Racing car drivers know that if they look at the barriers, they will hit them. We tend to move in the direction we look.

I know it’s true – I regularly race along a certain forest path on my trusty bicycle, and at one point I always had to slow down to avoid hitting a particular tree stump. Yesterday, I took my own advice, and instead of looking at the tree stump (where I didn’t want to go) I kept my eyes on the path beyond the tree stump (where I did want to go) and amazingly, I found I could negotiate the same route at twice my previous speed.

How They “Hit the Stump”

How do you decide which Joint Venture Partner you want to work with? After all, we have literally millions of options, don’t we?

If you agree that basically, people don’t change – we change our choices, but not who we essentially are – then their past track record must, to a large extent, predict their future choices.

• I’m talking about a track record that starts early in life, and consistently repeats.
• Also, small decisions and actions give us clues to who people are.

We want to work with winners, not wanna-be’s. The quality of our network will determine our net worth, and we can’t afford to hook up with losers. That means that 97% of people simply don’t qualify to work with us. Here’s a simple checklist:

1.  Their Track Record.

Talk with people about their successes and failures in their lives, from childhood. Winners and leaders will always, like the proverbial cream, rise to the top – in teams, in groups, in organizations, in clubs, at school – wherever they choose, and wherever their passion is. If a champion believes in something, he or she is going to make it work. They have track records of success in many different areas of life. Ask the hard questions.

2.  Their Daily Choices.

Watch their daily choices – do they deliver on time, return calls and emails promptly, dress professionally, groom themselves well? Are they reliable, punctual, respectful, honest, and straightforward? Are they generous? Do they honor their promises and make good and take responsibility when they mess up?

3.  Their Money.

Have they made money? If not, what makes you think that will suddenly change? If they have money, where did they get it? Inheritance? Are they self-made, or Daddy-made? If the boy lives with his parents, is a stay-at-home-dad, has his wife support him, and moves from one financial disaster or network marketing company to the next, how will you benefit from partnering with him? Ask them!

4.  Their Associations.

With whom do they associate? Look at their friends. Birds of the feather flock together. Losers love to team up with each other.

5.  Their Input.

Look at what they read. BIG clues there. Be careful of “seminar junkies” – they flare up fast and fade away even faster.

6.  Their Philosophy.

Determine their philosophy. Avoid mystics, socialists, and altruists. You will discover their philosophy by observing their lives. Do your due diligence.

7.  Their Involvements.

What clubs / groups / cults / organizations do they belong to?

8.  Their Action.

Are they action-takers or procrastinators? Are they overly analytical? Do they embrace change positively? Are they “big hat, no cattle”, or the real thang?

9.  Their Presentation.

How do they present themselves? Their dress, grooming, business cards, car, pen, shoes, paperwork, binders, hair, (men with nose / ear hairs, women who have unruly, wet, or badly cut hair) nails, jewelry, tattoos, piercings… Everything is a clue. Do the women dress act like flirts / sluts? Avoid smokers and drinkers.

10.  Test Their Metal.

Even is all the above are in line, test your potential JV partners in small matters before opening up the store. Give them enough rope to hang themselves, enough opportunity to steal, and enough time to let their masks slip.

Be patient – it’s well worth it. Remember, you’re looking for 3% of people.

It’s like sugar in your gas tank, poison in your pop, the worm in your apple – the one flaw that can cripple even the best Joint Venture, and something to be avoided at all costs. The reason why many newbies to Joint Venture brokering fail is their choice of JV partner. Because of their low self-esteem and confidence, along with their limited belief and low aspirations, they approach people by whom they don’t feel threatened. (This is the same reason why network marketing newbies try to recruit losers.)

Who Are You Dealing With?

Think about it:

• When you try to set up JV’s with copycats, counterfeits, caricatures, wannabe’s, and “managers”, you’re not dealing with real decision makers.
• Sycophants, sidekicks, mimics and morons cannot make a JV work – they don’t have what it takes. If they did, they would be the head honchos, the chiefs, the principals. But they’re not.

They talk the talk, but they can’t walk the walk. They’re just parasites and pawns, and they with frustrate you and fail you.

