Wednesday, January 7, 2015
Saturday, October 4, 2008
8 Simple Ways to Control Stress!
Simple modifications in posture, habits, thought, and behavior often go a long way toward reducing feelings of stress and tension. Here are 8 quick and simple things you can do immediately to help keep your stress level under control.
1. Control Your Anger:
Watch for the next instance in which you find yourself becoming annoyed or angry at something trivial or unimportant, then practice letting go - make a conscious choice not to become angry or upset. Do not allow yourself to waste thought and energy where it isn't deserved. Effective anger management is a tried-and-true stress reducer.
2. Breathe:
Breathe slowly and deeply. Before reacting to the next stressful occurrence, take three deep breaths and release them slowly. If you have a few minutes, try out breathing exercises such as meditation or guided imagery.
3. Slow Down:
Whenever you feel overwhelmed by stress, practice speaking more slowly than usual. You'll find that you think more clearly and react more reasonably to stressful situations. Stressed people tend to speak fast and breathlessly; by slowing down your speech you'll also appear less anxious and more in control of any situation.
4. Complete One Simple To Do:
Jump start an effective time management strategy. Choose one simple thing you have been putting off (e.g. returning a phone call, making a doctor's appointment) and do it immediately. Just taking care of one nagging responsibility can be energizing and can improve your attitude.
5. Get Some Fresh Air:
Get outdoors for a brief break. Our grandparents were right about the healing power of fresh air. Don't be deterred by foul weather or a full schedule. Even five minutes on a balcony or terrace can be rejuvenating.
6. Avoid Hunger and Dehydration:
Drink plenty of water and eat small, nutritious snacks. Hunger and dehydration, even before you're aware of them, can provoke aggressiveness and exacerbate feelings of anxiety and stress.
7. Do a Quick Posture Check:
Hold your head and shoulders upright and avoid stooping or slumping. Bad posture can lead to muscle tension, pain, and increased stress.
8. Recharge at the Day’s End:
Plan something rewarding for the end of your stressful day, even if only a relaxing bath or half an hour with a good book. Put aside work, housekeeping or family concerns for a brief period before bedtime and allow yourself to fully relax. Don't spend this time planning tomorrow's schedule or doing chores you didn't get around to during the day.
for more info mail tejumadeh@yahoo.com.
20 KEYS TO BEING A SMARTER INVESTOR
Like many investors, you’re probably torn between greed and fear... On the one hand, you want to generate as high a return as possible from your investments in order to pay for a comfortable retirement, fund the high cost of college education, start a small business, pass money on to your heirs or finance a myriad of other major life expenses.
At the same time, you may fear the investment markets. Perhaps you’ve been burned by market declines, bad investment advice or taking on too much risk by grabbing for high returns. Or maybe investments and investing appear so complicated you’re afraid to venture beyond the basic savings accounts you know.
This brochure, produced by the Financial Planning Association, the premier resource for the public to find a financial planner who will deliver advice using an ethical, objective, client-centered process, offers 20 key steps to rein in that greed and ease your fears through the wise management of your investments. The brochure is not
designed to make you a great stock picker or predict the next market boom or decline. Rather, it shows you how to apply timetested investing principles and techniques so that despite the inevitable ups and downs of the markets, you can realistically achieve your family’s financial goals.
The information presented here is also valuable whether you intend to manage your investments yourself or work closely with a financial planner or other investment professional.
1. Understand the difference between saving and investing.
Saving is for smaller, near-term goals, such as the next family vacation, a car or a financial emergency. Keep cash in a savings account, money market or short-term certificate of deposit where you would have little or no risk of losing principal and can have immediate access to your funds. Investing is for larger, longer-term goals-at least five years away-such as retirement or college. Investing carries risk such as loss of principal or not earning as much as anticipated. But wise investing also provides a greater opportunity for earning a significantly higher rate of return over the long run than you can earn through savings.
2. Put the rest of your financial house in order first.
Before investing, consider tackling several other household financial issues. Create a budget, or spending plan, in order to free up money for regular investing. Pay off expensive credit cards or other high-interest consumer debt that eat up valuable investment dollars. Build a cash emergency fund and buy the right kinds and amount of insurance to protect against a financial setback - otherwise, you may be forced to raid your investment accounts for cash at a time when the market is down or with costly tax consequences.
3. Clarify your goals.
Smart investing means investing with a specific purpose - those life goals such as retirement or passing money on to heirs. Investing with purpose makes it easier to stick to your investment plan and to invest income you might otherwise spend. Goals should be realistic, with a specific amount to accumulate by a reasonable target date. "Retirement" isn’t a goal. What kind of retirement you want and when you want to retire are. Write down your goals and discuss them with your family.
4. Don’t just grab for the highest return.
One of the most misunderstood aspects of investing is the belief that investing is all about seeking the highest possible returns. This misperception is why so many investors got into trouble during the booming stock market of the late 1990s when they disdained "average" returns and began chasing the riskiest of stocks. Their purpose was simply to "make as much money as possible in the shortest time." This example illustrates why investment goals are important. With reasonable, specific goals, you can make informed, realistic investment decisions designed to accomplish your financial goals without taking unnecessary risk. Making decisions based on these investment goals is what steers you on an even course between the rocky shores of greed and fear.
