How to build wealth from nothing: 5 Top Tips

06/16/2024 by

There’s nothing you can do about being born poor. If that was the case, then it was just unfortunate. However, you don’t have to go through life remaining poor.

It is possible to build wealth over time, and plenty of people do, frequently from absolutely nothing.

Many people born poor become wealthy through their efforts, and you can too, dear reader.

Here are five tips to help you build wealth from nothing.

How to build wealth from nothing:

1. Pay yourself first:

You can make money relatively easily, but holding on to it can be very hard.

We’re all constantly bombarded with reasons why we should spend our money in return for some fleeting sense of gratification. Would that be an experience you recognize, dear reader?

It doesn’t have to be that way, of course, and rich people know that only too well.

So what do rich people do that’s different from everyone else?

Simple! They always pay themselves first.

And what do I mean by paying yourself first?

I mean, the moment you’re paid, you take a slice off the top of your income immediately and put it away somewhere safe. And by a slice, I mean to say 10%, or more if you can afford it.

And what do I mean by somewhere safe?

Well, initially, that would be depositing your money in an interest-bearing account.

However, once your money starts building into a larger sum then you can start thinking about other forms of investment that’ll potentially give you greater returns. Stocks and bonds, for instance.

Building a capital sum is important because, as your money grows, it starts to generate a second income stream for you. That may not seem important to you now, but it will be as you get older.

So paying yourself first is a discipline to which you must adhere until it becomes a habit you do without thinking.

You must always put some money away, and you must make that money work hard for you. You must grow and protect your investment portfolio with careful diversification, and over time, you’ll find yourself building a sizeable fortune.

So here’s today’s mantra for you: Pay Yourself First. Never forget that, please, dear reader.

2. Be an investor, not a speculator:

You must understand that there’s a big difference between investing and speculation. They’re not the same thing at all.

I don’t wish to imply that there’s something wrong with speculation, though. There isn’t.

In the world of finance, speculation brings liquidity to the market, and therefore it does have its place.

However, speculation tends to operate on the ‘greater fool’ principle.

By that, I mean someone is prepared to buy an asset for a given price in the hope that it can then be sold quickly to someone else, the greater fool, for a greater price.

This is what professional speculators do, and they can make money this way because they know what they’re doing and they have sophisticated systems to support them.

However, for ordinary people, speculation is like gambling in a casino. And you should never invest your money as though you’re gambling in a casino.

You might get lucky occasionally, of course, but over time your losses will outstrip any gains you might make, and almost certainly by a significant margin.

So my recommendation to you, dear reader, is that you should never speculate. Instead, you should focus on becoming an investor.

By investing, I mean buying stocks and shares in solid, well-managed, cash-generative businesses that can pay good dividends on a sustained basis.

Buy stocks worth holding for the long term. This will provide you with a steady income stream from the dividends, regardless of any short-to-medium-term volatility in the market. And spread your risk by building a diversified portfolio.

If you reinvest your dividends, then over time you will find that this approach should give you a good return on your money.

If you want to make money and build capital, then my advice to you, dear reader, is to be an investor, not a speculator.

3. Focus on value, not price:

The legendary investor Warren Buffett once said, “Price is what you pay; value is what you get.”

With this observation, he’s making an important point. There’s a distinction between price and value.

A low price for an asset doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll get good value.

And a high price doesn’t automatically mean you will not get value.

Price in itself is not a measure of value. You must consider other factors to judge value.

When you’re buying any financial asset, say stocks and shares, you should always focus on value, and you must establish metrics by which you can adequately judge the intrinsic value of that asset.

Judged in isolation, price is just a number, nothing more.

A lower price means absolutely nothing if you’re getting little or no value in return for your money.

Never, ever forget that it’s the intrinsic value that will determine whether something is worth buying or not.

Get genuine value at the right price, and then you can get a decent return over time from an investment.

4. Create a personal private income:

Much as we all aspire to do work we love, you must never forget, dear reader, that ultimately work is simply a means to an end.

Essentially, work is just doing stuff for other people in exchange for money. In turn, that money is then the fuel on which we run our lives.

Money provides us with the means to put bread on the table, a roof over our heads, clothes on our backs, and those of our loved ones, of course.

If you work hard enough, you can earn a lot of money.

Manage that money wisely, and you can build capital. Invest that capital intelligently, and you can create your private income streams.

When you have a decent private income in your own right then you can truly pick and choose the work you do.

Then you only have to do what you enjoy doing; that thing that gives you a genuine sense of purpose.

Creating a personal, private income is a worthy goal, and it’s well worth the effort.

That way, you’re in control of your own life, and no one else can dictate what you should and shouldn’t do.

You’ll be in control of the good ship ‘Me’ and only you will decide where it goes.

