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SELECT AN EFFECTIVE SAVINGS PROGRAMME
Create your
own opportunities. Seize opportunities when they are "presented"-
they are everywhere.
"A
pessimist is someone who complains about the noise when opportunity
knocks." -Frank Newman
Make more money
by not spending it (on luxuries, like take-always.. except for "special
treats").
Give up smoking and excess consumption of alcohol. Then invest the
savings. Live as economically as
you can, focusing on gaining greater value out of each dollar spent.
But still buy occasional luxuries if
they give you pleasure.
Pay off your
debts as quickly as possible. Excessive debt eats away capital- it
is the fastest eroder
of your money. Save up an emergency fund for contingencies (nice word
that!)...but don't focus on what
might happen; because it usually doesn't it. However, an adequate
emergency fund can give one a sense
of security.
Have adequate
insurance to protect all contingencies. Life, disability, income,
general (house, car, boat, etc). More peace of mind.
Manage your assets well.
Don't speculate.
"Easy gain, easy lose". There are many "get rich schemes",
but so easy to go "broke" too.
As
Mark Twain once said," There are times in a man's life when he
should not speculate:
when he can't afford it and when
he can."
If you must,
do it in moderation and purely as entertainment with what you can
afford to lose.
Pay off all
debt as soon as possible: credit cards, mortgages. Did you know that
on a average mortgage
you eventually pay back over 20 or 25 years you pay back about three
times the original amount borrowed!
More money management tips:
$ Avoid excessive
borrowing.
$ Do not borrow
money to buy consumables.
$ Borrow from
the most cost-efficient source, i.e... the one with the lowest interest
rate.
$ Sell an asset
if the return from it is less than the interest on the loans taken
out to buy it.
$ NB: Don't
overuse credit cards.
$ Turn to the
"experts" for financial advice. Consult a "professional"
with regard to money matters.
Manage your
time effectively.
Ask yourself, "what is the best possible use of my time right
at this moment?"
Time is like
money, you can either spend it or invest it. Also most people have
a shortage of it.
In fact, time is even more precious than money.
"Time
is the most perishable commodity of all. If you don't
use
it today you cannot use it tomorrow."
Grow as a person
daily. Life (as well as success) is the journey, not the destination.
So take pleasure in it.
Read, listen
and think. The person who listens to others learns something, while
the talker learns nothing.
"Still waters run deep".
Market yourself:
don't sell yourself short and "hide your bright light under a
bushel".
Project a good
image at all times.
MOTIVATE YOURSELF
DAILY by reading inspirational words from great writers (and ordinary
people like me!).
SET YOURSELF
A WEALTH TARGET and dedicate yourself to achieving it. You must really
WANT to be financially free.
SUMMARY:
* Without financial
independence, you are a slave to money.
* Achieving
financial independence will take time, dedication and lots of hard
work... but will be
worth it in the end.
* Remember,
money isn't everything. It has been said that 'money is the root of
all evil", but only an
obsession and love of money for it's own sake, I believe, is bad.
Substantial amounts of money can be
used for charitable purposes, if that is your wish... but "charity
begins at home".
* Nearly everyone
has the ability to be successful, but very few have the desire as
well as the
commitment to make the sacrifices necessary to achieve wealth.
To recap...
in a line...
THE
THREE LEGS TO GROWING RICH
Like the three
legs of a stool. All are equally important in ensuring financial independence.
The key:
MAKING
MONEY + SAVING IT + INVESTING WISELY = FINANCIAL
SUCCESS
Have
a PLAN, then put it into ACTION. "People don't plan to fail, but
fail to plan."
Regularly
review your progress towards achieving your various goals. Are your
plans effective?
Change 'tack' if you are getting nowhere, or perhaps even change your
goals. What are your goals in life? What drives you?
THE
SECRETS OF SUCCESS:
I believe some essential qualities in achieving success in life are:
# DRIVE
# PASSION
# ENERGY
# SELF BELIEF and INNER CONFIDENCE
>>> and most importantly <<<
# HAVING A LIFE PURPOSE
HOW
to do it?...Listen to that still inner voice deep within you- your soul.
Nurture your inner
qualities. Focus on your strengths and build on your weaknesses (but
also build up your strengths
even more).
Develop
strategic relationships where you build teams with people whose skills
you lack. Build
"win-win" relationships with your complementary relationships,
so you all win. To do this effectively, you
need to share a common vision of where you are headed.
To
do this you need to be an effective communicator in communicating your
goals and vision to others.
NB:
Have a positive outlook on life. ATTITUDE is the most important
ingredient in whether you will be
successful. You can everything else, but without the 'big A', it will
be very hard.