5. Understand your own tolerance for risk.
In addition to understanding the risks of each type of asset and investment vehicle, you need to understand how much risk you’re willing to take and which types of risk worry you the most. Risk tolerance is partly a function of your investment goals, how much time you have to invest, other financial resources you have and, frankly, your "fear factor." Investments that keep you awake at night, regardless of how "good" they might be for your needs, are not the right investments for you. Accurately gauging your tolerance for risk can be tricky, however. It’s easy to feel confident when the market is up and conservative when it is down. A CFP® professional can help you assess where you truly stand. Questions you and your planner might ask include:
· Are you more concerned about losing principal or losing purchasing power?
· How much principal are you willing to lose?
· How worried were you about your investments during the recent market decline?
· Which of your current investments keep you awake at night?
· Do you track your investments daily (a possible indication of unease)?
· How diversified is your portfolio?
6. Educate yourself about investments and investing.
Even if you work with a financial planner or other investment advisers, you need to have a solid understanding of how different types of investments work, their potential returns, their risks and how you can assemble them in a cohesive portfolio that’s right for your needs and goals. Pay particular attention to investment risk. All investments carry some degree of risk. While stocks in general tend to perform well over long periods of time, for example, their short-term risk can be high, as many investors painfully learned during the market decline of 2000-2002. Risk is not limited to stocks, either. You can lose money in real estate, corporate bonds, gold and commodities. This is why it is important to note that diversification among
different asset classes may help reduce risk. Even so-called "safe" investments carry some risk. U.S. Treasury bonds, for example, are federally guaranteed against loss of principal as long as you hold them until they mature. Because they are subject to interest-rate risks like any other type of bond, however, it’s possible to lose money if you sell them before maturity. Don’t understand interest-rate risk? If you don’t understand how a particular investment works, or the risks that come with it, ask for help before you invest. Invest a little in education first. Ask your financial planner or investment professional for resources to help you make the best decisions.
7. Hold realistic market expectations.
One of the downfalls for many investors during the booming market of the late 1990s was their belief that high double-digit returns were normal for stocks. But historical investment returns reveal otherwise. According to Ibbotson Associates, large-company stocks, such as those found on the Dow and the S&P 500, returned an annual average of 10.4 percent from 1926 through 2001. During the same period, small-company stocks returned 12.7 percent and long-term government bonds averaged 5.4 percent. But these are only averages over many years. In any given year, you will probably not earn the annual "average" return. You’ll earn either more or less than the average. Knowing the historical average returns can keep these fluctuations in perspective.
8. Follow a detailed written plan.
Formally, this is called an investment policy statement. It’s a road map to keep you on course through good times and bad, to eliminate investment ideas that don’t fit your circumstances, and to provide a way to monitor the actual performance of your investments. This plan is, of course, subject to changes over the course of your investing lifetime.The plan outlines such things as:
· Investment goals and time horizons
· Minimum average annual return needed to achieve those goals
· Current income needs from the portfolio, if any
· Types of investments you will and won’t include
· What investment vehicles you’ll use, such as individual securities, mutual funds, separately managed accounts, or taxable and tax-favored accounts
· How assets are to be allocated within the total portfolio
· Rebalancing procedures
· Potential tax consequences
· Estimated risk level of the portfolio
· Updating income needs due to inflation and medical costs
9. Allocate investments according to goals and needs.
How will you divvy up your investment dollars among various asset categories such as large-company and smallcompany stocks, international equities, government and corporate bonds, cash, real estate, and other assets? The answer depends on several factors. Key among them are your investment goals and your timeline for achieving them. The sooner you’ll need the funds, usually the more conservative your investments should be. Also, what other financial resources are available to you? If Social Security and a good pension will generate most of your income needs in retirement, you may feel comfortable with a more aggressive approach to your investment portfolio. You may opt for a more conservative approach, however, if your investment portfolio will be a primary source of retirement income.
10. Diversify your investments.
Too often, individual portfolios invest heavily in a single type of asset, often to the near exclusion of other types. A popular choice in recent years has been large-company U.S. stocks, also called "large-caps." These stocks outperformed other major asset categories in 1989 and from1995 to 1998. Yet, in all other years between 1965 and 2004, large-caps were outperformed by small company stocks, international stocks, intermediate bonds or investment real estate.
Because it’s almost impossible to identify in advance which asset classes will lead the way during any given time, it’s wisest to spread dollars among several investment classes. Research has shown that this diversification reduces risk while at the same time maintaining or even improving portfolio performance. Investors also may want to diversify within broad categories. Among stocks, for example, they might divide their money between value and growth stocks, or between large-cap and small-cap. They may also want to include a variety of industries or sectors like technology, consumer goods and health care.
11. Don’t overload on company stock.
As many employees at Enron and other large bankrupt companies learned the hard way, loading up your 401(k) with your employer’s stock can be disastrous. Both your job and your retirement security are riding on the fortunes of a single employer and a single industry.
Financial planners typically recommend limiting company stock to no more than 10 or 20 percent of the account’s value. But this can be difficult to do if the employer will only match your plan contributions with company stock while restricting how soon you might sell the stock and diversify through other investment options offered. Consequently, you may need to try to diversify your overall portfolio through other types of assets you hold outside your 401(k) plan.
