Success Today - Tom Fonseca

Copyright © 2015 CelebrityPress® LLC

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without prior written consent of the authors, except as provided by the United States of America copyright law.

Published by CelebrityPress®, Orlando, FL

CelebrityPress® is a registered trademark.

Printed in the United States of America.

ISBN: 978-0-9961978-1-6 LCCN: 2015936424

This publication is designed to provide accurate and authoritative in-formation with regard to the subject matter covered. It is sold with the understanding that the publisher is not engaged in rendering legal, ac-counting, or other professional advice. If legal advice or other expert assistance is required, the services of a competent professional should be sought. The opinions expressed by the authors in this book are not endorsed by Celebrity Press® and are the sole responsibility of the author rendering the opinion.

Most CelebrityPress® titles are available at special quantity discounts for bulk purchases for sales promotions, premiums, fundraising, and educational use. Special versions or book excerpts can also be created to fit specific needs.

For more information, please write:CelebrityPress® 520 N. Orlando Ave, #2 Winter Park, FL 32789 or call 1.877.261.4930

Visit us online at: www.CelebrityPressPublishing.com

CELEBRITY PRESS® Winter Park, Florida

CONTENTS

CHAPTER 1

SELF-DISCIPLINE FOR SUCCESSBy Brian Tracy ...............................................................................15

CHAPTER 2

HEALTH IS WEALTH — START SEEING SUCCESS OVER YOUR PAIN AND DYSFUNCTION TODAY!By Dr. Douglas J. Taber .................................................................27

CHAPTER 3

LEADERSHIP THAT MAKES A DIFFERENCEBy Peter Neufeldt ..........................................................................37

CHAPTER 4

HOW TO ACQUIRE THE SUCCESS MINDSETBy Scott Bourquin .........................................................................47

CHAPTER 5

CRITICAL FINANCIAL DECISIONS FOR RETIREMENTBy William Parker ..........................................................................55

CHAPTER 6

THE NEVER-ENDING REFERRAL SYSTEMBy Greg Rollett ..............................................................................65

CHAPTER 7

5.7 LEVELS TO AWAKEN YOUR INNER HERO AND UNLEASH YOUR GREAT POWERS TO CHANGE YOUR LIFE AND THE WORLD By Anm Pek ...................................................................................75

CHAPTER 8

MASTERING THE ART OF JEDI TRAINING — CREATING A TRAINING STRATEGY FOR THE NEXT GENERATIONBy Ginger Bell ................................................................................85

CHAPTER 9

THE TOLL GATEBy Cynthia Grubbs ........................................................................95

CHAPTER 10

TURNING OBSTACLES INTO OPPORTUNITIESBy Davelle Morrison ......................................................................101

CHAPTER 11

SUCCESSFUL RETIREMENT FOR BABY BOOMERSBy David Gibson, CFP® .................................................................109

CHAPTER 12

THE BUSINESS OF LEADERSHIPBy Dikran Iskenderian ...................................................................117

CHAPTER 13

THE FOUR C’s TO MY SUCCESS — COMMITTMENT, COURAGE, CAPABILITY AND CONFIDENCEBy Duncan Robinson ......................................................................125

CHAPTER 14

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS FOR YOUR JOURNEY TO A SUCCESSFUL SMILE TODAY! — CHOOSING THE RIGHT DENTIST FOR YOU.By Dr. George Maryniuk ................................................................133

CHAPTER 15

THE GREATEST SHIFT IN HEALTH FOR THE NEXT DECADE — SIMPLY EAT REAL FOODS™By Dr. Emmett Blahnik ...................................................................143

CHAPTER 16

SEVEN TRAITS OF SUCCESS By Jay Fletch .................................................................................153

CHAPTER 17

SAFE RETIREMENT STRATEGIESBy Jay J. Peak ...............................................................................161

CHAPTER 18

HOW DO I MAKE MARKETING WORK FOR MY BUSINESS? By Chris Allen ................................................................................169

CHAPTER 19

ACHIEVE YOUR HEALTH AND FITNESS GOALSBy John Rutledge ..........................................................................177

CHAPTER 20

THE NEW RETIREMENT — WORKING TODAY AND TOMORROW TO CREATE WEALTH SOLUTIONS FOR LIFE™

By Thie C.L. Convery ....................................................................185

CHAPTER 21

ON GIVING AND GETTINGBy Dr. Tom Chamberlain ................................................................193

CHAPTER 22

KEEP IT SIMPLE FOR SUCCESS TODAY WHEN SELLING OR BUYING A HOMEBy Tom Fonseca .............................................................................201

CHAPTER 23

MISSION-DRIVEN SUCCESS: HOW PURPOSE FUELS PROFITSBy Nick Nanton & JW Dicks ..........................................................209

CHAPTER 24

BANKRUPTCY IS NOT THE END - IT IS THE BEGINNING — YOUR SUCCESS STARTS TODAY!By Jeff Jenkins, Esq. .....................................................................221

CHAPTER 25

PLANNED SUCCESSBy Paul Powell ...............................................................................231

CHAPTER 26

MISSION POSSIBLE: CONNECT THE DOTS, REACH YOUR FULL POTENTIAL, AND GET MORE OUT OF LIFE By Renate Prandl, M.A., CHPC™ (Certified High Performance Coach) .............................................239

CHAPTER 27

IN THE BEGINNING, THERE WAS NOTHINGBy Richard Tyler ............................................................................249

CHAPTER 28

DISCOVERING THE POWER TO HEAL: SHEDDING THE ANGER AND FINDING THE LIGHTBy Sangita Patel ............................................................................259

CHAPTER 29

LIVE WISELY, LOVE CAUTIOUSLY AND LAUGH ABUNDANTLYBy Shenia Marie Dancy, Esq. ........................................................267

CHAPTER 30

HELPING TO CHANGE THE WORLD ONE INVESTMENT AT A TIMEBY William Wolfe, CFP® .................................................................277

CHAPTER 31

LONGEVITY - SHORT ON LONG ANSWERSBy Dr. Roger Murray ......................................................................285

SELF-DISCIPLINE FOR SUCCESS

CHAPTER 1


BY BRIAN TRACY

There is one special quality that you can develop that will guarantee you greater success, accomplishment and happiness in life. Of a thousand principles for success developed over the ages, this one quality or practice will do more to assure that you accomplish wonderful things with your life than anything else. This quality is so important that, if you don’t develop it to a high degree, it is impossible for you to ever achieve what you are truly capable of achieving.

The quality that I am talking about is the quality of self-discipline. It is a habit, a practice, a philosophy and a way of living. All successful men and women are highly disciplined in the important work that they do. All unsuccessful men and women are undisciplined and unable to control their behaviors and their appetites. When you develop the same levels of high, personal discipline possessed by the most successful people in our society, you will very soon begin to achieve the same results that they do.

All great success in life is preceded by long, sustained periods of focused effort on a single goal, the most important goal, with the determination to stay with it until it is complete. Throughout history, we find that every man or woman who achieved anything lasting and worthwhile, had engaged in long, often unappreciated hours, weeks, months and even years of concentrated, disciplined work in a particular direction.

Fortunately the quality of self-discipline is something that you can learn

15

SUCCESS TODAY

16

by practicing continuously until you master it. You have to master the ability to delay gratification, the ability to discipline yourself to keep your attention focused on the most important task in front of you. Once you do this, there is virtually no goal that you cannot accomplish and no task that you cannot complete.

Not long ago, a reporter was sent out to stand along the street in Hollywood, California. He asked people, as they went by, this one question, “How is your script coming?” Four out of five of the people passing replied quickly with the words, “Almost done!”

It is commonly known that Hollywood is full of people who have come out there hoping to write a winning movie script and sell it for a large amount of money. Many of these people work away at menial jobs for years, dreaming in the back of their mind that someday they will write a script that will sell to a major studio and solve all their problems. But the biggest problem is that they, like almost everyone else, lack the discipline to see their projects through to completion. “Almost done” usually means “never finished.”

I have studied successful men and women for more than 30 years. In the simplest of terms, successful men and women are those who work almost all the time on high-value tasks. Unsuccessful men and women are those who waste their time by wasting the minutes and hours of each day on low-value activities.

You see, there is a “crowding out” principle in time and personal management. It simply says that if you spend all of your time on highly productive tasks, by the end of the day, you will have “crowded out” all the unproductive activities that might have distracted you from your real work. On the other hand, if you spend your time on low-value activities, those low-value activities will crowd out the time that you need to complete the tasks that can make all the difference in your life. And the key to this attitude toward time and personal management is always self-discipline.

There are several disciplines that you need to develop if you want to achieve your full potential. The first of these is the discipline of goals. This means that you sit down with a pad of paper, a pen and ample time. You think through and then make a written list of all the things you want to accomplish in the next one, two, three, four and five years. You organize

17


the list into the various areas of your life; your career, your money, your family, your health and the other parts that are important to you. You set priorities among your goals and re-write your lists so that your most important goals are at the top. You then take a separate sheet of paper and you make a list of all the things that you can think of doing right now to move you toward the attainment of your most important goals.

Fully 97% of adult Americans are trying to live their lives without clear, specific, written goals. This is the same as setting off across an unknown country without a roadmap. You may get somewhere eventually, but it will take you much longer. In fact, it is far more likely that you will get lost, and waste an enormous amount of time, than if you planned your trip carefully with a roadmap, and full information about the future terrain, before you started out.

In my seminars I ask people to make a list of ten goals they want to accomplish in the next twelve months. This simple assignment has changed the lives of many thousands of people. The simple act of writing down ten things that you want to accomplish in the next year will organize your mind and thinking at a subconscious level in ways that you cannot now understand or imagine.

Now I meet graduates of my seminars all over the country who have performed this exercise. Almost invariably, when they opened up their lists of ten goals one year later, at least 80% of those goals had been attained, and usually, in the most remarkable ways.

So the first discipline you need to develop is the discipline of goal-setting. You should write and rewrite your goals every single day, every week, every month. If a person were to wake you up out of a sound sleep, you should know and be able to tell that person immediately what your major definite purpose in life is, at that moment.

The second discipline you need to develop for success is the discipline of planning. Many people think that they are too busy to plan. Or they don’t give themselves enough time to plan. But our studies show that you will save ten minutes in execution for every minute that you invest in planning. You will get a 1000% return on your time investment by taking the time to think through, in advance, what you are going to do in the hours and days ahead.

SUCCESS TODAY

18

A good friend of mine told me how he became one of the top salespeople in his industry in America. He had spun his wheels for several months when his sales manager asked him to come in on a Saturday and talk to him. This was a bit unusual, but he was frustrated with his low level of sales, so he agreed to go in on the Saturday. His sales manager then sat him down and spent the entire afternoon showing him how to plan his days, his weeks, and his months in advance.

The very next Monday he put these lessons into action. Within a few months he had doubled his sales. He told me that learning how to plan and budget his time and how to organize his personal resources for maximum attainment was the turning point of his life. It can be the turning point in your life as well. Planning your days, weeks and months is not that complicated. You begin with a time planner of some kind. They are for sale everywhere, and in my experience, virtually any time planner you buy will help you if you use it on a regular basis.

You should make a list of the goals you want to accomplish. Many people in sales and business make a goal of the amount they want to sell and the amount they want to earn, broken down by year, month, week, day and even by the hour.

For example, if you want to earn $50,000 per year and you work an average of 250 days per year, this means that you want to earn $200 per day, or $25 per hour. Once you have determined that you want to earn $25 per hour, you organize every hour of every day so that you are engaged in activities that pay you $25 or more. You discipline yourself adamantly not to do anything that pays less than the $25 per hour you wish to earn.

It is amazing to me the number of people who sit around reading the paper, making their own photocopies or driving around listening to the radio who think that somehow, by some miracle, someone is going to pay them $25 per hour or more for their time. And you know exactly the kind of activities that you have to engage in that are worth $25 per hour, or more. You must discipline yourself so that for at least eight hours every day, you do only those things that pay you your desired hourly rate.

Planning begins with your making a list of everything that you have to do in the coming day, week and month. You then go through your list

19


and you use the ABCDE method to divide your list into high and low priority tasks. An “A” task is something that is very important. There are serious consequences if you don’t achieve it. People will be extremely unhappy and it can be costly to you in terms of money and success. You put an “A” next to all the activities that are vital to your success.

“B” activities are those things that you should do. These are things for which there are mild consequences if they are done or not done. The rule is that you never work on a “B” task when there is an “A” task left undone.

“C” tasks are those things that would be nice to do, but which don’t really matter very much in the great scheme of things. Calling a friend, reading the paper, having a coffee break or going for lunch are “C” activities. Whether you do them or not, there will be no consequences whatever to your career.

“D” activities are those that you delegate. The rule is that you delegate everything that you possibly can to others so that you can use your precious minutes and hours each day doing only those things that are really important to your life and your career.

Sometimes people think that only managers with staffs can delegate tasks to others. But every time you buy Chinese food to take home, you are delegating the making of a meal. Each time that you have someone else wash your car or mow your lawn, you are delegating an activity. Your job is to free up as much of your time during the week for things that make a difference in your life – by delegating everything that is humanly possible to anyone else who can do it at an hourly rate lower than the hourly rate you want to earn for yourself.

The last letter in the ABCDE formula is “E” and it stands for eliminate. As you move through life, it is essential that you eliminate tasks and activities that consume a lot of time if you want to have sufficient hours in the day to do the things that are most important to you. Just as a snake sloughs off its skin every season, as you grow and mature, there are activities you need to slough off as well. There are activities that take up an enormous amount of time that you have to eliminate from your life altogether. If you don’t, you will continue adding more new activities while you hold onto the old ones. Soon you will find yourself completely overwhelmed with too much to do and too little time. Eliminating low-

SUCCESS TODAY

20

value activities is one of the most important aspects of the discipline of planning.

The third discipline is the discipline of budgeting. This refers to both your time and your money. Every study shows that men and women who accomplish extraordinary amounts of work give an enormous amount of thought to how they use their time and how they spend their money.

In a Wall Street Journal study of senior executives of Fortune 500 Companies, they found that every single one of them, each of whom earned an average of $1,400,000 per year, was a systematic and continuous time planner. They gave an enormous amount of thought to how they would allocate their time on a day-to-day and hour-to-hour basis. So must you.

Whenever I speak to successful people and I ask them where they will be and what they will be doing in a couple of days or a couple of weeks, they can take out their time planners and show me exactly where they will be and how they will be using their time. When you speak to an unsuccessful person and ask him what he will be doing next Thursday, he will have no idea. For him, life is random and haphazard. Every new stop sign is an adventure. Does he turn to the right or to the left? His days just unravel like a ball of yarn rather than moving straight and true like a flying arrow toward a target.

Some people ask, “Which comes first, the tight time planning or the success?” The answer to that is quite clear. When you begin to plan your time in 10 and 15 minute blocks so that you know exactly where you will be and what you will be doing during every hour of every day, you will find yourself doing more and more things of higher and higher value. As a result, you will accomplish more and more and you will be paid increasingly higher amounts. The very act of budgeting your time or money causes you to use them both more efficiently.

The fourth discipline is the discipline of self-responsibility, the discipline of viewing yourself as being in charge of your own life. This means seeing yourself as self-employed, as the president of your own personal services corporation.

The habit or discipline of viewing yourself as an independent contractor, selling your services to your existing company, is one of the most

21


important paradigm shifts that has taken place in the world of work in the last 20 years. Today, all top people, no matter who signs their paycheck, and no matter what they do, view themselves as if they were totally responsible for results at their corporation. They act as if they own the place. They act as if they are the president of an entrepreneurial company with one employee, themselves, selling the highest quality and quantity of their services possible, at the best possible price.

Here is an exercise for you. Imagine that your company decided to fire everybody and hire independent contractors. You were informed that you could reapply for your job, but you would have to present a proposal outlining exactly what you would do, how much you would charge, and how the company could justify paying you these amounts. You would have to compete with other people for your job. You would have to make a complete business rationale for the amount of money that you wanted to earn by demonstrating that the company would earn far more by utilizing your services than it would end up paying you in the form of salary and benefits. Even if you own your own company, you must go through this exercise on a regular basis. It will keep you focused and highly self-responsible.

The fifth discipline is the discipline of result-orientation. Result-orientation is a hallmark of the highest performing, highest paid, most successful and most effective people in our society. They think continually in terms of the results that are expected of them rather than the activities they engage in on a day-to-day basis. They see themselves as highly productive people who have specific responsibilities to fulfill, and they never lose sight of the most important things that they can be doing.

There are five key questions that you can ask yourself as a regular discipline, to keep yourself focused on achieving the results that are most important to you.

The first of these questions is, “Why am I on the payroll?” What specifically have you been hired to accomplish? Why is it that they pay you money where you work? What is it that you contribute that entitles you to be paid as much or more than you are receiving?”

If you don’t know the answer to this question with absolute clarity, make a list of everything that you feel that you have been hired to accomplish,

SUCCESS TODAY

22

and go through the list on your own to determine the most valuable contributions that you make. Take your list to your boss and ask your boss to organize the list in order of priority. Tell your boss that you want to be sure that you are always working on the things that he or she considers to be the most important. From that moment on, keep all of your attention focused on doing an excellent job on those few things that your boss really considers to be the highest priority.

The second question you must continually ask yourself is, “What are my highest value activities?” What are the things that you do that represent the very highest value to yourself and your company? What represents the highest pay-off? When you do these things and do them well, they really make an impact on yourself and on your organization. Once you have identified them, you must resolve to keep yourself focused on them every minute of every day.

The third question for result-orientation is, “What are my key result areas?” Many management courses are built around this concept. A “key result area” is defined as something that you are completely responsible for doing. It is specific and measurable, and it creates an output that becomes an input for someone else.

For example, if you develop a customer and make a sale, you create business that then is fulfilled by other parts of the company. Your output is an input for other departments. What are your key result areas? What are the one or two things that you do that really make a contribution to your company? Whatever they are, dedicate yourself to doing them in an excellent fashion. Do them well, and do them before you do anything else.

The fourth question for you to ask yourself is, “What can I, and only I, do, that if done well, will make a real difference?” The answer to this question, at any given time, is only one activity. At any given time, there is only one thing that you, and only you, can do that if you do it really well will make a real difference to you and your organization. It is absolutely essential that you identify this one task and then focus all your time and energy on it until it is done in an outstanding fashion. Your successful accomplishment of this key, central task can be more important to you than your completion of a whole list of other less-important activities.

23


The final question, and the key question in time management is, “What is the most valuable use of my time, right now?” At every minute of every day, there is an answer to this question. You must think before you begin working, and then begin working on the one thing that is more valuable to you and your company than anything else. This habit of working always on your most valuable and important tasks, lies at the heart of the entire practice of self-discipline. If you can discipline yourself to do it, there is virtually nothing that you cannot accomplish. The inability to concentrate single-mindedly on one thing, the most important thing, and stay with it until it is complete, is the number one reason for failure in life. The ability to do it is the number one reason for success.

The sixth discipline you need is the discipline of action-orientation. This requires you to develop a “sense of urgency.” You develop a “fast-tempo.” You continually repeat to yourself, “Do it now! Do it now!”

Action orientation is the most noticeable quality of the highest performers in every field of business and personal life. When they see something that needs to be done, they get on with it and get it done immediately. They function in “real time.” They don’t procrastinate or delay. They take the ball and run with it, quickly. They develop a reputation for being the kind of people that get the job done fast.

When you can combine the ability to think through your work, set specific priorities, determine your area of concentration, and then get on with it quickly, you will begin to move ahead in your life more rapidly than the other people around you.

My friend Jim Rohn says that, “Discipline weighs ounces, but regret weighs tons.” Al Tomsick, the sales trainer, says that, “Success is tons of discipline.”

Elbert Hubbard wrote once that, “Discipline is the ability to make yourself do what you should do, when you should do it, whether you feel like it or not.”

Herbert Gray, a businessman who studied successful people for many years, concluded that successful people are simply those who make a habit of doing what unsuccessful people don’t like to do. And what are these things that unsuccessful people don’t like to do? Well, they turn out to be the same things that successful people don’t like to do either.

SUCCESS TODAY

24

But successful people do them anyway because they realize that they are the price of success.

Successful people engage in activities that are goal-achieving. Unsuccessful people engage in activities that are tension-reliving. Successful people discipline themselves to have dinner before dessert. Unsuccessful people prefer to have dessert most of the time.

Successful people plan their work, and work their plan. They take the time to think through their responsibilities before they begin. They make clear decisions which they then implement immediately. They get a lot more done in a shorter period of time than the average person. And it all has to do with their disciplines.

Perhaps the most important benefit of self-discipline is the personal benefit that you receive. Every act of self-discipline increases your self-esteem. It gives you a feeling of personal power and accomplishment. Each time you discipline yourself to persist in the face of distractions, diversions, and disappointments, you feel better about yourself. As you continue to discipline yourself, you achieve more and more in life.

As you achieve more things, you feel more like a winner. Your self-confidence goes up. You feel happier about yourself. You get more done and you have more energy. You earn the respect and esteem of the people around you. You get more rapid promotions and are paid more money. You live in a nicer house, drive a nicer car, and wear nicer clothes. You get a natural high from the thrill of achievement. And the more things that you achieve as the result of employing your personal habits of effectiveness and productivity, the more eager you are to achieve even higher and better tasks. Your life gets onto an upward spiral of success and happiness. You feel great about yourself most of the time.

Every act of self-discipline strengthens every other discipline in your life. Every weakness of self-discipline weakens your other disciplines as well. When you make a habit of disciplining yourself in little things, like flossing your teeth every night, you’ll soon become able to discipline yourself to accomplish even larger things, like working long, long hours to bring a major task to completion.

Your entire life is an on-going battle between the forces of doing what is right and necessary on the one hand and doing what is fun and easy

25


on the other hand. It is a battle between the forces of discipline and the forces of ease or expediency. And when you develop the strength of character that gives you complete self-mastery, self-control and self-discipline, you feel wonderful about yourself. You develop a deep inner sense of strength and confidence. You replace positive thinking with positive knowing. You reach the point inside where you absolutely know that you can do whatever it takes to achieve any goal that you can set for yourself.

Self-discipline is its own reward. Not only does it pay off in terms of greater self-esteem and a more positive mental attitude, but it pays off throughout your life in terms of the goals that you achieve and the success that you attain in everything you do.

Self-discipline is a skill and a habit that can be learned by practice. Every time you practice a little self-discipline, you become stronger and stronger. Bit by bit, you become more capable of even greater disciplines. As you become a totally self-disciplined individual, your entire future opens up in front of you like a broad highway. Everything becomes possible for you and your future becomes unlimited.

SUCCESS TODAY

26

About Brian

Brian Tracy is Chairman and CEO of Brian Tracy International, a company specializing in the training and development of individuals and organizations. Brian’s goal is to help people achieve their personal and business goals faster and easier than they ever imagined.

Brian Tracy has consulted for more than 1,000 companies and addressed more than 5,000,000 people in 5,000 talks and seminars throughout the US, Canada and 55 other countries worldwide. As a Keynote speaker and seminar leader, he addresses more than 250,000 people each year.

For more information on Brian Tracy programs, go to: www.briantracy.com

27

HEALTH IS WEALTH

CHAPTER 2

HEALTH IS WEALTH— START SEEING SUCCESS

OVER YOUR PAIN AND DYSFUNCTION TODAY!

BY DR. DOUGLAS J. TABER

If you want to touch the past, touch a rock. If you want to touch the present, touch a flower. If you want to touch the future, touch a life.

~ Anonymous

Although Chris* was a new patient in my office, he was not new to doctor’s offices or examinations. He was a healthy and extremely successful 42-year old attorney who was blunt and to the point – a real straight shooter. What made Chris unique was not so much his physical complaints, low back and leg pain, but his story of being “cut down in my prime”, as he describes it. Here was a guy at the top of his game. He had put himself through law school and was now beginning to enjoy the fruits of his harvest, having just made partner in a prestigious firm.

“Doc, it all seemed like such a simple thing. Find it, remove it, and move on with my life.” He was referring to the disc in his lumbar spine that had herniated one day after a round of golf with a client. He had, like

SUCCESS TODAY

28

most people, an occasional bout of low back pain here and there since his days as a high school athlete. But on this night his experience was a bit different; he’d played a great round, had a steak and a few drinks, and got home a little late, so he slept on the couch so as to not awaken his wife and two toddlers. The next morning he could not move; he awoke with searing pain in his lower back, left buttock, and numbness in his left leg.

Once he got to the office, a task in and of itself, he promptly called his buddy, a surgeon, and an MRI scan was ordered. The test showed a herniated disc between the 4th and 5th lumbar vertebrae, compressing the sciatic nerve that went down his left leg. His surgeon friend told him his options – medications, physical therapy, spinal injections, or surgery. “The only thing that sounded like a cure was surgery - I didn’t have time for therapy appointments and couldn’t figure out what a shot could do for me. It just made sense to just get in there and take this disc off of my nerve. Besides, it was springtime and I needed to get this thing taken out so I could get back on the golf course quickly to enjoy the short Upstate NY golf season.”

The surgery that he had 1-week after his MRI scan went technically well; fortunately there were no procedure complications or infections. Still, Chris was disappointed, “I thought I was just going to wake up and get back to my life in a few days; like someone who had just had his appendix out. Problem solved, let’s move forward.”

But that’s not what happened. Although his leg pain had decreased slightly after his surgery, Chris still had vice-like pain in his buttock and back of his thigh that seemed to worsen over the coming weeks. He could not sit in his chair at work, and golf was out of the question. His young children were growing, but his ability to pick them up or play with them seemed to lessen with each passing week. What he did not know, until his next MRI scan, was post-surgical scar tissue begun to wrap like a spider’s web around his sensitive spinal nerves. Increasing doses of pain medications followed, then an 8-week course of physical therapy and three spinal injections. Other than the side effects and a grim outlook, little was changing for him 6-months after his surgery, and a third MRI confirmed no change since his last test.

29

HEALTH IS WEALTH

The groundwork of all happiness is health. ~ Leigh Hunt

Chris’ expectations were not being met, and his frustration was evident in his demeanor in my office that day. He seemed to be at his wits’ end, and frankly I don’t think consulting a chiropractor was ever on his radar – but he had seen me testify as an expert witness in an injury case, and was impressed with my testimony. “What you said just made sense to me. For you to explain this person’s complicated clinical issue with medical terms for the court room, and then make it understandable for the jury just clicked for me. The drugs, injections and exercises I was doing were not helping me at all; I wanted to get to the bottom of this, and I thought to myself, this is the kind of doctor I need.”

So there he was in my office on a cold November day along with his wife and 7 sets of X-Rays, 3 MRI scans, surgical and injection reports, and a medication list that filled an entire page. He also had 6 sheets of exercises that he did on a daily basis, both of which had positions and stretches that probably did more harm than good. His wife looked like she had not slept in months, and she shook her head as he told his story to me while he tugged at his back brace and alternated between sitting and standing to get comfortable.

I believe that the greatest gift you can give your family and the world is a healthy you.

~ Joyce Meyer

Unfortunately stories like Chris’ have become all too common in my office. When I first started my practice 17 years ago, the majority of my patients were seen for simple back and neck pain. However after several years of experience in private outpatient practice, within an orthopedic group, and now with an award-winning health care organization, my focus has by default shifted to successfully treating chronic pain – all without drugs or invasive procedures – for those people who have suffered for months or years and wanted to get off the treadmill of surgeries, injections, and dangerous or addictive drugs.

Was Chris “cured” overnight after he came into my office? No. But after a thorough physical examination and extensive review of his diagnostic

SUCCESS TODAY

30

tests, my outlook for him was more promising than he or his wife had expected. In fact, I’m not sure they believed me when I told them that he’d be back on the golf course by that summer.

As with all of my patients, an individualized approach for Chris had to address the many facets of his problem. First, we had to get him on the right exercises, which I had determined based on a functional examination. From there, a 4-week course of office-based therapy was started, which included decompression therapy for a bulging disc and various physiotherapy modalities and manual therapies to mobilize the stiff spinal joints. Subtle dietary changes to reduce pro-inflammatory foods were prescribed. The back brace had to go, and he was shown proper posture, and mechanics for the office, picking up his children, and swinging the golf club. Customized foot orthotics were prescribed so he could stand longer periods without pain.

During the fifth week, he underwent a specialized outpatient procedure known as MUA-FRP (Manipulation Under Anesthesia Fibrosis Release Procedure), wherein he was put under twilight anesthesia and I performed a series of gentle maneuvers aimed at releasing the painful post-surgical scar tissue that had developed.

We then continued office-based therapies and manual care with transition to a new exercise regime to strengthen his core muscles. He improved to the point where, at three months, he was no longer taking any medications. By early April he was practicing his golf swing at the local indoor range.

I have seen thousands of cases like Chris’, and as part of their healthcare team, have played an integral part in getting real results with my patients. By continually learning and applying my knowledge and training in the structural, biochemical, and physiological mechanisms in the human body and understanding how they interact to produce an optimally functioning person, I am able to use that knowledge to “reverse engineer” their presenting problem to find and address the root cause and address it head-on.

Whether I am treating a collegiate athlete, professional golfer, or real estate magnate, my focus has always been the same – how can I help this patient not only reduce their pain, but also to regain and maintain optimum function for the lifestyle that they desire?

31

HEALTH IS WEALTH

Treatment must be targeted and individualized, but there are five basic principles that I emphasize with every patient who comes into my office. Healing is an inside job, and these principles are the foundation of optimal wellness.

These principles are:

1. MovementBesides back pain, prolonged sitting has been linked to poor mental health, cardiovascular disease, high blood pressure, obesity, and even premature death. By merely setting a timer on your phone for 20 minutes, then getting up and taking a short walk for 2 to 3 minutes you can prevent a cascade of poor health and disability in the future.

2. Proper EatingRather than saying you’re on a “diet” or concerning yourself with calorie counting or measuring your servings, focus on making slow positive changes to your eating habits over time.

Focus on simply:

- Striving for 7 to 10 servings of fresh or minimally processed vegetables and fruits daily. Try to incorporate green leafy vegetables into your meals and finish with a serving of fresh fruit to curb your sweet tooth.

- Enjoying fish such as salmon, herring, mackerel, anchovies, or sardines at least twice per week, and limiting red meat intake to no more than twice per week.

- Avoiding unhealthy carbs such as white flour, refined sugar, and white rice. Focus instead on a variety of healthy carbs such as whole grains, beans, fruits, and vegetables.

- Snacking on nuts such as cashews, and raw almonds and walnuts. If you are not a fan of nuts, try fresh baby carrots, celery, or portable fruits such as bananas or apples.

- Using olive oil, peanut oil, or canola oil as a healthy replacement for butter or margarine.

- Staying away from sugary drinks such as sodas, processed or pre-packaged foods, and salted potato chips, nuts, and pretzels.

SUCCESS TODAY

32

3. Meditation and Breathing Studies have shown that people who suffer from back pain often have poor breathing patterns, and that they can benefit greatly from both breath-work and mindfulness meditation. By learning to breathe properly, you will not only feel better, but your body will take in more oxygen to nourish your cells and organs. Mindfulness meditation involves quietly sitting and feeling your breath, without judgment, for just a few minutes per day. This simple method of being in the present moment can help you ease stress, lower blood pressure, and help you gain a sense of peacefulness, serenity, and equanimity.

4. Posture and ergonomicsWe have discussed how important it is for you to not sit for long periods; but it is also vital that you use correct form when you are sitting and performing your normal activities of daily living, especially if they are repetitive.

Take the time to learn and ingrain normal posture patterns (workstation ergonomics, proper standing/walking/sitting/sleeping posture) and especially proper exercise form when working out. Make sure your feet – the foundation of your body – are well supported during standing and running. Seek out an expert to help you optimize a properly functioning system that is free of poor mechanics and nerve interference.

5. Proper hydrationOur bodies are 60% water. Among its many functions, water regulates body temperature, carries nutrients and oxygen to cells, flushes our system of toxins and waste products, and protects organs and tissues. The Institute of medicine recommends 91 ounces (2.7 liters) per day of water for women, and 125 ounces (3.7 liters) for men. Remember, if you are eating fruits and vegetables with rich water content, then some of your intake will come from these foods.

Back or neck pain, like most health issues health, is usually not the result of one event, but is often the culmination of several small factors resulting in the “perfect storm” that causes the body to set off the alarm in the form of pain. The good news is that, just as small issues can result in larger problems, small changes over time can help you regain and

33

HEALTH IS WEALTH

maintain your health. There is tremendous overlap between what can be useful in preventing spinal problems and what constitutes a healthy lifestyle, which is why chiropractors are often the go-to physicians for not only pain, but also general health and wellness care.

Ghandi is quoted to have said, “It is health that is real wealth and not pieces of gold and silver.” Chris, and those like him, can attest that success means very little when your health and vitality are taken away from you.

For over a decade and a half, my passion has been rooted in continually honing my craft and providing quality healthcare for thousands of patients like Chris, thus enabling them to regain their ability to enjoy the lifestyle they desire and maintain those results over a lifetime without drugs or surgery. Sometimes this involves simply changing the exercises or making dietary recommendations. Other times, a more comprehensive treatment plan may involve outpatient procedures, targeted technologies such as laser or decompression therapy, or hands-on manual manipulation or maneuvers. In the right combination, this targeted approach serves to press the “reset button” on those with chronic pain.

True success cannot be achieved without the priceless gift of health – with the freedom to enjoy life without pain and disability. A pain-free lifestyle is founded on the principles of proper movement, time for quiet contemplation and reflection, and healthy dietary habits.

Health is the greatest gift, contentment the greatest wealth, faithfulness the best relationship.

~ Buddha

*Fictitious Name

SUCCESS TODAY

34

About Douglas

Dr. Douglas J. Taber is a 1998 graduate of New York Chiropractic College in Seneca Falls, NY. He holds a Bachelor of Science Degree through the State University of NY at Fredonia. He is in full time practice with United Health Services in Johnson City, NY. Dr. Taber has held Fellowship status with the American Academy of

Integrative Medicine, the American Academy of Chiropractic Physicians, the American College of Spine Physicians, American Board of Disability Analysts, and the American Back Society.

Dr. Taber’s multiple awards and distinctions include International Health Professional of the Year 2006 by the International Biographical center in Cambridge, England. In 2008, Syracuse University’s Whitman School of Management awarded Dr. Taber with their “40 Under 40” Award, and in 2009 he was voted One of America’s Top Chiropractors by the Consumers’ Research Council of America. He was bestowed with the prestigious Hippocrates award in 2011 by the American Biographical Institute, the same year his book The Neck Pain Solution: A Guided Healing Approach won him First Place at the International Book Awards.

