Killing Sacred Cows Blog

How To Influence the External Economy With Internal Decisions

Every expert in America agrees that our economy is under serious strain. We even hear speculation that the U.S. is headed for another Great Depression. The government bailout of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will cost taxpayers $5.3 trillion. The proposed $700 billion bailout of other notable financial firms is a Band-aid approach to a gaping-wound quandary.

So what is the long-term solution? Does the current crisis represent the end of America as we know it? What can you do to contribute to a more secure and prosperous economy? Is it possible for you to prosper in economic downturns?

The first step to identifying solutions is to accurately diagnose the problem. While the reasons are diverse, our current predicament is the product of three primary factors, on three different levels: 1) the government manipulates the economy with the money supply, creating artificial demand and warping natural market forces, 2) corporations have been guided by shortsighted greed, and 3) average Americans consume more than they produce.

Since corporate behavior and government policy represent individual action, the only long-term solution to America’s economic woes is for individuals to be the change they wish to see in the world; to focus more on their internal economy than on the external economy.

Internal v. External Economy

The external economy represents everything outside of you: GDP, the Federal Reserve, international trade, supply and demand, manufacturing, etc. Your internal economy is the sum total of the value you offer to others minus the factors that limit your production. It is your human life value—your knowledge, skills, abilities, relationships, confidence, etc. It is what happens within you that determines your material and spiritual prosperity, or lack thereof.

Our pressing crisis hasn’t happened in a vacuum; it’s the result of a steady shift in culture, based on personal, internal decisions. We can blame the government and corporations all we want, but government agents and corporate executives are common Americans like you and I, doing common things. There’s little you and I can do to influence government policy during this crisis, but there’s an infinite number of things we can do to ensure security and prosperity regardless of what happens in the external economy.

Do you want to learn and grow, or complain and wallow in the misery? If you choose the former, then it’s time to grow your internal economy. But how, exactly, is this done? Your personal economy will be strengthened and vitalized by living the following five principles:

1. Entitlement is the enemy of prosperity.

Stop waiting for someone else to solve your problems and give you economic security. Contrary to New Deal lies and cradle-to-the-grave propaganda, the only things you’re entitled to are life, liberty, private property, and the pursuit of happiness. The government owes you nothing but the protection of your unalienable rights. Corporations can give and take benefits as they please.

Your suffering during hard economic times will be directly proportionate to the degree to which you feel entitled to “security” and benefits from any person or institution. You’re entitled to the fruits of your own labor and ingenuity—nothing more or less. Don’t abdicate your responsibility to prosper to funds that you don’t understand, investments that you can’t control and that are not collateralized, and managers that you don’t know. Take full responsibility for your money and your life.

2. Produce more than you consume.

The average American—while complaining about the federal budget deficit—spends more than $1.20 for every dollar that he earns. Contrary to the crippling myth that “consumer spending drives the economy,” production drives the economy. Production—creating value for others in a way that they compensate you for it—is what gives any individual or entity the ability to consume.

You can’t control government spending. But you can control your own. Spend less than you earn. Never, ever borrow to consume. Pay off consumer debt as fast as you are able. Cut up your credit cards if that’s what it takes. Increase your production through education, better marketing, a career change, etc. Save and invest ten percent of your income. Do whatever it takes to ensure that your home economy produces more than it consumes; this is the best way to fight inflation.

3. Value creation comes before desire fulfillment.

Who has more money—you, or other people? Obviously, other people. How can you get others to give you money? By providing something to them that they value more than their money. Greed and selfishness are at the basis of so many of our current problems. The wise understand that they can only get what they want by first focusing on what other people want; they are still self-interested, but they are not selfish.

What do you have to offer that other people want? What suffering exists in the world that you have the ability to alleviate? What do other people need and how can you provide it efficiently? Dollars follow value—creating value for others is the only legitimate way to meet your own needs.

4. Integrity is worth its weight in gold.

Corporate executives are being caught in lies like flies to honey. But what about you? Are you going to unfairly take advantage of others in the name of “Everyone else is doing it?” Or will you take the road less traveled and be a person of your word, a person who others can trust in and rely upon? Does your private life reflect your core values?

When times are hard, people look for stability. Integrity provides stability of character, drawing others toward you. Integrity alone is a magnetic marketing tool and will boost your ability to influence and serve others, and therefore profit in spite of crises.

5. Find and live your Soul Purpose.

Soul Purpose is your unique set of talents, abilities, values, and passions applied productively and effectively, making tremendous impact upon the world and bringing the highest levels of joy and fulfillment to you and everyone you touch.

You were born for something wonderful. Are you doing it? Do you love to get up every morning? Are you energized by your career? Does it continually stretch you to achieve your fullest potential? Are is it time for you to choose something different?

Prosperity is much more than dollars, investment accounts, and toys; it’s the internal joy that you experience by applying your best work to pressing problems. Soul Purpose is the best long-term investment.Find what you were born to do and do it—your prosperity will increase exponentially.   


The problems we face are big—which means that there’s now more opportunity than ever to create value by alleviating suffering. Big problems require bigger solutions, and bigger solutions pay bigger dividends. The positive side of the financial meltdown is increased awareness; there is now enough pain for us to course-correct and overcome the economic myths of the last century.

The solution isn’t to elect new leaders any more than changing drivers on a broken car makes the car run better. The solution is for common Americans to reform the economy from the inside out by eliminating the entitlement mentality, producing more than we consume, creating value for others, developing impeccable integrity, and living Soul Purpose. If you don’t know what to invest in—especially during hard economic times—your best bet is to invest in yourself through education. After all, the external economy is nothing but a reflection of the aggregate of internal economies.

| Book Review | Response #1 | Response #2 |

 This is the continuation of a series of responses to a review of Killing Sacred Cows by Helen Huntley, personal finance editor for the St. Petersburg Times. While she does her best to give a synopsis of the book without reading it entirely, at one point she says, “…the main purpose of the book seems to be to convince you to cash you’re your 401(k) -- [Garrett] doesn’t mind that you have to pay income tax and possibly a 10% penalty…”

I’ve already discussed what the main purpose of the book is, and now I want to talk about the 401(k) issue.

If any readers are taking from the book that Garrett is specifically recommending to them that they should liquidate their 401(k), we stress that this is not the case at all. While we do deal extensively with the dangers of qualified plans, we never once make the blanket recommendation that every individual should cash out of them.

In fact, to be true to the thesis of the book, there may be some for whom the advice we give is not a good fit at all based on the context of their individual circumstances. One aspect of the conventional financial planning industry that we take issue with is the practice of recommending products and strategies out of context.