12. Don’t chase ‘hot’ performance.
Today’s hot investments are often tomorrow’s cold turkeys. The most recent glaring example of this was tech stocks, represented by the Nasdaq stock index. The Nasdaq returned a record-smashing 85.6 percent in 1999, but fell nearly 40 percent the following year, and lost another 21 percent the next year. The major problem with chasing the current hottest investments is that by the time most investors discover that an asset category or specific investment is "hot," the investment often has already realized much or most of its run-up in value. Consequently, investors often get in at about the time the investment is ready to fall. Calculations by DALBAR, a consulting firm, show that stock investors who frequently trade in and out of mutual funds earned a meager 3.51 percent annually between 1984 and 2003-dramatically below the 12.98 percent annual average earned by the S&P 500 stock index over the same period.
For the remaining 8 keys contact me via href="mailto:tejumadeh@yahoo.com">tejumadeh@yahoo.com or http://www.clubfreedom.biz/tejumadeh
At the same time, you may fear the investment markets. Perhaps you’ve been burned by market declines, bad investment advice or taking on too much risk by grabbing for high returns. Or maybe investments and investing appear so complicated you’re afraid to venture beyond the basic savings accounts you know.
This brochure, produced by the Financial Planning Association, the premier resource for the public to find a financial planner who will deliver advice using an ethical, objective, client-centered process, offers 20 key steps to rein in that greed and ease your fears through the wise management of your investments. The brochure is not
designed to make you a great stock picker or predict the next market boom or decline. Rather, it shows you how to apply timetested investing principles and techniques so that despite the inevitable ups and downs of the markets, you can realistically achieve your family’s financial goals.
The information presented here is also valuable whether you intend to manage your investments yourself or work closely with a financial planner or other investment professional.
1. Understand the difference between saving and investing.
Saving is for smaller, near-term goals, such as the next family vacation, a car or a financial emergency. Keep cash in a savings account, money market or short-term certificate of deposit where you would have little or no risk of losing principal and can have immediate access to your funds. Investing is for larger, longer-term goals-at least five years away-such as retirement or college. Investing carries risk such as loss of principal or not earning as much as anticipated. But wise investing also provides a greater opportunity for earning a significantly higher rate of return over the long run than you can earn through savings.
2. Put the rest of your financial house in order first.
Before investing, consider tackling several other household financial issues. Create a budget, or spending plan, in order to free up money for regular investing. Pay off expensive credit cards or other high-interest consumer debt that eat up valuable investment dollars. Build a cash emergency fund and buy the right kinds and amount of insurance to protect against a financial setback - otherwise, you may be forced to raid your investment accounts for cash at a time when the market is down or with costly tax consequences.
3. Clarify your goals.
Smart investing means investing with a specific purpose - those life goals such as retirement or passing money on to heirs. Investing with purpose makes it easier to stick to your investment plan and to invest income you might otherwise spend. Goals should be realistic, with a specific amount to accumulate by a reasonable target date. "Retirement" isn’t a goal. What kind of retirement you want and when you want to retire are. Write down your goals and discuss them with your family.
4. Don’t just grab for the highest return.
One of the most misunderstood aspects of investing is the belief that investing is all about seeking the highest possible returns. This misperception is why so many investors got into trouble during the booming stock market of the late 1990s when they disdained "average" returns and began chasing the riskiest of stocks. Their purpose was simply to "make as much money as possible in the shortest time." This example illustrates why investment goals are important. With reasonable, specific goals, you can make informed, realistic investment decisions designed to accomplish your financial goals without taking unnecessary risk. Making decisions based on these investment goals is what steers you on an even course between the rocky shores of greed and fear.
5. Understand your own tolerance for risk.
In addition to understanding the risks of each type of asset and investment vehicle, you need to understand how much risk you’re willing to take and which types of risk worry you the most. Risk tolerance is partly a function of your investment goals, how much time you have to invest, other financial resources you have and, frankly, your "fear factor." Investments that keep you awake at night, regardless of how "good" they might be for your needs, are not the right investments for you. Accurately gauging your tolerance for risk can be tricky, however. It’s easy to feel confident when the market is up and conservative when it is down. A CFP® professional can help you assess where you truly stand. Questions you and your planner might ask include:
· Are you more concerned about losing principal or losing purchasing power?
· How much principal are you willing to lose?
· How worried were you about your investments during the recent market decline?
· Which of your current investments keep you awake at night?
· Do you track your investments daily (a possible indication of unease)?
· How diversified is your portfolio?
6. Educate yourself about investments and investing.
Even if you work with a financial planner or other investment advisers, you need to have a solid understanding of how different types of investments work, their potential returns, their risks and how you can assemble them in a cohesive portfolio that’s right for your needs and goals. Pay particular attention to investment risk. All investments carry some degree of risk. While stocks in general tend to perform well over long periods of time, for example, their short-term risk can be high, as many investors painfully learned during the market decline of 2000-2002. Risk is not limited to stocks, either. You can lose money in real estate, corporate bonds, gold and commodities. This is why it is important to note that diversification among
different asset classes may help reduce risk. Even so-called "safe" investments carry some risk. U.S. Treasury bonds, for example, are federally guaranteed against loss of principal as long as you hold them until they mature. Because they are subject to interest-rate risks like any other type of bond, however, it’s possible to lose money if you sell them before maturity. Don’t understand interest-rate risk? If you don’t understand how a particular investment works, or the risks that come with it, ask for help before you invest. Invest a little in education first. Ask your financial planner or investment professional for resources to help you make the best decisions.