Dr. Taber has been Board Certified in Pain Management, Motor Vehicle Accident Trauma, and Disability Trauma through the American Academy of Experts in Traumatic Stress, and has achieved Diplomate status with the American Academy of Pain Management, the American Academy of Integrative Medicine’s College of Physicians, and the American Academy of Spine Physicians.

He is a Certified Ergonomics Technician, Chiropractic Sports Injury Specialist, and Chiropractic Sports Medicine Specialist. Through the American Academy of Integrative Medicine, Dr. Taber has held Diplomate status with the College of Acupuncture & Neuromuscular Therapy, the College of Pain Management, and the College of Eastern Medicine. He is an Editorial review Board member of a prominent multi-disciplinary journal, and his study of Manipulation Under Anesthesia for Lumbopelvic pain was published in the peer-reviewed Journal of Chiropractic Medicine in 2014. He is also an instructor for New York Chiropractic College post-graduate department, and regularly teaches and lectures to medical professionals and general audiences on various health and wellness topics.

Douglas is the author of several books, including: The Back Pain Solution: Unlocking the Spinal Code, The Spinal Answer Exercise Program, Spinal Decompression & Stabilization Protocol, Overcoming Failed Back Surgery, Spinal Stabilization: A Functional Rehab Program, The Neck Pain Solution: A Guided Healing Approach, and

35

HEALTH IS WEALTH

Here: Mind-Body Harmony Through Present Moment Awareness. His audio releases include Guided Meditations, Presence, Mindful Eating, and Morning & Evening Affirmations, which are available as MP3 downloads on ITunes and amazon.com. He is the inventor of the Stand4HealthApp, which is available in the ITunes AppStore and for download on Android devices.

To learn more about Dr. Taber, visit: www.doctaber.com or www.uhs.net.

37

LEADERSHIP THAT MAKES A DIFFERENCE

CHAPTER 3


BY PETER NEUFELDT

At 20 years of age I wanted to make a difference! However, I thought I had few skills and little knowledge. As I now reflect on that time many decades ago, I realize that my ignorance was also my greatest asset! I was young, eager to learn and actively looking for opportunities. I trusted that the future had significant positive potential in store for me.

I later learned the power of positive thinking! It is clear that when you want something badly enough and spend focused time thinking about what you want, opportunities will appear. Through my church I was offered a two-year opportunity to live and work in North Africa providing support for disadvantaged communities in Algeria. As with all options, I had to choose! Despite misgivings of unknown challenges of language, new culture and safety issues, I chose to accept the opportunity. Those two years changed my life.

Life in North Africa required quick learning and adaptation. I realized that the accountability and work ethic my parents taught me as I grew up on a farm in the prairies of Saskatchewan were invaluable. These skills and attitudes were essential as I began my new role of engaging community leaders in rural Algeria to explore new ways of thinking, and to help them discover opportunities to improve their lives.

The opportunity to observe and experience different leadership styles became evident as I worked with a team of new colleagues in a new

SUCCESS TODAY

38

country. Thankfully some of them were good communicators and took time to explain, to teach and to mentor. Others were much more task-oriented. Though their short-term instructions were clear, it was difficult to understand their vision and to put our work in a context of results we were trying to achieve.

I also learned that leadership is more who you are than what you do! The experience of sharing meals sitting cross-legged on a camel-hair rug in a Bedouin shack, learning how to converse in a foreign language and taking time to sip strong coffee were key parts of building relationships and trust. It was only after we had established mutual respect and trust that meaningful, life-changing conversations could begin to happen.

Those early days of learning and development taught me that the core skills of effective leadership are a positive attitude and knowing who you are. My subsequent studies and work with many large and small businesses and organizations have confirmed for me the wisdom of Confucius as he explains that the cornerstone of effective leadership is to “Know thyself.”

Many who have been given responsibilities of supervising the work of others have soon emerged as inspiring leaders. What stands out for me is that those who were effective in their leadership first learned to understand their own strengths and challenges, they asked for feedback and listened to the responses. They took time to know themselves and to understand their own impact on others. Then there are the people who don’t listen and don’t take time to understand themselves or others. Invariably these were the first to lose their jobs or to be demoted.

The importance of “knowing yourself” is further verified by numerous studies showing that as much as 85 percent of personal and business success comes from the ability to effectively communicate, to build relationships with others, and to create an environment where people feel good about themselves.

A comprehensive and well-maintained physical infrastructure is essential for business and industry. However, there is also the “intangible infrastructure” of relationships and communication. It must be comprehensive and well-maintained for businesses and organizations to flourish. Staff need to feel happy about their work and comfortable in their work relationships.

39


Management is about effectively following and maintaining systems and processes. Leadership is about effectively influencing, developing and guiding your people. Effective leaders help other leaders to grow, and help leaders to grow their people.

Leadership is partially about practicing “Golden Rule Management” that says you need to “do to others as you want them to do to you.” The core of this “rule” is based on the principles of courtesy, caring and respect. Though these principles are essential, we know that effective leadership requires skill and understanding that goes far beyond these values. We are all different in our approach to life. We see things through different lenses. Some of us want a lot of detail; others just want the key points. Some people thrive on social interaction while others prefer to work independently.

These personal differences call for the practice of “Platinum Rule Leadership” which says we need to “do to others as they would have us do to them.” Good leaders understand the positive results of the “focus on others” that the Platinum Rule brings. They actively listen and create a team infrastructure that respects and builds on the different strengths and preferred communication styles of each team member. The results are evident in much stronger and more effective teams.

Albert Einstein once said: “You have to learn the rules of the game, and then you have to play better than anyone else.” His wisdom is as true today as it ever was. The rules of the game are that you can “manage things” but you have to “lead people.” Vince Lombardi, the legendary football coach added to Dr. Einstein’s wisdom by repeatedly stating that the key to success is “becoming brilliant on the basics.”

Of course, in our game of leadership, we must know the fundamentals that will grow our teams and our businesses. We must commit to doing what it takes to become brilliant at those basic fundamentals of communication and building positive relationships.

Becoming brilliant on the basics of communication and building positive relationships leads us to the next essentials of leadership. I call them “lucrative leadership essentials.” If you want to get a solid return on your investment in your people, you must learn and practice the lucrative leadership skills noted below.

SUCCESS TODAY

40

The very best leaders are those who have vision and can elicit extraordinary performance from ordinary people. The following are four essentials for lucrative leadership. They include the ability to:

1. Create a compelling vision and share it in a way that inspires and motivates.

2. Build and inspire a cohesive and effective team that is focused on results.

3. Provide service excellence that results in raving fans.

4. Listen, understand and effectively coach and encourage team members to perform at their best.

1. Create a Compelling Vision “Vision” – this is the ability to clearly see the future, and to successfully share this vision with their team in a way that inspires and motivates. Engaging in business or any venture without a clear vision is like embarking on a trip without a destination or a map. Those who have a clear vision and are able to describe the future state of their organization will attract the right strategy and experience success. A clearly-stated vision of future brings with it energy, vibrancy, and the results that you have identified and described. Your vision for the organization must also include a vision for your own leadership.

2. Build a Cohesive and Effective TeamTeams are what gets results, and the first part of building an effective team is to hire the right people. Hire for attitude and train for skill! It is key to understand each team member’s strengths and weaknesses. Also have a clear understanding of the behaviour styles and values of each team member. This will help you coach the team and each team member to maximize their potential.

3. Provide Service ExcellenceYou must create the “WOW” of service excellence to inspire people so that they change from being customers who come and go, to being clients who are committed to doing long-term business with you. Remember, the cost of getting a new client is ten times greater than the cost of keeping an existing client by providing consistent service excellence.

41


4. Leadership Insights Must Be Well-Developed Your vision for the organization must include a vision for your own leadership. Ensure that your clear communication includes active listening and efforts to really understand your team. Develop your positive attitude so it supports your efforts to create a culture of openness, respect, trust and loyalty.

Leadership Assessment:

The following assessment is intended to help you identify the areas of leadership in which you are strong so that you can build on them, and those areas in which you are experiencing challenges so that you can develop plans to effectively meet those challenges.

Consider the following statement as it applies to each of the following areas of operation.

“I have a clear compelling vision for my business / organization. Our team is strong, goals are achieved, budgets are met, and morale is high. We are an industry leader by every measure.”

To assess your lucrative leadership skills please rate each of the following on a scale of 1 – 5. (5 being high)

Compelling Vision

1. I have a clear focus and direction for my team 1__ 2__ 3__ 4__ 5__

2. My efforts are clearly focused and directed at achieving outstanding results 1__ 2__ 3__ 4__ 5__

3. My team and I are making fantastic progress in achieving our goals 1__ 2__ 3__ 4__ 5__

4. I feel a sense of significant accomplishment and my efforts are making a difference 1__ 2__ 3__ 4__ 5__

5. I understand the direction of change in my industry 1__ 2__ 3__ 4__ 5__

SUCCESS TODAY

42

6. I know where I need to move my organization to keep ahead of industry changes 1__ 2__ 3__ 4__ 5__

7. I understand where my challenges will be and am ready to address them 1__ 2__ 3__ 4__ 5__

Team Cohesion

1. Morale is consistently high, everyone loves working here 1__ 2__ 3__ 4__ 5__

2. Turnover is consistently low, people rarely leave 1__ 2__ 3__ 4__ 5__

3. The team is refreshed and energized and is excited about coming to work 1__ 2__ 3__ 4__ 5__

4. Employees know exactly what to do and are accountable for the results 1__ 2__ 3__ 4__ 5__

5. There is great harmony in our organization with no fighting or blaming 1__ 2__ 3__ 4__ 5__

6. Employees feel open and comfortable with the management team and together everyone is creating an open and honest environment 1__ 2__ 3__ 4__ 5__

7. There is a clearly defined and created culture that everyone enjoys 1__ 2__ 3__ 4__ 5__

Clients / Customers

1. The majority of our clients are raving fans 1__ 2__ 3__ 4__ 5__

2. Client loyalty is extremely high 1__ 2__ 3__ 4__ 5__

3. My clients are willing to pay premium prices for great products / services 1__ 2__ 3__ 4__ 5__

43


4. My clients are well taken care of by my excellent staff 1__ 2__ 3__ 4__ 5__

5. Happy clients are consistently telling others and giving us great referrals 1__ 2__ 3__ 4__ 5__

6. Great things are written about us by our clients in social media, and we rarely receive negative feedback 1__ 2__ 3__ 4__ 5__

7. I know exactly how to grow our market share and where to tap into new market niches. 1__ 2__ 3__ 4__ 5__

Leadership Insights

1. Vision and strategy are clear and well thought out 1__ 2__ 3__ 4__ 5__

2. Decisions are methodical and yet also intuitive 1__ 2__ 3__ 4__ 5__

3. Our leader is intent on listening to the team and understanding them 1__ 2__ 3__ 4__ 5__

4. Coaching and mentoring is a daily occurrence 1__ 2__ 3__ 4__ 5__

5. Our leader works with persuasive confidence that is received with respect 1__ 2__ 3__ 4__ 5__

6. Our leader’s positive attitude and openness results in respect, trust and loyalty 1__ 2__ 3__ 4__ 5__

7. Our leader is knowledgeable, charismatic, inspiring, involved and appreciated by the team 1__ 2__ 3__ 4__ 5__

The behavioral characteristic of a key executive, a lucrative leader, can cause a positive multiplier effect that impacts the behavior of many people. Great leaders are self-aware and conduct themselves as though everyone is watching. Those with lucrative leadership skills also continually ask “What can I, and only I do, that will make a real difference?” They listen

SUCCESS TODAY

44

for the responses and adjust their behavior accordingly, and consistently provide people development solutions that drive results.

The final question that every leader needs to ask is, “Considering my unique personal behavior style what basic skill do I need to become brilliant at, and to what level of lucrative leadership skills can I aspire, to consistently be an excellent leader and to take my team and my organization to the championship level?”

45


About Peter

Peter Neufeldt was born and raised on a farm in Saskatchewan, Canada where he learned the importance of community involvement, personal accountability and strong adaptation skills. Applying these fundamentals has helped him to thrive in the business world and to help others do the very same.

His Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Saskatchewan and the Master of Social Work degree from the University of British Columbia have enabled Peter to learn and develop the skills of helping people change and grow in positive ways. He has done this in a diversity of environments such as working within the prison system and developing programs that resulted in many changed lives, to working with entrepreneurs and leaders to help them grow their businesses and their organizations. He has coached, counselled and provided training for many organizations and businesses to help them prosper and grow.

Becoming President of Peak Performance Consulting in 2000 helped Peter to take his business to the next level of service. Through his company he reaches out to business and organizational leaders to coach and assist them in organizational change management, assessing/improving organizational and business processes, corporate visioning and strategic planning, training and development, team effectiveness, and leadership development.

The phrase “Success is a journey, not a destination” and the words “Explore… Discover … Learn … Grow” summarize Peter’s vision for service and describe his commitment to personal growth and development. He is committed to helping individuals and organizations achieve significant and sustained improvement in performance. He has been a member of Rotary International for thirty six years, enjoys volunteering through both Rotary and his church and is a feature writer for the Saskatchewan Business and Industry magazine.

Peter strives to make his workshops enjoyable, interactive, and delivered in a manner that will achieve lasting results. He does this by using a combination of facilitator presentations, videos, group discussions, and exercises that provide a fast-paced and interesting learning environment for all participants.

Most of Peter’s work is in Canada, however, he enjoys cultural diversity and was pleased to be contracted by SAP Canada, developer of international business systems software, to co-ordinate and lead a team of technical resource people at the SAP headquarters in Germany. With this team he provided selected sales forces with new

Remove “three”

SUCCESS TODAY

46

perspectives and skills to stimulate business growth. This intensive workshop series was attended by representatives of most of the European countries, Australia, South Africa and several Asian countries. Evidence of the success of these workshops was seen in the increased business successes of the participants.

Peter’s 25 years of consulting, coaching and training in the local, national and international arenas have provided him with the depth of knowledge and skills that make him a sought-after advisor, coach and confidant in personal and professional development.

Peter is appreciated for his insights into leadership, his effective communication skills, and his understanding of human behavior. His legacy goal is to make a positive difference in the lives of people he has the privilege of working and sharing time with. He is an inspiring role model to his family, friends and colleagues. Peter resides in Regina, Canada with his wife Janet. They have two children and four grandchildren.

You can connect with Peter at: [email protected] Performance Consulting:www.peakperformanceconsulting.ca

47

HOW TO ACQUIRE THE SUCCESS MINDSET

CHAPTER 4


BY SCOTT BOURQUIN

Do you feel like other people are becoming successful and you’re not? Or maybe you are enjoying a little success and you just feel like other people are getting more successful faster. So you feel like you could achieve more if you just had more time? The fact that you are reading a book on success says something. At the very least you must want an understanding of success.

Sadly for most people the success they dream of will never come and they’ll never understand why. By reading this book, you are already seeking understanding and that is the first step everyone must take in order to succeed. This is the first step of breaking away from the pack. This step isn’t easy and breaking away from the pack isn’t easy. The pack doesn’t want you to leave. They all admire the successful and at the same time they don’t want to see anyone they know become successful because it means they have failed to keep up!

Let me say that another way, your friends and family really don’t want you to succeed because it means they have to see that they could have done it too and therefore you have made them look like failures. They will do all kinds of things to keep you busy and help you justify your lack of success and their lack of success.

Have you ever heard someone say “Who do you think you are?” or “Don’t let the man keep you down”? Of course, we all have. In order

SUCCESS TODAY

48

to achieve more success, you need to ignore them and believe you are someone who deserves success. That is as long as you are willing to earn it.

Just who is “the man” anyway?. The truth is we all have a little of “the man” in us. As a society we want everybody else to be just like us. The flip side also happens – people want to be just like you, well sort of.

The need to be normal is the predominant anxiety disorder in modern life.

~Thomas Moore

Most of us take a little comfort when we “fit in.” When you become part of a group and are accepted by that group, you begin to feel comfortable as part of that group. These groups start as “cliques” in school. You might remember that you had to work to make friends with a group you admired. You played nice and hoped you were given permission to join the group right?. When you actually became one of them, you essentially had received permission from the others to be like them.

If at some point you found that being like “them” didn’t work for you, you quietly started looking for a new group. The group might have even kicked you out for not doing something they wanted. You might have learned something about the group you didn’t like.

In High School, the game continues and starts to get formalized with school activities. The clubs and athletic programs start to separate the groups a little further while trying to band everyone together with “school pride.”

If you went you college you are probably now realizing that the system gets even more formalized with the Fraternity and Sorority system. If you don’t earn permission from the house, you don’t get in, it’s that simple.

How does this craziness start? I think it starts with our parents telling us not to do things. Don’t touch that stove, don’t play in the street, don’t ride your bike after dark. Instead of just doing, you learn to ask for permission. When you join a group, just like becoming a parent, you learn how to give permission as well.

So what does that have to do with success now, you ask? That conditioning of getting permission to join a group does something to us

49


as we become adults and enter the work and business world. All of us are trained to set our perspective based on our clique or group at work. Look around and see how different each department is. If you work for a big company, can you just walk into another department, sit down and go to work? Probably not. This is how society – aka “the man” – has learned to function.

Success is a function of leadership. Leaders aren’t part of the pack because, by definition, they are “leading” the pack.

Life really is all about perspective. And after we have our conversation, I’m hoping you change your perspective at least a little. There are two things to do that can help everyone become successful. The problem is before you can start down that path and learn how to practice those two things every day in your life, you need something else.

You can’t just start running down the path of life and hope to leap roadblocks and make it to the point of success. In fact I’ll let you in on a little secret, there is no one point of success. If you are lucky, each time you think you have reached success, you’ll find a clue to where you need to go next. Life is a little like the TV show, The Amazing Race without a finish line. Each stop merely holds the clue for the next leg of the journey.

Successful people never stop moving and growing. It doesn’t matter who you look at or what market you look at. Truly successful people who live fulfilled lives are growing and in some ways working up until the day they physically are no longer able to contribute. Once you accept this secret, the rest becomes much easier to understand.

Earlier on in my consulting career I didn’t really understand that there is one thing required for anyone to succeed. Walking into a business, I would see the problems that every other person walking in would see. The problem would be right there, yet the owner couldn’t see it or would make excuses for it. My job is to work with the owners to fix the problem. Unfortunately as soon as I walked out the door, everything went right back to where it was.

Many of my friends in the consulting business thought it was great because I could go back to the same clients and get paid a second or third time for doing the same thing. Quite honestly, it got a little boring, so I

SUCCESS TODAY

50

went to work to figure out what I was missing. I wanted to understand exactly what I needed to do . . . so that I could better serve my clients. That meant they were not paying me for the same work two and three times. I’m sharing this with you so you don’t have to pay a consultant three times over or spend years before you see this on your own.

During that time, the same problem happened and the same questions would come up so consistently, I could almost write the date on a calendar after signing a new client. Keeping track of those questions created a giant checklist that I use in my business even now. Even with that giant checklist in hand, for some reason my clients still couldn’t get the job done on their own. I kept asking myself, “What am I missing?”

One of the popular schools of thought in the consulting business is owner accountability. The theory is that a consultant was like a personal trainer, we were someone that held the business owner accountable. When you as the owner set your goals, it was like a New Years Resolution, if nobody held you accountable the goal would just be forgotten or quietly moved to the round file. But with a coach they would say, the client would be accountable and therefore more likely to achieve the goal.

While that sounds great for a consultant who charges by the hour or the month, I didn’t buy it. How could I have had success and why have so many others found ways to be successful without a coach holding them accountable?

What if the goal your coach was holding you accountable for was a “bad goal”? Have you ever looked at something, decided to do it and later realized it was a “bad idea”? Without a clear picture of where you are going, how can you know if you are making good goals or bad goals? If the coach creates the goal, whose goal is it? None of what I was hearing made sense. But that last question held the clue.

Eventually I realized the problem. The owners would either set easy goals, nonsense goals or… and here is the big one, they set goals other people thought were important. They set goals they knew that they would get permission from other people to achieve. As crazy as that sounds, that turned out to be a big problem across the board. They weren’t looking for accountability, they were looking for someone to believe that they could do it, someone to give them permission to succeed and achieve their goals.

51


In some cases, their family or friends only gave them permission to get where they were. They couldn’t go any further until someone gave them permission. Sometimes it was simply accepting the change the next level was going to make in their lives.

No one will ever give you a permission slip to leave the group and head off to that great place called success, unless of course, we are talking about that one like-minded person who wants to go there with you. There is an irony of success, in that once you are successful, lots of people claiming to be your supporter will show up out of nowhere. Before you are successful is when you know you have a supporter and potential partner, not afterwards.

For Steve Jobs, that one person was Steve Wozniak. For Bill Gates, it was Paul Allen. For Larry Page, it was Sergey Brin. Some people are driven on their own, or that partner is unknown to us, like Sir Richard Branson or Mark Zuckerberg. Unless you are talking to that one person who believes in you and wants to help you get there, chances are good they will be against you. People want you to be like them and in some ways you want to be like them. That is what most people call “being normal” and “accepted.”

Being normal and accepted in a major economic country will put you in the top 1% if you talk about the global economy. But you don’t live in the global economy, do you? You live in the economy of the town that you live in. It might be a boomtown and it might be a bust town – but it’s still the economy that you live in. Being in the top 1% of the world might not get you anywhere near the top 1% of your town, and that’s why we are having this conversation isn’t it?

You want to move closer to the top 1% of your community and your peers. If you can afford this book, you are already in the top 1% of the world economy.

So here is your key to success, don’t wait for permission from someone else. Don’t let them guilt you into staying like them, don’t let them set your goals, don’t let them take you away from the road to your goals. Take control of your life and give yourself permission. Figure out where you want to go in life and go there, not the ball game, the bar or wherever they are . . . killing time.

SUCCESS TODAY

52

Deep inside of us, we all know what needs to be done to succeed even though we all have different definitions of success. The hard part is getting out there and doing it. Sometimes confidence holds us back, other times not having permission holds us back. Make a commitment right now to yourself to stop asking for and waiting for permission to succeed. Make the commitment that you will succeed and anyone that tries to hold you back will be left behind.

This is a very tough thing to do. We have grown up in a society that teaches us to be comfortable doing things when we have permission. It is very easy to look in the mirror and say, “You have my permission to succeed.” The truth is that no matter how many times you do that, until you take action it doesn’t matter. Action is where you take those small steps away from the pack and get the confidence to start walking, and then running away.

They will tell you to come back; don’t do it, keep moving and achieving your success!

All the degrees and knowledge in the world don’t mean anything unless there is action. So there it is, give yourself permission to take action, set your goals, and go do it. The world is waiting to see what you can do.

53


About Scott

Scott Bourquin helps his clients achieve more in less time than they ever thought possible. Scott started out building technology systems to grow small businesses and quickly learned that his clients were experiencing the same growing pains he was. The son of a small business owner, and himself the creator of several

successful businesses, Scott has learned how to overcome the roadblocks to success. Today, Scott enjoys watching small business owners make those big breakthroughs and achieving more.

Scott’s philosophy that “You can’t get any wasted time back” helped him create a unique approach to business problem solving. It is an approach that he learned as a pilot and adapted to his work in information systems and later to his own businesses. This approach allows him to be more productive, have more time off and help his clients to do the same.

In addition to building businesses, Scott served in the Air Force Reserves and is a decorated combat pilot. During his military service, Scott served in several capacities beginning as a Security Police Team Member and Championship Competitive Marksman, retiring from the Air Force Reserves as a decorated Air Force Reserve KC-10 Instructor Pilot and Chief of Information Systems. Scott flew several tours in support of Operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom and was selected to represent the Air Force Reserves at the 100th Anniversary of Flight Celebration at EAA AirVenture Oshkosh.

Scott holds a degree in Business–Information Resource Management from San José State University. He also has gained hands-on insight into industry best practices in leadership and innovation from his former employers, to include the likes of Apple, Airtouch (Now Verizon-Vodaphone) and Stanford University.

Today Scott runs The Bourquin Group, an online business technology and marketing firm with a focus on small businesses with less than 50 employees and five locations. Scott is also the author of a number of popular books to include: So, Now What? (2009) and How to Market on Facebook for Free (2012), which was followed in short succession by How to Market on Google for Free (2012).

Scott recently consolidated his writing efforts when he created the “Easy Guide” series of books. The Easy Guide Books are designed to give small business owners simple and easy methods to get around those roadblocks to success. The Easy Guide To Internet Marketing was released in 2013 to kick off the series.

SUCCESS TODAY

54

A Technology and Internet Marketing Authority and Keynote Speaker, Scott has delivered presentations and live training to audiences of major national technology conferences and consumer electronics shows across the country. Scott’s work as an actor helps him to create more effective and engaging events as a speaker and create better online video content for his clients.

In 2010, Scott and his wife returned home to Southern California to enjoy life by the ocean while running his business and helping his clients grow.

You can connect with Scott at: [email protected]/scottbourquinwww.facebook.com/scott.bourquin

55

CRITICAL FINANCIAL DECISIONS FOR RETIREMENT

CHAPTER 5

CRITICAL FINANCIAL DECISIONS FOR

RETIREMENT

BY WILLIAM PARKER

Bob and Margaret are nearing retirement. They have about $300,000 in their retirement fund and are feeling pretty good about it; so they’ve decided that it’s time to sit down with a financial advisor to make some final plans for how they’ll afford their living expenses during retirement.

When they locate and begin working with a financial advisor, he has to give them some bad news. They aren’t going to be able to maintain their lifestyle if they retire at 65 with only $300,000 in savings. They still have some debt that they need to pay off. And it would be in their best interest to delay collecting social security so they can receive a larger payment each month.

Bob and Margaret have not lived a frivolous life. They’ve worked hard to raise their family and they’ve taken care of their health. But they neglected their retirement planning and now they are faced with the reality that their retirement savings won’t be enough given their probable longevity, lifestyle, and potential medical expenses.

On the bright side, they realized all of this before they set a retirement date. Bob and Margaret will have to keep working a while longer, but they’re still able to contribute and be active. That doesn’t stop them from feeling disappointed that they won’t be able to enjoy retirement

SUCCESS TODAY

56

for a few more years.

The truth is that there are a lot of people like Bob and Margaret. People who worked hard but didn’t consult a financial advisor so they were inadequately prepared for retirement. So how can you learn from them?

A FINANCIAL PLAN

Did you know that 64% of Americans have no financial strategy at all? That’s right – no plan whatsoever to build wealth or keep it. That finding comes from the 2009 National Consumer Survey on Personal Finance conducted by the Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards, Inc. (The survey collected data from 1,700+ U.S. residents.)1

A financial strategy includes everything from retirement savings in a 401(k) or other retirement savings vehicle to creating a monthly budget for your household. It is a written plan that includes information about your monthly income and expenses, and the place where you can create financial goals. Let’s look at some interesting statistics related to financial plans.

• Only 17% of us have a written financial plan that is updated regularly. So congratulate yourself if you are in that group. The CFP Board found that just 17% of the 36% polled who did have a written financial plan had reviewed it in light of changing times. Notably, 48% said they had benefited from having a written plan.1,2

• Just 38% of the 36% having written financial plans retain a financial advisor. The really troubling part: 37% of those with written plans are doing their financial planning on their own. Another 12% of respondents with written plans have consulted a friend or family member who isn’t a financial services professional for advice.1

Why don’t more people have a financial plan? Americans of all incomes and savings levels certainly are free to set financial goals. Financial plans are just not a priority. Or perhaps, like Bob and Margaret, many people don’t realize they need one. Reasons for not making a plan vary.

Some people cite the expense of engaging a financial advisor. The money you spend today with your financial advisor should make you money in

57


the long-term. Your financial advisor’s job is to help you determine the best investments and guide you toward the goals you set for yourself.

Some people believe they get along just fine without a financial plan. I would not be surprised to hear that several of the individuals who were surveyed were able to pay their bills each month without a budget or financial plan in place. But how much of their income was being wasted or misspent when it could have been applied to their long term savings and retirement goals?

There were also individuals who felt their finances weren’t complicated enough to warrant one. Everyone’s finances warrant a budget and plan for savings. This is because defined goals lead to definite plans.

DEFINED GOALS – DEFINED PLANS

If you set financial goals and make a plan to reach them, you vault ahead of most Americans – at least according to the Certified Financial Planner Board’s findings. A written financial plan does not imply or guarantee wealth, nor does it ensure that you will reach your goals. But it does give you an understanding of the distance between where you are financially and where you want to be. Too many Americans, it seems, have little comprehension of their financial situation or their financial potential.

Because most of us aren’t good at making or keeping a budget, our financial health and potentially our retirement savings will suffer. Budgeting it is a key component to long-term retirement saving success. We know that retiring without a financial plan or with one that hasn’t been reviewed in several years, is a risk. So how do you start making your own plan?

A PLAN

The first step you’ll take toward creating a financial plan is to find a trusted financial advisor. Your relationship with this person is important because he or she will help you prepare for retirement and provide you with the clarity and confidence you’ll need when it comes to your financial future.

Next you’ll put together a budget with your financial advisor. Include everything and add additional funds for entertainment expenses or

SUCCESS TODAY

58

incidentals. This will give you a clearer picture of what you have to invest. The general rule of thumb is to be sure to pay yourself first – meaning make your 401(k) contribution – and then pay everything else.

As an advisor, I believe that the 401(k) is a great retirement savings option for most people. All of the money contributed is pre-tax and you can contribute as much as $18,000 for 2015. With another popular option, the traditional Roth IRA, your investment is capped $5,500 or $6,500 annually which is a catch-up contribution limit for people 50 and older. And many of the other options are more conservative and geared toward those close to retirement or already retired.

Once you start investing in your 401(k) it is necessary to scrutinize the mutual funds you’re investing in each pay period. Your financial advisor can help you critically review the funds inside your mutual fund families. Personally, I’ve noticed that there are a substantial number of mutual funds that underperform the S&P 500 85% of the time, and many mutual funds are in the bottom 50th percentile of their peer group. It isn’t enough just to put money into a 401(k). You want to be smart about your investments which means sitting down with your financial advisor to gain assurance that you’re investing in the top performers.

While working, people should try to get their 401(k) contributions up to 12 to 15% if they can afford it. That can feel like a stretch for some, but it’s an ideal percentage. If you are one of the many people who are stretched too thin because of monthly bills, I encourage you to work hard to pay off your debt and then increase your 401(k) contributions with a goal of 12 to 15% when it becomes feasible.

People are often fearful of increasing their 401(k) contribution even if they are debt free and have income to spare each month. The number one reason people are afraid to increase their contribution is that they haven’t created a budget so they aren’t sure if they can cover their living expenses each month. They fear running out of money while they’re still working – having a lot of money invested but not enough to live on.

Since you and your advisor have already created a budget you should already know. But if you’re still worried about not having enough cash on hand, it makes sense to step up your contribution by 1 to 2% each year after that so you won’t have sticker shock. This way you can still

59


meet your goal of investing 15% of each paycheck into their 401(k) without fear or discomfort.

The people I know who are enjoying retirement thanks to a successful financial plan, made it a priority to eliminate debt and start working to build their retirement portfolio. Getting rid of debt just makes sense because it’s difficult to accumulate wealth when you’re making payments to creditors each month. Your financial advisor can help you determine the best plan for you to get out from under your debt.

Once you’ve make your financial plans and set goals, you will still need to have periodic meetings with your financial advisor. You’ll both want to stay on top of any changes to your situation and continue to update your plans and goals so you can have a more comfortable retirement.

CONSIDERATIONS

Your financial plan will be influenced by a number of issues that require your consideration. The first is your longevity and health. Are you 65? If you are a man, you have a 40% chance of living to age 85; if you are a woman, a 53% chance. Those numbers are from the Social Security Administration. While our parents may have had relatively brief retirements, in all likelihood, we will have 20 to 30 year retirements. This means that you must be ready to sustain your current standard of living for 20-30 years after you’ve retired.3

Living longer increases medical expenses. Many individuals who believe they’re ready to retire have underestimated their medical expenses. Fidelity Investments says that the typical couple retiring at 65 today will need $240,000 to pay for their future health care costs (assuming one spouse lives to 82 and the other to 85). The Employee Benefit Research Institute says $231,000 might suffice for 75% of retirements, $287,000 for 90% of retirements. It is prudent to explore and design your retirement plan with these costs in mind.4

As you’re making your retirement plans, think twice about putting your child’s college costs before your retirement costs. Keep in mind that there is no “financial aid” program for retirement. There are no “retirement loans.” Your children have their whole financial lives ahead of them. Try to refrain from touching your home equity or your IRA to pay for college expenses.

SUCCESS TODAY

60

WHEN TO RETIRE

The full retirement age today is 66 years old. Social Security benefits rise about 8% for every year you delay receiving them till age 70, so waiting a few years to apply for benefits can position you for greater retirement income.5 Sometimes people are forced to draw their Social Security before they reach full retirement age. Roughly 40% of us retire earlier than we want to and about half of us apply for Social Security before full retirement age. Still, any way that you can postpone applying for benefits will leave you with greater monthly Social Security Income.5

It’s imperative that people focus on how much they’re going to spend when they get into retirement. People think that $200,000–$300,000 is a lot of money, but it’s not enough to retire at age 65. If this is the case for you, it will probably be necessary for you to work longer and wait to start collecting social security. But you’re not alone. It is no longer uncommon for people to work until they are at least 70 and to put off applying for Social Security benefits until that time.

MANAGING MONEY IN RETIREMENT

After you’ve retired, your financial plan changes from how to accumulate wealth to how to manage it so that you don’t run out of money. One of the most common mistakes I see is retirees withdrawing too much each year. You may have heard of the “4% rule”, a popular guideline stating that you should withdraw only about 4% of your retirement savings annually. The “4% rule” isn’t a rule, but many cautious retirees still abide by it.

So why do some retirees withdraw 7% or 8% a year? In the first phase of retirement, people tend to live a bit more lavishly. Other retirees discover that they need more than they anticipated to maintain a comfortable lifestyle. Usually these are the individuals without a sound budget and financial plan. And sometimes, no matter how well we’ve planned, an unexpected expense presents itself, like the need for a new car. These kinds of expenses can lead to a need to draining precious resources from your retirement savings.

Individuals need to determine ahead of time how much they’re going to spend after they’ve retired. The average person coming to a financial advisor like me has $150,000 or less in their IRA or 401(k). That’s

61


simply not enough money to retire on even though that lump sum seems significant. The good news is that financial advisor can help you determine how much you’ll need for your 20-30 year retirement based on your unique situation.

With regard to the types of retirement accounts you have, it can be a good idea to have both taxable and tax-advantaged accounts in retirement. Assuming that your retirement will be long, you may want to assign some of your overall fund to a “preferred domain” – that is, the taxable or tax-advantaged account that may be most appropriate for that investment in pursuit of the entire portfolio’s optimal after-tax return.