There’s a significant difference between content and context. In this case, how we discuss the 401(k) is content; the context in which that content is discussed says that your financial decisions are unique to you and your situation. For some people, a 401(k) may be great; for others it may be useless. If people can overcome the fifteen dangers of a 401(k) that we outline on page 253 of the book, a 401(k) would be a perfectly suitable investment for them. For some, whole life insurance is a productive, valuable product; for others it would be a big mistake. For some, stock market investing is great; for others it is risky and destructive.

There Are No Risky Investments

One of the most important points of the book is that there are no inherently risky investments; just risky investors. It is individuals that determine the success or failure of any investment.

As Garrett says on page 150,

"What is risky to one person could be the safest investment in the world for another. Any time someone asks me questions such as, 'Is real estate risky?' or 'Isn't it risky to quit your job to start a business?' my answer is always, 'It depends.' These things certainly can be risky -- to some people -- but they can also be very wise and safe for others.

"I have friends who have done very well in real estate, and others who have lost big with real estate. The difference is that those who do well have more knowledge, they write better contracts, they know how to manage their properties, and they mitigate their risk by doing thorough due diligence on the people who use their properties. In addition, those who I've seen thrive with real estate happen to love working with real estate; it's in their Soul Purpose. The others have very little knowledge of real estate (most of the time they get into it only because they think it will make them a lot of money), they write poor contracts that open them up to great risk, they manage their properties poorly, and often these properties are damaged by renters the owners never checked out properly. The risk or lack thereof isn't in the real estate; it's in the people who invest in it."

So what should you do with your 401(k)? Quite simply, without knowing the context of your life, we don’t know. Garrett would never make such a direct recommendation without knowing the context of your life and he’s not trying to directly convince you to cash yours out in the book.

What You Should Invest In

Another criticism that Helen Huntley makes in her review is to say, “The only investments he endorses in the book, at least in the parts I read, are real estate and permanent life insurance.” Once again, the problem with this is that she speaks of content out of context.

Just as liquidating a 401(k) is never recommended for any particular individual, likewise real estate and permanent life insurance are never specifically endorsed. They are discussed at length, but only to provide examples and explain certain concepts. They would only be endorsed within the proper context.

The one investment that is directly recommended for every reader is an investment in oneself. As you’ll find on page 155,

“There’s one critical litmus test to perform on yourself whenever you are wondering what to invest in. The answer is always – without exception – to invest in yourself. If your human life value were developed enough and if developing it was your first priority, you would never need to ask what to invest in, because your path would be clear. The best investment you can ever make is to increase your human life value, or your ability to utilize your knowledge and abilities to create value in the world. Turn inward for personal improvement and value will flow outward to those around you.

“What this means is that you are your best investment. Not your 401(k), not your Roth IRA, not your mutual fund, not your house or your rental properties – YOU. If you want to mitigate your risk and enjoy high returns, then start doing everything you can to invest in yourself. Read books, go to school to gain new knowledge and learn new skills, attend educational seminars frequently, associate with people that you can learn from, take action and learn from your mistakes."

 | Book Review | Response #1 | Response #2 |

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It's official. Killing Sacred Cows just hit #3 on Amazon.com's bestseller list, just below Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer and The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch. Furthermore, it is #1 in two categories: Popular Economics and Personal Finance, both of which are subcategories of Business and Investing.

When you click on the link above, be aware that Amazon's list is updated hourly, so the rankings fluctuate. We've mostly stayed in the top ten since yesterday (August 12).

THANK YOU SO MUCH to everyone who made this possible!  

Here are a few screenshots; I just thought it would be cool to document this.

 

 

 

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| Book Review | Response #1 |

In a recent review in the St. Petersburg Times, personal finance editor Helen Huntley writes, "[Killing Sacred Cows] makes some good points. I agree that you need to take responsibility for your own financial success and you should invest in yourself and your money-making potential. However, the main purpose of the book seems to be to convince you to cash out your 401(k) -- he doesn't mind that you have to pay income tax and possibly a 10% penalty -- and pay Gunderson to show you how to manage your money. If you 'apply' for his program and you have enough money, you just might be accepted!"

We appreciate this perspective because it brings out three valuable things to discuss and clarify: 1) The primary focus and main purpose of the book, 2) Garrett's position on what you should do with your 401(k), and 3) The purpose of Garrett's "program" in question (the Financial FastTrack process that qualified participants of the 401(k) Hoax Challenge experience) and the reason behind the application process.

This post will deal only with the first point, and the second two will be discussed in subsequent posts. And none of these posts are meant to single out Helen Huntley; we simply raise these points because they are common points, indicative of typical perceptions about the book and its message.

 

The Main Purpose of Killing Sacred Cows

While Mrs. Huntley graciously agrees with the book's focus on personal responsibility and investing in oneself, her perception of its main purpose is reversed; what she mentions as "good" points (personal responsibility/investing in oneself) are the main points, and what she states as the "main" point (detailing the risks with 401(k)s) was a good point taken out of context. It's an understandable mistake, especially when one hasn't read the entire book, as Helen admits in her review.

As stated in the Introduction (pg. xvi),

"The purpose of this book is to train your mind and help you to cultivate the ability to be able to see through the myths that limit wealth creation. If this is accomplished, you may well experience a productivity breakthrough on an unprecedented scale...

"My purpose isn't so much to identify and answer every myth for every reader as it is to just get readers thinking about the rhetoric, propaganda, and traditional 'logic' that we're fed through the financial media."

Wanting to give her the benefit of the doubt, Mrs. Huntley's remarks made me wonder if perhaps we don't emphasize enough personal responsibility, stewardship, investing in oneself, and Soul Purpose, and if we over-emphasize the problems with 401(k)s.

Not wanting to go on gut feelings and knee-jerk reactions -- as those who are entrenched in financial myths often do -- I took a scientific approach, did a lengthy and in-depth search of the book, and extracted the following data on the major concepts that we focus on. The appearances of the words that I highlight below were only counted if they were in the proper context. (In other words, I could have counted much more, but I wanted to be as objective and fair as possible.)

In the context that I speak of, the word "responsibility" appears 77 times in the book, with 22 uses of the variation "responsible." "Stewardship" is used 30 times; "steward" 20 times. We speak of "Soul Purpose" on 124 occasions throughout the book. And most importantly, 61 times we use variations of the word "invest" in the context of teaching that the best investment one can make is an investment in themselves through education. The total uses of each of these words and phrases in their proper context -- which together represent our primary focus -- comes to 334.

Constrast that to just 78 mentions of "401(k)s."

(I eliminated all occurences of these words and phrases that were not relevant to the actual content of the book, such as references in the table of contents or the index.)

