Nothing Fails Like Success

Are you struggling to make changes or respond to changing conditions? I know many people right now are being forced to change the way they work or live because of our turbulent environment. What we might all consider in these times is what the great historian Arnold Toynbee once said:

Nothing fails like success.

What does that mean exactly? Well, if you consider the challenges you’re facing, you might just be using an old approach that isn’t equal to the challenge. In other words, when we have a challenge and the response is equal to the challenge, that’s called success. But once we have a new challenge, the old, once successful response no longer works. That’s why it’s called a failure.

We have to examine our paradigms (our view of things), our tools, our skills to determine if we’re approaching the problem in the right way. As a first step, we may even step back and make sure we’ve correctly defined the problem. Then we need to see if, based on the evidence of results or lack of results, if we need a new approach.

As you ponder your challenges, consider if you need a new mindset, a new skillset or toolset. You may need to adjust your view, try a different perspective or a new way to think about it. Then you may need to acquire some new skills or tools to tackle the problem. What ever the case, you may need to find a new model to drive success. This can be an exciting proposition because you will most likely find new growth and development in the process—this is success!

Remember: nothing fails like success. Be vigilant and be ready to continually learn and adapt to new challenges, which will surely come your way.

Stephen R. Covey

Success of the Far Side of Failure—Learning from Failures

Successful people often share similar characteristics. But I have come to believe that the single thing they have most in common is that they find success on the far side of failure.

What do I mean by that? I find that almost all successful people have experienced significant failures in life or in their work, but they have learned from their failures.

On the other hand, people who don’t recognize their failures or don’t seek learning from them, are often the ones failing again and again. Why? Because they haven’t learned the lessons from the failure—they haven’t gained self-awareness or understanding; they haven’t understood others or their marketplace; they haven’t developed the maturity for humility and integrity—and they find themselves repeating their mistakes again and again.

Think about the failures or mistakes you have made. How did you respond to them? What outcomes did you get? How have they helped you today? How have they not helped you—do you have something still to learn from your failures?

If you want to make significant progress in your life, don’t forget to find success on the far side of failure!

by: Stephen R. Covey

The Banks and Your Savings

The banks have it good.

Imagine, you have a business where people stand in long lines to give you their hard earned money. They put up with lousy service, pouty cashiers, no chairs, not even cellphone access, knowing that you are just going to give them less than a one percent (1%) return for their money, annually. Yet they do it. And they do it gladly, thinking that they are doing themselves a favor.

Sometime ago, it dawned on me. I am a creditor, and my bank is my debtor. Ergo, I should have the upper hand. Ergo, I should have been waited on hand and foot, treated with utmost respect, wooed, wined, dined. They are, after all, getting my money and using it to finance their various investment schemes.

But that is not the case.

Since then I have seriously, seriously questioned the system (albeit only in my mind).

See this: when I borrow, I get charged at least 10% per annum for a housing loan, 19% to 30% for a car loan, 3.5 % per month for credit card purchases (that’s 42% per annum!). When they borrow, they charge themselves less than 1% per annum. Something is not right.

To think that a lot of the money that they have is from the pockets of poor people who know no better than to put their money in banks.

Okay, admittedly, yes, banks do a great service. They are the barometer of economic stability (or instability). They fall and the whole world falls.

But a bank is a facility and should be treated as such, a temporary parking space for money, and then the money should be put somewhere else so it can make more money for those who are entitled to it – you and me – who worked hard for it. If the money is left to rot in almost interest-free savings accounts, inflation (general increase in prices and fall in the purchasing value of money) would work it’s magic and the money is no more.

This is dangerous. Very dangerous. But few people know, or pay heed.

What to do?

1. Own the bank. Buy stocks of your bank. This way, you would actually get a share of the pie and not be the mere and meaningless “creditor”. Their growth is your growth. Their profit, yours. You will be part of the inner circle (you do have a voice in annual stockholder meetings) and not just a bystander who is left holding an empty bag (or passbook). Please be warned, though, that stocks are usually high risk. Do not do it if you have not studied the market or know how the market works.

2. Invest in their products. They have time deposit accounts and other savings accounts that offer higher interest, or insurance products that you can invest in. Although the gains are at very conservative rates (4% to 8% per annum), it will still outdo the <1%>

3. You can put your money in the Unit Investment Trust Fund (UITF) of your bank. This includes money market funds, bond funds, balanced funds and equity funds. The gains are not assured but your money has the potential to earn interest that is higher than 8%. A caveat to those who need easy access to their money, though: investment in these kinds of funds should be long-term.

