Decide - Commit - Succeed

One of the most important aspects to success is our commitment towards it, and more specifically, our decision to be successful. How we operate - how we think as well as the actions we take - is what makes us successful.

To make the difference for our own wealth and prosperity, we need to make a solid commitment to wealth and prosperity. It is a choice, and it is a choice totally independent of the circumstances in life. One can decide now, today, that you are taking on a whole new level of success, even with the "recession" glaring out at us.

"Decision" doesn't mean you kind of want to do something, or you're still thinking about it, or one day you would like to. It means you're cutting off every other option. You are burning the bridge. There is no other option. You are deciding now.

"First you have to decide to be successful.
It all starts with the decision."
-Richard Giannamore

"You can't give yourself an option. There is no option. It's either do or die. That is the kind of decision you have to make." – David Neagle


Most of us operate inside of "a hope, a wish, and a dream." We think, "I would like to be wealthy, I want success," but we don't really believe we can attain it, so we don't make a conscious decision to achieve it. This is where we lose out.

When we are operating inside of "hope, wish, and dream," it is easy to let fears and beliefs stop us from taking the actions that would make the difference in achieving success. It is easy to have the circumstances dictate our emotions, and have the emotions dictate our actions. We think we need to wait until we learn more. We try to figure out the right course to take. We get opinions from many people before proceeding. We do not want to take any risks.

Remarkably, once you decide to succeed - while action is required - all the pieces begin to show up as you step into that decision you make. We begin to see opportunities where we did not see before. It doesn't matter what the boundary or obstacles appear to be, we do not get stopped by the circumstances.

But one cannot make the decision with a back door. There are no plans for what you will do "if this doesn't work out." You must be willing to commit 100% and operate in faith, trust and risk. You must be willing to confront the discomfort and operate there.

We think that what we can or cannot do is a function of our capability. But it is our belief system that keeps dictating what we do or don't do. When we make a serious commitment, we start to take action despite our beliefs and we keep going. When we keep going, we can only succeed.

"Your belief determines your action and your action determines your results." – Jim Rohn

That is the case at first, our beliefs determine our actions. But once we make the commitment and take action anyway, results we never thought possible get produced and all of a sudden our beliefs start to change. Have you noticed that what you believed 10 years ago is no longer what you believe today in many cases?

Entrepreneurship: A Valuable Experience for Life

by Barbara Osach

No matter how you earn a living, an entrepreneurial approach to your work can be both personally and financially rewarding. Having an experience of entrepreneurship, whether for extra spending money or for your bread and butter, teaches you ways to approach goals and obstacles that bring out the skills needed for success in any venture.

When you launch an enterprise, be it baby-sitting, a lemonade stand, a convenience store, or a high-tech service company, you enter an exciting arena that tests your adaptability, creativity, resilience, and vision for what you want to accomplish. You practice skills that serve you well throughout your life, at work, at home and in your community: critical thinking, problem-solving, innovation, creativity, enrolling communication, and teamwork.

Regardless of the business you start, as an entrepreneur you quickly realize that you are responsible for everything, even things you delegate to others. You have a stake in the success of the enterprise, and where you engage other people, that means you have a stake in their success as well. Take this approach with your workgroup, committee, or sports teammates, and you’ll be amazed at the ideas that start to flow, the work that gets accomplished, and the “can do” attitude that spreads throughout the team. And when people work together this way, innovation and creativity flourish, and they can solve problems they didn’t know how to solve.

What would stop you on your path to achieve your goals and dreams?

Ok, you did it. You set that financial intended outcome. You are buying your home by the end of the year. So you close your eyes and you see yourself at the closing with lawyers, bankers and sellers on a beautiful day October 20th, 2008!

You determine your actions and what needs to happen between now and then to have that happen. You look at your financial records, you see how much you can put as a down payment, how much you can pay as a monthly mortgage and therefore define the range of homes you can purchase. You define a plan of action and you get started.

As soon as you take action, things don't go exactly like you expected. The mortgage rules have changed, the places you see don't seem to fit that mental picture you have and you may need to save some more money to be able to afford or renovate one of those places to get the kind of home you envision. The other thing that happens is that you call people and they don't return phone calls. You start to get upset.

But you keep going. You go and see more places, you talk to a bunch of bankers and mortgage brokers and at that point things really look hopeless. You need your finances in a lot better shape as with the mortgage crisis, rules became more and more stricter.