Clearly, something went wrong with this reviewer's analysis, yet it provides an excellent opportunity to illustrate the power that financial myths can have over us -- when subject to the myths we see only what we want to see. We see the things that coincide with our current beliefs, and casually reject anything that challenges our beliefs. Since 401(k)s are so popular, anything that challenges them will stick out much more than the things with which we agree, or think we already know.

As we learn in the Introduction of Killing Sacred Cows (page x),

"It's human nature to relate things that we are unfamiliar with back to the things that we are already familiar with, or with the things that we think we know. But what if the things we think we know are false, or at least misguided? How can we make sense of new things when our frame of reference is distorted or not founded in truth? One of the most critical steps we can take toward financial freedom is to accept the possibility that what we though to be true may be completely false, and that there are infinite truths we have yet to learn."

The main purpose of Killing Sacred Cows is not to convince any individual reader to cash out their 401(k). In fact, such a direct exhortation is not even a purpose of the book. We completely agree with Helen Huntley that to make such a blanket recommendation -- without knowing the context of the lives of individual readers -- would be highly irresponsible and inappropriate.

If any of our readers have taken this to be the core message of the book, we stress that it was not our intention. Targeting the 401(k) was a way to highlight the importance of self-reliance, responsibility, and stewardship -- not to make a specific financial recommendation to readers.

While we do, quite strongly and in no uncertain terms, detail the inherent dangers of 401(k)s, qualified plans, and the accumulation theory of wealth creation, we never once recommend to any reader that they should liquidate their qualified plan. (This will be discussed in the next blog post.)

The main purpose and primary focus of Killing Sacred Cows is to teach that individuals must take personal responsibility for their prosperity, be wise stewards over their assets and resources, invest in themselves, and live their Soul Purpose. It is to teach people that they are their most important investment -- not products, techniques, or strategies. It is to teach that what happens within a person determines what happens in their external world. It is to detail universal, timeless principles of wealth creation. It is to teach that these things are far more important than -- and determine the success of -- financial products, techniques, and strategies.

This is contrary to much of the traditional financial services industry which teaches people that the right financial products are what matter. Such advisors often recommend products without knowing the full context of their client's lives. We're taught that just throwing money into mutual funds and qualified plans and letting them sit for 30 years -- without knowing what they're doing, where the money is going, who is managing it, how to control it, and how it's creating value in the marketplace -- is all that's needed to make people's retirement dreams come true.

Garrett's point is that people need to take a step back from that flawed approach, invest in themselves, consider every angle, know what they're doing before they invest, and invest based on a macroeconomic plan that takes every aspect of their financial situation into consideration. People must stop believing that financial products -- such as 401(k)s -- have intrinsic value and that people hold the only intrinsic value.

| Book Review | Response #1 |

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Our last blog post introduced a recent book review by Helen Huntley, the personal finance editor of the St. Petersburg Times.

This is the first response of a series.

 

Deception Vs. Value Creation

Helen begins her review by writing, “I don't ordinarily do book reviews, but I often read portions of the books that publishers send me. Sadly, quite a few of them are little more than thinly-veiled sales pitches for the author's business. One of the worst of these promotional books just came across my desk, Killing Sacred Cows: Overcoming the Financial Myths that are Destroying your Prosperity by Garrett B. Gunderson.”

She makes the implicit—and valuable—point that there are often very negative aspects of salesmanship which cause people to take faulty action and spend unnecessary money. There are many unscrupulous individuals that use deception to prey on naivety in order to make money.

We join with Helen in condemning this insidious practice.

Page 120 of Killing Sacred Cows has a long section on why deception is so destructive, including the following excerpt:

“[Money is the receipt that says that we have either created value for another person, deceived them into thinking we have, or coerced them into giving it to us anyway. Of course, deception and coercion destroy human life value, our own and that of the people whom we deceive or coerce…Deception and coercion are the opposite of freedom and lead to poverty, misery, and dishonesty.”

As we write in the book, the only moral way to make money is to create value for others, to give them a reason why they should value what you provide for them more than the money they give you (see pages 120-129). On page 39 we write, “…in a world of cause and effect, value creation is a cause, and money is an effect…Money is never manifested and exchanged until value is created, and thus is an expression of value creation.” We also give our definition of value, which is, “anything of worth or service that, when provided to another, creates joy for both parties.”

To be clear, the promotion of Garrett’s products and services throughout Killing Sacred Cows, such as the Producer Power Hour and the Freedom FastTrack, was never intended to be “thinly-veiled”—it is deliberate, calculated, and very transparent. For most non-fiction authors, the entire point of publishing a book is to establish their credibility in their particular niche and to market their businesses.

For example, Mark Victor Hansen and Robert G. Allen promote the Enlightened Wealth Institute through The One Minute Millionaire. Stephen Covey promotes Franklin Covey through The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People and others. T. Harv Eker promotes Peak Potentials Training through Secrets of the Millionaire Mind. Robert Kiyosaki promotes a wide array of products through his books. Michael Gerber promotes his entrepreneurial institute through The E-Myth. Seth Godin uses all of his books to promote his businesses such as Squidoo. Ken Blanchard promotes his consultation business through his books. Steven K. Scott promotes his mentoring programs through his book The Richest Man Who Ever Lived and others.

All of these authors are doing amazing, uplifting, and inspiring things in the world. They have much to offer beyond their books, and their books are an excellent way to market their value to society. With as much good as they are doing, it would be irresponsible of them to not market their products and services through their books.

If Garrett or any of the authors mentioned above are using their books to deceive people in order to make money, that would be worthy of a scathing review indeed. However, hundreds of testimonials from ecstatic clients attest to the fact that Garrett is creating value for others, not deceiving.

We warmly and openly invite anyone reading this to take advantage of the fabulous programs that Garrett has created to help you implement the principles you are learning in Killing Sacred Cows. No deception or coercion—we simply invite you to make the personal choice of whether or not they create value in your life.

An excellent place to start is with the Producer Power Hour Membership. In fact, we encourage you to click here to take advantage of our offer to receive one month of the membership for free. If you find that the membership does not create value for you, simply cancel your membership at any time.

Every person and business wants to and should profit from their efforts. In the absence of deception or coercion, profit is evidence of value creation—it is the hallmark of every successful and worthwhile individual and business. Furthermore, not only should every individual or company that creates value in the economy want to profit, but they also have a moral obligation to market their products and services as effectively as possible in order to reach and serve as many people as they can.

There's nothing "sad" about using a book as a sales pitch for one's business, provided that the business creates value rather than deceives or coerces. If a person is creating value for others--helping them to achieve more, be more, become more wealthy and fulfilled--then not only is it smart to use a book to promote their business, but it is also their duty to do everything in their power to reach as many people as possible. In this case it would be sad if an author created value for people in a book then did not provide further resources for readers to continue their education and tools for practical implementation.