The posers and pretenders will sabotage and scuttle your lucrative JV.  Don’t even bother.

Aim Higher

Smart JV Brokers know that the higher you go, the more you grow. Deal with the top guy, the president of the company, the real deal, and you will find your Joint Ventures flowing and flourishing.

1. They make good decisions, which they make fast.
2. They can pay their way.
3. They have a track record of success, and that is a clear prediction of their future with you.
4. Winners are generally generous and upfront.
5. They will tell it like it is and practice what they preach – that’s how they got to be the owner of the business.

Getting to the Top

The way to get to the top people is to create a really good, complete, professional presentation that requires no money, no risk, and little time from the other party, and pushes all the right buttons.

• It should be logical, short, and sweet, understandable, and concise.
• Most of all. It needs to have high, residual potential.

After all, the JV is about money, leverage, and results – it’s not about you, so don’t get your self-esteem or lack of experience slow you down and lower your expectations.

Go to the top dog, not the concierge. Pitch your JV with the focus on the bottom line and his or her interests – not your own. And stop trying to sell yourself – successful people don’t have to convince others that they are successful.

Red Flags

Here are a few red flag words that will chase off any winner:

• “Integrity” the bigger the loser, the more often he will use this word!
• “I am honest”
• “I will try / do my best”
• “If”
• “I hope / I guess”

If you have done your homework and you have the right training and support, you will speak easily and as an equal.

You may feel important by dealing with losers, but you will become important by dealing with winners.

A Fatal Flaw to Avoid in Your Joint Ventures

It’s like sugar in your gas tank, poison in your pop, the worm in your apple – the one flaw that can cripple even the best Joint Venture, and something to be avoided at all costs. The reason why many newbies to Joint Venture brokering fail is their choice of JV partner. Because of their low self-esteem and confidence, along with their limited belief and low aspirations, they approach people by whom they don’t feel threatened. (This is the same reason why network marketing newbies try to recruit losers.)

Who Are You Dealing With?

Think about it:

• When you try to set up JV’s with copycats, counterfeits, caricatures, wannabe’s, and “managers”, you’re not dealing with real decision makers.
• Sycophants, sidekicks, mimics and morons cannot make a JV work – they don’t have what it takes. If they did, they would be the head honchos, the chiefs, the principals. But they’re not.

They talk the talk, but they can’t walk the walk. They’re just parasites and pawns, and they with frustrate you and fail you.

The posers and pretenders will sabotage and scuttle your lucrative JV.  Don’t even bother.

Aim Higher

Smart JV Brokers know that the higher you go, the more you grow. Deal with the top guy, the president of the company, the real deal, and you will find your Joint Ventures flowing and flourishing.

1. They make good decisions, which they make fast.
2. They can pay their way.
3. They have a track record of success, and that is a clear prediction of their future with you.
4. Winners are generally generous and upfront.
5. They will tell it like it is and practice what they preach – that’s how they got to be the owner of the business.

Getting to the Top

The way to get to the top people is to create a really good, complete, professional presentation that requires no money, no risk, and little time from the other party, and pushes all the right buttons.

• It should be logical, short, and sweet, understandable, and concise.
• Most of all. It needs to have high, residual potential.

After all, the JV is about money, leverage, and results – it’s not about you, so don’t get your self-esteem or lack of experience slow you down and lower your expectations.

Go to the top dog, not the concierge. Pitch your JV with the focus on the bottom line and his or her interests – not your own. And stop trying to sell yourself – successful people don’t have to convince others that they are successful.

Red Flags

Here are a few red flag words that will chase off any winner:

• “Integrity” the bigger the loser, the more often he will use this word!
• “I am honest”
• “I will try / do my best”
• “If”
• “I hope / I guess”

If you have done your homework and you have the right training and support, you will speak easily and as an equal.

You may feel important by dealing with losers, but you will become important by dealing with winners.

