poor or middle class people is their ability to manage their money. Rich people are excellent money managers and poor or middle class people are less-savvy when it comes to managing their money. And of course, there are many other distinctions that set the rich, poor and middle class people apart. I will go into that on my later blog post as I intend to discuss more about the JARS money management system in this post.

The most important part of money managing is separating your income into different accounts for specific purposes. I will outline the various accounts for the JARS system as well as their % breakdown of how one should divide their money to manage below:

Financial Freedom Account (FFA) = 10%

Long Term Savings For Spending (LTSS) = 10%

Education (EDUC) = 10%

Necessities (NEC) =55%

Play = 10%

Give = 5%

Anyone can start using this JARS method of managing their money even though if you think you do not have a lot of money to manage. The key is to develop a habit of managing your money, but not how much money you have available for you to manage. One must get into the habit of managing their own money, and you can start with as low as $1 to begin using this system.

Here are how the JARS system works:

Financial Freedom Account (10%) - Put 10% into your FFA whenever you receive money, such as your salary. You must NEVER, NEVER spend the money that you put inside your FFA account. Any money inside the FFA account can only be used to purchase or acquire passive income streams to grow your money. You may spend the interest acquired from the FFA if you choose to, although it is recommended that you do not. Keep the interest inside the FFA to grow your capital and interest faster. Think of your FFA as the golden mother goose that lays you golden eggs, if you spend the money inside the FFA, it is akin to killing your mother goose that will bring you golden eggs (your riches). Instead, keep the baby geese (FFA’s interest) that the mother goose is giving you, and you can grow more baby geese (your wealth) even faster. As you may already get it, the idea is to create a golden goose! You may prefer to think of the FFA as a legacy that you can leave behind for your future generations. If you are one who believes in the law of attraction, this FFA is actually your money magnet. Keep putting more money into your FFA and attract more $$$ into your life! Put $$$ into your FFA account everyday if you can, even if it is just a penny.

In summary, the time to spend your FFA capital is NEVER! When you stop working, you get to spend the eggs but never the goose!

Long Term Savings For Spending (10%) - Put 10% into your LTSS whenever you receive money, such as your salary. The money inside LTSS can be used for major expenditure such as savings for your children’s education, buying a house for yourself, keeping aside contingency funds.

Education (10%) - Put 10% into your EDUC whenever you receive money, such as your salary. You can use the EDUC funds for your self-education, for examples, books, seminars and events etc. Everyone needs to learn, especially in this changing world. Grow your comfort zone through learning and doing. If you are not growing, you are dying!

Take this quote from Ben Franklin:

“If you think education is expensive, try ignorance!”

Necessities (55%) - Put 55% into your NEC whenever you receive money, such as your salary. You should use the funds inside your Necessities account to settle all your essential bills such as phone bills, electricity, clothings, eating, driving, travelling, hair etc. If you cannot survive on 55%, simplify your lifestyle. Instead of driving a car, perhaps you can take public transport, or drive a Honda instead of a BMW. Buy Converse jeans instead of Armani. There are people who cannot live on 55% NEC when they started the JARS system but over time, these same group of people are able to simplify their lives and live on 50% or lesser!

When your usual needs for instant gratification kicks in, think this:

“Wealthy people think Long term. Poor people think Short term.”

Play (10%) - Put 10% into your Play account whenever you receive money, such as your salary. You are supposed to spend this money every month to pamper yourself. The key is to BLOW this Play money away every month so that you will feel good about having money and spending it! You should feel guilt-free when you spend this money every single month. Maybe you go for massages once every month, now you can use this money to really pamper yourself by going twice, thrice or as much as you want. Or you can try ordering champagne during dinner at a restaurant if you do not usually do. Or buy yourself a new gadget. Anything outrageous that you can do to pamper yourself and makes you feel really good. You are recommended to BLOW this money every month. However, if you need to save up for things such as short trips getaways that require a little more money, you can accumulate them up to a few months, say a quarter, before you use them.

Give (5%) - Put 5% into your Give account whenever you receive money, such as your salary. You can use the money for donations to charities, use it to help someone in need. Giving is important. If you choose to give 10%, take the extra 5% from your NEC and change the % allocated for NEC from 55% to 50%.

In my opinion, this is really a great Money Management System as it covers most aspects, if not all, on how one usually spend their money. It is so amazing simple, yet profound, method of better managing your money, regardless of how much money you already have! It can work for people who never save their $, or for people who needs to give to feel a sense of contribution to others/society, for those that need to learn and grow through learning, for anyone who just needs a little more help in managing their money.

I had the opportunity to attend T Harv Eker’s Millionaire Mind Intensive (MMI) seminar in Singapore from 23-25th Nov 2007 at the Singapore Expo. The MMI was one of the best seminars that I had ever attended since Tony Robbins’ Unleash The Power Within (UPW) seminar which I had attended in 2002.

It was 3 full days of Millionaire Mind Intensive training which will open up your eyes to what can be achieved financially in your life. I have learned lots of really useful insights and practical tips that I can apply to improve my financial health for the better.

Harv Eker imparted to us a very simple but profound money management system that anyone of you can apply in your life to better manage your money, even though if you think you do not have a lot of money to manage. It can start with managing as little as $1, because it is not the amount of money which you can manage that matters, but instead, the key is to develop the habits of managing your money! He called it the JARS Money Management System 101. I will share in details on my other blog posts about this JARS system that Harv Eker is talking about.

There were a lot of things that all of the MMI participants had learned during the intensive 3-days training at seminar and I will attempt to share them here progressively.

Harv Eker gave us a simple Financial Freedom Formula which anyone can take back home after the Millionaire Mind Intensive and appy them to see how we can improve our financial lives. The formula is as follows:

Working Income + Savings + Investments + Passive Income + Simplify = Financial Freedom

These are the 5 critical factors in the Financial Freedom equation.

Some of the things that Harv Eker talked about during MMI include:

The concept of a financial blueprint in each and everyone of us,

Our beliefs, attachments and associations about money,

Attitudes of Wealth

and so much more!

Watch out for my subsequent posts on SecretsOfAchievers.com as I cover in more details of my 3 days of Millionaire Mind Intensive in Singapore!

In the meantime, check out all the wonderful fun that the MMI participants had during a break before the next session of the presentation starts: