If you know what you want out of life, you need to create an environment that will nurture your growth and support you through the realization of your dreams. W. Clement Stone said:

“You are a product of your environment. So choose the environment that will best develop you toward your objective.

Analyze your life in terms of its environment. Are the things around you helping you toward success – or are they holding you back?”

Napoleon Hill said:

“We begin to see, therefore, the importance of selecting our environment with the greatest of care, because environment is the mental feeding ground out of which the food that goes into our minds is extracted.”

The people in your life, the books you read, and the places you go are all important factors in your environment.

The Koi Principle

Remember that the Japanese carp or koi has the natural ability to grow according to the size of its environment. Thus, in a small tank, it usually grows to no more than five to seven centimeters, but if placed in a lake, it can grow to three times that size.

If you have big, important, exciting dreams, you want to be sure to put big people and big brains and big ideas into your environment, and it’s easier than you think.

Who Will You Be in 5 Years?

Charles Jones said:

“You will be the same person in five years as you are today except for the people you meet and the books you read.”

Let’s just focus on these two aspects of your environment for now. But, before we do, consider what Alvin Toffler once said:

“The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn.”

If you’re not ready to learn, unlearn, and relearn, no amount of good books or wise people will have any impact on you.

Meet the Right People

When people who are serious about success approach me for advice, I suggest they meet certain people whom I recommend. Those who do, benefit tremendously.

Your network certainly does determine your net worth.

Great people with great minds can excite, motivate, encourage, challenge, and assist you beyond your greatest expectations. By contributing to their lives first, great people will generously reciprocate, but don’t approach them with your hand out like a beggar.

Read the Right Books

When you have read “Atlas Shrugged” by Ayn Rand, you will want to read all of her books. “Atlas Shrugged” will change your life. Also read

• “Never Eat Alone” by Keith Ferrazzi,
• “Think and Grow Rich” by Napoleon Hill,
• “The E-Myth” by Michael Gerber.

By reading the books of great thinkers, you get to actually think their thoughts. That is a profound revelation for most people.

Engineer Your Environment

Every person, book, Joint Venture, and physical aspect of my personal environment is very carefully selected, and those that no longer work are removed and replaced – fast. I monitor my environment very carefully and consistently. My peace of mind, integrity, and goals are far too important to be compromised.

How about yours? How strict and selective are you about your input, influences, and environment?

Time will tell.

In these turbulent financial times, one sees small signs of panic all over.

But Can You Recognize Your Own Symptoms?

While we’re all aware of the “fight or flight” response to panic, and we recognize the symptoms in others, it is not always easy to see them in yourself. We tend to suppress feelings of panic and deny them, get too busy to acknowledge and deal with them, and in the process start to slip down a slippery slope that includes sometimes irreparable damage to our relationships, health, and financial situation.

Men, especially, want to appear “Macho” and in control, so we tend to cloak panic with aggression and bravado.

A Lotto Desperation

Yesterday, Rika and I sat in a restaurant and watched a succession of men feeding a lotto machine. We were amazed at the tension and desperation we saw in these men. They were gambling precious time and money with extremely low odds of winning anything, yet they probably saw this as their only alternative. Sure, some were just having fun, and some were addicted, but my overall impression was men on the brink of panic.

Men vs. Women

This article tells us why unemployment is hitting men harder than women, and this article tells us that “Unemployment Rate Soars for Older Men with Limited Education”. Women are better equipped to handle stress, and they generally panic less than men do, but we are all vulnerable.

Manipulating the Herd

The herd instinct is much more pronounced in our highly connected society than in past years, and politicians and the media are milking it for all its worth. They know how to manipulate with fear, exaggeration, and spin, and this often leads to mass panic in different degrees. Anyone who believes what politicians, mystics, and the media tells them is living in a dangerous fantasy world.

Scam artists are also very busy tacking advantage of desperate people.

Deadly Panic

Many highly publicized cases of deadly panic occur during massive public events.

