Today in my mail, I discovered a pleasant bonus in one of my weekly inspirational newsletters. The 13 absolutely unbreakable laws of success by Brian Tracy, one of my favorite motivational speakers. Here it is in simple and no nonsense breakdown of things you must learn to do to achieve great and lasting success in your life. I give you, the 13 Absolutely Unbreakable Laws of Success.

1. The Law of Control:

You feel good about yourself to the degree at which you feel you are in control of your own life.

2. The Law of Responsibility:

You are completely responsible for everything you are and for everything you become and achieve.

3. The Law of Direction:

Successful people have a clear sense of purpose and direction in every area of their lives.

4. The Law of Compensation:

You are always fully compensated for whatever you do, positive or negative.

5. The Law of Service:

Your rewards in life will always be in direct proportion to the value of your service to others.

6. The Law of Applied Effort:

All things are amenable to hard work.

7. The Law of Overcompensation:

If you always do more than you are paid for, you will always be paid more than you are getting now.

8. The Law of Preparation:

Effective performance is preceded by painstaking preparation.

9. The Law of Forced Efficiency:

The more things you have to do in a limited period of time, the more you will be forced to work on your most important tasks.

10. The Law of Decision:

Every great leap forward in life is preceded by a clear decision and a commitment to action.

11. The Law of Creativity:

Every advance in human life begins with an idea in the mind of a single person.

12. The Law of Flexibility:

Success is best achieved when you are clear about the goal but flexible about the process of getting there.

13. The Law of Persistence:

Your ability to persist in the face of setbacks and disappointments is your measure of your belief in yourself and your ability to succeed.

Shalom

As many of you who follow this blog know, i’m an avid reader of all things success & growth related. I am passionate about Entreprenuers who have changed the world, people like Richard Branson, Steve Jobs, Michael Dell, Larry Page & Sergey Brin among others. I study them, i try to emulate them, i definately want to make a positive impact on the world the way they have. But what is and entrepreneur exactly and why are there different types? I’m glad you ask.

What/Who is an Entrepreneur?

The classic definition of an Entrepreneur is “a person who organizes and manages a business undertaking, assuming the risk for the sake of the profit.”

An Entrepreneur can be anyone of any age who has an idea and builds a business around that idea to provide a product or service to as many people as need it. They see a need and fill it. They are passionate about their idea, product or service. They are visionaries. They tend to see opportunity where others don’t and this often leads them to take risks that most people wouldn’t.  The entrepreneur is at the heart and soul of progress, innovation and capitalism. Entrepreneurs create wealth and opportunity, not merely for themselves but for everyone around them as well. Entrepreneurs are sometimes born but more often, they are made. Any body can be an Entrepreneur. Why not you?

That being said, people are different with varied motivations hence the different types of Entrepreneurs. The top three types are;

The Wealth Creation Entrepreneur

This particular individual creates a business with the ultimate goal of reaching the largest available market whilst making the highest profit. These are the guys who build businesses like Google, Microsoft, Sony, Apple, Facebook and so on. These entrepreneurs generally make the Forbes list of wealthiest people in the world over and over again. They don’t think small, it’s not in their vocabulary. They deal with vast sums of money and are responsible for thousands and tens of thousands of peoples livelihoods. These guys are good for any country. Their bank accounts will usually start from 1million dollars a year to billions. They can be extremely innovative businesses that cahnge the way we see the world like Facebook, Twitter; or they can be pretty run of the mill like Wal-Mart or Toyota.

The Lifestyle Entrepreneur

This individual creates a business around their passions but their primary goal is not vast profits but rather a rich and flexible lifestyle.  A lifestyle entrepreneur doesn’t expect to make six figures a year doing what they love to do. They just want to be able to live their life doing what they love and being able to support themselves and their family as well. They are finding much happiness doing what they love to do. The business allows them to work extremely flexible hours, travel the world and afford a life that you associate with millionaires.

Interestingly enough, you wouldn’t actually need to make 1million dollars a year to live an exceptional lifestyle. If you do the maths, most of us probably don’t need more than $100,000 yearly to make a great life.