Many younger investors chase the return but that isn’t necessarily a recommended strategy for retirees. Some retirees find a shortfall when they try to live on portfolio income. In response, they move money into stocks offering significant dividends or high-yield bonds – which may be bad moves in the long run. Taking retirement income off both the principal and interest of a portfolio may give you a way to reduce ordinary income and income taxes.

Account fees must also be watched carefully. The Department of Labor notes that a 401(k) plan with a 1.5% annual account fee would leave a plan participant with 28% less money than a 401(k) with a 0.5% annual fee.6

There are many components to retirement planning. It’s important to sit down and reflect on your needs and your goals with someone with experience and knowledge. My experience tells me that the most successful retirees are also the ones who work with a professional to make a plan and save. While not everyone can retire with billions, everyone can retire with enough money to allow them to enjoy themselves without worrying that they’ll outlive their savings.

SUCCESS TODAY

62

Citations.

1. cfp.net/downloads/CFP_Board_2009_National_Consumer_Survey.pdf [7/24/09]

2. reuters.com/article/pressRelease/idUS132983+24-Sep-2009+BW20090924

[9/24/09]

3. www.forbes.com/sites/ashleaebeling/2012/08/10/americans-clueless-about-life-

expectancy-bungling-retirement-planning/ [8/10/12]

4. money.usnews.com/money/blogs/planning-to-retire/2012/05/10/fidelity-couples-need-

240000-for-retirement-health-costs/ [5/10/12]

5. moneyland.time.com/2012/04/17/the-7-biggest-retirement-planning-mistakes/

[4/17/12]

6. www.post-gazette.com/stories/business/personal/shop-smart-avoid-seven-common-

errors-in-retirement-plans-635633/ [5/13/12]

63


About William

William J. Parker is the Chief Executive Officer of GrandView Asset Management, a firm which offers fee-based money management headquartered in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. GrandView Asset Management is one of the largest and oldest independent money management firms in Central Pennsylvania. The firm has been

family owned and operated since it was founded in 1962.

William is also the Chief Executive Officer of GrandView 401(k) Advisors. Grandview 401(k) Advisors is an independent consulting firm that creates qualified and non-qualified retirement programs. GrandView 401(k) Advisors sets itself apart by educating the business owners as well as the employees, so they can retire successfully.

With over three decades of experience, William Parker understands the gamut of investments, markets and services that are available to help individuals, families and businesses plan for their financial needs. He understands the various vehicles, both qualified and non-qualified, available to help businesses structure benefit plans in order to retain current employees as well as attract and recruit new employees.

William served as the Mayor of Paxtang from 2000 to 2004 and served as the first ever President of the Pennsylvania Club for Growth – a conservative think-tank – and still keeps his pulse on state and federal politics. William is a Co-Host of an investment radio program on WHP-580 every Saturday morning from 6 to 7 am. William and his Co-host, Rebekah Godlewski, will be expanding to Clear Channels stations in both Harrisburg and the Lancaster market place, March of 2011.

He is the father of six children, three of whom are living with Fragile X and Autism. Having children with special needs has spurred him to create Special Planning LLC, a firm which specializes in Estate Planning and Financial Planning for Families with Special Needs Loved Ones. With success comes the responsibility of stewardship. William Parker primarily concentrates his philanthropic efforts on children with disabilities. Demonstrating his commitment to give back, he has served on several national and regional boards including the MIND Institute at UC Davis (California), The National Fragile X Foundation, and founded the Center for Autism and Developmental Disabilities at Philhaven. William also served on the Autism Society Board. In addition, he also advances the cause by working with officials at both the state and federal levels to increase funding for research and services on behalf of individuals with special needs.

SUCCESS TODAY

64

William is the creator of the ABLE account signed into law in 2014. This account affects millions of families that have disabled children.

William Parker and his wife, Deborah, reside in Palmyra, Pennsylvania with their children.

William J. Parker CEO.GrandView Asset ManagementServing clients for over 50 years

65

THE NEVER-ENDING REFERRAL SYSTEM

CHAPTER 6


BY GREG ROLLETT

It was a Friday night, one of the rare nights when we left the house and left the two kids at home. With a two-year old and a six-month-old, it has become increasingly harder to have a Friday night with friends.

This was a nice exception.

My mother-in-law had come over and was watching the little guys so Jen and I could have an evening out.

• When you haven’t had a date night in months (maybe a year), where do you go?

• When you have one shot to pick the right restaurant, with thousands to choose from, who gets the business?

1. There’s Facebook. You can create a post and ask your friends for recommendations.

2. There’s Yelp.

3. There’s Google.

4. There is the good old fashioned drive-by.

5. You can call or text your close circle.

In each of the options we are looking for a referral. We are looking for a source that we trust to give us a recommendation of where to spend our night on the town.

SUCCESS TODAY

66

With things like restaurants and movies, people are quick to tell you what they loved and what they hated.

• “Go see that movie right now.”

• “Don’t waste your money.”

• “You have to check out this new restaurant.”

This might seem trivial, but when you understand why we make recommendations for restaurants, bars, vacation destinations and what movies to see, you can start to understand what you need to do in order to get your clients to start referring you.

We all want more referrals. Many times these are our best clients. They contact you and are already half-way through the door. All you generally have to do is “not mess it up.”

WHY DOES THIS HAPPEN?

Because someone that they trust told them they have to use you. With this trust, they had help making up their mind, before you ever had an opportunity to open your mouth and go through your presentation.

Knowing that you want more referrals and actually getting them is a completely different story. Referrals don’t just happen. They are not automatic just because you delivered a great service or experience.

Referrals happen because they are engineered. Businesses get the most referrals when they have a system to generate them. They do not leave it up to chance. In fact, they make their referral system a priority, just as you might have made lead generation a priority.

The businesses that get the most referrals build their referral system with the same money, time, resources and attention that they would anything else in their business.

The majority of business owners hope that their great service is enough to get their clients talking about them. This might produce a referral here or there. Here or there is not how you want to run your business. You want to play at an elite level and to do so, you must put together a referral system. I am going to walk you through the referral system that we have been implementing for our clients to generate a stream of never-ending referrals.

67


Never-ending means that your current clients will be trained and conditioned to send you referrals. The newly-referred clients will then also be conditioned to refer you new clients as that is how they were introduced to you. Once this system is in place, the chain never breaks and you will develop never-ending referrals.

SO, HOW DO YOU CREATE THIS NEVER-ENDING REFER-RAL SYSTEM?

You begin to create your Never-Ending Referral System by understanding how referrals take place and the psychology of a referral. My friend and marketing expert Dean Jackson, from the iLoveMarketing Podcast, explained to me on an episode of Celebrity Expert Live that three things must align for a referral to take place.

Those three things are:

1. The person referring has to notice that the conversation is about what you do.

2. They then have to think about you.

3. They have to introduce you to the conversation.

If those three conditions are not met, you have lost the battle before it even begins. The good news is that you can help to manufacture the referral process by using the Never-Ending Referral System I am about to unveil to you.

When you follow the simple steps outlined below, you will start to pop up in general conversations and enter the mind of your clients exactly when you want them to think of you. You will be showing up in their life like a happily invited guest, delivering value and goodwill that will transfer to the social situations your clients enter in their daily lives. Your clients will want to bring your name up in conversation and talk about the value you bring to your life. This can only happen when you show up in their lives – when you make a conscious decision to appear in their lives more often.

Many business owners stop showing up after the initial transaction. Doing this will make your client forget you in a heartbeat. When you stop showing up and adding massive value to the lives of your clients, someone else will. They will become distracted and then engage with

SUCCESS TODAY

68

other products or services that are playing a role in their lives.

This doesn’t have to mean competition either. If you are a financial advisor and you just signed a client up for one of your retirement programs, what are you doing to continue the relationship after the deal is signed? Did you mail them a new client gift or welcome package? Are you talking to them regularly or only at their annual portfolio review?

A lot can happen in that year. When you stop paying attention to your clients, they stop paying attention to you. With the busy lives we lead they might even forget your name. But not if you use the system I am about to reveal to you.

On the flip-side, if you are showing up in their lives on a regular basis with great tips, resources, education and entertainment, your clients are thinking about you, and their subconscious mind will be trained to bring you up in conversation.

When you up the ante and start to become “brag material” you will get mentioned more and more. By “brag material” I mean that you are such an important asset in their lives that they want to bring you up, and what you have done for them to brag to their friends. This gives them a social advantage over their friends.

Think about it like keeping up with the Joneses. The easy brags are about the new toys they have purchased, like the newest iPhone or tablet. Things like vacations they went on or cars they have upgraded to. I want you to think about how to enter their lives at this level. I will explain how we help our clients to do this momentarily.

Finally, I want you to create every asset in your marketing arsenal to have pass-on value. I want your clients to love “your stuff” so much that they are happy to pass it on to a friend. This makes the referral-asking process easy, fun and actionable. Look, no one wants to be asked to write down a list of names of people that you might be able to help. It makes they feel uncomfortable and uneasy. This is a major turn-off, especially the higher you climb on the wealth and affluence ladder.

Instead, you want to make it easy for your clients to refer you by giving them things to pass on, like a copy of your book or a newsletter filled with great content and resources. I’ll talk more about this in a minute. So now you know what this system looks like and what it can do for your business,

69


it’s time to get into the nuts and bolts of the Never-Ending Referral System and lay it out for you to copy in your own business. Let’s get to it.

THE THREE STEPS TO CREATING A NEVER-ENDING REFERRAL SYSTEM

The three steps outlined below require you to put in some effort to create something worthy for your clients going out into the world and talking about you.

I can assure you that spending the time to create these assets and systems will be worth every moment spent putting them together. Remember, the goal is to build an army of clients who are excited about working with you, so much so that they expect you to send them items of massive goodwill and in turn, will go out to their social circles and brag about how great you are.

Are you ready? Good, let’s go.

Step 1: Send Every Client (and every prospect) A Personality-Driven Newsletter In The Mail

There is no replacement for a physical print newsletter that you mail to your clients each and every month. In attempts to cut costs or to leverage technology, like email, so many business owners have gotten away from sending a print newsletter in lieu of an email newsletter. Trust me when I tell you - this is a terrible mistake to make in your business.

Writing up a personal letter, printing it and putting a stamp on it is powerful. It says you care. It says, “this is something worth reading.” It is also a monthly reminder of who you are, what you do and what you are doing. This is an important piece to remember. Even if you only meet with your clients once or twice a year, sending the newsletter in the mail every month reminds them that you exist, that you are out there working for them and acts like a quick meeting over coffee you are having with a client.

Print newsletters are the biggest asset we have in our business and the business of every client we get to work with. The mistake most entrepreneurs make with newsletters is making them boring. They make their newsletter read like something that was slapped together because it had to get out.

SUCCESS TODAY

70

You on the other hand are developing a Never-Ending Referral System. That means your newsletter content needs to be something worth talking about. Your newsletter needs to have content that is worth sharing, talking about and worthy of being discussed in a conversation.

This only happens when you inject your personality into it. You have to open up and talk about your life, your clients, issues and matters that mean something to you and sharing real opinions that are heartfelt and sincere.

The newsletters we create for our clients come right from the mouth of our experts. We get experts and entrepreneurs to open up about their vacations, their pets, their favorite sports teams, conversations they are having with their clients and things that are boiling in their skin. The content this turns into has passion. It has life. It lets your clients into your life. And in turn you begin to have a real relationship with them that goes way beyond just the product you sold them or the service you are providing.

After you create your print newsletter and start sending it out monthly, you then start sending your clients and top prospects...

Step 2: The Monthly Item Of Value

The newsletter is my favorite marketing item to get into the hands of your clients on a monthly basis. As great as the newsletter is, it only shows up once a month. I want to consume the lives of my clients and help them as much as possible. That’s where a monthly item of value comes into the picture.

For our financial advisors in our Ambitious Advisor Program, we write, design and send out a printed special report each and every single month that gets customized and sent to the clients of our advisors. The advisors in the program love this, as it allows them to put something that has extreme value into the hands of their clients that can easily be passed onto a friend to stimulate referrals.

One of our advisors told us about an older woman who was a client, but was very quiet. She was a good client, but sent over referrals or participated in client events. Then she began receiving these monthly special reports. Immediately she saw the value in the reports and began sharing them with neighbors. She finally felt she “had something” to share with her neighbors and brag about her advisor.

71


She may have never sent a referral over in her entire life had this advisor not spent the few dollars a month to print and ship her this item of value. Now she has someone on the front lines talking about his services for him, pre-conditioning referrals to get excited to work with him.

This monthly item of value doesn’t have to be a special report.

It can be a CD of a recording where you interview another expert or showcase a client that can add value to their lives.

It can be a few newspaper or magazine articles you cut out and sent along with a note. This positions you as a curator of content and someone who has their ear to the street. This makes it easy for someone to bring your name up in conversation when someone has a question and needs to find a resource that has the answer.

This monthly item of value can be videos that you shoot and email out to your clients, but are only seen by clients. It could be deals and offers from those you have relationships with.

No matter what your monthly item of value, you must create something that excites and motivates your clients. And you must do it frequently so you are constantly appearing in their lives.

And if you just do the first 2 steps you are now showing up two times every month. That is 24 times in one year. What would that do for your business and your referrals? If you are doing nothing right now, it’s 24X more effective. But when you couple this with Step 3, your stock and goodwill with your clients will go through the roof!

Step 3: The “I’m-Thinking-About-You” Package

Now it’s time to take your Never-Ending Referral System to a whole ‘nother level. When you start to add Step 3 to your referral marketing, your business will never be the same.

At this level, you are at the forefront of the minds of your clients every time you need to be. At level 3 you start to get your clients to brag about their relationship with you. The great news is that this step is not difficult, but requires some planning, some time and some attention.

In step 3 you are going to create events, packages and items that your clients would have only ever received from their close friends and family

SUCCESS TODAY

72

members. They would never imagine that you would be thinking of them like this. And that is where you begin to win and see your business rise to an elite level.

So what can you send to your clients to make them stop in their tracks and put you at the top of their conscious mind? You can start by hosting events for your clients. These cannot be “regular events.” These needs to be events that their friends could never get invited to.

This might be a wine tasting at a private club or vineyard. This might be box seats to a sporting event. It may be the opening of an art gallery. It may be listening to a speaker that you have special access to. The event has to be special. It has to be something your clients want to go to and not feel like they are going out of obligation.

For some clients we have put together movie screenings where your clients would get to see a new movie the day before the rest of the world. The entry fee, bring a friend.

To pull this off you need to send invitations, make the event feel exclusive and make it a truly big deal. You want your clients to talk to their friends before and after the event, about how you are thinking of them and giving them experiences that they could never imagine pulling off themselves.

But you don’t need to throw an event to create the “I’m thinking of you” feeling. You could just host a contest with incredible prizes. We have helped our clients to throw contests like an annual March Madness Bracket competition with big prizes that included a cruise for two, spa retreats and more.

We then include their social circle, by mailing tickets that look like NCAA game tickets to pass out to their friends. The incentive, if their friend that was referred in wins the competition, the client would also receive a prize. These contests are a fun way to bring in a lot of referrals fast, and also show these referrals how much fun your company is, once you become part of the family.

After contests, you can find timely gifts and packages to send to your clients based on holidays, events and pop culture. For Veteran’s Day, we created a campaign for financial advisors to mail a copy of Saving Private Ryan to their clients where they could invite their friends over to

73


watch the film. Even if they don’t invite the friends over to watch, they still have something to talk about the next time everyone gets together. That is a big win.

We have sent out stuffed groundhogs with the logo of our clients on the groundhog’s t-shirt, making reference to waking up everyday like the last day and if you know anyone waking up like Bill Murray to give them this groundhog.

These gifts are not expensive and go a long way towards building your business with a staple of never ending referrals.

PUTTING YOUR NEVER-ENDING REFERRAL SYSTEM INTO ACTION

You now have the blueprint to create never-ending referrals. As I mentioned at the onset, this is a system that requires some work and some time. However, once you get everything up and running, it becomes a machine. A system.

You begin to know your ROI like any other marketing channel and will be able to make decisions based on real returns. No matter where you start, the thing to do now is to get started. Start with the newsletter. Start with a monthly item of value.

Start becoming someone your clients look forward to hearing from and be a part of their lives. This will set you up with new business for as long as you want. Here’s to creating your own Never-Ending Referral System.

SUCCESS TODAY

74

About Greg

Greg Rollett, @gregrollett, is a Best-Selling Author and Marketing Expert who works with experts, authors and entrepreneurs all over the world. He utilizes the power of new media, direct response and personality-driven marketing to attract more clients and to create more freedom in the businesses and lives of his clients.

After creating a successful string of his own educational products and businesses, Greg began helping others in the production and marketing of their own products and services. He now helps his clients through 2 distinct companies, Celebrity Expert Marketing and the ProductPros.

Greg has written for Mashable, Fast Company, Inc.com, The Huffington Post, AOL, AMEX’s Open Forum and others, and continues to share his message helping experts and entrepreneurs grow their business through marketing.

Greg’s client list includes Michael Gerber, Brian Tracy, Tom Hopkins, Coca-Cola, Miller Lite and Warner Brothers, along with thousands of entrepreneurs and small-business owners across the world. Greg’s work has been featured on FOX News, ABC, NBC, CBS, CNN, USA Today, Inc Magazine, The Wall Street Journal, the Daily Buzz and more.

Greg loves to challenge the current business environment that constrains people to working 12-hour days during the best portions of their lives. By teaching them to leverage marketing and the power of information, Greg loves to help others create freedom in their businesses that allow them to generate income, make the world a better place, and live a radically-ambitious lifestyle in the process.

A former touring musician, Greg is highly sought after as a speaker, who has spoken all over the world on the subjects of marketing and business building.

If you would like to learn more about Greg and how he can help your business, please contact him directly at: [email protected] or by calling his office at 877.897.4611.

75

5.7 LEVELS TO AWAKEN YOUR INNER HERO AND UNLEASH YOUR GREAT POWERS

CHAPTER 7

5.7 LEVELS TO AWAKEN YOUR INNER HERO AND UNLEASH YOUR GREAT

POWERS TO CHANGE YOUR LIFE AND THE WORLD

BY ANM PEK

“If life doesn’t offer a game worth playing, then invent a new one.”

This quote by Anthony J. D’Angelo may or may not change your life, but it changed mine tremendously. Back then, I created a simple mini-game for my life. Now, it has evolved into a global Game of Life. Along the journey as a gamer of my own life, I have collected many secret codes to win the game. The most important secret code is if you want to achieve the unimaginable, you start by imagining it and believing your imagination. Imagine every day you are a hero who has great powers to change your life and the world. Within us, there lies a hidden hero who has an ultimate purpose in life, and, possesses great capacity and power. In fact, everyone has something special about themselves. There are heroes who we were born to be. Practice this secret code now before proceeding.

Go through these levels, discover more secret codes in each level to awaken your heroic self and unleash great powers in fun and exciting ways. Challenge yourself to complete these 5.7 levels within one month!

SUCCESS TODAY

76

LEVEL 1: HARNESS THE POWER OF GAMIFICATION

I was teaching in class. A group of students were so engrossed playing games that they didn’t realize I was standing beside them. As I observed them, an idea struck me:

• What if students are playing games and learning at the same time?

• What if our education system adopts game-based learning?

It was always at the back of my mind. I knew there was something I could contribute in this aspect. The endeavor never got started until I went for my Master’s Degree where my research centered on serious games. These are games with a purpose other than just entertainment. However, the main driver came from the accumulated frustration that I had after I went to a handful of self-development workshops. Don’t get me wrong. Those workshops are awesomely great and packed with solid, proven techniques. The trainers are the top experts in their fields. I loved the fantastic and high-energy learning experiences! It is definitely worthwhile to attend the workshops. However, after the workshops, my brain and heart were engaged in an intense tug-of-war. Deep down, I know I should review my notes and apply what I had learnt. However, there was a voice always tell me not to—even though the notes are just an arm-reach away, needless to say to apply. This is not only what I had been experiencing, but many of my fellow acquaintances who I got to know through those workshops, friends and students are facing the same challenge. Many of us spent thousands of dollars to attend schools, courses and workshops, but we did not apply much of what we learnt. I asked myself, “How can we overcome this issue?” Can we explore this issue further? What if we can, simultaneously, have so much fun in the application that we self-motivate and drive ourselves?

We all know that application is hard work. To obtain successful outcomes from application is even harder work. Like the motivational speaker, Zig Ziglar says: “The elevator to the top is out of order.” We have to take the stairs. We have to rise on the basis of our own determined effort. There is no substitute for hard, hard work. Yes, but we can make hard work fun! We can gamify hard work which means we adapt the task to take on in the form of a game. In that way, we will be focusing on the fun rather than the hard work. Imagine, we could play a ‘staircase’ game. If you throw a dice and it reveals a six, you walk up six steps. The

77


first one to reach to the top wins. Do you feel the fun or the hard work? You might be surprised by the results and probably were not even aware you already achieved your goal through playing a game. Games drive us. Games discipline us. Games engage us. Games surprise us! We can create and turn games into exciting quests for learning, studying, planning, working, managing and living. In fact, we can gamify every aspect of our life and work into quests, particularly for difficult, dull, boring or mundane tasks. Tasks that we avoid.

Level 1 Quest: Gamify a task that you always avoid into a quest, For example, challenge yourself to get five appointments set up within 30 minutes. Add in a timeline to make it more exciting. Complete this quest by carrying it out in real life. Go for Level 2 only after you have successfully accomplished the quest.

---[Level 1 Reward: You’re The Gamer!]---

LEVEL 2: LIVE YOUR LIFE LIKE YOU PLAY THE GAME OF LIFE

If you’ve ever dreamt of escaping to a new life, if you’ve ever said to yourself, “There must be more to life than this.” or, if you’ve once said to yourself, “I just couldn’t live that way anymore.” – then you’re definitely not the only one. You can create a game to turn your life around. Gamify your life. I called it the Game of Life – which consists of multiple quests for you to challenge in your life journey. In the Game of Life, you are your own game hero with your own winning goals and your neighhourhood forms a part of the bigger game world. Win the game by achieving your goals and dreams through elevating your talent and skills. For instance, your dream is to be a singer, and the skills to elevate you to that level can be vocal development and pitch variation. You see, different people have different passions. You choose your path and suitable skills to level up in this game - in your life.

Many people are afraid to make mistakes in life because they feel that they have something to lose; they have the fear of failure, uncertainty and rejection. With the mentality of playing game, you will not feel the stress of not doing well, because you can never really lose in the game. You can always restart if you fail to reach the goals. Eventually you will complete and win the game. The same goes in real life, you can always

SUCCESS TODAY

78

re-strategize and rework your goal again and again.

Live your life as if playing the Game of Life. Decide on your game hero, be clear on your purpose, choose your path, and elevate your skills to get you closer to your goals. At the next level, you will grasp the design of the game play – which is the core strategy in the Game of Life.

Level 2 Quest: Create a Game of Life quest by first identifying your goal, the dateline and relevant skills to ascend to a higher level. Once you have created the quest, proceed to the next level.

---[Level 2 Reward: You’re The Activist!]---

LEVEL 3: APPLY THE GAME OF LIFE CORE STRATEGY EVERY DAY

The four stages of the Game of Life core strategy start off with awareness, clarity, commitment and action. This cycle iterates till you win the game. After taking action, we become aware of the outcome from each action we took and get to know more about ourselves. The more you apply it to your life, the more fun, and closer you get to your goal. Make it a habit to play with this core strategy in your quest every day!

79


AWARENESS

Knowing yourself is the beginning of all wisdom. ~ Aristotle

First, self-awareness is important in every aspect of our life and essential in leading a successful and fulfilling life. Search inwardly and outwardly for clues to have a solid understanding about who you are, how you relate to other people and the world. Gather information that defines who you are, what are your talents, potential, strengths and weaknesses – what you really enjoy and dislike. If we are fully aware of ourselves and situations, we will make better decisions and take better actions. Awareness is the key to change our life for the better.

We have the power to change our own life, but first we need to know ourselves. ~ Anm Pek

CLARITY

Mere awareness is not adequate. Clarity means searching deeper within you and finding congruency both ‘inside’ and ‘outside’. Are your words and actions congruent with who you REALLY are and what you REALLY feel and think?

COMMITMENT

Many people stumble here. They give up the moment they fail – maybe ten times, twenty times or even thirty times. No doubt, this is tough and daunting. We tend to associate commitment with struggle. Games will lessen the “struggle” or its worst effects, and transform the “struggle” into “fun and enjoyment.” In turn, commitment will be transformed into self-enjoyment and motivation.

ACTION

One of the most important lessons you can ever learn is this: Your life can only get better when you do. If you want your staff to be better, you must be a better manager. If you want to perform better at your work, you must have better skills. If you want your relationship with your customers to be better, you must be providing better service to them. The next most important lesson you can ever learn is: You’ve got to take massive actions to see desired results. It is common knowledge to

SUCCESS TODAY

80

say that 20% of the desired results come from 80% of hard work. To get 40% of desired results, you’ve got to put in 160% of hard work.

Level 3 Quest: Adopt the Game of Life core strategy into your quest for 7 consecutive days. (It is alright if you are still at the Awareness phase. Well, at least you are doing it.) Complete this quest and move up one level.

---[Level 3 Reward: You’re The Strategist!]---

LEVEL 4: CREATE YOUR GAME GUIDE TO A SUCCESSFUL

AND FULFILLING LIFE

We are not born with a game guide for our life. There are no secret codes and tips that state the skills to attain each level, maps to explore and items to acquire along your life journey. There are no insider secret codes to give us our special powers, skip some levels or disclose secret pathways to speed up winning the game! In games, secret codes and tips are given to assist us win the games. Perhaps a tip discloses that a rare item will be dropped by a certain monster type. Thus, by finding where the monster is and hunting it down and defeating it, we will sure get the rare item one day. We can take this concept and apply it to our life. We can create our own game guide and fill it with the secret codes which you derived from modeling those gurus who have achieved what you want to achieve. All you have to do is just follow their footsteps.

Level 4 Quest: Collect secret codes that assist you in achieving your goals. You can find all these secrets in social media platforms, newspapers, books, interacting with individuals, mentors, friends or in seminars and workshops; in fact, everywhere around us. Keep an open mind and stay focused on your outcome, be wary of unwanted noise and distractions. Create a game guide for your life and jot secret findings in it. Complete this quest and, next, challenge level 5!

---[Level 4 Reward: You’re The Inscriber!]---

81


LEVEL 5: CHALLENGE ZERO TO HERO QUEST

If it doesn’t challenge you, it doesn’t change you. ~ Fred DeVito

We have been patiently waiting in the hope that someone or some of kind of luck would befall us and one day grant us golden opportunities and total happiness. However, nothing external can do that for us. Our destiny lies on our own hands. We can decide right now at this fateful moment to set our mind and create the life we deserve. We can declare ourselves as the hero! [Pause reading, and declare now.] Do you feel it is difficult to visualize and connect yourself as a hero? What’s the main reason? You need to be very clear about the hero you want to be - what is your life purpose? What do you look like? The more detail you can use to describe your hero, the more you will be associated. Use the five senses to give more specific description to your hero. For example, Superman is in a blue and red uniform with the heroic iconic “S” (what you see) on his front chest. You will hear people roaring the moment they see you, “It’s Superman!” Feel the supreme strength you possess. Smell the charred and thick smoke that alert you to save people from disaster. “Taste” the victorious fight against the wicked.

Next, with your purpose and path in mind, craft a heroic memorable quest story for yourself, the hero! Every memorable game comes with a story. You need your story too. It serves to let others remember you and identify you as a real hero to persevere on your hero’s journey. Your quest story can go like this, “A warrior fought his way up to the peak of the mountain in the freezing bitter wind.” His quest was to rescue the King from the wicked dragon. He was petrified with fear, however, he refused to stop and flee. He ventured deeper into the heart of the mountain. Finally, he met face-to-face with the fearsome gigantic dragon. He battled with all his might and drove it away. It was a victory! The King rejoiced with his beloved family and people. You are granted an honorary hero title and forever remembered.”

Many times, we are sabotaging ourselves. This Zero to Hero quest is meant to challenge you to conquer your internal monsters. Whenever we desire something magnificent, in order to acquire that would require hardship and work. Not only do you have to know the hero very well, but you have to know the monsters lurking deep inside you very well

SUCCESS TODAY

82

to defend against them. Our destiny depends very much on getting to know them and to defeat them in the countless battles we have with them each and every single day of our lives! The biggest challenge is not someone else, it’s you - defeating your inner monsters. It’s the aches in your whole body, the burning in your legs, and the voice inside you telling you that you can’t. You have to refuse to concede and say to yourself, “I can because I am a HERO!”

Level 5 Quest: Write down in your game guide about you, the hero. Describe yourself, using all five senses, as well as your life purpose and the path you going to travel in this lifetime. Could it be a wealth expert providing wealth services? Could it be a nutritionist sharing how to be in the pink of health? Could it be writing self-help books - maybe an author? Challenge Zero to Hero quest for 17 days – Summon your courage, work on your goals and defeat any monsters that hinder you from becoming a hero. You complete this quest after 17 days of questing – even if you have not reached your goals. Completing this quest unlocks the bonus level below.

---[Level 5 Reward: You’re The Thriver!]---

BONUS LEVEL +0.7 UP: SURPRISE YOURSELF WITH REWARDS

The key of gamification is to reward ourselves – which I deliberately left out in the beginning – but gave you the hint in italics in Level 1. Games surprise you! Yes, this is to surprise you! Congratulations! You are awesomely phenomenal! You have just unlocked a bonus level!

When you are gamifying your tasks in life, or creating Game of Life quests, design intriguing rewards in each level, examples, in the forms of ranking points, status or special gifts. Add in a bonus level as a surprising reward after completion of quests to hype up and get you excited – to play the game till the end.

Bonus Level Quest: Design a ‘blow your mind’ and ‘fall off the chair’ reward for the Level 5 Quest - Zero to Hero if you have not accomplished it, or, a new Game of Life Quest where you yearn for a challenge.

83


About Anm

Anm Pek is the founder of Storieszing, devoted to providing entertaining education. As an expert and leader in the field of reality game and creative education, her forte is empowering lives through games, art, stories and metaphysics. Anm and her business are centered by a quote, “If you light a lamp for another,

your own way will be lit.” She guides and trains her clients to level up their business and quality of life through a fun, engaging and effective approach.

Anm is the creator of FlashbackTM and RecollectTM - the collaborative enrichment and learning card games. She improvised brainstorming into Mind DoodlingTM and mind mapping into Game MappingTM. She is also the creator of the reality game, “Game of Life: The Awakening of Heroes.” It is an entertaining, experiential and empowering game system and community to help individuals find their USPTM - Unique Strength and PersonalityTM, live a purposeful and fulfilling life. She gamifies heroes’ trainings into quests. She is also one of the heroes in the game. Anm plays a game heroine named Metaphysics Cleric who has the passion and skill of Chinese metaphysics. Together with other heroes, she empowers gamers to create their own game heroic identity, realize their true passions and to achieve their ultimate life goals and dreams through adventurous quests.

Anm is the published author of The Secret Code: Is It for Real?, with forewords by Asia’s Top Success Coach, Adam Khoo and 77th Street Founder, Elim Chew. It is a practical book that brings together the essence of games, art, and stories to help people in their learning with a game-like leveling up approach.

She is also an educator, lecturing on multimedia, animation, interactive web design and development, social media design and new media communication at Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts and Republic Polytechnic, Singapore. She has an extensive background and experience with many types of art and designs, specifically in the areas of idea generation, concept development, game design, animation, web design and broadcasting. She had been a creative lead and editor behind many TV advertisements, one of which featured famous Hong Kong celebrity Carina Lau Ka Ling.

In addition, Anm is a Metaphysician and plays a Metaphysics Cleric in “Game of Life: The Awakening of Heroes.” She has developed a deep passion for Chinese metaphysics since she was young and has been practicing for years. She has consulted and trained countless professionals to realize their strengths, talents, career direction and maximize their full potential in life. Her latest project is publishing her next book

SUCCESS TODAY

84

on harnessing Chinese metaphysics as a profiling tool to help business leaders make better decisions in hiring, selection and performance management, as well as to help career-seekers make better career decisions.

Anm appears on the Dean’s list for her Bachelor of Science in Multimedia Technology and Design, and received numerous distinctions and merit awards throughout her studies. In July 2014, she graduated with a Master of Science in Digital Media Technology (Nanyang Technological University, Singapore). Her research paper titled, Design and Development Beyond Fun: Serious Games with Social Impact has built her a strong foundation in the areas of reality game and gamification for life, training and business – and even products and services.

Connect with Anm Pek at: [email protected]@storieszing.comwww.facebook.com/LevelUpWithAnmwww.twitter.com/LevelUpWithAnm Anm Pek’s personal website:www.anmpek.com Storieszing website:www.storieszing.com

85

MASTERING THE ART OF JEDI TRAINING – CREATING A TRAINING STRATEGY FOR THE NEXT GENERATION

CHAPTER 8

MASTERING THE ART OF JEDI TRAINING

— CREATING A TRAINING STRATEGY FOR THE NEXT GENERATION

BY GINGER BELL

Always pass on what you have learned. ~ Yoda

You may remember the scene from Star Wars - Episode VI: Return of the Jedi, when Yoda informs Luke that he has completed his training but will not be a Jedi until he confronts Darth Vader. Yoda then peacefully dies at the age of 900, his body disappearing as he becomes “one with the Force.” Before he leaves he share these lasting words:

Luke, when gone am I... the last of the Jedi will you be… pass on what you have learned.

~ Yoda

One of the greatest emerging challenges businesses face today is a workforce who is not only retiring, but as they retire or change positions, they are retiring their knowledge for an incoming workforce.

SUCCESS TODAY

86

According to the Bureau of Labor and Statistics, the average age for an employee in the U.S.A. in 2013 was over 42.1

The risk of “Lost Knowledge” is very real for many companies and industries today. We must recognize two major forces in play. The first is an aging population and the second is the increasing complexity of knowledge, skills, rules and regulations that companies must capture and share with the incoming workforce. The Millennial or Gen. Y population is bigger and much more diverse than the Boomers.2 There are currently 80 million Millennials in the United States, and every day another 10,000 of them turn 21. By the year 2025, three out of every four workers globally will be Gen. Y.3 We must create a path to train and mentor the next generation. The challenge however lies in create training programs that are engaging and relevant to the methods that Millennials learn and excel in.

No! No different. Only different in your mind. You must unlearn what you have learned.

