Tough times don't last, tough people do.

Adversities and challenges in life will always be there regardless of who we are. We will be knock down at times but most importantly, we must want to get up, be willing to get up and find a way to get up.
If we don't compromise on our Integrity, the Universe will come and help us, with solutions to our problems, with friends that will support us and with ...strength that will pull us through. Through this process, we find new solutions to different problems and challenges, know who are our true friends and build new mental strength. What can't kill us, will strengthen us!
"Integrity is the essence of everthing"
When you lose money, you lose nothing.
When you lose your health, you lose something.
When you lose your integrity, you lose everything.
My life is blessed with solutions, true friends and new mental strength. Thanks to tough times and adversities!

Step 52; Perseverance, building wealth is a marathon

"Nothing in the world can take the place of perseverance. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent" 

Starting from bankruptcy in 1999. It took me 3 years to be financially free, 5 years to make my first million, 7 years to multi millions.

I still remember vividly when I was ask to fill up my financial statement in one of Robert Kiyosaki's seminar, I almost cried when I saw nothing on the assets column and plenty of figures on the liabilities column. At age 39 at that time, I feel so ashamed of myself. I have shared with you, for the past 52 weeks, what I have done to get to where I am today. I hope you have been inspired and will apply some of the things that I have shared and make it work for you.

Remember; Fear not and go for your dreams! Never give up! Never, Never, Never, Never give up!

If what I have written has added some value to you, I hope that you will share it with your friends too. I wish you all the best and hope that you will use what I have shared to make this world a better place.

Yours sincerely
Jerome Tan

Step 51; Resources versus Resourceful

Is there a lack of resources in this world? The answer is obviously no. The planet has enough resources to make every human being on this planet a millionaire. Why isn't everyone a millionaire?

If you want to be a millionaire, my question is; are you resourceful enough? One of the main reason why I am able to turn around from bankruptcy to multi millions is my being resourceful. I will find a solution for every challenge that I faced. I will seek the advice of mentors, read a book, attend a seminar or simply ask anyone who has got the experience. With the knowledge that I gained, I will apply it to tackle my challenges. If it doesn't work the first time round, I will go back to seek help from my mentor again or ask the expert and see how I can do it differently to make it work. I will not give up until I find a solution.

The amazing thing is that once you got it, you can do it again and again. Once you know how to make a million in a year, you can do it again and again, year after year. The challenge is to get out of your comfort zone and see if you can do it in 6 months, then 3 months, then a week or even a day. Seems far fetch?  Are there not plenty of companies making that kind of money?

End of the day, if you have resources but not resourceful enough to use it, your resources will be gone. Most million dollars lottery winners will lose it all within a few years if they are not resourceful enough to grow their money. Heard of people who inherited their wealth and lose it all?

Look at Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Philipines and Singapore, Which country has got the most resources? Which country need to be more resourceful? Which country has got the strongest currency?

Most millionaires and billionaires started with nothing, just like Bill Gates and Warren Buffet. Some how the are resourceful enough to find the resources to reach the top.

Stop giving yourself the excuse that you don't have the resources to be rich, just have to get out of your comfort zone and be resourceful enough to find a way. "When they is a will, there is a way, when there is a compelling reason, the is a will."

See you at the top!

Step 50; What can we learn from the Japanese?

I am now writing from Kobe, Japan. This is my first trip to Japan, my 2 other trips were on transit at Narita airport to the USA. I am very impressed with Japan, the Japanese culture and people.

Instead of doing sightseeing, I am doing sight-observing. I observed that most Japanese people are hard-working, friendly, helpful, honest, humble and polite. I observed that they are very meticulous and put in a lot of effort into giving you quality goods and services. The sales people in the shop are very helpful and will not try to push you into buying something. They even bow and thank you for coming even if you didn't buy anything.

While in Kyoto, I forgetfully left my handphone on one of the counters at Daimaru departmental store. I only realised that after my lunch, went back to the store and it was already at the lost and found department. On the way there, I actually did not have any doubt that I will have my phone back. The sales lady from the 6th floor actually accompanied me to the ground floor, to the lost and found department.

The services at the restaurant is also very good, they will even come out of the restaurant, bow down and thank you for coming. Honestly, I will not expect them to do that if the restaurant is too busy. The best part is that they have a no tipping culture, so you know that they are doing it out of passion and sincerity.

Although some of the prices are high in Japan compared to some countries, I feel that there is value for money, for the quality and sincerity in providing good service. They give you an unforgettable experience which make you feel good paying for it. And their packaging is first class. So if you want to make more money, you just have to add more value than is expected of you.

I was told that the number of tourists coming to Japan has dropped because of the recent Tsunami and radiation leak. I feel that this is the best time to visit Japan because you get better service and less queue. Someone told me that radiation don't cause cancer but kills cancer cells. (haha)
I walked pass a real estate company yesterday and I intend to visit them today, to find out more about the real estate prices in Kobe. I am in contact with one of my graduates from Japan, to see if we could do a Property Investment Program in Japan.

Step 49; Are you ready for 2012?

Will all the problems created by the politicians in the US and Europe be solved soon? Or will all these problems surface in 2012 and create the mother of all recessions? Every lie will have to be covered up with more lies,  there will come a time where all the lies will surface and let the world have a major reset to the economy. Look at the crisis in Greece, Ireland, Spain, Italy and Portugal. Look at all the protest going on in all the major stock exchanges. Look at all the violence in the Middle East. Are you prepared for something major happening next year?

Can you see that there are many corporations getting ready to retrench their staffs.
I want to tell you that you have 2 choices; 1 to look at it and see danger or 2 to see opportunities. Many people will want to bury their head, like an ostrich, hoping that nothing will happen to them. Like it or not, there will be a ripple effect. Everyone will be affected, some positively and some negatively. The best thing to do is to be prepared, be prepared mentally and psycologically. If you are holding a job, my advise is to go and educate yourself on how to start a business. With that skill, you will always have a choice.
Personally I can see the mother of all opportunities presenting itself next year. I look forward to add more value to more people by teaching them the skills of selecting the right business at the right time and doing it right. There will be plenty of opportunities in the stock market. I am glad I have also educated myself in this field.

My advice is, invest in yourself by educating yourself on wealth creation, which will give yourself lots of options to take advantage of a crisis. Next year will be a year where you will see the biggest transfer of wealth in history. I hope you will have the skills, knowledge and experience to make yourself one of the beneficiary.

Step 48; My 'O' level theory

I am writing my blog now in London, got very inspired after meeting a few of my mentors. While walking around the streets of London, I made some observations and came up with this 'O' level theory.

I realised that there are many universities in London and more universities are being created all over the world. I also observed that there are many more graduates all around the world compared to 30, 40 years ago. If I am not wrong, the universities were created to train managers and supervisors. These managers and supervisors are then hired by corporations and governments to train and supervise workers.

As countries become more developed, there comes a point where there are too many graduates and too many managers and supervisors but not enough workers to do all the dirty jobs. This is why there are many migrants in developed countries like England and Singapore. As I take the train in London, I realised that there are more coloured people than the whites, it's about 10 to 1. In Singapore, you will also be able to see a lot of migrants on the trains. Most government will want to hire their own nationals for political reasons and most corporations will want to hire foreigners because it is cheaper.

Here comes the problems, if the government were to let in the foreigners, the locals will not be happy. If they don't, the corporations will find it challenging to run their business. If the corporations cannot make any profits, they will have to close shop and more people will be jobless, including the locals. Worse still, the government cannot allow too many foreigners with lower education into the countries because they are afraid it may create some social problems. If they don't, they will have a challenge finding people to do the menial work. Looks like we are caught in a catch 22 situation.

Perhaps you could think of a solution for these problems. Whoever can come up with a solution for all these problems will have the opportunity to make a lot of money.

  

Step 47; The quality of your life depends on the quality of your questions

From my experience interacting with people, I realised that their results in life is co-related to the questions that they asked. Let me give you an example: if you ask, Why am I so poor? You will come up with a set of answers that will enforce the reasons why you should stay poor. Don't you think it will be better if you ask, How can I be rich? You will come up with a set answer that can help you to be rich. My answer to that question is simple, go learn from the rich, pay them if you must. There are many books and seminars where you can learn how to be rich.

Poor people usually ask, what can you do for me? Rich people usually ask, what can I do for you?

If you want something the best way to ask is; What must I do for you in order for you to do that for me? If the answer is nothing, go to the next person. If you have the skills, knowledge and experience, you can add a lot of value to a lot of people and they will be able to add more value to you.

I will talk about adding value next week

Step 46; Givers Get

Charity-This is one of the most important aspect in creating wealth. I remember giving away $750 to a charitable organisation with money from my overdraft account when I was broke. I told a friend that I am expecting a miracle to turn around.

The miracle did happen but not in the form of winning the lottery or some unexpected windfall. It came in the form of a wrong phone call and I was "accidentally" invited to a free preview. At that preview, I met my mentor, Dr Richard Tan, who was speaking about the teachings of Robert Kiyosaki. That was the first time I heard about Robert Kiyosaki and his famous book, Rich Dad, Poor Dad. It was with the help of Dr. Richard Tan that I got to attend the Money & You program on an installment plan. That program shifted my mindset and beliefs about business and money. I took action to apply what I have learned and the rest is history. 

Some people ask me if giving to a family member considered charity. I said, it depends on how you feel, there is no right or wrong, it's what serves you and what don't. To me, as long as you are not self-centred and always thinking of giving your time or money for a good cause, that's charity.

Happy giving!

Step 45; For things to change, first I must change.

There is a song by Michael Jackson, Man in the mirror. It talks about if you want to change the world, first change the man in the mirror. Isn't it true that whatever that happens in your life, there is only one common factor, and that is YOU! Unfortunately, most people cannot see that and will always be blaming someone else for any results that they don't like.

The key here is to manage your EGO, your ego can cost you a lot in life. It can cost you your business, money and relationships. A sudden burst in temper can result in something drastic or not admitting your mistakes and repent will attract a lot of critism and sticks from people. "Mistakes are sins when not admitted" To be honest, this is easier said than done. I have personally lost my temper many times, screw up many times and make many mistakes in life. I just have to look back, acknowledge those mistakes, take personal responsibility and move on.

I would also need release all the hurts, resentment and unforgiveness that is inside my being. Some of the programs that help me to do that are, Money & You, Enlightened Warrior and Date with Destiny. I also consult John Stamoulos for breathworks, Heiko and Selina for releasing work. It is important to have an outlet to release your anger, so that you don't create an eruption suddenly.

Step 44; Greed will lead to poverty

贪 vs 贫

The word Greed and Poverty in chinese are very similar. How many of you know of people who become poorer because of greed? Ever heard of "get rich quick" schemes? Have you ever fall for such scheme? To be honest, I have and over the years I learned that you will never get rich looking for such "investment" The only way to get rich is to do something that you love, which add a lot of value to a lot of people.
Some people resort to cheating as a means to get rich quick, using scare tactics and greed to entice you. Don't be fooled by them, neither do you want to use such method to get rich. You will be found out in time to come. What goes around, comes around. There is also the karma effect or what you sow, you will reap.
If you have been conned before, don't beat yourself up, learn from the lesson and move on.   

Step 43; Remember the people that help you on your way to success.

Personally, I don't think that there is such a thing call self-made millionaire or multi-millionaire. I believe all of them has got supporters that come in different forms. People like their spouse, children, employees, suppliers, mentors, spiritual masters, customers and friends, just to name a few.

I invited one of my ex-staff, who is now my friend, to my new house and we have a good chat about the past when we were starting out on our journey. We talked about the struggles and challenges that we have to overcome during those time and how it has been an amazing journey. I am always grateful to them for taking a pay cut to join my team during those early years. I am glad that we managed to succeed now and their early sacrifices did not go to waste.

I am looking at how to use my success to help them in anyway that I can. Because of their positive and exellent attitude, I will always reserve the best opportunity for them. I am very blessed to have good people that had helped me in my life.

Step 42; How to write your book with little effort of your own

One of the keys to writing your book is to find a subject that you are passionate about, very familiar with and very good at. Don't do it just for the money. Do it because you have something of value to give to the readers.

You will then have to find a good ghost writer. What my ghost writer did was to interview me for about 6 hours in total, on different days. Transcribed what was recorded and write into text in soft copy. After a few rounds of corrections and editing, we look for friends and mentors to write the foreword and testimonials. When all is done, look for a graphic designer to design the cover. Look for a distributor who is willing to distribute your book to the bookstores. Negotiate the terms and collect the orders. Find a reliable printer to print your book.

Also find people who are good with IT to come up with an ebook to sell it online. Find good internet marketers to help you to sell online. I give them 50% of the profits.

If you have been thinking of writing your book for a long time, my advice is; Just Do It!

"Don't wait for perfection then write, write first, then perfect it." If I can do it, so can you!

 

Step 41; Have a vision, think long term

"Begin with the end in mind" I believe I read this in Stephen Covey's book, 7 habits of highly successful people. He talks about writing your own eulogy.

One of my beliefs is "The only thing that you can take away from this world is what you give" What I meant is; all of us are going to die one day and the fact is that we can't take away a single cent with us. The reason why we want to make a lot of money is to use it wisely for the benefit of the planet and to contribute to mankind. At the same time, you can only make money when you are contributing good value to the planet or mankind.

I want you to think of what you want to achieve at the end of your life. Do you want to leave behind a legacy? My advice to you is think BIG and go for it without fear. Believe me, you will make mistake, you will fall at certain times, you will lose some battles but you must always remember to GET UP and KEEP GOING!

Step 40; Integrity, reputation and character

"Integrity is the Essence of Everthing" Buck Minister Fuller. If you want to be rich, you have to build a good reputation in business. Never collect money from people if you did not deliver the value. At the same time don't let people take advantage of you either.

I have a case where this guy attended one of our courses and later ask for his money back. Not only that, he try to instigate the class to get back their money as well. Fortunately, his course mates had benefitted from the program and had the integrity to reject him.

When I met up with him and told him that we do not have a money back policy. He claims that he took 6 companies public listed and what I taught was elementary. So I told him that since we don't have a money back policy and money should not be a problem to him (since he listed 6 companies) why not we donate the program fees to charity. He was taken aback and confessed to me that he actually needed the money for his son's medical fees. Out of compassion, we decided to refund him his money. I have seen many such characters in the market and I know they will never be rich. Remember this, the world is very small, what goes around, comes around. Your reputation will follow you wherever you go.

Step 39; Follow your heart

When you believe in something that you must do, deep down in your heart, then I say follow your heart without fear. Most importantly, it has got to be something that add value to others and not just for monetary gains. Don't worry, when you add value to others, the money will come, in the nick of time, always in the nick of time. I have experience this many times. When I need money, I just have to go out there and add value to others and the money will come in at the time when I need it the most. So, if you want to make a lot of money, you just have to add a lot of value to a lot of people.

Just look at all the masters in different fields, they have a passion and a heart for what they do. They love what they do and they do it really well. They do it again and again and see their money pouring in. Unfortunately, many of them go broke because of money mismanagement or could not manage their emotions. One example is Michael Jackson; he is a master of entertainment, make lots of money but could not manage his money and emotions. He died because he lost his spirit to do what he loves.

Majority of people work for money and not doing what they love. They are using their head and not their heart. I love what I do and I have no intention to retire at all. I want to do what I love, for as long as the higher power permits. What I do brings joy to my heart and I want to follow my heart. I hope you will be able to find something that you love to do, worth doing and add value to humanity.

Have an awesome day!

Step 38; Never take advantage of the rich

Net working with the rich is very important, but never take advantage of them or try to borrow money from them. When I was a bankrupt, I network with the rich and told them frankly that I am a bankrupt. I only ask them for project and to pay me a fair amount only when they are satisfied with the results that I delivered.

Unfortunately, I see a lot of people trying to borrow money from the rich and take advantage of them. Let me share with you a true story.

Some time ago, there live a very rich businessman and he wanted to help the people around him to be rich. So one day he ask some of his associates to share with him to invest in some properties. All of them agreed and invested with this businessman. Unfortunately, after investing, there was an economic downturn and the property prices started to drop. Most of the investors panic and pressured the businessman to sell the properties. The businessman did his best to sell the properties for a price where they need not lose any money. Unfortunately the businessman could not find a buyer willing to pay for the asking price. After sometime, some of the investors gather together and demand that the businessman return their money and threaten to sue him if he does not do so. This is like buying a stock at $2 and when the stock comes down to $1, the investors insisted to be paid back the $2. Because the businessman do not want to go through the hassle of going to court, he relented and return their investment. However, there was one businessman who is also very rich, who puts in a lot more money than the other investor who did not ask for his money back but willing to go through the bad times with the businessman.

I will stop here and posts some questions to you. If you are the rich businessman, will you ever work with those associate who ask for their money back again? Do you think you will share with them any good opportunities in the future or with the rich businessman that did not ask for his money back unreasonably? Do you know why the rich gets richer?

I have seen many rich people do deals together and they usually have the integrity to be fair to each other and go through good times and bad times together. One of my mentor sold his investment properties to pay the ransom for his friend and business partner, who was kidnapped. They loss all their money and have to start all over again. Today, they are still partners and they now own 2 public listed companies together.

Like what they say; When you lose money, you lose nothing. When you lose your health, you lose something. When you lose your integrity, you lose everything.

Step 37; Smile at adversity until it surrenders

Hey, let's face it, everyone have their own sets of problems and challenges. The rich, the poor and the middle income. There's no way we can run from it. We have 2 choices, get upset and make the problem bigger or smile at it until the problem goes away.

Met one of my friend, Steve Wee, and he shared with me what he learned from me sometime ago. "If it doesn't kill you, it will only make you stronger." Do whatever you can to solve your problems but don't let it drains you emotionally.

Step 36; What you think of me is none of my business

Having this mindset is very important to be successful. Let's face it, no matter what you do, you will have critics. Most importantly is to do things with a clear conscience that you are adding value to people and do no harm to anyone.

Don't try to please everyone or you will end up in a mental hospital. Mother Theresa, Jesus, Mohamed, Buddha, Ghandi, they all have critics, even God has got critics. So why bother about what people say or think about you. Except the fact that you are not perfect, you never will be, but accept yourself and love yourself anyway. By now you also should know that I have critics too and I accept that because I am also not perfect.

You must not let critics pull you down and stop you from doing what you must do in your life. Just put this in your mind "What you think of me is none of my business"

Step 35; Trust the people that you work with and work with people that you trust.

This is an ancient chinese saying which is very important for business. The boss will have to trust his employees to do the job and the employee will have to trust the boss that they will get their salary at the end of the month.
If both sides were to worry about each other, then it is better not to work with each other in the first place. The boss should train the people to do the job and trust them to get the job done. The boss should spend more time thinking, strategising, innovating and solving problems, whenever there is one.
Whether you like it or not, we have to leverage on each other. Everybody have their own sets of strengths and weaknesses. We need other people's support and we also need to support others. It is never one way, or you will create resentment sooner or later.
If you want to be financially free, it is time you look for a team to work with. You need not be the boss to be financially free, work in a company doing what you are good at and love doing it. Put your money to work wisely and let your assets feed you. Put yourself in a position where you choose to work, not because you need to work. Talking about that, I can't wait for my business partner to semi-retire and I start doing the previews again.

Step 34; Control your emotions

When emotions are high, intelligent is low. Ever said something to someone and regret it later? I have, in fact, many times. Mind you, I am not a saint, I am as human as anyone else.

This is easier said than done, personally, I will always be aware of this and do my best to control my emotions. Emotions will be high, especially, when you have been accused of doing something that is not true, at least to you. Sometimes, love will also cause you to be emotional, watch that feeling and be aware too. Ever heard of crime of passion? This happens when emotion is very high and intelligent very low.

One of the keys that I learned from the book, "The four agreements" is "Don't take it personally" Everybody has their own sets of experience and beliefs. Learn to respect their beliefs. Religions and cultures causes many blood sheds because of intolerant and disrespect for other people's beliefs.

Control your emotions and live and let live.

Step 33; Surround yourself with talented and successful people

Keep your friends and change your peers. It is important to spend more time with the right people. Before my bankruptcy, I used to spend a lot of time pubbing and clubbing with the wrong people. I wasted a lot of time and money there, probably that's one of the reasons why I went bankrupt.

After I started attending personal development seminars, I started to spend more time with people who are interested in their personal development. This group of people are usually positive and forward looking. With their positive energy and influence, I become like them eventually. "Gabbage in, gabbage out" "Success is a habit, so is failure" The reason why I am telling you these is because it is important to continuously be 'brainwash' by positive energy, environment and people. By sharing with you, I am also reminding myself.

Unfortunately we are living in a world with so many negative influence, especially the news. Do you agree with me that most of the news you get are bad news? I make it a point not to buy the newspaper, will only flip thru' when I come across one. I spend less than 2 hours a month watching TV. So stop watching TV and spend more time with positive people. And don't forget to stay away from negative people, if your close friends or relatives are negative, spend less time with them.