Most entrepreneurs fall in this category. An interesting sub category that has become quite popular with the establishment of the internet is the Internet Lifestyle Entrepreneur. He builds a business on the internet that allows him to work from anywhere at any time. This has manifested itself in the form of ProBlogging where one makes a business out of their blog and earns income from advertising or selling stuff through their blog.

The Social Entrepreneur

Now this one is quite interesting.  A social entrepreneur is someone who recognizes a social problem and uses entrepreneurial principles to organize, create, and manage a venture to make social change. Whereas a wealth creation entrepreneur typically measures performance in terms of profit and return, a social entrepreneur assesses success in terms of the impact on society as well as in profit and return. They often operate through non-profits or charities but increasingly, they are doing so from a private standpoint.

Just as entrepreneurs change the face of business, social entrepreneurs act as the change agents for society, seizing opportunities others miss and improving systems, inventing new approaches, and creating solutions to change society for the better.

One of the best examples of Social entrepreneurs is Muhammad Yunus, founder and manager of Grameen Bank in India, who was awarded a Nobel Peace Prize in 2006.  He essentially invented the concept of Micro finance banks by giving ridiculously small loans to poor people, even beggars and yet still managing a 95% repayment from borrowers. He definately changed the world of banking.

So there you have the three main types of Entrepreneurs. I personally gravitate to something in between Lifestyle and Wealth Creation. Richard Branson is my hero. Hell of a business man and hell of a life-ist too. What kind of entrepreneur are you?

Shalom

I was richly blessed by this. We often ask ourselves, Why can’t I ever be the one who succeeds, why can’t I ever be the one with great relationships, why can’t I be the one interviewed in African Woman… Well the great news is it can be you. Jim Rohn puts it so nicely in this almost poetic piece which I thought i’d share with you today. Let it be you.

Each and every day, there are people all around the country and world who are living their dreams. Millionaires are made every day. Families are experiencing tremendous relationships. People are becoming more and more healthy. Lifelong learners are growing intellectually and improving their chances for success.

The fact is, living the life of your dreams is possible. People prove that every day. Someone somewhere is going to get rich, get healthy and improve their life. My recommendation is this: Let it be you!

Have you ever wanted to make more money? Have you ever looked at someone who has money and wished it could be you? People think about getting wealthy all the time, when only a small percentage actually do. But any of the masses could. Someone is going to start a business. Someone is going to make a great investment. Someone is going to begin the journey to great wealth. So why not let it be you?

Someone is going to decide to improve their relationships. Someone is going to enjoy love with their family. Someone is going to schedule some meaningful time with their friends. So why not let it be you?

Someone is going to go back to school to improve their life. Someone is going to become a lifelong learner. Someone is going to set a goal to read a book or listen to a CD each week for the next year. So why not let it be you?

Someone is going to look in the mirror and see that they need to lose a little weight and make the decision to become healthy. Someone will run their first marathon. Someone will join an aerobics class and improve their health. Why not let it be you?

I think that by now you get the point: Everyday people are improving their lives. Whether you do or don’t doesn’t matter to those who do. They are going to do it, regardless. It is simply a matter of a decision being made. Let that person be you!

You may be asking, “OK, Jim, but how?’ Well, let’s cover the very simple actions.

The first and most important thing to do is to make a commitment to work on yourself. Are you going to improve or stay the same? No matter what you have achieved, you are at a certain point right now. What you have achieved in the past is fine, but it doesn’t make a difference for the future. The decision about what you will become is made each and every day. Each day, someone is making the decision to better himself. Let that person be you!

The second is to make a plan. Once you have decided to become better, you will have to have a plan. It doesn’t have to be a long, intricate plan. It can be simple. Save a dollar a day. Walk a mile a day. Read an article a day. It’s a simple plan with achievable goals. Someone is going to develop a plan that will take them into the future of their dreams. Let it be you!

The third is to begin to act. All of the great ideas, without action, become stale and useless. The key to turning dreams into reality is action. People who have great ideas are a dime a dozen. People who act on their dreams and ideas are the select few, but they are the ones who gain the health, wealth and wisdom that is available. Someone will act today. Let it be you.

My encouragement to you is to stop looking at others who live the good life, wishing that you were as well, and begin to commit to your improvement, develop a plan and act on it. Someone is going to. Let it be you!

