You know there's a lot of things that one could talk about as far as the things that you need to know to excel in business and in life, but what I want to talk about today is by far, number one and that is the concept of investing in yourself. Now the first time I was advised by someone to invest in myself, my thinking was, "Yeah, right. What do you have to sell me?" But what I've learned over time is that that really is a critical component of your success for one reason and one reason only- you are your best investment.
There is no company that you can invest in. No business. There's nothing else that you could put your money into that will bring you better returns than what you learn yourself. What you put up here that can pay you over and over and over and over. I know that for years at a personal level I lived way below my means working a corporate job simply because every time I got a commission check or got a little bit of a bonus for anything, it always went into investing into me because you know a lot of people put their future into things outside of them.
I'm not saying that you shouldn't invest in companies that have a portfolio. That's not what I'm saying at all because I have those things, however at the same time, when you look at a situation like Enron, you have people that had invested in that company for their entire lives. Almost everything of value that they had outside of probably the home that they owned was invested in that company but they could not control what that company did. Well, once again as I always said, you can always control what you do.
The biggest lesson that I got on investing in yourself; a couple of them actually came from a few friends of mine that I actually talk about on The Multi-Million Dollar Mindset website. One of which is Craig Valentine, a good friend of mine, a mentor of mine. He is probably the number one role model that I have for going into speaking. He told me about spending $4,000 a couple of times for some training sessions that have made him hundreds of thousands of dollars in bookings over the years since then.
Another good friend of mine, Craig Duswalt from the Rock Star System of Success, I watched this guy build a business that went almost from nothing to seven figures in like a year or less than a year. I was very candid with him and I was asking him, "What allowed you to move so fast?"
He said that, "I just simply increased the rate that I invested in myself in finding the right mentors." Then lastly, a very close friend of mine, Kim, we've masterminded in business for years.
She does very well, she's very modest about it, but she's been very successful in business and she is a person who has invested somewhere between $80,000-$100,000 in herself. Recently I was talking to a good buddy of mine, Tom Haut and we were going back and critiquing each other's websites and some things in the other person's businesses.
He was giving me some compliments on some copy that I had written and he asked me, "How many weeks did it take you to write this?" I told him actually it took me a couple of days but I was only able to say that because I spent the money and the time investing in myself over the years. So, always know that no matter what anyone tells you, a company, a person, your advisor, your financial planner, investing outside of yourself is good. It's smart to do that in organizations that you believe in. I do it.
But you can never make a single, solitary investment that will give you more dividends than investing in yourself because whatever you invest in yourself, no one can ever take away from you and only you can disappoint yourself if you don't follow through with it and apply it to your life. So, take every opportunity that you can to invest in yourself and learn as much as humanly possible because it will add to your life in more ways than you could ever imagine.
Lawrence Cole is the creator of the Multi-Million Dollar Mindset, which can be visited at http://www.multimilliondollarmindset.com
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Lawrence_Cole
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
Friday, June 25, 2010
Beginning Investing- Without Much to Invest!
Is your list of things you wish you could do, but can't afford to do, growing longer? Many people understand the value of investing, and the importance of investing in order to secure their futures, but they don't have much available money that can be used for investing. These people might believe that they are not able to start investing and instead, continue to struggle with the daily living expenses and no plan for their financial future.
There are actually numerous ways that people who don't necessarily have a lot of cash available can begin investing, and every penny saved can help over the longer term. The only proven way to improve your financial situation is to reduce your expenses and increase your income, while saving for the future.
7 Ways to Invest Even if You're Broke
1. Save all of your change. Use cash to make as many purchases as possible, rather than writing a check or swiping your debit card, and put the change into a bucket at home each day. At the end of every month or two, deposit the change into a high interest savings account and watch it grow! If you've never actually saved your change before, you will be quite surprised at how fast change can accumulate. If you saved $25 in change each month, you'd have $300 at the end of the year- and more if you save it in a high interest savings account!