Step 32; Finding a mentor.

It amazes me as to why most people would rather learn from their own mistakes than seeking a mentor.

Mentors comes in different forms like books, seminars, successful people and even failures. I look at failures and their behavior and choose not to be like them. Most of them are egoistic and think they know everything. I would usually stay away from such people or do the opposite of what they do.

I seek mentors by reading their books and attending their seminars. It is the cheapest and fastest way to be successful. Then why is it that not all the people who read books and attend seminars are successful? One of the reason is that they look at why it cannot be done rather than how I can get it done. It's just like when I attended seminars on how to buy properties with little or no money, my classmate will tell me that it cannot be done in Singapore or Malaysia. Fortunately, I choose not to listen to them and I manage to find many ways to buy properties with little or no money.

I find a lot of people who seek for free advice and are not willing to pay for mentoring. From my experience, this group of people are usually not very committed to their success. Sorry to say, advicing them is a waste of time. Since they did not pay anything, they will not do what they have been told.

If you want to be successful, be willing to pay for good advice. The most expensive advice are free advice from poor people.

Step 31; Why entrepreneurs make more money?

The job of an entrepreneur is to look for unsolved problems in the world and find a way to solve them. You will pay people to solve a problem you could not solve, wouldn't you? To make more money, you will need to add value by solving more and bigger problems for more people.

One of the key is to leverage on other people's money, resources, skills, time, database etc, etc. The problem is that most people want to leverage on others but do not want others to leverage on them. Personally, I would always put on the table what I can contribute first before asking the other party to show me what they can contribute.

As an employee, you are most likely selling your time and let's face it, you only have 24 hours a day. How much time can you sell. As an entrepreneur, I network and look for teams to work with. I don't mind making a lot less than my partners if they are putting in more time. To me, it is better to make 1% from 100 people's effort than to make 100% from my own effort.

Next is to set up a system for the business where it continues to do the same thing and make the same amount of money. Of course if you want to increase the revenue and profit, you will need to innovate all the time. One of the keys is to be patient and build it over time. If you can solve a problem once, you can do it again and again. The good thing is that you can solve it faster the next time. If it takes you 5 years to make your first million, the next million will be faster and easier. The key here is don't give up. However, you must not do the same thing that is not working over and over again. It is insanity to be doing the same thing and expecting a different result.

Next week, we talk about finding a mentor.

Step 30; Changing Your Reality Box

Ever wonder why there are more negative people than positive people in this world? And why are there more poor people?

 It's got to do with what goes into the head. Remember, your thoughts shape your destiny. Thought=Word=Action=Habits=Character=Destiny. Gabbage in, gabbage out, it's that simple. Take note of what have you been feeding yourself mentally. Stop reading or watching the news. Am I right to say that most of them are negative news? Tsunami, Economy crisis, Rape, Robbery and you name it. Because of all these, I decided to spend very little time reading the newspaper nor watch TV.

It amazes me when everytime I present an opportunity, most people will point to me all the negative things that can happen and tell me the impossible. I am glad I chose not to listen to them, otherwise I would not be where I am today. If you want to be successful, to be a multi-millionaire or billionaire, start changing your thoughts, your reality box. I said multi-millionaire or billionaire because I want to help you change your reality. I want you to know that to be a millionaire it is no longer enough. Why? because whenever I ask people in Singapore, whether a million dollars is enough to have a comfortable retirement in Singapore, most of them says no. Some of you will have this question; why so greedy? (that's a negative thought by the way) I want to share with you this, it is not the money, it is the character you built along the journey. In order for you to be a sustainable multi-millionaire or more, you would have to build trust, add enough value to enough people, have integrity, grown and contributed to society, the list goes on.

Change your reality box; "Impossible is I'm possible"

I will share with you why entrepreneurs make more money next week.

Step 29; Money is an idea

Money is an idea, an idea on how to solve problems, especially other people's problems. Look at what other people want; save time, save money, make more money, have peace of mind, comfortable life, being recognised, grow & learn more, be entertained and the list goes on.

One of the richest man, Warren Buffet, what problem did he solved? He help people to make more money, people who invested in his company, Bershire Hathaway. He also create jobs through the many companies that his company owns. Look at Steve Jobs, Bill Gates and the many other entrepreneurs, not only they solve problems with their products or services but they also created many jobs. Now, do you know why successful entrepreneurs are richer compared to employees? They all started with an idea to solve a certain problem, then they add passion, action and perserverance to get to where they are.

If you want to be rich, start thinking out of the box, out of your current reality box.

We will talk about changing your reality box next week. 

Step 28; Problems are opportunities.

Problems are opportunities, so don't run away from problems, embrace them if you want to be rich. Am I right to say that you don't mind paying someone to solve your problems? Yes, you can solve some of your own problems but what if there is a problem that you cannot solve? For example, if you have a toothache, do you mind paying a dentist to solve that problem? Will you check their fees first before you consult them or do you ask them to solve your problem first before you check their fees? It's obvious what you will do first, isn't it? Ever wonder why good dentist are paid so well?

It is good if you can solve your own problems but it is better if you can solve other people's problems. The more problems you can solve and the bigger the problems, the more money people would be willing to pay you. Start looking at all the problems in this world and see if you can fix it, the more problems you can fix, the more money you can make. It's simple isn't it? Start thinking, start observing.

See you next week.

Step 27; You see money with your mind, not with your eyes.

What do I mean by you see money with your mind and not with your eyes? Before you could see the physical money, you have to see it with the mind first. For example, before you buy a run down property and sell it for a profit later. You have to imagine how are you going to make improvement to the property? How much are you going to buy it for? How much will you be paying for the renovation? Where do you find the people to buy it? How much will you be selling it when it is renovated? You have to see all this in your mind first and then take action, do whatever it takes and you will see the money at the end of the day.

I was at the East Coast in Singapore last night and saw a group of people riding bicycle and I told my friends about the opportunity that I saw in my mind. Want to know what was the opportunity? Bicycle rental business! The bicycle rental business can be a very good business, why? I was told that the bicycles are rented out at $6 per hour per bicycle. All you need to do is to rent your bicycle for 2 hours a day, multiply it by 365 days per year, you get $4,380. How much does it cost to buy a bicycle? What's the ROI in this case? Of course you will need to look at the rental of the kiosk and the salaries of the workers running the kiosk. Do the numbers, I am sure you will come up with a very decent profit at the end of the day.

Can you see the many opportunities that is available out there? or rather, in your mind? Will share with you more about opportunities next week.

Step 26; How to buy properties with little or no money down?

Method number 3; Joint Venture 2

Another way of joint venture is where you look for owners of land or run down properties. Persuade them to let you build or rebuilt their property and share the proceeds when it is sold for a higher price later. Or share the number of properties that you have built for them.

Example; owner of a piece of land that has got permit to build 8 units of apartments. Offer to build for them for free and share 4 units each when it is completed. Your question will be where do you find the money to build? Here is what you do, convince a builder to build the 8 units and offer him 3 units upon completion and you end up with 1 unit for free.