To Your Success,
Jim Rohn

Ok, so every now and then, i’m minding my own business doing my reading when I come across something that completely blows my mind. This article is one of those things. It’s by Dan Miller of 48days to the work you love and No More Mondays fame and it’s all about the options we miss out on in life because we don’t think creatively. I don’t want to ruin it with my blithering so just read and be blessed.

Here’s a short illustrative story (excerpted from No More Mondays):

There May Be More Solutions Than What You First See . . .

Many years ago in an Indian village, a farmer had the misfortune of owing a large sum of money to the village moneylender. The old and ugly moneylender fancied the farmer’s beautiful daughter, so he proposed a bargain. He would forgive the farmer’s debt if he could marry his daughter. Both the farmer and his daughter were horrified by the proposal, but the cunning moneylender suggested that they let providence decide the matter. He told them that he would put a black pebble and a white pebble into an empty money bag. The girl would have to reach in and pick one pebble from the bag. If she picked the black pebble, she would become his wife and her father’s debt would be forgiven.  If she picked the white pebble, she need not marry him and her father’s debt would still be forgiven. If she refused to pick a pebble, her father would be thrown into jail until the debt was paid.  They were standing on a pebble-strewn path in the farmer’s field. As they talked, the moneylender bent over to pick up two pebbles. The sharp-eyed girl noticed that he had picked up two black pebbles and put them into the bag. He then asked the girl to pick a pebble. Now, imagine that you were the girl standing in the field. What would you have done? If you had to advise her, what would you have told her?

Careful analysis would produce three possibilities: (1) The girl could refuse to take a pebble—but her father would then be thrown in jail. (2) The girl could pick a black pebble and sacrifice herself in order to save her father from debt and imprisonment. Or (3) The girl could pull out both black pebbles in the bag, expose the moneylender as a cheat, and likely incite his immediate revenge.  Take a moment to think through this story. I’ve used it with the hope that it will help you see alternate solutions beyond the obvious ones. The girl’s dilemma cannot be solved with traditional logical thinking. You may be in a similar situation. You may be in a job you hate—but the pay is great. You have two choices: (1) You can stay in a job you hate. (2) You can leave the job but will then give up the great pay. Are these really all the options?

Here is what the girl did.  She put her hand into the money bag and drew out a pebble.  Without looking at it, she fumbled and let it fall onto the pebble strewn path, where it immediately became lost among all the other pebbles. “Oh, how clumsy of me,” she said. “But never mind, if you look into the bag for the one that is left, you will be able to tell which pebble I picked.” Since the remaining pebble was black, it would have to be assumed that she had picked the white one. And since the moneylender dared not admit his dishonesty, the girl would have changed what seemed an impossible situation into an extremely advantageous one.  Now, how could you see more creative solutions for your situation?

Now let’s go back to that teacher – remember the one who wondered if she should be in the school that aligned with her values but didn’t pay much – or in one that paid double but conflicted with much of what she believed.  Did she perhaps have options she was not seeing?
Here’s a related example –

Several years ago Jim was eager for a change.  He had an academic background but was just exiting a career in the military.  Over a casual dinner conversation his wife asked Jim, “If money were not important, what would you do?” Jim responded immediately, “I’d sit around the house and read old history books.” Guess what Jim does today. He reads old history books. He creates audio CDs as he brings to life old historical novels with his dramatic, engaging readings. With primarily a home schooling customer base, children beg to hear the next installment as they are simultaneously learning the rich stories from history. Recently I received this note from Jim – “Just thought you’d like to know that, doing what I love, my profits increased this year to over 104K.  A great year for me that was a lot of fun and a lot of work.  All with a seven second commute.”

If you created ten alternatives for moving forward rather than just two, what are the chances you could uncover an application that allows you to engage your passion – and make more money than you ever imagined?

Dan Miller, President of 48 Days, specializes in creative thinking for increased personal and business success.  Dan is the author of the widely acclaimed 48 Days To The Work You Love andNo More Mondays.  He writes regularly for many popular magazines and web portals, including CBN.com, Crosswalk.com, New Man, AARP and Success magazine.