• The layout of Mecca was extensively redesigned by Saudi authorities in an attempt to eliminate frequent stampedes, which kill an average of 250 pilgrims every year.
• Football stadiums have seen deadly crowd rushes and stampedes, such as at Hillsborough stadium in Sheffield, England, in 1989. This led to controlled entry gates and stricter rules by the end of the 1980s to regulate seating arrangements.

6 Lifesaving Tips to Keep a Cool Head in Times of Panic

I know what it’s like to feel as though you’re on the verge of panic. From my personal experience, having been exposed to high levels of stress at different times in my 56 years of life, including military combat, business and finances, dangerous situations, fire, marital problems, divorce, and many other things, here are some tips on handling panic:

Tip #1 -Realize Stress Effects Your Perception

Perception is reality. Accept that our perception is never accurate, and that the more stressed we are, the less logical our assumptions, choices, and conclusions.

Realize that you don’t see the whole picture, and that you’re missing a lot of vital information as you develop tunnel vision and see everything through a lens of desperation, scarcity, and limitation.

Tip #2 - “YAHOO!”

Shout, “YAHOO!”

You Always Have Other Options.

The fact that we are not aware of our real options doesn’t mean they don’t exist. Your problem is in your mind, and you need a way to see through the eyes of a rational, intelligent, mature, relaxed, and creative person. As I always say, “You don’t have money problems; you have thinking problems.”

Tip #3 -Discriminate the Advice You Accept

Never take advice from someone who doesn’t already have what you want, or from someone who is more screwed up and stressed than you are. They will drag you further down the slippery slope to panic and loss of control. Taking financial advice from a social worker or teacher, for example, is just plain silly.

Question the motives of people giving you advice, and be especially careful of mysticism – this is a dangerous, irrational, and destructive escape route. Choose your mentors very carefully.

Tip #4 -Get Excellent, Level-Headed Support

It’s hard to cope alone, but help is always available from the right people. When you’re blindfolded, you need to be led by someone who sees the obstacles as well as the exits and solutions until your blindfold can be removed. Things are never as bad as they seem.

Finding a good support group usually means that what you currently have doesn’t work. If everyone around you is panicking, you want to remove yourself from that situation. Pessimists are no help to anyone.

Take note of the people in your life. Are they helping you or hurting you?

Tip #5 -Monitor and Improve your Self-talk

I have found the most tool to stave off panic and maintain a level-headed approach is my self-talk. I have always talked with myself, often aloud, and saying things like:

“This is a piece of cake. I can handle this. So what’s the big deal? What are my logical options? This is no problem for me – a mere hiccup to one of my talents…”

Remember, also, that the questions you ask yourself will determine, to a large extent, where you end up.  Find out more about this concept in my book, Break Free!, coming soon to JVWisdom.

Tip #6 -Is Your Philosophy Helping or Hurting You?

Finally, check your philosophy / world view / religion – it, too, is ether helping you or hurting you, and you have many other options. If a shoe doesn’t fit and gives you blisters, replace it.

DollarMakers is designed to provide financial solutions to any people in any circumstances, as long as they are prepared to learn, work, and persist until they are free.

You probably wonder what has helped you succeed in life, and what has prevented you from succeeding.

Most people blame their environment, circumstances, parents, and others for failure, but mature, intelligent people look in the mirror.

Let me show you the only REAL secret to your past and future successes, and the only TRUE roadblock you ever have, or ever will encounter.

Your Self-image is the Key

Dr. Joyce Brothers said:

“An individual’s self-concept is the core of his personality. It affects every aspect of human behavior: the ability to learn, the capacity to grow and change, the choice of friends, mates, and careers. It is no exaggeration to say that a strong, positive self-image is the best possible preparation for success in life.”

Wow! Read that again five times.

Your self-image is the key to your success and the cause of your failure. Not the systems, the governments, or other people.