If you want to do this, you will need to have a very good lawyer to help you with the contract with both the builder and the owner.

Will share more ideas next week

Step 25; How to buy properties with little or no money down?

Method number 2; Joint venture

Find partners that are willing to pay for the deposit and you take up the loan from the bank. Here's an example; property priced at $1,000,000, partner's cash deposit of 20% - $200,000, your bank loan is $800,000. So you don't pay any cash upfront.

Your questions will be; where do I find such partners? You see, there will be people with cash but are not able to take up a loan because of their age or they have already maximised their loans limit or for whatever the reason. These people could be your friends or relatives or people from your network. A good place to network is to come to our property investment seminar. This is where you will find many like-minded people who understand about property investment. You will also need to have a proper legal agreement to do that. I have done many such deals with partners and made infinity returns on my zero dollar investment.

Knowing what to buy, where to buy, how to buy and who to buy from is also very important in property investment.

More method next week

Step 24; How to buy properties with little or no money down?

I will be sharing with you the many methods I used to buy properties with no money down over the next few weeks, one method a week. When I say no money down it does not mean literally no money, it means leveraging on other people's money.

The first method will be leveraging on the bank's money. An example will be a property that I bought in Malaysia. I bought it for Rm860,000 and the bank valuation for the property is Rm1,000,000. The bank is also willing to give me a bank loan of 90% of the valuation amount. In other words, I could get Rm40,000 cash for buying a property.

The key to having such a deal is the ability to buy at below market value. Selling and negotiation skills is very important in such transaction.

More no money down deal next week.

Step 23; Does your government affect your wealth?

The reason why I asked this question is because of the coming election in my beloved country of Singapore. I want to declare that I am not affiliated to any political party in any way and this merely represents my personal opinion based on the results that I have in my country.

My answer to the above question is yes - if you allow them to affect you and no - if you learn to flow with their policies.

When I was broke, I used to blame the government for all my financial problems. One day, while attending a seminar, I learned the distinction of the word "RESPOSIBILITY". From this word I realised that as long as I don't take responsibility and continue to blame, justify and give excuses, I will continue to give away my power to the external world. I also learned "The most important thing is what I say to myself and believe."

From that day onwards I decided to take charge, be responsible for my life and my own actions. I have to admit that it was my own doing that cause my financial downfall. As soon as I changed my beliefs and mindset, I started to take different actions and of course, I got very different results.

Having an academic qualification of only 2 GCE 'O' levels, I can always blame the government for giving all the good jobs to the scholars or I can tell myself that since I cannot get a good job, I may as well create more jobs by being an entrepreneur. I am proud to say that most of my staff are graduates and I am able to create good paying jobs for them.

When I was a bankrupt, I could have easily given the excuse that nobody is going to do business with me because of my financial status. Instead of doing that though,  I took the opportunity of finding real and genuine business partners. I am really blessed to have found many good and genuine friends and business associates during that period of time.

I must thank the government for creating an environment where people like me can flourish. Having turned around from bankrupt to become a multi-millionare without a good academic qualification is proof that we have a fair system of governance. Having said that I would also like to thank the many courages opposition members for having the guts to stand for election to keep the government in check. I am very impressed with Nicole Seah, can see her passion and sincerity. She has got the charisma and heart. Braveheart indeed! My only hope is that everybody is doing it to make the country a better place to live in.

At the end of the day, we should all look at creating our own Wealthfare and not want to depend on the state for welfare. If I can do it, so can you!

Step 22; Your network is your networth

I am very blessed to be at my mentor, Robert Allen's house in San Diego, networking with a group of powerful and successful people.

Why do you need to network?
The reason is because in a network you will find people with Resources, Ideas, Contacts and Expertise. This is where you leverage on each other. In order for you to leverage on others, you will need to let others leverage on you too and the more you can put on the table, the more others will want to network with you. In other words, the more you can give, the more you will receive.

"The Rich network, the Poor just work."
Don't underestimate the power of networking, but before you go out and start networking, you need to have the clarity from this ancient chinese saying; Be near to sucessful people and stay away from negative people.

Yes, networking with the right people is very important. You don't want to network with anyone, do you? I learned that a good place to network is to go to the right place and I love to be at places where people are positive and are keen learners. I usually find these people at paid seminars and the higher the amount they pay the higher the quality of the people. Most of my associates and partners are found in paid seminars.

I don't network at country clubs because, generally, the people there may be rich and successful but they may not be that humble. I also found out that most very rich people are very humble too.

End of the day, you want to network with people with a character that suits you. People that will ask more of you. People that will help take you to the next level.

So start looking for a good place to network.

  

Step 21; Creating your niche

In business, you will have to learn how to create your niche so that you do not have to compete on price. A niche is where you create a product or service that is unique and where there is also a market demand.

Creating a niche is very simple, just use the simple math of addition, subtraction. division and multiplcation.

Addition is where you combine 2 or more features or benefits into one. For example, my iphone has got almost everything inside it. Phone, email, GPS, compass, calculator, games and many other stuffs

Subtraction is where you reduce the size, noise, time or any unwanted stuff like MSG for food or lead for petrol. The iphone also falls under this category because I don't need to carry so many gadgets with me anymore. Reduces my load.

Division is where you divide something and make it smaller so that it becomes more affordable. Example will be sub-dividing an office and let out to small business owners or self employed. You can also subdivide a piece of land and sell it in smaller parcels and make it affordable to more people.

Multiplication is where you multiply your service or product and reach out to more people. Example will be multi level marketing where you TTP, TTP and TTP. Take The Product and Teach The People to Take The Product.

Real estate companies are also very good at multiplication. They charge a fee for training you on how to market real estate and then charges a fee for every commission that you make. This is where the real estate company owners multiply themselves.
There are six types of evergreen businesses that will always have customers and they are; Food, Shelter, Education, Energy, Entertainment and Health.

You can use any of the above two or more combinations to create your niche in business. Are you able to see that there are many businesses using the above concept? If not, be aware, open up your mind and be on the look out.

Next week we will talk about the importance of networking

Step 20; How to make your first million?

$1 x 1,000,000 transactions
$10 x 100,000 transactions
$100 x 10,000 transactions
$1000 x 1,000 transactions
$10,000 x 100 transactions
$100,000 x 10 transactions
$1,000,000 x 1 transaction

The above is a simple chart to show you how to make your first million. You have to know how much are you making per transaction. If you are working for people and paid $5,000 per month, you will need to work for 200 months or about 16 and a half years to make your first million.

One of the fastest way to make your million is to start a business. This is where you leverage on a team and system to help you reach your goals faster. Why? It is better to make 1% out of 100 people's effort than to make 100% from your own effort.

Before you go sack your boss and start your business, may I strongly suggest that you go and educate yourself on how to start a successful business. It is always better to learn from other people's mistakes than your own mistakes.

My company runs a business training program call Entrepreneur Action Program and these are what you will learn;

How to start your business with little or no money.
How to negotiate for free rentals
How to sell anything to anyone, at anytime
How to generate at least 1,000% percent ROI on your marketing dollars
How to lead a successful team and create a money making system

Do call my team at +6562210090 to reserve your seats for a 2 hours FREE seminar

Next week I will share with you a simple concept to create your own niche.