Mrs. Huntley is right on the money if an author has deceitful intentions or if they are not creating value for others. Deceitful sales pitches are the worst kind, and many legitimate individuals, companies, products, and services are negatively impacted by those who perpetrate them, and we thank Mrs. Huntley for raising this valid point.

| Book Review | Response #2 |

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Helen Huntley, the personal finance editor for the St. Petersburg Times in Florida, recently gave a great review of Killing Sacred Cows that gives us an excellent opportunity to clarify the message of the book.

While she admits only reading parts of the book—and the review must therefore be understood in that context—she does make some good points that we’d like to respond to in the next series of blog posts.

The following is her review of the parts of the book that she read. Following this post, we will provide our responses.

Want some bad advice? Read this book

By Helen Huntley

"I don't ordinarily do book reviews, but I often read portions of the books that publishers send me. Sadly, quite a few of them are little more than thinly-veiled sales pitches for the author's business.

"One of the worst of these promotional books just came across my desk, "Killing Sacred Cows: Overcoming the Financial Myths that are Destroying your Prosperity" by Garrett B. Gunderson. It makes some good points. I agree that you need to take responsibility for your own financial success and you should invest in yourself and your money-making potential. However, the main purpose of the book seems to be to convince you to cash out your 401(k) -- he doesn't mind that you have to pay income tax and possibly a 10% penalty -- and pay Gunderson to show you how to manage your money. If you 'apply' for his program and you have enough money, you just might be accepted!

"The only investments he endorses in the book, at least in the parts I read, are real estate and permanent life insurance. He recommends buying as much insurance as possible. (Hmmm...I wonder who benefits if you buy more than you really need?) No tips here about ways to save on premiums. Instead, he trashes term insurance because it gets expensive if you keep it until you're in your 70s. Of course there is the small problem that term insurance is the only affordable way for most young families to get the amount of insurance they need. Any of them that try to follow his advice and buy permanent life insurance are highly likely to end up seriously underinsured. And I won't even bring up what happened to all those smart people who had bad timing investing in Florida real estate. Instead of losing part of your investment to the stock market downturn, you could have lost it all to the real estate market."

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I recently had an opportunity to apply the lessons that Garrett and I teach in Killing Sacred Cows.

I've been studying affiliate marketing lately to see if it is a viable opportunity with a solid value proposition. Online affiliate marketing means to market the products and services of others in order to earn a commission from the product creator.

On the surface it sounds like a great model--you don't even have to create your own products, all you have to do is market, and you can supposedly earn great money. However, the deeper I dug the more I realized that there are significant problems with the industry and individual practices. Mind you, there are undoubtedly ways to go about it that are ethical, legal, and aligned with Soul Purpose, yet from my intense research it appears that there are very few such cases.

So what were the problems I uncovered, and how can it apply to your own life?

1. Backwards Motivation. For most people, the primary motivation for getting into the business is to make money, not to create value. They go into it asking the question, "How can I make more money?" rather than "How can I better serve others?" or "What does the marketplace need that I can provide?"

If your primary motivation is to make money, you'll be chasing money for the rest of your life. Even if you end up making a lot, you'll live in scarcity because your primary concern is money, not value creation. You'll be plagued with the worry of losing it. You'll be less inclined to be generous. You'll attach more value to material things than to people.

2. Problematic Value Proposition. As Garrett and I write in Killing Sacred Cows, "A value proposition is simply the identification of how value is created for others through specific actions, investments, business proposals, etc. A good value proposition comes in the form of a very clear and concise statement that explains how value is being created and how it will be sustained...One excellent way to analyze opportunities and mitigate risk is to ask and answer the following five questions:
1. Is this in alignment with my passion and values?
2. Will it increase and/or utilize my human life value?
3. How will it benefit others?
4. How will it benefit me?
5. Is it based on sound economic principles?"

One could say that the value proposition of affiliate marketing is that it creates value for product sellers by increasing their reach and duplicating their efforts, while creating wealth for those willing to share their product. The problem comes when we take it a step further to ask if it's creating value for the ones paying for the entire process-the end buyers.

From what I can see, most affiliate marketers--including the creator of the methodology I studied, one of the most popular on the web--simply go to Clickbank , a broker of online products, choose a product that looks like it will sell, then promote it without knowing if it's actually benefitting end users. They're not even using the product themselves. The main things they study about the product are its commission rate and popularity, not its value to society and end users.

To be clear, I'm not saying that there are not great products out there that are in reality creating value for buyers. The problem is that affiliate marketers, those promoting the products, don't know for themselves if the products are valuable or not. They're not in it to create value or to identify a solid value proposition; they're in it to make money regardless of any such considerations.

3. Unethical Practices. There's one insidious practice that got my blood boiling. It's a common practice for affiliate marketers to identify three products in a particular niche, then create a "review" site, such as this one , showing the pros and cons of each. Again, it sounds like a potentially great service--end users can ostensibly benefit from the research performed by the marketers and choose the product that best fits their needs.

So what's the problem? Based on my research, it seems that most "reviewers" are rarely reviewing anything--they're making it all up and choosing three products that will pay them a good commission. If you're an affiliate marketer who performs solid research and actually purchases and uses the products you're reviewing, please don't take this personally. I believe that there are such out there. But after reading all of the materials from the most popular affiliate marketing promoter on the web, and reading his direct instructions of how to simply copy other reviewer's websites, I'm fairly certain that I'm on track with this.

Also, every user of Clickbank, the product broker I mentioned above, agrees to certain terms and conditions when they create an account. Agreeing to an online form is just like signing your name--your integrity is on the line. In the case of the company I researched, the creator of it admits outright that he is a liar and that his word doesn't count for much.

After describing a technique he promotes, he writes, "Technically, this is against Clickbank’s terms and conditions, but I know of plenty of affiliates who do it (many of whom make $300 and upwards per day – see if you can draw a causal link). I have only heard of a few people being told to stop offering bonuses by Clickbank, and I have never heard of a single case of an affiliate being banned for doing so. I do it myself, so that should tell you where I stand on the issue." Two pages later, after describing yet another deceitful technique, he says again, "Now once more, this is against Clickbank’s policies (and I have anecdotal evidence to suggest they dislike this more than the bonus offer), but I do again know of some $500/day affiliates who do it. I have tried it myself on two occasions with moderate success..."

In other words, as long as everyone else is doing it and as long as you don't get caught, it's all right. Anyone else see a problem with this?

Such practices are not built on solid economic principles and so they will always fail. There will undoubtedly be a few who make good money doing it, but most people will find nothing but heartache pursuing these types of businesses. And even those who do make money aren't truly prospering anyway. No amount of money is worth your self-respect and the talents that will be uncovered when you set out to serve others, talents that remain largely undiscovered if your primary concern is how to make more money.