Greetings my blogren,

It has been many moons since I posted anything. Reason is that being a full time father and full time entreprenuer has kinda got me against the ropes. But not one to hold back on wisdom I come across, one of my favorite blog sites, the Art Of Manliness posted this great article. 85 amazing quotes by Benjamin Franklin on life, wealth, work, discipline. Here’s a snippet then you can see the whole for yourself and hopefully you men out there will be hooked to this site.

1. God helps them that help themselves
2. Sloth, like rust, consumes faster than labor wears, while the used key is always bright
3. Dost thou love life, then do not squander time, for that’s the stuff life is made of
4. The sleeping fox catches no poultry
5. There will be sleeping enough in the grave
6. Wasting time must be the greatest prodigality
7. Lost time is never found again
8. Time-enough, always proves little enough
9. Sloth makes all things difficult, but industry all easy
10. He that riseth late, must trot all day, and shall scarce overtake his business at night
11. Laziness travels so slowly, that poverty soon overtakes him
12. Drive thy business, let not that drive thee
13. Early to bed, and early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise.
14. Industry need not wish
15. He that lives upon hope will die fasting
16. There are no gains, without pains
17. He that hath a trade hath an estate
18. He that hath a calling hath an office of profit and honor
19. At the working man’s house hunger looks in, but dares not enter
20. For industry pays debts, while despair encreaseth them
21. Diligence is the mother of good luck
22. Plough deep, while sluggards sleep, and you shall have corn to sell and to keep
23. One today is worth two tomorrows
24. Have you somewhat to do tomorrow, do it today
25. Be ashamed to catch yourself idle
26. Let not the sun look down and say, inglorious here he lies
27. The cat in gloves catches no mice
28. Constant dropping wears away stones
29. Diligence and patience the mouse ate in two the cable
30. Little strokes fell great oaks

Click to here read the orginal article.

Shalom

So we have finally come to the end of our series on the 9 Habits of Millionaires as i understood them from Adam Khoo’s e-book. Lets dive right into what is probably the most important of all the habits as it directly relates to money and how we see it.

Habit 9: Respect Money

Do you really respect money? If i was to ask you what you thought of money, I’d get several varying answers many of which would show an unhealthy view towards money. The most common beliefs about money are:

• Money is the root of all evil
• Money is elusive and fleeting
• Having money will cause me more problems
• Rich people are greedy, selfish and unscrupulous
• Poverty is a virtue
• Money will change you(into a bad person)
• You have to work extremely hard to make money
• If i become wealthy
• etc

Most of us want and desire to have lots more money but subconsciously, we walk around with these negative associations towards money and this causes a conflict. Essentially what happens is that we sabotage ourselves from getting money. For example most of us have been brought up to believe that money is the root of all evil. As such we feel guilty about money. So we unconsciously do things to get rid of the money in our lives. If you have 5million shillings on your account, you find ways to spend, lend, waste, give it away to abate the guilt you have in actually having that much money. Please note that as long as you have this disrespect for money, you will never be able to truly prosper. 

Millionaires on the other hand have a high respect for money. They see money as a tool, an ally and even as a friend. Millionaires know that money can do a lot for them. Millionaires realize that money offers them opportunity to do the things they really want, go where they want and buy what they want. Money to them therefore is highly respected. They don’t waste it. They don’t throw it away. They don’t feel ashamed of having it either. In the same breath, millionaires are not slaves to money. They don’t work for money. Money is a result of them offering tremendous value in the marketplace. They know that their true worth doesn’t come from money but with the value and ideas they have to offer. Money to millionaires is merely a way of keeping score.

So we must work on changing our beliefs and attitudes towards money into more healthy and empowering ones. I personally have chosen to adopt some of the following beliefs about money:

• Money is abundant and comes easily and frequently to me.
• Money helps me live the lifestyle I desire
• Money enables me to richly bless those around me
• Money is an effective tool that I use in my life
• Money is a reflection of the value I offer in this world
• Having money is generally better than not having it.  
• Money gives me tremendous influence for good
• etc

I’d definitely like to hear your new found respect and beliefs of money. I could use a few more myself. Recognize that most of your beliefs about money are myths that were unwittingly passed onto you by you parents and society. You want to be rich. You can be rich. Give yourself permission to do so. I know i have. And everyday I’m striving to develop all these 9 habits.

