I was texting my star MHP student and friend Aran Dunlop over the weekend and based on my last email rant he kind of implied that I'm sounding more and more like Donald Trump by the day.
I don't know if that's good or bad. I'm thinking by his tone that he probably didn't mean it as a compliment.
I'm not sure if you knew this or not but Donald Trump and I share the same birthday: June 14th. This means we're both Geminis which are known to have dual personalities, be a little "unfocused" at times, and definitely quick on the temper front. This is both good and bad in business. We tend to be personable but when things don't go our way, we can turn a room cold just with one laser-beam stare. And, of course, the temper never helps either.
So, I'll admit, I explode once in awhile. But, as strange as this may seem, I turn out my best work when I'm on edge and pissed off about something. I certainly wish I could function at this higher level in a peaceful zen-like state but, unfortunately, it doesn't seem to work out this way for me.
I may disagree about a lot of what Donald Trump states he believes in but one thing I do "get" about him is that he's a doer. He makes his own "luck" by getting off his ass and making things happen. Hence why he was able to take on and win an presidential election. He decided one day that he was going to run and he...well, just did it. And wondespite the odds stacked against him, despite the negative (and potentially crippling) press, and having an opponent that, by all accounts, ran spades around him by having much more experience in politics. None of that matters when you zero in on a target and just go for it without doubt, floundering around, or second-guessing anything.
And for that I admire him.
There is only ONE thing that is separating you from the things that you want in life: UNRELENTING UNWAVERING FOCUS.
If you don't have this component, it doesn't matter what else you have going for you. Resources, knowledge, a desire...whatever. None of that matters unless you get out there and start working your plan, moving forward in one direction no matter what is thrown your way.
I've had a few students email me over the weekend about my upcoming Affiliate Bonanza Mentorship Group. Some of these students have been with me for 5+ years, getting involved in as many teachings as I've done from seminars to mentorships to workshops and everything in between. They're certainly NOT lacking in knowledge or resources but...they don't ever do anything. Even worse, they're frustrated with themselves because they know that they've become their worst enemy by not implementing anything and yet they have no idea how to ZONE IN and FOCUS like a mad dog!
So, here's a suggestion for you if you're one of those people: CLEAR YOUR SLATE. Yes, you read that right. Instead of flailing about with all these options, possibilities, and opportunities -- finding yourself confused and misdirected -- start FOCUSING ON ONE THING and go from there.
For example, if you have a full-time job, you know exactly what to do when you get there, right? Great. Then you create a "second career" schedule for yourself which can be devoting even 15 minutes a day to your new enterprise. (The awesome thing about the Affiliate Bonanza Mentorship is that it requires almost NO TIME AT ALL to make wildly successful for yourself.) And this "second career" needs to be ONE THING ONLY. No more having multiple things on your plate that you're trying to do at once. THIS will be the ONLY thing you'll be doing for the next 2 months...and nothing else on the entrepreneur side of your life EXCEPT for this.
You have to reel in your focus otherwise you'll find yourself on this psychotic treadmill where you're running and running yet accomplishing nothing. And then you keep beating yourself up because you're older but still nowhere. STOP THE INSANITY! You have the power RIGHT NOW to stop it. Instead, FOCUS! FOCUS! FOCUS!!
If you make THIS the ONLY thing you're going to commit to then you WILL succeed in doing this. Guaranteed.
If you haven't listened to my 10-minute audio seminar on how this whole thing works, CLICK HERE. This WILL be life-changing for you!
The other day I sent an email out about getting rid of toxic relationships so that you can catapult your life into a different more positive, happy, and prosperous stratosphere by getting rid of people who are draining you...as I've been doing. And the outpouring of emails from all of you have been fabulous, encouraging, and have really made me realize just how awesome most of my students are. I've even had dozens of amazing men send some incredible emails to me in support of the changes I'm making -- getting rid of the deadbeat men out of my own personal life -- and with full understanding on what I'm going through. You're all so awesome. Thanks so much for your support!