• One man lives in a trailer park. He is an obese, unhealthy smoker who seldom reads books of any value and spends most of his time playing computer games and whining about the government, upon which he relies for his income.
• Another lives in a nice home, provides for his family, loves his work, develops his mind, stays in shape, and has big goals.
• They were both abused as children, grew up on the wrong side of the tracks, and suffered hardships.
• They are twin brothers.

Circumstances Reflect Philosophy

In Ayn Rand’s amazing book, “Atlas Shrugged”, which I am reading for the third time, John Galt says that one is “remaking the earth in the image of one’s values”. He shows that the construction of our circumstances is an ongoing process. Our values and beliefs are the result of our philosophy. Your circumstances reflect your philosophy and self-esteem.

The loser in the trailer park didn’t end up there one day, suddenly, buy accident, as if by magic. His philosophy directed his choices, which took him down that road. The winner also built his lifestyle – choice by choice. Millions of volitional choices got both these men to where they are today. There is no mystery.

The Sum Total of Your Choices

Your lifestyle and circumstances are the sum total of the choices you have made in your life. Where you will be in the next few years, and where you will end up, is your choice. You hold your future in your own hands.  Every cent you earn and spend is your choice.

Ask the man in the trailer what he thinks about man’s responsibility, about freedom, the role of government, business, and about “luck”. He will explain his philosophy to you. Look at the books he reads, the places he goes, the things he does, the people he mixes with, what he does with his time, and you will see his philosophy. The same goes for the man who has a good life.

Anyone Can Change

Can the man move out of the trailer park lose weight, and create a life of success and happiness? Of course he can, but his philosophy would have to change. His philosophy makes him happy playing the role of a nicotine-addicted victim. He does what he enjoys doing!

• He prefers the company of drunkards and losers to winners.
• He loves feeling sorry for himself.
• He hates the idea of taking responsibility.
• He doesn’t WANT to change; if he did, he would!

His is a philosophy of collectivism and socialism. He believes the world owes him a living, and he blames his family and the world for the fact that he doesn’t have a nice house like his brother.

We like to believe that people can change, and they can. But we need to understand that most of them WON’T change, because they don’t want to change, and often because they don’t believe they CAN change.

You Can’t Give or Force Change

You can’t solve someone’s financial problems by giving them money; you have to teach them to MAKE their own money.  But you can only do that if they WANT to earn more money themselves. Chances are, they expect someone else to earn it and GIVE it to them – they are parasites.

Change is Simple

If you WANT to change your life, it’s actually simple. Find someone who has what you want, someone who has created a lifestyle that you want for yourself, and then adopt their philosophy.

I personally modeled successful men whom I admired, learned their beliefs and values, and emulated them. I adopted the philosophies of men like Paul J. Meyer, Jim Rohn, Earl Nightingale, Napoleon Hill, and Winston Churchill, and then I refined my philosophy into one of Objectivism, as portrayed in “Atlas Shrugged.”

Imagine an architect who meets with a builder/developer and a town planner. The developer wants to build a magnificent building. He says, “I have this feeling that I should build something – not sure exactly what it should look like, or what it would cost, or where I would find the money, but what do you think?”

To which the town planner replies, “Well, I guess we could find some space somewhere,  after all, it sounds like a noble cause – we’ll come up with a space, I’m sure…”

…and the architect pipes up, “Well, I don’t want to be too rigid, and the front of the building could look more or less like this, but I have a feeling it will just come together – I’ll check with my psychic…”

…Ridiculous, right?

Do You Have an Irrational Approach?

That’s how most people try to build wealth.

• They rely on the wrong people giving them spurious advice.
• They rely on “gut feel.”
• They have no discipline.
• They spend more time planning a party than their old age, and they live in the moment like animals.
• But the worst aspect of this lack of planning or thought is the real underlying motive –refusal to take responsibility or to be held accountable.

That’s why the masses follow the mystics and witchdoctors of our time, why they live vicariously through sports teams and film stars, why they join cults, and why they become “course junkies”, waddling from seminar to seminar and never applying anything they learn. Cults are great for people who don’t want to have to think or make choices. It’s easier to be a sports fan on your couch, clutching a slice of pizza in your chubby paw, than to actually go and play the game.

