We’ve been taught that if we just persevere and persist, we will ultimately win.

Like the man who is told there is a million dollars behind a thick brick wall, and he is given a small chisel to get to it. His hands bleed and he persists day and night, breaking a way through the wall.

He seldom sleeps, never quits, works as hard as he can, denies himself rest and entertainment. He persists until finally, after months of backbreaking work, he gets through the wall, only to find that he was lied to – there is no money there.

Persistence Works When

Before you start on a mammoth task, make sure there is money behind the wall. Do your due diligence.

But when you are convinced that you’re on the right track, that your goal is legitimate, and that it’s up to you to achieve it, persistence is the way to get there.

It’s not about intelligence or who you know or some silly college degree – the hallmark of champions is persistence. The only time it doesn’t work is when the goal is wrong or you quit.

Persistence separates the men from the boys, the talkers from the champions.

Motivation and Support From Family

Cordell Parvin writes in his blog, “Last year I had the chance to see Terry Fator, who was performing at a resort in Hilton Head. He had just won the America’s Got Talent television show. Fator, a ventriloquist, had labored for many years here in Dallas.

According to one report, in May 2007, before appearing on America’s Got Talent, Fator was performing at a fair near Houston, Texas and only one 12 year-old boy was in the audience.

Discouraged, Fator contemplated pursuing another career, but his family encouraged him to hang in there.

Fator says that he never dreamed he would actually win. After winning, opportunities arose. As you may be aware from the news, this year Terry Fator signed a five year $100 million deal to perform nightly at The Mirage Casino and Resort in Las Vegas.”

Your Greatest Asset is Persistence When?

When you’re using the right information and you’re aligned with the right people, and when your goal is legitimate and real, your greatest asset is persistence.

When you persist, you will experience resistance and attacks for the losers of the world. The tall trees catch the wind. Ask Fox News. Ask Microsoft and Wal-Mart. Ask Churchill and Patton.

Losers hate winners. Envy, resentment, jealousy, and fear of being exposed will cause others to try to undermine you, but as long as you persist, you will win.

“The heights by great men reached and kept were not attained by sudden flight, but they, while their companions slept, were toiling upward in the night” – remember that.

And Then There Are Warriors

In 23 years of business, I have consistently found that the big talkers with the big egos seldom achieve anything. They substitute hot air for results, and one by one people see through their bluster and posing, until they settle for mediocrity and servitude, along with the other weak people who never amount to anything.

Warriors:

1. Don’t always talk a lot, but they take massive, persistent, audacious, fearless action.
2. Answer to themselves.
3. Take full responsibility for their commitments.
4. Never even consider the option of quitting.

When you’re on the right track, persistence and consistency will guarantee your success.

A Proven Success Recipe

Having said that, let me ask you this: If you knew, without a doubt, that if you were to work hard consistently and persist for just one year, following a proven success recipe, you would be able to retire with more residual / passive monthly income than you needed to live on comfortably, would you go for it? That’s exactly what we offer at DollarMakers.

Years ago, I was chopping wood for a barbeque. I wore sandals, and stupidly supported the wood with my foot.

Bang!

I chopped right into the tip of my front toe. The only thing that prevented me from cleaving the entire toe in half and limping for the rest of my life was my sandal.

Idiot.

At the emergency room, they injected directly into the quarter-inch wound before sewing it up. Ouch!

I no longer chop in the direction of my feet.

A New Respect Gained

I was preparing for a camping trip to Ponta Do Ouro in Mozambique in the summer of 1972. (Don’t go there now, unless you like the idea of landmines – you might lose more than a toe…) As I packed my VW minibus camper, I carried my snub-nosed .38 Astra Special revolver on a sleeping cushion. As I stepped up into the back door, the loaded gun slipped off the pillow, hit the bus’s floor, and went off.

Since the windows and other doors were closed and a bullet was definitely fired, it can only have passed between me and the inside of the one door – a very small space – a close miss, if ever there was one.