Think
differently to the masses and let your creative imagination work for
you. The human mind has
amazing power. Let it find numerous unique business ideas for you, if
you only ASK it. Then sit back and
wait for the answer to come.
There
are many lucrative undiscovered business and life opportunities out
there, just waiting for you to
take action.
Be
a person of ACTION. Don't just talk your ideas away. Just be YOU. You
are not in this world to
live up to anyone else's expectations but your OWN.
THE FINAL WORD:
The key steps to achieving
success in whatever endeavor you choose in life:
A. ATTITUDE
B. BELIEF
C. COMMITMENT
D. A DREAM (+ DETERMINATION + DISCIPLINE)
E. ENERGY
+ PASSION
+ PURPOSE
= SUCCESS!
THE TEN
STEP PLAN TO GROWING RICH:
1.
Accept that you can achieve financial success and make a commitment
to yourself to attain it. It is
within your grasp if you really want it. Really BELIEVE it - that
is the most important step. Only then will
the incredible power of the human mind work out a means of achieving
it. Reject the idea that work is
simply something you have to do until the age of retirement.
2.
Ask yourself this: Where do you want to be in 2,5,10 years time? Set
goals that excite you. If you
could do absolutely anything with your life, what would you do. If you
had unlimited money or found out
you only had a month to live, what would you do? Write them down.
3.
Establish your current financial position. What is the cash inflow and
outflow. Horrors! Which areas
can be improved upon? Everything!
4.
Develop your NEW plans. Decide what action you are going to take that
will move you closer to the
achievement of your goals? All goals should be specific and have a time
constraint.
5.
Closely monitor the performance of your investments and your rate of
savings.
6.
Try to put extra savings into investment (it could be your own business).
7.
Review and reward yourself annually if your targets are met.
8.
Pursue your personal goals and business ideas with all you've got. With
real PASSION and
PURPOSE. If you really BELIEVE In them, they are far more likely to
be achieved.
9.
Still try to live a BALANCED life... or as balanced as you can make
it. Money doesn't buy happiness; yet I'd rather be unhappy in comfort!
10.
The highest cost of all is the cost of waiting to TAKE ACTION to change
your current circumstances
in life (as 94% of the population apparently are dissatisfied with their
situations. It is up to you to do things
differently. So take ACTION now- to change course. You
get only one shot at life, so make the most of it.
Always remember,
*
True prosperity is created from within. All prosperity is created in
the mind. You are only as wealthy,
happy or as prosperous as WHAT YOU FEEL... and what you make up your
mind to be. And money is
not everything. For me, health, family and happiness are far far more
important considerations.
Aim high,
dream high.
If you aim for the tree tops, you might not get off the
ground... so why not aim for the stars.
Good luck,
Craig Lock*
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*
Craig Lock has been involved in the personal finance field for over
twenty-five years in South Africa,
Australia and New Zealand. He is now an author of five published books
with another twelve being
published and marketed on the Internet. Craig has written extensively
on money matters: articles, brochures
for financial institutions and books. He is presently living in beautiful
slow New Zealand waiting for the next
adventure life has in store for him.
This piece is a summary of my booklet THE ROAD
TO FINANCIAL INDEPENDENCE,
as well as incorporating thoughts and extracts from THE
MAD MONEY BOOK
and STEPS TO SUCCESS, PROSPERITY AND
HAPPINESS.
EAGLE PRODUCTIONS
c/o New Zealand Enterprize Centre
137 Derby St
Gisborne
New Zealand 3801
Telephone/Fax +64-6-8686712
Free Phone/Fax 0800-55-77-22 (In New Zealand)
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Refer to our website for
more information on how you can gain health, wealth and happiness at;
http://www.elkpublications.com/godzone.htm
Craig's personal site
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After that long read, take a breather.
Best wishes from me here in the "First
City to see the Sun" each day in the slow lane that is
Godzone (as New Zealand is affectionately known).
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The secret of happiness is not doing
what one likes, but in liking what one does. - J.M. Barrie
"Success
is never ending, failure is never final."
- Dr Robert Schuller
Some people dream of success...while
others wake up and work hard at it.
If you can believe it, you can achieve
it. If you can visualize it, you can realize it!
"If you've tried to do something
and failed you are much better off then
if you tried to do nothing and succeeded."
Honesty, integrity, persistence and
ingenuity are the keys to success.
"Success is your
birthright. Loss is impossible. Do what you came here to do. Be what
you are."
- Alan Cohen
Believe in yourself and in your dream,
Though impossible things may seem
Someday, somehow you'll get through
To the goal you have in view.
Mountains fall and seas divide,
Before the one who in his stride
Takes a hard road by day
Sweeping obstacles away
Believe in yourself and in your plan
Say not -I cannot -I can
The prizes of life we fail to win
Because we doubt the power within...
ANON
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