If You’re Serious about Wealth Building

If we seriously want to build real wealth, we can’t hide behind silly excuses like “fate”, “destiny”, feelings, gods, demons, angels, spirits, and chance; we need to be very specific and logical.

“Feelings come and feelings go, but feelings are deceiving; I build my life on rational choices – naught else is worth believing.”

The architect builds for the future – the archeologist (like an accountant) looks at the past. Winners look to the future and leverage their past experiences, good as well as bad, while losers blame their past for their slothfulness and use the past as an excuse. Like blaming your failure on slavery that happened hundreds of years ago.

Engineer Your Future

Architects, builders, and town planners are very specific, logical, and realistic about what they do. Engineers building a bridge don’t make decisions based on hope, feelings, fortune tellers, psychics, or mystical expectations. When you want to build a bridge from where to are to where you want to be, you had better understand that bridges can collapse if they are not built properly. There is time, cost, responsibility, and accountability  involved. Without work, persistence and perseverance, no building can be built, and nothing of any real value accomplished.

Your Philosophy is Your Foundation

The foundation on which you plan your future is your philosophy. If your wealth philosophy is wrong, you will end up like most other people – poor, frustrated, resentful, jealous, and bitter.

Rika and I rented a boat last week and spent three hours boating in Howe Sound. It was a wonderful experience. The boat was well prepared, maintained, and full of gas. We had life jackets, a whistle, food, water, a map, hats, sunscreen, and a cell phone with us. We took advice from the people who rented us the boat. We were well prepared for the trip, we knew where we wanted to go, and what we wanted to do, we paid for the boat hire and insurance, and it worked out great. We didn’t wander down to the water and try to cut down a tree with a penknife to build a raft to go boating. Success is not random or ethereal.

If you would like to build wealth, travel to your Treasure Island, and be assured that your philosophy will enable you to accomplish that, DollarMakers is here for you.

It’s like sugar in your gas tank, poison in your pop, the worm in your apple – the one flaw that can cripple even the best Joint Venture, and something to be avoided at all costs.

The reason why many newbies to Joint Venture brokering fail is their choice of Joint Venture partner. Because of their low self-esteem and confidence, along with their limited belief and low aspirations, they approach people by whom they don’t feel threatened. (This is the same reason why network marketing newbies try to recruit losers.)

Think about it:

When you try to set up Joint Ventures with copycats, counterfeits, wannabe’s, and “managers”, you’re not dealing with real decision makers.  Sycophants, sidekicks, mimics and morons cannot make a JV work – they don’t have what it takes. If they did, they would be the head honchos, the chiefs, the principals. But they’re not. They talk the talk, but they can’t walk the walk. They’re just parasites and pawns, and they with frustrate you and fail you.

Deal with the Top Guy

Smart JV Brokers know that the higher you go, the more you grow. Deal with the top guy, the president of the company, the real deal, and you will find your Joint Ventures flowing and flourishing.

• They make good decisions, which they make fast, and they can pay their way.
• They have a track record of success, and that is a clear prediction of their future with you.

Winners are generally generous and upfront – they will tell it like it is and practice what they preach – that’s how they got to be the owner of the business. The posers and pretenders will sabotage and scuttle your lucrative JV.

How to Access These Winners

The way to get to the top people is to create a really good, complete, professional presentation that requires no money, no risk, and little time from the other party, and pushes all the right buttons. It should be logical, short, and sweet, understandable, and concise.

Most of all. It needs to have high, residual potential. After all, the JV is about money, leverage, and results – it’s not about you, so don’t get your self-esteem or lack of experience slow you down and lower your expectations.

Go to the top dog, not the concierge. Pitch your JV with the focus on the bottom line and his or her interests – not your own. And stop trying to sell yourself – successful people don’t have to convince others that they are successful.

Here are a few red flag words that will chase off any winner:

• “Integrity” the bigger the loser, the more often he will use this word!
• “I am honest”
• “I will try / do my best”
• “If”
• “I hope / I guess”

If you have done your homework and you have the right training and support, you will speak easily and as an equal.

You may feel important by dealing with losers, but you will become important by dealing with winners.