The message here is, to work hard now, so one day you don’t have to work hard.

5. Never forget what matters most:

It would be very easy to believe that a life filled with lots of money and materiality would make you blissfully happy. Well let me tell you, dear reader, that in isolation, it won’t.

I’m not suggesting that these things are not important but you must get your priorities right.

Yes, of course, go out there and make money. Manage it carefully. Buy nice things and enjoy some of that money too.

However, to be truly happy, you must never lose sight of the most important thing in your life and that is family and friends.

People are social animals; we’re not solitary animals like cats. We need other people and most of all, we need our loved ones. A life filled with loved ones and laughter will be a happy life.

So make time for your loved ones, especially your children. Enjoy their company and make the most of every minute with them.

Never focus on work to the exclusion of your family and friends. Without them, you have nothing. Money is important, of course but people are much more important.

Never lose sight of the people in your life.

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25 powerful quotes to help you reflect on life and its meaning

06/11/2024 by

powerful quotes to help you reflect on life and its meaningLife is for living and we live it just once. If we put off until someday those things on our bucket list then we’ll never experience them at all because someday never comes. Sadly, that’s a fact.

In your old age, your memories will not revolve around the size of your house or the model of the car you had. Your memories will be of the people you knew and the experiences you had and how they all made you feel.

Family and friends matter more than material possessions and no experience is worth foregoing for the sake of an extra couple of years in a care home at the end of our lives.

Always remember that nothing matters more to you than your loved ones and friends. Jobs and careers won’t look after you when you’re ill, infirm or old. So, get your priorities right.

Work hard of course and pursue your dreams too. However, don’t trade money and material possessions for a life well-lived. That would be a poor trade and one you’ll regret.

Here are 25 powerful quotes to help you reflect on life and its meaning.

Powerful quotes to help you reflect on life and its meaning (1-15):

  1. We live in a rainbow of chaos. ~Paul Cezanne
  2. Every man dies. Not every man really lives. ~William Wallace
  3. Into each life, some rain must fall. ~Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
  4. Life is simple, but we insist on making it complicated. ~Confucius
  5. We don’t remember days, we remember moments. ~Cesare Pavese
  6. He who has a why to live can bear almost any how. ~Friedrich Nietzsche
  7. Life consists not in holding good cards but in playing those you hold well. ~Josh Billings
  8. The most important thing is to enjoy your life – to be happy – it’s all that matters. ~Audrey Hepburn
  9. The true secret of happiness lies in taking a genuine interest in all the details of daily life. ~William Morris
  10. Do not dwell in the past, do not dream of the future, concentrate the mind on the present moment. ~Buddha
  11. Life is a dream for the wise, a game for the fool, a comedy for the rich, and a tragedy for the poor. ~Sholom Aleichem
  12. Our prime purpose in this life is to help others. And if you can’t help them, at least don’t hurt them. ~Dalai Lama
  13. The truth is you don’t know what is going to happen tomorrow. Life is a crazy ride, and nothing is guaranteed. ~Eminem
  14. Nothing in life is to be feared, it is only to be understood. Now is the time to understand more, so that we may fear less. ~Marie Curie
  15. When I stand before God at the end of my life, I would hope that I would not have a single bit of talent left, and could say, ‘I used everything you gave me’. ~Erma Bombeck

Powerful quotes to help you reflect on life and its meaning (16-20):

  1. One of the most tragic things I know about human nature is that all of us tend to put off living. We are all dreaming of some magical rose garden over the horizon – instead of enjoying the roses blooming outside our windows today. ~Dale Carnegie
  2. Each day is a new canvas to paint upon. Make sure your picture is full of life and happiness, and at the end of the day you don’t look at it and wish you had painted something different. ~Author Unknown
  3. All meaningful and lasting change starts first in your imagination and then works its way out. Imagination is more important than knowledge. ~Albert Einstein
  4. 20 years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbour. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover. ~Mark Twain
  5. At the end of your life, you will never regret not having passed one more test, not winning one more verdict, or not closing one more deal. You will regret time not spent with a husband, a friend, a child, or a parent. ~Barbara Bush

Powerful quotes to help you reflect on life and its meaning (21-25):

