After we left the army at the end of our conscription, he didn’t know what to do with himself, so he became a psychiatric nurse. I remembered it well – we use to have drunken parties at his apartment on the very grounds of the mental institution, and anyone who observed our intoxicated, wild antics have assumed we were patients.

Then he married a female nurse who turned out to be gay. Then he became a medical sales representative and did very well.

Getting Rich is Akin to Getting Physically Fit

While Kobus was a sales rep, he started a plastics company in his garage, making desktop penholders to sell to the doctors along with the drugs, then he manufactures basins and bathtubs, and then bought a women’s clothing store, and so on. We remained good friends and played squash and sailed together, and here we were reminiscing.

I asked him, “Koebs, when did you become a millionaire? It must have been a very exciting day for you!”

And here was his answer: “Rob, I didn’t even realize it when I became a millionaire – it sort of creeps up on you – money starts flowing naturally when you’re in the right head space.”

I later experienced the same thing, but the way he described the process of getting rich is akin to getting physically fit. Like the day when you suddenly realize you have just pedaled three kilometers without even realizing it, because you were so busy thinking about other things.

In the beginning, every turn of the pedal is a concerted effort, tiring, and even exhausting. But if you persevere, one day you realize that you’re finally fit.

Are You A Quitter?

Ninety-seven percent of people quit so easily that it would be laughable if it wasn’t so sad. There is such a dearth of self-respect, self-discipline, and self-esteem out there that it is frightening.

People seem to have got to a point where they have even less shame than manners. I would be mortified if I had to cancel a meeting at the last minute or show up late for an appointment, but most people hardly blink.

Winners are tough on themselves, and they will endure pain, blisters, rejection, and difficulty without complaining or making excuses, UNTIL they succeed.

Not As Scary as it Seems

One night, Kobus and I were camping in the bush after leaving the army. I had my dad’s .38 special snub-nosed revolver, and he was armed with a hunting knife. In the middle of the night, we heard someone approaching our tent.

I cocked the revolver, Kobus unsheathed his knife, and we sprang out of the tent to confront our attacker, who turned out to be a large frog that was hopping around and bumping our cooking utensils.

Often, the threats we perceive in business are not close to as scary and dangerous as we think they might be. There are scarier things out there.

The Measure of A Great Man

Kobus died a few years back, but I have wonderful memories of him as a man of character and substance – a real man, whether we were fighting for our lives in Angola in the army, doing business, or having fun. He was a man of his word who had my back, and men like him are few and far between.

Warning Signals

Some people are in a small boat without oars, accelerating towards the edge of a roaring waterfall, and they’re laughing it up, smoking their filthy cigarettes, and slapping each other on the back. Blissfully unaware.

Others amongst us are starting to realize that that roaring sound isn’t your mother-in-law applauding you for mowing the lawn and paying for her latest cruise.

We see the writing on the wall, and it’s not Shakespearian poetry.

Red lights are flashing wildly, sirens are screaming, and the warnings are all around us.

Beliefs and Philosophy

Your life, the people you mix with, your choices, and the circumstances that you have created are a clear and honest indication of your present beliefs and philosophy.

Change Starts Within

And it starts with a personal check-up from the neck up, a frank confrontation that asks,

“Is what I believe helping me or hurting me?”

Is it, indeed, time to realize that, if you believed what Robert Kiyosaki, Donald Trump, Ayn Rand and Napoleon Hill believed, your life would be a lot happier and you would have a lot of money? If you do, there’s a way to break free from where you are and change the direction of your life.

Five Simple Steps:

1. Get the information you need from people who already have what you want. Stop listening to people who are even more screwed up than you are, like teachers, bankers, “consultants and coaches”, and academics.
2. Remove the losers, socialists, posers, and parasites from your life, even if they are family or business associates – you can’t afford them, and you don’t need them.
3. Find truly successful people to train you, guide you, mentor you, and confront your illusions and delusions. Take their advice and act on it. Adopt their philosophies.
4. Create an action plan with specific, measurable, time-related steps.
5. Work like crazy 24/7/365, and do whatever it takes UNTIL you are free from your chains and happy, healthy, and successful.

That’s what DollarMakers was created for. We are not politically correct, mediocre, compromising, or socialist. I tell it like it is, since the opinions of losers is of no interest or concern to me. And I lead by example.

Too many times, we assume that we’re free of negative, limiting conditioning. Watch this video to see how your values determine why one gets rich or not.

Our beliefs about money and value and our self-esteem regulate and control our choices and the results we get. When our philosophy, values, beliefs, and priorities are properly aligned to wealth and success, everything changes.

If we:

• Love what we do,
• Believe in what we do,
• When we are grateful for what we do and have,

we remove limitations from our lives.

Take Inventory

Guilt, resentment, and fear will hobble even the most intelligent, hard-working people. Take inventory. Reassess what you value. Look at your real priorities.

• What do you spend your time and energy on?

Examine what you believe, and you will find out why you’re not getting rich. We always have the energy and time for things that are highest on our values. Money flows to your values.