Step 19; Leadership

What is Leadership? To me leadership is the ability to influence. Is leadership important if you want to run a successful business? Of course it is! Why? This is because you will need to inspire, motivate and influence your team to run the system.

I learned from John C Maxwell the 5 levels of leadership

Level 1 - Position
Level 2 - Permission
Level 3 - Production
Level 4 - People Development
Level 5 - Personhood

Position leadership - People follow you because they have to and influence will not extend beyond your line of job description. In the long term, staff turnover will be high and morale will be low.

Permission leadership - People follow you because they want to and will follow you beyond your stated authority. This group of leaders also allow work to be fun. Staff are highly motivated but will be restless in the long term.

Production leadership - People follow you because of the results you brought for the organisation. Your success is sensed by most people  and people like you for what you can do.

People Development - People follow you for what you have done for them. Your commitment will be to grow and develop leaders. Grooming leaders will lead to sustainable growth of people and organisation.

Personhood leadership - People follow you because of who you are and what you represent. You will consistently grow leaders and organisation over years. These type of leaders are larger than life. People like Ghandi, Martin Luther King, Mother Theresa, Lee Kuan Yew and many others.

The next thing that I want to share with you about leadership is the Law of the Lid. What do I mean by Law of the Lid? People will follow you to the level that you are at. People will follow a leader to learn from them and they will most likely leave you when they can't learn anymore from you. This is why as a leader we have to continously upgrade ourselves.

One of the reasons why I decided not to retire is because I love to teach and I love to see my graduates grow and become successful.

Thank you for reading, see you next week.

Step 18; Marketing Skills

Another very important skill that you need to have to build a successful business is Marketing skills. One of the main reason why I lost all my money in my business previously is because I know next to nothing about marketing. I remember placing a 2 page advertisement in the newspaper where I received 2 phone calls and zero sales. It was really a disaster.

By looking at the advertisements placed by companies in the daily newspaper, I can tell which company will do well and which company is losing money. From this information, it can also help me to decide whether to buy their stocks if it is a public listed company. It amazes me to see so many "Enthrowpreneurs" in the market. These are entrepreneurs that are throwing away money with very poor marketing skills.

A good advertisement will have AIDA; Attention, Interest, Desire and a call for Action.

Attention- This is usually the headlines which must be able to grab your attention so that you will want to find out more.

Interest and Desire- This is where you show the readers the benefits of your products and services. It must be able to create a desire where they would want to take an action to find out more about your products or services.

Call for Action- It is amazing to see that some of the advertisement do not have a contact number or email address where you can contact them when you are interested. The call for action is very important because if they could not contact you when they are hot and interested at that point of time, you might lose them forever.

We teach Marketing in an action based and practical way in our Entrepreneur Action Program in Singapore. It will help you to understand marketing better through practical experiences during the program. You will also learn why you need to do test and measure. This is where you test your advertisement and measure your results. This step will help you save a lot of money and increase your revenue. We will also teach you how to pull in more than $10 for every $1 you invest in advertisement.

My advice to you is that you do not start a business without learning how to market your products or services. It can be very, very costly.

Looking forward to seeing you again next week.

Step 17; Selling skills

My apologies for the late posting for this week. Was in Guangzhou, China, and did not know that you can't access to Facebook or Blog.

One of the most important skill that you need to have to be rich is 'selling skills' When I talk about selling, I am not referring to hard selling but rather heart selling. The first step is to find out what your prospect want or need. You can only do that by asking the right questions. Sell only when the prospect has a want or a need that you can provide.

Your job is to solve their problems and not to make them solve your problem. I realised that a lot of sales people sell because they want to make the commissions to pay their bills and therefore make their prospects solve their problems.

Selling is also a numbers game, you can't sell to everyone because if Jesus cannot do it, if Mohammed cannot do it,  if Buddha cannot do it, why do you want to even try? Always remember that not everyone will need or want your products. You just need to go for the numbers and don't be afraid of rejections. Always remember that they are not rejecting you but rather your service or products.

Selling is also required if you are looking for an investor for your idea, convincing an employee to work for you, asking a supplier to give you goods on consignment or on credit terms. Even if you are looking for a job, you will need to sell to your would be employer why they need to hire you.

Whether you like it or not, you are selling everyday, even asking someone to accompany you for dinner or asking your child to take his or her meal. Since you need to sell everyday, may as well be very good at it. I suggest that you polish that skill by reading up or attending some seminars on sales training. I would like to recommend 2 books to you; "How to win friends and influence people" by Dale Carnegie and "Questions are the Answers" by Allan Pease.

See u next week

Step 16; Review and action

It is time to review your goals and ask if you have taken any action towards achieving your goals.No point having all the knowledge and not applying them. Knowledge is not power, applied knowledge is power.

I would like to take this opportunity to ask for your feedback and let me know what would you like to know or learn. If you have any questions, please feel free to email me at jerome.eap@gmail.com please indicate that you are from Living on Wealthfare blog

cheers
Jerome Tan

Step 15; Business skills

Some of the business skills that you need to have are, selling, marketing, networking, team building and system building. If you have these skills, you would be able to succeed even with a mediocre product.

When we talk about selling; it includes selling your idea to investors to fund your business idea, selling to your suppliers to give you goods on consignment or credit, selling to your employees why they must work with you, selling to your loved ones why they have to support you in your new venture. So it's not just about selling to your customers.

Marketing is where you leverage on the media and sell to many via advertisement. Knowing how to advertise is very important. One of the main reason why I failed in my previous business is the lack of this skill. I remember placing a 2 page advertisement and had 2 phone response and zero sale. As you can see, this is a very expensive lesson. I have improved my skills a thousand times since investing in a seminar on marketing by the renown marketing guru, Jay Abraham.

Knowing how and where to network is also very important in business. Going to paid seminars is where I network with people with the same mindset and commitment to succeed in life. This is were I realised that the rich are life long learners and they are humble and open minded to want to learn from people who are more successful than them in different fields. Monkey see, monkey do, just do what the rich do and you will be rich eventually. I tap into their mindset, learn from them, stay positive like them, network with the people that they network with and do what they do. Most of them have the right information to help you to be rich. If they trust you, they will share with you Yes, it is that simple.

Team building is where you can leverage on other people's expertise and let others leverage on your expertise. One of the keys to succeed as a team is TRUST and it takes time to build trust. I am really blessed that I have found a team of people that are committed to our cause and that I can trust. It takes time and many learning experiences before you find a good team.

Once you have the right people, you have to put them in the right seat and build a system around it. Everyone has a role to play in the system. I only do what I am good at and let the rest do what they are good at. As a team we are able to add a lot more value to people and in return, we get paid very well.

We teach all the above skills in our Entrepreneur Action Program in Singapore, if you would like to attend a free preview, you can call my office at 62210090 to register.

See you next week.   

Step 14; 2 Wealth Creators

The 2 Wealth Creators are Business and Investments

If you look at the top 10 richest people in the world, are they employees? Obviously not, they are either in business or investment. Results don't lie! Don't kid yourself that you can be rich working for people. Of course, there are a few rich people working in top management for very big organisations.