2. Enroll in a direct stock purchase plan that allows you to start investing with as little as $25. Direct stock purchase plans allow investors to purchase fractions of stocks based on the dollar amount you invest.
3. Reinvest your dividends to increase the number of shares of stock you own. This can help result in higher income levels in later years, and while you would probably enjoy receiving those mini-dividend checks now, it's better to reinvest them so they can grow into larger checks in a few years!
4. Enroll in your company's 401K plan, if offered. Some companies even provide a matching contribution- where they match a percentage or all of your deposits. If you have this available to you and you aren't taking advantage of it, you're throwing away free money. You may miss the $15 you have automatically deducted from your pay and put into your 401K each week at first, but after a few weeks you won't even notice it's gone and it will be going to a far greater cause than using it to buy lunch at your favorite fast food joint!
5. Join an investment club, and pool your money with the members of the club to help build a more comprehensive portfolio for small investments. When you invest on your own with small amounts of money, it can be difficult to build a diverse portfolio. By pooling your money with a group of like-minded people, you can build a diverse and comprehensive portfolio that will perform much better financially.
6. Take advantage of compound interest and start investing as early as possible. If you invest $2,000 at the age of 25, you will actually end up with more at retirement than a 30 year old who invests $5,000 on the same date!
7. If you receive money from an unexpected source, or you get a tax refund, you should consider it money you didn't get and immediately invest it instead of spending it. When you invest the money, you get a deduction on your taxes, also.
This article has been provided courtesy of DestroyDebt.com, your source for debt help online.
http://www.destroydebt.com/
www.computerpuppy.com
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Debbie_Dragon
There are actually numerous ways that people who don't necessarily have a lot of cash available can begin investing, and every penny saved can help over the longer term. The only proven way to improve your financial situation is to reduce your expenses and increase your income, while saving for the future.
7 Ways to Invest Even if You're Broke
1. Save all of your change. Use cash to make as many purchases as possible, rather than writing a check or swiping your debit card, and put the change into a bucket at home each day. At the end of every month or two, deposit the change into a high interest savings account and watch it grow! If you've never actually saved your change before, you will be quite surprised at how fast change can accumulate. If you saved $25 in change each month, you'd have $300 at the end of the year- and more if you save it in a high interest savings account!
2. Enroll in a direct stock purchase plan that allows you to start investing with as little as $25. Direct stock purchase plans allow investors to purchase fractions of stocks based on the dollar amount you invest.
3. Reinvest your dividends to increase the number of shares of stock you own. This can help result in higher income levels in later years, and while you would probably enjoy receiving those mini-dividend checks now, it's better to reinvest them so they can grow into larger checks in a few years!
4. Enroll in your company's 401K plan, if offered. Some companies even provide a matching contribution- where they match a percentage or all of your deposits. If you have this available to you and you aren't taking advantage of it, you're throwing away free money. You may miss the $15 you have automatically deducted from your pay and put into your 401K each week at first, but after a few weeks you won't even notice it's gone and it will be going to a far greater cause than using it to buy lunch at your favorite fast food joint!
5. Join an investment club, and pool your money with the members of the club to help build a more comprehensive portfolio for small investments. When you invest on your own with small amounts of money, it can be difficult to build a diverse portfolio. By pooling your money with a group of like-minded people, you can build a diverse and comprehensive portfolio that will perform much better financially.
6. Take advantage of compound interest and start investing as early as possible. If you invest $2,000 at the age of 25, you will actually end up with more at retirement than a 30 year old who invests $5,000 on the same date!
7. If you receive money from an unexpected source, or you get a tax refund, you should consider it money you didn't get and immediately invest it instead of spending it. When you invest the money, you get a deduction on your taxes, also.
This article has been provided courtesy of DestroyDebt.com, your source for debt help online.
http://www.destroydebt.com/
www.computerpuppy.com
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Debbie_Dragon
Sunday, June 20, 2010
Treat Yourself Like a Business and Budget
Treat yourself like a business
When it comes to creating your budget, this is a task that no one enjoys as it is mundane and boring right? Creating a budget is the only way to stay on top of your finances. The next part is actually sticking to it.