And now, you are really frustrated. You are upset at everyone and nobody seems to understand you. Well, this is exactly what happens when you start to pursue a big dream. We all like to think that everything will go smooth and things will get done according to plan. Most times, that is not the case. The way it looks like is "nothing is working", "it is not fair", "this does not make any sense"... and you can go on and on about the thoughts that come to our mind.

What do you do then? Do you get going and take the actions you see you can take? Or do you get stopped?

If you stop, what you want to start seeing is, what is stopping you. Go over that situation on your mind, see what you are thinking as you think about the conversation you had and the feelings you had about what is happening. What we don't realize most of the times is that what is really stopping us is what we think about a situation or how we feel about that situation.

If we feel that doing something is frustrating or hopeless, the likelihood that we will continue doing it is minimal. That is exactly what stops 99% of the people when they start to go after a big dream.

So nothing would phisically stop you from achieving anything. We stop ourselves! You stop YOU! So it is very important to be in touch with you thinking and your emotions as you are trying to buy that house, save for retirement or whatever goal you have. We are the ones who have the power to decide, should I stop or should I move ahead? I know it does not look like the way I wanted and maybe it even looks as it is not possible. But what can I do now? And now? And now? And keep going. Nothing can stop you on your path to your dreams. Eventually they will come through. You have the power.

I can do it and so can you.

You can do it. You can kick start your finances and achieve your goals and dreams.

I remember things in a blur when I had a huge student loan... I had the impression that I would always have that debt and would never be able to pay it completely. I thought back then that my finances were not that bad but I knew I had little clarity about what I spend on a monthly basis and did not budget nor track my expenses. My fear then was that at some point, I would get in trouble.

Luckily, a friend of mine invited me to attend a Road to Riches workshop. When I read this friend's email, it reminded me that as a little girl I always thought of being rich and at some point in life, reality kicked in and I never really thought seriously about that again.

It was interesting because as I attended the session, I ended up signing up for their whole program, because at the end of that first meeting, I really could see a system, I could see myself succeeding and in control of my financial success. Back then, they did not get into the Net Worth I mentioned in the previous blog. But they did talk about objectives, financial intended outcomes I'd like to realize within a certain time and they walked me through a process to not only think through what actions I could take, but also what would stop me. That was a very powerful process and it just took a few minutes in a conversation. But those few minutes changed my life forever.

I never thought I'd have a personal budget. I never thought I'd track my expenses to compare with my budget. I did not even think of a personal balance sheet or net worth. But all those tools became second nature to me. I keep track of my finances by spending 15 to 30 min weekly... It used to take me hours to do that... Practice makes it perfect... well, not quite perfect but pretty good!

But the best part is that everytime I set up an intended outcome, I can go through that exercise... What is it that I want to accomplish? How can I measure it? Get specific. Pin point a number. By when? When would I like to have it? Then, the question we never dwell on... what would stop me?

At that moment at the end of the meeting, I kick started my finances and all of a sudden I could see that I could achieve dreams I have given up on. I can achieve all my goals and dreams. And so can you. What do you want to accomplish? How can you measure it? What is the measure? What could stop you?

By the way, I have paid off 100% of my student loans way in advance.

Kick Start Your Finances

In order to kick start your finances and plan your financial future effectively, the first step is to find out where you stand today. Accurate and efficient "measuring" is essential to long-term success.

But what does it mean "to know where you are" when we are talking about personal finances?

There is one important tool that help us figure that out: the personal Balance Sheet or Net Worth Statement. This is a tool that is also important to have if you’re seeking a loan or trying to make a major financial decision. The “net worth” is the clearest indicator of your financial condition at any given point.

The Balance Sheet or Net Worth form helps you identify and calculate all your assets and liabilities to determine your net worth. It is a great tool to see if you are on the path to meeting your desired financial outcomes. The Balance Sheet or Net Worth statement is completed as of a point in time, and reflects the person’s or company’s position at that moment.

• The Balance Sheet, or Net Worth statement, is a tool to accurately calculate your financial worth – the value of what you own minus what you owe – and gain a clearer understanding of your financial situation.

Your net worth is the difference between all the things of value that you own (your assets) minus all the debts you owe (your liabilities).

• If you have more assets than liabilities, you have a positive net worth, which is a good thing...

• If you have more liabilities than assets, you have a negative net worth. At this particular point in time, you owe more than you have. This is not such a good thing, but it's information you need to know so you can take appropriate actions to change it.