  1. Being vulnerable doesn’t have to be threatening. Just have the courage to be sincere, open and honest. This opens the door to deeper communication all around. It creates self-empowerment and the kind of connections with others we all want in life. Speaking from the heart frees us from the secrets that burden us. These secrets are what make us sick or fearful. Speaking truth helps you get clarity on your real heart directives. ~Sara Paddison
  2. Each morning when I open my eyes I say to myself: I, not events, have the power to make me happy or unhappy today. I can choose which it shall be. Yesterday is dead, tomorrow hasn’t arrived yet. I have just one day, today, and I’m going to be happy in it. ~Groucho Marx
  3. Finish each day and be done with it. You have done what you could; some blunders and absurdities have crept in; forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day; you shall begin it serenely and with too high a spirit to be encumbered with your old nonsense. ~Ralph Waldo Emerson
  4. The best things in life are nearest: Breath in your nostrils, light in your eyes, flowers at your feet, duties at your hand, the path of right just before you. Then do not grasp at the stars, but do life’s plain, common work as it comes, certain that daily duties and daily bread are the sweetest things in life. ~Robert Louis Stevenson
  5. The real art of conversation is not only to say the right thing in the right place but to leave unsaid the wrong thing at the tempting moment. ~Lady Dorothy Nevill

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21 things you need to know in life to avoid its pitfalls

06/10/2024 by

things you need to know in lifeThere are a lot of things you need to know about life, dear reader. In fact, there are far too many for a single blog post, of course. So today, let’s just focus on 21 things that I think are important.

So, I offer you 21 quotes that I think reflect those things you definitely need to know about life.

I hope you find them useful and interesting.

And please feel free to share them.

Things You Need To Know In Life (1-11):

  1. You don’t decide your future. You make choices and your choices decide your future. So you’d better learn to make good choices.
  2. Falling down happens to everyone. Staying down is the problem. So get up, dust yourself off, and try again.
  3. Success is enjoying what you do, whilst having sufficient money to live your preferred lifestyle comfortably.
  4. Remaining loyal to the circumstances into which you were born is not a noble act. It’s perfectly reasonable to want more from life. Just because you were born poor doesn’t mean you have to remain poor.
  5. If the world is to be a better place then we should focus on that which we have in common, not that which separates us.
  6. As long as we’re not hurting anyone else, how we choose to live our lives is no one’s business but our own.
  7. There’s no such thing as easy money. Any suggestion to the contrary will be a scam and you’ll get burned if you’re unwise enough to get involved.
  8. If something cannot be subjected to scrutiny and criticism then it’s probably not a good idea in the first place.
  9. Never believe that you cannot be fooled, because we can all be a little gullible, occasionally. That’s what scammers rely on. So, be on your guard.
  10. If your job can be done from anywhere, then someone anywhere can do your job. So, when companies are looking to save money, to increase their profits, what do you think they’ll do?
  11. We have to deal with life as it is and not how we like it to be. We must protect ourselves and our interests because no one else will do it for us.

Things You Need To Know In Life (12 – 21):

  1. Get to know and be inspired by people who fit the future you want. Don’t allow those from your past to limit your ambition.
  2. If we view the world through the prism of media headlines, it can only ever be a depressing place. Avoid the media and suddenly everything seems much brighter.
  3. With gambling, there’s only one winner consistently and that’s the casino. That’s why they’re in business.
  4. A promotion at work is not a reward for what you’ve done in the past it’s the opportunity to show what you can do in the future.
  5. If we don’t expect much from people then we won’t get much from people. Low expectations lead to poor results. Expect more to get more. Leadership is about getting the best out of people, not going soft on them.
  6. We’ll keep making the same mistake until we learn the lesson the mistake was intended to teach us. Life’s a classroom and the lessons never stop.
  7. Your years on this earth will teach you far more than you could possibly learn in any university or college of further education.
  8. If you’re with the wrong person, the sooner you let them go, the sooner you’ll have a chance of finding the right person.
  9. It matters not that you are rich, famous and important. What matters is how you treat other people, especially those who can do nothing for you.
  10. Celebrity pronouncements via social media might look like they’re sharing insight into their lives. They’re not. They’re simply promoting their brand and whatever it is they’re selling. Their aim is to carefully construct a hip and edgy image. In short, it’s fake.

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The importance of teaching children about money

06/09/2024 by

Teaching Children About MoneyThe importance of teaching children about money is not something that’s taken as seriously as it should be, in my opinion.

Certainly not in the education system. As far as I can see, financial education for children and young adults is rarely covered within the education system at all. It wasn’t when I was young and it isn’t now.

Some might say that money’s not the most important thing in life and philosophically that may be true.

However, money’s up there with oxygen and water when it comes to sustaining human life. In the modern age, life revolves around money, whether we like it or not.

Money’s a measure of the value we add to the lives of others and it’s also the oil that lubricates human existence.

Without money, living would be virtually impossible for almost everyone today.

1. The point of teaching children:

The point of teaching children is to prepare them for adult life, surely?

Our aim should be to equip them with everything they need to know, so they can function effectively as adults once they leave the education system.

Now reading, writing and arithmetic are all essential subjects, of course, because you can’t get too far in the world of work without these basic skills. And it’s through work that we really add value and maximise our income.