~ Yoda

Baby Boomers have decades worth of wisdom and Millennials possess the tech-savvy skills that today’s workforce requires. Yet many businesses are not adapting and catering to the communication styles, effective learning methods and overall purpose-driven ventures that the Millennial workforce desires to be a part of. As a result, many companies are seeing an extreme amount of turnover. The average Millennial employee doesn’t last three years.4 If provided with the opportunity and the right environment, Baby Boomers and Millennials can learn from each other, which would ultimately enhance both parties’ skill sets — not to mention the cultural benefits and morale boost. Companies must overcome the mindset of forcing Millennials to learn in the boomers environment. That is not to say we must provide an all or nothing change; however we must be open to finding new ways to share the knowledge and expertise of the boomers in ways that provide an effective means of adaptation for Millennials.

1. http://www.bls.gov/cps/industry_age.htm 2. http://money.cnn.com/interactive/economy/diversity-millennials-boomers/ 3. http://business.time.com/2012/03/29/millennials-vs-baby-boomers-who-would-you-rather-hire/ 4. http://www.forbes.com/sites/jeannemeister/2012/08/14/job-hopping-is-the-new-normal-for-millennials-

three-ways-to-prevent-a-human-resource-nightmare/

87


Do or do not. There is no try. ~ Yoda

Millennials will reshape the workplace, our workplace, but we must first understand who they are. Millennials have come-of-age with text messaging, social media and gaming. They are typically impatient, hyper-connected, tech savvy, entrepreneurial, and collaborative. They also favor fast-paced work environments, want quick promotions, recognition, and aren’t fans of traditional office rules and hierarchies. It is generally accepted that Millennials prefer to engage in activities that are visually and audibly exciting. This importance can be evidenced by their incorporation of these preferences into their daily lives via their smart phones, preferred websites and even in their social media lives. In short, successful attraction and interaction with Millennials can be enhanced if similar visual and audible technologies can be harnessed and made available 24/7 – similar to a video game or movie on a personal tablet, computer or smart phone. We call this GAMIFICATION. The use of gamification (which means applying game principles to non-game situations), is very appealing to the Millennial workforce. The concept is to make learning fun, and to challenge the learner to continue to learn through quests and competition. More and more organizations are utilizing gamification programs for corporate e-learning and training.

Companies today must incorporate methods to quickly and efficiently take the knowledge and skillsets from their existing workforce or subject matter experts (SME) and incorporate that knowledge into an affordable and effective means to educate the incoming workforce. Over 41.7% percent of global Fortune 500 companies now use some form of educational technology to instruct employees through their training programs.5 In order to innovate and create training programs quickly and convert wisdom into profits, you must transfer this capital in a deliberate, systematic method with a clear plan in mind.

You will find only what you bring in. ~ Yoda

Subject matter experts or SMEs are often plagued by the question of how to take several years of experience and put it into a context so that they can start at the right place and share their knowledge and expertise in an orderly, make-sense fashion. For most experts, just the 5. http://elearningindustry.com/top-10-e-learning-statistics-for-2014-you-need-to-know

SUCCESS TODAY

88

idea of explaining how they have been doing something for years to someone who is just getting started is overwhelming. For many, work has become a habit or an instinct and the thought of “how to do it” is second nature. Many SMEs just dive in somewhere and start explaining their work, hoping for the best. This scattered approach leaves the training unpredictable and the results the same. There is a better way. In order to have a successful outcome for your training program, you must have a successful plan. The better the plan, the better the results. This does not mean you need to invest in an outside training organization or hire an internal trainer to develop your training program. What it does mean is that by creating and following a plan, you will be able to easily develop your training programs and engage both your SMEs and your apprentices (new employees) in the learning experience.

Difficult to see. Always in motion is the future. ~ Yoda

We live in a rapidly changing environment. Systems and processes can change quickly. The need for new technology to make jobs more efficient and effective make for the need to have a training plan that is easily changed or adapted as new systems, products or job functions come into play. You must begin by creating a Training Plan that can be added to, deleted or completing rewritten and delivered quickly. You will want to look for a delivery method that is scalable, engaging, and easily managed. There are many recent advancements in technology that will allow companies to adopt an online e-learning platform that can house the training that their SMEs develop. Remember to make certain that the platform allows SMEs to develop and create their training programs online in real time so that they can access it as they need to for changes. It should also have various teaching methods that allow for engagement and interactivity as well as a strong testing and measurement method. Reporting is another feature that is important to consider if you have certification or government regulatory or licensing requirements within your industry.

Judge me by my size, do you? ~ Yoda

A complicated or expensive e-learning platform or training program is not necessary to accomplish transferring a tenured employee’s expertise.

89


However; creating a training plan template is the most important aspect of any effective training program. The training plan is the most important tool you can use to help your SMEs take their expertise and transfer it into a logical training program to quickly help your new employees learn a new task or skill. By using a systematic approach, an SME can quickly develop training for almost any task for skill. Begin by using the following template to develop a training plan.

Step One: Start with a Training Template Spreadsheet.

Step Two: Identify the skills or tasks that are to be learned.

Step Three: Prioritize the order or sequence in which the apprentice is to learn the skills or tasks.

Step Four: Write the success metrics and/or test questions that must be answered to prove that the apprentice has “learned” the skills or tasks.

Step Five: Locate resources and develop material or instructions on how the apprentice will learn the skills or tasks.

Step Six: Determine what delivery method will be used for the training. It may be a combination of face-to-face interaction supported by online follow up and testing.

Step Seven: Establish a timeline. How long will it take them to learn and master the skills or tasks?

Step Eight: Review/Update material and measure effectiveness of training plan.

SUCCESS TODAY

90

Below is an illustration of how to use the Training Plan Template to teach how to make a Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwich.

How to Make a Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwich

Skills/Task to be Learned Sequence Test/Success

Measurement Resources/Material Delivery Method Timeline Review/

Update

Ingredients 1 Identify Ingredients List of Ingredients to include variations Online List Total 15

minutes Annually

Location of Ingredients 2 Locate Ingredients List of where to

locate ingredients Online List

Tools 3 Identify Tools List of what tools will be needed Online List

Location of Tools 4 Locate Tools List of where to locate ingredients Online List

How to apply Peanut Butter 5 Successfully apply

Peanut Butter

Step-by-step instructions on how

to open jar and spread on peanut

butter

Online Video

How to apply Jelly 6 Successfully apply Jelly


to open jar and spread on jelly

Online Video

How to cut sandwich 7Successfully show various methods to

cut sandwich


to cut sandwich

Online Video

Variations/Best Practices 8

Successfully recommend

additional variations of a PBJ. May include

using additional ingredients like honey, bananas,

bacon, etc.

Recommendation on variations, how to place on plate and additional

recommendations

Online List

Once the training plan template is complete, an SME can begin creating or locating the resources to teach the skill or task. Multiple delivery methods can be used for teaching the material. The example above could include a list of ingredients with photos to help the learner identify the items. Directions of where to find the ingredients may also be delivered in the same method and those items can be incorporated into an online e-learning platform. When designing an effective training program, course developers often will use what is termed as “chunking” to break up the online learning experience and make it more engaging and interactive. Videos that show how to spread the peanut butter and jelly onto the bread and then view bread-slicing options may be another way to deliver the content in a visual context to help the learner see what they need to do to complete the task. Remember, Millennials learn best by seeing and doing and they like to have the lessons short and move

91


quickly. Tests can be incorporated into an online e-learning platform to then check for understanding.

By beginning with the tasks and skills that need to be learned and establishing the final outcome through testing, an SME can build a training program much quicker and have an overall idea of the framework of what needs to be taught.

That is why you fail. ~ Yoda

Train, Test, Measure, Reward and Recognize. Training is not just about teaching employees how to complete a task, learn a new skill, and understand compliance requirements or policies and procedures. Instead, by gamifying your employee training programs, you can train and engage your workforce as well as collect data, to strengthen your organization. Here are a few ways to make your gamification training programs effective by building a reward and recognition program.

Set Specific Goals: Setting specific goals for a gamification program is key. Let employees know what they can work towards. Reward and recognition can be obtained by reaching the various levels in a certification program. Know what you want out of the program so you can invest time and money wisely and have employees excited to participate.

Provide Relevant Rewards: Give employees what they want, tangible rewards they can use and recognition that has relevance. Employees will work to become a master in a certification program when others know what that means. Bragging rights often are worth more than even tangible rewards. Rewards should also be provided for both short and long-term goals and accomplishments. Employees are more likely to continue to work on accomplishing a goal when they can see that they are progressing and are being recognized by that progress along the way.

Solicit Feedback: Make sure your employees feel comfortable providing feedback for the training, rewards and recognition program. Gamification should be fun and competitive. If it’s not, the participants should be able to tell you.

Analyze the Data: Gamification programs should be tracked and measured. The data needs to be analyzed to ensure that you are actually

SUCCESS TODAY

92

getting the ROI intended. There are many ways to engage your employees through gamification. E-learning platforms can provide a method to quickly build and deliver training programs and have them measured, tracked and reported for effectiveness. Measuring how your employees are learning and how your SMEs are teaching is one of the most critical areas to focus on for long-term results. If you are not measuring how your employees are progressing in their learning, then you might as well not even attempt a training program.

Gamification is a powerful strategy to motivate employees that is underused in training today. Designing systems that enable businesses to recognize employees for their contributions, compliance, and progress is the future of business. With today’s Millennial workplace fast outpacing prior generations in the workforce, creating these gamified workplace systems is a necessity to retain top talent and motivate performance across the modern enterprise.

Many of the truths that we cling to depend on our point of view. ~ Yoda

Companies should develop and design mentorship and training programs with generational differences in mind. They need to ensure that older workers have a comfort level with using technology effectively and that younger workers develop the people skills that previous generations have valued.

It is necessary for companies today to adapt or introduce training that will resonate with the incoming generation while sharing the expertise and knowledge of the existing generation. Companies must form bonds between the generations.

In order to train and retain the next generation, companies must embrace a formal approach to the problem. The goal is to harness these differences in generations and turn them into company strengths.

In the end, all generations play a crucial role in business. Now is the time to pass on what we have learned.

May the Force be with you. ~ Yoda

93


About Ginger

Ginger Bell is the best-selling author of Cracking the Success Code, a booked she co-authored with Brian Tracy and other business specialists. She is a renowned training and education specialist in the banking and real estate industries. Her experience includes creating and managing training standards, expectations

and measurements that build employee competencies. Ginger is currently involved in leading development of a first-of-its-kind gamification e-learning system with Morf Media, Inc., an international gamification software development company.

A previous Dale Carnegie Training Consultant, Ginger is experienced in training management, stand-up presentations, webinars, online learning management, performance improvement, instructional design, instructional systems development, leadership assessment, design and development, training administration, project management and online training development.

Ginger is an author, facilitator and trainer for NMLS and California BRE Continuing Education courses. A sought-after national speaker and published author to lending audiences nationwide, Ginger has been awarded the Presidential Award by both the California and the Oregon Association of Mortgage Professionals for her commitment to bringing quality education to the banking industry. Ginger has also been awarded the “Professional Woman of the Year” award by the National Association of Professional Women for her commitment to training and education.

Ginger may be reached at [email protected]

95

THE TOLL GATE

CHAPTER 9

THE TOLL GATE

BY CYNTHIA GRUBBS

Today’s marketplace is extremely crowded and competitive. It is increasingly difficult for even the largest companies or most talented individuals to succeed. With so many ways to communicate and so many communicators, it is very difficult to stand out. Any effort to build and maintain the necessary loyal customer base and a following requires being noticed. Customers and potential supporters must know who you are and what you do. In the business world, companies large and small alike battle on a daily basis to establish relevancy and maintain or increase market share. The battle to exist is constant and on a global basis. Consequently, external battles generate internal pressure on employees to deliver on company objectives and goals while keeping costs down. There can be brutal internal competition as well. Small business owners fight each other for customers and profits while employees within organizations are in fierce competition not only for promotions, but to keep existing positions as well. The pressure is enormous and it challenges any team building effort and cohesiveness. The tendency is every man (or woman) for himself –– it’s a jungle and “I” must survive.

In spite of this environment, there are those who manage to consistently achieve goals and objectives. They do so at the bewilderment of those who constantly struggle. What do these firms or individuals know that others do not? They know that the ability to be effective is what separates those who succeed and those who don’t. They know that the way to build and maintain customers or support is by delivering positive

SUCCESS TODAY

96

results. Being effective contributes greatly, increasing credibility in your field of expertise. The one with credibility and known for the ability to obtain results, will have an easier time attracting customers, supporters, and employees. This helps in keeping costs down which leads to greater profitability. In order to become sought-after and achieve credibility, you must be effective in achieving goals. The one thing that increases effectiveness is the ability to overcome obstacles. The ability to overcome the roadblocks in your way is key to reaching any goal.

As a very young person, I knew that helping others was a critical component for any work that I performed to be fulfilling. This is my passion. My ability to help the condition of as many as possible is my measure of success and effectiveness. This passion led me to work in government. What better place to help others than state government. Being in public service as a statewide government employee was very rewarding, however, as my expertise grew, I found that the tools I had available were limited. I wanted and needed to do more. During my employment, I saw the need for individuals to start new businesses and create jobs. I decided to leave my long-term employment in state government and become an entrepreneur. As with any task or endeavor, I did my homework. After having worked with entrepreneurs for many years, I felt well equipped to make the transition myself. My goal was to create much-needed jobs in my community. I took all of the recommended steps: I reaffirmed my passion, established goals, and developed plans for success.

With my first major customer secured and signed on the dotted line, I was ready! I had been told many times, “It’s not a business until you have that first paying customer.” I resigned my position and put my well thought out plan into action. A month did not pass before I encountered my first obstacle or roadblock. The work and compensation that had been promised did not materialize. I was told that there would be a delay of at least six months. It was Mike Tyson who said of his opponents, “Everyone has a plan, ‘til they get hit in the mouth.” This was the first hit in my mouth. I was counting on the income to not only grow my business, but to pay living expenses. In spite of cutting financial obligations to the bare minimum, going six months without money was going to hurt. After all, this is why I held on to my job so long, I wanted that first customer to help with the transition and make it somewhat easy.

97

THE TOLL GATE

When you run into that first or subsequent brick wall, here are some steps that I developed to follow:

1. Attitude Check: – A good attitude for an employee or entrepreneur is as important as being healthy for an athlete. If you don’t have the appropriate powers of perception that enable effectiveness, you will be out of the game. No path to success is without obstacles along the way. It is very important to expect them. You may not know exactly what form the obstacle will take or “who” it will be, you must be as prepared as possible for something to happen that you did not anticipate. It is not possible to anticipate every obstacle that you will encounter, and in some instances, its better that you don’t.

The realization of some hardships can prevent you from getting started in the first place. This leads to regrets. The right attitude results in the ability to handle obstacles without panic. You cannot fully understand how true difficulty feels until you experience it for yourself. There isn’t anything that could have prepared me for how truly difficult it is to build a business from scratch. Having and discovering my passion was easy, executing and becoming effective isn’t. I had to take the initiative and learn how to continually move forward.

2. Pay the Toll: – It has been said, “nothing under the sun is free.” I learned to regard obstacles as the toll I had to pay in order to succeed. I had to decide if I was willing to pay the price of being on my own and traveling this road virtually alone at least initially. The reward was making my own decisions and being in charge of my career and success. The price was giving up a regular paycheck and the certainty of corporate life, among others.

3. Seek the advice of Experts: – No matter what you wish to accomplish, there are always those who have already been successful at it. As obstacles are to be expected, leveraging the advice, best practices, and resources of experts will greatly minimize the cost of overcoming them. I once worked with someone who always seemed to stay ahead and was much more productive than me. This person was promoted twice while I had not been promoted once. I knew that I worked very hard and when my curiosity got the best of me, I asked how were they able to accomplish so much. I learned that they hired a coach (out of their own pocket) who helped them with advice, research on new

SUCCESS TODAY

98

trends, and actually performed some of their job duties. No wonder I couldn’t compete!

4. Analyze Results: – When you hit a roadblock it is important to analyze what just happened. It is necessary to reflect on past actions not only to see other potential actions would have been more effective, you also don’t want to repeat the same actions that led to the obstacle.

5. Re-evaluate Goals: – Now that “real life” has been experienced it is importantto evaluate the reality of all goals. All planning and goal setting requires making educated assumptions. Were assumptions so far off that this goal should be abandoned? Mark Twain said, “Truth is stranger than fiction, but it is because Fiction is obliged to stick to possibilities; Truth isn’t.” If you run into the equivalent of a seasoned warrior like Mike Tyson in his prime in the business world, maybe it is best to get out of that ring and try something else. There will certainly be better options that don’t require getting your ear bitten off.

Ask yourself:

a. Is this the right time for me?

b. Do I need more training, experience in my field of expertise?

c. Are my goals realistic and what do I need to change? Should I remain focused, stay the course or should I change my direction?

When you know you are on the right path, effectiveness demands that you stay focused and use innovative processes to work around the obstacle.

For me, staying the course and maintaining focus was the right thing to do. The fact that I couldn’t afford attorney’s fees generated the decision not to take any legal action against the company that breeched our contract. The work actually did eventually come to fruition. It was the right decision not to burn the bridge and getting involved in a law suit as they were merely reacting to market conditions, a part of being in business. Instead, analysis and evaluation of my situation revealed that I needed to learn more about marketing and sales. Being on my own meant that I no longer had access to a marketing department, graphic designer, sales team, assistant, etc. I was forced to adjust my financial goals. I also learned to have more than one customer in the pipeline and

99

THE TOLL GATE

develop programs that generated monthly payments and initial deposits. My original thought was that I could only handle one customer at a time effectively. Having an organized schedule became my best friend and allowed me to handle much more work that I originally anticipated.

Going forward, I will always remember to learn as much as possible in anticipation of encountering obstacles in life and work. I will also realize that even the best planners will encounter situations that were not possible to see in advance. If I make this a part of my plan, then I won’t be thrown into a panic and make mistakes when it happens. Realization that there is always a price to pay in order to achieve any goal will help me stay committed.

Doing what it takes to overcome obstacles is the toll that must be paid to travel the road to success!

SUCCESS TODAY

100

About Cynthia

Cynthia Grubbs is a management consultant and corporate training coach with over 20 years of experience. Working with professionals in cross-functional roles, Ms. Grubbs brings a wealth of wisdom and perspective to those seeking to enhance their leadership skills and professional growth. Cynthia has

developed several training courses designed to assist participants develop strong leadership skills and personal growth plans. She teaches the importance of influence and its direct impact on leadership and her series presents ways to establish oneself as a key influencer with internal and external stakeholders.

Cynthia has been a small business liaison for the State of Michigan Economic Development Corporation for over 13 years, providing consultative services pertaining to business growth strategies. She has successfully provided leadership training and professional development series across three key sectors: corporate, government and not-for-profit.

Cynthia Grubbs is deeply entrenched in serving her community. She currently serves on the Board of the Mobile Technology Association of Michigan (MTAM), a role she has held since 2010. In addition, she has served on the Board of Corp! Magazine since June 2009. She is also certified with the Economic Development Finance Professional National Development Council and was honored as the SBA’s Minority Business Advocate in 2011.

101

TURNING OBSTACLES INTO OPPORTUNITIES

CHAPTER 10


BY DAVELLE MORRISON

In 2008, when the stock market crashed, I looked at the new value in my retirement savings account and had a rude awakening about the personal impact the stock market crash had on my retirement planning. What if I was turning 65 (retirement age) in 2008? How would the sudden decrease of funds in my account have impacted my life? Luckily, I wasn’t planning on retiring anytime soon. Over the weeks that followed, I was continually struck by the many stories of companies going bankrupt and how their former employees were losing their pensions – which they had come to rely on. I also heard of people who had retired who were now forced back to work and were taking part-time minimum wage jobs to bolster their retirement funds. While I was thankful that I was in my thirties at the time and far away from retirement age, I realized there had to be a better way to fund my retirement than just relying on the volatile stock market.

For me, the answer came in the form of my real estate holdings. I decided that I had to increase my focus on building my real estate wealth so that if the stock market crashed when I was ready to retire, I wouldn’t lose any sleep over it and I certainly wouldn’t have to change my lifestyle or take a part-time minimum wage job. To my way of thinking, if I purchased enough properties in a few short years, they would all be paid off by the time I retired and I could live from the proceeds of the rental income from my properties. I could still use my retirement savings account as

SUCCESS TODAY

102

part of the picture however, but I wouldn’t rely solely on those funds for my retirement lifestyle.

We are told that we should save our money so that we have a nest egg for the future. However real estate investing is rarely mentioned as a way to achieve those retirement goals. When you ask wealthier people how they invest their money, most will tell you that they invest in real estate in addition to their stock market holdings as a way to diversify. When I suggest that you invest in real estate, I don’t mean that you should buy the biggest house that you can afford. In fact, a better strategy would be to purchase a smaller home that offers a basement apartment or other rental income.

We are often told to save 10% of our earnings to put into a savings plan. However, when life gets in the way and the costs of raising a family are factored in, saving 10% can be rather difficult. When we retire we’ll need to finance an additional 30+ years of living. If you do save money in a retirement savings plan, you will still need it to grow by more than 6% each year. If your money doesn’t grow at a fast enough rate, how will putting away 10% to 15% each year in a retirement fund help you finance those 30 years of retirement? This is one of the reasons to consider real estate investing as an additional method to save for your retirement.

As an example, you can put a down payment of 25% on a rental property. Over time, the rent will cover the mortgage payments, property taxes, utilities, some maintenance and provide a small profit. The tenants are now paying down the rest of your mortgage on this property. After 20+ years of ownership your property will appreciate. During the period of ownership of this property, you’ll have the benefit of the yearly positive cash flow, additional tax benefits and overall property appreciation. This will give you a winning formula for your retirement. Now in retirement with this property paid off, you’ll receive the benefits of the monthly rental income without owing the mortgage payments. If being a landlord becomes too onerous a task, you can either hire a good property manager (providing finances allow) or sell the property. Either way, you’ve given yourself an additional option for your retirement funding.

Let’s take a look at a specific example with a 25% down payment ($150,000) on a $600,000 property. The property brings in $2,500/mo. Based on an interest rate of 3% amortized over 30 years, the mortgage

103


payment will be $1,897 each month. The monthly property taxes amount to $250 and the insurance costs come in at an approximately $100/month – leaving just over $200/month in positive cash flow. In 30 years the mortgage on this $600,000 property will be paid off entirely with your tenant’s money. If the market grows by 3% each year (which is extremely conservative), the value of this home would be $1.456 million. Now you can add that to your retirement savings to have a much better nest egg.

Now what if, after you have owned that investment property for five years and the value increased to $695,000 (based on 3% annual increases), you could return to the bank to have the property appraised at that value. The bank would be able to give you a loan for up to 80% of the appraised value of the property or $556,000. The bank would then subtract the current mortgage that you still have to pay off. In this case, assume that $50,000 (you still owe $400,000 on the mortgage) of principal has been paid off in five years. This means the bank would subtract from the $556,000 (80% of the appraised value) the amount that you still owe on the mortgage so $400,000 which gives you $156,000 to use as down payment on your second investment property. This is how you can purchase a property with “no money down.” You have used the bank’s money as a down payment for your second property.

So now let’s assume you purchase a second property for close to $600,000. You’ll need to raise additional dollars for land transfer taxes or purchase a property for less than $600,000. Now you have acquired a second cash-flowing property to add to your portfolio. This property will be worth over $1.2 million in 25 years (based on a 3% annual increase) and contribute another $200 positive cash flow to your day-to-day living. If you continue this pattern every few years, you can slowly acquire a portfolio of properties that will help fund your retirement. Even if you stick to just these two properties in the above scenario, you will have amassed a portfolio of $2.7 million when you are ready to retire.

I believe that a real estate investment strategy for retirement makes so much sense that I currently own four properties; some I have purchased with family members. My principal residence includes a basement apartment for added income and tax benefits, and I own two condos and a house with two units. Next year, I hope to complete the set with a

SUCCESS TODAY

104

fifth property which means that in retirement, I will be earning sufficient income to maintain my lifestyle once the mortgages are paid off. I still have my retirement savings fund as a back-up. That way if there is a stock market crash in my retirement years, I won’t lose any sleep about funding my lifestyle.

If you have a hard time finding capital for your first, second or third investment, consider investing with friends and family to get additional capital.

As a real estate investor one of the most important things is to surround yourself with a team of professionals that can help you achieve your dreams of becoming an investor. Make sure that you work with a mortgage broker, accountant, real estate lawyer and real estate agent that all invest in properties too. It’s important to get credible advice. Would you purchase meat from a butcher who was vegetarian? If not, then don’t work with professionals who do not have a real estate portfolio themselves. Professionals with real estate investments have wisdom that they can share from their own personal experience instead of information they have only read about. The number of personal stories of landlording that I am able to share with my clients is immeasurable and extremely helpful to my clients.

One of my friends that thrust me into the world of becoming a real estate investor was not my agent at the time, but a friend who was a successful real estate investor. It’s important to expand the circle of people with whom you associate to include those who will help you to achieve your goals of financial freedom in life and can give you positive stories about good tenants. It is also important to be aware of the pitfalls of choosing bad tenants and how to mitigate these challenges before they occur. Yes, bad tenants do exist. However more than 95% of tenants are good, so why allow such a small percentage of the market to influence your investment decisions.

I also believe in karma, so I try to treat my tenants well so they in turn treat my place and me well. I think of my tenants as clients for starters as they are paying down my mortgage for me. Once you re-frame how you think of them, I believe you change how you treat them. For example when my clients move in, I give them a bottle of Prosecco and a welcome card, and at Christmas time, I give them a Christmas

105


gift. You do have to try and treat people reasonably. Obviously there are some unreasonable people out there but I feel that if I start off on a positive and very different foot than any other landlord they have had, I’ll be winning over the battle in their mind of the evil slum-lord.

Why should you become a real estate investor? So that you can take charge of investing in your financial future by investing in something that you truly understand. Most people understand how a house works. It’s a tangible asset with plumbing, heating, electrical, etc., in a hopefully, great neighborhood. The stock market is less easily understood. Most people aren’t combing through the financials of every stock they invest. And they aren’t interviewing the CEO and board members of a company to understand the direction their stock might take. However with a house, the inner workings are easy to comprehend. I’m not saying don’t invest in the stock market. What I am saying is, it’s important to diversify and consider real estate investing as another asset class that you need as part of your portfolio for a well-funded retirement. As they say, don’t put all of your eggs in one basket.

It’s no accident that monopoly was one of my favorite games growing up and now all I want are four green houses and one red hotel. I have four properties now and will get to own a fifth property in the coming years.

Real estate investing is the slow growth of the tortoise vs. the quick pace of the hare that you see in the stock market. Both markets cannot be timed and it is important to be in both of them. I have found with real estate, it is amazing how time flies, and how the value of your properties increase without you even realizing it. One day you look back and realize that your assets have grown incredibly and you have achieved financial freedom status.

Now you have built a portfolio that will not only help you fund your retirement, but will add positive cash flow to your day-to-day living through monthly cash flow and yearly tax benefits. It is important to have an investment strategy that not only benefits you financially in the long term, but also benefits your lifestyle now.

SUCCESS TODAY

106

About Davelle

The night Davelle Morrison was hit by a cab, she never saw the car coming, and the driver didn’t stop to check on her.

That was back in the winter of 1998, when what started as a fun evening with friends at a Toronto bar left the twenty-something

with severe injuries to her neck, back and left knee. To heal, she had to endure months of intensive treatment and physiotherapy so she could learn to walk again. But she did much more than just recover—within two years of her accident, Davelle completed her first half-marathon. A year later, after completing two more half-marathons and more than eight triathlons, she ran in the New York Marathon. Residual pain in her right leg slowed her pace, but her spirits were high as she crossed the Staten Island Bridge to the sounds of Frank Sinatra’s “New York, New York.”

Resilience has always been one of Davelle’s strengths. Born in Guyana, she moved to Toronto at age 4 with her parents, who, like many immigrants, wanted to build a better life.

Davelle isn’t just plugged into her local community—she’s curious about the world. Her global travels have taken her to India, Tanzania, South Africa, Argentina & Austria to name a few. Davelle’s interest in discovering new places has enabled her as a real estate agent to become intimately familiar with many Toronto neighbourhoods.

Originally, Davelle wanted to be an investment banker, and after completing a business degree at McGill University in Montreal, she worked in the field for a while. But watching her mother use equity to buy bigger and better houses inspired her, and she discovered she also had a knack for real estate investment. She currently lives in the vibrant Yonge and Eglinton neighbourhood—she regularly frequents the area’s restaurants, movie theatres and bookstores, and runs on the nearby Kay Gardner Beltline—and earns additional income by renting out her basement. She owns three additional investment properties in Toronto.

Today, using that aptitude for strategically buying and selling real estate, along with her personable, empathetic nature and her ability to turn an obstacle into an opportunity, Davelle helps others buy and sell homes, and also teaches about real estate investment.

Davelle Morrison has a personal history of turning obstacles into opportunity, and she knows how to achieve the same kind of success with home buyers and sellers.

With her intimate knowledge of residential communities in the Greater Toronto Area,

107


keen eye for real estate trends, established marketing smarts and warm, upbeat attitude, Davelle excels at helping people find the perfect place to live, or getting the best deal for their home. And her experience and expertise in real estate investment provide an added value to clients wanting to know how to leverage their properties and increase their wealth.

Whether you’re selling or buying, or looking to learn about property investment, Davelle Morrison can help you navigate and win in the real estate market.

109

SUCCESSFUL RETIREMENT FOR BABY BOOMERS

CHAPTER 11


BY DAVID GIBSON, CFP®

Retirement is something that we all look forward to as an opportunity to relax and enjoy the golden years of our lives. We spend decades in the work force where we’re focused on making ends meet for our families, and hopefully, contributing something to our 401(k) plan. We make plans for vacations and holidays, and how we’ll be able to afford to send the kids to college. Why don’t we spend more time planning for our retirement?

It is estimated that there will be about 76.4 million baby boomers (April 2014 Data from the U.S. Census Bureau) and they will all be retiring in the early part of the 21st century. What this means to you is that you must be prepared and create a plan for your retirement long before it’s time to retire. Successful retirement starts with a solid plan.

It’s no secret that people are living longer today than they ever have before. On average, an American male has a life expectancy of around 87 years and an American female has a life expectancy of around 89 years. Our parents and grandparents may have only had a few years to enjoy retirement, but we are likely to have decades to enjoy it. The problem is that we can’t revel in retirement if we run out of money and spend our last years struggling financially. My grandmother is 89, but thanks to some planning when she was retiring, she has been financially secure.

SUCCESS TODAY

110

Another difference between our retirement and that of our parents and grandparents is that most of them had a pension, or annuity, to rely on in retirement. Pensions were once a very popular way to fund retirement. A pension is considered to be a Defined Benefit Plan and is administered by insurance companies and other financial institutions. It is a retirement account funded by an employer that provides retired employees with a reliable and consistent income for the duration of their retirement.

For example, if you’d retired from one of the major telephone companies in America sometime in the 1980s you would have retired with a pension. Your employer funded your pension throughout your career. In fact, the longer you were with the telephone company, the larger your pension would have been. When you retired, you would have been certain that each month you would receive a fixed amount of money. Any additional retirement savings you’d done on your own, any investments, and your social security benefits were yours – in addition to your monthly pension payments.

A lot has changed since the 1980s, including healthcare, and by extension, our longevity. Employers saw this and realized that pension plans would be difficult to afford if their retired employees were living longer. While it may have been feasible to provide a pension assuming a 10- to 15-year retirement, it was simply not possible if most employees’ retirement would last 20 to 30 years. Today less than 20% of people in the United States have a pension.

As pensions declined in popularity, employers looked for another option to help their loyal employees fund their retirements. The changing landscape ushered in a new retirement savings vehicle called the 401(k). This solution allows employees to contribute, pre-tax, to their retirement savings and the company could choose to match their employees’ contributions. At first glance this seems like a win-win situation.

The problem is that 401(k)'s are equity-based products. This means that when the stock market takes a hit, as it did in 2008, so does every 401(k) account. All of the money you and your employer contribute to your 401(k) is invested in mutual funds whose individual stocks are held by Wall Street. A 401(k) is, by nature of its design, a much riskier way to save for retirement.

111


While you’re young, it can be okay to take these risks. After all, if you were 25 in 2008, you have decades to regain the money you lost. But what if you were 64 in 2008? You certainly didn’t plan to continue working for several more decades to make up for your loss. Many individuals were in exactly that situation and were forced to continue working for a few more years if they couldn’t afford to live on their social security benefits alone.

Instead of receiving a regular pension check every month, you are handed a lump sum of money, and often this money will not last the duration of a person’s life. There is no guaranteed check every month, as there is with an annuity. The only check you can rely on is social security, and this is simply not enough to live on every month, and seniors are finding they have to ask their children for financial assistance.

Since the 2008 financial collapse, new ideas and strategies have appeared that allow individuals to save safely for their retirement. Indexed Annuities are one of the most popular.

ANNUITIES

Indexed annuities are funded by the same companies that funded pensions years ago— insurance companies. This is a safe bet because insurance companies are the ones with the money. Don’t believe me? Consider whose name is on many of the stadiums for professional sports around the country.

Insurance companies provide programs in which you can invest money into a policy and draw a steady check for the rest of your life. My grandfather came from the generation of pensions and understood how they worked. When my grandmother retired over 25 years ago, he invested her retirement into an annuity, and she has received a check every month since.

A couple of years ago, the insurance company who held the policy offered her a lump sum and terminate it, and I told her, “No way.” She was better off collecting the check every month, and the insurance company knew it. She has drawn way more money than my grandfather had originally invested.

SUCCESS TODAY

112

A relationship with a trusted financial advisor is the key to successfully planning for your retirement. An advisor can help you create a budget for today and for your retirement, guide you toward the best way to allocate your income, and help you find retirement savings funds that will protect your nest egg as it grows. You don’t need to wait to find a financial advisor until you’re about to retire, the best time is while you’re still working – the earlier the better!

It is a common occurrence for a Mr. and Mrs. Smith to come into my office and ask the question, “How are we going to live?” How long will the money they saved last, and will it be dispersed in a check to them every month? Will it be something they can rely on?

SUPPLEMENTAL INCOME

It is not recommended that you take all of your 401(k) funds and fund an annuity. You also do not need an annuity if you have millions of dollars saved and invested. Annuities are for those that have worked hard their entire life and want some security in retirement, something to supplement their Social Security.