Unless you're really creating value for others, serving them, providing them with what they really need in a principled fashion, you will never find prosperity. I'm not saying to stay away from affiliate marketing--I'm saying that if you're going to do it, then do it right. Actually research and use the products you're going to promote. Promote products that align with your passions and values, that aid you in living your Soul Purpose, and that contribute to a sustainable economy and society. Never, ever lie--even if no one else will ever find out.

Conclusion

Follow these four simple steps any time you are presented with a business opportunity to discover if it is the right thing to do:

1. Start by asking, "How can I serve?" and "What does the market need that I can provide?" as opposed to "How can I make more money?"

2. Identify the value proposition, and trace it back through every level down to the end user. Look beyond the hype and sift through your feelings of scarcity. How is the business/investment creating value for others, for the economy, and for society at large? Is it truly helping others, or just selling them? Do you personally know how it's helping others, or are you just believing the hype presented by the seller?

3. Never engage in unethical or illegal practices, no matter how many others are doing it. Keep your word. Live the spirit and the letter of all of your agreements. Be a person that others can trust and you will always prosper. You reap what you sow--reap lies and you will sow mistrust and eventual failure. Reap truth and honesty and you will sow trust, loyalty, and prosperity.

4. Never spend time, effort, and money on anything--no matter how much money you can make--that does not align with your passion, values, and Soul Purpose. Find what you love to do and do it in the service of others.

 

“I know of no more encouraging fact than the unquestionable ability of man to elevate his life by conscious endeavor.” -Henry David Thoreau

In our last post we defined consumers and producers and made clear that the one choice to become a producer is the single most important factor in determining your prosperity.

Booker T. Washington was an extraordinary producer from whom we can learn many valuable lessons. He was born a slave in Virginia, was freed after the Civil War, then set out to become educated. He arrived at the Hampton Institute determined to gain admittance. This story is a perfect illustration of how a producer approaches life and its challenges.

In his autobiography he wrote, “I presented myself before the head teacher…After some hours had passed, the [she] said to me: ‘The adjoining recitation-room needs sweeping. Take the broom and sweep it.’ It occurred to me at once that here was my chance…I swept the recitation-room three times. Then I got a dusting-cloth and I dusted it four times. All the woodwork around the walls, every bench, table, and desk, I went over four times with my dusting-cloth.

"Besides, every piece of furniture had been moved and every closet and corner in the room had been thoroughly cleaned. I had the feeling that in a large measure my future depended upon the impression I made upon the teacher in the cleaning of that room.

"When I was through, I reported to the head teacher…She went into the room and inspected…When she was unable to find one bit of dirt on the floor, or a particle of dust on any of the furniture, she quietly remarked, ‘I guess you will do to enter this institution.’

"I was one of the happiest souls on earth. The sweeping of that room was my college examination, and never did any youth pass an examination for entrance into Harvard or Yale that gave him more genuine satisfaction. I have passed several examinations since then, but I have always felt that this was the best one I ever passed.”

What challenges do you face in your life? Are you approaching them as a consumer, or as a producer? As a victim, or as a hero?

“The difference between a warrior and an ordinary man is that a warrior sees everything as a challenge, while an ordinary man sees everything as either a blessing or a curse.” � -Carlos Castaneda

Being a producer means finding ways to become empowered when you feel that your options are limited. It means finding a way to succeed when everyone around you sees nothing but defeat and discouragement. It means possessing and enduring and vibrant belief that everything will always work out as long as you are committed to creating as much value for others as possible.

Follow the example of Booker T. Washington in every aspect of your life. No matter what you're currently facing, approach it with a mindset of determination and a desire to serve others. An abundance of opportunity and wealth exists for those willing to persevere in spite of obstacles and criticism.

"Always make your contribution bigger than your reward." -Dan Sullivan

When it comes to your personal prosperity, one of the most important things you can learn and internalize is the critical difference between Consumers and Producers. The decision to become a Producer, no matter what life throws at you, will determine your prosperity more than any other factor.

Read the definitions below and identify areas in your life where you may be consuming more than you produce, and strive to reverse that. Furthermore, think of how your current Consumer mindset in those areas may be influenced by scarcity thinking, and strive to cultivate the abundance mindset instead.

Consumer: One who consumes more value than he or she produces. Because consumers focus on what they get instead of what they can give, they avoid responsibility, they depend on others for their happiness, and they rarely create real value.

Consumers operate in scarcity, so they view the world through eyes that see poverty and limitations. They think there isn’t enough to go around, so they should get what they can before it all runs out. They take and leave nothing in place of what they take.

They often feel victimized by other people and external circumstances when they don’t get what they think they should. They believe that material things, not people, have intrinsic value.

Because they feel entitled to everything that is given to them, they are poor stewards and allow their human life value to degenerate.

Security to consumers is based on things outside of themselves and their choices. It is anything and everything they can think of: the government, their bosses, their company, their parents or grandparents, their 401(k), etc.

When things go wrong, nothing is ever their fault—they place blame and avoid responsibility. Security to them is the expectation that someone somewhere will always take care of them and make things right somehow. They believe in luck and misfortune, not choice and accountability.

Consumer Condition: A worldview that emphasizes scarcity, win-lose transactions, fear, selfishness, dependence, ownership, accumulation, destruction, luck, and entitlement.

Producer: One who produces more value than he or she consumes. Producers are the responsible, innovative, and creative people who create all of the products and services that we buy and use.

They are more concerned with giving than with receiving. They practice enlightened self-interest, the belief that the way to bring ourselves the most happiness is to serve others.

They are happy, wealthy, and successful, or they are on their way to becoming so. Producers lift, bless, serve, and contribute to everything good in the world. Producers always leave things better than they found them, even if they weren’t responsible for the destruction that they fix.

Producers know that people, not material things, have intrinsic value. They love people and use material things to serve others. They operate in abundance, and they view the world through eyes that see limitless possibilities for value creation.

They are wise stewards over everything that they have been blessed with.

Producer Paradigm: A worldview that emphasizes abundance, win-win interactions, faith, service, interdependence, stewardship, utilization, creation, accountability, and value creation. 

“We have no more right to consume happiness without producing it than to consume wealth without producing it.”    -George Bernard Shaw

Scarcity Mindset: The belief that resources are limited, and the world is a stage for a zero-sum game of accumulation. In a zero-sum game, anything that another wins is no longer available to all others playing the game. Further, these winnings are not replaced or transformed into anything of equivalent or greater value that remains in the game, available to other players. In scarcity, ownership by another means the loss of opportunity for oneself.