Nevertheless, where I believe the education system generally fails children and young people is the omission of the teaching of essential life skills, like earning an income and managing money. Important subjects like money and personal finance are never covered at all, certainly not in any significant way.

2. Money and personal finance:

To me, it’s surprising that we don’t teach our children about money or personal finance in their formative years.

Surely whilst at school, children should learn about:-

          • The way money is earned;
          • The way to manage money;
          • How to budget, so they can pay their bills; and
          • How to spend their money wisely.

Children should also learn about how they should prioritize expenditure to avoid getting themselves into a financial mess, in my opinion.

3. The pros and cons of debt:

Personally, I think that children and young adults should learn about the pros and cons of debt.

They should learn about the difference between secured and unsecured debt, given the impact these factors will have on the interest rates that will be applied to such debt.

Young people should learn about the power of compound interest too. Not so much as a mathematical exercise but in terms of how it can quickly turn a relatively small debt into a very large debt if we’re not careful.

And they should also learn to appreciate that credit cards are not just a convenient means for cashless payment.

Used thoughtlessly, credit cards can result in personal wealth destruction and excessive levels of expensive debt.

Children and young people should know that credit cards are a form of unsecured debt, which means they come with very high rates of interest, which accelerate a personal debt mountain rapidly, if not paid off immediately once the bill arrives at the month-end.

4. Interest rates matter:

Everyone should know that interest rates really do matter. They’re very significant and shouldn’t be treated lightly.

Children and young adults should learn that they should never go into debt for the purchase of discretionary items. It’s always better that they save up for that discretionary purchase before they buy, of course.

5. The nature of work:

Every young person should learn about how work is just doing stuff for other people in exchange for money and that the more value they can add through their skills and know-how, the more they’ll earn throughout their life. So skills matter too.

Everyone should be taught about the economics of supply and demand and their impact on pricing.

Kids should understand the difference between trading their time with one employer for a wage and the opportunity to serve multiple customers through their own business and their own creativity.

If they have the ability to create products which solve problems for customers, then they have the potential to make a lot of money.

Essentially kids should learn to appreciate the difference between employment and self-employment.

6. The road to financial freedom:

Young people should learn about wealth, pensions and how to achieve financial freedom through putting money aside on a regular basis and investing it wisely.

They should be positively encouraged to work towards achieving financial freedom.

Once they’re financially free they can focus on doing things they enjoy doing rather than things they have to do, because they’ve no other choice.

If nothing else, this makes the goal of achieving financial freedom a worthy aim, in my opinion.

7. The impact 0f inflation, taxation and government borrowing:

Kids should learn about the impact that inflation will have on the value of their money and how this can affect their savings, particularly in old age. They should also be taught about risk and its relationship with reward.

They should learn about taxes and how the money they pay in taxes will be spent, and frequently squandered by the government.

Everyone should know that there’s no such thing as government money, only taxpayer’s money. Our money!

Children and young people should know that it’ll be their hard-earned money that’s being spent by the government.

They should also know that when governments borrow money this is simply a means for spending today and then passing the bill on to future generations. In other words, our children and grandchildren, and indeed their children, will pay the bill for today’s government borrowing. Potentially, future generations could be impoverished by excessive government borrowing today.

Government borrowing is not a free lunch. Someone eventually must bear the interest payments in future years, as well as the repayment of the original capital sum that was borrowed. And don’t forget, governments are borrowing money continually.

8. Holding government to account:

Children should be taught to question how their money is being spent by the government and how to register their disapproval if they’re not happy with what’s being done with that money, in their name.

9. Money matters:

teach children about moneySadly most people have little real understanding of money, which means that they’re easily conned by sharp business practices, particularly in Financial Services, and by politicians driven only by their own self-interest.

Perhaps that’s why schools are not encouraged to teach personal finance as a subject.

Parents should demand that their children are taught about money, in my opinion.

If the education system fails children by not teaching them important life skills then, as parents, we must shoulder at least some of the blame, surely?

And as always, we’ll get what we tolerate.

For me, teaching children and young people about money is an issue for the education system, as much as it is for parents themselves.

Money really does matter and, in my opinion, we fail children and young people if we don’t provide them with the know-how and skills to make the most of it throughout their lives.

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Please share it now and I’ll be ever so grateful. You’ll be helping a keen blogger reach a wider audience.

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The secret to being a successful entrepreneur

06/08/2024 by

The secret to being a successful entrepreneurHow often do you hear people say they’d love to start a business and become entrepreneurs?

People will tell you they’d love to be a business success, making a difference in people’s lives with great products and services.

Then they’ll add the caveat that, unfortunately, the time’s not right for them now. They’ll have a go one day, but their circumstances won’t allow it now.