7. Hold realistic market expectations.
One of the downfalls for many investors during the booming market of the late 1990s was their belief that high double-digit returns were normal for stocks. But historical investment returns reveal otherwise. According to Ibbotson Associates, large-company stocks, such as those found on the Dow and the S&P 500, returned an annual average of 10.4 percent from 1926 through 2001. During the same period, small-company stocks returned 12.7 percent and long-term government bonds averaged 5.4 percent. But these are only averages over many years. In any given year, you will probably not earn the annual "average" return. You’ll earn either more or less than the average. Knowing the historical average returns can keep these fluctuations in perspective.
8. Follow a detailed written plan.
Formally, this is called an investment policy statement. It’s a road map to keep you on course through good times and bad, to eliminate investment ideas that don’t fit your circumstances, and to provide a way to monitor the actual performance of your investments. This plan is, of course, subject to changes over the course of your investing lifetime.The plan outlines such things as:
· Investment goals and time horizons
· Minimum average annual return needed to achieve those goals
· Current income needs from the portfolio, if any
· Types of investments you will and won’t include
· What investment vehicles you’ll use, such as individual securities, mutual funds, separately managed accounts, or taxable and tax-favored accounts
· How assets are to be allocated within the total portfolio
· Rebalancing procedures
· Potential tax consequences
· Estimated risk level of the portfolio
· Updating income needs due to inflation and medical costs
9. Allocate investments according to goals and needs.
How will you divvy up your investment dollars among various asset categories such as large-company and smallcompany stocks, international equities, government and corporate bonds, cash, real estate, and other assets? The answer depends on several factors. Key among them are your investment goals and your timeline for achieving them. The sooner you’ll need the funds, usually the more conservative your investments should be. Also, what other financial resources are available to you? If Social Security and a good pension will generate most of your income needs in retirement, you may feel comfortable with a more aggressive approach to your investment portfolio. You may opt for a more conservative approach, however, if your investment portfolio will be a primary source of retirement income.
10. Diversify your investments.
Too often, individual portfolios invest heavily in a single type of asset, often to the near exclusion of other types. A popular choice in recent years has been large-company U.S. stocks, also called "large-caps." These stocks outperformed other major asset categories in 1989 and from1995 to 1998. Yet, in all other years between 1965 and 2004, large-caps were outperformed by small company stocks, international stocks, intermediate bonds or investment real estate.
Because it’s almost impossible to identify in advance which asset classes will lead the way during any given time, it’s wisest to spread dollars among several investment classes. Research has shown that this diversification reduces risk while at the same time maintaining or even improving portfolio performance. Investors also may want to diversify within broad categories. Among stocks, for example, they might divide their money between value and growth stocks, or between large-cap and small-cap. They may also want to include a variety of industries or sectors like technology, consumer goods and health care.
11. Don’t overload on company stock.
As many employees at Enron and other large bankrupt companies learned the hard way, loading up your 401(k) with your employer’s stock can be disastrous. Both your job and your retirement security are riding on the fortunes of a single employer and a single industry.
Financial planners typically recommend limiting company stock to no more than 10 or 20 percent of the account’s value. But this can be difficult to do if the employer will only match your plan contributions with company stock while restricting how soon you might sell the stock and diversify through other investment options offered. Consequently, you may need to try to diversify your overall portfolio through other types of assets you hold outside your 401(k) plan.
12. Don’t chase ‘hot’ performance.
Today’s hot investments are often tomorrow’s cold turkeys. The most recent glaring example of this was tech stocks, represented by the Nasdaq stock index. The Nasdaq returned a record-smashing 85.6 percent in 1999, but fell nearly 40 percent the following year, and lost another 21 percent the next year. The major problem with chasing the current hottest investments is that by the time most investors discover that an asset category or specific investment is "hot," the investment often has already realized much or most of its run-up in value. Consequently, investors often get in at about the time the investment is ready to fall. Calculations by DALBAR, a consulting firm, show that stock investors who frequently trade in and out of mutual funds earned a meager 3.51 percent annually between 1984 and 2003-dramatically below the 12.98 percent annual average earned by the S&P 500 stock index over the same period.
For the remaining 8 keys contact me via href="mailto:tejumadeh@yahoo.com">tejumadeh@yahoo.com or http://www.clubfreedom.biz/tejumadeh
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
SEVEN SECRETS TO HOME BUSINESS SECRET
SEVEN SECRETS TO HOME BUSINESS SUCCESS!
So here you are, ready to learn everything there is to become wealthy in this Network Marketing business. The title above seems to indicate that
there are seven things that will wow you and expose you to the things that
no one has ever told you before. Well, I’m here to tell you that many of you will look at some of these seven secrets and say “I already knew that”. Don’t let it fool you that you may have heard of some of these secrets before because it’s not about just knowing them, it’s about the execution of them. Its about doing them and
how you do them. Let’s talk about Baseball for a moment. Men playing professional baseball are earning outrageous money. One of the best examples is Roger Clemens. At about 24 games at which is over 4 months of actual playing Roger is paid $18 Million. That is approximately $5422 per pitch. There are many players being paid $2 million, $4 million and $8 million. Now, of course, most have been playing since they were 8 and 10 years old. The season starts in April, but before that, all these millionaires go to a thing called Spring Training. Spring Training is about everyone getting together with their coaches to practice, work out and get ready for the season. Now here’s the interesting part. What do you think these millionaires do during Spring Training? They simply do the basics. They throw the ball, hit the ball and catch the ball. They do the same basic things some have done for 250 days per
year for thirty years or so. Why do you think all these millionaires get paid as much as they do? Simple, they are the best in the world. And why are they the best in the world? They are the best because they continue to do the basics. They
throw the ball, hit the ball and catch the ball. These “7 Secrets” are the basics of Network Marketing. Look at the actions that make up your daily plan of action. Are you consistently doing the basics given to you here in the “7 Secrets”? If you do, you can build a strong and profitable home business that will let you live the lifestyle of your dreams. Here are the Seven Secret keys to the kingdom!