But, as you know, there's always that ONE piece of sh** that bubbles up from the bottom of the loser cesspool. Kenneth is the name of this particular POS. Here's his highly intelligent and well-written email (I'm being sarcastic) that he sent to me in response to the one I sent a couple of days ago:
"WTF is all this bullshit you are sending us????This is a sales letter???? you kidding us right??? sounds like and written like all the transparent Nigrians cams Pls Get real and get alife !!!!!"
What's interesting about this email is that years ago it would have pissed me off. Today...this is something that makes me laugh my ass off about. The reason it's so funny is that I think of the loser behind his laptop, probably some sloth-like over-the-hill greasy stinky 300-lb-overweight Coke-bottle-bottom-glasses-wearing pervert-looking idiot who spends his days jacking off to internet porn between dodging his bitchy mother who yells at him every day to get out of her basement and finally find a freaking job. And a life. This is Kenneth. Total gross pervert loser who will never amount to anything.
Even worse for people like him, he's miserable in his own skin because he already knows just what a POS he really is. He's unsuccessful. Knows deep down that he'll never be successful. Is clearly threatened by a woman like myself who is extremely successful. And tries making himself feel better about himself by trolling the internet and writing sh** like the email above in a desperate attempt to make himself feel...manly? Important? Smart? Who knows what this loser thinks. What I do know is that sh** heads like Kenneth don't have the ability to ever become successful doing anything. Not now. Not ever!
And here's why:
He's become his own worst enemy. He decided at some point (probably fairly early on) that he's content with being glued to somebody else's rat-infested couch, sucking down White Castle sliders all day while watching People's Court, and mooching off his family because it means he never has to face the real world. Never has to win. Never has to lose (even though he already has...just hasn't realized it yet). And finds "power" in insulting others because, for a fraction of a second, it makes him feel good about himself.
What a crappy way to live!
Why am I telling you all this? Because you DON'T want to be like Kenneth or anything remotely like the guy. You want to be amazing, productive, successful, and so ecstatically happy that you don't feel like having a sense of power means trying to bring others down. You want to live an extraordinary life in every way possible. Because that's what you deserve. You just have to go out there and get it.
Now back to Kenneth and others like him, take a very close look at the email he wrote above. In order to succeed in ANYTHING in this day and age, you MUST have good communication skills. I don't care if you're sending an email to a listing agent about a property that you're interested in investing in or if you're setting up a basic website for a small business you're doing. You CANNOT type rhetoric and nonsense like what Kenneth displayed above and expect to have anyone with any inkling of professionalism respond to you in a positive way. Most will just delete then block you if you want to spew this type of crap to anyone. Being professional at all times will allow you to have the success in life that you want. And yes, sometimes you'll be dealing with frustrating pompous people but you just have to bite your tongue (something I'm still learning) and power through it with the best character you can muster.
And by the way, what Kenneth was referring to is my latest Money Funnel Online Marketing Strategy called the Affiliate Marketing Bonanza Mentorship Group. This is when I'll be training you over the course of 8 weeks with 8 60- to 90-minute webinars showing you exactly what you need to do to create 3 to 5 basic websites. The awesome thing about this mentorship is, unlike my Money Funnel Group that I did earlier last year, I will be focusing about 70% of the group on the marketing aspect. This will be the part about placing Facebook ads and doing other types of highly effective marketing. This, of course, is the most critical part in all this and this is the part we'll be concentrating the most on.
But imagine if Kenneth were to start putting together a website with his highly intelligent, incredibly articulate means of written communication. Imagine if he wrote his Facebook ad like the way he writes his email. Do you think somebody like that has a chance in hell in making any money in this or anything else? The answer: HELL NO!
So, as a cautionary disclaimer...if you write or express yourself or think the way Kenneth communicates is acceptable within the English language parameters, DO NOT register for this (or any other) group that I'm doing. Because if you honestly think that communicating this way will make you money, think again. My advice to you is to either learn how to write and speak English or find somebody who does who can help you. Existing this way in the world of business will become fruitless for you if you cannot communicate at all.
For Kenneth and those like him, I suggest Hooked on Phonics. Shock therapy. Or a brain lobotomy. Whatever you think may work, The world of business waits for no one and has absolutely no mercy for idiots.
