What can we learn from wealthy people?

The truth is, everyone craves to be wealthy. We secretly wish we could be like the wealthy. We look at them with a combination of admiration, envy and wonder. What exactly did they do to be so blessed? 

Yes, the super-wealthy rule the world. They live in the biggest mansions and own the choicest properties. They ride the most luxurious cars and marry the most beautiful women. When they speak, their words are carried by news media around the globe. 

The super-wealthy are abound in commerce, politics, entertainment, sports, IT, finance, oil and gas, to mention a few. In short, they abound in every sphere of human endeavour. 

The following names, not in any particular order, readily come to mind when we talk about the super-wealthy: Bernard Arnault, Bill Gates, Jack Ma, Elon Musk, Jay Z, Beyonce, Warren Buffett, Oprah Winfrey and Jeff Bezos. 

Among the super-wealthy you can count Buddhists, Christians, Hindus, Muslims, non-believers, Blacks, Whites, Browns, mixed races, men, women, and people from all continents. 

What exactly then separates the super-wealthy from the poor? If not some undue advantage in opportunities, skin color, religion, intellect, industry, talent, place and time of birth, what?

Here they are: 

Focus their Attention

The wealthy pay undivided attention to nurturing and multiplying their wealth. For instance, Bill Gates attributes his wealth not so much to what he makes as Microsoft's co-founder, but to the excellent work of his portfolio manager, Michael Larson. On the other hand non wealthy spend their money on trying to look rich. In short, the poor tries to copy the "Millionaire Next Door." To be wealthy, be wealth conscious and focus attention to not just making money but how to grow it and make your money work harder for you. 

Productive with their Time 

Time is the most precious and scarcest resource. As economists say, its supply is inelastic. You can't store or delay it, you can't stop it, and you can't increase it. Effective use of time requires a mindset that is productive. The super-wealthy use time well. While time is an abstract, how you use it is a mindset. Regardless of wealth, we all have the same amount of this most invaluable resource? From birth until death we have equal amount of time daily: 24 hours. You will be wealthy to the extent to which you judiciously use this limited resource. 

Focus On One Thing

To be wealthy, develop FOCUS. Focus on one thing at a time. While the wealthy focus on one thing at a time. Whenever the wealthy pursues an end, he burns his boat and never looks back. Take for an example, Jeff Bezos. He focused on ECommerce, Bill Gate on computer coding, and Jay Z on entertainment.

Think Big 

If you look closely, all the wealthy think big. Jeff Bezos is not just building an E-Commerce company, but the most customer centric company on the planet. Bill Gates did not just go out to build Microsoft, but the biggest software company in the world. Not to be outdone, Mark Zuckerberg's empire now includes Facebook, Instagram, Whatsapp and Messenger. Thinking big is about being methodical, seeing the bigger picture of "what could be." It's about having an uncanny vision of the future and setting your sail accordingly in the direction of that vision without being distracted by other "opportunities" along the way. It's about saying "No" to a thousand things so that you can say "Yes" to the "one thing" that matters to you. So thinking BIG is one of the hallmarks of the wealthy. Really, why think small if you can think BIG by focusing on one grandiose end at a time? 

Proximity 

Don King, the boxing promoter, once told Dennis P. Kimbro, the co-author of Think and Grow Rich: A Black Choice, his plan for becoming a billionaire was "by hanging around billionaires, learning all they know." So hatch a plan and find a way to rub shoulders with the wealthy. By so doing, you'll be sucked into the world of the wealthy. This will reprogram your mind. Hanging around the wealthy is not just about networking, but it's about getting close enough to be mentored by the wealthy. What can you do to enter the radar of the wealthy? Write a book, start a podcast or a YouTube Channel to mention three. You can't be wealthy unless you reprogram your mind to think like the wealthy. The easiest way to do that is to enter into the world of the wealthy through the back door - through what you do. 

Work Hard and Smart 

Most of the time, the things associated with the wealthy are Gulf Stream Jets, Super Yachts, Golf Courses, Ocean Blue Islands, Hot Air Balloons and mansions designed in heaven. These are what you see at the front end. But peel the curtain a little and what you'll see at the back end is hard work. Many believe hard work does not matter in today's digital world where you can "set everything up to work on autopilot." Beware; nothing could be further from the truth. Do you know that Jeff Bezos used to kneel to sort parcels when Amazon first started in 1995? Till date he exhorts his people "It's Always Day One", meaning maintaining the spirit of entrepreneurship of a start up. If you're not willing to work hard, then perish the thought of getting wealthy. In his Good to Great, author Jim Collins wrote about the concept of the "flywheel." That's what hard work is all about. No wealth is ever created by standing with hands akimbo. 