SECRET 1
The first secret is really no secret at all, except it is the reason most people never reach their goals. It is your “why”. Your why is your reason to do this business. Tomorrow morning, when you wake up, why are you doing this
business? Why are you going to call your friends and family and even people
you don't know and talk to them about your program or opportunity especially when maybe, they may not seem to care at all? If you are like most people, you will have disappointments and your why will help you get through those tough times. Here's an
example of what we mean: If your why is to have enough money to send your only daughter to the college of her choice and your broke uncle tells you this business doesn't work, the power of your why will determine whether your child gets the education she is worth or just whatever choice is left. Think of what your life would look like if you never had to do anything you did not want to do. Who would you want to help? What charities might you contribute to? Where do you travel and
with whom do you spend your time? There are people in this business who donate more to their church today, than they made in an entire year from their past construction
business! And there are thousands of stories just like this. The key is to reach deep down inside yourself and find what, who, where or why would be your reason to continue to do this thing called network marketing, when it just might be easier to quit. Buy a journal, make a list. Write down your feelings about what you would like your life to look like. Get a vivid vision of how different things would look. How you would feel about your achievement? The first Secret is to find your why that makes you jump out of bed everyday, excited to talk about your product and business.
SECRET # 2
One of the most basic steps when starting your home business is to make a list of all your friends, family and acquaintances. You should have at least 100 names but more likely closer to 300. Another basic step is to think about what some call the “ Foot Rule”. That just means find a way to talk to anyone that comes within 3 feet of you. Start a conversation, find out about people. They will often tell you what is wrong in their life and you may have the opportunity to share with them how you can help improve it. What is left is to come up with something that is effective to use in talking to your warm market (friends and family) and to your cold market (3 foot rule) or Approach Market. You've probably guessed it, Secret #2 is about what you say to someone you just met when they ask you “What you do for a living?” First of all, let's talk about why people might ask that question. Many times, they might ask because you asked them about them and how they make a living. If that is the case, you want to develop a quick one liner and then turn the conversation back to them.
The example goes like this: The person tells you he or she is an accountant and then asks you what you do. You answer with your complete product and compensation pitch. Meanwhile, this person is now running away from you as fast as possible. They were only responding out of what is called “reciprocity”. You asked them and they, in turn ask you the same question. The key here is that they don't really care, at least not yet, about you and what you do. So, when the accountant asks you what you do, return with a quick one liner and turn it back over to asking more questions about their professional life. Your one liner might be “I help people start their own part-time business, using sweat equity instead of the banks money”. Then
without taking a breath, say “being an accountant must be really hard between February and April 15th. Is that the only busy time? You must turn the topic of conversation back to them because you want to get to know them better. By asking about them, they will feel important and that you care. People will only follow you to the extent that they know you, like you and trust you.
For the remaining secrets contact me through this mailto:tejumadeh@yahoo.com
So here you are, ready to learn everything there is to become wealthy in this Network Marketing business. The title above seems to indicate that
there are seven things that will wow you and expose you to the things that
no one has ever told you before. Well, I’m here to tell you that many of you will look at some of these seven secrets and say “I already knew that”. Don’t let it fool you that you may have heard of some of these secrets before because it’s not about just knowing them, it’s about the execution of them. Its about doing them and
how you do them. Let’s talk about Baseball for a moment. Men playing professional baseball are earning outrageous money. One of the best examples is Roger Clemens. At about 24 games at which is over 4 months of actual playing Roger is paid $18 Million. That is approximately $5422 per pitch. There are many players being paid $2 million, $4 million and $8 million. Now, of course, most have been playing since they were 8 and 10 years old. The season starts in April, but before that, all these millionaires go to a thing called Spring Training. Spring Training is about everyone getting together with their coaches to practice, work out and get ready for the season. Now here’s the interesting part. What do you think these millionaires do during Spring Training? They simply do the basics. They throw the ball, hit the ball and catch the ball. They do the same basic things some have done for 250 days per
year for thirty years or so. Why do you think all these millionaires get paid as much as they do? Simple, they are the best in the world. And why are they the best in the world? They are the best because they continue to do the basics. They
throw the ball, hit the ball and catch the ball. These “7 Secrets” are the basics of Network Marketing. Look at the actions that make up your daily plan of action. Are you consistently doing the basics given to you here in the “7 Secrets”? If you do, you can build a strong and profitable home business that will let you live the lifestyle of your dreams. Here are the Seven Secret keys to the kingdom!
SECRET 1
The first secret is really no secret at all, except it is the reason most people never reach their goals. It is your “why”. Your why is your reason to do this business. Tomorrow morning, when you wake up, why are you doing this
business? Why are you going to call your friends and family and even people
you don't know and talk to them about your program or opportunity especially when maybe, they may not seem to care at all? If you are like most people, you will have disappointments and your why will help you get through those tough times. Here's an
example of what we mean: If your why is to have enough money to send your only daughter to the college of her choice and your broke uncle tells you this business doesn't work, the power of your why will determine whether your child gets the education she is worth or just whatever choice is left. Think of what your life would look like if you never had to do anything you did not want to do. Who would you want to help? What charities might you contribute to? Where do you travel and
with whom do you spend your time? There are people in this business who donate more to their church today, than they made in an entire year from their past construction
business! And there are thousands of stories just like this. The key is to reach deep down inside yourself and find what, who, where or why would be your reason to continue to do this thing called network marketing, when it just might be easier to quit. Buy a journal, make a list. Write down your feelings about what you would like your life to look like. Get a vivid vision of how different things would look. How you would feel about your achievement? The first Secret is to find your why that makes you jump out of bed everyday, excited to talk about your product and business.