And thats it folks. Phew! Thank you for following this series, I do hope you were blessed by it. I will be anxiously waiting to hear your various feedbacks about how easy, difficult or practical it’s been for you to live out these habits. For your reading convenience here are all the Habits listed once again.  

• Habit 1: Give more than Expected
• Habit 2: Be Proactive
• Habit 3: Take 100% Responsibility
• Habit 4: Delayed Gratification
• Habit 5: Do what you love
• Habit 6: Act with Integrity
• Habit 7: Be 100% Committed
• Habit 8: The Ability to turn Failure into Success
• Habit 9: Respect Money

Shalom

JAMES RUSSELL LOWELL:
Wealth may be an excellent thing, for it means power, and it means leisure, it means liberty. 

WOODY ALLEN:
Money is better than poverty, if only for financial reasons.

 Shalom blogren. Its time again to continue on our quest to learn the 9 habits of Millionaires. We are close to the end of our series. Today we look at something particularly difficult for most of us. And that is:

Habit 8: The Ability to turn failure into success

To most of us, failure Is a bad word. Infact, it’s an f-word. We don’t like to fail, so much so that most of us never try to do anything just so we won’t leave any opportunity for that f-word to appear. But this is the greater distinction between us and Millionaires. Most people think that millionaires generally never fail, I mean how else could they be millionaires, right? We’re not millionaires because logically, we’ve failed.

Here’s a truth for you. Millionaires fail a lot more than even you and I. Most millionaires have failed so many times it’s ridiculous. You all heard of Thomas Edison who failed 10,000 times in trying to make a working light bulb. Good grief, I’d have gotten the hint after the 10th time! But millionaires fail more than most of us because they inherently do a lot more, risk a lot more than most of us. The key difference is that millionaires don’t fear failure because they have learned to use it as an ally. Failure to them is simply feedback. It shows them what’s not working and this allows them to change strategy continuously till they eventually succeed.

I don’t know about you, but I’m the kind of person who fails and takes it personally and quits. 3years ago I failed in my first business and guess what I did? Yep, I quit. I didn’t see my failure as feedback that something needed to be changed. Right now, I’m back in the saddle and looking at my past failures trying to understand what I did wrong, correct them this time round and get a better result. Thomas Edison in an interview later responded to a question of how he dealt with such colossal failure, said “I never failed. I simply discovered 10,000 ways not to do it!”

A Chinese proverb says “Madness is doing the same thing again and again and expecting a different outcome” That’s how a lot of people deal with failure. They keep doing the same thing over and over hoping that they will achieve a different result. You can’t keep spending all your money by the 2nd week of each month and hope that after one year of this, you will be debt free?!

In becoming the millionaire or successful person you dream of being, be prepared to fail many times before you achieve success. The important thing is to remember that failure is an event, it’s not who you are. Learn from it, change tactics and commit 100% to doing whatever it takes to achieve success and you will be victorious. I know it’s hard. One of the greatest human fears is the fear of failure.

I personally battle fear in many of its different persona’s so this habit is a challenge for me. As an entrepreneur, I can’t help but find myself fearing that I’m going to fail like I did the last time. That I don’t know enough. I’m not stong enough. I remember the ripple effects my failure had and it sometimes stops me in my tracks sometimes. But the grace of the Master helps me to face my fears each day and know that I’ve learned a lot since I was a naïve young man and I should trust that knowledge will see me through. The Rogue king wrote something about failure.

So my millionaire blogren, lets learn how to turn our failures into success. Our next habit is the last and not least of them which is Habit 9: Respect Money

Later

BARACK OBAMA:

Making your mark on the world is hard. If it were easy, everybody would do it. But it’s not. It takes patience, it takes commitment, and it comes with plenty of failure along the way. The real test is not whether you avoid this failure, because you won’t. it’s whether you let it harden or shame you into inaction, or whether you learn from it; whether you choose to persevere.

HAVELOCK ELLIS:

 It is on our failures that we base a new and different and better success

JOHN DEWEY:Failure is instructive. The person who really thinks learns quite as much from his failures as from his successes.

LLOYD JONES:

Those who try to do something and fail are infinitely better than those who try nothing and succeed.

