Life is Good

Prasangka

2008-11-17T09:29:00.000+07:00

Dikisahkan, seorang janda miskin hidup berdua dengan putri kecilnya yang masih berusia sembilan tahun. Kemiskinan memaksanya untuk membuat sendiri kue-kue dan menjajakannya di pasar demi kelangsungan hidup mereka. Hidup penuh kekurangan membuat si kecil tidak pernah bermanja-manja kepada ibunya seperti anak-anak kecil lainnya.

Suatu hari di musim dingin, saat selesai membuat kue, si ibu tersadar melihat keranjang penjaja kuenya sudah rusak berat. Dia pun keluar rumah untuk membeli keranjang baru dan berpesan kepada putrinya agar menunggu saja di rumah. Pulang dari membeli keranjang, si ibu menemukan pintu rumah tidak terkunci dan putrinya tidak ada di rumah. Spontan amarahnya memuncak. Putri betul-betul tidak tahu diri! Cuaca dingin seperti ini, disuruh diam di rumah sebentar saja malahan pergi bermain dengan teman-temannya!

Setelah selesai menyusun kue di keranjang, si ibu segera pergi untuk menjajakan kuenya. Dinginnya salju yang memenuhi jalanan tidak menyurutkan tekadnya demi kehidupan mereka. Dan sebagai hukuman untuk si putri, pintu rumah di kuncinya dari luar. "Kali ini Putri harus diberi pelajaran karena telah melanggar pesan," geram si ibu dalam hati.

Sepulang dari menjajakan kue, mata si ibu mendadak nanar saat menemukan gadis kecilnya tergeletak di depan pintu. Dengan berteriak histeris segera dipeluknya tubuh putrinya yang telah kaku karena kedinginan. Dengan susah payah dipindahkannyalah tubuh putri ke dalam rumah.

"Putri...Putri...Putri..., bangun, Nak! Ini ibu, Nak! Bangun, Nak! Ibu tidak marah kok. Bangun Putri anakku!" Serunya sambil menangis merung-raung dan berusaha sekuat tenaga membangunkan dengan menguncang-guncangkan tubuh si putri agar terbangun. Tetapi putri tidak bereaksi sama sekali.

Tiba-tiba terjatuh dari genggaman tangan si putri sebuah bungkusan kecil. Saat dibuka, ternyata di dalamnya berisi sebungkus kecil biskuit dan secarik kertas usang. Dengan tergesa-gesa dan tangan yang gemetar hebat, si ibu segera mengenali tulisan putrinya yang masih berantakan tetapi terbaca jelas.

"Ibuku tersayang, Ibu pasti lupa hari istimewa Ibu ya. Hi... hi... hi..., ini Putri belikan biskuit kesukaan ibu. Maaf Bu, uang putri tidak cukup untuk membeli yang besar dan maaf lagi Putri telah melanggar pesan Ibu karena meninggalkan rumah untuk membeli biskuit ini. Selamat ulang tahun, Bu. Putri selalu sayang, Ibu!" Dan meledaklah tangis sang ibu.

Pembaca yang budiman,

Huai Ie, prasangka sering mendatangkan petaka adalah kalimat yang cocok dengan kisah tadi dan penyesalan biasanya datang menyusul di belakang itu. Begitu banyak masalah dan problem di dunia ini muncul karena prasangka negatif maka butuh kedewasaan dalam mengendalikan pikiran agar kebiasaan berprasangka tidak kita layani begitu saja dan sedapat mungkin kita hilangkan. Kita ganti dengan berfikir positif sekaligus hati-hati dengan demikian memungkinkan hubungan kita dengan orang lain akan menjadi harmonis dan membahagiakan.

>>dikutip dari http://www.andriewongso.com/

Money is a Game...You Must Learn How to Play It.

2008-10-22T09:42:00.000+07:00

You see...making money is a game. If you learn the rules of this
game, money will flow into your hands. If you do not play by the
rules, you will struggle all your life financially despite working
very hard.

Haven't you ever asked yourself why some people earn five times,
ten times or even twenty times more than others? Is it because they
are twenty times smarter? Is it because they work twenty times
harder? Or are they many times luckier? The answer to all these
questions is a resounding 'NO'!

I am sure you know people who seemed to be much lazier than you in
school and had poorer grades but now they are so much more
successful financially.

Although their school report card used to be chockfull of 'F's,
their financial report card carries straight 'A's. Why? The only
reason is because they know how to play the game of money whereas
most people have not learnt how the game is played.

You see...none of us are ever taught how to make money, how to invest
money or how to manage our wealth and yet money is the most
important subject in our adult lives.

Although many people say that 'money isn't everything', that's only
a half -truth. The truth is that 'everything is money'! In order to
achieve excellence in the different areas of lives like our health,
relationships and family, we need to be financially secure!

The traditional education system (thank God it's changing) never
taught us how to be rich but instead brainwashed us into becoming
poor.

We are taught beliefs like 'study hard, get good grades and a
good job and you'll be set for life!', 'investing is risky', 'don't
play with stocks or you'll get burnt', 'don't be so money-faced' or
'don't be so stingy'.

As result of all the wrong anti-wealth advice, most people work
hard all their lives, going around in circles in the rat race and
ending up broke and unhappy.

However, a fortunate few eventually learn that wealth is not made
by just getting a good job and working hard. It takes a different
way of thinking and a totally different strategy. Those that learn
this lesson get out of the rat race and onto the path of financial
abundance and freedom.

Some people take ten years to figure this out, some take thirty
years and some never figure it out until it is too late. Don't make
the same mistake!

Are You a Victim in Life?

2008-10-22T09:12:00.000+07:00

'If only I had more time.'

'If only my husband could be more understanding.'

'If only my boss would die!'

'If only my son could be more motivated.'

'If only I could get better customers',

these are the common litany of excuses one would hear.