P.S. The Detroit event is ALMOST FULL! CLICK HERE to reserve your seat for only $100 if you want to come, meet my investor partner, and discover everything you need to know to make a killing in real estate during this upcoming recession and beyond!
I know I'm going to sound like a horrible person for what I'm about to say but I think, at some point, we all get to a stage in our lives where we refuse to be a doormat anymore. At least I'd hope that most or all of us would get to that point.
I decided that 2017 is going to be the year where I ditch every single man in my life that has been nothing but a leach/user/freeloader with their hand out constantly as if I owe them something.
The latest male in my life in line with his hand out was none other than my dad who, I mentioned before, showed up at my doorstep with a suitcase in hand wanting to park his ass in my house while claiming to sort out his debacle with his very ill wife. And this was just after I got rid of one of the many male freeloaders that showed up and left within the last year from my former step-son to my brother to Deadbeat Hubby #2 and then Deadbeat Hubby #3. It never seemed to end. When lessons need to be learned, they keep showing up with the same message but in different forms. With me, the lesson that needed to be learned: Stand up to freeloading men no matter who they are. Stop tolerating it. Stop being abused in this way.
The final falling out with my dad came over New Year's weekend when we sat down to have dinner and, after almost 4 months of residing in my house with seemingly no progress with his household situation, I finally asked him when he's selling his house and moving forward with his life. And with all seriousness in the world, he looked at me and said, "I'm not putting an ill woman out on the street," as if to imply that I was crazy for ever thinking that this was his plan in the first place. And then he chuckled as if to say, Well you bought that lie hook, line and sinker, didn't you?
What a lot of people don't know about me is that I'm half Italian (not to mention a dual-personality Gemini) so my temper is VERY SHORT. However, it does take a while of building and building and buildingbefore the volcano explodes. And that's exactly what happened on New Year's Eve. The volcano exploded with no warning, no way to hold it back, and no desire on my part to candy-coat how I felt. I very curtly and probably quite rudely yelled at him about how his problems are not my problem. His wife's issues are not my issues. In other words, his personal bullsh** not only has nothing to do with me but I'm no longer buying into the notion that these things he dumped on my doorstep are things I have to deal with anymore. And then I told him to get the f*** out of my house.
Two days later he was gone. My daughter Brie is ecstatic, as my dad was really suffocating her freedom and comfort levels in her own home. And I'm glad he's gone as well. I needed my house and my personal sanctuary back.
To add insult to injury, as my dad left, he dropped off a $1,700 dental bill on my kitchen table and asked me to pay it. Then he left, locking my door. In other words, refusing to return my key. But I'm having a locksmith take care of changing all of my locks as we speak so he can't come back anymore. I wanted to cry as he left because he left that bill...and it never seems to be enough that these men just want to take and take and take with no remorse, no pride, and no self-respect on their part. At the same time, I felt incredible that I finally launched over another obstacle in my life, learning a lesson I'd struggled with for so long about being a doormat and not speaking up enough. Kicking my own dad out of my house after I decided to STOP being taken advantage of: PRICELESS.
I started thinking about all the others before my dad in different disguises trying to teach me the same lesson of standing up, not tolerating being used, and forcing my will on those who want to impose their freeloader-ism upon me. I think I finally "got" the lesson with the hardest freeloader to kick to the curb: a family member. My dad. But as cold-hearted as it seems to be, it's necessary -- required even -- to lose anyone and everyone who is leaching off of you with no pride on their part. No courtesy to how you feel. No interest in anything but what they can forcefully extract from you. Much of what you'll lose isn't money or resources but a huge chunk of your precious soul gets lopped off and obliterated in the equation. And that's the part that's NOT okay in all this.
My last male-deadbeat project is my second husband who hasn't paid a single cent to my daughter's well-being. (At one point I was paying him child support for a daughter he never saw! I finally had that thrown out of court. That's how some of these self-entitled California boys are...they think everyone owes them something.) He's being served his court paperwork today. After my daughter Brie has been on this earth for 8 1/2 years, he hasn't paid a single penny for anything having to do with raising this child. I have a new female judge and come February 6th, I'll have this fierce woman on my side ruling in my favor to have this deadbeat finally start paying for his child. (Trust me, I don't need his money. But this is part of regaining my power in my life.) And if he doesn't pay? That's fine too. I'll have the state of California get involved and, for those of you who have ever had to pay child support in California, you'd know how vicious this state is to those deadbeats who don't pay. The state will start stripping everything away. No car registration. No license renewal. Contractor's license revoked. Eventually the passport will go too. Finally, it's jail time. And that's how it goes. F*** him. That's what he deserves. The loser.