MICHAEL JORDAN:

I’ve missed more than 9,000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games. 26 times I’ve been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life and that is why I succeed.

SAMUEL SMILES :

We learn wisdom from failure much more than from success. We often discover what will do, by finding out what will not do; and probably he who never made a mistake never made a discovery.

 

Wow, we’re ever coming closer to completing this series on the 9 habits of Millionaires. I am blessed that you guys have been continually following with me as we explore these fascinating habits. I am glad that you guys like me, really want to turn our lives around for the better and not be just average. So right to it then.

Habit 6: Acting with Integrity

Integrity is about being totally honest with yourself, with others and holding a high moral standard. It’s about doing what you say you will and acting consistently with what you say you believe. When you act with Integrity, everyone around you, your family, friends, customers, staff will trust endearingly in you. That’s because they always know where they stand with you. Your customers will always beat a path to your doorstep because they know you’ll give them the highest value for money and not cheat them. Integrity means fulfilling your promises even when it’s going to cost you to do so. It means actaully working 8hours a day that you are paid to and not just playing with facebook, blogging and reading newspapers on the job. 

I must confess, I am appalled at the lack of integrity in Uganda today. It’s extremely maddening that people will lie and cheat like they eat & breathe. Even kids now have no problem in cheating on their exams and copying each others courseworks. If there is a reason why Uganda’s progress has slowed and even seems to be reversing, it’s because of a great lack in integrity. Reputation means nothing to people anymore. Look at your global funds, GAVI, election fraud, massive corruption. I wrote about this last year here.

Millionaires are people of Integrity. The word of a millionaire is worth millions. Sure there are a few(an in our case, seems like the majority) of millionaires who have lying, cheating, scum of the earth but as a rule of thumb their wealth will not last. The book of Proverbs 13:11 says

“Wealth gained dishonestly dwindles away, but he who gathers by hand makes it grow.”

I’m personally learning each day to live with Integrity. It’s not easy but it must be done. In a country like ours, the millionaires are going to come from the few individuals who are absolutely trustworthy in the midst of the insane dishonesty and corruption. I am working to make sure that I am one of the few, how about you?

I’ll close with this interesting fact. In the bestselling book ‘The Millionaire Mind’, author Thomas Stanley interviewed 733 multi-millionaires and asked them what were the key factors that contributed to their wealth. Ranked number one was ‘being honest with people‘. This factor was ranked way ahead of factors like ‘making wise investments’, ‘working hard’ and ‘having a competitive spirit’. Think about that till we next meet to discuss habit 7: Be 100% Committed.

 Shalom

“Integrity is the essence of everything successful” Richard Buckminister Fuller

Hello people, I hope you are enjoying this series on the 9 habits of Millionaires. Lets continue.

Habit 5: Do what you love

All successful people in this world have one thing in common. They do what they love.

In Uganda, most of us are looking for shortcuts to getting money and we’re constantly looking for the right business or career path that will get us there. For a while I recall that IT was considered the choice career and then it was Procurement so that people could be on tender boards and eat “enjawulo”.

Let me make this clear, you can never be successful unless you wake up everyday excited & full of passion for the work your going to do. People who love what they do don’t even see it as work. They enjoy themselves tremendously and eat, sleep, breathe what they do. As a result, they become the absolute best at what they do. They are walking encyclopedias about their particular field.

In any industry/ profession there will always be a minority who earn millions and the rest of the majority who earn just enough to get by. Why? Because those who earn the millions absolutely love what they do while the rest of us simply do it because that’s what you studied or it’s where you were told the money is.  There is no perfect millionaire career path. Whatever it is you choose, you can be a millionaire. You simply have to be absolutely 12o% committed to being the best in that particular field. And you can only do so in something that you love doing.

Tiger Woods is the best golfer in the world because of his intense love for the game and his obsessive commitment to practice and improvement. The same was true for Michael Jordan. He wasn’t the most gifted basketball player. Infact, he was rejected from his high school team the first time he tried. But his love for the game and commitment to training made him a legend. Steven Speilberg loves making movies, Tom Clancy loves writing about all things military, Museveni loves to rule

Realise one thing about all these people is despite the fortunes they’ve amassed, they still continue working. That’s because for them, it’s not about the money per se; its about their passion and being the absolute best at what they do. They love what they do so much, they would do it for free!