People who believe themselves to be victims say that the only way
for their lives to change for the better is when other people get
better, or if the business-social environment improves.

As long as you keep thinking that it is not your fault, that
something else must change, you will continue to feel helpless and
powerless. By continuing to play the victim, you will be totally at
the mercy of your environment

Why do so many people Choose to be a Victim?

Time to time, we find ourselves unconsciously lapsing into victim
mode till it leads to being an undesirable part of makeup Do you
have friends and acquaintances who complain non-stop about their
employers, colleagues, spouse, society at large, or the government?
How about you?

Without any intention of being cold and heartless, the fact stays;
as long as people convince themselves to be the victims of
circumstance, they will never be able to take charge, learn from
their experiences, move on and change their lives for the better.

Why do we do this? The simple reason being it makes us feel good!
By playing the victim, we get lots of sympathy, don't we? At the
same time, we want to feel assured that we were in the right by
justifying our own actions.

Soon, complaining becomes therapeutic. After all the complaining,
we actually feel relieved of an emotional burden.

Beneficial as it may seem, though playing the victim appears to
have lots of payoffs, the cost of doing so is high for as long as
we blame something or someone else, we rob ourselves of the power
to take charge, and change the situation.

Giving Excuses and Blaming Others Takes Power Away from You

The reality is that most people act in a way that puts others in
charge of their life.

When something doesn't work in their life, they choose to give
excuses, blame others and complain. The problem with this is that
by doing so, you are putting others in control of your life. You
put yourself in the role of victim.

This is the reason causing most people feel totally helpless, with
no control over what is happening to them. Most of the time the
outside world will not change...not until we change first!

Take Absolute Responsibility for Your Results!

2008-10-22T08:57:00.001+07:00

"He made me angry."

"My divorce is really depressing me".

"My kids are driving me crazy."

"My unappreciative boss is driving me to a nervous breakdown".

The statements above have one thing in common; blaming others and
not taking responsibility for one's state

As long as blame is cast outside ourselves, our states will be out
of our control. Most people allow their emotions to run their lives
which results in them feeling powerlessness and helplessness.

If you are upset, you are choosing to be upset. If you are excited,
you are choosing to be excited. Remember, no one can affect how you
feel unless you allow them to. The moment you realize this, you can
choose to feel differently.

For example, if you get fired unfairly, you can choose to feel
depressed and wallow in self-pity. You can also choose to be all
fired up making a success of yourself, letting your ex company
regret their decision in firing you!

In fact, some of the greatest companies in the world were built by
men who were motivated to get back at their ex-companies for firing
them.

The most famous example is what Lee Iacocca did when Henry Ford 11
fired him (a personality clash). He simply left and joined a rival
motor company (Chrysler), turned that ailing company into a direct
rival and competitor of Ford.

Another example is the actions that Ivana Trump took when real
estate magnet Donald Trump dumped her for a younger woman. Instead
of drowning her 'loss' with alcohol, anti depressants and wrecking
her health, she made herself more glamorous publicly announcing to
other wronged wives, "Don't get mad, get even!" and eventually
proceeded to wrestling a mega settlement from him.

A point to take note off, taking absolute responsibility for
whatever happens does not mean blaming oneself. Taking
responsibility and blaming yourself is totally different. Some
people blame themselves for everything - and that is not a useful
pattern.

By blaming yourself, you beat yourself up only to find yourself
feeling helpless and depressed. "It's my fault that I'm so stupid,
I really screwed up again."

This is not what taking responsibility is all about. Taking
responsibility means acknowledging the fact that the choices you
made in the past have contributed to your present situation.
Instead of feeling bad, place yourself in a state of possibility by
putting the choice back in your own hands.

The key elements that drive our actions and results are the
emotional states we experience. When we feel excited and motivated,
we are more likely to take action that will lead to great results.
But when we are upset and depressed, we rarely make good decisions
or do anything productive

Successful individuals choose to feel empowered and positive even
in the most dire of circumstances. This is how they feel constantly
motivated to improve their situation.

People who are in control of their lives believe they create their
world. If everything is going great, then they created it, not
anyone else. If things are not going well, then they created it as
well. From this moment onwards, start taking responsibility for
your feelings and results.

For Things To Change You Must Change First...

2008-10-22T08:34:00.000+07:00

People always say, "What if it is really not my fault? What if the
situation is totally out of my hands?"

In actual fact we always play a role in creating whatever is
happening to us, whether consciously or subconsciously.

We create our experiences either through our thoughts or our
actions. You can say something emphatically, but if you are
thinking something else, people can pick up the vibes, or it will
show up in your body language.

People who are in control of their lives believe that they create
their world. If everything is going great, then they created it,
not anybody else. If things are not going well, then they created
it as well.

Some people tell me that they never get a good break. They never
get lucky enough to land a great opportunity. They are never at the
right place at the right time. I believe you create your own luck.
Or I prefer the word opportunity or break.

If you never find any good opportunities, it could be because of
your limiting beliefs and thoughts. If you believe that there are
no opportunities around, your mind will tend to delete all the
great opportunities, even if they are there right before you.

Once there was a woman who had been looking for the right partner
for the last 20 years. She was in her late 30s and getting
concerned she would never find her ideal guy.

When asked what she was looking for, she started describing this
perfect man who had to be rich, handsome, humorous, sensitive and
charming.

When asked bluntly, 'Would this man with all these traits want to
marry you?' She had no answer.

If she wanted to attract the perfect man, she must first be that
perfect woman to attract him!

One single most important message in this article is, for things to
change, we must first change ourselves. When we take responsibility
for what we get and change ourselves, everything and everybody else
will change with us!

So,

If you want to attract the best staff, be the best boss
If you want to have the best kids, be the best parent
If you want the perfect wife, then be that perfect husband
If you want the highest income, add the greatest value
If you want to attract the best customers, become the best company

Focus on yourself and success will come.