SECRET # 2
One of the most basic steps when starting your home business is to make a list of all your friends, family and acquaintances. You should have at least 100 names but more likely closer to 300. Another basic step is to think about what some call the “ Foot Rule”. That just means find a way to talk to anyone that comes within 3 feet of you. Start a conversation, find out about people. They will often tell you what is wrong in their life and you may have the opportunity to share with them how you can help improve it. What is left is to come up with something that is effective to use in talking to your warm market (friends and family) and to your cold market (3 foot rule) or Approach Market. You've probably guessed it, Secret #2 is about what you say to someone you just met when they ask you “What you do for a living?” First of all, let's talk about why people might ask that question. Many times, they might ask because you asked them about them and how they make a living. If that is the case, you want to develop a quick one liner and then turn the conversation back to them.
The example goes like this: The person tells you he or she is an accountant and then asks you what you do. You answer with your complete product and compensation pitch. Meanwhile, this person is now running away from you as fast as possible. They were only responding out of what is called “reciprocity”. You asked them and they, in turn ask you the same question. The key here is that they don't really care, at least not yet, about you and what you do. So, when the accountant asks you what you do, return with a quick one liner and turn it back over to asking more questions about their professional life. Your one liner might be “I help people start their own part-time business, using sweat equity instead of the banks money”. Then
without taking a breath, say “being an accountant must be really hard between February and April 15th. Is that the only busy time? You must turn the topic of conversation back to them because you want to get to know them better. By asking about them, they will feel important and that you care. People will only follow you to the extent that they know you, like you and trust you.
For the remaining secrets contact me through this mailto:tejumadeh@yahoo.com
The Brian Tracy eBook - Principles Of Success
A Balanced Life
By: Brian Tracy
According to psychologist Sidney Jourard, fully 85 percent of your happiness in life
will come from your personal relationships. Your interactions and the time that you
spend with the people you care about will be the major source of the pleasure,
enjoyment and satisfaction that you derive daily. The other 15 percent of your
happiness will come from your accomplishments. Unfortunately, many people lose sight
of what is truly important, and they allow the tail to wag the dog. They sacrifice their
relationships, their major source of happiness, to accomplish more in their careers. But
one’s career, at best, can be only a minor sourceand a temporary one, at thatof the
happiness and satisfaction that everyone wants.
There is no perfect answer to the key question of how to achieve balance in our lives,
but there are a number of ideas that can help you to be and have and do more in the
areas that are important to you. These ideas often require changes and modifications in
the way you think and use your time, but the price is well worth it. You will find that by
reorganizing your life in little ways, you can create an existence that gives you the
highest quality and quantity of satisfaction overall. And this must be your guiding
purpose.
The ancient Greeks had two famous sayings: “Man, know thyself” and “Moderation in
all things.” Taken together, those two ideas are a good starting point for achieving the
balance that you desire. With regard to knowing thyself, it is very important to give
some serious thought to what you really value in life. All trade-offs and choices are
based on your values, and all stress and unhappiness come from believing and valuing
one thing and, yet, finding yourself doing another. Only when your values and your
activities are congruent do you feel happy and at peace with yourself.
So knowing yourself means knowing what you really value, knowing what is really
important to you. The superior man or woman decides what is right before he or she
decides what is possible. The advanced human being organizes his or her life to assure
that everything that he or she is doing is consistent with his or her true values. It is
essential for you to organize your life around yourself, rather than to organize yourself
around the demands of your external world.
The second quote, “Moderation in all things,” is a wonderful and important dictate for
successful living. But, at the same time, you know that you can’t really be successful in
any area by being moderate in that area. Peter Drucker once wrote, “Wherever you find
something getting done, you find a monomaniac with a mission.” You know that singleminded
concentration on a goal or objective is absolutely necessary for achievement of
any kind in a competitive society.
So what’s the solution? Over the years, I have worked with tens of thousands of men
and women who have spent a lot of time and effort struggling to achieve balance in
their lives. I have found that there is a simple formula; it is simple in that it is easy to
explain, but you need tremendous self-discipline and persistence to implement it in
your life.
The formula revolves around a concept of time management, or what you might
want to call life management. Time management is really a form of personal
management in which you organize your 24 hours a day in such a way that they give
you the greatest possible return of happiness and contentment.
The key to time management, after you have determined your values and the goals
that are in harmony with those values, is to set both priorities and posteriorities. The
importance of setting priorities is obvious. You make a list of all the things that you can
possibly do and then select from that list the things that are most important to you
based on everything you know about yourself, about others and about your
responsibilities. The setting of posteriorities is often overlooked. It is when you carefully
decide which things you are going to stop doing so that you will have enough time to
start doing something else.
The greatest single shortage we experience in America today is that of time. We
suffer from what has been called “time poverty.” Men and women everywhere feel that
their biggest single challenge is that they simply do not have enough time to do all the
things that they have to do or want to do. People today feel pressured from all sides
and are under an inordinate amount of stress. They feel overworked, fatigued and
incapable of fulfilling all the responsibilities that they have taken on.