If it is so obvious that all the rich people are either in business or investment, why is it that most people want to be rich, yet they still want to keep their job? There are 2 reasons, fear and comfort zone.

Let's talk about FEAR, FEAR actually stands for False Evidence Appearing Real. You see, we have been programmed, when we were in school, not to make mistake and everytime we make a mistake, we get punished or get branded as a failure. But let's face it, all of us make mistakes in life, it is how we deal with the mistakes, learn from it and move on. One of the main reason why people dare not venture into business is because of the many stories they heard about business failure or they may have one or two bad experiences themselves.

One of the reason why I am successful is that I "DARE TO FAIL" (It is also the title of a book written by my friend, Billi Lim) To be honest, I have failed many times in my life, business, investment and even relationships. Did I give up? Obviously not! So how do I overcome failure? I treat it as a learning experience, learn from it and ask myself how can I do it better the next time. To shorten my learning curve, I pay and learn from successful gurus. Learning from them save me a lot of money and time.

From the many businesses that I started and the many that failed, I learned what to do, what not to do, who to work with and who not to work with. With the many experiences that I had, it becomes easier and easier to succeed and making money becomes easier and easier. The simple step is to continue to do what works with the same people and keep repeating it.

Comfort zone is another reason why people continue to have what they have. They are not willing to learn new things or to change their belief system or they doubt what they learned from successful people, especially after a few minor failures. The key here is to participate fully in life, keep learning, keep finding a better way to do things and never give up.

Next week I will talk about the necessary skills that you need to have to run a sucessful business and will share more about investments in later steps

Step 13; 3 buckets

Knowing how to invest the money in your financial freedom jar is very important. I divide my financial freedom money into 3 buckets;

1st bucket - 6 months living expenses,
What do I mean by monthly living expenses? It is the minimum amount that you need to get by in a month for food, accommodation, utilities, family needs etc, etc. If your monthly living expenses is $3,000, then I suggest that you put $18,000 into a savings account that gives you the highest interest rate. I put my money into an Australian term deposit that gives me 5% interest per annum. Why Australia? This is because I believe that Australia is a rich country with an abundance of natural resources and their currency is pretty stable.

This is how I put my money in term deposit. Let's say my 6 months living expenses is $60,000. I will split that into 6 portions and deposit $10,000 into 6 consecutive months and the term period will be for 6 months. With this method, I will have $10,000 liquidity on standby every month. If I don't need the money for that month, I will renew my term deposit for another 6 months. This is to make sure that I will not be penalise for withdrawing before the maturity date.

2nd bucket - Buy & Hold,
For this bucket, I am looking at positive cashflow from my properties and dividend yield from my stocks. When I buy property, I always look at the rental yield first, unlike most people who focus on capital gains.

Most people will buy a property and hope for capital gains over the long term. There are many things to look at when you invest in properties. I suggest that you educate yourself in this area before investing in any property. Our company conducts a seminar call the Property Investment Program, you may wish to call my company at +65-62210090 to register yourself for a free preview to know more about property investment.

As for stocks, I like to buy monopoly stocks that has got few or no competitor, good management team and consistent dividend payouts. Some of the stocks that I bought in Singapore are SMRT, Comfort Delgro, SPH and Suntec Reit, just to name a few. Besides the dividends, I also lend out my stocks thru' CDP for an additional 4% rental yield per annum. My average return is about 18% per annum. Knowing when to buy is also important in stock investment. I usually wait for a crisis before I move in for good stocks that are selling below their intrinsic value.

80% of the money from my FFJ are park in my 2nd bucket

3rd bucket - Momentum
Make sure you fill up the 1st and 2nd buckets before you consider the 3rd bucket. This is where you look for high returns but it does come with high risks. I invest not more than 20% of my FFJ in this bucket. Some of my investments in this bucket include land banking, bird nests farming and some small businesses with friends. I am prepared to lose everything in this bucket and if that happens, it is not going to affect my lifestyle in anyway. However if the investment bare fruits, it is a bonus to me.

Let me share with you that some property investment comes under the momentum bucket, this is because many "uneducated" property investors lose their pants investing in properties. Worst of all, they don't even have the first 2 buckets as insurance. Getting educated makes a big difference.

To me, any investment that promise high and fast returns comes under momentum.

Next week I will talk about the 2 Wealth Creators that you will need to create wealth for yourself.

Step12; 6 Jars

What I do with my income is that I divide it into 6 jars;
Financial Freedom jar - 10%
Education jar- 10%
Long Term Savings for Spending jar- 10%
Play jar - 10%
Charity jar - 5-10%
Expenses - 50 -55%

The first and most important jar that you need to contribute is your Financial Fredom Jar. You ALWAYS put the first 10% ,at least, into your financial freedom jar. I say at least because the more you contribute into your FFJ, the faster you will achieve your financial freedom. I am now contributing more than 50% into my FFJ. This is because my income grow a lot faster than what I spend

Education jar; I have spoke about the importance of education in previous steps and when I talk about education it is always about personal development, business and money making skills. The more money making skills you have, the more ways you can make money.

Long Term Savings for Spending; You may want to set aside 10% savings to buy a car or for a deposit for a house that you want to live in. Don't buy a car if you don't need one, especially for people living in Singapore. I don't own a car in Singapore because it is really not necessary. I have travelled to many countries and I think the transport system in Singapore is one of the best in the world. Good value taxis are everywhere, with air-conditioned buses and clean MRT trains, I am happy with taking public transport in Singapore. I do own a car in Kuala Lumpur, where I live.

Play Jar; Set aside 10% for pampering yourself. like going to the spa, movies or chillout with friends etc, etc. To maximise my play jar, I will use it to have meals with friends and do networking. I enjoy having meals with friends and talk about business. It need not be expensive, can always have it at a nearby coffeeshop or hawker centre. Well different people have different way of pampering themselves, you do it the way that makes you happy.

Charity Jar; "You can never outgive the universe"; "The only thing that you can take away from this world is what you give"; "The more you give, the more you receive" From my experience, the more I give, the more I receive. Very hard to understand initially but after sometime, it just amazes you how the universe works. The people that focus on only taking, will end up with very little. Sorry to say that the majority belong to the taking group, this is why majority of people are poor.

Expenses; do your best to cut down on your expenses and not to spend on things that are unnecessary. Don't buy things just because it is cheap or on sale. "If you buy things that you don't need, you may end up selling things that you need" Any leftover from your expenses should be channel into your FFJ.

I will talk about how I allocate my FFJ next week. In the meantime, I will appreciate if you could give me some feedback for my blog or you may have some questions for me or there is a subject that you may want me to cover. Please give me your comments.

Step 11; Earn more than you spend

Earn more than you spend is so simple and easy to apply but not many people are doing it. Why? because of easy credit and many people are already in debt before they started working. Many already owe the banks or some institutions because of their scholarships. Is there a conspiracy here? Are you being led to work for institutions for life? I let you decide.