Why are You Not Rich Yet

2008-10-22T08:28:00.001+07:00

Let me first ask you this question, 'Why are you not rich yet'?
'What has prevented you from getting the wealth you deserve?'

Spend some time to really ponder on this question and write down as
many reasons as you can think of. It is important that you are
totally honest with yourself.

Most people tend to say:

'I have no money to make money'
'I was born in a poor family'
'I need to support my family'
'I am too young/old'
'I'm not smart enough'
'I have no opportunities'
'I lack the qualifications'
'I have an unsupportive spouse'
'I lack the financial know-how'
'I have no luck'
'The economy has been down'
'I made poor decisions'

Do any of the reasons shown here match the ones you have given? I
want you to look at all the reasons you have been giving yourself
and to take note of whether they are reasons that are within your
control or external reasons that you think are beyond your control.

You see, most people go through life with the Victim's mindset and
this prevents them from ever changing their financial situation.

When they don't get the results they want, victims tend to give
themselves lots of excuses like 'I'm just unlucky', ' I have no
experience', 'I'm too old to earn more', 'I'm too young to be
rich', 'I have no capital', 'I was born poor' or 'I'm not a
creative person'.

The reason all these are lousy excuses is because we know that
there are many examples of people who have created wealth for
themselves, despite all these perceived disadvantages.

Victims also tend to blame everyone except themselves. When you ask
victims why they are not rich yet they will say something like, 'my
boss won't give me a raise', 'I don't get any opportunities', 'my
big family prevents me from saving money', 'the stock market caused
me to lose everything'.

And instead of finding a way to improve and change, victims spend
their time complaining but don't do anything about it.

The trouble is that when you give yourself excuses, blame others
and whine, it means that someone else or something else is
controlling your life and your (lack of) wealth.

Since you believe that it is not your fault, then you are powerless
to change it. If you have a victim's mindset and hold doggedly onto
the belief that external forces are controlling your wealth, then
any strategies you learn will be of no use!

The moment you acknowledge that you create your own fortune (or
lack of it), it means that you have given yourself the power to
start becoming rich right now!

When you learn the strategies of wealth creation, you will find
that you can make money at any age, with any background, with
little or no money and in any economy.

Are you Communicating Effectively?

2008-10-22T08:26:00.001+07:00

Success in life usually means being successful with people. Rarely
do you see someone ever make it to the top alone. And being
successful with people is all about communication.

Whenever we communicate with someone, do we always get the response
we want? In our attempts to motivate our staff, do they always
respond by getting motivated? Do we manage to transfer the meaning
of our communication across in the manner we expect all the time?

The answer is a flat no!

Learning and applying the following strategy on effective
communication will enable us to communicate more effectively and
successfully.

Words, Tonality & Body Language

Communication consists of three major elements. The words we use,
our tone of voice and our body language.

According to research, the total impact of our communication
consists of words (7%), Tone of voice (38%) and body language
(55%). Body language is made up of our facial expression, gestures,
posture, breathing pattern, eye movement and muscle tension.

Although what we say is extremely important, it is the least
impactful when compared to how we say it (tone of voice and our
body language).

As a salesperson, your ability to effectively communicate your
product benefits determines the outcome of the sale.

As a business owner, your ability to motivate your staff, attract
new clients and investors is determined by your power as a
communicator.

To be an effective teacher or parent, you must be able to motivate,
inspire, convince, build rapport and sell ideas to your children or
students.

You can tell a client how great and exciting your company is but if
your tone of voice is dull, your face expressionless and your body
is sagging with fatigue, it would be difficult to expect him to buy
or accept your idea.

Or you could be a teacher with the most deadpan expression and tone
of voice wondering what is the reason of not being able to motivate
or inspire the students under your charge.

The point is that when we communicate, we mustn't only pay
attention to our words, neglecting the more important factors of
our tone of voice and our body language.

In order to communicate effectively, it is imperative for us to
make sure that our non verbal communication is not sabotaging us,
but aligned and congruent with our highest thoughts, enabling us
mastery of the communication process.

Master the art of communication and you'll start to see success
become easier to achieve because people who like will help you on
your way to achieving your goals.

The Impact of Saving on Your Future Wealth

2008-10-22T08:25:00.001+07:00

If you think about, many people will make over a million dollars in
their lifetime! If you were to earn an average income of $3,000 a
month ($36,000 a year) over 40 years (age 25-65), then you would
have a total of $1.44 million ($36,000 x 40 years) flow through
your hands.

If you were like most people who spend all they earn, you will end
up after 40 years with almost nothing. But what if you were to just
save 10% of that income every month and invest it in stocks and
mutual funds that earn you a 15% return a year and let your money
compound? How much would you have after 40 years?

Using a financial calculator, you can easily compute that you would
have accumulated $6.914 million! What? Is that right? Is there
something wrong with my calculator? No! Through the power of
compounding, saving just $300 a month accumulates to over $6
million in 40 years! That is the power of consistent saving and
investing.

Most people feel that they do not have enough income to invest so
they procrastinate by saying, 'I will start when I earn more!'
Trust me, this is impossible. If you cannot save ten cents out of a
dollar, you will not save $100,000 out of a million. If you cannot
start with a small income, forget it when you have a bigger income.
Remember that if you do not start the habit of saving and
investing, you will end up with a lot more expenses when you earn
more.

Stop procrastinating! Start right away! Every day you delay is
costing you hundreds of thousands of lost dollars in your future.
Let's look at the impact of procrastination....

If you were to save $300 a month for 25 years at a 15% annual
return, you will have $826,968 in the end

If you were to start just one year later and save $300 a month for
24 years at the same 15% return, you will end up with $715,723.
That's $111,245 less! In other words, waiting one year will cost
you $111,245 in future dollars. This is equivalent to losing
$304.78 ($111,245 divided by 365 days) of future wealth every
single day you procrastinate! Can you afford to do that?

So get ready to start increasing your monthly savings right away!