• Where are you most disciplined, organized, and focused?
• What do you think about and read about most?
• What do you secretly wish for? Why? Why is it a secret?
• What is your internal dialogue?
• Where do you spend your time?
• What do you talk about?
• What do you emotionally react to?
• Those are your highest values – that’s what you are dedicated to. Is it making you rich?

We’ve all been conditioned and continue to be conditioned by the people in our lives and the information we’re exposed to. We all have values hierarchies or priorities, and the good news is that these can be adjusted, reinterpreted, and reprioritized. It’s all about interpretation and perception.

• How do you define “wealth”?
• What do think “rich” means?

Living a Life Congruent with Money

For example, if your highest priority is your kids, you might presently prioritize spending time with your children over working on your business, so you neglect your business or apply less passion to it, than, for example, building kits with your kids.

By understanding that your business can provide you with the passive income, money, and time for a better quality of life for your children, plus their education, security, and peace of mind, you can increase the priority of your business and see more “purpose” in it.

The meaning that we apply to our different options determines how we value them. By linking your priorities to the right activities and discipline, you can effect the changes you want.

Your Feelings About Money

1. How do you actually feel about money?
2. Do you secretly believe that rich people are dishonest, that money is the root of evil, or that money is a “necessary evil”?
3. Do you feel guilty about having money?
4. Do you resent others who have more than you do?
5. Do you feel bad when you have money while others don’t?
6. Does that cause you to subconsciously sabotage your own success?
7. Is your philosophy one of collectivism, or mysticism and superstition, as opposed to capitalism?
8. Do you feel you don’t deserve to be rich because of your past “sins” or bad choices?
9. Do you feel responsible for the choices that others make? Do you have low self-esteem?

Getting in touch with what you really want and believe is sometimes daunting and threatening, however confronting our true values is essential if we want to change our circumstances.

Empowering Your Beliefs

Removing the source or root of bad beliefs, replacing disempowering beliefs with good ones, and taking the time to think through this stuff, is easiest when you surround yourself with the right people and expose your mind to the right information.

In order to break free of these limiting beliefs and arrange a mindset that makes it possible to reinterpret your values priorities, I suggest you read Ayn Rand’s “Atlas Shrugged”, which I guarantee will change you life if you are serious about financial freedom.

They say seventy percent of Americans are one paycheck away from bankruptcy. Actually, I think the number is much higher.

How to get out of debt?

1. First, what do most people do? They focus on the debt. It’s like a huge depression magnet. How happy, courageous, enthusiastic, creative, and innovative can one be when focusing on your biggest problem?
2. They associate with other people who are also in debt. Crazy! That just perpetuates the situation!
3. They seek silly, quick-fix solutions, like network marketing (it works, but it takes years) and risky schemes that cost a lot to get involved with. Remember, only take advice from someone who already has what you want, and that the biggest scammers are found running seminars and behind pulpits.

Someone once said that if you know what 97% of people are doing and you just consistently do the opposite, you can’t help succeeding in life. That’s because most people are losers. That’s a proven statistic; 97% of people will never get rich. So you have to go with the 3% if you want financial freedom.

My real life, tough love, unapologetic recipe for getting out of debt:

1.  Stop Unnecessary Spending.

Stop spending money you don’t have on things you don’t need to impress people who don’t care.

• You don’t NEED to lease the latest, shiny new car.
• You don’t need to eat out in restaurants all the time.
• You don’t need to belong to service clubs and networking clubs if they’re not making you money, and factor in all your costs – your time, gas, meals, parking, etc.
• You don’t need a Blackberry – I seldom use my old cell phone, and I do just fine.

Even if you’re the “President”, resign right now. Get real, and get over your ego and your need for acceptance. If you’re a dirty little smoker, it’s costing you at least $300 per month, offending people who don’t like stinking of foul tobacco, and telling everyone you’re a loser. Stop it. Winners don’t smoke. If I’m offending you, I don’t care.

2.  Flock with Winners.

Surround yourself with winners who have money. Cut the losers, whiners, and parasites in your life loose – NOW. That’s around 97% of people.

3.  Improve Your Focus.

Focus on profits, not sales, awards, or titles. You may be a Double Diamond Executive Champion in your network marketing company, but if you’re only earning $1,000 per month from it, you’re delusional. If you’re a business owner, moving your focus from sales to profits is a major shift in focus. Fire any employee who isn’t profitable, even if it’s a relative. You’re not a socialist. If your business isn’t working, scrap it. You’ll have to get tough if you want to get rich.

4.  Take Responsibility.

Stop making excuses and take full responsibility for your financial future. You have to adapt to your circumstances and stop blaming them. Change your sails and use the wind to propel you towards your goals. Your present life and financial status is a mirror of your choices and thoughts. YOU created it.

The past is irrelevant, so stop talking about it. Nobody cares how successful you say you were in the past. You can’t drive to the bank looking in the rear-view mirror. Depend only on yourself, and decide that you will reach your goal of financial freedom no matter what it takes or how long it takes – no turning back – total commitment. 24/7/365.