I did not have a scholarship loan because I never went to college or university. So how did I get myself into debt? I remember when I was working in the insurance industry, we were encourage to apply for a credit card as soon as we qualify, to buy a car or a house as soon as we have enough for the down payment. In other words, to live it up, catch up with the Jones. I started to spend more than I earn and that's how I got caught in the rat race. I got married, go for my honeymoon, renovate my house, have kids, go for holidays, all on borrowed money. With the high interest that I have to pay, very soon I was overwhelmed by the debts and with the failure of my business venture. I have no choice but to declare bankruptcy

How many of you are able to relate to the above? I know of many people who are in debts and near bankruptcy, I hope you are not one of them. If you are then I urge you to start changing your habits and apply the simple theory of earning more than you spend.

If you are not in the above position, then congratulations. Next week, we will talk above how to allocate your income to grow your wealthfare.

Step 10; Letting go of guilt, resentment and unforgiveness

Most people have the DESIRE to be rich and they even BELIEVE that they can be rich but they don't have the SELF-ACCEPTANCE to be rich. Why? most likely because they are holding on to guilt, resentment and unforgiveness.

Let's face it all of us have ever tell a lie or did something that is not right. Yes? If you don't agree, then you are lying. I must admit that I have done some naugthy things in life too, even now, like showing the middle finger to some obnoxious drivers. Then I say hey, I shouldn't be doing that but the key here is to learn to forgive yourself and let go of the guilt. Sometimes we even resent the other driver for making us do it. This is also call lay blame and if you hold on to it, you will lose your power and continue to feel angry and unhappy throughtout the journey. Worst still, you will attract even more unpleasant things if you continue to hold on to it. Do you agree with me that the person who let go the fastest, is a happier person.

One of our goal in life is to be happy, isn't it? Then why are there so many people who are not willing to let go of their bad experiences in the past? If you have them, let go of them now by acknowledging what had happened, forgive the people that you have resented and release the guilt in you. Don't you feel lighter now?

With these out of the way, we will talk about managing your finance next.     

Step 9; Better Learn, Unlearn and Relearn

Where do you think people get their ego from? It is from their past experiences and past programing.

We have all been programmed or wired in one way or another. We have been influenced by our parents, teachers, friends, government, culture, advertisement and many others. The thing is that we choose to accept what we want to accept, we keep what we want to keep, we believe what we want to believe. There is no right or wrong, just what serve you and what don't. There is no argument here, just look at your results, if they are not serving you well, then you know that you need to change something.

You need to look deep into what you believe in. It is your beliefs that determine your mindset and attitude, which determine your actions and behavior, which will determine your results.

When I say look deep into your beliefs, I really mean look into your subconcious. If you use the term "filthy rich" very often, then subconciously, your beliefs will be that, you will need to be filthy to be rich. With this belief, you will not take the necessary action needed to be rich, even if it is moral, ethical and legal. So never use the term filthy rich again.

Another belief that stop people from becoming successful is about making mistakes. When you were in school, did they reward you or punish you when you make a mistake? It is because they punish you for making mistakes that many people had been programmed not to make mistakes in life. The reason why I am successful is because I made more mistakes than most people and I am not afraid to make mistakes anymore. The reason is because I put into my subconcious mind that "Failures are the seeds of success" "There is no losing experience, only learning experience"

Have I ever loss money in doing business? You bet I have, and many times, but overall with the many learning experiences that I have, I made back even more money, many times more. From the learning experiences, I learned who to work with, who not to work with, who to hire, where to network, how to negotiate, how to sell and many other skills that I acquired along the way.

Have you ever feel uncomfortable talking to strangers? Why? because most of us have been programmed when we were young "Don't talk to strangers" by our parents. Be aware that you are no more a child but an adult and you will need to learn how to socialise network with the right group of people.

The next thing you need to do is to clear the resentments, guilt and unforgiveness in your subconcious. We will talk about that next week

Step 8; The Highest form of Leverage is Education

The highest form of Leverage is Education! If you are not leveraging, you are working way too hard!

Ever wonder why people are not willing to learn or to change? EGO! Let me tell you this; "Keeping your Ego, as a pet, is the most tiring and expensive hobby"

It amazes me why people are not willing to pay for education that can enhance the quality of their lives?? Do you need to get educated? The answer is simple, just ask yourself, are you happy with your current results? If you are not, then stop doing what you have always been doing and start doing something different. It is insanity to be doing the same thing and expecting a different result. Go and learn different skills, different way of looking at things and how to be more creative.

You see, if you know only 4 letters in the alphabets, ABC and D. The number of words you can form from these letters is very limited. It is the same with making money, if the only way you know how to make money is to work and get a salary, then your income is limited. I have at least a hundred ways to make money, that is why my income is unlimited.

We are very blessed to be living in this age because we have so many gurus, teachers and mentors who are willing to share their life's experiences for a small fee of $2,000 to $20,000. I said "small fee" because investing in education is a lot cheaper than learning from your own mistakes. It cost me more than half a million dollars, wasted time and opportunity cost learning from my own experience. "If you think education is expensive, try ignorance."

Together with my business partner, Wendy Kwek, we have invested more than $200,000 each educating ourselves in the area of personal development, finance, property investment, internet marketing, value investing and many others. We have since made more than 100 times return on our investment and it is still growing. We are now making a lot more money than we can spend. This is why I am living on Wealthfare. 

If you want to be rich and happy, do yourself a favour, get rid of your pet EGO. The biggest obstacle to learning is EGO.

Next week we will talk more about the EGO and why it is stopping people from becoming successful.

Step 7; Take personal Responsibility

Take Personal Responsibilty!
Always take personal responsibilty for the results in your life. The good, the bad and the ugly! If you enjoy taking responsibility for the good things that happened in your life, why not the bad and the ugly? I say, enjoy the good and learn from the bad and ugly.

When you start to lay blame on others or give excuses or justify, you are giving your power away. When I went bankrupt, I wanted to blame the government, the economy, my parents, my teachers, my spouse and everybody else. Imagine if I were to do that, today I will still be a very bitter person and stuck in self-pity and powerless because I gave the power to everything external that I can't change.

For things to change, first I must change! So I decided to take personal responsibilty, admit the mistakes that I made and learn from them. My wife left me when I went bankrupt and I don't blame her because she has the right to have a better life. Even after our divorce, I have decided to take care of her by giving her alimony and buy her a house. I am always grateful that she had bore me 3 beautiful kids, Genevieve, Sidney and Kerilyn. By letting go and moving on, I have now found myself a very beautiful, intelligent and understanding wife in Sue and we are having a baby soon.

Always remember this, when one door closes, another door is opened and waiting for you. If you hanged on to the closed door, you will never find the new door.

You see, I can also justify and say that the economy is bad and many people had gone broke, therefore it is ok for me to be broke. Instead of justifying, I took responsibility and admit that I have screwed up because of my ignorance in business and it has got nothing to do with the economy. If it is because of the economy, then why is it that there are people who strive during the downturn? When I admitted my mistakes, I am shooting down my ego and that was when I realised that I have to find mentors and learn from them.

The highest form of Leverage is Education! I will talk about that next week.