Strategies to Effective Money Management

2008-10-22T08:06:00.001+07:00

Before you can ever reduce your expenses and increase your savings,
you must first know where your money is going to. Many people share
the same experience of having no idea where their $5,000 salary
went. 'How did I spend so much money?' 'I thought that I should
have $1,000 left at the end of the month, but it seems to have all
disappeared!'

With a simple yet powerful system which I personally use together
with specially designed Microsoft Excel templates like the 'Monthly
Personal Income Statements' and 'Daily Expense Sheets' you just need
to invest fifteen minutes a day to manage your money.

If you want to be wealthy, do not expect it to happen
automatically. You must commit to spend time on your finances.

Millionaires spend an average of an hour a day on personal wealth
management, while most people spend less than an hour a month,
usually on paying bills.

So out of this one-hour a day, you've got to devote the first
fifteen minutes to do these five Money Management Steps

1) Always Ask for a Discount

If it is not a fixed price store, there is a 70% chance that you
will get a discount if you just ask for it. If you get a 10%
discount, it is equivalent to earning an immediate 10% return on
your money. Over the long term, you will save a huge amount that
will accelerate you even faster towards your targeted net worth.

2) Always Ask for a Receipt

Always get a receipt so that you can track every single expense at
the end of the day and, if possible, claim it as a business expense
and get a tax deduction.

3) At the End of the Day, Record all Expenses in your Daily Expense
Sheet

You can do this manually in the sample 'Daily Expense Sheet 'at the
end of the chapter or you can key it in electronically into a
template.

I highly recommend you key it into an excel spreadsheet, so it can
automatically add up the total each month.

4) Use a Credit Card Whenever You Can (but always pay the full
outstanding sum every month)

Again, this will allow you a convenient way of having all your
expenses recorded for you in the monthly statement.

5) At the End of the Month, Update Your Monthly Income Statement

At the end of every month, add up the total expenses from your
daily expense sheet and update your monthly income statement. At
the same time, update all your income for the month. Deduct your
total expenses from your total income to get your monthly savings.

You must use a system to track where every single dollar goes. Only
when you know where your money is going, can you take steps to
channel it to your savings and investments.

Doing this month after month may seem tedious, but it is absolutely
necessary if you want to build your wealth. Only when you develop
the habit of managing your personal finances, can you manage the
finances of your own business.

So many people financially mismanage their businesses into
bankruptcy because they mismanage their own finances. Don't be one
of them!

Action is the Driving Force that Produces Results

2008-10-22T08:04:00.000+07:00

Are the most successful people the ones who had the most knowledge;
were they more intelligent or was it because they were better
academically? We all know that this is not true. If this were true,
everyone from MENSA and anyone that obtains a PHD would be a
multimillionaire.

Think about this. Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Oprah Winfrey, Steven
Spielberg, Larry Ellison, Soichiro Honda and Richard Branson, have
one thing in common, all of them do not have a college degree.

Yet they have built billion dollar empires run by extremely well
qualified managers and professionals, many of them possessing
Harvard MBAs.

This is still true today. Many intelligent, well-educated people
who have MBAs and PhDs do not accomplish much although they may
have the intelligence and knowledge.

The irony is that many people who do extremely well academically
usually end up working for those who were average performers in
school.

On the other hand, there are many millionaires and business owners
who dropped out of college, never attending university only to find
themselves producing phenomenal results.

Why is this so? The answer lies in the simple fact that these
individuals took more action than compared to others. More often
than not, these successful individuals made up their mind thinking
that they had nothing to lose.so they take action, massive action
to make up for it.

While book knowledge and tertiary education are extremely valuable
assets, too much of it can become a liability.

When people have excess knowledge, they spend all their time
analyzing thinking WHY 'something cannot be done; so much so that
it paralyses them from taking any form of action.

For those highly qualified academically, they tend to be more risk
averse. These people tend to take less action.

Knowledge, intelligence and capability are not 'power'. They are
only potential forms of power. Only when action is taken do these
acquired resources realize their potential.

Action is the driving force that makes things happen. When
consistent action is taken towards a specific outcome, results will
definitely be produced.

We either get the results we want (success), or we get the results
we don't want (feedback). By changing our strategy and consistently
taking even more action, we will eventually get the results we want.

Success is defined by how much action we take and not just by how
much knowledge and capability we have. Knowledge can be learnt and
capability can be acquired.

Taking massive action is the key to unleashing personal power.
People who combine knowledge with massive action become unstoppable
in achieving any goal.

From Riches to Rags

2008-10-22T07:59:00.001+07:00

Some individuals do obtain and come into contact with wealth at a
certain point in their lives. Unfortunately, most people tend to be
mistaken in their attitudes of being wealthy. Instead of using and
building up what they have to their advantage, most of them tend to
lose what they have acquired.

Here are some examples that fall under the following categories.

1) The False Rich
These are usually made up of professionals and corporate executives
who earn a high income, but who spend just as much. They are the
ones who drive the latest luxury cars, fly first class and dine at
the finest restaurants. They appear rich and successful.

However, the sad truth is that they are poor accumulators of wealth
who have few positive cash flow assets. They roll their credit
cards and have huge credit lines. Their bankers love them. As a
result, they are usually just one to two paychecks away from being
broke.

2) Those Who Inherited their Millions
These are a bunch of lucky bums who did not have to break into
sweat to earn their money. Such instant millionaires usually do not
understand the value of money, as they never had to slog for their
millions. And, as a result, they spend like there is no tomorrow.
This is why it has been proven time and again that inherited wealth
never lasts past the third generation.

Those who strike the lottery also fall into this category. Because
it was pure luck and not financial intelligence that thrust wealth
on them, most of them tend to lose it all within a few years,
ending up deeper in debt than ever before.

3) Highly Talented Celebrities
These are the ones who earned their millions not because of their
financial intelligence but because they were blessed with a
spectacular talent in singing, acting or sports. Because millions
come easily to these stars, they easily spend it all. Unfortunately
for them, no matter how much they earn, many eventually wind up
broke and in debt.