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 to Succeed in Business

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

1. The RIGHT financial education.
2. Connections with the right people.
3. GUTS. The guts never to quit, make excuses, or run away.

Let’s talk about these three.

1.    Financial education:

Kiyosaki points out in his four quadrants that you can be an employee (quadrant 1) or a self-employed salesman / solopreneur (quadrant 2), and never get rich, or you can be in quadrants three and four. Quadrant three is big business (500 employees or more) and quadrant four is having your money work for you.

Most people who don’t have money think it’s impossible to play in quadrants three and four, whereas DollarMakers shows you how to participate in big business through Joint Ventures and to make money from the investments of other people – anyone can do that. We don’t have money problems; we have thinking problems.

The rich get richer and the poor get poorer. Why? Because the rich keep doing the things that made them rich, and the poor keep doing the things that made them poor.

2.    Connections with the right people:

DollarMakers has hundreds of Members, many of whom have a great understanding of Joint Ventures, in 19 countries – all looking to do a deal with you. And we FIRE dishonest people who don’t abide by our Code of Business Ethics. We are constantly weeding the moochers and posers out. Winners will link you with winners, and losers will introduce you to their loser friends. We provide various platforms and options for connecting with the right people. We’re not a networking group full of broke wanna-be’s.

3.    GUTS.

If you are a weak, politically correct, passive-aggressive, excuse-making wimp, don’t join DollarMakers. Our Members have to take full responsibility for their own success – we’re not socialists or quitters, and we don’t carry passengers or pamper parasites. We’re excited, determined, motivated, and disciplined. Our goal is to MAKE MONEY. That’s why we’re called DollarMakers.

If you’re serious about success and you’re tired of watching your wealth go down the drain, join DollarMakers. Right now.

Walk into any store and look at the “Humorous” birthday cards about how people are getting old, their boobs are dropping, losing their hair, and can’t remember anything.

Notice how women, especially, have a “thing” about getting old or mentioning their ages, which sells lots of Botox, hair dye, and all sorts of contraptions and systems to make people look younger. Mutton dressed like lamb.

Men are getting just as bad with their pathetic comb-overs, pony tails, and hair implants.

Even worse than regretting one’s age or even fearing birthdays, is the fact that they tend to have people looking backwards instead of forwards.

“When I was younger…” We need to be architects of the future we can create, instead of archeologists looking back into a past we cannot change.

Birthdays are about Beginnings

A birthday should be an exciting time of new beginnings, new horizons, and the celebration of success, survival, and wisdom. It is, after all, the first day of the rest of your life, pregnant with powerful possibilities, a launching pad of wisdom, experience, understanding, and the acknowledgment that we have no limitations.

Right now, do yourself a favor. Watch this amazing video of Jim Stovall, whose life really only started when he went blind – the Christopher Story. Also see this video of his.

Give Birth to the New

We can rise like the phoenix out of the putrid swamp of our past hurts, bad choices, and failures. What doesn’t kill us does, indeed, make us stronger, IF we allow it to.

Every day is a potential birthday – the day you give birth to a new, “Can Do” attitude that says,

“Enough of the past – I am creating a wonderful new future, starting today. I have unlimited potential and I won’t drive my car looking in the rear-view mirror.

Your Medal of Honor

Wear your age like a medal of honor – a reflection of your learning and wisdom, experience and understanding. Birthdays should be like graduation ceremonies, not funerals.

Only Mix with Winners if You Want an Exciting Future

The best way to remember “YAHOO” – You Always Have Other Options – is to hook up with people who are successful, excited about their futures, and busy creating wonderful, new lives.

Mixing with losers who spend their time talking about the past, their kidney stones, their grandkids, and their problems is like drinking poison served up by a granny in a greasy spoon diner, wearing a miniskirt, with dyed blond hair, tramp stamps (tattoos), and a cigarette behind her ear. You’re as old and vulnerable as you want to be.

Mix with winners, set new goals, stop feeling sorry for yourself, and grab life by the horns. The best is yet to come, and the opportunities to make money and have a great life have never been better.