What are typical assets?
Short term assets: cash, balance on your checking account, savings, brokerage accounts, investments such as stocks, options, etc.
Long term assets: value of personal property and investments such as houses, jewelry, art and antiques, bonds, partnerships, pension funds, IRA, 401k, etc.

What are typical liabilities?
Short-term include all your current bills, rent, medical, dental, utilities, credit cards and any personal, furniture and car loans, taxes, etc.
Long term loans may include loans against stocks, bonds, mortgage debt, home equity loan and any other loans for vacation homes, boats etc.

Why is it important to "know where you are financially"?
When you go on a journey, you need to know where you are and your destination to define which path to take. You can take the highway, the scenic route but ultimately, you need to know beginning and end points to get started.

Sometimes, people are so scared to see how much they owe or how much they are spending that they get stopped. A couple of times, it will take courage to start, but when you are done, you will feel better. Whatever your financial situation is, it is what it is... It is a fact, it does not mean anything about you, if you are a good person, successful or not. It is a snapshot of your financial situation. I've seen people get relieved after the first time they did their net worth because the situation was not as bad as they thought. In other cases, it was bad, but people got empowered because they took the first step in taking charge of their financial future. Either way, the net worth will provide you a snapshot of the consequences of your choices to date.

Once you have the net worth, starting defining what you want it to look like int he future and what actions you can start taking to get there. In some cases, it will involve adjusting your life style so you can save more, in others it may involve investing your money better. So go, ahead, organize your records and get started.

Challenge your thinking

We think what we believe is true. Yet, have you noticed that what we believe can change over time?

The first thing we want to know when we are out to make a profound difference for oruselves in the area of money and finances is that each of us has a way of operating in the world.

The way we think, act, and react determines the way we operate.

What if the only thing stopping us from having everything we want in life is our thinking?

As human beings, we think we’re very conscious, but psychologists tell us over 90% of our decisions and actions are automatically controlled by our subconscious.

We think we operate and live life from conscious decisions.
In reality, many of our decisions are automatic reactions to our situation or circumstances.
Usually our subconscious is making the decision without us being aware of it.

When we can begin to shake up that automatic way of thinking, believing and acting, we then begin to shape our circumstances. In order to shake up our current thinking, we have to challenge the old ways of thinking by taking actions.

Taking on new practices inside our finances that challenge what we believe to be true about what it takes to succeed. Most of what we learned was to help us survive, not to succeed.

When we deal with the way we operate daily, we impact our financial success. As we challenge our own thinking, we experience a new freedom, power and confidence in achieving financial goals.

For a while, I thought that tracking my expenses was too much work and that I could not possibly keep track of it all. I would do a budget every once in a while, but tracking seemed a major ordeal. I challenged my thinking... I started to track my expenses daily despite not wanting to or believing it was too much work. Now, I track expenses weekly, I check it against my budget every couple of months. Budgeting and tracking my expenses is now a practice that keeps me on track to achieve my financial goals.

5 Ways to Rehab Your Finances – Now!

With today’s uncertain economic situation, the “mortgage mess,” and Americans’ unsafe reliance on debt, most of today’s consumers could use an overhaul of their approach to finances.

Kick Start Your Financial Success allows individuals and families to do just that. Loaded with tools and practices designed to allow participants to master their financial success, the program is being offered live in the Park Slope area beginning April 22, 2008.

The program allows successful people and people who didn’t even think they could attain financial success to get a brand new approach to finances.

“There are five areas to look at when you want to produce a new relationship to finances, where you have freedom and power,” said Ms. Lopes, an entrepreneur and facilitator of the Kick Start Your Financial Success program. “When you affect any one of these areas positively, you automatically are on the road to increasing your financial success.”

1. Beliefs – You have to realize that your beliefs limit what is possible for you. How can you have your beliefs but not have them stop you?

2. Emotions – As humans, our emotions usually dictate what actions we’ll take, which profoundly affects our success in life.

3. Liabilities – Being responsible for the debt you owe, your credit report and paying your bills on time.

4. Assets – Together with liabilities, assets helps determine your Net Worth. It’s important to know what value your belongings actually have.

5. Income – For most people, their income is fixed by their employment. But what fixes employment? It’s not your education, it’s your beliefs! (See #1.) When one has the power to affect their income, they have power in life!