Suppose you invest $100,000 at age 60 in a fixed annuity. You could expect to at least have a check of $1000 after you turn 70½ – which is the date for mandatory withdrawal. That person would receive at least $1000, but maybe more every month. This provides security that a 401(k) – which is a lump sum – cannot. It is guaranteed income that does not fluctuate with the markets in a negative way.

Start Saving Early

Remember to plan through all of your retirement years, not to the day you want to retire! It is expensive to retire so you have to save as much money as you can. Consider what it is costing you monthly to live and maintain your bills before retirement. Do you plan to significantly change your standard of living the day you retire? If not, what is your plan for paying the bills? Have you looked into how much you will be receiving from the biggest insurance company in the world, the Social Security Administration? In order to maintain your standard of living, you will need at least 60 % of your pre-retirement income. Begin talking to your employer about what types of 401(k) plans they offer, and more importantly understand how it works and become involved and aware

113


of how the money invested is being invested, and how much money you can expect upon retirement. Will it be enough to live on?

BECOMING INVOLVED WITH YOUR RETIREMENT PLAN

You owe it to yourself to be an active participant in your retirement plan. After all, you’re the one who has to live with it. Be sure to educate yourself. It’s important to be knowledgeable about what you have and be prepared to alter your plan in response to changes in the economic climate.

Taxes will always be significant to your retirement planning. Tax rates can and will change over the years. So what might be a 10% tax penalty today could be a 15% penalty ten years from now. Your job is to plan for the worst-case scenario so you can rest easy during retirement.

We’ve already discussed the fact that you’ll be living longer than previous generations. This requires you to be absolutely certain that your retirement plan will carry you twenty years or more after you retire. So when you are setting goals for savings, take into account a long retirement and be sure you’ll have ample resources to enjoy a long retirement.

Also remember that there is a good chance that all of us will require some kind of long-term assisted care at some point in our retirement. We’re living longer and our healthcare is better. Both of these things cost money. Make sure that you’ve accounted for these costs and your insurance needs as part of your retirement plan.

On average, Social Security benefits are equal to about 30 to 40 percent of what you earned before you retired. Know your Social Security options. People used to start collecting their benefits at age 65, which was considered full retirement age. Today that age is between 66 and 67, and many advisors suggest waiting until you are 70 to begin collecting your benefit, because you will be able to receive the highest amount at that point. Full retirement age may be increasing in coming years. Stay informed about changes to Social Security in the years leading up to your retirement.

Because the pension has all but disappeared, your personal savings will account for a large portion of your retirement income. A traditional or

SUCCESS TODAY

114

Roth IRA are two options you can use to build your personal assets. Depending on which you choose, your tax treatment and contribution limitations will vary. Educate yourself about this option for retirement savings and talk to your financial advisor about how it could meet your needs.

Everyone with retirement savings needs to understand the rules. When you take a withdrawal early from your retirement savings you can lose both principal and interest – you may even have to pay penalties. If you’re changing jobs, look into the option to roll your retirement plan over to your new employer’s plan or to an IRA. These options will help you avoid the consequences of early withdrawal.

Inflation is not going away. The cost of living will continue to rise so you and your financial advisor must take inflation into account when setting goals and creating your retirement plan. Be especially mindful of medical costs – those are a significant expense for seniors and you’ll want to be prepared to afford the care you require.

One way that you can be active and involved in your retirement plan at an early age is to pay off your debts. Sometimes it’s helpful to think of dividing your income into three parts: expenses, savings, and debt reduction. Make wise purchases, especially large ones, like choosing a used car instead of a new one. Paying off debt allows you to create savings more quickly.

If you’re planning to use the equity in your home as part of your retirement income you need to evaluate that choice. Do you know the current value of your home? Are you certain that you’ll want the same sized home in your retirement years? Some retirees find it’s easier to have a smaller place to live because they don’t need the space anymore. And keep in mind that if you won’t have your home paid off by the time you retire, it may make sense to sell it to buy something smaller and pay cash or to rent.

Remember that your retirement goals will change. If you start planning for retirement at 40, you’ll sit down with your financial planner and set goals based on your current salary, lifestyle, and economic situation. However, by the time you turn fifty things will have changed which means you’ll need to adjust your goals. Your life is constantly changing and so are your needs. The closer you get to retirement the more often

115


you should check on your goals, but the rule of thumb is to review your plan every two years to be sure you feel comfortable given your current needs.

Being an active part of your retirement plan instead of handing it over to an advisor and forgetting about it will help you avoid unpleasant surprises when it’s time to retire. You’re responsible for being involved because your advisor doesn’t know about changes in your expenses, unexpected debts, or new long-term goals. You are the expert about your life and your goals. Your advisor is an expert about finances and retirement savings. When you work as a team with your advisor, he or she can help you adjust your retirement plan so that it works best for you. When you’re intimately involved in your planning, you can rest assured that you’ve done everything in your power to ensure a comfortable retirement.

SUCCESS TODAY

116

About David

David C. Gibson, CFP® has more than 20 years of experience in financial services.

For 25 years, David was the agency manager for a Fortune 1000 insurance company, overseeing 35 registered representatives as

well as agents, receiving national recognition and awards for his performance — including the GAMA National and International Management Award. GAMA International is the only association dedicated to supporting the professional development of field leaders in the insurance and financial services industry. In 2009, David started his own financial planning practice, Gibson Financial Services, LLC.

Gibson Financial Services, LLC is a fee-based financial planning practice, with a focus on educating consumers about the financial planning process and the strategies available to help them achieve their financial goals. Gibson Financial Services offers complimentary workshops and initial reviews for consumers to increase their financial futures. Gibson Financial Services’ main office is in Pontiac, Illinois, with branch locations in Bloomington, Champaign, and Kankakee-Bourbonnais, Illinois.

David received his Business Administration degree from Eureka College in Eureka, Illinois, and earned his Certified Financial Planning degree from the College for Financial Planning in Denver, Colorado. David is registered with the CFP Board of Standards in Washington, D.C.

David has educated thousands of individuals and advisors across the country on various financial topics. His numerous local and national workshops have helped consumers better understand the financial planning process and the strategies available to help them reach their goals.

117

THE BUSINESS OF LEADERSHIP

CHAPTER 12


BY DIKRAN ISKENDERIAN

Some leaders are born and some are made. We all have God-given talents and abilities. However, if we really want to become awe-inspiring leaders, we must constantly study leadership by reading books and attending seminars. We must become what we study and lead by example, not just with words. As one of the leaders of my family’s chain of restaurants, I am always studying the best books I can find about leadership and marketing.

Some of the most memorable leaders throughout history have been transformational leaders, like Mother Teresa and Martin Luther King, Jr. They had a profound impact on history. The principles they taught have endured long after their death. Their lives were so meaningful that they changed peoples’ entire worldview. Not everyone can be a transformational leader. That’s why it’s important for aspiring leaders to evaluate their skills and see what type of leader they should be.

There’s a difference between being a leader and being a manager. All great leaders and managers treat their employees well. They pay them better than the competition and give them opportunities for growth. The best team members are those that smile naturally and have a great personality. These are important traits because personality can't be taught. If someone is not smiling or they’re constantly bitter, you can’t change that. As long as people are intrinsically positive, they’ll make great employees. Every good leader and manager should constantly

SUCCESS TODAY

118

strive to make people better by always training them. This is why it’s important for leaders to never stop learning.

Management implements what the leadership plans. Managers are like car mechanics who make sure the car is running smoothly—that the oil is right, the temperature’s right. For example, a restaurant manager’s job includes:

1) Maintaining great food quality

2) Providing excellent customer service

3) Making sure employees are treated with professionalism

Good managers can help reduce overtime while simultaneously making sure people are paid fair wages. Leaders are responsible for hiring the right kind of people and writing the company’s vision and mission statements, outlining clear goals and communicating them with the team, and dealing with rapid changes in the environment.

Good business leaders focus relentlessly on the customer. Leaders should always be learning, taking classes and making the most of their God-given talents. Managers, employees and customers can’t do that for us.

The managers, in turn, should watch out for the business as if it’s their own. Success for them should be the company’s growth. If they see the company has the potential to grow and they communicate that to the leadership and help them create that growth, that’s the definition of success for them. Managers want to make more money, too, but how can business owners pay them more if the business is not growing?

It’s best to shift most of your time and energy on serving your best customers. There’s a saying that 20 percent of your customers often provide 80 percent of the value to your business. This is known as the Pareto Principle. In the restaurant industry it’s more like the “99-1 rule.” That is, 99 percent of customers are awesome, but you always have the worst 1 percent who constantly seem to be complaining. You have to fire the worst 1 percent of your customers. They are the ones who destroy employee morale and slow down service for everyone else.

119


CREATIVITY

I am probably more of a conceptual, artistic kind of leader. The restaurant business often tends to be modeled on the military style of leadership. And, just like the military, there is a very well organized hierarchy of positions. There are rigid rules and procedures, methods and protocol that must be followed. Being creative doesn’t come easily in this kind of environment.

Following mundane rules is a responsibility for management, not leadership. Leadership has more to do with vision and entrepreneurship—starting and shepherding new businesses and creating new industries that did not exist before.

Cirque de Soleil is a good example. This Canadian company began with the revolutionary idea of wanting to launch a circus without animals. At first, people couldn’t understand why anyone would want to run a circus without animals. At the time, it didn’t make sense, but they quickly became one of the top entertainment companies in the world. Its owners became billionaires by asking a simple question: What are the worst parts of a circus?

Many circuses were abusing animals, so animals were taken out of the equation. Instead of animals, live music with staged acrobatics, grandiose costumes, mystery and magic were brought in. That’s what people wanted to see, and the extraordinary success of Cirque de Soleil showed that the public supports and loves the concept behind any business that operates with integrity.

There’s a book that I highly recommend, written by W. Chan Kim and Renée Mauborgne called Blue Ocean Strategy. Their concept looks at what customers want and gives it to them by creating a new industry instead of competing with existing businesses. By creating a brand new niche it destroys the competition because it doesn’t even have direct competition. This book teaches you how to come up with a concept, do your research, put together the best team you can to implement the idea and get out of the way.

Suppose that I have an idea for a new kind of nail salon. In doing the research for it, I ask women what they hate the most about nail salons. It turns out that a lot of them don’t like the fumes. They also don’t like

SUCCESS TODAY

120

the fact that many of the employees in nail salons can’t speak English. They hate the fact that the seats in nail salons aren’t very comfortable. “I wish there were wide-screen TVs,” some of the women say. “I wish I could get a nice cocktail.” Others want comfortable sofa-like seats that give massages. A few even want private rooms in order to host a special event for their best friends.

I also ask what they would want more of and I get responses like: “extended hours,” “dead skin fish treatment,” “friendly and attentive staff,” “better brands of color and organic nail polish,” “fresh smoothies,” and “live music spun by a DJ on the weekends.” I would never be able to come up with these ideas on my own.

After doing the research, we must start coming up with solutions. One way around the fumes may be in an open-air setting or better ventilation. If nobody has done anything like this before, it would give me confidence in its future success.

If I started such a concept and it was based on sound market research, I know it would be a solid place to start. I know that if I get such a concept up and running, I wouldn’t be the one managing it. That’s because I’m not—and can never be—a manager. I’m the person that usually comes up with the ideas but not the best at implementing them.

But even the best idea, the best product, needs to be marketed well and have the right team. It’s safe to say that in business there can be no success without great marketing. Take Apple for example. They display their products on billboards against a background that is a clean, white opaque. In fact, all you see is the product and a tag line—an iPhone 6, say—hypnotizing you to buy it. It’s almost as if the viewer has no choice.

It’s important for an entrepreneur to find a niche and create a culture around it. Look at what you’re good at and try to come up with something no one else has created. If we really do what we are best at, it doesn’t even feel like work and life actually becomes fun and full of adventure. Then figure out your target market—the kind of customers you’d like to sell your product to. I have found that once we do this, the key players and new team members seem to magically appear and help us attain our goals. Success Today, for example, is the product of the hard work and energy of a few key people. Hopefully being part of this book and the publicity we generate will help me become an instructor.

121


I am at a point in my life where I am very happy with all I’ve accomplished. My new happiness will come from writing books and teaching people, which has always been a lifelong dream. You would find me almost daily looking through books at Barnes and Noble, so imagine the thrill I would feel when one of the books on the shelf happens to be mine! What a dream come true! Through teaching and training others, not only will I realize my full potential, but will make new contacts and meet interesting new people. I want to challenge myself intellectually; making a little extra money on the side is just a bonus when you're doing what you love.

Having read hundreds of books and articles over the years, the time has come for me to transition from student to teacher. Instead of just reading and listening to books and CD’s, I will be making them. What a joy it will be to know that I am helping people and the books I write can positively impact people's lives long after I am gone. It’s a true sense of immortality, which is why so many people dream of getting their work published and leaving a legacy.

Since I’ve been doing this for so long, I feel as though teaching is the next evolutionary step in my growth. The best way to learn is to teach, and so I would be learning and growing myself as I teach others. I plan to eventually teach a class at UCLA Extension, having received my own certificate in marketing from there, with distinction. After that, I plan on teaching at seminars and attending various professional conferences.

I have created a new web site: www.therestaurantmarketingexpert.com to help me launch this second career. Among the topics I wish to teach are: branding, leadership, marketing and sales, and social media. When I first began our social media page, we had about 120 followers. We now have over 60,000 fans on Facebook and thousands more on Twitter, as well as tremendous growth we’re seeing on other networks. This took years of dedication and interaction with thousands of customers.

So to recap, the keys to real and permanent growth are:

1) Finding your niche and know your audience.

2) Creating and maintaining the right team.

3) Ensuring great service and marketing.

You have to consciously make time for yourself and explore the artistic side of you; we tend to forget the imaginative side of ourselves as we get

SUCCESS TODAY

122

caught up in our daily routine. If you ignore that side of yourself, you’re not going to be very happy. I keep myself busy through my artistic projects. When I get too stressed working on our restaurant business, I go to my creative side: painting, artwork, and photography.

You have to make time to socialize, meet people and network. We can accomplish this by meeting three to five new people each day. If you don’t network consciously, it will never happen.

A person’s artistic side is tied to their emotional intelligence. Just like leadership, some people are born with better emotional intelligence than others, but everyone can become better at it. The key to improving emotional intelligence is relating to people—talking to them and interacting with them. Taking some psychology classes is also a great idea. Learning about psychology enables us to study what’s behind the human mind and what motivates us. Everyone has a reason for doing things, even if it doesn’t seem to make sense.

To me, one benefit of having a high "Emotional IQ" is that you would be more in tune with people’s reactions. You can’t force yourself on others. For example, if you’re at the airport and people are in a rush, they’re not going to be very receptive to any marketing efforts. You have to know what mood a person is in and what they want to hear.

Emotional intelligence is about becoming a better listener and showing more empathy for others by acknowledging their feelings. Unfortunately, many of us entrepreneurs are poor listeners. It’s about letting people talk about themselves instead of talking about yourself. It’s no wonder that the first rule of marketing is to listen to your customers.

It’s also important to look people in the eye, especially these days when so many people whip out their smart phones and start talking or texting in the middle of a conversation. That’s rude. Give your cell phone a break and focus on people during conversations.

Reciprocity is an important principle to understand and practice. For example, if you immediately ask someone whether they would like to buy a house from you, that person would probably wonder who on earth you are and what you’re talking about, given that you barely know each other. Such behavior turns you into the personification of spam, and people hate that. But if you go up to the person and invite them to a free

123


weekend hiking trip, you’re likely to become friends. Do something nice for someone before you ask him or her to buy something from you. These are the things that lead to symbiotic relationships, which is what we want.

I have learned to practice reciprocity by showing empathy towards others. I ask people about their day, their families and their vacations. I’m alert to their upcoming anniversaries. Even if I know nothing about them—or feel they don’t have the time to talk—I just smile at them as frequently as I can. Never underestimate the power of a genuine smile.

Above all else, a leader should always seek wisdom.

Proverbs 3: 13-18

Blessed are those who find wisdom,

those who gain understanding,

for she is more profitable than silver

and yields better returns than gold.

She is more precious than rubies;

nothing you desire can compare with her.

Long life is in her right hand;

in her left hand are riches and honor.

Her ways are pleasant ways,

and all her paths are peace.

She is a tree of life to those who take hold of her;

those who hold her fast will be blessed.

~Proverbs 3: 13-18

SUCCESS TODAY

124

About Dikran

Dikran Iskenderian has a Bachelor of Science degree in Management and a Master of Arts in Leadership from Woodbury University.

He studied in the United Kingdom at Oxford University where he obtained a Certificate in Global Enterprise Management, Organizations, Environments, and Political Economy in 2003. Later he received a professional Certificate in Marketing from UCLA, which was earned with distinction.

He co-owns Zankou Chicken with his family. They have 8 locations and continue to grow. He is the Director of Marketing, having helped to create the 50th anniversary logo and its now iconic design as well as the company’s website and catering menu. He currently runs the restaurant chain’s marketing department and social media campaign.

Dikran is also an amateur painter. He loves graphic design, meddling in traditional media such as acrylic, charcoal, and oil. His hobbies include creating fine-art style photo albums.

Watch for Dikran’s next book, tentatively titled Restaurant Marketing: The Secret is in the Sauce, available in 2016. Based on his 25 years of experience working in the field, it promises to save future restaurateurs time and money.

He loves teaching and speaking. This is his first book. Follow him on Twitter at: RM Expert and on Facebook at: Dikran Iskenderian (business person).

www.dikraniskenderian.comwww.therestaurantmarketingexpert.comwww.zankouchicken.com

Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might,

for in the realm of the dead, where you are going, there is neither working nor planning

nor knowledge nor wisdom.

~Ecclesiastes 9:10

125

THE FOUR C’s TO MY SUCCESS — COMMITMENT, COURAGE, CAPABILITY AND CONFIDENCE

CHAPTER 13

THE FOUR C’s TO MY SUCCESS

— COMMITMENT, COURAGE, CAPABILITY

AND CONFIDENCE*

BY DUNCAN ROBINSON

The excitement of travelling to Boston, and participating in the 100th running of the Boston marathon, was now a very real and exciting thought for me. My group had done the training and now were set for the event. Each runner must qualify for this race, I’d qualified with the Vancouver marathon in a time of 2 hours 58 minutes, I was well under my limit for my age group. There were 42,000 runners for this day, a hyped-up running crowd considering the magnitude of the 100th running of the Boston Marathon. Normally, there are approximately 12,000 runners. Along the route on that day were over 2 million people watching, to say adrenalin was an understatement.

There were many with me that day in my own excitement, but none more so than my son Michael, who was a runner as well, he was there in spirit with me. He was back in Vancouver, not feeling well, but wishing me the best adventure possible.

* The concept of Commitment, Courage, Capability and Confidence is a learned skill concept, created by Dan Sullivan and The Strategic Coach® Program, of which I’ve been a student of Dan’s for many years. www.strategiccoach.com

SUCCESS TODAY

126

The Boston Marathon starts at noon, and on this particular day, it was a brilliant blue sky, temperatures were slightly cool, almost perfect for a marathon. With a fast time to qualify for the Boston marathon, I was only 30 sec. back from those at the front – an amazing experience and an experience I’d never forget. Each moment of that day was seared into my memory, amazing in every detail. The sheer excitement of those participating to those watching along the route, the aid stations were pure insanity with so many runners all needing Gatorade or water. It was really a spectacle to see and witness. . . so many memories to share on my return.

My return to Vancouver should have been a real celebration with those who were close to me, however, instead of sharing the 100th running of the Boston Marathon story, we were faced with my son being diagnosed with Acute Lymphatic Leukemia. The paradigm shift was now survival for Michael, as a parent hears the word Cancer. It does not matter the odds in others when your child, son and inspiration, now is battling Cancer. It’s a life threatening disease, and that’s what I faced on my return to Vancouver. The harsh reality of life being perfectly imperfect, as I was to learn and understand, had now set in.

The impact of childhood cancer on all connected to Michael was to leave a profound effect, none moreso than on me, as I moved forward in battling this insidious disease with Michael. As a parent, you’re immediately reduced to a dependency on current protocols of curing Leukemia from what Doctors are suggesting. Leukemia had a 95% success rate for survival, which left us completely optimistic as we went through this daily dark process. Chemotherapy, radiation, and steroids, it’s a concoction of drugs that literally kills everything in the child’s body. They literally have no immune system left. This was a one year process with Michael, and almost a year to the day that he was originally diagnosed, the cancer reignited within his body, with more strength than the original diagnosis.

The options of battling a relapse are much fewer because the cancer recognizes the treatments and has become immune to those protocols, and will grow with strength within. The Oncologists did what they could until the point, they said to us, all they could do now is manage the pain, and Michael would complete his life soon. He had just turned 14. It was so difficult for him and myself, now realizing he would complete his life

127


and I would no longer have this beautiful son.

That day came, on July 27th Michael said to me, “Dad you do not need to worry, I know where I’m going, we’ll be together again one day, please don’t worry, I love you.” Those words have carried me now over the last 17 years, given me peace and understanding that his life had profound purpose. Two days later after those words, Michael passed away, July 29th 1997. That was a brilliant summer day, one that was filled with so much pain and hurt.

I didn’t realize the purpose of how profound this time in my life would be as I tried to answer the question of what next . . . what would I do, to move on. In my mind there was nothing I could do to change what had just happened.

I joined a support group through the Children’s Hospital in Vancouver and met with other parents who had lost a child, the first meeting was in September 1997, so it was still very fresh and raw of what I was going through, here’s what I said on my first meeting with this group, “I have no idea what I’m going to do, except move forward in his spirit, his soul, and make a difference daily in what I do.” At this point I wasn’t working, I had been in sales and marketing, however there was really no profound difference I was making there. What I did was a job, but I wanted to make an impact. Here’s what happened.

I took the Canadian Securities course to just keep busy, I met someone from the company I now work for, London Life Insurance Company, he said I may like doing what he does: preparing clients for Life’s unexpected events, life being perfectly imperfect . . . perfect. He said very few people are ever ready for life happening, and it happens all the time. You’ve been through a very profound moment in your life, give back, and allow others to see what has happened to you, help and serve them, and you will be a difference maker. I was in, I believed completely in what he said, it all made sense.

I was not ready for my son dying at the age of 14, I was still in the midst of my career, had a family, responsibilities, I couldn’t go to work, physically I was fine, but mentally it was a struggle. If I could convey this message to others maybe I could make a career out of it.

I’ve immersed myself into this career and believe I’ve made a

SUCCESS TODAY

128

tremendous impact on my clients and the planning process. What I have learned along the way is that success is a difficult road, whether it’s this business or any other business. It takes a number of parts to work really well. In the beginning, here’s what I discovered, I needed to be completely committed to this career, I needed to do whatever it would take to see the clients and help them understand I was there to serve them in my new capacity. That was much easier said than done, as most feel infallible, and don’t need to spend the money on future mortality. It’s through storytelling . . . telling Michael’s story and other’s that resonates with my clients. Here’s a question I often share with them, if they knew tomorrow that life will happen to them at some capacity, would they put the necessary planning in place today? Naturally, the answer is yes. And then, my comment is if you don’t do it now, then when, and if not with me, who will you ever do it with. Typically the answer is okay let’s start this process of planning. I was fully committed to this new career.

I needed what the Lion needed in the Wizard of Oz, I needed courage in this new career. I needed to fight rejection, especially from those who’d had a bad experience in past with a life insurance sales person, I’ve heard it all now. I explain to clients, if you don’t like the word Life Insurance, use another word, income replacement, debt protection, university expenses, child care, whatever you want to attach to the word you may, because that’s what Life Insurance does, it allows you to have what’s needed, at a time when it is needed. Take six months off from work, without a financial worry, when someone close to you passes away.

Life insurance provides money when it’s needed most, at time of death. It’s the only liquid asset out there for most. If you don’t like the word, it’s okay, call it something else , but please put it in your portfolio to protect your family. I’ve had a number of clients pass away over the years, and there has never been anyone who has handed a cheque back to me, saying it was too much; they are so grateful to have had it at that point, they are usually in an emotional state with gratefulness, for the service I’ve provided. Courage is needed in our business.

I hadn’t had to learn or pass exams for a long time when I started this career. However, now it was a continual process, new capabilities were a requirement to be successful. Whether it was in the early days or even

129


now, this career or any career require new levels of capability. In order to grow exponentially, to reach a heightened level of potential, you need to learn and grow on a regular basis. One of the tools I’ve used over the years is Public Speaking. In the beginning it was fearful. However, Toastmasters International has an amazing program that will guide you into any level of fearing the fear of public speaking. I now speak often to motivate and encourage others into Risk and Estate planning.

99% of clients decisions are emotionally–based. We all care about our families, whether it’s our employees at the office or our family at home, we really care, that’s why this business of life insurance is such an amazing human business.

What’s happened as a result of my persistence, patience, perseverance, positive attitude and ability to continually change is a heightened level of confidence.

We are now working with clients who are game-changing people, clients who do not need life insurance, however we all have a destiny date, and the secret to life is that most of us hope for a long away destiny-date of passing on. However, it may be tomorrow. It’s a secret, and only your maker knows the real time you have left here in this physical world. Most of my clients who have grasped life insurance see it as classic leverage. I use the life insurance company mortality benefit for my future estate, because I will pass away eventually.

A motivating piece in Canada to have this planning done is a result of trying to circumvent our Canada Revenue Agency, who will require a Terminal Tax Return to be filed with the estate on death, all taxes due on death. Life insurance softens the blow. It is the only liquid asset on death. It is an asset class that few have, that allows for a guarantee of the estate – a gift if you will – but an amazing piece for planning; one that has been in place now for the surviving family.

The combination of Committment, Courage, Capability and Confidence has really allowed me to grow in this career, exponentially. I’ve grown with clients as well as with my business. I’ve adopted this attitude with my fitness, my family, and my financial position – it’s a formula that really works well if it becomes part of your daily purpose.

Michael is my daily driving force, he speaks to me through that inner

SUCCESS TODAY

130

voice, giving me that encouragement, that go-for-it attitude. I remember during the marathon of the Penticton Ironman triathlon, he continually inspired me with his never-quit attitude, he was with me the entire way.

A child completing their life ahead of any parent is a devastating thought. However, if you understand it may be part of your purpose, that his passing is simply part of your growth to your next stage of life and serving others, well then, the acceptance of a child’s death is just a little easier. It’s still not easy and it is continually raw, in it’s purest form.

My purpose is defined by serving others in the business I’m in. I’m motivated by the impact I make daily.

131


About Duncan

Business philosopher and author Jim Rohn says, The legacy we leave is part of the ongoing foundations of life. Those who came before leave us the world we live in. Those who will come after will have only what we leave them.

Duncan Robinson has competed in over 100 triathlons, 24 marathons and numerous road-racing events (5k’s,10k’s, half-marathons). I stay active to challenge myself so I can face the mountain, as I like to say. It’s my driving energy as a financial advisor so I can dedicate my purpose in life: helping clients reduce their exposure to risk, and ultimately plan for retirement.

In his family, I’m the third generation in the field of life insurance. I didn’t understand the value of life insurance until after I was sidelined for nearly 18 months after the loss of my son from leukemia. This devastating, emotional loss made me realize the imperfection of life. The impact on my retirement was significant after this loss.

We don’t know what’s around the corner, but we can be better prepared for life’s imperfections with the help of insurance products. I help clients understand how a well-designed risk-management plan supports their goals and dreams, creates wealth, defers taxes, distributes their estate and magnifies their legacy

Insurance is an integrated tax planning system to shoulder your risk and plan for tomorrow. I’m a strong advocate of educating people and helping them understand how estate and tax planning can create a legacy, and continue to protect, support and encourage others to further what is important to you.

Life is imperfectly perfect, but with the right financial advice, you can find out how to take control of your investment planning for your business and loved ones. I call this empowerment – and I can guide you on how to put this in place.

133

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS FOR YOUR JOURNEY TO A SUCCESSFUL SMILE TODAY!

CHAPTER 14

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS FOR YOUR JOURNEY TO A

SUCCESSFUL SMILE TODAY! — CHOOSING THE RIGHT

DENTIST FOR YOU.

BY DR. GEORGE MARYNIUK

A year ago, Emily arrived in our reception area with tears streaming down her cheeks. She had a very painful tooth, and one of her front porcelain veneers had cracked. An oral surgeon who had recently removed a failing dental implant, recommended that she come to our office to be made whole again.

Several months later, a periodontist recommended that Jonathan come see us to correct several failing crowns/caps that had new cavities around the edges, and were causing the gums to be tender and bleed at the slightest touch.

Neither of these individuals was negligent with their home oral care, or avoided the dentist. To the contrary, Emily had a dozen crowns/caps and veneers placed within the previous year. She sought out a cosmetic dentist, drove 30 miles each way to be treated in his office, and assumed that all would be well for decades to come. Jonathan had been seeing the same dentist for over 6 years, and over a period of three years, she used her new CEREC crown milling machine to place 5 “crowns in a day”.

SUCCESS TODAY

134

Wow! No need to come back for a second appointment, no temporary caps to break or fall off, what could go wrong?

Emily and Jonathan had no trouble finding a dentist willing to provide the treatment. The problem for both individuals was that they chose the wrong dentist. Now they had to endure additional aggravation and costs to have their work redone correctly. But all this could have been avoided if they had known to ask their dentists a few key questions.

Put yourself into one of the following scenarios:

• Your grandchild/niece/nephew climbs onto your lap and asks, “Why are your teeth so dark and crooked?” or

• You’ve noticed that your teeth are getting more discolored and worn down, and the smile (grimace) looking back at you in the mirror has little relationship to how you feel or think you look.

What are you going to do, and who are you going to call? . . . Your family dentist?. . . Will you find a cosmetic dentist? . . . Search for a Prosthodontist? How do you improve your chances of getting the best possible dental treatment for your specific situation? First, you will have to navigate the crowded field of dentists who say they can help you.

If you had an enlarging mole on your left cheek, or tore your right ACL, would you have your primary care physician take care of these conditions? So why would you have your family dentist take care of a much more complex restorative situation, and one that she/he probably does not routinely treat?

Most general dentists present themselves as Cosmetic and Family dentists in their marketing materials. Whether you need major, or minor work, look for an individual with experience in complex restorative and reconstructive situations, and not just someone who can make straight, white teeth. The appearance needs to go hand-in-hand with technical quality and function. A proper balance will ensure longevity, and minimize normal wear.

Two key questions in need of specific answers:

1. What type of additional training and qualifications should this dentist have?

135


2. Specifics about the dentist-office. Other information that could predict future success?

ADDITIONAL TRAINING AND QUALIFICATIONS

What are the qualifications of a Cosmetic Dentist?Any dentist with a valid license to practice in their state can call him or herself a cosmetic dentist. The American Dental Association (ADA) does not recognize “cosmetic dentistry” as a separate specialty. Without additional credentials, this is purely a marketing term.

What/who is a Prosthodontist?Prosthodontics is the only formally ADA-recognized specialty that encompasses cosmetic and reconstructive dentistry, such as porcelain veneers and crowns, as well as implants, bridges and dentures. These individuals have an additional three (3) years of full-time advanced training over and above general dentists.

Are memberships in professional organizations a good way to validate a dentists capabilities?

Probably not. For almost all non-specialty dental organizations, membership is granted to those who pay the annual dues. However, the ACP, AACD and AGD are the exception.

American College of Prosthodontists (ACP) [www.GoToAPro.org]Membership is limited to formally-trained prosthodontists. A Diplomate is a member who has completed a written exam, submitted documentation of completing three specific types of cases, and passed an oral exam. Over the last decade, taking and completing most of the Board exam while in training has become an integral part of the training programs, explaining why most newer graduates are diplomates, as compared to their senior colleagues.

American Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry (AACD) [www.AACD.com]

Any practicing dentist may become a member. However, there is an accreditation process that adds value. An accredited member is one that has passed a written examination on foundational knowledge in cosmetic dentistry, submitted documentation of completing five specific types of cases, and passed an oral exam.

SUCCESS TODAY

136

Academy of General Dentistry (AGD) [www.AGD.org]Any practicing dentist may become a member. However, two additional levels add value. A Fellow has completed 500 hours of additional continuing education in specific areas and passed a written examination. A Master has completed an additional 1,100 hours of continuing education in specific areas, covering a broader range of clinical topics.

Any dentist achieving accreditation, fellowship, or mastership levels in the two previously mentioned organizations is not your average general dentist!

Dental InstitutesDozens of advanced training institutes, most not associated with dental schools, have sprung up over the last several decades. Most offer introductory lecture programs, as well as multi-day participation programs, where learning may be done on actual patients. The better known ones are: Pankey, LVI, and Spears.

Is 1-800-Dentist a good place to look for a qualified dentist?No! This is purely an advertising site. A license to practice dentistry in their state, and the willingness to pay the significant monthly fee, is all it takes to appear in the list of “recommended” dentists.

What about all the different review sites?Review sites, such as: WhitePages.com, DoctorOogle.com, and HealthGrades.com are advertising and aggregating sites. The “preferred” dentists have all paid a fee to be listed. Remember, exceptional dentists are like top golf or tennis pros. They did not get to where they are by attending lectures, joining the right clubs, and taking a few lessons. They invested years of focus and concentration, worked with coaches and mentors, and put in countless hours of practice.

SPECIFICS ABOUT THE DENTIST-OFFICE

Determining the technical quality of dental treatment is nearly impossible for consumers, and my guidelines are certainly not perfect, but the following key points should help you exclude the less capable.

Interview the final candidates• This should be an in-person, 10 – 20 minute appointment, giving

you a chance to see and get a feel for the office, and for which you may expect to pay a nominal fee.

137


• Don’t expect a clinical examination, but only a cursory look to help them be able to give you some general answers. Have a current set of x-rays with you, and be prepared with a list of questions related to your desires.

• Don’t do all the talking, but sit back and listen to the questions being asked of you. Their ability to ask insightful questions of what is important to you is critical. If they talk mostly about themselves, beware!

• Have them paraphrase your major concerns, and present a few possible solutions. There is never just one way to treat a particular situation, but several options, with pros and cons for each. Make sure you hear about various alternatives, and their advantages and disadvantages.

Is there a dedicated lab space within the office?This does not mean that there needs to be a lab technician in the office, but just a dedicated space with the proper equipment for the dentist to plan, execute, and refine the creations made by the lab, and provide a customized and optimized result. Without these kind of skills and facility, you get an “order taker” who accepts what comes back from the lab, or is forced to send things back for modification. Specifically this means there should be:

• A lab hand-piece (drill), to be able to shape, contour and polish all restorations.

• Diagnostic waxing instruments, allowing them to plan the specific contours and shapes of your teeth. Oddly enough, many dentists send models out to a lab, and have a lab technician, who has not seen or spoken with the patient, do the most critical part of the case – the master plan. Computer technology has not advanced adequately yet, to replace these steps.