When our actions are based on a scarcity mindset, we are acting on fear: fear that we won’t get our fair share, that somebody else will reap rewards that we won’t, or that we’ll have to fight tooth and nail against others to achieve the level of success or prosperity we desire. And this fear causes us to make irrational decisions (especially when it comes to our finances) that limit our potential rather than enhance it.

In a world of possible freedom, joy, abundance, and service, a scarcity mindset cripples us and aids us in seeing not much more than limitations, suffering, poverty, and selfishness.

Abundance Mindset: The belief that there are more than enough resources to fulfill the desires of all the people within a society. At the heart of abundance is a belief in human ingenuity and human value, and a dedication to applying as much of your own value and ingenuity as you can to improve your society and reap the rewards.

The abundance paradigm helps you see the possibility of and the value in win-win exchanges and transactions. People who are operating in abundance know that by serving the wants and needs of others, and thus creating happiness in the lives of others, they actually bring more happiness to themselves. The goal is to serve others, not to exploit or dominate them. They are able to serve wholeheartedly and completely because they know that by so doing, they aren’t in any way diminishing their own happiness; in fact, they are generating more happiness and success in their own lives.

In an abundance paradigm, we fulfill our needs and wants by helping others fulfill their own; transactions are always win-win. In abundance, all of our thoughts, words, emotions, and actions are motivated by contributing to our personal success and the success of others. In abundance, no one is jealous or envious of another’s money; there is infinite wealth to be created and put to use.

 

“Riches secured on the competitive plane are never satisfactory and permanent; they are yours today, and another’s tomorrow. Remember, if you are to become rich in a scientific and certain way, you must rise entirely out of the competitive thought. You must never think for a moment that the supply is limited. Just as soon as you begin to think that all the money is being “cornered” and controlled by bankers and others, and that you must exert yourself to get laws passed to stop this process, and so on; in that moment you drop into the competitive mind, and your power to cause creation is gone for the time being; and what is worse, you will probably arrest the creative movements you have already instituted.” - Wallace D. Wattles

How does your paradigm affect how you treat yoursef and others?

Scarcity is characterized by adversarial, win-lose relationships. When people compete in scarcity they try to do so at the expense of others. Those in scarcity say or believe things like, "It's a dog-eat-dog world," or, "If you want a piece of the pie, you have to take it from other people." They feel they have to take from others to get what they want. They believe that there are never enough resources to serve all human desires.

In abundance, however, you fulfill your needs and wants by helping others to fulfill theirs; it’s always win-win. In abundance all your thoughts, speech, emotions, and actions are motivated out of love and faith. You look for opportunities to serve and give, rather than to take. You know that helping others to get what they want is the best way to get what you want. You know that there are always enough resources to fulfill all human desires.

Scarcity leads to pride, jealousy, envy, selfishness and covetousness. Abundance, on the other hand, leads to humility, confidence, and service. You cannot be jealous or envious of someone’s looks or money in abundance because you know that there are infinite forms and expressions of beauty, and infinite wealth to be accessed and utilized.

Those in scarcity often feel threatened or insecure when people disagree with them. Those who are the most secure are enjoying a high degree of the abundance paradigm. When you are in abundance, you don’t feel insecure about anyone disagreeing with your views, even if they are wrong and are at direct odds with principle.

The more abundant you are the more secure you are, and when you feel secure you are more able to get outside of yourself and listen to and deeply understand others. This in turn dramatically increases your ability to get others to listen to you. As James Allen said, “The more tranquil a man becomes, the greater his success, his influence, his power for good…The strong, calm man is always loved and revered.”

Become a "strong, calm" man or woman by ridding yourself of scarcity thinking and embracing the abundance paradigm.

How are you limited by fear? Is it keeping you from living your ideal life?

Paul Slovic , a psychologist at the University of Oregon, has spent decades studying how we decide what’s risky and what isn’t. His studies have shown that how risky something actually is has almost nothing to do with how risky we think it is.

Slovic has demonstrated that people think skiing is safer than flying on a commercial aircraft, that smoking is less dangerous than being around handguns, that nuclear power plants are riskier than cars.

Think about these questions: Do more Americans die of suicide or homicide? Which is more lethal, kidney disease or AIDS?

According to the U.S. Government, in the year 2000 nearly twice as many people killed themselves as were murdered, and kidney diseases caused nearly three times as many deaths as AIDS. Although Americans consistently rate nuclear power as one of the most dangerous of all technologies, it’s actually safer by any objective measure than most other forms of power. And two of the deadliest things in America are cigarettes and cars; auto accidents alone kill an average of 115 Americans every day.

So, what do you fear? Public speaking? Failure? Selling? Think of something that you fear, a fear that is limiting your production, then ask yourself the following questions:

1. What's the worst possible thing that could happen if my fear occurs?

2. What's the worst possible thing that could happen if I never overcome or eliminate this fear?

3. What's the best possible outcome I can expect if I don't overcome or eliminate my fear?

4. What's the best possible outcome I can expect if I do overcome or eliminate my fear? 

What possibilities would unfold in your life if you were to face and overcome your fears?

“Over the years, an investor’s financial objectives and tolerance for risk may change. An investor with a longer time horizon may be willing to take more risk for potentially greater reward than one with a shorter time horizon…Generally, the riskier the investment, the greater its possible reward.”

-Taken from a marketing piece of a leading financial institution

How can you increase your investment returns? Is it by increasing your risk, as so many financial professionals and institutions teach?

To say that to increase your returns you must increase your risk is like saying that if you want to increase your chance of winning you must increase your chance of losing. It makes no logical sense.

Peter Drucker, widely known as the "father of modern management," shares a story in his book Innovation and Entrepreneurship that drives the point home. He writes:

"A year or two ago I attended a university symposium on entrepreneurship at which a number of psychologists spoke. Although their papers disagreed on everything else, they all talked of an 'entrepreneurial personality,' which was characterized by a 'propensity for risk-taking.'

"A well-known and successful innovator and entrepreneur...was then asked to comment. He said: 'I find myself baffled by your papers. I think I know as many successful innovators and entrepreneurs as anyone, beginning with myself. I have never come across an ‘entrepreneurial personality.’ The successful ones I know all have, however, one thing—and only one thing—in common: they are not ‘risk-takers.’ They try to define the risks they have to take and to minimize them as much as possible. Otherwise none of us could have succeeded.'"

Drucker continues, "This jibes with my own experience. I, too, know a good many successful innovators and entrepreneurs. Not one of them has a 'propensity for risk-taking.'