This New Monica Main isn't a doormat anymore. And there's such immense power in taking back your life and doing the things you've only been talking about for too many years...and not doing for one reason or another. Toxic relationships will RUIN YOUR LIFE. What I also learned is that you adopt the karma of another human being who is close to you in your life, especially those who live in your household. If you have a spouse with a lot of negativity or "bad luck," you'll adopt that as your own. And guess what? Nothing you do or try will ever work out for you until you get rid of this toxic individual or multiple individuals. I've learned this the hard way when finally kicking Deadbeat Hubby #3 to the curb. I was taking on his karma and bad luck which started affecting everything in my own life (and I never realized it until now). Now that he's gone, the karmic tides have quickly shifted back in my favor. My "good luck" is back now that I'm clear of all of these toxic individuals that I got rid of.
Who do YOU have to get rid of now? Who have you been wanting to disconnect from but haven't due to the avoidance of "discomfort" or stress or...God forbid, "hurting" the other person even though YOU are the one hurting yourself in the process? Listen, the longer you stay in these toxic, deadly, and DRAINING relationships -- no matter WHO they are with -- you are essentially screwing yourself out of the freedom and happiness that you deserve. Stop hurting yourself this way. Make 2017 the year that you put these people out of your life where they deserve to be...gone from your "inner circle" of your life for good.
But getting rid of toxic people and relationships is only ONE PART of the deal. Part II is doing stuff that will get you to where you want to be in life. You first have to shed the people weighing you down. Then you have to find the elements needed to help skyrocket your life into the atmosphere of happiness and prosperity.
For many of you, it's finding the perfect tool to make money. And what's awesome about right now, for perhaps the first time in many years, I finally have a tool that is basic, easy to do, quick to make work, and cost-effective to operate as an Aggressive Income Strategy.
It's a BRAND NEW Money Funnel Strategy that is like NOTHING like I've ever done a training on. CLICK HERE if you haven't listened to my powerful mind-blowing 10-minute audio seminar yet. This is so incredibly financially life-changing for you...it WILL blow your mind. But I must add a disclaimer: I will ONLY be doing ONE of these 8-week online training groups and that's it. If you miss it...too bad!
See you at the top!
Your mentor,
Monica Main
P.S. The Detroit seminar still has spots available for Gold VIP. Platinum VIP is SOLD OUT. So, if you want in for my only seminar on real estate that I'll be doing in ALL of 2017 then you need to get your seat now. As I mentioned, I have an investor partner that will be showing up and meeting some of you. This is ONLY for those of you who show up and want to chat with him. He's looking for deals, looking for students to partner with, and looking to building more relationships with my students. But only those of you who show up have the opportunity to meet this guy in person. CLICK HERE to grab your spot before we run out of room at this exclusive one-time-only event in Detroit on February 23rd, 24th and 25th.
Last weekend I thought I was going to die. I was trying to push this flu I've been fighting out of my system so I went to Whole Foods and got this Echinacea supplement that caused me to overdose by giving me an allergic reaction I never expected. I literally thought I was going to die. I had hives everywhere, I couldn't breathe, my heart was racing like a horse and my blood pressure dropped to uncomfortable lows. Here I am several days later and still not at 100%.
It just makes me realize how fragile life is. Anything can happen at any time without notice. And who knew that an all-natural supplement would cause such an imbalance in the body. If I was a little older or not as healthy, it may have killed me. It made me vow to be extremely careful with the herbal supplements I take, maybe even cutting back on my regular supplement regimen because it's a toss up on what any of this stuff is anymore. It made me wonder how many people just drop dead without their families having any clue as to what they were taking, thinking that their death was just "old age" or, even worse, "unknown."