• A Porcelain oven - to allow them to customize color, modify size and shape of the restorations, and finesse the final result, without sending anything back to the lab.

• A Microscope – to really see. The professionally stated minimum standard of care for fit of restorations is 100 microns, which means the thickness of a human hair, a coat of paint, or 0.004 inches. It’s impossible to evaluate this kind of fit without

SUCCESS TODAY

138

significant magnification! The better the fit, the easier it is for you to keep the area clean, and the smaller the chance of future failure.

Does the dentist work with magnification loups, while treating patients?

Just as with the microscope in the lab, the greater the magnification in the treatment room, the better the chances of a more accurate and better result. If a dentist routinely uses magnification while treating patients, you will either see a microscope in the treatment room, or she/he will have loupes around their neck, or out in the open, with the magnification being at least 4x. If they have to open a drawer to get them out, it probably means that they are not used routinely.

Is it possible to preview the expected final result before starting?Yes, there are several different methods to show you the proposed final result, each with advantages and disadvantages. “Try before you buy” is the only way to ensure a final result that meets your expectations, and allows you to appreciate any limitations that may prevent certain results. Below are the various methods that could be presented to you, and a competent restorative dentist should be able to offer at least 3 out of 4 options below.

1. Computer Imaging – test drive the smile changes on the computer screen.This could be accomplished at the computer during the first appointment, but is much more effective if all of your wishes are properly documented and understood, and then several scenarios tried out for your review at a later date. Of all of these diagnostic steps, this one may be eliminated, since it presents the least amount of information, but is the best way to get you interested in exploring options. There are two shortcomings with just this approach. The simulated photo may have little to no relationship to what is possible. The person doing the imaging should have extensive dental clinical experience, to be aware of what could be possible, given the relationship of the teeth and jaws. Additional photos of the bite, and how the upper and lower teeth relate to each other, help this person realize what is truly possible in the mouth, instead of just arbitrarily changing tooth positions. If this computer imaging person is not in the office, and just has one or two photos to work from, the results

139


may be suspect. If the “after” image looks as if a new set of teeth was inserted into the photo, don’t even bother looking any further. No matter the simulated result, it is still quite difficult for you to see how this alteration will look in your mouth, since you are just looking at a photograph of a modified you.

2. Diagnostic Wax-up – planning changes on models of your actual teeth.This allows a much more accurate representation of what is possible, and is accomplished by reshaping the individual teeth on the models, as well as building them up with white tooth-colored wax. The overall jaw relationship, positions, and jaw movements control the final positioning and aesthetic enhancements. No extensive treatment should ever start without this step! Just as with the previous computer imaging step, it is even more difficult to envision the changes from a model.

Smile Design in the mouth – Aesthetic Mock-up [2 methods]

3. There is a quick and effective way of envisioning changes for restoring worn teeth, which can be done before the wax-up, to determine if the potential changes warrant investing the time and money into the full diagnostic wax-up. The dentist uses a special type of plastic filling material to build up your teeth freehand, to determine possible results. This may take anywhere from 5 – 20 minutes.

4. The second, much more exacting technique, uses a special mold, taken off of the diagnostic wax-up, as a template to place a thin layer of plastic onto your teeth, and try out your new smile design without cutting any teeth.

Both of these methods have limitations, such as if the existing teeth need to be significantly reduced, or moved sideways or inward. Even with these limitations, it is worthwhile to pay for and see the possible results for yourself. In both cases, these are not bonded on, so will come off when you eat or brush your teeth, and are extremely helpful in letting you see what may be possible, and give you the chance to show important people at home. Final size, shape and positions will now have been designed and tested.

SUCCESS TODAY

140

Summing Up

• Seek out the most qualified dentist/specialist: a Prosthodontist, if at all possible.

• A quick call to each office should help you determine if investing time for a visit is of value.

• An in-office visit/interview is a key requirement, before committing to a full examination.

• Having an appropriately outfitted in-office lab will eliminate dentists that are just “order takers.”

• Magnification in all areas is a must.

• Your selected dentist should be capable of at least 3 of 4 visualization methods discussed previously, and present them without prompting - allowing you to test out the smile improvements first-hand.

• “Test out the results” before committing to treatment.

Even with your new-found skill-set, it’s impossible to fully assess the candidates’ skills and what they can produce, but you can at least determine if they have the prerequisite skills, knowledge and tools. Remember, it’s your time, money, health, and appearance, and you have every right to be careful and critical.

141


About Dr. George

George A. Maryniuk, DDS, MPH, is an internationally-recognized prosthodontist, lecturer, teacher, and author. He has a private practice specializing in prosthodontic, biomimetic and cosmetic/esthetic dentistry in Brookline, Massachusetts.

Following in his father’s footsteps, Dr. Maryniuk was the youngest graduate of his dental school class at the University of Detroit at age 23. After several years in private-practice, and working in his father's dental laboratory, he completed post-doctoral specialty training in Prosthodontics at Tufts University. The additional laboratory and clinical training allow him to provide results that are nearly indistinguishable from nature.

Dr. Maryniuk’s early career involved academic teaching and research, along with continuing patient care. He served as a full-time faculty member at University of Florida in Gainesville, UCLA, and University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He also held part-time teaching positions at the University of Detroit, Harvard School of Dental Medicine, and for over a decade in the Post-graduate Prosthodontics program at Tufts University. He has authored over 50 articles, abstracts and book chapters.

Dr. Maryniuk is a member of the American College of Prosthodontists, American Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry, Academy of Biomimetic Dentistry, American Academy of Laser Dentistry, and the American Dental Association. He has also served on the Board of the Academy of Computerized Dentistry of North American and the New England Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry.

When not in the office, Dr. Maryniuk enjoys hiking, skiing, kayaking and spending time with his family.

You can connect with our office by visiting: www.CDSBoston.com

143

THE GREATEST SHIFT IN HEALTH FOR THE NEXT DECADE — SIMPLY EAT REAL FOODS™

CHAPTER 15

THE GREATEST SHIFT IN HEALTH FOR THE

NEXT DECADE — SIMPLY EAT REAL FOODS™

BY DR. EMMETT BLAHNIK

Renowned Wellness Expert, Doctor, Author, Speaker, Radio Show Host, Coach and Founder of Next Level Health Cooperative sounds

the Battle Cry for “America’s Simplest Health Revolution.”

Most people know about the story of the “unsinkable ship,” the Titanic, “through American history and the Hollywood blockbuster movie. Considered the most luxurious and swiftest cruise-ship of its time, the Titanic was regarded by her crew and passengers as indestructible. A combination of nonchalant assumption and neglect resulted in one of history’s most notorious examples of hubris—a tragedy born of false pride and confidence.

Halfway through the Titanic’s maiden journey from England to New York City, the ship’s crew paid little attention to the warnings they received about icebergs in the North Atlantic. That very night, the Titanic collided with an iceberg, igniting a lethal pattern of cracks and fissures that spread across the ship like a pandemic. In less than three hours, the undoing of the Titanic was caused by a scrape that spread out into cracks and small fissures. The ship was thought virtually indestructible and because of that false sense of security there weren’t even enough

SUCCESS TODAY

144

lifeboats to accommodate all the passengers.

It’s a sad fact that history repeats itself. The Titanic was not the first—nor the last—tragedy that occurred due to mankind’s mental blindness. Today, in fact, a frightening majority of Americans are blind-sighted. People are blind-sighted out of ignorance not stupidity. Even the most intelligent people can be misled with regard to their own health.

As with the Titanic, many people consider America’s approach to health and the healthcare system to be one of the best in the world. It’s viewed as the most luxurious and safest cruise-ship. Most Americans believe there should be no worries or concerns in the health care system and that’s the kind of consideration that refuses to contemplate danger, buoyed high by false hopes and untried confidence.

The truth is that the American people are sinking. It’s easy to see the stress fractures in the health of the American people, tiny enough that most are still oblivious and the fractures are multiplying at an alarming rate. It’s not that Westerners aren’t intelligent enough to figure it out, or keen enough to snap out of it and jump clear. It’s that the American public’s judgment on health is simply as good as the information they are given at hand.

So, ask yourself—What information do I have? You are your own lifeboat. You are the captain who must learn the protocols to guard your own mental, physical and spiritual health. Will you heed the alarms? Will you take charge of your own health, your own wellbeing, and your own life? Will you pay attention to the warning signals that your body gives you?

When you take charge of educating, arming and caring for yourself, you will become one of a growing number of people who are revolutionizing the meaning and attainment of health in the United States due to the individual choices they make every single day. The 705 people who survived the Titanic disaster heeded the alarms. The more you familiarize yourself with your capabilities, your potential and your power, you too can be rescued.

This is what Dr. Emmett is all about. Information. Knowledge. Information to inform you and knowledge to empower you. Dr. Emmett Blahnik is a man on a singular mission. His mission is to change the

145


trajectory of the health of the next generation of Americans by working cooperatively for the best interest of the people and public health.

A Doctor of Chiropractic (with a degree from Northwestern Health Sciences University), a board certified Nutritional Counselor and a contributor to the New York Times, USA Today and Wall Street Journal Best Seller One Minute Wellness, he has operated some of the largest natural health clinics in his home state of Wisconsin, Illinois and throughout North America. Selected to be the U.S. Wellness Advisory Council Chairman, his passion to develop his Whole Body Health approach grew out of weekly community outreach events where he conducted workshops on topics like nutrition, exercise and fitness, stress and time management.

“I realized that people are thirsty for knowledge,” Dr. Emmett says. “While there’s a lot of information out there including numerous conventional diet books and programs. I noticed that many people were in need of a leader to help them sift through the glut of material to find a simple and practical approach to healthy living. In my growing practice, I was helping adjust their spines, remove structural interference and improve the nervous system – but many clients were obese, sick, tired, stressed and depressed, on way-too-many easily prescribed drugs, and just not getting great advice from their doctors. They needed to make a substantial lifestyle change. Nobody was teaching them about nutrition and simple exercise methodologies.”

Dr. Emmett is a former fitness trainer; NCAA Scholar/Academic All-American in Wrestling and five-time Ironman Triathlon Finisher. He was an official doctor to TEAM USA in the Multiple World Championship Games, CrossFit Games, and for numerous Olympic athletes and Ironman Triathletes.

His innovative strategies, inspiration and keen desire to help people reach their health and life potential are the foundation for his thriving practices. His consulting work reaches around the world and he guest lectures at universities around the country. He has the honor of being selected as one of the youngest doctors to serve at the Olympic and World team level. In his seminars, conferences and media appearances throughout North America, Dr. Emmett shows people how to apply his Whole Body Health Solutions designed to take people to the Next

SUCCESS TODAY

146

Level in health, happiness and life.

After years of serving the needs of thousands of patients, ranging from the unhealthiest and most obese to some of the world’s greatest athletes, Dr. Emmett has developed what he believes is The Next Health Revolution, or “America’s Simplest Health Revolution.” The concept is also the title of the revolutionary book he is releasing in early 2015: Simply Eat Real Foods™.

With contributions from various expert doctors and prominent athletes (including many former Olympians), the colorful, highly illustrated volume offers step-by-step instructions on how people can change their lifestyle by developing new and healthy eating, exercising and overall lifestyle habits. It also includes tasty recipes that shows nutritious food can also be delicious.

“My goal in working with patients and writing the book is to show that real food tastes good and has the nutrients that our bodies were designed to thrive from,” says Dr. Emmett. “Our cells need a certain set of nutrients that are the building blocks of good health. These building blocks include proteins, vegetables and fruits that have the vitamins, minerals, phyto-nutrients, antioxidants, and carbohydrates that our bodies are designed to consume.”

Dr. Emmett’s Simply Eat Real Foods® (S.E.R.F.®) philosophy is grounded in the idea that the complexity of the situation has nothing to do with the simplicity of the solution. By helping the public avoid expensive healthcare costs, bankruptcy, disease, unnecessary suffering and early death, he believes that this Next Health Revolution will change the trajectory of the health and life of the American public in the next decade. His aim is to inspire, educate and empower people to regain control of their health. A better quality of life means that the people who benefit from his program will get more “distance” or time with those they love.

He cites powerful statistics, which, combined with his years of personal experience with unhealthy, out-of-shape patients, were the catalyst for his program. According to his findings, he says, America is a very sick country. Here are the facts:

1) 1 out of 2 people die of heart disease.

147


2) 1 out of 3 people die of cancer.

3) Diabetes rates are climbing out of control.

4) America has an alarming 34+ percent obesity rate.

5) Arthritic and degenerative illness is skyrocketing.

6) Asthma and lung problems are becoming more and more prevalent.

Interestingly, many of the patients Dr. Emmett has worked with believe their conditions are somehow out of reach and out of their control, but at the same time, lack proper exercise and make bad lifestyle choices. Dr. Emmett estimates that 90-plus percent of these problems are self-induced from bad lifestyle habits that leads to more costly doctor visits, insurance premiums, medication costs and the number one cause of bankruptcy from healthcare costs.

“Somehow from their doctors or other educators, they’ve formed a disconnect between poor health and what they put in their mouth,” he says. “They think high cholesterol, high blood pressure and heart disease is hereditary. It’s something they’re born with —like a genetic curse. They come to me not bearing any responsibility for their problems. They don’t think they can change it. I’m there to confront them and set them straight on the fact that their health is not the responsibility of their doctor or spouse. It’s their own. The good news, I tell them, is that we can do something about it immediately. I help them take control of that one simple methodology—get back to eating real foods.”

Dr. Emmett believes getting experts, professionals, educators and parents engaged in the Next Health Revolution mission can reform the next decade’s health and eating habits by getting back to the basics and Simply Eat Real Foods® once again. He and his expansive team of professionals would also like to implement this essential system as a minimum “Standard of Care” for people suffering from heart disease, Type II diabetes, inflammatory diseases and obesity treatment for all health practitioners.

“The current model is flawed,” he says, “because people can be prescribed a drug in 10 minutes with little to any further dietary or lifestyle prescription habits in hand. A new standard of care would radically improve the needs of patients and improve overall public

SUCCESS TODAY

148

health. We can get back to what our bodies were designed for and build REAL health, not just symptom relief using potentially dangerous drugs.”

As the name of Dr. Emmett’s clinic, Next Level Health Cooperative, implies, he sees this as a cooperative venture, but it is up to each individual to “invest in yourself and invest in your health.” How is this accomplished? It starts with a few basic questions:

1) Is it REAL food or FAKE food?

2) Is it processed?

3) Did it live and grow from the earth naturally?

The simple truth is that the further anything gets from its normal, natural state the more potentially dangerous it is for one’s health.

REAL nutrient-dense foods are ones that are grass-fed, free range, organic, NON GMO, zero antibiotics, No-Growth Hormones and are natural. These include things we eat everyday: meat, vegetables, fruits and berries, nuts, beans and seeds. Knowing what to avoid is equally important: fake food, imposter food, junk food, processed food, fast foods, colored, dyed, chemically-altered food and refined carbs and sugars. These are the foods that are wreaking havoc on your health and future.

Encouraged that millions of people are already investing in their health and changing their bodies back to normal and healthy, “Not only will you give your body the necessary nutrients it needs to be healthy and thrive,” Dr. Emmett says, “but you will also begin to feel better, look better, have more energy and spend less on drugs, insurance premiums and doctors.”

Consistent with his mind, body and spirit approach to helping people, Dr. Emmett extends his concept of “Invest In Yourself” to the areas of life valued most. He urges his clients/patients to think about what is important to them, breaking these areas down to Spiritual Life (Faith or Purpose), Family Life (Relationships and Friendships), Physical Health Life (Nutrition, Exercise & Fitness, Function and Performance [Nerve System] and Stress & Time Management), Financial Life, Future/Focus/Vision, Professional Life (Career Development, Educational Development), Recreational Life (Hobbies, Fun, Travel) and Community

149


Outreach (Serving, Volunteering, Mission and Purpose).

He asks people to think of the areas they value most – like the rows they would care for the most in a garden. “We need to tend and cultivate and invest in these areas just like a garden, otherwise it withers away, never truly reaches its potential and dies early,” he says. “So invest in these areas all of which are impacted by your most important investment – which is your health. Unfortunately, the row that we typically neglect and invest little time, the least extra money, focus, planning and attention is to health. If it deteriorates too much, it will also impact every other aspect of life that you have. Because when you lose your health, you lose everything.

Dr. Emmett’s powerful desire to help people achieve optimal health for a long and productive life comes from the multiple health and poverty-related personal family tragedies he endured growing up. As a young boy, he witnessed his mother have two heart attacks at the age of 32 and then go on to battle cancer, endure a hysterectomy and battle a prescription drug addiction driven by hormone imbalances at a young age. He was also traumatized by how his mother’s addictions led her to lose her business and become homeless. “It was alarming when she would call me from different parts of the country seeking my help,” he says. “It was particularly devastating because it could have been prevented.”

Dr Emmett also watched his father struggle with high blood pressure and heart disease and pass away at only 55 years old due to poor lifestyle choices. His grandmother died of cancer when she was 58 years old, and he watched his grandfather literally “take his last breaths” after his own battle with the same disease. Most recently, one of his sisters-in-law is battling cancer, and in the midst of the pain and madness of enduring all these traumas and losses he continues to find a meaning and a calling. His purpose in life is that he could spare others from having to endure the pain. His mission is to help people transform their lives and lifestyles to reach a better quality of life.

“I believe I have a certain calling that is part of my purpose in life, and I am blessed to experience the testimonies of patients time and again who left my care healthier and committed to making lifestyle choices that would reduce risks of unwanted and premature illness,” he says.

SUCCESS TODAY

150

“But the greatest gift I receive is even more intangible – it’s the terrible health story I never hear about, the cancer or heart disease that will never happen because I taught a parent, a child or a whole family a better way to live. Healing is wonderful, but I get even more inspired and motivated by preventing tragedies by helping people change their lifestyle habits and teaching them to Simply Eat Real Foods.™ Imagine if we could teach a whole younger generation about this, and get kids to start eating smart early. Think of all the bad things they would never have to experience. Step by step, it’s our way of making a difference and changing the world for the better.”

“America’s Simplest Health Revolution” will change health in America when we Simply Eat Real Foods™.

151


About Dr. Emmett

Dr. Emmett Blahnik D.C, B.S, N.C. is the CEO of Next Level Health, LLC.

Dr. Blahnik is an: Author | Speaker | Athlete | Entrepreneur | Coach and Official Doctor to TEAM USA in multiple World Games,

CrossFit™ Games, and for Olympic, Professional and Elite Athletes and IronMan™ Triathlons. As a Best Selling Author, Dr. Blahnik is a health and wellness bio-hacker. His influence and contributions to the local communities he serves has allowed him the opportunity to speak at various Universities and forums around the country. Dr. Blahnik has proven to be an extraordinary business entrepreneur recently featured in FORBES Magazine and also recently nominated as a potential speaker at TED-X Talks™ in Madison, Wisconson.

Dr. Blahnik has been operating some of the Largest Natural Health Clinics in North America and collaborating with others on his next bestseller, Simply Eat Real Foods™. At seminars, conferences, and media appearances throughout North America, he shows people how to apply his Next Level Health™ approach to health, happiness and Life, which is the foundation of his thriving natural health clinics. A 5x IronMan finisher himself, multiple Adventure Race finisher, and NCAA All American, He was most recently recognized yet again by receiving an award for “America’s Top Doctors” in 2015 and one of “America’s Premier Experts” 2014-15 for his expertise and success in the field of healthcare and weight loss. His cutting-edge programs are on the forefront in balancing hormones as well as mastering metabolism and weight loss while improving performance.

Dr. Blahnik is also a Board Certified Clinical Nutritional Counselor, providing advanced and cutting-edge Customized Nutritional Solutions.

Dr. Emmett is an official contributor to multiple best sellers including New York Times, USA Today, and The Wall-Street Journal Best-sellers. His passion to inspire, motivate and educate literally every individual he meets to fulfill their potential in health and life is a result of growing up in a family with personal tragedies in health and poverty.

Dr. Emmett is undeniably serving a calling and purpose in life. He devotes his life to serving a mission to help people transform their lifestyle and reach a better quality of life with a “Whole Body Health” approach.

Dr. Emmett’s mission is in serving patients and his community while coaching and mentoring successful businesses, health professionals, students and doctors. His

152

SUCCESS TODAY

innovative strategies, inspiration, and passion for helping people are the foundation of his thriving clinics he works in locally, as well as the people he consults for around the world.

Dr. Emmett had the honor of being selected as one of the youngest ever Doctors in history to serve at the Olympic and World team level.

In addition to being a devoted husband to Lisa and world-renowned speaker, author and traveler, Dr. Emmett is an outstanding athlete, Adventure Race enthusiast and Triathlete. He is a NCAA Scholar/ Academic All American in Wrestling and he is also a 5x IRONMAN Triathlon Finisher (and training for number 6). His list of athletic accomplishments includes: Wrestling, Wisconsin Boxing Golden Gloves Runner-up, Rugby, CrossFit, Marathon and Ultra-marathon runner.

Learn more about Dr. Blahnik at: www.nextlevelhealth.comwww.SimplyEatRealFoods.com

153

SEVEN TRAITS OF SUCCESS

CHAPTER 16


BY JAY FLETCH

What is the secret of success? Why do some people obtain great success and others fail? In every endeavor there are those who succeed and those who do not. What does a Tom Brady or Aaron Rodgers do that if we did it too, would raise us to the top of our desired endeavors? How does a Will Smith have a box office hit after hit? Why does it appear so easy for some people to succeed? There is so much written and spoken on success, this chapter is nothing more than a taste, a sample or a brief insight to ignite your desires to stay the course, study more and search more.

On February 1, 2015, Tom Brady played in his record-setting sixth Super Bowl, which is impressive – being he was a backup quarterback for his first two years in college. In his 1999 season, he was part of a platoon with Drew Hansen and it wasn’t until the last seven games Brady became the exclusive quarterback. He was drafted by the New England Patriots in the sixth round of the 2000 NFL draft. A sixth round pick is not considered a superstar. Brady is the only quarterback to lead his team to six Super Bowl appearances. He is the epiphany of success, not because of touchdown passes, the yards, the wins, or the four Super Bowl rings he has, but rather because of his learned traits. In fact, early in the 2014 season, most people were saying Tom Brady was done; they said at 37 he had lost his arm strength, and New England needed to think about his replacement and the team’s future quarterback. Not more than four months later, Tom was holding the Lombardi Trophy

SUCCESS TODAY

154

in Super Bowl XLIX. He had then cemented his Hall of Fame career with his fourth Super Bowl Ring, being only the third quarterback to do so. Now he is mentioned with the likes of Terry Bradshaw and his role model, Joe Montana.

Success isn’t for the chosen few. Success isn’t something you are born with. Success, like failure, is learned. Everyone can be successful in all endeavors they seek, whether it’s in business, life, health, relationships, economics, or sports. Learn what things work, what things are worth getting good at, form successful habits, and then consistently continue to do them UNTIL success appears in your life. At some point the conscious will become unconscious and the uncomfortable comfortable. When that happens, success finds you. It searched for you and found you, because of who you became.

Study the greats inside and outside your industry. What can you learn from a future Hall of Famer quarterback like Tom Brady? What can you learn from the actor, singer, and producer Will Smith? What can you apply from studying a Steve Jobs, Donald Trump, or Oprah Winfrey? What is it that they do, that if you did it too, success would come as easy for you? There are seven traits, and lessons to take away.

I. Have a Vision.

Where there is no vision, the people perish. – Proverbs 29:18

Without vision we will perish. Without knowing “Why” we want to be successful, we will not be successful. We must decide. It is really that simple. All successful people have a vision. A goal. A burning desire. A need. Something pulling them. What I find staggering is the number of people, when asked, who can tell that setting goals is the key to success. Yet they don’t have any predetermined, written, obtainable goals themselves. It all starts with a target, a destination, a reason, a “why” or a burning desire. The “why” is the reason we stay up late and wake up early.

There are two ways to figure out our “why”. Our “why” can be what we desire or can be what we don’t want in our life anymore. What is it we want? What is it that we don’t want? What will get us up and out the door even on our sick days? If we have a strong enough reason, we can overcome most difficulties.

155


II. Love What You Do or Love the Opportunity.

The only way to do great work is to Love what you do. ~ Steve Jobs

Passion is energy. Feel the power that comes from focusing on what excites you. ~ Oprah Winfrey

Success seems to find the person who loves what they do. Love what you do! Why? What for? If you tell me you want a million dollars, I will ask you, “What for? Do you really want a million dollars or do you want what a million dollars can get you? Clarity is power. Have a clear vision of exactly what you want to have, to be, to achieve, and to obtain. If you love what you do, you will find that success will come easy.

On the road to success regardless of our endeavors, there will be obstacles, challenges, detours and wrong turns. Overcoming those challenges will be less difficult when we truly love what we do. There will be bumps in the road. On those days, I often remind myself by saying, “The worst day of being an entrepreneur is better than my best day as an employee.”

There will be times on this journey when you won’t always love what you’re doing. At those moments it is important to love the opportunity, for the opportunity leads to new roads, new cities, and greater future endeavors.

III. Take Action. Put in Effort. Practice Daily.

Fortune favors the bold. ~ Alexander the Great

All successful people take Action. Even if the action is small, do something towards your vision, and do it consistently. Recently in the book Outliers, author Malcolm Gladwell writes that it takes about ten thousand hours of practice to achieve the level of an expert in any field. In a recent interview, Will Smith also attributes his success to hours and hours of practice, study, and improvement of his craft. He stated, “The separation of talent and skill is one of the greatest misunderstood concepts for people who are trying to excel, who have dreams, who want to do things. Talent you have naturally. Skill is only developed by hours and hours and hours of beating on your craft.”

Successful people pay the price, they practice their craft, day-in and day-out. Study anyone successful and you will find that even those that were considered “overnight success” had ten thousand hours of practice or

SUCCESS TODAY

156

roughly ten years of time put into their craft. Put in your time. By doing the important, right things, day-in and day-out, success will appear. At some point, the expert, the professional, or the master doesn’t just practice longer and over extended periods of time, they fall in love with practice. For the quarterback like Tom Brady, he is the first person to arrive at the training facility and the last to leave. He spends all day on the field practicing, and after practice he watches hours upon hours of game films. You have to be conscious of the process, conscious of our actions, conscious of our work ethic, until it becomes unconscious. When this occurs you will be on auto-pilot in the game, in the meeting, and in the moment. Personally, after doing some quick math, in my 18 years I can conclude that I have over 70,000 hours of fine tuning my own craft. It’s a process.

Even though sometimes we can’t see changes happening, the process is working. Trust the process. Trust it will work. Have faith. While we take step after step down a staircase in the dark, do we ever wonder if the next step is going to be there? No. We have faith it will be there, because even when the lights are out we know that the step will be there.

Keep the faith. Take whatever you have and build with it. If all you have is an idea, build with the idea. If all you have are pennies, build with pennies. Take what you have and build with it. You can start with nothing and become something. If you just have faith, trust the process and stay committed, you will succeed.

Take action, develop a high level of motivation and a strong work ethic, and become resilient. As Will Smith said, “The only thing that I see that is distinctly different about me is I’m not afraid to die on a treadmill. I will not be out-worked, period. You might have more talent than me, you might be smarter than me, you might be sexier than me, and you might be all of those things you got it on me in nine categories. But if we get on the treadmill together, there’s two things: You’re getting off first, or I’m going to die. It’s really that simple, right? You’re not going to out-work me. It’s such a simple, basic concept.”

You have to be willing to die for your dreams. How long do you take action towards your vision? Until when? Until it happens. Until you reach the top of the mountain or they find your body on the side of it. Without vision, we will perish.

157


IV. Continuous Improvement. Never stop learning.

If you want to have more, you have to become more. ~ Jim Rohn

Don’t wish it was easier, wish you were better. ~ Jim Rohn

Jim Rohn is considered by many to be one of the most influential business philosophers of all time. He has been credited as an influence for some of the greatest coaches, authors, and motivational speakers of our time – such as Anthony “Tony” Robbins, Mark Victor Hansen, Darren Hardy, Jack Canfield and Brian Tracy. He often spoke about working on ourselves, investing in ourselves, and molding ourselves continuously so that we can become more. If we become more we will attract success. Success is something you attract by always working on being a better version of yourself. And just like the rule of ten thousand hours or ten years, time will either reward you or expose you. If you are growing, time will reward you for that growth or time will punish you for your neglect.

V. Self-talk, Affirmations, and Self-Suggestions.

Marcus Aurelius, the Roman emperor and philosopher, said: A man’s life is what his thoughts make of it.

The dictionary defines an affirmation as;

1. the action or process of affirming something or being affirmed.

2. emotional support or encouragement.

Telling yourself and others powerful words and phrases can make all the difference in your success. It’s the language you have with yourself that can inspire you to win before you even step onto the field.

Something as simple as saying “I Will” versus “I’ll try.” We are reminded from the words of Yoda, “Do or do not. There is no try!”

Words, such as: “I will,” “I can,” and “I am” repeated often enough will bring about the energy, the commitment, the enthusiasm, and the will to become more.

The conversations you have with yourself are influencing you and affecting both your successes and your failures. That communication with yourself is building both your faith and motivation to continue.

SUCCESS TODAY

158

It goes without saying that affirmations repeated to yourself daily without any action, is self-deception. You must go to work. Affirmations and self-suggestions can never be substituted for action, work ethic and perseverance.

VI. Associations and Influencers.

There is a saying spoken so often that the value has been lost, it goes: Birds of a feather flock together.

One of my mentors, Bob Squillace, stressed the importance of the power that associations will have in my life in one simple profound sentence, “If you spend time with Bums, you will become a Bum.”

It is easy to dismiss this power, because the changes that occur in us through our associations are so subtle that by the time we notice anything, the change has already occurred. If you spend time with people who are negative, you will become negative. If you spend time with people who are successful, you will be successful. The influences from your associations can be quietly subtle and extremely powerful, and when compounded it will lead to failure or bring great opportunities.

Who you are, or who you will become, is the combined average of the five people you spend the most time with.

In turn, disassociate with those who threaten the quality of your life and success. Limit your association with those who you can not disassociate completely, and expand your associations with those who have what you want in life, business, relationships, faith and success.

VII. Be a Giver and Live Through Gratitude.

People take for granted all the gifts they already have. The more you research and study the power of being grateful, the more you learn and discover that being grateful for what you already have leads to more. Too often people feel that they will be grateful for something once they obtain it. Without being grateful for what they have now, they don’t deserve to have more. I believe that if you go the extra mile and consistently do more than what you are paid for, you are rewarded not in kind but rather in multiple blessings. The more you are grateful and

159


the more you give, the more you are rewarded in life with success, and your own blessings.

SUCCESS IS EVERYTHING

“There’s a way to do it better...find it.”

~ Thomas A. Edison

“Committing to mastery is not dabbling. It’s doing whatever it takes and if something doesn’t work its trying something else until you find a way...Mastery never stops. If you’re truly a master, you’re always

looking for the next level.”

~ Anthony Robbins

If you can be more, do more, have more, should you? I believe we all should aspire to be successful in every area of our life. Stop looking for the secret to success as I don’t believe it is a secret at all. There are reminders every day and all around us of what it takes to be successful. Seek success, not the secret, and you will find success. For those of us that seek success, in short, what we need to do is to decide what we want, pay attention, get excited, always be learning and never quit.

SUCCESS TODAY

160

About Jay

Jay Fletch is dedicated and passionate about continuous improvement. He is an avid reader, speaker, consultant and coach. Jay is consistently ranked as one of the top producing real estate agents in the upper Midwest and among the top 1% of Real Estate Agents in the country. By working hard, using the

ideas shared in his speeches and writings, he has received numerous awards for his sales achievements.

Jay holds a Masters Degree from the University of St. Thomas, Saint Paul, Minnesota. He is an entrepreneur and involved in several businesses. His primary focuses are real estate sales and success consulting. He attributes his success to hard work, attention to detail, constant growth and his beliefs and philosophies. Persistent perseverance and steady stamina has earned him a reputation as one of the most admired and trusted Real Estate Professionals among his peers and clients.

Jay Fletch holds a legion of real estate designations and certifications. Among them are Certified Negotiation Expert and Certified Luxury Home Marketing Specialist. Consistenly, Jay has been a top selling real estate advisor, selling and listing more than a hundred homes each year, in other words he averages a sale every 72 hours.

When Jay is asked to speak, train, or consult on various topics including real estate, business, sales, and success, he delivers. His education, experience, and continuous dedication to improvement enable him to provide outstanding service.

Jay is recognized as a leader in the real estate industry and in business success, marketing and coaching. He can be reached at:[email protected]@edinarealty.comwww.facebook.com/jaywfletchwww.twitter.com/jaywfletch

161

SAFE RETIREMENT STRATEGIES

CHAPTER 17


BY JAY J. PEAK

I’ll never forget 2008. It was the year that changed my life and gave me purpose. At that time I was new to the Financial Services Industry and didn’t really know what my calling was. I was mostly selling Life Insurance. And for me, this was a great joy. I felt in my heart that I was really able to help people. But then, in 2008 when the Stock Market plummeted, it changed my business forever!

I remember sitting in my office calling on prospects. Or as my manager said, “Dialing for Dollars!” And giving anyone who would talk with me my sales pitch. And at this time, I was very successful at it. It wasn’t because I was really good at it or knew what my customer wanted. I just was willing to work hard. And I made more calls then any of the other agents. I got in front of more people . . . and made more money.

I even remember being invited to speak at a leadership conference for Life Insurance agents. I was talking on stage about how I acquired so many clients. And I bragged about how I would talk with anyone, anywhere about insurance. Oh how I remember those days, I thought that I knew it all.

Well since 2008, I have helped thousands of clients and hundreds of advisors to think differently. Not to be as short-sighted as I was. You see, during the time of my early success, I was really not doing anything great. Meaning, all I was really doing was outworking my competition.

SUCCESS TODAY

162

That’s it! And yes, I did spend more time developing my industry knowledge. But knowing all of the ins-and-outs of a particular product didn’t pay my bills. Meeting new prospects did. So that’s what I became an expert at. I became really good at talking with people and converting them into clients.

But what I was missing was a purpose. Yes, I did have a desire to succeed, and a willingness to help people. But I really wasn’t helping my clients any more than any other Life Insurance agent out there. So in 2008, when the Stock Market crashed, just about all of my clients were affected. And some of them lost almost half of their life savings in the blink of an eye. This really opened my eyes about how the American economy affects people.