Keeps Learning and Growing

Learning in this context is not about amassing many PhDs and MBAs in assorted disciplines. Learning is not about endless webinars. It's about getting personal coaches to make you better and performing at your peak in all dimensions of life. It may interest you to know some super-wealthy started out with no to little money but through a dint of hard work, learnt to overcome the bad hand that fate dealt them at birth. One well documented example is John H. Johnson of Ebony Magazine fame who in his day rose to become the 400th richest American. 

In his book, Succeeding Against the Odds, he stated that his family was not only poor, but they were the "poorest of the poor." John H. Johnson learnt to speak despite being born with a stammer; he learnt to believe in himself despite being born into extreme poverty, he learnt to sell and ended up buying the insurance company that employed him. 

So don't blame your start in life, just keep learning and wealth will be within your grasp. 

Source: Paul Uduck

Generational Financial Responsibility

As with most skills, talents, and overall 'education' gained throughout a lifetime of experiences, remember - practice makes perfect, and consistency is key. We suggest that when imparting knowledge of finances; from children saving change in a piggy bank, to teenagers saving a percentage of an allowance or gifts in cash, working with them in a mentor role, as they start their very own bank accounts is critical to generational success. 

Practice Makes Perfect 

Every day, month, quarter and year, there are activities and habits needed to be accomplished consistently. This helps ground children in the basics of financial literacy, which are appropriate to their family wealth factors and long-term responsibilities such as philanthropy. 

Children who will inherit significant wealth and the responsibilities that go along with it, require world-class preparation. Balancing income and outgoings and understanding compound interest is one thing, but managing assets, establishing a growth-mindset, and teaching a child to have vision, is another. Parents may have built up a very successful business, but your children may someday need to sit on the board and also approve the management of investments that support an extended family.

One way to engage children is to play off of their passions; otherwise, financial education will feel like classroom instruction. There are "family wealth advisors" who work with families to identify the things their children already have an interest in, and are willing to spend time pursuing such as a favorite sport or activity. From this identification, these counselors develop a learning program around the child's interest or passions as a theme. 

The end goal is to help each family member of the next generation to have an individual 'economic vision statement,' and to have developed the skills required to realise their unique vision and support in turning the vision into a reality.

While many families want their children to understand the basic concepts and terms, their children need to go beyond the introductory level of money management to incorporate family values, such as those related to charitable giving or volunteering, as well as their particular interests in participating. Their 'economic vision statements' themselves will evolve as these children mature and become more focused in their individual interest and goals. 

Consistency is Key 

Every family takes for granted that if a child is going to be a proficient at tennis, golf or the piano, they need regular lessons, a great teacher, and practice. It's that same thing for financial education. And so, those kids who get practice, great instruction, and lessons do better." By incorporating the "passions" and interests of your children - regardless of age. 

Those parents who hope a financial education specialist can take their kids and tutor them may have good intentions, but they're not taking necessary actions to address the challenge. Parents and children must be involved. To do it otherwise is just a waste of time and money, not every family has the appetite to take on this work. It's costly. It takes a fair investment of time. And it certainly requires all family members to begin to look at their actions in a different way. In general, there's certainly interest in financial education, but I think a lot of it is just trivial unless there's an ongoing commitment to the process. The commitment needs to be at least as powerful as the commitment to building the next pro golfer.

Planning for Financial literacy 

Learning starts early - just as models of non-productive behavior do. While parents may have good intentions for raising money-mature children, they often fail to succeed because they don't move from 'soft' intentions to a realised program of financial education tailored to the age and interests of the next generation. 

The kids who do well have parents who've gone from good intentions to being intentional. Every parent has the good intention for their children to grow up financially intelligent, but few of them really act on it. Parents who have a growth mindset, are committed to their intentions can help ensure the orderly transition of financial planning from parent to child.

Hot Tips: 

• The prime age is between 6 and 14 for learning and building good, solid money skills 
• Preparation for building and managing wealth is an on-going activity, if you want to create and sustain long term generational financial responsibility
• Consistency, planning and practice truly does make the real difference

Financial Success Habits and Our Old Beliefs

Are you struggling with your money goals and your finance goals? I think a lot of people are these days, especially with the current economic climate right? Why do we all struggle with these goals to achieve in life? Why do we grapple with issues around accomplishing a goal in terms of our finances? In my experience, this is all deep in our subconscious and goes back to our childhood and throughout our teen and adult life. 

In the past couple of years, I have been blessed to see some of the most successful business men and women in the world. I have sat for hours as they speak about how they struggled to overcome their own struggles with their money goals and finance goals. I have listened to speakers who slept on the streets, slept in train stations etc... to conquer their money goals and finally learn how to set life goals! I have seen the pain in their eyes and the emotional attachment that this period still has with them. 

