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

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.

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.

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

Last night I was in need of great motivation so I picked up one of my favorite motivational preachers, Joel Osteen’s “Your best life now” for a boost. As I read the chapter on living with excellence and integrity, I was so convicted by the Holy Spirit that I, the Apprentice was living in real mediocrity!

I was stunned, horrified and totally ashamed. Me? Mediocre? How?

Well in very many simple ways. You see, Joel was saying that when we as christians go around driving dirty cars, dressing dishevely, consistently getting to work late, spending hours of our employers time surfing & blogging(not you guys ofcourse), giving our very least-just enough not to get fired, constantly complaining and excuse finding; then we are living in utmost mediocrity and shaming our God.

I am guilty of all these things to one extent or another. Joel goes onto to point out that as long as we keep doing this, God will never promote us. As the Lord said, “if you are faithful in the least, you will be given even more to handle” I’ve been crying for promotion, more money, more time, more opportunity, more vision and yet, I see now I’ve been doing so miserably with what I’ve got now that there’s no chance God would trust me with more.

Well, a change has to be made. This just won’t do. I can’t live with myself as a mediocre person. I despise mediocrity. It just won’t do. So help me God a change is on the way. I’m ashamed that there are many people out there who regard me as a sluggard, mediocre. The very words sting my soul. I thank El Elyon for pointing out how I had slipped into this life.

People, be mindful. Mediocrity has a way of invading your life ever so subtly, especially here in UG where its the accepted way of life. Don’t give in.

Live Excellently. Live with Integrity. God has promised He will richly reward us if we do.

Shalom

“This is beneath your dignity.  You were created to house the fullness of God.” Father John Sergiev

Build a better mousetrap and the world will beat a path to your door.Ralph Waldo Emerson

The secret of joy in work is contained in one word – excellence. To know how to do something well is to enjoy it.Pearl S. Buck