You Earn in Direct Proportion to Your Self-Esteem

Self-esteem is the reason why two people in the same business, in the same town, with the same products and services at the same price, selling to the same market, can get very different results.

The reason why one goes bankrupt and the other becomes wealthy is their self-esteem or self-concept – how they feel about themselves and their worth, and what they believe about themselves.

Can You Change?

Here’s the question, though:

1. Can you CHANGE and improve your self esteem?
2. How long with it take?
3. If you change your self-concept, your entire life will change.
4. So how do you do that?

The good news is that there is a rational, effective way to dramatically improve your self-image. I am about to share the recipe with you right here.

Five Simple Steps

Here are Five Simple Steps to creating a great self-concept and ensure your future success:

1. Discipline yourself to honor your commitments. Do exactly what you say you will do, when you said you would do it, in the manner you promised to do it. Never quit – persevere and insist on success. You will admire yourself and start to believe in your abilities.
2. Tell the truth. Don’t try to be tactful, diplomatic, politically correct, and Mr. Nice Guy. Be real, even if people are offended. Live according to your own beliefs and values. You will get to like and respect yourself.
3. Only mix with positive, successful people. Kick the losers, posers, and parasites out of your life. Be like Atlas – shrug them off your back, even if it costs you money in the short term. You will be amazed how good you feel about yourself when you only associate with winners!
4. Make sure all your input (where you go, what you see and listen to, and what information you expose yourself to) is positive and encouraging. See these powerful videos.
5. Get mentored and trained by someone who already has what you want – don’t take advice from people more screwed up than you are.

Follow this recipe, and I’ll see you at the top!

Bob  Carlson writes,

“Not too many years ago, most people did not need retirement plans or help with retirement planning. Retirement lasted only five years on average. Not everyone retired. Those that did retire generally had adequate income from employer pensions and medical expense coverage plus Social Security and Medicare.

All that changed.

• Life expectancies increased, dramatically increasing the length of retirement to 20 years or more.
• Employers reduced or eliminated pensions. Employees save and invest for retirement on their own through 401(k) plans and other accounts.
• Employer-paid retiree medical coverage is greatly reduced, and Medicare raises premiums.

Americans more and more are on their own for retirement and must plan for much longer retirements.

‘Game Changing’ Events that Make Us Re-evaluate

To complicate things, retirement finances have changed and are changing rapidly. Bull markets rapidly turn into bear markets which become financial crises. Investment options change all the time. Taxes, long-term care, medical expense coverage, annuities, life insurance, estate planning, and other aspects of your retirement finances rapidly have innovations and turmoil.

Currently, we are experiencing real ‘game changing’ events that will require everyone to re-evaluate their retirement plans:

• A bear market that wiped out 50% and more of some retirement portfolios in a year.
• Likely tax increases in the next year or two.
• The financial instability of Medicare, likely to lead to means-testing or other major reductions in benefits.
• Questions about the future of insurers that sold life insurance, annuities, and long-term care insurance.
• Low interest rates and dividend reductions that slash the income of retirees.

Where Most Get Their (Poor) Advice

Now there is no shortage of people seeking to be the retirement advisors for tens of millions of Baby Boomers: brokers, financial planners, accountants, insurance agents, mutual fund companies, and more.

Too often these advisers have their own agendas or are so busy marketing and managing their businesses that they do not keep up with the latest news and trends. Cookie cutter approaches and rules-of-thumb dominate too much financial advice. Personal needs, situations, and desires can take a back seat or be pushed out of the vehicle.

Tackling It On Your Own

But if you attempt to tackle retirement planning on your own, you can easily become confused and overwhelmed by the mountain of advice available to you.

Type the search term ‘retirement planning’ into Google and it returns about 13.5 million hits. Type in ‘IRA’ and it returns almost 50 million hits! And most of these hits are for websites that simply want to sell you a particular product, or contain information that’s out of date.”

I Agree Wholeheartedly.