Why do people go through periods of struggle with their money and finance goals? Well, when you think about it, as kids we are very much subjected to a lot of "myths" about money and how it is viewed by society. Have you ever heard some of these common myths before... 

• Money is the root of all evil 
• Getting rich is a matter of luck or fate 
• Having a lot of money will make me less spiritual or pure 
• Money will change me 
• Money won't make me happy 
• I'm too young to be rich
• I'm too old to start making money
• I don't deserve or not worthy of money 
• I'm already quite comfortable
• I don't need to push myself 

I bet these sayings are familiar to the majority of you? We struggle with our money goals and finance goals because we have been so conditioned by phrases like "I'm not made of money" or "Money doesn't grow on trees", that it is inherent in our subconscious. It is almost like a disease and we don't even realize it! I have been very lucky to attend various seminars on this subject that have really brought this to my conscious mind. When something is conscious, we can train the brain so that success in our money goals and finance goals becomes habitual. 

After attending seminars, reading books and being more aware of these myths and negative stories we have all heard about, I began to realise that this severely impacts our goals to achieve in life, in such a negative way. I then started to see things differently and made an observation that many people I have spoken to lately, have agreed with. What we watch on TV has a big impact on our money goals and finance goals! 

I grew up in the "Disney" era, where my beliefs on money stemmed from my childhood and romantic movies and books. I would live happily ever after, Prince Charming would always look after me. My childhood toys were Barbie having a fabulous life with Ken. Outside of Barbie dolls, I had toys such as a pram to push my kids in, a toy cooker, plastic tea set and a toy convertible car and caravan that Ken bought me. I had make-up, shoes and princess dress-up outfits, a plastic girl's head for practicing hairstyles.

Growing older, I continue to buy these "so called toys" into my adult life- clothes, shoes, handbags, expensive cars, designer make-up, frequent holidays and high self maintenance activities. I spiralled into a lot of debt.

Fast forward paying off the credit cards, loans and eventually getting myself out of debt, I started to then seriously focus on my financial habits and following others. Once you start to model and try to replicate successful people, you see things with new eyes. I often speak so highly of the seminars and the business speakers that I have been privileged to see live. After spending three full days at an event on "money goals" 3 years ago, someone once remarked that I was in a "cult". It made me think, perhaps I have been in a "cult" with my money goals and finance goals before I began to see the light that the successful gurus have shown me. 

So I guess its time to debunk some of the myths above and leave you with some new belief systems to mull over: 

1) Making money doesn't restrict freedom, it PROMOTES freedom 

2) To master money, I must MANAGE money 

3) Wealthy and successful people aren't smarter than me, they just have better money management Financial HABITS 

Some people think that the concept of changing your mindset is all "mumbo jumbo". 

I beg to differ. I think that if we begin to look at things with new eyes, that we can really start to focus on our money goals and finance goals. In fact, you can focus on new ways to achieve your goals in life! So what are your new money associations? 

Fill in the blank: Money is__________ 

Only 20% of people set goals. 

The other 80% think they have goals... but these are only wishes! 

Are you open to some different perspectives on how to set and achieve goals?

If so, check out Femvestorsglobal.com

We support you with goal setting, getting clarity on a vision for your life and turning your dreams into reality. We give you the GPS to your "Moneymoon Destination".

How Any Woman Can Become Rich

Did you know that there is no shortage of money? The problem is that you may not believe that you are worthy of having a lot of money. Anything you believe you can have, you will receive it. If someone is going to get rich, then why not YOU?

Many women are on the list of the rich and famous today. There is no secret on how to get money. You either inherit money or acquire it through some type of business (unfortunately, a lottery win is extremely unlikely). People's reasons for acquiring a lot of money are different from others. Some will apply money to their daily needs and wants to live a better life. Others may save their fortune and leave it to their children. Some use money to devote to a charitable cause to make the world a better place to live. 

If you want to create wealth, you must do something different. First, pay off all those credit cards and get out of debt. Second, you should make saving and investing your money a high priority in your life. To keep most of your money, you must make wise investments. You may start this process by seeking the advice from financial experts. 

When you use money to fulfill your purpose by starting a business to help others fulfill theirs, then you are doing good. When you are doing good with money, you can expect to draw more money to you. Once you start drawing money to you, then the sky is the limit. This means that you can get lots of money or as much as you want or need to fulfill your purpose. It is like standing under a water fall, "If you stand under a water fall, you are bound to get wet." The same is true with money, if you follow the principles of making and investing money, over a period of time, you are bound to get rich.

To the new and experienced entrepreneurs, getting help with your small business is very crucial to your success. Getting the right help will cause you to avoid costly mistakes, and it can also help you to save a lot of time, money and energy. You will need to get the right help to form the legal structure of the business, financial, management, procurement/certification, marketing, pricing products, preparing a business plan, and more. 