This goes back to what I was saying in an email a few weeks ago about how instant the end of your life can come. One minute you're here. The next minute you're not. Yes, it can happen that fast. It happens like that for thousands of people every moment of every day. And one day it'll be you, too.
Kind of morbid, isn't it?
But I have a point here. I promise.
We're getting into a new year now. Yes, another one. And I can promise you that you're probably sitting there right now having already thought about the things that you had planned for last year's New Year's Resolutions that didn't manifest. Many of you have been unfocused or just floundering around for the past year or so. And you can't make anything happen in your life if you're an unfocused flounder.
I've turned a major corner in my life which I describe in my January Viper Wealth issue. A lot will begin to change for me...almost like greased lightning simply because this one personal issue of mine has finally been resolved after being in flux for more than a half-decade. My focus is back. My "groove" is back. And I can now really get on track in doing the things I've been wanting to do with my students for a couple of years now.
I decided to start this new year with something my students have been asking me about for almost a year now and I haven't had time in my schedule to devote a Mentorship Group to it...until now. Back in March and May of 2016 when I did my Beverly Hills and Vegas events, I started showing my students how to make a killing online selling other people's products using a very unique system that several of my students are now using to pull in $10,000 to $25,000 per month. This encompasses only a handful of my students and those who were technically apt to "fill in the blanks" on some of the things I was teaching earlier last year. I knew I had to do a very in-depth training on this that I could never do in a 2- or 3-day seminar event and now I'm finally making it happen.
CLICK HERE to find out what I'm talking about. This can and will change the entire landscape of your financial future if you do this 8-week online group with me. This is powerful online money-making stuff here that I'll be showing a small group of you in this ONE-TIME-ONLY Mentorship Group. CLICK HERE NOW to find out more about this including listening to my 10-minute audio seminar about it. This is truly MIND BLOWING STUFF.
I've been waiting for this day for quite some time now and I'm so glad it's finally here. A New Year ALWAYS brings new possibilities, excitement and opportunities.
But...
I can already tell that 2017 is going to be...much different than other years. I can't describe how I know this but I do. You'll see.
Regardless of everything that you'll notice happening (mostly on the political and economic fronts), DO NOT let all of this activity throw your focus. Instead, make a commitment to yourself that you will keep a steady disciplined eye on YOUR LIFE ONLY. This includes all of the components that will make your life awesome and successful from your family to your new wealth-generating businesses that you will grow in 2017 and beyond.
Your new life starts right now. It starts today. So, let's do this. And let's do this together.
Let's make 2017 our best year ever!!
CLICK HERE to see the first wealth-building strategy I have for you for this new year!
It's time to say good-bye to 2016. Yeeeeeeesssss!!!
The year is over. And it couldn't come quick enough for me.
I have this rock on my desk. It says BEGIN AGAIN. I look at it everyday. It's a reminder that, at ANY time during our lives, we can simply BEGIN AGAIN whenever it feels right or time to do so. But for many of us, we identify the hard and obvious new beginning as a date and there's no better date to start over with anything in your life than January 1st.
And that's tomorrow!
Do you have your list of New Year's Resolutions written down yet? If not, there's still time...like right now.
But I have a feeling that I already know what's on your list. It's probably relatively the same every year as it's the same for most people: MAKE A LOT MORE MONEY!
Am I right?
I have a solution for you. But I'm not going to tell you what it is. I want you to CLICK HERE and listen to a 10-minute audio seminar I put together for you today.
In the meantime, stay safe tonight. And don't do anything I wouldn't do (which isn't much).
Last week I let everyone know about finally graduating from graduate school with my M.F.A. in Screenwriting. And while I got A LOT of emails of congratulations from many of my students (thank you!), I had this one email that kind of pissed me off, even though I'm pretty sure the sender of the email didn't mean it the way I initially thought he did.
The email went like this:
"I would never have figured that you would have had an interest in screenwriting. You can find plenty of viable storylines just by going to the library and reading up on historical figures, preferably in older volumes. University libraries are best for this, because they retain such works, while public libraries are always rotating out their older stocks."
Everything's always so easy. But we all know that it's not. Right?