…And those “Advisers” are all asking you spend MORE money, take more risks, and trust them, so that they can earn bigger commissions on your risk!

Surely you’re tired of being ripped off?

Here’s My SOLUTION:

How about creating more income - residual income from multiple sources - with no cost, risk, or selling, no investment, and little time, regardless of your financial predicament, age, or background? That’s exactly what DollarMakers offers you.

Have a look at our website -lots of free stuff, information, and help. No obligation. No spam.

There’s even an e-book on how to retire in one year.  That’s right.  You heard me correctly.  ONE YEAR.

What have you got to lose? It’s not too late to turn your autumn years of scarcity and fear into the best years of your life.

This fall, my daughter, Sacha, took me horse riding in beautiful Langley, British Columbia.

My horse’s name was Drifter, and when we trotted up to a lane that led alongside a large field, the stables owner warned me that, as soon as we cantered or galloped, Drifter would… drift.

She said he would veer right into the field, and that he always canters at an angle – side on.

She said they had found that the easiest way to curb his drifting away from the beaten track was to rein him in on the left, while giving him some heel on his right side.

Sure enough, as soon as we started cantering and picked up speed, Drifter started drifting quickly away from the rest of the horses towards the center of the field, and, as predicted, a firm left rein and some good, solid kicks on his right side brought him back into the fold.

Frankly, I would have liked to have given him the freedom to break into a gallop across the field, but one has to stick to the rules.

We had a wonderful morning, and look forward to another outride soon. (I still bounce when we canter, but that hasn’t changed since I first rode at the age of ten, so I guess I’ll always be a “bouncer”.)

Are You an Unconscious “Drifter”?

Many people drift away from their goals, veer off target, get sidetracked, and don’t know how to get back on track.

Now drifting away from the pack is a great thing if the pack is heading in the wrong direction, and we know that the seething herd usually is heading the wrong way, but if you’re working with winners and you’re part of a winning team, here are a few pointers:

1. A strong, successful team will be aware when you drift off course, and they will bring it to your attention.
2. When you’re moving fast, you need to take more drastic, focused action than if you’re ambling along. I had to be strong with Drifter, not whisper sweet nothings in her furry ear.
3. Be aware of where you’re headed, where the rest of your team is, and keep perspective. Horses don’t have a reverse gear. And don’t spend the rest of the ride apologizing and beating yourself up; just don’t repeat the mistake, and if you find yourself drifting again, correct fast. (Like when you’re scuba diving: “equalize early and often.”)
4. Take advice from people who are experienced in dealing with your challenge. Drifter’s owner knew and understood both the challenge and the remedy, and she had the solution for me. Jim Stoval said:

“Never take advice from anyone who doesn’t already have what you want.”

By the same token, when you see that you’ve linked up with a bunch of losers, find yourself a winning horse that drifts easily, and gallop as fast as you can away from them.

The most lucrative Joint Venture one can engage in usually involves a Center of Influence.

• This is a person who has the respect, admiration, trust, cooperation, and attention of a large group of people with whom he or she regularly communicates.
• This database of people is strongly inclined to follow the directions, instruction, advice, and suggestions of their leader, and they often do so blindly, as do most sheep.

And herein lies the challenge:

There are some dishonest and psychopathic centers of influence that misuse and abuse their power and their people, selling their loyal followers pigs in pokes, and taking advantage of their position of power to the disadvantage of their flock. One wants to identify and avoid these centers of influence like the plague.

You will be judged by your associations and the company you keep, and aligning yourself with con artists is financially tempting, but is as unwise as eating chocolate cake doused in strychnine.

The Most Valuable Activity of Any JV Broker

Seek out the honest and sincere centers of influence.

I would rather spend $2,000 working on a relationship with one genuine center of influence who has integrity, than reach hundreds of individuals who are not centers of influence. Those who have successfully Joint Ventured with good centers of influence know how valuable those relationships are. This is BY FAR the most valuable activity of any JV Broker: finding and pitching centers of influence.