"Of course innovation is risky. But so is stepping into the car to drive to the supermarket for a loaf of bread. All economic activity is by definition 'high-risk.' And defending yesterday—that is, not innovating—is far more risky than making tomorrow. The innovators I know are successful to the extent to which they define risks and confine them…Successful innovators are conservative. They have to be. They are not 'risk-focused'; they are 'opportunity-focused.'” [emphases added]

Never accept the propaganda that you must be willing to stomach high risks in order to achieve high returns. The truth is exactly opposite—the better you can mitigate your risks, the higher will be your investment returns. There is, in fact, a direct relationship between risk and reward, but that relationship is what financial institutions practice themselves, not what they want the public to believe.

In the past few years, hundreds of people have invested home equity, only to lose it all and get into serious financial trouble. With this in mind, here are five reasons why you should not invest your home equity. Avoiding these five pitfalls will prepare you to safely maximize the productivity of all your financial resources, including home equity.

Reason #1: Personal Consumption

If you’re going to use any of your home equity to purchase items of personal consumption, do not touch it. This is the single most prevalent and damaging pitfall with this strategy. Consumption is anything you spend money on that does not directly return money to you, such as clothes, food, vacations, jewelry, cars, boats, etc.

Consumption must be sustained by production, which means creating value for others in such a way that value is returned to you. When your consumption exceeds your production, the only logical outcome is insolvency and eventual bankruptcy.

The Solution: The wealthy never use their assets to consume—they only consume the profits generated by their assets. Only access home equity to produce and invest in things that will generate returns. Your home equity is your golden goose. Don’t kill it by consuming it—use it wisely to enjoy the golden eggs it can produce.

Reason #2: Lack of Knowledge & Chasing High Returns

With home appreciation rising in double-digits, banks giving loans liberally, and people having access to investments promising high returns, the exuberance of many so-called investors in the past few years has only been exceeded by their lack of knowledge.

People were putting money into investments that they knew very little about, they had no idea where the money went, they had no idea how to control the investment, and were doing so simply because they were receiving high returns. That is until it all came crashing down.

The Solution: If you don’t know where your money is going, what it’s doing, how it’s creating value, what your exit strategy will be, what the tax consequences are, and how you can recover if it’s lost, don’t do it. Also, if your primary reason for wanting to invest in something is to make money, don’t do it. Only invest in things that reflect your knowledge, abilities, expertise, and passions.

Reason #3: Unsafe Investments

Not only have many people been ignorant about the investments in which they have invested their home equity, but also many of the investments themselves have made very little economic sense. The investments didn’t have clear value propositions (they weren’t creating real value in the marketplace), they weren’t collateralized (or backed by hard assets such as real estate), they were speculative, they were based on artificial demand, and they had poor or no exit strategies.

The Solution: Here are just a few things to consider with any investment: Is there a real demand for this investment? Is there a clear value proposition? Is it legal? Is it ethical and moral? Is it collateralized? How well can you control the terms? Do you have the opportunity to contribute to its success in meaningful ways, or are you contributing money alone? What are the tax consequences? Can you create a foolproof exit strategy? Is the investment self-sustaining, or does it require ongoing capital contributions from outside sources? How soon will it create cash flow? Do you know the people involved? Do they have an established track record of trustworthiness and success?

If you can’t answer any of these questions satisfactorily, then either stay away from the investment or provide viable solutions for any troublesome aspects.

Reason #4: Investments Removed From Soul Purpose

Soul Purpose, as taught by Steve D'Annunzio, is the combination of your inborn abilities, talents, and passions and that provide a natural direction for your most fulfilling life. It is your greatest purpose for being on the Earth—the mission you were born for.

Every thought and action leads you either closer to living your Soul Purpose, or further away from it. Few people invest in things that align with their Soul Purpose because they get sidetracked chasing high returns. Investing out of alignment with Soul Purpose inevitably leads to mediocrity at best, and failure at worst.

The Solution: What are you great at doing ? What things are you naturally drawn to? What are your dreams? What is your vision of your best self? What things increase your energy ? These are the only things you should be investing money into. For example, if you have a passion for real estate, invest in real estate. If your passion is philanthropy, start a non-profit or contribute to an existing one. If you love cooking and entrepreneurship, maybe starting a restaurant makes sense.

Creating portfolio income is hard work, and the only way you’ll endure challenges is if what you’re doing is an expression of your Soul Purpose. The best investment is an investment in yourself and your Soul Purpose through education. Education will help you develop your Soul Purpose and bring it to the marketplace practically and meaningfully.

Reason #5: Learning the Wrong Lessons

If your investment fails, what’s the lesson you’re going to learn? For most, the answer doesn’t go further than, “I knew I shouldn’t have done that!” This type of thinking is disempowering and leads people to avoid future action. They learn to stay away from investing, rather than learning how to manage it better.

The Solution: No matter how well you mitigate risk, in a dynamic world things will inevitably go differently than you anticipate. Commit now to learning the right lessons when things go wrong. Learn what things you can change about yourself and your approach to increase your safety, returns, and success. Unfortunate events present amazing opportunities to become more confident with your investments, rather than cynical and distrustful.

Conclusion

Investing your home equity can be one of the riskiest strategies if you do so for personal consumption, to put money into things you know little about in order to chase high returns, to invest in inherently risky investments, to invest in anything removed from your Soul Purpose, or if you will learn the wrong lessons when unexpected events occur.

However, it can also be a powerful strategy that will help you unlock your financial potential. To do so requires that you never borrow money to consume, you always have a good understanding of your investments and never invest to make money primarily, your investments make good economic sense and your risk is mitigated well, you only invest in things that align with your Soul Purpose, and you commit to learning the right lessons when you encounter setbacks and difficulties.

Billionaire investor Warren Buffett was once talking to a group of college students and told them, “I am really no different than you. I may have more money than you do, but money doesn’t make the difference…

"If there is any difference between you and me, it may simply be that I get up every day and have a chance to do what I love to do, every day. If you want to learn anything from me, this is the best advice I can give you.”

If you’re unhappy with your life, the chances are that you are not providing a fraction of the value that you’re capable of. Happy people who focus on developing their unique gifts always produce more value for others and alleviate more suffering in the world than those who are routinely unhappy.

What will it take for you to live the life you love? What will be the effect in your personal life? What will be the effect on the world at large? How many more people can you impact by living your ideal life and doing what you were born to do? How many problems exist and how many people are suffering if you're not?

Getting Rich Your Own Way, written by Srully Blotnick, details a study that began in 1960 of 1,500 people representing a cross-section of middle-class America.

Throughout the twenty-year study, they lost almost a third of participants due to deaths, moves, or other factors. Of the 1,057 that remained, 83 had become millionaires.

When Mr. Blotnick’s team interviewed participants at the beginning of the study, the most widely shared impression they found was that “great wealth can come to you only as a result of doing things you don’t want to do.” They also noted that from the start, most participants assumed that chance would play a decisive role in determining who became wealthy.