Screenwriting, for instance, is NOT just about "story lines" otherwise everyone would be writing a blockbuster movie on their laptop as we speak...yet we all know that ain't happening. Story lines are only ONE of MANY ELEMENTS that go into screenwriting. In fact, the story line itself is actually a smaller part of a screenplay. Your characters, dialogue and plot points are the most important elements...in that order. Also, what a lot of people don't know about me was that my genre is comedy. (Yes, you read that correctly.) And I'm pretty sure that digging through a dusty old library looking for historic stories will do nothing to service MY vision for MY stories on the ridiculous funny-ass comedy scripts that I write.
Pertaining to life in general though, there's ALWAYS a know-it-all in the crowd, isn't there? These are the same people who don't represent, in anyway, how you'd want to live your own life (because they have NOTHING you'd want to emulate) yet they always want to drop in their opinion about how "easy" it is to do something.
So...if it's so f***** easy, why haven't you done it already then?
Usually they'll reply like, "Oh, I've never been interested in that but I could do that if I wanted to..." or some other such dense response to protect their empty dead-end know-it-all-ism.
But I started thinking about it. This kind of applies to everything, doesn't it? There's always the broke ass family member who sits around at family holiday parties, telling everyone advice about starting a multi-million-dollar business or becoming an Olympic swimmer or becoming a bestselling author...or writing a screenplay. It's always so EASY because you merely have to do this or that to get it done. And that's it. Just this or that, you moron, and how dare you not know this or that?! Because it's just so EASY.
So EASY, in fact, that they themselves have never done the things they seem to know everything about. (What a coincidence, right?) They've never been successful at all using any of these easy-to-do bits of advice that they seem to have no problem, without solicitation, dispensing like PEZ candy at the drop of a hat.
For starting a multi-million-dollar Internet-based business...? Just merely do THIS OR THAT and you'll simply become a millionaire online. EASY. Except they haven't done it...and never will.
For investing in passive income real estate that generates tens of thousands of dollars per month in net income...? Just merely do THIS OR THAT and you'll simply become a real estate millionaire. EASY. Except they haven't done it...and never will.
Because it's NEVER just simply "this or that" and then you'll be successful. Never. There's alwaysmuch more to it.
Now, to be clear, there ARE much shorter ways between Point A and Point B in most cases. There are options as to AVOID the pitfalls, mistakes, time-wasting and bumbling through to figure things out on your own. In fact, it's always recommended that you geteducated in the best possible way before embarking on any journey. There are people who have gone on the same journeys that you choose to embark upon so why not learn from what they did successfully so that you can become as successful as quickly as possible while minimizing the mistakes? That's the smartway in doing things. Learn, educate yourself and then embark on the journey.
Over the last 2 years during my journey in graduate school I've felt that I've had too many irons in the fire. Now that I'm done with graduate school, I can now focus on the things I want to do. My main focus are my students and being able to bring them (you) the very best possible education in making money that you can possibly get. This includes having the most cutting-edge strategies AND telling you what NOT to do right at the moment (as I did with what's going on with our upcoming recession). And as I mentioned before, this also includes upping the ante with my own marketing and sales education by becoming part of a very elite top marketing Mastermind Group that costs A LOT of money. And the cool thing about this is that I can GUARANTEE you, my dear student, that I will be divulging ALL of my new learned success information to you. And I think it's pretty awesome that you can be part of that without you having to pay that kind of money for this top-notch once-in-a-lifetime education curve.
We ALL have to keep moving forward with learning from others whether it be graduate school or marketing seminars or reading business books. KEEP LEARNING. KEEP GROWING. There's no better way to learn how to do something than to learn from someone who has successfully done it and can teach you the best way to do it from scratch with the least amount of pain and mistake-making on your part. I love learning. At any given time you'll see a slew of new business, sales, and marketing books that I just ordered and am in the process of reading. Even if you get one small "golden nugget" of information from each book -- even if it's something you thought you knew before but it reminded you to maybe...I don't know, IMPLEMENT the information? -- then it's WORTH it.
I get irritated when I buy a new book and I look at the Amazon reviews. There are know-it-alls there too. You'll get these reviews complaining about some books having "no new information" and stuff in them that they've "read before in other books." Blah, blah, blah...