Stupid.

I learned an important lesson and gained a renewed respect for guns.

Limit Risk and Costs

I have met more conmen, shysters, and outright thieves in the past twelve years than I ever thought possible.

And with governments fast going the way of outright socialism and banks and the taxman collaborating to put the squeeze on business owners, we live in an increasingly  dangerous business world. It’s time to grow up and realize that we are at risk, and that we need to limit our risk.

Avoid it All Together

When I tell people to do business with no cost and no risk, I mean it.

I know a fellow with a giant ego and a small IQ who regularly sought to differ with me on this point. I have seen him lose a lot of money, since he doesn’t understand how to avoid risk and cost. If he did, he wouldn’t lose so much money in his harebrained schemes, or work with thieves.

Knowing how business works, and understanding the odds, the risks, and the fact that there are a few dishonest people around, makes it necessary, if one wishes to get rich, to avoid risk and costs.

It’s Easier Than it Seems

1. Use leverage and existing resources instead of paying for new ones. Work strategically and don’t rely on any one source of income.
2. Pay for results, not promises.
3. Be VERY careful whom you associate / do business with. Remember that people can change for the worst – easily and quickly, so be prepared for that.
4. When you smell a rat, RUN. Cut bait. Delete. Immediately.
5. Test people in many ways to make sure they are still loyal and honest. Be a detective.
6. Don’t disclose the identities of your Joint Venture partners.
7. Triangulate deals – don’t sell your own products and services.
8. Align yourself with people who share your philosophy – don’t link up with mystics, socialists, environmentalists, or reverse racists.
9. Don’t trust government or work with government or their agents.
10. Operate with no overhead – lean and mean. Expect the best and prepare for the worst. Spread your income and diversify.

Joint Ventures allow one to operate as above, and the older and wiser I get, the more I appreciate the power and sophistication offered by the Joint Venture systems I use.

If you’re carrying a gun, make sure it’s not pointed at you.

Ayn Rand wrote,

“All work is an act of philosophy.”

For innovators, produces, and creators, our work is our lives – our businesses are simply an extension off our philosophies and values.

We take our work very seriously, and we take full responsibility for being the best we can be. We don’t do it for other people – we do it for ourselves.

A writer must write, a painter has to paint, and a dancer is compelled to dance, since what they do is an expression of their minds. Entrepreneurs are also artists. Musicians create symphonies; business owners create businesses.

Hard Workers

Some people work hard pumping water in the hot sun, filling buckets with it, and carrying it to another location, where they sell it to their customers.

They work too hard, they sell their time, they have very limited potential, and they are terrified of their competition. They are, essentially, controlled by their customers.

These are: the self-employed, broke salespeople / laborers who call themselves entrepreneurs.

Real Entrepreneurs

This past week we enjoyed a wonderful Alaskan Cruise. High end, high class, high standards. Ran like clockwork, every detail attended to.

One night, a large section of the crew, including officers, chefs, and people representing every department, showed up on the stage in the theater at the end of one of the performances. They sang, and it was great. The entertainment manager stated at the end of the event,

“We represent many countries and creeds. See how we can all work together in perfect harmony, regardless of our backgrounds, cultures, religions, or education? We have a lot to teach the world.”

They then proceeded to sing, “We are the world.” Very sweet, but not very accurate.

A Principle of HarMONEY

Few people have guts to tell it the way it is. Robert Kiyosaki, in this incredible video, says things like,

“Four things make 90% of the people poor: taxes, inflation, debt, retirement plans.”

And then he provides solutions. He says,

“America will become a third world nation – rich and poor. That’s it. Tell me something money does not affect. Most guys are just wimps. Pussies. Cowards. They don’t have it. so they should get a job. It takes discipline. Most people would like to have a great body like Charles Atlas, but they’re at Burger King wolfing down a Whopper with fries. I don’t know how you can expect to get anything you want without some degree of long-term commitment. Quitting is the easiest thing to do. That’s why most people don’t make it. Everybody has doubts and fear of failing. But look at Tiger Woods or any great athlete: when the going gets tough, that’s when they turn into geniuses and most people turn into wimps. Get off your butt. If you want to be a mechanic, you go hang out with mechanics. If you want to get rich, hang out with rich people.”