7 Pointers for Gaining Top Notch Associates

Here are seven pointers that you would do well to be aware of:

#1 - Not everyone who has a large database is a center of influence.

There are characters lurking on the Internet who have plagiarized lots of information and built large opt-in databases under false pretenses – those databases are usually low quality, and your hit rate and conversion rate will be very low, while those you do convert will be low quality, too.

You want a high quality relationship between the center of influence and his or her people, and a high quality person in the database. Quality is more important than quantity.

#2 - Centers of influence can lose their credibility…

…with their flock as the products, services and investments they sold their followers prove to be scams at worst, and empty promises at best. The chickens come home, as it were, to roost.

Be on top of things and be current in your information about your target centers of influence. Things change, and there are a lot of posers and has-beens out there. Some centers of influence are on their way out.

#3 - All centers of influence are busy

…and what we hate more than anything else is an MLM type that sells lotions, potions, swill, and pills, snake oil and weight loss products, magic drinks, and overpriced vitamins and placebo effect products.

Realize that JV’s that involve the aforementioned and start-ups, unproven, miracle investments, gold mines in far-away places, and property/real estate “investments” in volatile, unstable third world countries are not JV’s most intelligent and honest centers of influence will even consider. We hear a lot of hype, and we have “BS Detectors”.

#4 - Don’t be intimidated by a center of influence.

They all want more money, and they all realize they can leverage their database. And they’re all looking for good, solid, lucrative, and viable JV’s that don’t involve cost, risk, or time.

#5 - Your Presentation:

Look, act, groom yourself, dress, and present yourself at least at the same level of professionalism as your prospect.

Showing up badly dressed, unshaven, covered in cat hair, answering your cell phone in the meeting, surreptitiously  glancing at your Blackberry or cell phone every few minutes (usually the sign of a lack of discipline and/or desperation), being unprepared, or smelling of tobacco, will simply irritate your prospect and end the meeting before it begins. And if you’re overdressed (glitzy, embroidered French cuffs, bling, big mouth, loud, ostentatious, aggressive and egotistical), you simply reveal that you’re intimidated, nouveau riche, or stupid. (Or all three.)

Be demure, professional, high quality, self confident, relaxed, and focused.

#6 - Your Offer and Approach:

Your offer has to be sufficiently financially rewarding to get the avid attention of your prospect.

• Get it in writing.  Click here for information about writing up an MOU, otherwise known as Memorandum of Understanding.
• Run it by your lawyer. I use Pre-Paid Legal and save a fortune on lawyers.
• Be very specific.
• Be concise and to the point, and remember that you have little time and only one opportunity to make a good impression. Talk about the bottom line and the time it will take to deliver the profit.
• Also mention who will control the money. This can easily be a deal breaker.
• Do your homework and position yourself.

I will personally not even consider doing a JV with someone who is not a Member of DollarMakers.

#7 - This is a JV between equals.

…and you’re not a sales person or employee, so don’t act like one.

Be prepared to walk away from the deal. No center of influence wants to deal with someone who is in financial distress or under pressure to make money.

By seeking out solid, professional, and honest JV partners, you build your financial future on a firm foundation. Be selective, patient, and focused, and the sky’s the limit when dealing with centers of influence. DollarMakers is built on JV’s with good people.

• Do You Want Viral Growth for Your Business?
• How About Viral Wealth?

An epidemic, a pandemic – Mexican Swine Flu, Facebook, Twitter – have you considered that all viral growth is based on piggybacking, on Host/Parasite relationships, and on leverage? This is the natural way of fast growth.

Maintaining Potency

Drop some food coloring into a glass of water and stir it – it spreads, but it gets diluted. However, when properly created, viral growth retains the strength of the seed. You can grow your business and create viral wealth fast through Joint Ventures.