However, very few who say they’ll have a go will ever actually have a go. They don’t have the desire and they probably don’t understand the secret to being a successful entrepreneur anyway.

The only way to get rich:

The measure of success for an entrepreneur is the money they make.

Let’s face it, starting any business is all about making money for the owners. Otherwise, why would anyone bother?

Starting your own business can be a fantastic thing to do, and, for most people, it’s the only way you’ll ever have the chance to make some serious money.

Certainly, you’re unlikely to get seriously rich working for someone else.

However, to succeed in business, you must first get started.

The critical ingredient to success in business is getting off your butt and doing something about it.

And the best time to do it is now. Last year or the year before might have been better, but otherwise, now is always the best possible time. It’s simple, really.

The secret to making money:

Getting off your butt is one thing, but how do you make money as an entrepreneur? Well, dear reader, pull up a chair and listen carefully, for the secret is very simple.

The secret to making money as an entrepreneur is to solve problems for people. To make their lives easier in some way.

Solve problems; make money:

Every product you sell must solve a problem for the customer.

So if you can identify problems for which people need solutions and if you can offer those solutions, otherwise known as products, at value-for-money prices, then you can make money and you can be successful.

Remember this too; you don’t necessarily have to be the first with a solution either. If you can improve on an existing solution in some way then you can still make some serious money. If you can ‘build a better mousetrap‘ then people will buy it.

For instance, Steve Jobs and Apple were not the first to offer cellular mobile phone handsets, and neither were Samsung. Yet these two companies both dominate the market for smartphones right now.

The secret to being a successful entrepreneurMake a difference:

Has your appetite for business been whetted, dear reader?

Do you have any ideas you think might make a difference?

You do?

Then you have to be prepared to take action. Having ideas means nothing unless you take action.

Ideas are ten-a-penny. Plenty of people have good ideas that never see the light of day.

Occasionally, people will have good ideas but leave them all too long, and then someone else comes along with the same idea and makes serious money from it. That’s happened to me. I came up with a great idea for a t-shirt slogan. I failed to act, and someone else came along with the same idea, and it’s currently a best seller on Amazon. My loss; their gain.

Having ideas is easy. Implementation is the hard part, and there are too few people with the drive and determination to turn a good idea into a business opportunity and then make money from it.

So you must take action if you want to be a successful entrepreneur.

Not tomorrow; not next week; not next year; but right now.

Become a ‘doer’:

In my experience, true entrepreneurs are doers; they’re not dreamers.

So go on, get started right now.

Solve people’s problems, and you’ll be on the road to riches. It can be done and people do. And so can you! Go for it.

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7 inspirational quotes about life to get you thinking

06/06/2024 by

Whether we like it or not, life happens to us all.

However, you shouldn’t just let it happen. Ideally, you should be in control. You only get one life, so you have to make sure it’s the life you want.

I firmly believe that life’s what you make it.

There will be times when you cannot be in control, for whatever reason, but being in control should always be your aim.

Not only should you be in control, but you should also be doing those things at which you excel and that you enjoy doing too.

Do the things you’re good at and you’ll have a real chance of success, particularly if you’re determined and you work hard.

The most important thing to remember is that you’ll have just this one life, so you have to live your own life in your own way. Only you can know what’s right for you. You’re the captain of your own ship and you decide where it goes.

Listen not to those who seek to constrain your ambitions, with reasons why you shouldn’t try. Instead, you must listen to your inner self when your instinct says, “I can do this!”

It matters not whether others think you can, as long as you believe you can.

Life’s not a dress rehearsal. It’s the only life you’re going to experience. So make sure you enjoy the experience.

Yes, there’ll be tough times but make sure there are good times too. You won’t live forever but you can make sure you live right now.

Here are 7 inspirational quotes about life which should get you thinking a little.

Inspirational quotes about life:

  1. Be happy for this moment. This moment is your life. ~Omar Khayyam
  2. Life is a series of natural and spontaneous changes. Don’t resist them – that only creates sorrow. Let reality be reality. Let things flow naturally forward in whatever way they like. ~Lao Tzu
  3. Open your eyes and look within. Are you satisfied with the life you’re living? ~Bob Marley
  4. The truth is you don’t know what is going to happen tomorrow. Life is a crazy ride and nothing is guaranteed. ~Eminem
  5. If you live long enough, you’ll make mistakes. But if you learn from them, you’ll be a better person. It’s how you handle adversity, not how it affects you. The main thing is never quit, never quit, never quit. ~Bill Clinton
  6. The privilege of a lifetime is being who you are. ~Joseph Campbell
  7. The hardest years in life are those between ten and seventy. ~Helen Hayes

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7 inspirational quotes about love to help you reflect

06/05/2024 by

We all need love and we need to feel love, wouldn’t you agree dear reader?