Some sad examples are Mike Tyson, MC Hammer and Michael Jackson.
Mike Tyson earned over $500 million over a few short years as the
undisputed heavyweight champion. Because of his lavish lifestyle of
luxury cars, huge mansions and Bengal Tigers, he ended up filing
for bankruptcy. Pop star MC Hammer who sang the hit single 'You
can't touch this' made over $33 million in his career, but he too
filed for bankruptcy.

King of Pop Michael Jackson earned over $700 million in his
illustrious career. However during his molestation trial, his
accountant testified that he spent $20-$30 million more than he
earns every year, took loans of more than $415 million and is
facing a severe cash crunch, causing him to default on his loan
payments.

They are no end to stories of sports celebrities and movie stars
who have earned hundreds of millions within a few short years and
ended up broke and deeply in debt in an even shorter period of
time. Why? Because lacking the 'million-dollar mindset', they could
neither manage their money nor rein in their runaway expenses.

Without having a solid understanding of the principles of wealth,
one may never truly be wealthy.

Achieve Successful Results through Visualization!

2008-10-22T07:57:00.001+07:00

Many people have made use of the power of visualization to help
them perform at their peak. This technique is favorably applied in
the area of competitive sports where it is known as 'mental
rehearsal'.

For many years, the Russians had always won and dominated the
gymnastics event in the Olympic Games. The Americans trained just
as hard and could not understand how the Russians were always able
to perform at levels near perfection.

It was only much later that the Americans discovered that the
Russians employed sports psychologists who contributed by designing
mental training techniques as part of their regime.

The Russians' used a secret technique of spending a few hours a day
visualizing themselves doing the perfect jumps, twists and
landings. This technique largely contributed to them to displaying
performances that were always near perfection!

Today, all top athletes use the power of visualization to perform
at their peak.

Another famous example, professional golf player Tiger Woods also
talks about how he visualizes himself hitting the perfect ball and
watching it land, even before he actually swings his club.

Mental vs Physical Training

There was an experiment done comparing mental training with actual
physical training. A group of men were divided randomly into three
basketball teams. They were asked to shoot from the free throw line
and their scores were recorded. For the next three weeks, each team
went through a different training routine.

The first team physically trained for four hours. The second team
did not shoot any hoops physically but imagined themselves shooting
perfect shots for two hours a day. The third team was the control
group so they were asked not to train at all.

After three weeks, the 3 different teams were retested and their
scores recorded. The first team that trained physically scored an
average improvement of 30%.

The second team that trained mentally also scored an average
improvement of 30%. The third team showed no signs of improvement
at all.

This experiment showed that mental training is amazingly as
effective as actual physical practice. And if you were to combine
both aspects, there could be astonishing improvements in results.

Visualization is a useful and powerful technique anyone could
benefit from. Through proper study and application of this
technique, we will be able to bring about greater changes and
results in all aspects of our life

What Determines Our Income

2008-10-22T07:56:00.001+07:00

Before you can increase your primary source of income, you must
first understand what determines a person's income. Why is it that
one person is paid $3,000 a month while another person is paid
$30,000 a month?

Every time I ask this question to people, I get standard answers
like, 'age, qualifications, experience, luck, title, special
skills, specialized knowledge, intelligence and so on'. Well, none
of this is really accurate.

There are so many examples of people who are younger, less
academically qualified with less experience who are earning much
more than a 45 year-old Harvard MBA graduate who happens to be a
member of MENSA. It is also not uncommon to see people with less
experience in a company earn much more than someone who has been
there for the last twenty years. So what does determine a person's
income?

A person's income is determined by the amount of value he/she
creates multiplied by the time he spends creating value multiplied
by the scalability factor. In other words,

INCOME = VALUE X TIME X SCALABILITY

So, in order to increase your income, you must increase the amount
of value you create, the time you spend creating value and your
scalability factor.

Your Income is A Refection of the Value You Create

Let's first focus on how your income is determined by the value you
create. Well, let me give you a metaphor. Recently I went to the
mall to buy a new mobile phone. When I found the mobile phone shop,
I saw all kinds of brands and models on display - the price tags
they carried all differed widely.

I saw a Sony Ericsson 910i model that had a price tag of $1,400 and
a Nokia 2600 with a price tag of $238. Now, why is one mobile phone
priced seven times more than another? The answer is simple. It's
because one phone has a lot more functions and can hence create a
lot more value to the user.

The Sony Ericsson 910i is able to make calls, send & receive SMS,
send & receive MMS, record and edit videos, play & edit music, take
high quality pictures, surf the internet, entertain with games,
send and receive emails, has word processing and spreadsheet
capabilities, has Bluetooth technology and has an in-built personal
digital assistant.

In short, it is not just a phone, it is a mini computer! It does a
lot more than expected. It creates a lot more value for the user by
allowing him to achieve his goals more efficiently.

How about the Nokia 2600? Well, it's just a standard mobile phone.
It makes calls, sends and receives SMS, has entertainment games and
a calendar. It creates a lot less value, and is hence priced lower.
If the Nokia 2600 had a price tag of $1400, would you pay for it?

Of course not. It's just not worth the price. But if you had the
money and needed to surf the net, manage your time, check emails
and record images on the go, would you pay $1400 for the Sony
Ericsson? Of course! I did!

So let me ask you a question. Which mobile phone do you represent?
What is the price tag that you carry? If you want to have a higher
price tag and have people pay for you, then you must create the
necessary value!

What allows the Sony Ericsson 910i to create so much more value?
The answer is that it has a lot more software installed. How does
this translate to you? Well, in order for you to create a lot more
value to your company and your clients, you must keep upgrading
your knowledge and skills, your intellectual capital!