Creating Viral Wealth Fast Through Joint Ventures

When you realize that you can use existing resources, distribution systems, and relationships upon which to piggyback your business and wealth, all barriers in respect of time, cost, and risk fall away.

The Mexican Swine Flu uses people, airplanes, subways, and all manner of means to spread and grow. Use this model.

Are you Operating Like a Solider or a General?

Most entrepreneurs are like soldiers – they carry heavy packs and guns, slide around in mud, get shot, go without sleep and food, and are continually at risk.

Joint Venture experts are like generals – they sip tea in comfort while their batman polishes their boots. They use strategy, leverage, delegation, and their brains. They are like chess players.

Real Joint Venture Brokers:

• Don’t spend money, except in return for results.
• Seldom take risks or spend a lot of time making money.
• Focus on relationships, deals, leverage, strategy, and profit.
• Are not egotistically involved in their business – they are objective and rational. They are like Poker players.

You are not your business!

Your business is merely a vehicle for creating profit, not an extension of your body or personality. You are not your business. When you get your ego out of the way, all sorts of options magically arise.

What You Need is Leverage

Every resource you need is easily and freely available through Joint Ventures. You don’t need salespeople, expensive and risky advertising, or so called “Consultants” and “Coaches”. What you need is the understanding of leverage.

• A franchisee is someone who has bought a job and answers to a boss (the franchiser.)
• A Network Marketer has all his eggs in one basket – the company.
• Most entrepreneurs are really just self-employed salespeople. All sell their time like paid slaves, take risks, and limit their income potential by the nature of their business.
• Joint Venture Brokers create multiple sources of residual income in multiple industries with no selling, cost, limitations, risk, or overhead, and little time.

If you own a small business, realize five things:

1. It’s all about PROFIT, not sales, ego, that shiny, leased car, or reputation.
2. You should only pay for RESULTS, not promises, work, activity, show, and obligation.
3. You don’t need to buy and rent stuff that you can borrow.
4. You can use OTHER PEOPLE’S resources, money, credit, reputation, employees, premises, tools, equipment, distribution, sales teams, time, experience, and skills.
5. The real profit is in the BACK END, your DATABASE, and your MIND.

You have to get in the Pool if You Want to Swim

I agree with Ben Franklin, who said:

“Empty your purse into your mind, and your mind will fill your purse.”

What he left out, though, was WORK.

Initially, to learn how to use Joint Ventures to grow virally and create viral wealth, you have to pay to for the training and support, but you also have to work and practice; you don’t learn to swim while sitting in a seat at a seminar or reading a book.

Most “seminar junkies” are losers who are trying to hide from reality and accountability. You have to get in the water to learn how to swim, and it takes time to learn a new skill set. But once you get it, you will never look back.

Advice from Those Who Walk Their Talk

The key here is to learn from people who actually practice what they preach.

• If I spent a fortune on advertising, could I teach you how to grow a real, international business that makes real money with no cost or risk? I think not.
• If I employed people, could I teach you how to run a lucrative JV brokerage with no overhead? No.

Don’t take advice from anyone who doesn’t already have what you want, and never take advice from people who are more screwed up than you are.

DollarMakers is the world leader in Joint Venture training and support for individuals, professionals, and the owners of small and medium-sized businesses. We have a 22-year track record. We walk our talk. We fire Members who don’t abide by our Code of Business Ethics. We grow our own business virally and create viral wealth, and so can you.

Robert Kiyosaki (author of Rich Dad, Poor Dad):

“Being rich is when your passive income is greater than your expenses.”

Robin J. Elliott:

“Being rich is earning the freedom to buy what you want, do what you want, go where you want, when you want, and live according to your own beliefs and values.”

DollarMakers is dedicated to providing YOU with the tools and support to become rich.

Remember what Jim Stoval said:

“Only take advice from someone who already has what you want.”

We live what we teach. You don’t have to participate in this recession. Freedom is at hand, if you really want it.