Sticking to a family budget is as difficult as exercising regularly and eating less of the fatty foods. We all know that exercise and eating correctly are important for maintaining good health just as we know that creating and sticking to a budget is good for our financial health, so why do so few actually do it?
Exercising, eating correctly and budgeting are always found on our new years resolution lists that we promise ourselves we will actually follow this new year, and promises that we always break. There is always an excuse as to why these promises are broken and the tales are interesting and endless.
The four steps to creating a workable budget are,
· Arm your self with all the information you require
· Work out where you are now,
· Decide on the goal you are trying to achieve,
· Determine how you are going to get there.
Arming your self with all the information is a process that is slow and painful, you will be glad that you took the time to do so, as nothing is more effective than sitting down with your shoe box full of receipts, credit card and bank statements and going over them for the last 12 months researching and determining your spending habits. As you go through this exercise break your spending into one of four categories,
- You can do it less often
- You can choose a cheaper option,
- You don't do it at all, or
- You choose not to change your behavior.
You shouldn't make your budget too strict because. if you do the chances of not sticking to it grow considerably.
Tip, as you go through your receipts, bank and credit card statements use different colour highlighters to create a colour coded system to identify where you are spending your money. This will help you plug those leaks. You could use a coded system as below.
· RED = Entertainment,
· BLUE= Mortgage payments
· YELLOW= Household groceries and expenses,
· GREEN=Utilities
· BROWN=Dinners out and coffees
Get the idea? This system works as it lets you identify with a glance where the money is leaking and on what specifically. A small note pad in your pocket is also a great idea so that you can jot down the items you bought that day with its relevant cost so that at the end of the week you can collate the notes and see if you have stayed within your budget. A simple system which works.
Americans and Australians are spending more than they earn, and in Australia alone spending on credit cards has blown out to a massive 40billion dollar debt, that is 40 Billion owed on credit cards alone now that is a very scary figure.
Research shows that the reason people give for getting a credit card is firstly for an emergency and secondly to get a good credit score. Wow there must be compounded emergencies to have a 40 Billion dollar credit card debt in Australia alone!
Before you race off and cut up your current credit cards here is a suggestion. Place your credit card in a jug of water and freeze it, so that now when you get tempted to go to the bargain sale or get something that you are convincing your self that you just must have, you will have to wait till the card thaws out and in that time the urge should have dissipated. Interestingly very few people actually use their credit cards for emergencies.
Resist the urge to pluck a figure out of the air when you are preparing your budget. Go back to the information you have dissected and look at your historical spending and to make it even more simple break it down into two categories,
· Things that you need such as food, shelter, clothes etc and
· Things that you want.
There are certain expenses that you may not be able to do a lot about while there are some that you can. For example review your cable TV subscription. Do you use all of the features and applications that you are currently paying for? If not then change to a lower subscription. Say your current subscription is $100.00, if you change to a $40.00 one this saving of $60.00 can be used to pay down your credit card debt.
Review all your current subscriptions and spending habits and by adjusting as necessary you will find that the savings will pile up without really affecting your current life style. Now that is not so hard is it?
Finally when you are working your budget do it in a time frame that you are comfortable with and can easily manage. Create a weekly and monthly budget allowing for the spikes for items that are billed annually. A method that I have used is taking the yearly items and dividing it by twelve which gives me the monthly amount that I need to budget for. This amount stays in the bank till it is required, earning interest which creates extra income that you currently do not have. That is the power of a well constructed budget.
Author Brian Norton, teaches budgeting and financial control to individuals and small business owners so that they can succeed financially,Brian runs and operates several very successful businesses and is a sort after speaker and trainer, sign up for budgeting tips at http://benjimite.com
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Brian_D_Norton
http://benjimite.com/
www.computerpuppy.com
When it comes to creating your budget, this is a task that no one enjoys as it is mundane and boring right? Creating a budget is the only way to stay on top of your finances. The next part is actually sticking to it.