Move from being a worrier to a warrior, from victim to victor. You can be popular of you can be rich. Decide what is most important to you. If you want both, your achievements will be short-lived and mediocre at best.

5.  Find a Truly Successful Mentor.

Find a mentor with money and without a hidden motive. That disqualifies 99% of “coaches” and “consultants” and all bank managers and “Financial Planners”. Take his or her advice, and don’t second-guess them, or they will cut you loose. They will watch you, and if you’re not consistently taking action and applying their advice, you will suddenly find it hard to get hold of them. Atlas will shrug. Your Mentor will provide you with a SYSTEM for making money, and you have to stick with it UNTIL it works.

My Motto

Remember this – it is my motto for life, from Paul J. Meyer:

“Whatever you vividly imagine, ardently desire, sincerely believe, and enthusiastically act upon, must inevitably come to pass.”

Winners NEVER quit.

That’s it. Simple. The best system I have found to create financial freedom for anyone, regardless of their age, circumstances, background, education, or experience, and that can allow them to retire in one year with more residual income per month than they need to live on, is Joint Ventures.

DollarMakers is designed to help you and mentor you to this goal without risk, and you can do it part-time. We have a 23-year track record, and we practice what we preach. Get the fantastic Joint Venture Coupon Strategy tool for free now. That’s a good place for you to start.

Instead of mindlessly intoning, “I’m happy”, how about asking yourself,

1. WHY am I happy?
2. What have I got to be happy about?
3. What’s great about my life?
4. How can I be happier?
5. What can I do to make myself even happier? What specific steps can I take?

That will result in goals, and when you write them down and create an action plan, you can affirm your action plan.

This will in turn program your Reticular Activating System, which is like your mental GPS, and it will work tirelessly and subconsciously to help you notice and find ways to make your goals happen. Great leverage! That’s why you notice every new Lexus when you’ve just bought one.

How You Can Apply This Strategy

If you repeat, “I’m happy” and then interrupt yourself to ask, “Why am I happy?” you might find yourself answering, “I’m not happy – I am decidedly glum.”

• Well, then you ask, “What do I have to do to BECOME happy?” It’s profound in its simplicity – it leads to positive, constructive action.
• “What is making me unhappy?” Find the root cause and remove or adjust it.

Your Input Effects You

Have a good look at your input and its effect on your state of mind, aspirations, expectations, choices, and results. Every choice, word, and thought is either taking you towards your goals or away from your goals.

1. What are you reading, watching, and listening to?
2. Whom are you mixing with?
3. What kind of exercise, diet, and environment is affecting your progress?

Managing Your Mind

What you think about comes about. What you focus on will grow. Managing your mind with questions and controlling your input makes sense if you want to fast-track your success. Written, specific, time-related, measurable goals will make your Reticular Activating System work overtime for you, even while you’re asleep. It’s the most powerful weapon you have – might as well use it for good.

Audit Your Inner Resources

Just as professional Joint Venture Brokers use Resource Audits, you might want to audit yourself sometime. “On a scale of one to ten, how happy am I? Why? What needs to change for me to be happier? How healthy? How rich?”

Evaluate your relationships, your present status – take a good, hard look in the mirror. It’s not easy; I sometimes get viciously verbally attacked (usually in writing by the passive aggressive, anal retentive types) when I say things at my seminars that forces people to see themselves in the mirror of their minds. They hate what they see, so they “break the mirror” by attacking me.

Interpreting Your Circumstances

The way we interpret our circumstances and experiences goes a long way to determining how successful we will be. The meaning you choose to give it is the meaning it will have for you.

When a woman told Churchill he was drunk, he responded, “Madam, tomorrow morning, I will be sober, but you will still be ugly.”

Glenn Beck, a true political prophet, is being violently attacked and threatened by people whom he’s courageously exposing in the media as frauds and weasels. He had his friend, a psychiatrist, join him on his TV show to discuss how one should handle these attacks. His friend illustrated how drug addicts refuse to admit they have a problem and attack you for suggesting they do – a great illustration.

Philosophy: Your Best Leverage

The best mental leverage of all is your beliefs and your philosophy – that is what guides you every second of your life. Your beliefs, world view, and philosophy is either hurting or helping you, so why not choose one that works for you?

• Discard outdated, demeaning beliefs, and watch your life soar to new heights of success.
• I highly recommend you read “Atlas Shrugged” by Ayn Rand – it has changed many lives, including mine.

One is faced with a buffet of belief choices – choose right. As developmental psychologist Gail Sheehy wrote years ago in her groundbreaking book, “Passages”, it’s normal and healthy to change your values and beliefs as you go through life, instead of being stuck in the poisonous beliefs some of our parents, preaches and teachers imposed on us – talk about child abuse!

Your most valuable asset in life is your mind.

Buddha said, “Thoughts give joy when they speak or act. Joy follows them like a shadow that never leaves them.”

Control your mind, and you control your life.

Napoleon Hill taught us, “Whatever the mind of man can believe and conceive, it can achieve.”

Your circumstances are a clear reflection of your philosophy and thoughts. Have fun taking back control of your mind and your future – be free!