Human beings are emotional and social creatures and we all need other people.

We need a sense that we matter to other people. And of course, other people matter to us too. Our family, our friends and our loved ones.

We feel love for those who matter to us and our greatest love is for that special person who matters most.

Our greatest love is felt for that person in whose company we always feel a sense of contentment.

If you’ve found that special person then perhaps you should get down on your knees and thank God for the privilege because you’re lucky indeed. Not everyone is quite so lucky.

Here are 7 inspirational quotes about love to help you reflect on this complex emotion.

However, remember this; love alone won’t sustain a relationship.

That requires hard work and being prepared to compromise, frequently.

Nevertheless, without love, a relationship has no chance at all.

If you truly love someone, you’ll want what’s best for them and you’ll be prepared to set aside your own needs occasionally to ensure that their needs are being satisfied too.

In a successful relationship, all parties must feel their needs are respected and being met, at least most of the time.

Love means you can’t have your own way all of the time.

Inspirational quotes about love:

  1. Where there is love there is life. ~Mahatma Gandhi
  2. There’s only one happiness in this life, to love and be loved. ~George Sand
  3. A flower cannot blossom without sunshine and man cannot live without love. ~Max Muller
  4. Sometimes the heart sees what is invisible to the eye. ~H Jackson Brown, Jr
  5. Keep love in your heart. A life without it is like a sunless garden when the flowers are dead. ~Oscar Wilde
  6. The best thing to hold onto in life is each other. ~Audrey Hepburn
  7. Love is friendship that has caught fire. It is quiet understanding, mutual confidence, sharing and forgiving. It is loyalty through good and bad times. It settles for less than perfection and makes allowances for human weaknesses. ~Ann Landers

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5 secret steps to tackling life and achieving success

06/02/2024 by

If you’re looking for a formula for achieving success, dear reader, then I think you’ll find this blog post useful.

Many desire success but few really achieve it. So it’s useful to study successful people, identify their approaches and use them as role models. If something worked for them then it might just work for you.

In the embedded video, Hollywood legend, movie star, two-term Governor of California and former Mr Universe, Arnold Schwarzenegger shares his five secret steps to tackling life and achieving success.

Essentially these are his five rules to excel at whatever you choose to do.

He has an interesting story to tell and his story proves that no obstacle is too big to overcome and no vision, too big to achieve if you’re determined enough and you’re prepared to work hard.

Change the world:

To summarise Arnold Schwarzenegger’s rules, they are:-

  1. Find your vision and follow it;
  2. Never, ever think small;
  3. Ignore the Naysayers;
  4. Work your ass off; and
  5. Don’t just take, give something back.

However, if you listen to Arnold’s story, his burning desire was to move to the United States and become a big star. This was his reason why.

Initially, he had no idea how to achieve that goal but a little piece of good fortune came his way.

Arnold happened to read an article in a magazine about a man just like him who achieved just what he wanted to achieve. The article explained how the man did it and Arnold used that success template as the basis for pursuing his own goal.

Identify successful people and do what they did:

Once he knew his ‘why?‘, Arnold Schwarzenegger just needed to work out a way to get there. Knowing your ‘why?‘ will always, eventually, lead you to your ‘how?’.

Once Arnold knew his purpose and his passion, he was always going to find a way to achieve success. His determination and his willingness to do whatever was necessary saw to that.

Had he not been lucky enough to identify a role model through a magazine article, something else would have guided him because that’s the nature of life. When you’re searching for something you’ll tune in to all the little clues you need.

Once you know your ‘why?’, you develop a keen sense of that subject and everyone else involved.

Trust yourself:

If you know your why then you’ll have the drive and determination to pursue your goal.

Nothing happens by accident of course. You must make it happen.

So figure out for yourself what it is you really, really want. What would make you happy? What would you regard as a real achievement?

Then find a role model.

Someone who’s done what you want to do. Identify how they did it and copy what they’ve done. If their approach worked for them, it can work for you.

Avoid distractions:

If you want to be successful then don’t allow ‘time sucks’ to throw you off course.

Television and social media are the biggest time wasters of all. So avoid them.

Time is a precious resource and successful people don’t waste it. So if you want to be successful, don’t waste your time either. Put every minute to good use.

Know your ‘Why?’

The key message today, both from this article and the embedded video, is that you must know your ‘why?’.

That’s the starting point for success.

So if you’ve yet to do that then I suggest that’s where you start, if you want to be successful.

And remember this; if not you, who? If not now, when?

Achieving success is possible and people do it all the time. So can you, if you’re determined and prepared to work hard enough to get it.