After seeing what was happening to my clients. I decided to make a change. And this time it wasn’t about me, it was about my clients. You see, I couldn’t stand by and see my clients lose their retirement nest eggs. I had to figure out a way to help them. This is when I decided to become a Safe Money Expert. My mission was to keep my clients money in the black and away from the red. I’ve interviewed with 70-year-olds that had all of their money in the Stock Market, and when they lost half of it, they didn’t know what they were going to do. . . and with 60-year-olds that couldn’t see retirement in their near future. Does “I-guess-I'll-work-until-I-die” sound familiar?

So I’ve spent the last seven years educating and teaching my clients how their retirement money really works. I have uncovered the pros and the cons of investing in the Stock Market. . . and various retirement plans. I exposed how fees inside a 401(k) were eating away at any hope of a decent return. And how an average rate of return that their advisor was pitching was far different from their actual rate of return.

Once I educated myself and my clients on the truths of retirement planning, I went to work on finding a vehicle that could save America’s retirement dream. I looked at all of the most popular ways for Americans to save for their retirement – such as 401(k)’s, SEP’s, Keogh’s, 403(b)’s, IRA’s and so on. What I found was astonishing. All of these plans, no matter what you called them, all had two definite characteristics.

163


I. The first characteristic was risk.

All of the different types of accounts were really just tax codes. These types of accounts were not much different from each other. They all had their place in individual and business markets, depending on how much money that you wanted to contribute in a given year and how the contribution affected your taxes. Basically they were all tax-deferred accounts that charged you a fee for managing your money.

The common thread that all of these accounts had in common was that your money was in the Stock Market. Whether it was mutual funds, stocks, options or whatever. Your money was tied to the Stock Market in one form or another and was at risk. Not just some of your money, all of it!

II. The second was fees.

It was pretty funny to hear different stockbroker’s sales pitches about the market. You see, a stockbroker’s job is to keep you in the market no matter what. As an investor we have all heard this basic investment strategy. Here it is: “buy low, sell high.” Right? So when my clients would call their stock broker and wanted to buy, the broker was more than willing to help them. But when my clients wanted to sell. It was a whole different story.

My clients would hear things like, “Don’t sell, the market is going higher” or, “If you get out now, you may miss the top of the market.” All of these tactics are really just a way to keep you from taking money out of the market. The broker wants you to stay in the market because that’s how they get paid! They get a commission for new transactions and churning your funds. They call this “Reallocating your portfolio.”

After I uncovered how retirement plans really work. I decided to look at the banks. I looked in to how they worked and made money. Banks do have a couple of good things going for them – like safety and the FDIC insurance that you get when you open an account. They also have pretty good service. And we could not operate our monetary system without them. So the problem with banks is not safety. The problem with banks is the interest rate. Or should I say lack of.

This one blew me away! Here is how banks make a profit – in it’s simplest form. They take in deposits from your hard-earned money. And

SUCCESS TODAY

164

maybe, a big maybe! . . . pay you a very small interest rate to keep your money with them. These days interest on checking accounts is almost extinct. Money Market accounts aren’t much better. And you would be lucky to get more than 1% on your CD today.

Once they have your money. They make loans on their stockpile of cash and charge an interest rate. This happens when you get a loan at the bank for a car or home. The difference between what the bank pays you in interest and what interest rate that they charge their clients is called a Margin. The Margin is their profit. And it can be a pretty big one too. Did you ever notice that even in a bad economy, they are always building banks. That’s something for you to think about the next time you make a deposit.

After reviewing the two most common ways of saving money, the Stock Market and the banks, I came to a conclusion. You either risk your money in the Stock Market, hoping that you make good decisions along the way and minimize the fees and try to time the market, or you take the safe approach and put your money in the bank – only to earn ‘measly’ returns which devalue your money every year. . . because the interest rate that you are earning from the bank doesn’t even keep up with rising inflation.

So if you only have a choice of being charged outrageous fees inside of your retirement plan or having your money de-value in a bank vault, what is the answer? What should you do? Well, here’s the secret. Do all of it, but do it smarter. You have to have a bank account to operate your life. It makes things convenient and easy for you to transact business.

You may consider having a portion of your money in the Stock Market. But the big word is “Portion.” That means not all of it. For example: if you are getting a match on your contribution from your job, take it! Don’t turn down the free money. But don’t put all of your eggs in one basket. Here’s the deal, even if you think that you are diversified – meaning that you are in many different funds, sectors and company sizes – when the Stock Market is down. Doesn’t that really mean that you can possibly lose money in some or all of those diversified places? If we are in a down market, that equals a down portfolio!

So what can I do if I want safety with a decent return, without the risk of the Stock Market. What if I told you, that you could have part of your

165


money in a safe vehicle that can do this for you. What? I can do that? Absolutely! And you can do it all without paying any fees. Without the risk of losing any money!

It’s true, let’s talk about how it works. When the Stock Market goes up, you go up with it. And when the Stock Market goes down, you lock in your gains. Said another way. You don’t lose any of your principal or interest. This happens because you are not actually investing in the Stock Market. All you are doing is mirroring the market. Or in this case an Index, such as the S&P 500 or Russell 2000. Wow! That sounds too good to be true! There has to be a ‘gotcha.’ And there is! In fact, there are two ‘gotcha’s.’ The first is CAP or maximum gain. The CAP is the maximum amount of interest that you can earn in one year. So if your CAP is 15% and the market does 10%. Can you get 10%? Absolutely! How about if the market does 15% can you get 15%? Sure can! But what if the market goes up 20% or 25% can I get that too? Nope! You can only earn up to the C.A.P.

The second ‘gotcha’ is time. This means that this is not a short-term retirement vehicle. You must commit to a certain time frame to have your money in this product. It could range anywhere from five to ten years. This is called a surrender period. So if you take money out of this account early – before the surrender period is over – you would have a penalty. The penalty amount depends on the company that you put your funds with. But it’s usually around 10%.

What is the name of this product you may ask? It’s called a Fixed Indexed Annuity. This is a great way to save for your future retirement. . . mostly because you can’t lose. Understand that if you have your money in the Stock Market and the market loses 40%, when the market comes back up, you are starting from a lower amount than you had before the market dropped. And the lower amount is what you are earning interest off of. But when you are in a Fixed Indexed Annuity, you never lose a penny of your interest or principal. That means when the market drops you still have everything that you deposited and the interest you have earned.

Now that you know how the product works. There are good Indexed Annuities and bad Indexed Annuities. Here are the five things that you want to look for.

SUCCESS TODAY

166

1. Participation rates: Always make sure that the company that you are working with has 100% participation rate. Any less means that not all of you dollars are mirroring the market. And you are losing earning power.

2. CAP Changes: CAP’s can change over time. So just understand that the most interest that you can earn can fluctuate from year to year.

3. Ratings: Always go with an A-rated company. This means they are strong and aren’t going out of business tomorrow.

4. M.V.A: M.V.A stands for Market Value Adjustment. This is like a double surrender charge in a low interest rate environment. Not a good deal!

5. Long surrender charges: I would not get an annuity with a surrender period of longer than 10 years. In the annuity market today there is really no reason to go any longer.

What’s next? The most important piece of advice that I would give you is to take action now. Don’t wait for the “Top-of-the-market” or other investing hype. Peter Lynch once said, “Far more money has been lost by investors preparing for corrections, or trying to anticipate corrections, than has been lost in corrections themselves.” Too many of my clients have lost thousands of dollars trying to time market corrections before they realized that they should have done something sooner. With the Indexed Annuity, you can still participate in the upside of the market up to your CAP without the downside risk. For example: if your CAP is 15%, ask yourself, “Would I be willing to give up anything above 15% that the Stock Market does . . . to protect me from losing any of my principal or interest?”

Next, ask yourself this question, “If I were to lose half of my retirement portfolio today, would I be able to retire when and how I want to?” Said another way, “Can I afford to lose half of my life savings and still achieve my retirement dreams?” If the answer is a resounding “No!” then you may consider putting part of your money into a safe retirement vehicle. This will protect you from market volatility. . . and keep you from working the rest of your life.

167


About Jay

Jay J. Peak offers premier retirement services to clients seeking prudent financial solutions to their needs. Individuals, families and businesses comprise his clientele. Their common thread is one of having an accessible, honest and exceptional executive who oversees their life insurance and financial portfolio.

As an independent agent, Jay’s job is to listen to people’s needs, help them identify their financial goals and then specifically tailor financial products to them that will accomplish those goals. His education, licensure, on-going training and continued monitoring of current market developments enable him to provide outstanding service.

A fourth generation Oklahoman, Jay comes from a family that pre-dates Statehood. His deep-rooted heritage is filled with role models in business, agriculture, politics, military service and public service. His positive approach to life is based on integrity and conservative values.

Jay Peak was raised in Oklahoma City and has over 9 years of experience in safe money strategies. Jay believes that honesty, integrity and the truth are more important than anything else.

When Jay established Peak Financial Corporation, he set out with an objective to help clients eliminate as much confusion as possible in planning their financial future.

Peak Financial Corporation and Jay Peak are diligent in helping their customers achieve their long term financial objectives by utilizing insurance products. Jay believes everyone should have a financial advisor with honesty, integrity and a commitment to make things simpler and more comprehensible.

SUCCESS TODAY

168

169

HOW DO I MAKE MARKETING WORK FOR MY BUSINESS?

CHAPTER 18


BY CHRIS ALLEN

Before I get into the meat, it would be a good idea to tell you my story. I started out of school working for Procter & Gamble. Over my career, I got to work in a lot of different business areas and learned quite a bit about marketing (myself, internally and externally). I was fortunate to retire from P&G in 2009 and have been a FocalPoint Business Coach and partnered with Brian Tracy ever since. I’ve continued to build my expertise through coaching a number of businesses, ongoing training and development within FocalPoint, through Brian Tracy’s programs and also through a number of other external programs in which I've invested. I believe what I’m bringing to you in this chapter is the best of what I’ve come across throughout over 30 years of experience and training with real world application for your business.

One of my favorite quotes is by David Ogilvy – “We know half your marketing works. We just don’t know which half!”

What I’d like to do is walk you through a process to improve your overall marketing and understand what’s working and what’s not. The best thing to do is to do more of what works and tweak the stuff not working until it does or you eliminate it.

SUCCESS TODAY

170

There are five key areas to creating marketing that works:

1). Understanding your market (also termed as knowing your “Who”)

2). Having a clear Unique Selling Proposition (USP)

3). Constructing the right messaging along with providing an irresistible offer

4). Using the right media

5). Measuring and reassessing on some frequency

1. Understanding Your MarketThe key to understanding your market is really in understanding what are your business, products/services and ideal client. To understand your business, you need to ask yourself foundational questions and get to the real answers.

• Why am I doing what I’m doing?

Understanding your purpose will help you to drive to differentiating factors for your business/products/services vs. the industry. Generally understanding why you do something also provides a rationale for why someone would want to buy from you as well. There is a great Ted Talk called “Start with Why” that you can check out if you need some prompting.

• What business am I really in?

Defining your business helps you to find an appropriate progression through products/services and a common theme that can be used in messaging. Are you a specific product/service only? Do you serve a vertical market? Doing a bit of research on your competition and the other products/services they sell can help you see if there’s a specific niche you can fill or product/service gaps you could provide.

• Who is my ideal client? It’s important to really think about this and get into details. This requires not only demographics (age, sex, location, income level, etc.) and psychographics (What motivates them? What are their likes/dislikes? What are their problems/issues? What is their personality style?, etc.), but also taking it down to a specific client/person who really is ideal, e.g., repeat buyer, loyal, not worried about price, pays their bills on

171


time, pleasant to deal with, refers others to you, etc. With this information, you can really get into what the messaging and the offer each needs to be.

• Why should they buy from me versus the competition? This is another way to think about differentiation. If you don’t have a clear reason for them to buy from you versus the competition other than price, you will have a very difficult time sustaining this model. You can use a variety of resources to help you . . . Google certainly is a good place to start. Not only can you find references for your competition, but you can also find online advertising in your industry by searching on some key words.

2. Crafting a Unique Selling Proposition (USP)Once you’ve gone through the foundational questions, you need to begin crafting a Unique Selling Proposition (USP). Ultimately, this is a handful of reasons why someone would want to buy from you and make sure you focus on the key word unique. Reasons could be easier, faster, better (quantify how what you have is better), cheaper (avoid this one if you can . . . works for Wal-Mart, but difficult to sustain as a small business), etc. It’s really easy to cop out with “we have better customer service.” Everyone says this and although this may be true, focus on the specific things that you do that make the service experience better.

If we take a realtor as an example, they could concentrate on a specific neighborhood, price range of homes, offer more thorough comps and best possible price, quickest sale, understand your needs better and provide you with best choices and using least amount of your time to find the right home, etc. Once your USP positions you as the “go to guy” in a specific market, you no longer have to compete on pricing!

3(a). Constructing the Right MessageThe key parts to any good marketing are: a headline, a statement of benefits, an offer and a call-to-action. Notice I didn’t say company name or logo. Those can be included, but the only person that cares about the company name is the business owner. Many times you’ll see ads with the company name at the top of the ad followed by xx years in business. The typical person spends only about 7 seconds looking past ads or listening to someone and decides if it warrants

SUCCESS TODAY

172

more of their time. If you start with the name or anything else that doesn’t grab their attention, you’ve lost them. These types of ads are called tombstone ads . . . here lies Company XYZ.

A headline should grab the prospect’s attention by focusing on some key problem/issue they may have (or don’t know they have). Again, it’s important to think of your ideal client. Don’t be too general or vague here! It’s important to have a focused headline that will appeal to the ideal.

Don’t confuse benefits with features. A benefit needs to be an end result that the prospect desires. Generally bullet points are good to use to make them stand out and be easy to read.

I’ll get into the offer in more detail in the next section.

The call-to-action should be a simple instruction for them to follow next that leads them to the next step in the buying process.

3(b). Providing an Irresistible OfferOnce you know your ideal client including their biggest problem/issue you can solve, it’s now time to think up an offer they have to obtain. If you are selling a high-end product or service, you may want to have an offer that is lower on the cost scale so they can try you out before they have to commit to the much larger purchase. A lot of businesses do well with some type of free report. Educational marketing – providing some type of education/training value for free and the report/tips lead the purchaser to ultimately need to purchase your product/service – is a very hot way to market. It allows the prospect to gain some knowledge about your product/service area, sets you up as the expert and provides them with buying criteria that sets up your product/service as THE one to buy!

The reason why this works so well too, is because you are targeting 70% of the market vs. 3%. In any given market, 3% of the people are ready to buy your product/service right now and are actively shopping for it. This 3% is what the vast majority of the marketing/advertising is focusing on. The rest of the market breaks down as follows: 7% are open to buying your product/service, 30% of the prospects are not thinking about it, 30% think they are not interested or don’t even know the product/service exists and the

173


last 30% know they are not interested and no matter what you say/do, they will never buy it. If you throw away the last grouping, that leaves about 70% of a market that could be swayed into purchasing or eventually purchasing your product/service if given the right information and offer.

So, back to the offer. Many times, you’ll see offers of 50% off, buy one get one free, save $500, etc. Price reduction can be very powerful, but it doesn’t always have to be about price. If you’ve done the education properly, you’ve already convinced them they need your product/service and they are already thinking about getting it from you. Now, you need something to get them over the edge and buy now—throw in a bonus item, adding more service to your service, discounted up-sells or cross-sells, etc. One other comment about educational marketing when you are marketing a service . . . it’s about educating the prospect on the “what” and not the “how.” The “what” gives them information about the problem to be solved and sets up the buying criteria to favor your business offer. The “how” comes in later when the prospect buys your solution.

3(c). Tying It All Together One of the best ways to formulate your messaging is to set it up using Gleicher’s Formula. Gleicher’s Formula is D x V x Fs > R. Spelling it out, the Dissatisfaction with the current state times the Vision of the future state times the First Steps required need to be greater than the Resistance to Change. Since it’s a multiplier effect of each component, you can’t skip any one of them or it nets to zero!

Think of the Headline as the thing providing the dissatisfaction. The benefits are setting up the vision for the future. The offer and call-to-action are the first steps.

The Headline should go after a pain point and jar an emotional reaction. Fear, Uncertainty, Doubt, Frustration, etc. are all very high motivators and will help grab their attention and get them thinking about all of the times they’ve been stuck and looking for a solution.

The benefits in an ad are generally bulleted to save space and get people to see them quickly. They begin seeing positive attributes that look like you’ve solved the problem for others and it should

SUCCESS TODAY

174

work for them too!

Now they’ve moved onto a path of going after a solution, it’s now time to tell them what they need to do next to begin moving away from their pain and onto the solution you have. The offer sounds enticing to them and you’re requesting them to “call (xxx) xxx-xxxx”, “Click Here” or “text your email to . . .” to receive a free report, a free sample or to get started on the program. This should be an easy step for them to take immediate action and begin to feel like relief and a better life is coming.

4. What is the Right Media to Use?So now that you have a great message, where should you put it to get to my ideal prospect? There are lots of options currently and a whole book could be dedicated to covering them so although I can’t cover it in a single chapter, I’ll provide a bit of a framework for you to think through the best options.

How do I pick what to do? Do you just do what other businesses are doing? Think about how businesses differ from one another . . . industry, niche, target market or area of specialization, budget, transactional vs. relationship selling, one-time vs. ongoing or repeat, tangible vs. intangible, product vs. service, size of transaction, luxury vs. necessity, B2C vs. B2B, lead time to delivery, timing (seasonal, etc.), regulation compliance, etc.

Do all marketing methods work with all businesses? A simple framework can be to think about your product or service and what type of relationship is required to get the prospect to buy. A transaction that requires a high dollar amount of investment and/or a high time component, will likely require a larger amount of relationship (trust) building than one that is a low dollar amount and/or low time involvement. Based on the amount of relationship/trust required, some media will lend itself better to developing the relationship required.

Examples of types of media and where they’d fit are:

High Touch/Trust – Referral Marketing, Social Media as referral, educational marketing, workshops/seminars/speaking engagements, networking, strategic alliances, very high end trinkets (e.g., iPad),

175


etc.

Medium Touch/Trust – Social media, sales person, PR, some higher end trinkets (leather portfolio, high end pen, etc.), newsletter, volunteering, etc.

Low Touch/Trust – Advertising, telemarketing & cold calling, flyers, door hangers, direct mail, trash & trinkets (pens, pads, toys, etc.), social media if advertising/selling, etc.

If your product/service requires a high level of trust building, you’d want to mostly focus on high end and mid-range touch activities. If low touch, about anything can work just to get your message out.

5. Measure And ReassessNo matter what type of marketing activity you use, it’s important to ensure you can measure the results so you know if your time and money are being spent well. As much as possible, you should understand from where your leads are coming.

FINAL THOUGHTS

I recommend using something called the Parthenon Marketing Strategy. The old buildings of Greece and Rome have stood the test of time because they were built with solid foundations and many large columns that helped support the structure. With marketing, you should have a number of marketing activities in place working to generate leads. 10-12 activities is a good benchmark, but ultimately, it’s about generating the right amount of leads to make your business a success and provide a level of growth that your business can support. Each activity should have some type of follow-up associated with it (e.g., auto-responder) and it’s good to have a balance of both active (e.g., Public speaking) and passive marketing strategies (e.g., Blogging).

Good Luck and Happy Marketing!

SUCCESS TODAY

176

About Chris

Chris S. Allen is a professional corporate trainer, speaker, business coach and advisor and the President of The Business Spotlight, Inc., “Lighting the Way to Your Success!” Coach Chris is based in Cincinnati, Ohio but works with a worldwide customer base. He is a recognized expert in leadership development, sales,

management, marketing, business development and growth.

Chris is a retired executive of Procter & Gamble. His entire career has run the gamut across numerous functional areas and business units within Procter & Gamble across several geographies, and throughout was focused on people and team development.

Chris has been married for over 25 years to Jodi, and they have four kids: Jordan, Kelsey, Madison, and Shawn. He enjoys golf, reading and self-improvement, word puzzles, technology, fine dining, fine wine, playing most sports, traveling, continual learning and teaching others new things.

177

ACHIEVE YOUR HEALTH AND FITNESS GOALS

CHAPTER 19


BY JOHN RUTLEDGE

MY STORY

From the age of fourteen until I was twenty-eight years old, my life was a struggle. I was raised by a single mother who died from lung cancer a month after my fourteenth birthday. My life was complete chaos for the next fourteen years. I traveled during the summers playing in bands up and down the east coast. After finishing high school, I began traveling as a fulltime professional musician. However, the lifestyle and the choices that I made almost killed me.

Finally, I realized that my life was completely out of control, and that if I didn’t make a change I was going to die young. I started my new health plan, and walked away from the things that were controlling my life. One day at a time, one run at a time, one workout at time, slowly replacing bad habits with good habits, I turned my life around.

Changes in my behavior were not easy at first. It took a lot of self-examination, a renewed determination, and resolution to stay with my program. All it required was to look in a mirror. Seeing what I had let myself become, and being unhappy with the shell I saw in that mirror gave me the courage, and then the determination to completely change my bad habits. Fortunately, I have followed a healthy plan for my life for the past thirty years. My current plans are to continue running, working out and eating healthy.

SUCCESS TODAY

178

A local business owner believed in me enough to get me an interview with a company. As a result, I was employed by them in 1986. It was my first corporate job and it had benefits and a company car. This started a new chapter in my life. Getting up at 4:00 in the morning to go to work instead of going to bed at 4:00 made a difficult adjustment, but it gave me the confidence needed to change my life. It is important to remember that a fixed routine helped me greatly.

By the grace of God and my own wiser choices, my life has never been better. I turned a passion into a profession that I truly love. I have been a personal trainer since 1993. For more than twenty years, I have been helping others live a healthier life by developing a health and exercise plan that works for them.

Choices I made in my teens and twenties were a high price to pay for my health issues today. I had Hepatitis B at age 16 from drug use, and failed a life insurance exam in 2000 that showed Hepatitis C in my blood. Fast forward to 2014, a liver biopsy showed that I had stage 2 Cirrhosis of the liver. After careful care with my physicians and better choices in my lifestyle, In January 2015, I received the exciting news that I am Hepatitis free and that I can expect my liver to heal.

Now, where are you along your journey? Maybe you are overweight, even obese. Have you forgotten how to follow a healthy lifestyle? Have you become a couch potato with poor eating habits, too much fast food, too many carbohydrates or too much alcohol? Or perhaps you are dealing with a chronic disease. You do not have to live that way. And if you have problems that are not of your own doing, you do not have to give up. Make the decision to turn your life around.

SOME SIMPLE SUGGESTIONS FOR GETTING STARTED

First, you must concentrate on your mental attitude. Nothing will start, no changes will take place, unless you WANT them to. Stop everything that you are doing, turn off the TV, and set aside a time to talk to yourself. Ask yourself if you are happy with your life.

If you do not care, and if you think things are just fine, you will never improve. Try your best to think positively, and answer these questions:

179


• Am I truly satisfied with the person I have become?

• Am I content with what I see in a mirror?

• Have my waist, tummy and hip sizes increased considerably?

• Do I sometimes have trouble breathing with a little exertion?

• Do I often pop pills to relieve pain or headaches?

• Do I often rest poorly, have trouble sleeping?

• Am I often guilty of snapping at my family members?

• Am I aware of the health consequences of a sedentary, poor eating lifestyle?

• Do I take a drink - or more - when I am depressed?

Remember that old adage: Today is the first day of the rest of your life.

Now, if you do care what you become, and you truly want to change, do not try to do it too quickly. If you fail, you might become too discouraged to continue. Here are some things you can do at first.

Go to bed early and get up early; losing sleep has the same effect as drugs and alcohol. Lack of sleep causes accidents and makes the day a long one.

Don’t skip breakfast- it’s not good to deprive your body and mind of the nutrition they need first thing in the morning. You wouldn’t drive your car without enough gas and oil. So treat your body better than you do your car - you can’t trade your body in . . . you have to live with it!

Exercise first thing in the morning for at least 30 minutes a day. People that exercise in the morning don’t miss as many workouts as afternoon exercisers.

Your body also needs plenty of oxygen. You cannot live long without it. But many people are allowing their body cells to decompose because of insufficient oxygen. Exercise will of course provide a remedy, but you should also work to improve your breathing. Take a series of deep breaths often each day and you will begin to feel much better.

Start a self-improvement program that will work for you. Take action today and experience the energy that it will give you. Not being the best that you can be messes with your head. You are designed for action!

SUCCESS TODAY

180

Your body will not function correctly without proper activity.

NINE (9) ACTIONS TO HELP YOU GET FIT

If you simply want to get the most from your exercise workout routine or if you are training for a marathon, these tips will help you get fit faster, reach your fitness goals and avoid injuries:

1- Consider hiring a certified Personal TrainerLook for a trainer that has an NCCA (National Commission for Certifying Agencies) certification and liability insurance. Sometimes, to benefit from a training program, you need advice from a professional. We get set in our ways and habits, which can be good for consistency. However, it is hard to make progress when you repeat the same regimen week after week. Following a program written by a professional can help you reach your goals faster and with greater long-term success.

2- Listen to Your BodyEffective training requires a game plan and flexibility to alter it based on how you feel. If you aren’t feeling well or your heart rate is elevated it could be that you are over-training.

3- Consider hiring a Health CoachThis person can help you with a health and fitness plan, and do whatever it takes to take control and own your personal healthcare plan. This is for your benefit and ultimate success.

4- Get SupportIt is extremely important to have support for your training program and new behavior choices. The time and resources you commit will be life changing for you and your family.

5- Rest and RecoveryThis is one of the most overlooked needs in effective training. If you do not plan rest and recovery, you limit your ability to train. Rest also allows you to recover mentally and emotionally, and to avoid exercise “burn-out.”

6- Cross TrainCross training is a great way to train effectively. It is a way to change things up and develop overall muscle conditioning and

181


allow your muscles to recover and rest without losing your fitness, and you’ll get a mental boost from alternating your workouts.

7- Strength TrainStrength training is one of the best ways to improve your sports performance and power. Add a couple of strength-training sessions a week to your cardiovascular workouts to help reduce your risk of injury.

8- Consider Interval TrainingInterval training involves alternating short, fast bursts of intense energy with slow and easy activity. This type of training works the aerobic and anaerobic system. Interval training is a powerful way to improve the conditioning of the cardiovascular system.

9- Eat WellProper nutrition and effective training are key components to good health. Eating right is an essential part to becoming healthy and fit. Good nutrition also allows you to maintain high quality training, good recovery and good race-day performance.

NUTRITION AND LONGEVITY

Starting around the age of twenty-one, metabolism (the process by which your body releases energy) and lean muscle mass begin to decrease or diminish, according to Tufts University Research. As early as age thirty, muscle mass begins to decline by 1%, about a third of a pound a year.

This should be a warning that if you don’t use your muscles, you will lose them. The good news is that by starting your health plan while you are young, and continuing it throughout your adult life will help you retain your strength and muscle mass.

There is hope for the aging group that has not kept strength and muscle size. Research from the Human Nutritional Research Center on Aging shows that a small group of men ages 60-72 improved muscle strength by 120% when they did high-intensity strength training for 12 weeks. In the 1990’s, Miriam Nelson followed for 1 year a group of 50-70 old sedentary women who exercised 2 times a week. This increased their strength by 75%.

SUCCESS TODAY

182

These five guidelines will help to evaluate the quality of a diet:

1 - Does the nutrition meet your needs? The same plan does not work for everyone. If you have health problems such as heart disease, diabetes, or you haven’t had a physical, please, obtain your physician’s approval before starting a diet or exercise program.

2 - Is it healthy? A healthy diet has a variety of proper foods and accompanying exercise.

3 - How does the diet cut calories? It takes 3500 calories to lose a pound of fat.

4 - What is the nutrient density of the diet? Get at least nine servings of a variety of vegetables and fruits daily. They will help provide your body with the vitamins and minerals and are lower in calories.

5 - Does the diet recommend exercise? Moderate exercise accelerates weight loss by burning more calories, and it helps you to keep your weight under control.

There are several options available that will help you make better food choices. The App fooducate.com will scan the food package and give you the food value. Some Supermarkets have dietitians on-site that help customers make better choices and answer nutritional questions.

Choosemyplate.gov is a helpful site to help you understand serving sizes and to get nutritional ideas.

SUMMARY

Everyone is different and fitness and nutritional needs are as well. It is important to find a system that is designed specifically for you. If you want to be stronger, get healthier, and achieve your health and fitness goals, you must do what’s best for your body. It is important to find a personal trainer who will take the time to get to know you and your goals and work with you to achieve those goals.

Ultimately, you want a personal trainer who is going to listen to you, because you know your body best. But you also want a trainer who is going to invest in you and has the desire to help you reach your goals as

183


much as you do. You want a personal trainer that will get you the results you want, but it starts with you.

You must also know the correct goals to set. If you set your goals too high, you may find yourself discourage or injured. If you set your goals too low, then you will not improve.

Many time I have attempted a running/jogging program, but always ended in frustration and feelings of failure. Through John’s training, I am learning how to pace myself, how to breathe, how to stretch properly, and more importantly, how to relax and enjoy the run…Thanks to John, I completed my first 5 Kilometer in November! ~ Lisa E. Goings.

No matter your health or fitness level, now is the time to take action. It does not matter if your goal is to run a 5K or a marathon, now is the time to take control of your health and well-being. Start setting goals for yourself, even if it is as simple as getting on the phone and talking to a personal trainer. My life changed when I made the decision to get healthy, and yours will as well.

SUCCESS TODAY

184

About John

John Rutledge has been my personal trainer for over 12 years. He is motivated, thoughtful, knowledgeable and experienced. John’s workouts are challenging and disciplined. He pushes you to your limit and does so in a way that is healthy and injury free…I trained with John and completed several marathons with his support. ~ Elizabeth Fort

John is a certified American Council on Exercise Personal Trainer and Health Coach. He has been helping clients reach their health and fitness goals since 1993. He is an endurance athlete, running marathons since 1997 and has coached others to run their first 5K and other marathons. As a Health Coach, he has helped clients address behavior factors and habits that affect a wide range of issues such as: inactivity, stress, smoking, weight gain and obesity.

John is also a certified Tabata Boot Camp Trainer. “Tabata is revolutionary in small group training.” In a Tabata Boot Camp, we combine highly efficient cutting-edge exercise, sound nutrition advice and the latest science that enhances positive behavior change.

Personally, John has earned the Distinguished Toastmaster Award from Toastmasters International, for outstanding accomplishments and leadership excellence in the pursuit of the mission of Toastmasters International. He has recently received certification from the American Council On Exercise - Fitness in Nutrition Specialty.

Along with his love of personal training, he also enjoys playing drums and performing with other musicians.

You can connect with John at:[email protected]/johnrutledgepersonaltraining

185

THE NEW RETIREMENT

CHAPTER 20

THE NEW RETIREMENT WORKING TODAY AND TOMORROW

TO CREATE WEALTH SOLUTIONS FOR LIFE™

BY THIE C.L. CONVERY

My grandfather retired at age 65. In those days, there was no such thing as “early” retirement. Instead, you worked until the actual day you turned 65 years of age. Not a day earlier; not a day later.

My grandfather told me that the happiest day of his life was the day that he retired. And it always makes me a little sad to think that he had to wait so long to enjoy the happiest day of his life. That would be sheer torment for me; and maybe it was for him, too. Can you imagine passing through life, one day at a time, waiting until your happiest day arrived?

And here’s the bigger problem. At the time of my grandfather’s retirement at age 65, the average life expectancy for a male was only 64 years of age. That means the average male would not have even made it to retirement at 65! Sounds like a perfect plan, right?

In my grandfather’s lifetime, work was tough, physically demanding and couldn’t be sustained into late in life. Whether on the farm or as industrial workers—in factories and mines, industry, business and

SUCCESS TODAY

186

commerce—people were often working in unsafe and hazardous conditions, with long and tiring shifts, six or seven days per week, with little or no holidays. As might be expected, these conditions took a toll on the body and on life expectancy.

Back then, retirement planning was pretty simple: store a few years’ worth of savings in a cookie jar and live off that for the remaining few years that you had. You’d soon be dead and your savings would hopefully not be depleted before that time.

Obviously that method of retirement planning doesn’t work anymore. I’m absolutely convinced that the future will look very different for the generations that have come after my grandfather’s. Because we’ve gone from physical labor to knowledge work, we can—and will—live longer, more productive and healthier lives. Today, average life expectancy is 80-plus years of age, and this number continues to increase, thanks to enhanced health care, cleaner air and water, better disease prevention and healthier food choices.

Personally, I still have quite a few years to go before I get to today’s current life expectancy. And by the time I do get there, it will have extended again. Under current projections, when I get to age 80, the average life expectancy will be 90-plus years!

The trend to increased longevity means that you may spend 20, 30 or maybe even 40 years in retirement. That’s a long time to plan for, and a long time to finance with the work you are doing and the money you are saving today. But what if you didn’t have to wait to get to that retirement lifestyle you aspire to? And what if you didn’t have to save for all those decades of retirement in the limited working years you have left before age 65?

I believe there’s a new and improved definition of retirement. Unlike my grandfather, you don’t have to count down to the happiest day of your life. I believe there is a better way to view, and to plan for, both today and in the future. Let’s explore this for a minute. If you absolutely knew that you’d live to 90 or 100 (and increasing numbers of us will), then what would you do today to create success, both today and in all your future years to come? What would you do the same and what would you do differently? What opportunities would you explore? What talents would you expand? What energy vampires would you rid yourself of?

187

THE NEW RETIREMENT

These are the most essential questions we must ask ourselves because the answers can, and very possibly will, entirely change our lives. I believe that success is leading and fulfilling a purposeful life. If we establish a clear vision of purpose for the rest of our lives, and if we then create a plan to make that vision happen, and if we then systematically act on that plan to make our vision a reality, it simply changes everything. You see, by improving today, you’ll also improve tomorrow.

There used to be a time—my grandfather experienced it—where you worked, worked, worked, until the day you could retire and do what you wanted to do. There simply wasn’t enough time and you simply didn’t have enough energy to do the things you wanted to do while also working. And after you retired, you could do what you wanted to do, because you now had the time and energy to do so. You likely never gave thought to ever working again. There was work and there was retirement—and never the two shall meet!

I vividly remember another conversation with my grandfather. I had told him that I didn’t actually work for a living and he became frustrated with me because he knew that I had a career as a Wealth Advisor. But what I was really trying to convey to him was how I occupied my day—trading my time, knowledge and expertise for money—was not what I perceived as “work.” And I certainly wasn’t spending my time counting down the days to retirement to what he may have perceived would be the happiest day of my life.