They found that the 83 successful people shared five characteristics: They were persistent, they were patient, they were willing to handle both the “nobler and the pettier” aspects of their job, they had an increasingly noncompetitive attitude towards the people with whom they worked, and their investment activities—aside from their main career—consumed a minimum of their time and attention.

Writes Blotnick, “We originally expected the people in our sample to become wealthy by taking the money they earned at work and investing it wisely, in such things as stocks, bonds, and real estate…we thought there’d be no way for [them] to become rich unless they used their surplus income to generate more income…It didn’t work out that way…More often than not they made little or no money investing.”

In short, what the study unveiled was that the main source of wealth for the successful participants was that they found something they loved to do and they did it well. “In case after case,” says Blotnick, “they did increasingly well occupationally, while their pursuit of investment profits proved to be largely a waste of time. in the long run, it was their work which made them rich.” Blotnick concludes that investing in yourself, what you do, and with whom you do it are the most important determining factors of wealth.

Are you living your Soul Purpose ? If not, it's highly unlikely that you will achieve financial freedom.

“A person can have many talents and gifts and do many things exceptionally well, but your vein of gold, ah...That is the thing you do superbly.”     -Julia Cameron  

America's earliest citizens believed in an ideal that they called Providence, which is something that has been largely forgotten today. To believe in Providence means two things: 1) You believe in a Creator that governs, and 2) You believe that you were born with a unique mission that you alone can perform, and that the world suffers if you don’t fulfill your mission.

Providence is having a relationship with your God that gives you the faith and motivation to fulfill your unique mission regardless of the consequences.
Another way to say Providence is “Soul Purpose.” Soul Purpose is your unique set of talents, abilities, and passions applied productively and effectively, making tremendous impact upon the world and bringing the highest levels of joy and fulfillment for you and everyone you touch. It’s the mission that you were born for; it’s what you would do every day even if you didn’t get paid for it. When you’ve truly found your Soul Purpose, you create so much value for others that you’re almost inevitably paid very well indeed.

How do you know if you are living Providence and Soul Pupose? A good indication of that is if you can't wait to jump out of bed and begin every day with excitement and purpose. If you find yourself dreading going to work you know that something must change.

The best thing you can do for yourself and for society is to find and develop your passion--to revive the spirit of Providence in your own life and live your Soul Purpose.

Recommended Resources to Help You Find Your Soul Purpose:

Kolbe A Index

Strengthsfinder

Enneagram Institute

 

Do you serve people as they want to be served, or as you would like to be served?

A young boy and his father were once shopping for a Mother's Day gift. The boy eagerly found toys and asked his father if they could buy them. "No," came the reply, "We're shopping for a gift for Mommy today." The boy quickly answered, "I think Mommy wants an action figure!"

Too often we project what we would like onto others. The Golden Rule says to treat others as you would like to be treated. But the Platinum Rule says to treat others as they would like to be treated. To live this higher law we must get outside of ourselves to ascertain the needs and desires of others.

Value follows value, but if we want this principle to apply in our lives we must give to others the value that they want to receive, not the value that we want.

 

 

 

The mind is incredibly powerful, yet it must be consistently trained and guided if you want to truly tap its limitless capacity. An excellent way to facilitate this mental discipline is to consistently ask yourself the right questions. 

 Your brain is designed to answer every question you give it. The types of questions you ask determine the answers you receive. For example, in Rich Dad, Poor Dad Robert Kiyosaki teaches that the poor say things like, "I can't afford it" while the rich ask, "How can I afford it?"

When things go differently than you expected, questions like, “Why did this have to happen to me?” give you answers that feed a sense of victimhood and justify a lack of responsibility. On the other hand, questions like, “What can I learn from this?” or, “What would it take to make this situation better?” result in answers that empower, motivate, and inspire you. 

Learn to consistently ask yourself the right questions and you will access power you never knew you had.

Would you rather have Tiger Woods’ golf clubs, or his swing? Do you rely upon principles, or strategies?

A golf club, however expensive and perfectly crafted, is worthless in the hands of a person who doesn't know how to use it. Likewise, those who rely upon strategy alone—without a basis in principle—will eventually fail when the conditions upon which the strategy is based change.

For example, investing in real estate is a strategy. A principle that governs real estate investing is that people have intrinsic value, while material things have none. So many real estate "investors" think that their houses are the assets, and that their tenants are liabilities. An understanding of that basic principle can help them to realign how they approach their real estate investing--they will seek to improve properties to create value for people, not because they value the properties over people. And by doing so, their cash flow will likely increase. (After all, people write checks--not properties.)

Consumers only look for tools and strategies in their search for financial freedom, without understanding or caring about underlying principles. Producers find and understand principles and align their thoughts, speech, and actions with them, and all else flows naturally.

If you want to become a better golfer, good clubs may play a part in your improvement, but improving your own skills through consistent practice should be your initial focus. Strategies follow principles in the same manner. Focus on learning and living the principles of prosperity before being overly-concerned with financial strategies.

In your journey to financial freedom, do you identify wealthy people and try to do what they did, or do you try to think like they thought?

The actions of people are value neutral; what gives all actions value are the thoughts and intents behind them. Two people could perform the exact same action but have different reasons for doing so, and the results would also be completely different.

Financial freedom isn't about doing; it's about thinking. Spending your time doing without understanding how to think is like a rat running on a wheel in a cage. Don't look for the right things to do, identify the right way to think .

Do you know what to invest in, or do you often ask successful people or consult financial publications to find what the best investments are?

Every time you wonder what you should invest in, the answer is always--without exception--to invest in yourself, or your human life value.

Your human life value is your own particular combination of knowledge, skills, and abilities—everything that you are when you take away all of your material resources. It is your character and integrity, your ability to think creatively and uniquely, your relationships, your faith—or the lack of each of these things. It is your knowledge and ability to shape materials and information in new ways that are valued and utilized by others and yourself.

The fact that you are asking what you should invest in tells you that your human life value is not sufficient to invest in anything without risk and with a basis in principle. If your human life value is developed enough, you would never have a need to ask the question.

The best investment you can ever make is to increase your human life value. Turn inward for personal improvement and your value will flow outward to those around you.

Would you still be doing what you're doing today, or would it be different? What would it be? Why? What's preventing you from doing it today, right now?

Now is your time to be your ideal self and live your ideal life . If money is the main thing keeping you from being who you dream of being, then now is the time to break through that tyranny of the mind.

There are problems waiting to be solved that only you can solve. There is value to be created that can only materialize in your unique way. As Gandhi said, "The difference between what we do and what we are capable of doing would suffice to solve most of the world's problems."

What would it take to get you to do what you would do if money were no concern today?