The starting point to alleviate this time poverty is to stop and think. Most people are
so busy rushing back and forth that they seldom take the time to think seriously about
who they are and why they are doing what they are doing. They engage in frantic
activity, instead of thoughtful analysis. They get so busy climbing the ladder of success
that they lose sight of the fact that the ladder may be leaning against the wrong
building.
When my wife, Barbara, and I started our family, we were faced with a common
dilemma: how can we balance the demands of work and home with the finite amount
of time we are all given?
Here’s the answer I discovered: The key to success in a busy society is to devote
your time to only two areas during the period of time when your family needs you,
when your children are between the ages of birth to about 18 to 20 years. During this
period of time, you need to curtail virtually all of your outside activities. You need to
focus on two major areasyour family and your careeras I have done over the years.
You need to place your family’s needs above all else and then organize your work
schedule so that you can satisfy those needs on a regular basis. Then, when you work,
you must concentrate single-mindedly on doing an excellent job.
Most people are time wasters. They waste their own time, and they waste your time
as well. To be successful and happy, you must discipline yourself to work all the time
you work. The average employee works at about 50 percent of capacity. Fully 80
percent of people working today are underemployed in that their jobs do not really
demand their full capacities. Only 5 percent of workers surveyed recently felt that they
were working at the outside limits of their potentials.
But this is not for you. You must resolve to work all the time you work. You must
decide that from the time you start in the morning until the time you finish in the
evening, you will work 100 percent of the time. Even if no one is watching you, you
should be aware that everyone is watching you. Everybody knows everything. In
every company, everyone knows who is working and who is not. Your job must be to
work all the time you work. If people come by and want to chat, you simply smile at
them and say, “Could we talk about this later?” Tell them that you have to get back to
work.
For a complete series on this book you can contact me through this mail tejumadeh@yahoo.com
THE BEST PLACE TO LOOK FOR INCOME TODAY
The Best Place to Look for Income Today
Yesterday, a colleague asked for my top income idea right now. Here's what I told him...
Master limited partnerships (MLPs) are the American equivalent of Canadian income trusts. They pay no tax. They return all their profit to unit holders (another word for shareholders) in large monthly distributions. There are close to 100 MLPs trading in the stock market. And they're the absolute best place to look for big, safe dividends.
Most MLPs operate oil and gas infrastructure, like pipelines, processing plants, and storage tanks. The sector is having a banner year... Giant new gas discoveries in Wyoming, Texas, Oklahoma, and the Appalachian region have propelled demand for energy infrastructure. The sector is producing record cash flows, generating record dividend payments, and growing faster than it has ever grown before.
---------- Advertisement ---------What I Didn't Tell Fox News...
As editor of the S&A Oil Report, I recently went on Fox News to talk about the biggest natural resource discovery of its kind in 35 years...
I mentioned a couple of the companies involved and some other information on this Pennsylvania discovery. But, there's one major detail I didn't reveal to Fox's Brian Sullivan...
It could make you as much as 2,976% – at the least it could double your money in the next 12 months...
Click here to find out what I didn't tell Fox News.-------------------------------------
I looked up the most recent quarterly results for the 10 largest pipeline master limited partnerships. Nine of the 10 have raised their dividends in the last three months. Revenues are up. And profits are growing. Boardwalk Pipeline Partners (BWP), for example, just made its 11th consecutive dividend increase... reported an 83% jump in profits... and beat analysts' expectations by 40%.
The 12 MLP funds that trade on the market are paying an average 8.2% dividend yield today. Here's the thing: While business booms, MLP stock market prices have crumbled. In September, the MLP sector fell 22%. Lehman Brothers is to blame...
Lehman Brothers was the prominent investment bank in the MLP sector. It acted as a major advisor and underwriter in the MLP market. It loaned money to MLPs. It helped MLPs hedge their exposure to oil, gas, and interest rates.
Lehman Brothers also had huge positions in MLPs through its asset management and private-equity subsidiaries. From disclosures in Lehman's last quarterly report and other online sources, I deduced Lehman controlled at least $4.5 billion of MLP securities on June 30, 2008... about 3.5% of the entire MLP market. It's no surprise the MLP market cratered when Lehman unloaded billions of dollars of its holdings...
Besides Lehman, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Merrill Lynch, and Macquarie Infrastructure Trust were all among the top 10 largest institutional owners of MLPs. These firms are the shakiest in the market. They're scrambling to raise liquidity. I bet they're dumping their MLP positions, too.
At these prices, you should load up on MLPs and prepare to hold them for at least a decade...
MLPs are protected from inflation. A $10 payment might look fine today. But in five years, $10 won't buy a ride on the subway. It's no good investing for income if inflation undermines your returns. This is what will happen to fixed-income bond investors. But MLPs pay dividends that rise with inflation, so you'll never be left behind. Alerian Capital Management is the Dow Jones of the MLP sector. It created the MLP index. Alerian estimates the MLP industry's combined 2008 cash distribution to unit holders will be 12% higher than 2007's distribution.
Also, MLPs are 100% hard-asset investments. Assets in the MLP business are made of steel, copper, energy, labor, and large amounts of capital. The beauty of these assets is, once built, they represent almost no risk to your investment. You can just sit back and collect dividends. Take pipelines, for example. Once you've dug the trench and buried the steel tube... You have nothing else to do. The revenue is almost all income. It doesn't matter what's happening on Wall Street... or in Washington... your steel tube will crank out dividends for the next 100 years.