Now you may say to me, 'Adam, I am not a mobile phone, I am a
person!' Absolutely! But the same thing applies. When you create
more and more value for your job, business or customers, your
income will rise tremendously. Create more value!

What Drives Us Forward?

2008-10-22T07:54:00.001+07:00

If taking action is the key to producing results, why doesn't
everybody take action? Why doesn't everybody follow through on
their plans? Why is it that so many people know what they should
do, but still don't do it?

The most common reasons are: 'I lack motivation', 'I'm too lazy',
'I don't feel confident' or 'I am afraid that...' Is this true for
you as well? If you are like most people, you would probably be
nodding your head.

For example, you know that you should start exercising three times
a week, but you put it off because you feel lazy. As a salesperson,
you know you should make ten cold calls a day, but you don't do it
because you don't feel like being rejected. You know that public
speaking will help your career, but you don't get on stage and face
the audience because you feel the fear.

At the same time, there are many things we do, knowing full well
that we shouldn't! Why is that so? That's because we feel like
doing it.

For example, you know that eating that extra piece of delicious
chocolate cake is bad for your weight/health but you still do it
because you feel greedy. You know that you shouldn't go back to
sleep when the alarm rings, but you still lie in because it feels
so good.

Have you ever experienced a day when you managed to get a lot of
things done? When your ideas flowed, when you made the best
decisions and you were absolutely on form? Well on those 'top of
form' days, you were in a series of resourceful states.

Then again, have you had days when you couldn't get anything done?
When you couldn't do anything right? You said and did the most
stupid things? How could this happen? You were the same person and
had exactly the same resources available to you. The difference was
that you were not in a resourceful state.

If you think about it, 'motivation', 'fear', 'confidence', 'inertia
- expressed as procrastination', are nothing but emotional states
we experience.

Emotional 'States' like 'excitement', 'passion', 'confidence', and
'happiness', 'exhilaration 'get us to take action and perform at
our peak.

At the same time, states like ' fear', 'anxiety', 'stress',
'inertia', 'depression', 'tiredness' hold us back.

It is not logic that drives our actions. It is our emotions. Very
often, we know that logically we should do something, but we don't
do it because we don't feel like doing it.

People who take consistent action and produce great results do so
because they experience many more resourceful states on a daily
basis.

It is truly our emotional 'states' that drive our actions and
behaviors all the time. How we feel truly determines what we do and
how we do it.

It is these empowering states that allow us to get the best out of
themselves!

Why Madonna Earns More Than You?

2008-10-22T07:53:00.000+07:00

Let me pose you this question. Between a pop star like Madonna and
a heart surgeon, who creates greater value in a person's life? Of
course it is the heart surgeon! The heart surgeon has the ability
to save a person's life whereas Madonna can only make a person feel
good for a couple of minutes.

Why then is Madonna paid 100,000 times more than a heart surgeon?
What does Madonna have that the typical heart surgeon does not
have? The answer is the 'scalability factor.'

The scalability factor is the final and most powerful component of
the income formula. It is what separates the rich from the super
rich.

The scalability factor is the extent to which you can MAGNIFY or
MULTIPLY the effects of your value. It is the extent to which you
can leverage your value & time.

The Power of Magnifying Value
For example, for three hours work, how many lives can the heart
surgeon save? He can probably only save one life. He creates
tremendous value, charging probably $2,000, but he can only touch
one life.

In that same 3 hours of performing in a concert, how many people
does Madonna's singing benefit? Thousands and if it is broadcast
live, maybe even millions. So the value she creates is magnified
tremendously whereas the surgeon does not have the power of
magnification.

The Power of Multiplying Value
If Madonna were to spend three hours singing a series of songs in a
studio and in were to be recorded on a CD, how many times would she
get paid for it? The answer is multiple times. Every time that CD
is sold, she would earn a percentage of money, called a royalty.

If that CD album sold a million copies a year, she would get paid
$5 million over and over again every year. In this case her value
of singing is multiplied many fold!

As for the heart surgeon, he would be paid only once for the
operation. Must you keep paying him royalties every year in order
to keep your new heart? Of course not! As a result, he does not
experience any multiplication effect at all.

So, as you can see, a person's income can massively increase when
multiplied by the power of scalability.

INCOME = VALUE X TIME X SCALABILITY

Many people have the perception that you can only achieve
scalability when you are singer, movie star, sports star or a
famous celebrity. Absolutely not!

You can achieve massive magnification or multiplication in any
profession, whether you are a chef, garbage collector, lawyer,
doctor, teacher or software programmer. When you fully utilize the
power of (value x time x scalability), your wealth will grow
exponentially!

So start keeping track of how you send your time each day and focus
more of your time on high value creation activities and your income
will increase.

Managing Our States for Peak Performance

2008-10-22T07:51:00.001+07:00

The notion of changing our physical body to change our states is
not new. All the gurus who teach yoga, meditation, Qi gong and tai
chi are masters at changing the physical body to effect a complete
change of state.

Unfortunately, many people use external stimuli to change their
physical bodies and states, which is good in the long term. For
example, people use junk food, coffee, drugs, alcohol or
cigarettes, all of which alter their biochemistry changing how they
feel temporarily. (Unfortunately there are long term negative
effects of addictive foods and drugs on their physical body)

Some people smoke to change their states, to calm their nerves from
stress and anxiety. Why does smoking change your state? The main
factor is not only attributed to the chemicals. In fact, by
inhaling, you are taking deep slow breaths. This is the reason
smokers feel calmer and relaxed after a cigarette break.

A useful and beneficial strategy people use to change their states
is exercise. I am sure you have experienced a time when you felt
frustrated, depressed or stressed. What happens if you were to go
running or play a game of tennis?

You would immediately forget that you were depressed! This is
because exercising massively changes our entire physiology,
preventing our brain from accessing the depressed state any more.