Good luck.

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Thank you for your support.

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How we’re damaged by our school days

05/26/2024 by

Could our school days have damaged us? Is that even possible?

Were they the best days of our lives, as we’re encouraged to believe, or could our school days have been detrimental to our mental well-being and self-esteem?

This is an interesting question. So let’s think about it for a minute.

Certainly, many people will have had mostly good experiences during their school days.

However, there will also be some for whom their school days will have left them mentally scarred and with a sense of failure. That much is philosophically self-evident, surely?

For instance, perhaps at school, people such as those to which I refer never quite achieved the grades their parents or teachers thought they should.

Perhaps they were the last to be picked for a sports team regularly?

In either case, how would such experiences have made them feel?

What impact would they have had on their mental well-being?

Perhaps they felt they were not quite good enough?

Possibly a little bit bruised and embarrassed by their inability to achieve what they believed was expected of them?

Adults may have thought that putting pressure on them would motivate them to do well, yet it probably left them feeling inadequate.

Your birth date matters:

Do you recognise such feelings, dear reader?

The problem with the school experience is that the age range of our classmates is spread over a whole year. And that’s a lot more significant than it first appears.

Someone whose birthday is at the beginning of September will be a year older than someone whose birthday is towards the end of August, despite both being in the same academic year.

Now it might not seem much, but one year at that time in our lives makes a huge difference in terms of our development, both mentally and physically.

So, what does this mean?

It means that if your birthday is at the end of the school year, then you’re at a significant disadvantage relative to some of your much older classmates.

That disadvantage carries with you right through your school years, if you’re affected by it.

And it’s a disadvantage that extends not just to your academic studies but also to sports and physical activity too.

Success breeds positive reinforcement:

Most importantly, it’s not just the fact that you’re behind in terms of your physical and mental development. It’s also a fact that success breeds positive reinforcement.

Older students benefit from the constant reinforcement and encouragement of being told, ‘Well done!‘, while younger students struggle to keep up unless they’re exceptionally gifted.

Even if people are of above-average ability for their age, they can still be at a disadvantage relative to older classmates during their school days, particularly if those older classmates are also of above-average ability.

Inevitably, at school, people are compared to their peers, and statistics show that the older ones tend to do better because of an inherent age advantage. That’s true with sports as well as academic subjects.

If younger students appear to perform less well, frequently, that’s interpreted as them not being quite as good as their older peers.

Advantage goes with age:

And few people, least of all our parents, recognise that the system essentially does not favour younger members of the class. It puts them at a disadvantage.

The obvious question is, how many people have gone through life feeling like a bit of a loser due to their experiences of a school system that tends to work against them simply because of the month in which they were born?

And how many people never fully recover from the inevitable damage done to their confidence and self-esteem during those all-too-important developmental years?

More importantly, our school days not only affect how we feel about ourselves. They also impact how others perceive us to be as well.

A reputation for being a ‘Straight A’ student beats being a bit of an academic ‘also ran’. No one questions whether the former had an inherent advantage over the latter.

How we’re perceived by others matters. Think about it. Their perception of us results in all the negative talk we often hear whenever we express ambition, which can affect our self-esteem.

I’m sure you know what I mean, as no doubt many readers will be familiar with the experience. Something like:-

You: “Oh, I’d like to be a doctor.”

Parent: “Oh, don’t be ridiculous, with your grades?”

And so on.

Our need for encouragement:

People will always give you reasons why you’re not good enough when what you need is encouragement.

With encouragement, you could make it in whatever pursuit that makes you feel truly energised.

If you’re someone who experienced disadvantage for whatever reason then let me tell you something. You’re as good as anyone and you should acknowledge that to yourself, constantly.

Schooldays represent a very small portion of life and they’re significant only in so far as they are only one of many experiences we’ll have in life. Certainly, they don’t define you.

If your schooldays were a good experience then fine. If not, so what?

You can still achieve your ambitions with sufficient hard work and determination.

It doesn’t matter whether others believe you can do it, just as long as you believe you can do it.

There’s no such thing as a failure:

Remember; there’s no such thing as a failure. That label does not belong to people.

Failure is just an unwanted outcome and a learning opportunity. It’s not a person.

You have enormous potential. We all do.

Everyone is capable of achieving much more than they could ever think possible. With determination and hard work, we can all achieve great things.

Attitude matters:

Your attitude is much more important than your aptitude when it comes to achieving your goals in life. Believe you can and you will.

However you feel about your past, it’s not too late to become something more than you are now.

You should embrace failure as nothing more than a learning opportunity. It does not define you, and nor should it.

Recognise that just because you didn’t set the world on fire during your school days, it doesn’t mean you can’t achieve great things now.