But yet...you didn't implement any of these techniques and strategies yet? You know it all but...you're not DOING any of it? Instead...just looking for the next miracle book with the magic pill formula in it that goes something like: open this book, magic fairy dust will immediately come flurrying out, your life will change instantly from pauper to king, and you'll be freaking happy beyond your wildest dreams? All from merely buying then opening a book?
But we all know there is no book remotely like that, although I think that book in The NeverEnding Story is a close second. In case nobody told you, though. That book in the movie wasn't real. The movie isn't part of real life that I'm aware of. It was part of the amazing imagination of...a screenwriter...who coincidentally didn't go digging through a library to find the easy-to write historic story line.
My point for Bob and anyone who is like Bob in any way is this: NOTHING worthwhile is EASY. Nothing! There are many steps, much hard work, lots of stress, and times when you fall on your ass because you didn't make the cut. What sets apart the winners from the losers is tenacity or continuing to move forward with it despite the dark times, despite wanting to throw in the towel every 5 minutes, despite the going getting rough. And keeping going until you make it to the finish line. Ask anyone -- Michael Phelps, Lebron James, Oprah, Stephen Spielberg, Bill Gates, Warren Buffet, or anyone who's made it big -- it's NEVER "just this or that" and it's that EASY. Never!
At least my student told me "congratulations," though. At least THAT is something.
A lot of people have this false sense that I'm set for life. Except for a handful of billionaires that come to mind, reality is...NOBODY is really "set for life." No matter who we are or how successful we become, we always keep hustling and taking advantage of new opportunities.
I don't know about you but I'm looking forward to 2017. As I mentioned before, we're slipping into a recession and it's during times like these that I tend to do much better with BOTH Aggressive and Passive Income Opportunities.
But you kind of have to know how to profit from these times ahead if you plan on profiting from these times ahead. I know it seems obvious but most people actually expect to get a different result simply by doing the same ole same ole they've BEEN doing for the past several years.
And that ain't how it works, folks!
You actually have to do something DIFFERENT than what you've been doing if you honestly expect different results! No exceptions. Period.
So...what do you differently to get different results?
Everything.
You have to change how you think, starting with breaking out of your limiting beliefs about what you can't do and start doing what you've always been meant to do.
To make money in this world, you have to start MOVING into some direction of where the cash is, ideally with a sound business plan that has been proven to work for others. Without a plan, it's literally impossible to make a business work. Trust me, I've tried. Going out there and flailing about won't get anyone to write checks to you that you can deposit into your bank account.
So, the short answer to -- can YOU become extremely wealthy in 2017? -- is ABSOLUTELY, HELL YES!
But, you MUST know HOW to do it after selecting which path you'd prefer to take. Trying to get rich doing things you don't like doesn't work. So, instead, choose something you DO like to do and go from there.
Maybe now is a really good time to figure out what you like and what you don't like so you can hit the ground running once 2017 rolls around.
On my way back from Palm Springs I saw a man almost die on the 10 freeway. The whole thing happened in slow motion. There was a guy driving an older burgundy Ford Explorer and somebody cut him off. The guy in the Explorer jerked the wheel to the right then tried to over-correct by jerking the wheel to the left. He spun around in a donut several times starting from the slow lane then bouncing like a ping-pong ball across the freeway into the center guard rail, face instantly thrust into his exploded air bag. His vehicle was facing traffic and my vehicle was right in front of his...nearly missing being swept up into the potentially fatal accident.
I pulled over after passing his vehicle, wanting to make sure the guy was okay. I noticed a few vehicles laying on their horns due to the "inconvenience" of having to slow down because of this accident. WTF? I wanted to make sure the guy wasn't bleeding to death. Two others stopped as well. One of the guys who stopped unbuckled the stunned guy's seat belt, getting him out of the Explorer since there was fuel and oil leaking everywhere. More ass****s were honking their horns...again, because they were "inconvenienced" for having to slow down.
I called 9-1-1 and told them to come out because the guy needed medical attention quickly. Apparently I was the only one who called for help for this guy. After the 9-1-1 call, I saw the police coming up so I exited the scene. They later called me on my cell phone for their police report. I was their only witness on record of the accident.