What happened when you stopped exercising? You gradually got
depressed again, didn't you? However, this means that you do have
the ability to shift completely out of negative states in an
instant. By consciously taking charge of our physiology, we do not
require external devices to change our states

Now, unless you change your physiology totally, it is impossible
for you to change your state, In other words, if you remain in a
physiology of procrastination, it is not possible for you feel
motivated!

It is ironic when people say that no matter what they do, they
cannot seem to get motivated. It is because they say it
(unconsciously) with the most boring physiology and tonality
possible. First and foremost, 'Change your physiology! Move faster!
Breathe faster! Speak louder, faster and with more enthusiasm!"

The moment you know how to manage your states, it doesn't mean that
external events can never affect you anymore. It doesn't mean that
you will never get upset or lazy anymore! Most of us have our fair
share of lazy states we get into.

The only difference is that by consciously choosing to be in
control, shifting ourselves into resourceful states, will we be
able to perform at our peak all of the time.

How to Increase Your Value

2008-10-22T07:49:00.001+07:00

Over the last few years, I have interviewed people who were among
the highest income earners in their industry and people who were
the average income earners.

Sure enough, I found that age, experience and academic
qualifications had nothing to do with their price tags. It depended
on how much value they created for their company and for their
clients they served.

I want to give you an example of two account directors from an
advertising agency. Their jobs entail managing the client's
advertising accounts.

A is paid $4,000 per month while B is paid $12,000 per month. Why
is one paid 3 times more than another? Let's take a look at the
difference in value they create.

Account Director A, Age 46. Income $4,000/month

- Waits for company to assign to clients
- Takes advertising brief from the client
- Instructs the creative team
- Executes ads within deadline
- Manages assigned client well
- Creates gross profits of $20,000/month

Account Director B, Age 33. Income $12,000/month

- Actively networks, makes cold calls & sets at least one new
appointment a day
- Actively develops new business & finds his own clients
- Takes the advertising brief from the client
- Develops more marketing ideas that convinces the client to
increase the advertising budget.
- Brainstorms & develop a powerful campaign by leading the creative
team
- Executes ads and other marketing tactics within deadline
- Tracks the success of campaigns & start developing a follow up
strategy to sell to the client
- Uses successful testimonial to secure even more clients
- Creates gross profits of $150,000/month

It is clear why manager B gets paid so much more than A, despite
being so much younger and less experienced. Manager B creates so
much more value for the client, and hence generates a lot more
profits for his company.

Similarly, your income is determined by the amount of value you
create for your clients and your company. You can have all the
experience, all the MBAs, all the intelligence but if you do not
create value, people will not pay a high price. So how do you
create value?

There are only two ways you can create value for your clients. Either

1) Help them reach their goals faster and easier

2) Help them solve their problems faster and easier.

The more you can do this, the more they will be willing to pay for
you!

Similarly, there are only two ways you can create value for your
company. Either

1) Help the company increase sales Or

2) Help the company to reduce costs. This will increase the
companies profits. You must understand that all businesses have
only one major goal, to make more profits every year.

The more profits you can help your company make, the more you will
be worth!

Consciously Model Patterns of Excellence!

2008-10-22T07:47:00.000+07:00

Some people acknowledge the power of modeling; however, they feel
uncomfortable about copying someone else's style. They say, 'I am
not comfortable with this as I feel like I am not being myself. I
am trying to be someone else instead'.

As a result they deprive themselves of the power of modeling
excellence and producing exceptional results in a short time.

Well, let me ask you a question.

Think about the behaviors and physiology that you exhibit right
now. Where did they come from? Were you born with your gestures,
mannerisms, tone of voice and behaviors? No. You behave the way you
do now because ever since you were a kid, you had been
unconsciously modeling the behaviors and physiologies of the people
around you.

Do you realize that the way you speak or react to things may
sometimes be similar to your parents or your close friends?
And, the mannerism or gestures you exhibit could have come from
people whom you admired (for whatever reason), and unconsciously
adopted as your own. So, you have already been modeling your whole
life, this is nothing new.

The problem is that in the past, you did not consciously model
people of excellence. As a result, you may have unconsciously
modeled a lot of ineffective behaviors and negative states of the
people around you.

For example, if you are a poor mixer or ineffective communicator,
it is because you (unconsciously) modeled poor speakers and
communicators when you were young.

If you are a poor decision maker and constantly find yourself
feeling anxious and lacking in confidence, it is because you have
unknowingly adopted the patterns from your friends or family.
Haven't you ever behaved in a certain way and suddenly realized,
'oh my gosh! I'm becoming mother or father!'

So, isn't it time you start to consciously delete ineffective
models of the past and start modeling and adopting patterns of
people who exhibit excellence instead?

Another point to understand is that modeling is not just about
copying. It is about replicating and then improving on what you
have modeled, or modifying it to suit your personal style.

For example, if you were a woman and you were to model the
physiology of a male speaker exactly, it may not come off that
well. You may have to modify elements of that person's physiology
to suit your personality.

Model the best patterns, combine and adapt them to make them your
own. That is what modeling is all about.

Translate Your Value Into More Income

2008-10-22T07:41:00.002+07:00

If you are self-employed, then creating more value will
automatically translate into higher profits & income. However, as
an employee, tripling the value you create is no use unless it
translates into a higher price tag.

Do not expect to get a promotion or a raise automatically. If
bosses can help it, they would rather pay you much less than what
you are worth. Most of the time, you must be proactive and ask for
a raise.

However, before you ask for double your pay, ensure that you have
at least tripled your value! So you can be sure that if the answer
is no, there will be a dozen headhunters waiting to pay you what
you are now worth!

Once you have created tremendous value, you can...

1) Ask for a pay increase
Again, be confident that you are more than worth the increase!

2) Ask for a promotion & pay increase
When you have demonstrated that you can create more profits, they
will be happy to give you a senior management position

3) Ask for profit sharing
If you are a value creator, you can confidently ask for this.