3 Things You Need to Succeess

When it comes down to it, you need three things to succeed in business:

Too many people have jumped aboard the Mediocrity Train and caught the viral Excusiologist Flu that came sweeping in with the recession.

Everything gets blamed on the recession, from halitosis and hiccups to oversleeping and body odor. People make excuses for lethargy, low sales, their dogs’ fleas, and failing to stop at traffic lights.

ENOUGH!

Contrary to what the media is feeding you, not everyone is suffering during this recession. And YOU don’t have to, either.

I had a friend who would always leave a dollar bill on the floor of his office and give people time in his office alone.

He told me that he was often amazed at who stuck the bill in their pockets – essentially stealing – and who would put the bill on his desk.

When he applied the same test with the same people, substituting a TEN-dollar bill, the same thieves still stole, and the same honest people still put the bills on his desk.

Being the Best You Can Be at All Times

Successful people know that details are important, and that small actions are clues to big choices.

Quite soon after I married Rika, she was in hospital for an operation, and even while she was still woozy from the anesthetic, she was fixing her hair, wiping her mouth, and arranging her bedclothes.

That tells you a lot about someone – not how they behave under normal circumstances, but how they behave under pressure and the small things they notice and do.

Every Detail Counts as Clues

Jill Brock wore gold shoes to the seminar I presented in Edmonton, because she knows I like gold.

How comfortable would you be with an accountant who arrived late, forgot his files, or didn’t return phone calls promptly?

• Body language,
• punctuality,
• personal grooming and dress,
• spelling mistakes in e-mails,
• website links that don’t work,
• foul language on Facebook

– all clues.

I sent someone an important e-mail to which I received no reply, however I noticed that he took the time to participate in infantile, mindless games and “look alike” sessions on Facebook.

The Little Matters = The Big Matters

Peoples’ choices and actions reveal their values, beliefs, and priorities, and predict how they will behave and what choices they will make when it comes to serious money and events.

Someone who can steal ten dollars from you can also steal a few thousand dollars from you: faithful in little, faithful in much.

If someone lacks the self-respect and self-discipline to honor their word and fulfill their obligations in small matters, they will definitely let you down when it comes to large matters.

Testing and Evaluations

Test in a small way before spending big.

Give people a few small tests and evaluate their performance. Don’t believe a word they say, but believe everything they do.

I once told someone,

“You might not respect time and money, but I do. We can’t work together.”

I saw a young man in the airport the other day kick a dime that was lying on the floor. Even if it was one cent, I would have picked it up. I respect money. This young man probably had his daddy paying for everything, so he had no respect for money.

He will never make money if he doesn’t respect it, and I would never work with someone like that.

Allow Others to EARN Your Trust

Like the words of that old song go,

“And there she was, kissin’ on another man – and now I know what Momma meant, when she said, ‘Son, take time to now her, it’s not an overnight thing. Take time to know her; please, please don’t rush into this thing.’”

People who are faithful in small things reveal their motives and character.

We went deep-sea fishing off Cancun, and I was impressed to see how protective and caring my friend, Doctor Kumar Ramlall was when another of my friends was seasick.

Watch how people treat:

• animals,
• waiters in restaurants,
• security guards,
• their family,
• and other peoples’ possessions.
• If they allow their kids and pets to invade other peoples’ space and break their stuff

- you know you should avoid doing business with them.

Respect and honor are demonstrated in deeds, not words. Allow people to EARN your trust over time.

Many people who overlooked the implications of Obama’s choice of his friend and associates are now kicking themselves.

Whom you consistently spend time with tells me all about you.