On my way home, I was haunted by the accident. My daughter was quiet too. She had never seen anything like it in her young life. It's hard to process on so many levels.
It's hard to realize how fragile life is and how quickly it can end at the worst stroke of fate.
It's hard to think that if we were even 2 seconds faster in our driving, that the Explorer would have spun into the passenger side of my vehicle, possibly killing my daughter who was sitting on that side of my Navigator.
And it's hard to process how shitty people can be when there's someone who needs medical attention and they, in their own selfish little worlds, are honking their horns because they are being slowed down due to this "inconvenience" in their schedule. (This makes me hope like hell that if any of those horn-honking screwballs are ever bleeding to death on the side of the road, I hope they all bleed out without a single person stopping or calling for help on their behalf because that's exactly what they deserve. Nothing. Freaking jerk offs!)
So many emotions were running across the board for me in the remaining hour I had driving back from Palm Springs this past Sunday.
But leaving out the part about getting angry at the losers honking their horns while others (like me) were trying to render assistance to this poor guy who desperately needed help, when things like this happen, it makes us realize that the end can literally come at any time without any warning.
It made me wonder...am I living the life I want NOW? If not...WHY NOT? Life can end at any time. And it's a waste of time to keep putting things off for "someday" or "when this happens I will [FILL IN THE BLANK]" or "when this is over with I will [FILL IN THE BLANK]."
And this is EXACTLY what I had been doing during my graduate schooling...putting too many things on hold until I finished it. It was an interesting irony for me to come upon this accident only hours after my graduate ceremony. Maybe it was a reminder that I should never put anything on hold and to live life to its fullest doing everything I want to do...NOW. Not later, not next year...but RIGHT NOW.
This applies to you too. You see, it's easy to see your life roll in from one year to the next, still talking about what you "will do someday" as the years keep moving forward. Then you wake up 30 years older, look around, and wonder where the hell the time went.
Or you end up in that split-second accident that ends your life. And not only did you never get to do any of the stuff you dreamed about, but now it becomes impossible to ever do any of it because you're now dead.
Pretty depressing, isn't it?
In the movie The Bucket List with Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman, there was an interesting line in the movie that kind of says everything:
Carter Chambers (Morgan Freeman) says, "Forty-five years goes by pretty fast."
And Edward Cole (Jack Nicholson) says, "Like smoke through a keyhole."
Yes...like smoke through a keyhole. That's how fast life goes.
Knowing how fast it's going, as you're reading this, what are YOU doing with your life that is bringing you to where you always dreamed you'd be by now? And if you don't have a damn good answer then you're not doing good enough for yourself.
Of course, it helps to have some kind of vision of what your perfect life masterpiece looks like. When you get that vision, you can THEN move toward that idea of your masterpiece.
And it may be as simple as sipping lemonade from your beach cottage porch and looking at the ocean as the sun sets every afternoon. Or spending more time with your kids or grand kids. Or traveling 1/3 of each year, seeing every wonder of the world possible and more.
Only you know what that vision is.
I used to think a vision needed to have something to do with making money. Then I eventually realized that the money making part is what's supposed to service your dreams for yourself. The dream isn't making the money (even though that helps to get to that dream). The vision IS the dream. The end-goal. The sunset-watching, lemonade-sipping, kid-playing part of the vision. THAT is the vision. Not how you get there. That's not the vision.
But here comes the clincher. You have to DO something else in between you (now) and the vision (future end-goal/dream) that BRINGS you to the dream that you have for yourself. Otherwise sitting around dreaming away and doing nothing about it will get you exactly nowhere except more of what you have now which may not be that great.
And the only way to get to where you dream is to push the envelope on yourself. You have to do things that are uncomfortable, beyond your "safety" zone, and that may scare the crap out of you in the beginning. If you're not willing to take these risks then learn to be happy with where you are now in your life because you'll never have or be anything more than where you're at right now.
Remember, you can have everything you want in life. But you do have to find the right path to get there and just go for it. Nobody is going to do it for you. Only YOU can do it for you. Only YOU can live your dreams...for YOU.