4) Ask for variable compensation
People who prefer a fixed salary are generally those who are not
confident about how much they are really worth. The trouble is, a
fixed pay has got no upside. If you have the drive and confidence
to create value, ask for a higher performance based compensation
(even if it means a lower basic pay). Then you know that you have a
huge upside.

5) Ask for stock or partnership
Again, once shareholders can see that you are a value creator, they
will want to do what it takes to keep you by giving you ownership.

There you have it. 5 ways to immediately translate your value into
more income. But what if the company you're working for refuses to
pay what you're worth?

Then leave! Because there are others out there you will pay
handsomely for people who create tremendous value. Remember, your
income will always reflect the amount of value you create. Start
creating more value now!

How To Disassociate Yourself From Depression

2008-10-22T07:24:00.001+07:00

Do you know someone who is always depressed? They may have had bad
experiences a long time ago, but they still get upset by these long
past incidents?

There was a woman client who told me that her life was full of misery.
When she talked about her bad experiences, she started crying and
got very upset. I found out that she had a pattern of associating
into all her painful memories. So, even though these incidents took
place about five years ago, she still felt extremely miserable
whenever she thought about them.

When I asked her to relate happy experiences in her life, she
thought for a while but couldn't feel anything. She said, 'I don't
feel for these (happy) experiences anymore.' Guess why? She had a
pattern of disassociating from all her happy experiences, and
associating into her negative ones!

No wonder she felt depressed constantly. When I taught her that she
could consciously direct her mind to disassociate from all her bad
experiences and associate into all her happy experiences, she began
to take control over her emotions. The change was quite rapid.

When she thought of her bad experiences and disassociated, she
started to feel the emotional intensity of the pain drop. Then I
got her to start thinking of all her happy experiences and
associating into them! Her face started glowing and she said she
felt a lot better about herself. Since then, she has consciously
been taking charge of the way her brain codes her experiences.

Do you know people who are the complete opposite? We call them the
happy-go-lucky ones. Such people could have had some horrific
experiences but they get over the bad patches very fast. Soon they
are into a positive state and have moved on in life.

At the same time these cheery people can think back to the good
things that happened to them, say five years ago, and feel happy
and excited, all over again.

Why do they feel so differently about their good and bad
experiences from the negative bunch? Again, it is because of the
way the cheery people's brains have coded their memories. They tend
to immediately disassociate from negative events they experience.
Although they learn from their mistakes, they don't feel
emotionally drained thinking about it.

At the same time, they tend to associate or plug into all their
happy positive experiences. So they keep feeling the positive vibes
of happy events, even after years have passed.

This is one of the most important qualities to have in order to be
a successful entrepreneur, chief executive, politician, investor or
salesperson.

And it's something you can use right now to supercharge yourself
towards success and achieving your goals!

Kepercayaan yang mencegah kita jadi Kaya

2008-07-28T10:19:00.003+07:00

Pernahkah Anda berpikir "Menginginkan uang itu rakus" atau "Uang akan membuat kita jadi egois"? Ya, saya juga memikirkan hal-hal semacam itu sebelumnya. Dan setelah saya amati tampaknya memang dalam beberapa kebudayaan di Indonesia (mungkin juga semua,saya kurang tahu ^_^), uang merupakan topik yang sangat sensitif, bahkan tabu untuk dibicarakan. Dalam budaya-budaya tersebut sejak kecil ditanamkan pesan bahwa "uang itu buruk" sehingga pesan-pesan kebudayaan itu tertanam dalam pikiran kita sampai kita dewasa.

Tetapi kemudian saya dapati bahwa pernyataan-pernyataan tersebut hanyalah sebuah KEPERCAYAAN dan bukan FAKTA. Dr Joe Vitale (http://www.mrfire.com) dalam artikelnya menyebutkan bahwa seringkali dalam pikiran bawah sadar, kita memiliki kepercayaan-kepercayaan yang membatasi tentang uang seperti :

"Uang itu buruk"
"Uang akan mendatangkan masalah"
"Uang akan membuat kita egois"
"Mengingini uang itu rakus"
"Orang kaya itu sombong"

Jika kita menyimpan batasan-batasan tersebut, maka kita bukannya menarik uang, malah menarik "tidak memiliki uang". Itulah sebabnya sekalipun sudah diberikan "pencerahan", beberapa orang tetap tidak membuahkan hasil. Bukan kesalahan kita jika kita masih belum berhasil mencapai apa yang kita inginkan. Ini semua masalah budaya yang ditanamkan kepada kita sejak kecil.

Akan tetapi jika kita berhasil menghilangkan tembok-tembok pembatas tersebut, maka jalan kita menuju kesuksesan akan bebas dari hambatan. Yang perlu kita lakukan sekarang adalah mulai mempertanyakan kepercayaan-kepercayaan kita yang menghalangi kita untuk menjadi sukses. Sekali Anda menghilangkan batasan-batasan itu, maka Anda akan menarik lebih banyak uang.

Sukses untuk Anda!

Adi Prabowo
=========

Winner

2008-07-11T12:14:00.001+07:00

The Winner is always part of the answer; The Loser is always part of the problem.

The Winner sees an answer for every problem; The Loser sees a problem for every answer.

The Winner says,"It may be difficult but is possible"; The Loser says,"It may be possible but it is too difficult."

When a Winner makes a mistake, he says,"I was wrong"; When a Loser makes a mistake, he says,"It wasn't my fault."

A Winner makes commitments; A Loser makes promises.

Winners believe in win/win; Losers believe for them to win someone has to lose.

Winners choose what they say; Losers say what they choose.

Winners use hard arguments but soft words; Losers use soft arguments but hard words.

Winners stand firm on values bu compromise on pettty things; Losers stand firm on petty things but compromise on values.

Winners follow the philosophy of empathy:"Don't do to others what you would not want them to do to you"; Losers follow the philosophy, "Do it to others before they do it to you."

Winners make it happen; Losers let it happen