No correlation:  

Remember; there’s no correlation between success at school and success in life.

Plenty of ‘Straight A’ students fail to achieve anything significant after they’ve left education behind. Whereas plenty of the less academically successful go on to achieve great things in life.

It’s not about how many times you get knocked down that count but how many times you can get back up and keep going until you get to where you want to be.

Victory is sweeter when it has been achieved following the experience of defeat.

You cannot achieve anything without the experience of at least the occasional failure along the way.

We all start as beginners:

Before anyone achieved success, they started as a complete beginner. And along the road to success, they will have made plenty of mistakes. Anyone who suggests otherwise is either lying or deluded.

If you want to succeed, work hard, make mistakes and learn the lessons as you go.

If you’re determined you’ll find a way to achieve your goals and realise your dreams.

Failure’s not fatal:

Don’t be overwhelmed by any perceived failure. It doesn’t have to be fatal, nor does it imply that you’re not capable of achieving great things.

Never, ever give up until you get to where you want to be. Success can be yours if you want it badly enough. And remember this; it is better to try and fail than never to have tried at all.

Never be afraid to try because there are no failures, only outcomes we didn’t want and lessons to be learned.

Daily Mantra:

Reinforce self-belief by repeating this daily mantra

I’m as good as anyone; I’m better than most; I will achieve success; nothing will stop me!

Go on, get started now. Success is waiting for you.

Please share this post with your friends:

Did you find this article interesting and useful dear reader?

If so, then please share it on social media with your friends. When you share, everyone wins.

So please share it now. If you do I’ll be ever so grateful and you’ll be helping a keen blogger reach a wider audience.

Thank you.

Copyright © Mann Island Media Limited 2024. All rights reserved.

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21 Quotes by Jay Leno that are quite amusing

05/22/2024 by

Funnyman Jay Leno is one of American television’s biggest personalities and he is recognised as a major star around the world.

Born James Douglas Muir Leno in New Rochelle, New York, he’s a comedian, actor, writer and producer, as well as a television host best known for his years hosting The Tonight Show with Jay Leno from 1992–2009.

Quick with a joke or a funny quip he always made me smile. So today I thought I’d explore some of his wit and wisdom.

And let’s face it wisdom is always at the heart of every witty quote.

So here are 21 quotes by Jay Leno to brighten your day.

Quotes by Jay Leno (1-11):

  1. Politics is just show business for ugly people.
  2. You’re not famous until my mother has heard of you.
  3. You can’t stay mad at somebody who makes you laugh.
  4. The best way to ruin a comedy is to throw a lot of money at it.
  5. If I have one advantage, it’s that I will try to work harder than the next guy.
  6. People don’t mind if you have a lot of money if they know you’re working for it.
  7. In America, we like everyone to know about the good work we’re doing anonymously.
  8. Here’s something to think about: How come you never see a headline like ‘Psychic Wins Lottery’?
  9. New Year’s Eve, where auld acquaintance be forgot unless, of course, those tests come back positive.
  10. The New England Journal of Medicine reports that 9 out of 10 doctors agree that 1 out of 10 doctors is an idiot.
  11. I think high self-esteem is overrated. A little low self-esteem is actually quite good. Maybe you’re not the best, so you should work a little harder.

Quotes by Jay Leno (12-21):

  1. If God had wanted us to vote, he would have given us candidates.
  2. Don’t forget Mother’s Day. Or as they call it in Beverly Hills, Dad’s Third Wife Day.
  3. The crime problem in New York is getting really serious. The other day the Statue of Liberty had both hands up.
  4. For the first time ever, overweight people outnumber average people in America. Doesn’t that make overweight the average then? Last month you were fat, now you’re average – hey, let’s get a pizza!
  5. Magic Johnson, a former basketball player, may run for mayor of L.A. in the next election. Remember the good ole days when only qualified people ran for office like actors and professional wrestlers?
  6. Nineteen per cent of doctors say that they’d be able to give their patients a lethal injection. But they also went on to say that the patient would have to be really, really behind on payments.
  7. The Washington Bullets are changing their name. They don’t want their team to be associated with crime. From now on, they’ll just be known as the Bullets.
  8. I went into a McDonald’s yesterday and said, ‘I’d like some fries.’ The girl at the counter said, ‘Would you like some fries with that?’ 
  9. The reason there are two senators for each state is so that one can be the designated driver.
  10. The University of Nebraska says that elderly people that drink beer or wine at least four times a week have the highest bone density. They need it – they’re the ones falling down the most.

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Did you find these quotes by Jay Leno interesting and amusing?

You did? I hope so anyway.

If that is the case then please share them with your friends because when you share everyone wins.

So share them now on social media. If you can do that for me then it will be truly appreciated.

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