I had someone ask me the following question today:
“So what does it feel like to be a millionaire?”
I’m sure my face went blank for a few seconds. See I always knew that I would be a multi-millionaire, probably since I was 13 years old, I just didn’t know when, or how. So when it happened, it just felt that it was always there and always belonged…I never really celebrated any determining moment (and therefore will be buying a bottle of champagne for tonight for a little post celebrating! )
…and I’m sure that being a millionaire means different things for different people. For some it means fancy clothes, jewelry, a nice house, bragging rights, etc. For some, it means being about to donate to charity, vacations and quitting their jobs.
For me…for me being a millionaire means having peace of mind. I no longer have to call the credit card companies before I go to the grocery store to make sure there’s enough of a balance on the card. I no longer have to spend hours looking at all of the bills to try and figure out how to rob Peter to pay Paul. I no longer have to live in my garage and eat out of tuna fish cans. I don’t have to borrow money from friends to put gas in my car.
Don’t get me wrong….the ability to buy whatever you want is an amazing feeling, and I acknowledge how fortunate I am to live on the beach (they say if you’re lucky enough to live at the beach, you’re lucky enough!) and I mean yes, I plan on buying about 10 acres of gorgeous oceanfront property in Oregon but I plan on using it as a YTB retreat for all of my Coach’s Corner members and Directors on Team Pride.
It’s amazing what you can do with your mind when it isn’t trying to figure out how you’re going to pay for things. The things your mind can create when it isn't covered by stress will amaze you.
And if you’re a firm believer in the law of attraction like I am, then you should NOT be thinking “I’m so glad I don’t have any credit card debt” or “I’ve paid off all of my debt”…because what you’re thinking about is debt, and that’s what you’ll get more of! Act like a millionaire, think like a millionaire, live like a millionaire and you will achieve millionaire status!
They say money doesn’t buy happiness…and to a certain extent I agree – but I don’t see very many poor people who are happy that they can’t send their kids to piano lessons. I don’t see very many people happy about the fact that they’ve lost their homes. I don’t see very many people happy about the fact that they’ve lost their jobs and have spent their retirement money. So no, money doesn’t buy happiness, but it sure as heck doesn’t hurt!!
Friday, July 25, 2008
Thursday, July 10, 2008
What Would You Do?
What would you do?
I took an early morning walk on the beach this morning. Mind you, I'm not a morning person, but as I lay there in bed, having being given the gift of financial freedom and the luxury to wake up whenever I choose, I've taken pieces of it for granted.
Laying there, I thought about all the millions of people who had to wake up around the country/world this morning, hop in the shower, grab some breakfast and rush out the door, only to go sit in traffic to go to a job that they probably don't like. And here, I live at the beach and haven't fully maximized on my ability to take a morning beach walk. I realized how many people would love to have my life, and yet I haven't been making the best use out of the life I've been given.
I'm changing that as of today.
And as the salty cool breeze whipped through my hair as I stood at the end of the pier, I ask you these questions in the most serious nature. I ask you these questions to provoke emotion, whether it be anger, greed, selfishness, love, compassion or joy…to make you really think. Stop going through life like a robot. Stop going through life on autopilot. Sometimes you have to stop, smack yourself and head in the other direction if you want to see results. Life is too short, too much is taken for granted.
What would you do if you just received a call indicating that your child has been in a terminal car accident? Would you wish you wouldn't have chosen the corporate meeting over his baseball game.
What would you do if you went home and found that your dog had died today? would you have stayed home from work and spent the day with him and made sure that he was comfortable in his final hours.
What would you do if you won the lottery tomorrow? would you quit your job, find out who your real friends are, take a long vacation...or donate half of it to charity?
What would you do if you could foresee the future and knew that a week from now your doctor is going to call you and tell you that you have Stage 4 Cancer? would you have watched the sunset last night with a loved one instead of watching "So you think you can dance?".
What would you do if you were able to quit your job today? Would you spend the next few months lying around the house or running errands or would you take the gift and find a way to contribute to the world?
What would you do? Life is too short. Appreciate every moment. Stop waiting for tomorrow to get started living.
I took an early morning walk on the beach this morning. Mind you, I'm not a morning person, but as I lay there in bed, having being given the gift of financial freedom and the luxury to wake up whenever I choose, I've taken pieces of it for granted.
Laying there, I thought about all the millions of people who had to wake up around the country/world this morning, hop in the shower, grab some breakfast and rush out the door, only to go sit in traffic to go to a job that they probably don't like. And here, I live at the beach and haven't fully maximized on my ability to take a morning beach walk. I realized how many people would love to have my life, and yet I haven't been making the best use out of the life I've been given.
I'm changing that as of today.