There are many successful business coaches and mentors that you can learn from, you just need to be clear on the areas you require support with. Look for recommendations within your local communities, FB groups, online sites such as Upwork and network with those around you. 

Always remember when you are starting out- to focus on the areas you are good at, get support in the areas you are not so great. You do not need to hire full time employees, look at pay on demand type services for booking keeping, accountancy, virtual assistants etc. I would also suggest you look for collaborations with others where you can exchange services which is a won-win for many people.

Article Source: https://EzineArticles.com/expert/Dr._Mary_E._Waters/99920

How to Demonstrate Smart Financial Habits to Your Kids

Your kids will follow your example in many things that they do so it is important that you practice what you preach. How to demonstrate smart financial habits to your kids starts with this important understanding. Use the trust that is instinctively there between you and your kids and teach them the right way. 

Kids need to learn that money doesn't just fall from a tree, it is hard-earned and must be used wisely. Start by giving them an allowance based on their age and understanding. Make it a regular ritual and request for books to be read in exchange. Note the point I wrote about reading books and not chores. 

Chores are a part of life and NOT a paid task. If you pay your kids for chores, you are teaching your kids to be employees where they exchange time for money. If you pay your kids to read books, you enable them to expand their thinking and create an Entrepreneur mindset.

When it comes to payment for reading books, choose a day each fortnight or each month and hand over their 'pay packet' pocket money in an envelope addressed with your child's name. Show respect for the money. Ask them how their last allowance was spent so that you can get a handle on their spending habits. Get them to keep a little notebook as their 'spending account ledger'. 

Congratulate them if they are saving their money. Encourage this habit and you might even reward their habit of saving by giving them a small bonus to add to their account. Ask if they are saving for something special. If they are close to their goal and it is near a birthday you could make up the difference as part of their birthday gift. You'll know it's something special to them so it will be appreciated.

If your child does want something extra special expect, given them a book of your choice which will help them grow, a jigsaw puzzle, quiz.  Let them learn that money must be an exchange for an education and is not just available for any desire. They will learn to appreciate the things that they buy with their own money. 

Don't pamper to every whim of your child. Limit the gifts you give them and let them enjoy the gift given before allowing them to begin playing with another. Having too many at once will make them jump from one thing to another. Explain why they are not getting everything that they ask for. If they really want something that you have said no to explain why and that they must save for it themselves.

The key here is to limit the amount your child has to spend on Consumerism. Look at not only putting the money into a savings account but also teach them how to invest their savings in Index funds and stocks. I bought shares in Disney and presented this as a share certificate in a frame with their favorite character so they know they are a part owner of The Disney company as opposed to a toy they do not need.

It may not always seem like it but kids will listen to their parents so don't give in to their demands to keep up with their peers. Be firm...kids appreciate and respond to positive parenting. They need to know their boundaries. Explain why you do things but don't spoil everything by demonstrating the opposite to your kids. Instill smart financial habits in your kids and demonstrate smart habits yourself...don't blow it!

Are You Afraid To Invest In Yourself?

I am sure that you have heard this phrase: "Your business can only grow to the extent that you grow." If you are playing small, hiding out, procrastinating, doing it all yourself, undercharging, under-earning or over-delivering, then you are getting in your own way. Without a doubt, each of these actions or habits will stall your business growth, repel ideal clients and sabotage your success.

As an Angel Investor, I have worked with many business owners for years, and the number one mistake I see such entrepreneurs make these days is failing to invest in themselves at a high level. This failure keeps them-and their businesses-stuck, for the quickest way I know to help alleviate self-sabotaging behaviors and quickly get back on track is by investing in and working with a mentor. We can help you identify the behaviors that are holding you back and show you how to move forward. We can work with you to create a customised plan that is appropriate for you and your business. 

Here are 3 advantages to investing in yourself at a high level: 

1. You will Make a Higher Commitment to Yourself: When you pay, you pay attention and therefore if you invest in a high-level mentor, you'll be more committed to doing what is required. Because you're paying for their services, you'll be more likely to follow through with their recommendations. 

2. Your Energy Is More Focused: Because you're spending time (and money) to work on your business strategies with someone else, you'll become much more focused on achieving your desired results. You'll allocate time, clear out your diary, making sure to listen to, and follow, your mentor's expert guidance. This often results in attracting more ideal clients who are extremely committed and invested in their business success. 

3. You'll Be More Decisive: Since you'll be motivated to get a solid return on your investment, you'll finally get out of analysis paralysis and take action. 

A quick exercise: Keeping in mind your end goals of making more money and attracting your ideal clients into your business, take out a note pad and pen and list all of the areas in your business where you are not taking action AND/OR the areas in which you are just confused about what the next steps should be. Once you've completed this list, circle the top 3 things that need to be done to build your business now.