These Energy Stocks Are Paying Double-Digit Dividends
An Easy Way to Profit on Wyoming's Billion-Dollar Gas Problem
MLPs are fantastic tax shelters. Even though you receive income from your MLP investments every year, you only pay tax on a fraction of this income at tax time. You pay the rest of the tax liability when you sell the investment. Deferring tax is great. You can put the money to work instead of giving it to the government. And if you hold your MLPs until you retire, you'll pay the tax from a much lower tax bracket.
I urge you to check out the MLP sector. MLPs are simply the best place for long-term income investors to ride out Wall Street's madness... and earn a high yield at the same time.
Good investing,
Tom
P.S. In the latest issue of The 12% Letter, I told readers about my two favorite MLP investments. Both companies have raised dividends every quarter for the last 10 quarters. Right now, they yield 8% and 10%... and I expect to see one double in the next two years. Click here to learn more about The 12%
Yesterday, a colleague asked for my top income idea right now. Here's what I told him...
Master limited partnerships (MLPs) are the American equivalent of Canadian income trusts. They pay no tax. They return all their profit to unit holders (another word for shareholders) in large monthly distributions. There are close to 100 MLPs trading in the stock market. And they're the absolute best place to look for big, safe dividends.
Most MLPs operate oil and gas infrastructure, like pipelines, processing plants, and storage tanks. The sector is having a banner year... Giant new gas discoveries in Wyoming, Texas, Oklahoma, and the Appalachian region have propelled demand for energy infrastructure. The sector is producing record cash flows, generating record dividend payments, and growing faster than it has ever grown before.
---------- Advertisement ---------What I Didn't Tell Fox News...
As editor of the S&A Oil Report, I recently went on Fox News to talk about the biggest natural resource discovery of its kind in 35 years...
I mentioned a couple of the companies involved and some other information on this Pennsylvania discovery. But, there's one major detail I didn't reveal to Fox's Brian Sullivan...
It could make you as much as 2,976% – at the least it could double your money in the next 12 months...
Click here to find out what I didn't tell Fox News.-------------------------------------
I looked up the most recent quarterly results for the 10 largest pipeline master limited partnerships. Nine of the 10 have raised their dividends in the last three months. Revenues are up. And profits are growing. Boardwalk Pipeline Partners (BWP), for example, just made its 11th consecutive dividend increase... reported an 83% jump in profits... and beat analysts' expectations by 40%.
The 12 MLP funds that trade on the market are paying an average 8.2% dividend yield today. Here's the thing: While business booms, MLP stock market prices have crumbled. In September, the MLP sector fell 22%. Lehman Brothers is to blame...
Lehman Brothers was the prominent investment bank in the MLP sector. It acted as a major advisor and underwriter in the MLP market. It loaned money to MLPs. It helped MLPs hedge their exposure to oil, gas, and interest rates.
Lehman Brothers also had huge positions in MLPs through its asset management and private-equity subsidiaries. From disclosures in Lehman's last quarterly report and other online sources, I deduced Lehman controlled at least $4.5 billion of MLP securities on June 30, 2008... about 3.5% of the entire MLP market. It's no surprise the MLP market cratered when Lehman unloaded billions of dollars of its holdings...
Besides Lehman, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Merrill Lynch, and Macquarie Infrastructure Trust were all among the top 10 largest institutional owners of MLPs. These firms are the shakiest in the market. They're scrambling to raise liquidity. I bet they're dumping their MLP positions, too.
At these prices, you should load up on MLPs and prepare to hold them for at least a decade...
MLPs are protected from inflation. A $10 payment might look fine today. But in five years, $10 won't buy a ride on the subway. It's no good investing for income if inflation undermines your returns. This is what will happen to fixed-income bond investors. But MLPs pay dividends that rise with inflation, so you'll never be left behind. Alerian Capital Management is the Dow Jones of the MLP sector. It created the MLP index. Alerian estimates the MLP industry's combined 2008 cash distribution to unit holders will be 12% higher than 2007's distribution.
Also, MLPs are 100% hard-asset investments. Assets in the MLP business are made of steel, copper, energy, labor, and large amounts of capital. The beauty of these assets is, once built, they represent almost no risk to your investment. You can just sit back and collect dividends. Take pipelines, for example. Once you've dug the trench and buried the steel tube... You have nothing else to do. The revenue is almost all income. It doesn't matter what's happening on Wall Street... or in Washington... your steel tube will crank out dividends for the next 100 years.
These Energy Stocks Are Paying Double-Digit Dividends
An Easy Way to Profit on Wyoming's Billion-Dollar Gas Problem
MLPs are fantastic tax shelters. Even though you receive income from your MLP investments every year, you only pay tax on a fraction of this income at tax time. You pay the rest of the tax liability when you sell the investment. Deferring tax is great. You can put the money to work instead of giving it to the government. And if you hold your MLPs until you retire, you'll pay the tax from a much lower tax bracket.
I urge you to check out the MLP sector. MLPs are simply the best place for long-term income investors to ride out Wall Street's madness... and earn a high yield at the same time.
Good investing,
Tom
P.S. In the latest issue of The 12% Letter, I told readers about my two favorite MLP investments. Both companies have raised dividends every quarter for the last 10 quarters. Right now, they yield 8% and 10%... and I expect to see one double in the next two years. Click here to learn more about The 12%
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