If you’re wondering why you aren’t successful, why you aren’t motivated or focused, the reason is very simple. You’re not doing what you love. Find what you love. We have been taught by our parents that in order to be successful, you gotta find a good job and work real hard for 30years. Simply put,

go to school > work hard > make enough money > do what you’ve always wanted

but the millionaire principle is

find what you love > become real good at it > make tons of money > continue doing what you love.

Again, it really doesn’t matter what it is you love. It maybe technology, sports, clothes, cooking, baby sitting, writing, nsenene, gonja, whatever.You can be a millionaire doing anything you choose as long as you’re the best in the business.

So let us ask ourselves the following questions:

1. What do I love to do? What would I do even if I’m not getting paid?
2. If time, money, resources were not an issue, what would you be doing on a daily basis?
3. Who are the people who have made a fortune around my passion?

Answer these questions and get serious about making your fortune doing what you love. Next up, Habit 6:Acting with Integrity

Shalom

Greetings dear bloggers and what a short weekend it was. Before I get into this session, let me first send a shout out to my bro the RogueKing whose blog is finally back online after a brief hiatus. So welcome back man, we missed you.

Now, we continue in our series the 9 habits of Millionaires. So far we’ve looked at the habit of giving more than expected, of being proactive and of taking 100% responsibility. As we come halfway in this series I’d be most glad to hear your personal opinions on each habit and how you may or may not challenged in implementing them. So, lets move on shall we.

Habit 4: Delayed Gratification.

Gratification, what a word! Almost conjures up images of sordid carnal pleasure. Well that’s really what it is. Most of us prefer instant gratification which is enjoying right now and to hell with waiting for future benefits. As a result, we spend so much more than we ever invest. By spending on that new car, new flat screen tv, exorbitant rental house or even chips & chicken, we get our instant gratification. But when it comes to saving, investing in land, stocks or even books & training we feel like “Oh Gosh, do we have to?”

 People who want instant gratification will always look for quick and easy ways of making money rather than building a sustainable business that adds value to customers. They tend to cut corners on quality add deliver shoddy products to save money and boost short term profits. As a result, their profits rarely last and they will soon go out of business. A very typical Ugandan trait, I have observed.

Millionaires on the other hand, are in the habit of delaying their personal gratification for a future time when they can very easily afford it many times over. They prefer to invest their money in things and ventures that will make them more money in the future. If a millionaire got 1,000,000 shillings, he would find something that could in future turn that into 2million or 4million or more. Yes, even spending it on a good course or training in business, personal development or just buying books would result in multiple returns for the millionaire. If I gave it you right now, I’m sure investing it would be the last thing on your mind. You’d be paying off debts, buying rims for your car, taking a month off from work to lounge or some other form of instant gratification.(No offense:)

Millionaires invest far more than they spend. They know that with patience, their money will multiply into a fortune in the future. According to the New York Times Bestseller, The Millionaire Next Door, most millionaires are actually extremely frugal, i.e. they spend very little on personal luxuries and pleasures. They will rather buy a suit of 250,000/= and invest 750,000/= unlike most of us who would just dash for the 1M Vialli Suit and matching cufflinks! That’s not to say millionaires are cheapskates, they just don’t waste their resources.

Millionaires never take shortcuts in business. They look at always giving the best value to their customers, even if it means earning less at present. They know that by building their reputation, it will lead to huge profit streams in the future.

So my dear readers, to be a millionaire, you need to learn to put off the now and invest your resources wisely and reap the rewards in the future. I close this session with a story that best eschews what I’m talking about. I was once with a friend and we observed and elderly Indian man driving an S-Class Mercedes Benz. To be honest, I was shocked cause it’s not a sight you see very often or even expect to given the rep Indians have for being frugal. I remarked to my friend and he told me something I’ll never forget. He said that by the time you see an Indian drive such a car, just be sure that he can afford ten of them.

Moral; a true millionaire doesn’t blow money they don’t have but rather only a small portion of their net worth. So next time your going to waste money on yet another pair of shoes you’ll only wear once, why not but a good personal development book that will multiply you as a person for the rest of your life?

Next habit number 5: Do what you love

Shalom