Sticking to a family budget is as difficult as exercising regularly and eating less of the fatty foods. We all know that exercise and eating correctly are important for maintaining good health just as we know that creating and sticking to a budget is good for our financial health, so why do so few actually do it?
Exercising, eating correctly and budgeting are always found on our new years resolution lists that we promise ourselves we will actually follow this new year, and promises that we always break. There is always an excuse as to why these promises are broken and the tales are interesting and endless.
The four steps to creating a workable budget are,
· Arm your self with all the information you require
· Work out where you are now,
· Decide on the goal you are trying to achieve,
· Determine how you are going to get there.
Arming your self with all the information is a process that is slow and painful, you will be glad that you took the time to do so, as nothing is more effective than sitting down with your shoe box full of receipts, credit card and bank statements and going over them for the last 12 months researching and determining your spending habits. As you go through this exercise break your spending into one of four categories,
- You can do it less often
- You can choose a cheaper option,
- You don't do it at all, or
- You choose not to change your behavior.
You shouldn't make your budget too strict because. if you do the chances of not sticking to it grow considerably.
Tip, as you go through your receipts, bank and credit card statements use different colour highlighters to create a colour coded system to identify where you are spending your money. This will help you plug those leaks. You could use a coded system as below.
· RED = Entertainment,
· BLUE= Mortgage payments
· YELLOW= Household groceries and expenses,
· GREEN=Utilities
· BROWN=Dinners out and coffees
Get the idea? This system works as it lets you identify with a glance where the money is leaking and on what specifically. A small note pad in your pocket is also a great idea so that you can jot down the items you bought that day with its relevant cost so that at the end of the week you can collate the notes and see if you have stayed within your budget. A simple system which works.
Americans and Australians are spending more than they earn, and in Australia alone spending on credit cards has blown out to a massive 40billion dollar debt, that is 40 Billion owed on credit cards alone now that is a very scary figure.
Research shows that the reason people give for getting a credit card is firstly for an emergency and secondly to get a good credit score. Wow there must be compounded emergencies to have a 40 Billion dollar credit card debt in Australia alone!
Before you race off and cut up your current credit cards here is a suggestion. Place your credit card in a jug of water and freeze it, so that now when you get tempted to go to the bargain sale or get something that you are convincing your self that you just must have, you will have to wait till the card thaws out and in that time the urge should have dissipated. Interestingly very few people actually use their credit cards for emergencies.
Resist the urge to pluck a figure out of the air when you are preparing your budget. Go back to the information you have dissected and look at your historical spending and to make it even more simple break it down into two categories,
· Things that you need such as food, shelter, clothes etc and
· Things that you want.
There are certain expenses that you may not be able to do a lot about while there are some that you can. For example review your cable TV subscription. Do you use all of the features and applications that you are currently paying for? If not then change to a lower subscription. Say your current subscription is $100.00, if you change to a $40.00 one this saving of $60.00 can be used to pay down your credit card debt.
Review all your current subscriptions and spending habits and by adjusting as necessary you will find that the savings will pile up without really affecting your current life style. Now that is not so hard is it?
Finally when you are working your budget do it in a time frame that you are comfortable with and can easily manage. Create a weekly and monthly budget allowing for the spikes for items that are billed annually. A method that I have used is taking the yearly items and dividing it by twelve which gives me the monthly amount that I need to budget for. This amount stays in the bank till it is required, earning interest which creates extra income that you currently do not have. That is the power of a well constructed budget.
Author Brian Norton, teaches budgeting and financial control to individuals and small business owners so that they can succeed financially,Brian runs and operates several very successful businesses and is a sort after speaker and trainer, sign up for budgeting tips at http://benjimite.com
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Brian_D_Norton
http://benjimite.com/
www.computerpuppy.com
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