And as the salty cool breeze whipped through my hair as I stood at the end of the pier, I ask you these questions in the most serious nature. I ask you these questions to provoke emotion, whether it be anger, greed, selfishness, love, compassion or joy…to make you really think. Stop going through life like a robot. Stop going through life on autopilot. Sometimes you have to stop, smack yourself and head in the other direction if you want to see results. Life is too short, too much is taken for granted.
What would you do if you just received a call indicating that your child has been in a terminal car accident? Would you wish you wouldn't have chosen the corporate meeting over his baseball game.
What would you do if you went home and found that your dog had died today? would you have stayed home from work and spent the day with him and made sure that he was comfortable in his final hours.
What would you do if you won the lottery tomorrow? would you quit your job, find out who your real friends are, take a long vacation...or donate half of it to charity?
What would you do if you could foresee the future and knew that a week from now your doctor is going to call you and tell you that you have Stage 4 Cancer? would you have watched the sunset last night with a loved one instead of watching "So you think you can dance?".
What would you do if you were able to quit your job today? Would you spend the next few months lying around the house or running errands or would you take the gift and find a way to contribute to the world?
What would you do? Life is too short. Appreciate every moment. Stop waiting for tomorrow to get started living.
Sunday, July 6, 2008
Sacrifice for FINANCIAL Freedom
FINANCIAL FREEDOMI hope you all had a wonderful holiday weekend in celebration of our amazing country. We are truly blessed.In deciding where I wanted to spend the July 4th holiday weekend (which by the way is a wonderful thing to have the luxury to get to decide) I decided that there was no better place to celebrate our independence than at our Nation’s Capital. And as I sat on the lawn in front of the Lincoln Monument having passed by the Vietnam Veteran’s Memorial earlier that day, I started thinking about the true price of freedom. The hundreds of thousands of lives, the laws, the democracy that makes this country great…the sacrifice.
And then I started thinking about the price of financial freedom. A sacrifice all in its own. Being financially independent and financially “free” requires a commitment. See everyone wants it, but only few attain it because they aren’t willing to make the same sacrifice. That means giving up your favorite TV show, working long hours until your business is on autopilot or you have enough money in investments to live off of etc. At the age of 21, when my friends were out partying, at bars, going to the movies, etc, I chose to go to law school. At the age of 25, when my peers and coworkers would leave work as soon as the clock stuck 5pm, I chose to work longer hours to make more money to save for another investment property. At the age of 28, when I was on the verge of losing it all, I lived in my garage, I ate out of tuna cans just so I wouldn’t lose my houses to foreclosure. Even when I had lots of money in the bank I chose to invest more than buy more “stuff” to keep up with the Jones’.
When I found YTB, I made a commitment to give one presentation every day for a 90 day period, we called it the 90 Day Blitz. My commitment started a momentum, and I ended up giving 126 YTB presentations over the 90 day blitz period. If you do the math, you'll see that there were several days where I was giving two and even three presentations a day.
These are all choices. Sacrifice. Commitment. It separates us from the rest. If it was easy, everyone would do it….do you have the commitment that it takes to be financially free? Ask yourself what you did last week to further your business, your personal goals and your purpose in life. If you made 3 phone calls, make 6 this week. If you went to the gym once, go twice this week. If you complimented 2 people last week, compliment 4. It's not who you are when you're a millionaire, it's who you become along the way.
Be FREE.
And then I started thinking about the price of financial freedom. A sacrifice all in its own. Being financially independent and financially “free” requires a commitment. See everyone wants it, but only few attain it because they aren’t willing to make the same sacrifice. That means giving up your favorite TV show, working long hours until your business is on autopilot or you have enough money in investments to live off of etc. At the age of 21, when my friends were out partying, at bars, going to the movies, etc, I chose to go to law school. At the age of 25, when my peers and coworkers would leave work as soon as the clock stuck 5pm, I chose to work longer hours to make more money to save for another investment property. At the age of 28, when I was on the verge of losing it all, I lived in my garage, I ate out of tuna cans just so I wouldn’t lose my houses to foreclosure. Even when I had lots of money in the bank I chose to invest more than buy more “stuff” to keep up with the Jones’.
When I found YTB, I made a commitment to give one presentation every day for a 90 day period, we called it the 90 Day Blitz. My commitment started a momentum, and I ended up giving 126 YTB presentations over the 90 day blitz period. If you do the math, you'll see that there were several days where I was giving two and even three presentations a day.
These are all choices. Sacrifice. Commitment. It separates us from the rest. If it was easy, everyone would do it….do you have the commitment that it takes to be financially free? Ask yourself what you did last week to further your business, your personal goals and your purpose in life. If you made 3 phone calls, make 6 this week. If you went to the gym once, go twice this week. If you complimented 2 people last week, compliment 4. It's not who you are when you're a millionaire, it's who you become along the way.
Be FREE.
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