Banks are a piece of the puzzle. It is a means, not an end. Yes, you should still have a savings account and a checking account but you should make your bank a conduit and not a destination.

Know what your bank offers. Ask questions, look for options, be smarter. Move that money sitting there in your less than 1% per annum savings account now.

Be rich,

Issa

Article by Issa. Art by D. Copyright 2009.
Website: www.YouWantToBeRich.com

Why You Need Insurance, Insurance Agents and Insurance Companies

I had my first life insurance policy when I was 21. I did not think I needed it, death was furthest from my mind at that time.

But everyone was getting one (at the office, at least) and so I did too. The bi-monthly deductions hurt (though it did not even reach the one million mark) so it was kind of a hard decision to make. But after courting me day after day, making sure I get the medical exam and pass it, after we did the dance of joy (I signed up), I never saw that insurance agent again. I left the job and forgot the insurance and never knew what became of it. I did not know I had options – take the cash surrender value, buy an extended term insurance or a reduced paid-up insurance or even reinstate within a three (3) year period. I did not do anything because the agent did not take the time, nor cared, to explain my options to me.

And so I look at insurance agents with skepticism. One call, one meeting, and I would find an excuse not to see them again or sign up. It went like this for several years. I did not know I was making unavailable to myself the most basic step in establishing financial freedom – protection.

D and I were to learn this the hard way when our uninsured truck was stolen. We never looked at insurance the same way again.

To have protection is to breathe easy. At the face of uncertainty, there is comfort in knowing that, as in the case of non-life insurance, a loss can be replaced, or in the case of life insurance, premature death will not be a burden to those who are left behind.

But there is another component in life insurance that appealed to me – the savings component, or more accurately, forced savings. The money does not disappear, but is just being transferred from one pocket to another (both mine) and just a little harder to get (which is good). It can earn dividends too that ranges from 4% to 8% to 12% per annum or way above what my bank gives me, and in case of death, my beneficiaries would get a windfall.

Also consider this:

• Unlike savings, the amount intended to be saved in life insurance is guaranteed to be saved, whether or not one lives, or stays healthy long enough to actually save the amount intended.

• Unlike investments in other areas, money invested on a life insurance policy are managed by investment managers with investment expertise and with the necessary element of large volume and diversification.

• Life insurance does not require adequate time, and eliminates the element of uncertainty that characterize other income sources.

• Both the Insurance Commission and the Securities and Exchange Commission look out for the policy holder, making sure laws are followed and certain stringent requirements, like reserves, are met.

And so we are insured. Yes, the payments could be a burden at times but we have peace of mind. We actually should have done this sooner. Aging presents a whole slew of problems, or questions, or challenges for the uninsured.

Lay down the basis for wealth. Find the right policy, find the right agent who will give you the most value for your money, ask the right questions and protect yourself. Make this your concern – now.

Be rich,

Issa

Article by Issa. Art by D. Copyright 2009.
Website: www.YouWantToBeRich.com

success and failure

You can not achieve both success and failure at the same time. Success is persisting until you reach your goals. Yes sometimes success comes in ways we never thought would be possible. We set out to reach our goals and expect them to come about the way we always imagined it in our minds.

The only thing is somtimes we are given different routes to take. It does not mean that you will not experience success; it just means you must be flexible when it comes to reaching your goals. This is what makes every successful person unique. Many of them have failed before in one area of their lives, however they understand and believe that they will achieve the success they set out to achieve.

Failure on the other hand is to quit working towards your goals at the first sign of adversity. Many people who set goals fail to set goals that they are passionate about. If you fail to set goals that you have a burning desire to achieve, you will not have the strength to achieve the success you are looking for.

If you want to achieve financial success; believe in your heart that you too can have it as well. You are no different than anyone else who has ever achieved this stutus. The only thing that everyone else has done, is they have put in the work both mentally and physically to achieve their financial freedom. Begin immediately by setting some goals that you are passionate about and begin spending some time visualizing your success. I do this once every morning and once in the evening. It is important to feel the feelings of success; after all your subconscious can not tell the difference between what is real and what is not.

If you begin feeling the feelings of wealth, guess what you will begin acting like the type of person who has already achieved the wealth. Opportunities will begin presenting themselves to you, your job is just to take action on thos opportunities.