Technically, I suppose what I do would be classified as work. If we look up the word “work” in the dictionary, it has three definitions:

1. the physical or mental exertion or effort to produce or accomplish something; labor; toil.

2. paid employment at a job, trade, occupation, industry, business, vocation or profession, especially as a means of earning one’s livelihood.

3. the transfer of energy from one object to another, especially in order to make the second object move in a certain direction.

Well, I do exert both physically and mentally to produce something. I guess I do labor and toil to help my clients create wealth solutions for their lives. And I am a professional, paid in my occupation, and my livelihood is creating a business that has a monetary value, too.

SUCCESS TODAY

188

My favorite is the last definition. This comes from physics and is the one that I feel I relate to the most. In my vocation, I really am transferring my energy from myself to my clients, with the intention to help them move in a certain direction toward wealth success.

But the dictionary also tells us that the antonym for “work” is “play.” Well, they don’t feel like opposites to me! I feel joy and fun and recreation—re-creation, that is—nearly every day in my profession. I can’t fathom that a time would come when I’d have to stop, or want to stop, this activity.

In my experience, I have found that there are many people who don’t feel the same way. Their work does not create joy, is not fun, and does not offer them the opportunity to re-create. If so, then I can understand how someone would count the days until this ends, much like my grandfather did. I guess they’d be holding out for the promise that in the future, when they have retired, they will finally get to experience joy, fun, recreation and they can then re-create their lives.

But what if you could actually take a few years of your retirement and transpose them to today and to the time leading up to your proposed retirement date? Let’s suppose you had 15 years to your retirement date. And what if you were able to take the first five years of your retirement and spread them over the years between now and then? You wouldn’t have to wait to do the things you like—you could be doing them right now!

There is a trade-off: you’d have to work five more years past your proposed retirement date to make up the five years of retirement that you spread over your remaining working life. Your new retirement date is five years later, 20 years from today, but you have 13 weeks of retirement—every single year!

Tell me, if you had an extra 13 weeks per year to be doing what you really want to be doing, would you take me up on this offer? If you had that retirement time and retirement energy every year over the next 20 working years, do you think you could log five more years past your proposed retirement date, including having the extra 13 weeks of retirement during those five years, too?

189

THE NEW RETIREMENT

Of course this offer is a whole lot more attractive if you are doing work you enjoy. It has to be fun and allow you to re-create—to continually grow and challenge yourself, all the while surrounded by people you enjoy. I’ll bet if you could find those characteristics in your current work, you would gladly work the extra years, and maybe even decades.

What if you could spend your days doing something you love to do, such that time just passes? And, to top it off, you get paid to do it? My best advice is that if you don’t have that work now, go find it! I encourage you to act as if your life depends on it—for, of course, it does! Search and search until you do find it. And if that work doesn’t generate the same pay as your current work? Well, that’s actually okay, because you’ve already committed to working longer anyway.

This is the New Retirement, as I see it, where the lines between the working years and the retirement years are blurred. And I’d encourage you to take this deal. Have weeks and years of retirement now—and continue to work part of the time in the future. Unlike my grandfather, you don’t have to count down to the happiest day of your life because you’ll have some of that today, and every single year thereafter.

As a Wealth Advisor, I create wealth solutions for all aspects of my clients’ lives. Of course, that includes wealth planning for the future, but it also includes planning for today. In my wealth advisory practice, I work with my clients toward these very goals. I cannot be of service to someone who says, “I’m not going to save and invest for my future. I’m going to spend all my money today, because I could be dead tomorrow!” And, for that matter, they could be right! But the risk usually isn’t if someone dies early (unless they have people who are financially dependent on them). The risk is if they live too long and don’t have the financial resources to sustain themselves, let alone create the life they want.

On the other hand, you might think that a perfect client for me would be someone who says, “I’m going to save and invest every single penny today, so that I can retire early, and then do what I really want to do.” Well, there’s a risk to this, too. What if they’re wrong? And what if they die the day before that far-off day on which they were going to retire? All their sacrifice and planning along the way was for nought.

SUCCESS TODAY

190

I can tell you that the two most serious risks to your financial future, which can only be mitigated with the use of a qualified and competent Wealth Advisor, are:

1. Not having the capacity to work, due to constraints in your physical or mental health

2. The natural increase in the cost of living

If your advisor is appropriately qualified, he or she will be able to assess the financial risk of your potential inability to work and assist you in obtaining suitable coverage in both disability and critical illness insurance. This transfers the risk from you to an insurance company and can create wealth success for your future.

Likewise, if your advisor is appropriately qualified, she or he can develop a Wealth Plan to offset the risk of the rising cost of living—a hidden threat to wealth success in your future. To put it simply: as the cost of goods and services increases, your wealth will need to increase proportionately so that you may maintain your lifestyle over 20, 30 or more years of retirement. Your Wealth Advisor will need to be skilled to address this hidden and significant risk—the rising cost of living—so that you can maintain your standard of living until you are no longer on the face of the earth.

If the cost of living averages three percent, as it has over the last century, it means that over 30 years the cost of living will triple. So, during a 30 year retirement, the cost of all goods and services will also triple. Think of it this way, whatever you paid for your last car will be three times that amount in 30 years. Whatever the amount of required income to support your lifestyle today, you will require three times that amount in 30 years. I know that sounds ludicrous. But, think back to 30 years ago. What did a house cost then? Or a car? Or bananas? Or gasoline?

My grandfather lived to 88 years. He spent nearly a quarter of a century in retirement. Back then, this was unheard of. If I had told him this would happen when he retired, he never would have believed me.

And his wisdom to me: had he known as a young man what he knew in his final years, he would have done so many things differently. He told me that he would have made very different decisions about both his physical and mental health; he would have looked at his relationships

191

THE NEW RETIREMENT

differently; and he would have made different financial decisions to offset the ever-increasing cost of living. During his retirement, he experienced almost everything tripling in price – some things more, some things less. But, on average, nearly everything tripled in cost.

There is a new reality dawning today, and a new definition of retirement and wealth success. I encourage you to start today intentionally designing the life you wish for, with retirement actually built into your working years, today and into the future. This means that you will be working into what you would have formerly thought of as your “retirement,” but you will also be enjoying the life you want to live at an earlier age. Live as though today is your last day. But plan as though you’ll live to see 100-plus years of age!

And a competent and qualified Wealth Advisor can help you create and implement that Wealth Plan, to make your life wealthier in every way, both today and for the rest of your life!

SUCCESS TODAY

192

About Thie

Thie C.L. Convery, B.Sc.(Hons.), R.F.P.®, CFP®, CIM®, FMA, FCSI® is a Wealth Advisor at Convery Wealth with IPC Securities Corporation.

For nearly 25 years, Thie has created Wealth Solutions for Life™. Thie’s unique wealth solutions process provides her clients with personalized and comprehensive solutions to create wealth success, eliminate financial worries, and produce life-long peace of mind. If it’s got a dollar sign attached to it, Thie’s wealth solutions provide the answer!

Thie’s formal education includes a Bachelor of Science degree (B.Sc.-Honours) from McMaster University, followed by numerous professional designations and accreditations related to wealth advisory. Thie is also the author of the book, Wealth Solutions for Life™: The 7 Questions You Must Ask Before You Hire a Financial Advisor.

Thie can be contacted at: (905) 627-9970 x1 or by visiting: www.ConveryWealth.com.

193

ON GIVING AND GETTING

CHAPTER 21


BY DR. TOM CHAMBERLAIN

I am so grateful for this opportunity to write alongside a well-respected individual such as Brian Tracy. He brings so much passion to what he does and I connect with that. My professional field of expertise is Orthodontics. That is a passion of mine due to the fact that I can literally watch my patient’s lives change for the better during the few months that they are in treatment. I could easily write another chapter on the psycho-social benefits of an attractive smile. However, I will not be writing about orthodontics in this chapter. I wish to write about something that is even dearer to my heart and if you follow these simple, but challenging steps, it will change your business and your life for the better.

I grew up as a young boy in the small, but not-so-quaint town of Reno, Nevada. Each spring my mother would take my sisters and me to Idyllwild Park just off the Truckee River. The park had a public pool about the same temperature as our nearby beloved Lake Tahoe (or at least that is how I remember it). As the days warmed, we would look forward to the day spent at the pool. One of three scenarios would inevitably occur. The first was usually attempted by my oldest sister, Colleen. She would put her foot in the water to test the temperature. “Oh, no way!” would be her response, and she would walk away to sunbathe on a lounge chair. My other sister, Julie, would sit on the side of the pool and drop her feet in but would never go any further. “Too cold...and I don’t want to get my hair wet.” She would watch and talk from the side of the pool. Then there was Lisa, who would gently wade

SUCCESS TODAY

194

into the pool to her waist. Her breathing would become shallow and she would shrug her shoulders and lift her arms up to keep them dry. “I gave it a good try,” she would say. Then she would join her sister on the side of the pool.

For me, being the only boy and never really being averse to cold, I would gather just enough courage (or stupidity, as my sisters might say) then run and jump right in. Coming up out of the water, I would let out a yelp and it felt like I would never be able to breathe again. However, within a few minutes of short gasps and shivers, my body became used to the feeling (maybe I was just numb) and I would have a wonderful time splashing, swimming and annoying as many people as a 9-year-old boy could.

I shared this story because the secrets I’m about to give can’t be realized by just testing the waters or sitting on the side of the pool. You will not gain the joy, the satisfaction or the success from these principles unless you give yourself to it fully. You must JUMP IN!

When I opened my first orthodontic practice, I started from scratch. Just out of residency with mounds of school debt, I added to it considerably by taking a 100% loan to buy a building, all my equipment and enough working capital to market and survive for a few months. This was a business built completely on faith. I hadn’t scheduled a single patient. I knew next to nothing about owning or running a business and all that it entailed . . . including marketing, payroll, taxes, etc. As the hundreds of thousands of dollars of debt turned into a million and then some, my fears about how I was ever going to make the money back began to mount. My only focus was to make enough money so I could pay these debts as well as support my family – which consisted of my sweet wife and three young children. Some of my assets were my age and stamina, my choice to live in the fastest growing city in the United States, and my determination to survive.

Over time, my practice grew (it certainly couldn’t get any smaller). I added staff. I added more days and hours of operation. I added office space in another part of town. In the eyes of many, I had become successful. However, I hadn’t learned the secret that would catapult me toward even greater achievement and satisfaction that was lacking in my life, in my staff morale and in my practice. The secret that I’m

195


talking about is giving.

Now that most of the casual readers have moved on to the next chapter, let me explain to those readers more serious about taking their success to a whole new level. Ten years into my practice, I had a mentor and coach tell me, “Nothing is more satisfying than just giving to someone.” I believed it too. I felt I had been somewhat generous all my life. I had paid a tithe to my church since I was a boy. I gave out free treatment to a few people who may have needed it. But giving was never my focus. I had only tested the waters of giving. In that sense, I had never truly felt the initial apprehension of giving or the resultant joy and satisfaction of doing so.

My mentor went on to tell me that success and giving can be like a trapdoor in front a beautiful front doorway that you desire to walk through. “If your focus is only on making money, and not creating value, although you may want to walk through that beautiful door, you will never truly make it. You will always fall through the trap door underneath you. It is only when you learn the art of giving that you can walk through the front door of successful living.”

Giving is the key to a great business and a great life!

Once I truly believed that final statement, my next thought was, “Well, how can I give more than I already have?” I thought about it. I talked with my wife about it. I questioned my coach about it. Over time, I began to change some of the values surrounding myself and our practice. We also re-evaluated and changed the purpose of our practice. Our purpose became the following:

We endeavor to have the very best staff consistently delivering great experiences as we inspire hope, raise self-esteem and improve the lives of children and adults in our community. In so doing, we produce a profit that we, in turn, put to good use - which is to be as generous on as large a scale as possible - to give back so that we are having a collective impact that is far bigger than just ourselves individually.

I was learning that my business was able to give in ways that I could not do as an individual. I was learning to focus on giving more than on getting, and it was working! I was jumping in the pool! By focusing on ideas about how I could more abundantly give back, I began to attract

SUCCESS TODAY

196

concepts that would create a bigger impact in my community. Thoughts and impressions of essay contests in schools to give away free braces to a deserving youth in need came my way. Similar ideas with Boys and Girls Clubs evolved. We gave a car away to one of our patient’s family. We combined efforts with a national orthodontic charity group to give away even more orthodontic cases to needy children. My searches to give back lead me to ventures away from home as well.

Traveling with a local charity called Hope Arising, we made a makeshift dental outfit in the small town of Dera, Ethiopia, which brought relief to hundreds of people. Later we traveled to San Jose, Costa Rica to work in a dental clinic at an orphanage associated with another charity called The Abraham Project. In my studies about how I could give back, I read about companies like Tom’s Shoes, the famous shoe company that donates a pair of shoes for every pair they sell, and 2 Degrees Foods, who donates a meal to a hungry child for every food bar they sell. With ideas from successful companies like this, I decided to give local schools $100 for every youth orthodontic case we started.

Now, please don’t misunderstand me. I am not telling you this to boast and I know many other businesses give on a much larger scale than my small business could ever do. But what I am attempting to do is lay down a foundation of what I have done that has successfully transformed my business, my staff and my personal life. Before I began to focus on giving, I was heavily involved in trying to market my practice in the community. The more I focused on getting more patients and getting more referrals, the more my practiced seemed to just cruise along with the economy. I wasn’t doing poorly, but I wasn’t seeing a lot of overwhelming success with my efforts either. My staff, although wonderful people, was only moderately engaged in our business. Our patients were nice but not raving fans.

After I shifted my focus, and I mean after I began earnestly searching for ways in which I could show more gratitude by giving back – my mindset, attitude, and my business made a monumental shift. I became happier at work. My staff was more dedicated and enthusiastic about our efforts. My patients were more willing to talk to their friends and neighbors about our office. We began to create an image in the community of a business that truly cares and the byproduct was that our profits soared!

197


So, now you know my secret to happiness and a key ingredient to a successful business: Gratitude and Giving. Let me give five helpful tips I’ve found on how to implement more giving into your business:

1. Develop a generous spirit. Turn your business into a conduit to help other people. Make an effort to give more than any person you know personally. Exceed the giving of your parents and your friends.

2. Come up with a goal to give away a certain amount of money in your life. What is that number? Use your company to do that. It’s much more fun than just buying more stuff and taking care of more stuff.

3. Add the element of surprise to your business giving. Something as small as a bottle of lotion given to a random client or a gift card to your staff. It gives a sense of over-delivering and exceeding your customers’ (and staff’s) expectations. The surprised customer can’t help but express his or her shock over an unexpected gift. Word-of-mouth marketing happens automatically; you don’t need to do an ad campaign. You will be known as a likeable, giving company. Don’t give just for the repeat business (though that will result). Instead, give for the same reason you send flowers to your mother: to show you truly care about and appreciate them.

4. Don’t be afraid to engage your team and your public. Giving can strengthen your team and bring others to your support. Anonymous giving has its place, but when you give as a business and as a part of the community, others should know about it. Your generosity will be infectious as it will inspire others.

5. Move forward with confidence. Whatever you want in life, I have found that the best way to get it is to focus your energy on giving it to others. If I want more confidence, look for ways to help someone else feel more confident. If you want to feel more inspired, try to infuse that into someone else’s day. If you want more success for your business, the best way is to look for ways to create value for others.

Jump in with both feet on your giving and your gratitude. It may be scary and you may feel uncomfortable for a short time. However, look at your life 20 or 30 years from now. Think of the legacy of generosity you will have created. Think of the lives you will have blessed. The

SUCCESS TODAY

198

impact of your intentional giving will far exceed your individual efforts. I know that as you make giving your focus, you will change the world around you by changing what’s inside you.

199


About Dr. Tom

Dr. Thomas Chamberlain founded Chamberlain Orthodontics in October 2002. From the beginning of his practice, he has based his growth on excellent patient relationships and superb quality treatment. While his practice has expanded to include two offices in Chandler and two affiliate offices in Phoenix, he attributes

much of his success to his extraordinary staff.

From the start of his professional career, Dr. Chamberlain thrives on educating himself and his staff. They regularly attend continuing education courses and have become proficient in all aspects of orthodontic care. His office has advanced the knowledge of accelerated orthodontics, which speeds up the treatment times of braces by 50%. Recently, they have incorporated “Sleep Friendly Orthodontics” into their practice. This involves helping many in their community with snoring and sleep apnea problems.

Dr. Chamberlain believes continuing education is one of the most important aspects of his practice. As a result, he is able to give the best care possible. The most fulfilling aspect of his career is changing people’s lives for the better: whether that is straightening teeth, improving a smile, increasing one’s self-confidence, or helping someone breathe better at night without the use of an oxygen mask or other device.

Some of Dr. Chamberlain’s Professional Credits include:

• American Association of Orthodontics and Dento-Facial Orthopedics

• American Dental Association

• Arizona Dental Association

• American Academy of Dental Sleep Medicine

• American Sleep and Breathing Academy

• Omicron Kappa Upsilon Dental Honor Society

• Smiles Change Lives

• Graduate of McLaughlin 2-Year Orthodontic Program

• 5X member of The Scheduling Institute

Chamberlain Orthodontics believes in giving forward. Over the years, Dr. Chamberlain has given thousands of dollars to soccer teams, baseball teams, candidates in talent and beauty pageants, cheer squads, school music programs, community boys and girls clubs, boy and girl scout troops, high school football teams, volleyball teams, dance teams, etc. He has also instituted a program to give free orthodontic treatment

SUCCESS TODAY

200

to high school students in need. Recently, Chamberlain Orthodontics has teamed up with “Smiles Change Lives” (smileschangelives.com). It is a non-profit group that places those who can’t afford braces with an orthodontist in the community who is willing to treat them at no cost. Dr. Chamberlain’s entire staff feels honored to be involved with such an influential organization. The list continues to grow as Dr. Chamberlain seeks to help others in their community.

Dr. Chamberlain originates from Reno, NV. He graduated from Brigham Young University (BYU) with a BS in Psychology and a minor in musical theater. His vocal performance and theater experience has sent him around the U.S.A. and Europe as he toured with musical theater groups. He is married to Tamara Marshall Chamberlain, from Merced, CA. They have four children (Kohler, Kelsey, Spencer and Hailey) whom they adore.

201

KEEP IT SIMPLE FOR SUCCESS TODAY WHEN SELLING OR BUYING A HOME

CHAPTER 22

KEEP IT SIMPLE FOR SUCCESS TODAY

WHEN SELLING OR BUYING A HOME

BY TOM FONSECA

It was one of those conversations. The kind you have to have soon, so you can get it over with. Sitting at the breakfast table on a Saturday morning in 1993 with my wife, we were discussing our options. Down to the last $2,000 in the checking account. What do we do? Do we go ahead and pay for the ads, marketing and meeting space to host a real estate seminar or not?

We had gotten married in 1988, and back then times were financially great for us. I was brokering the sale of golf courses, I was managing golf courses and I was part owner in several golf courses. I was also in full-fledged alcoholism. In June of 1989, I fell to my knees and begged God to deliver me from what I was powerless to do by myself, and He did.

Things got better at first, and we bought more golf courses. We could do that because in those days you could borrow 100% to buy golf courses if you had credentials and experience. Then in late 1991 things took a turn for the worse. There was a record freeze that severely damaged one golf course, then a record drought severely damaged another golf course, and then hurricane Andrew was the knockout blow in August 1992. It

SUCCESS TODAY

202

completely destroyed yet another one of the golf courses we owned. We had to file a bankruptcy. We had nothing.

We turned to our management contracts we had in Venezuela to sustain us. Then the economy went into catastrophic failure there, and all of the contracts cancelled.

I sent out hundreds of resumes to try and get a job in the golf business. I loved golf, and still do. I was a pro golfer, a Certified Golf Course Superintendent, with a degree in Turf Grass Science, but nothing. I had to act quickly. My wife had quickly gotten a job as a paralegal and now I needed to do something as well.

Why was God doing this to me? Was He getting even for my misdeeds from before? After all, I was sober now. I had turned my life around, and this is what I get?

I kept having recollections of a recurring dream I had as a child. In the dream I was at my funeral and I was happy as I looked at all of the people that came to my funeral. I would be talking to an unknown person and telling them that I always only wanted people at my funeral that I had helped in their life. I only wanted people at my funeral that I had made a difference in their life somehow. I didn’t want anyone there “just because” they were from my work, or were friends of my family.

I would “hear” the calling as a young man, however I would not listen to it. I refused to help people. I wanted to do things for me. God or others were not in consideration for how I made decisions. I was going to go hard and strong to get what I thought I deserved. Up until 1993, I was going strong getting material things. However there was another plan. The drought, the freeze, the hurricane and the financial collapse of a country knocked me down. All the way back down.

When I was working in the golf course brokering and ownership business I had learned many things that would allow me to help others plan on how to sell their homes and how to buy homes. Getting sober in AA taught me to keep it simple. AA also taught me to accept the things I cannot change, and change the things I can change. It is there that people, friends, sponsors told me truth, not what I wanted to hear, but what I needed to hear.

203


I quickly came to realize that God had great plans for me and was not against me. He in fact gave me the best wife a man could have, He gave me excellent health and a great family. My wife and I have been married for 27 years, I have 26 years of continuous sobriety, and God opened up opportunities for me to do volunteer Biblical counseling for people at church. My wife and I have been Biblical counselors for 17 years, counseling marriages. We still do that three nights a week after full-time jobs. Helping people is not just a buzzword or cliché for us. Community involvement is the center of our life together. We have moved three times for church involvement (we never were on staff). We moved from Orlando to LA to Ft. Lauderdale, even though it cost us a lot financially since I had to start over again in business each new place we moved to. We also are proud to be a part of the GiveBack Homes network of agents. Where for every home we sell, we build a home for a family in need.

My wife sat with me on that Saturday morning, she looked at me and said, "I trust you. You’re the smartest man I know. Not only do I think so, but the National Golf Foundation was interviewing you for your keep it simple management and marketing ideas. You have a knack for boiling everything down to the simplest and most important ideas, and you’re an excellent teacher as well."

We decided to spend the last money we had on marketing and holding that seminar for buyers and sellers. I used the knowledge and experience from the 16 years in the golf business and 6 years of real estate experience. When you ask to borrow millions of dollars from banks they only want the facts. They want to make sure you have the knowledge of the facts that will get results and pay back their loans.

Here are my Keep It Simple Essentials for Success Today when selling or buying your next home. These were basically the same topics I provided at that first seminar. Many of the ideas have been refined and improved on over the years. That seminar propelled me to instant success. I helped many people to buy and sell homes from that first seminar. That success propelled me to be an award-winning Realtor® at Re/Max. I have been helping people for 27 years now. Life, sobriety, my wife and God guided me to my Keep it Simple, straight-talking way of connecting and serving my community through Real Estate, volunteer counseling and GiveBack Homes.

SUCCESS TODAY

204

Five (5) Keep-It-Simple Essentials for Success Today when choosing your next Realtor for selling or buying:

1. Knowledge – When you hire a doctor, lawyer, accountant, financial planner, etcetera, you are paying them to give you the knowledge they have. Knowledge of how to get results. Also for service and expertise. Your Realtor® should have the knowledge to get results and knowledge of the local market area statistics. A good sign that they have the knowledge that gets results, is do people want their knowledge? Do they have best-selling books? Do they give lots of seminars and webinars? Do people pay for their knowledge? The local market facts are also vital to get results, so that you have Success Today when buying or selling real estate.

2. Who are they – Selling or buying a home is a huge and important financial undertaking. Who your Realtor® is, is important. We all know that trustworthiness, focus on details, ability to set priorities and honest, principled behavior are buzzwords that people throw around casually. However we all know that people’s schedules tell us a lot about their life. Your home sale or purchase is much too important to leave to just anyone. Their schedule away from real estate will tell you a lot about if they are really about helping people and whether they are principled and honest and caring.

3. Track Record – How long have they been in business is important. Awards in and of themselves don’t mean much. However mixed with their knowledge and who the Realtor® is, make a huge difference. Your Realtor® should have long success in real estate and in life. This shows how much they walk the walk and not just talk the talk.

4. No risk to you – Choosing your Realtor® should pose no risk to you. If a Realtor® is truly good at what they do, they should have a “Cancel Anytime” clause that costs you no money. Simply put, if your Realtor® doesn’t do what they said they would do, then you should not be held hostage by a long term contract.

5. Guarantees in writing – An honest and successful Realtor® will guarantee his results. A big concern for you regarding your agent is do they have the knowledge to get results. Great results that are better than the norm. So if your agent is not willing to guarantee results and to give you an easy way out to choose another Realtor®,

205


then don’t choose that Realtor®. If the Realtor’s® company demands long-term contracts with no exit, then don’t choose that Realtor®. There are plenty out there that will give you guarantees and easy out clauses in their contracts.

Five (5) Keep-It-Simple Essentials for Success Today when selling your home:

1. What do you love about your home – write out what you love about your home. Then with your agent, video yourself telling future homebuyers the same information. The video and the written information can be used in many ways to let others know what pictures on the Internet can’t. Old school is still a great school. When I started in real estate 27 years ago there was no Internet. Buyer and sellers would meet together with their agents at a table and the sellers would tell you why their home was so great, and buyers would tell why their offer was great and why the seller should pick them to buy the home.

2. What is the buyer thinking – You only get one chance to make a first impression. Put your best face forward to make a great first impression. From the front door and all through the home. Your agent should be able to provide many professional insights on staging your home. The buyer is going to be imagining themselves in your home. Get the keep it simple, straight talk from your agent on what buyers will think about your home size, lot size and location, floor plan, room sizes, condition, upgrades or lack thereof, and repairs that would have to made.

3. Just the Facts – Your agent should have factual knowledge of absorption rates, as they are the single most determining factor on your home’s value after location. For Success Today, go through the following exercise. Have your agent provide you with four sold homes in your area. The homes should have pictures and factual data, but no price. Arrange the homes in order from the highest price to the lowest price on a table from left to right. Then put your home in the position it should be in, in relation to the other homes. Then have your agent provide the sold prices of the homes and price per square foot. Now you just looked at your home from the eyes of the buyer.

SUCCESS TODAY

206

4. Remove as much risk as possible to the buyer – Risk to the buyer means surprises.

• Repairs that come up on inspections.

• Surprises from the appraisal.

• Surprises from title, liens, code violations or open permits on your home.

A home with little risk means that more buyers would consider your home. Here is what that looks like. Do a home inspection and make all the repairs, keep the receipts and proof of completion. Do termite and roof inspections, and provide clear reports and proof of repairs completed. Do an appraisal before and list your home at or below appraisal. Get a lien search and open permit report from the city and provide proof of no liens or code violations. Provide all this to your buyers in a binder in a prominent area in the home.

5. What do you love about your location – provide a map of your home along with the locations of all of your favorite places – parks, schools, dog parks, grocery, stores, malls, doctors, etc.

Five (5) Keep-It-Simple Essentials for Success Today when buying a home:

1. What does it cost not to own – Quality of life, you can’t make changes to your place. Often your landlord could sell at any time forcing you to move. Actual out of pocket cash expense from not having a tax deduction from your housing payment.

2. Look at yourself like a seller does – Cash buyers are the best, high down payment conventional loan buyers are next. Followed by lower down payment conventional loans. FHA and VA loans are regarded by sellers as risky as they have much lower credit standards. The lowest quality buyer is the FHA buyer that needs closing costs from the seller.

3. Know what the seller is thinking – Sellers want fast closings. They want cash buyers or fully-approved buyers. They want plenty of time to move. They want the highest price they can get. An important note here. There is a huge difference between a pre-approval, a DU approval, a pre-qualification and a fully-approved buyer. If your agent can’t provide you a lender that will fully approve you without a property make sure to find one. This is a

207


huge factor that greatly improves your chances of negotiating a lower price and getting your offer selected.

4. Knowledge is King, Just the facts – Again absorption rates and sold prices per square foot are vital. Your goals should only be based on facts, not wishful thinking.

5. Focus on your priorities – If your priority is buying before I can’t afford to buy, focus on it. If getting into a certain neighborhood is a priority, know the sold price per square foot factual data and go from there.

SUCCESS TODAY

208

About Tom

Tom Fonseca is the Keep it Simple Agent that will provide you with straight talk that you can rely on. Tom is the oldest of seven children from a Mexican American-family. He is bilingual in English and Spanish. Tom’s dad is a golf professional at country clubs. Tom went to college for turf grass science. When he

graduated in 1977 he went into the golf business and became a professional golfer and Certified Class A golf course superintendent. He got his real estate license in 1986.

Tom’s real estate business is centered on keeping it simple and providing the straight and direct conversations with clients that can help guide them to the results they are looking for. Tom provides his clients with a wealth of knowledge on how to get the best results when buying or selling real estate. Tom is sought after to provide his knowledge on webinars and seminars and by book publishers. He has developed a marketing arsenal that is powerful and gets superior results. He even guarantees his results. That’s the kind of straight talk he is known for. He gets results. He guarantees it.

Tom’s life has uniquely qualified him with his knowledge of what works and what doesn’t. He went into full time residential real estate sales after filing bankruptcy and going broke developing and managing golf courses. He came back strong and successfully, winning many sales awards often being the #1 sales agent in his office.

Tom’s wife of 27 years has been there alongside him for Tom’s 26 years of continuous sobriety. Tom’s wife Deborah has also been alongside him in community involvement. Together they have moved from Orlando to LA to Ft. Lauderdale for their church involvement even though that commitment would cost them many thousands of dollars and would require starting the business over each time. It is the center of their life. They also do volunteer Biblical counseling to help improve marriages three times a week after their full time jobs. Tom’s community involvement also includes being a part of the GiveBack Homes network of agents. There, for every home they sell, they build a home for a family in need.

Tom’s passion for helping people guides him to be constantly helping his community and giving back since he has received so much. The best wife, great health, a son and a daughter that are well-adjusted productive members of society. Who could ask for more? Tom and Deborah also recently saw their daughter get married to the man of her dreams.

You can reach Tom at: [email protected] or: www.TomasFonseca.com

209

MISSION-DRIVEN SUCCESS: HOW PURPOSE FUELS PROFITS

CHAPTER 23

MISSION-DRIVEN SUCCESS: HOW PURPOSE

FUELS PROFITS

BY NICK NANTON & JW DICKS

After 26 years of imprisonment in various jails, the South African authorities were finally going to release the legendary leader Nelson Mandela from prison. It was 1990 – and, the age of apartheid, the policy that had divided a nation and spurred Mandela to revolution, was finally over. There was excitement in the air and a celebratory mood in the country’s black communities.

Just prior to Mandela’s release, however, a new general manager arrived in the country to assume control of the troubled Mercedes Benz factory located in the Cape Province port of East London. A militant union, one of the first black unions to be recognized in the country, had created many work stoppages due to distrust of management – and quality control issues were also a continual headache.

The new general manager was already anxious about how he could motivate his workers to improve their job performance, when he was immediately hit with a demand from them. The union was also ecstatic about Mandela’s release and wanted to do something special for him – so it requested permission to build Mandela a special Mercedes that could be presented to him on the day he was finally freed from prison.

SUCCESS TODAY

210

What many employers might have seen as another impractical demand from a stubborn union was instead seen as a golden opportunity by the new general manager to create a new bond between management and workers. He went ahead and took the request to his superiors. He needed a fast answer, as it was Monday and Mandela was due to be released that weekend.

Fortunately, upper management quickly said yes – and also agreed to provide special car parts for the job. For their part, the union workers agreed to build the car during unpaid overtime hours, so the factory’s output wouldn’t be diminished.

Galvanized by their new goal, the factory workers labored day and night. They set aside a special block on the factory which they tagged as Mandela’s car and danced and sang as they worked on it on their own time. They finished the vehicle in a record four days, just in time. Mandela was delighted to receive this unexpected gift, a new red top-of-the-line S500, which came to be known as “Madiba’s Merc” (Madiba being Mandela’s clan name).

Quality and productivity numbers went up at the plant after that unifying mission tied the workers to each other and to the company management. Eight years later, in 1998, the chairman of the Daimler Chrysler AG group, which owned the Benz brand, decided to invest a whopping one billion dollars into the thriving East London plant. On the day he announced this epic plant expansion, by his side stood none other than Nelson Mandela, grinning from ear to ear.

The assembling of “Madiba’s Merc” was a pivotal moment for the country of South Africa. The evidence of that is the fact that the car, which featured an inscribed South African flag and Mandela’s name, can now be seen on display at the Apartheid Museum in Johannesburg. But it was just as pivotal for the South African Mercedes Benz operation, because it made the company an established force in the new post-apartheid regime.

Why? Because the carmaker took on a mission that transformed its workforce from an angry recalcitrant bunch of workers to a unified group that felt supported and energized by a management.

211


Many financial experts find it easy to take potshots at a company that applies itself to a mission that doesn’t seem to have a direct impact on the bottom line. But, as the Mercedes-Benz South Africa story above demonstrates, the right mission can bring to life amazing results in almost every aspect of the organization, both inside and out – as well as continue to deliver ongoing benefits that grow and grow.

If you really want to experience “Success Today,” becoming a mission-driven business gives you distinct and powerful advantages in the marketplace – and in this chapter, you’ll find out exactly what those advantages are!

HOW MISSIONS POWER UP YOUR OPERATION

Philipp Groom, an employee of the South African Mercedes Benz company, made a short film about the creation of the special Mandela Mercedes and had this to say about it: “All workers wanted to be part of this, they wanted to touch this vehicle.”1

Now, allowing these employees to build the car didn’t cost this huge company a whole lot – but, as we noted, it ended up benefiting the company in many powerful ways. Perhaps the most important benefit was that it bolstered employee engagement.

If you’re unfamiliar with the concept of employee engagement, it’s time you got up to speed. Because whether you’re running a huge corporation or you’re an entrepreneur with a minimal office staff of 3 or 4, employee engagement happens to be a huge deal when it comes to optimizing the internal operation of your company.

How huge a deal? That’s actually easy to ascertain, because employee engagement has been one of the most researched business issues in recent years. And the results of those studies show that high engagement invariably shows up as a big business plus.

Here are a couple of the most significant benefits, according to Gallup’s most recent State of the American Workplace report, which studied companies over a two-year period:

1. Davies, Alex. “South African Mercedes-Benz Workers Made This Car For Nelson Mandela When He

Was Released From Prison.” Business Insider, December 6, 2013. http://www.businessinsider.com/nelson-mandela-mercedes-benz-south-africa-2013-12

SUCCESS TODAY

212

• Engaged workers are the lifeblood of their organizations.

The top 25% of engaged companies Gallup studied have significantly higher productivity, profitability, and customer ratings, less turnover and absenteeism, and fewer safety incidents than those in the bottom 25%.

Those businesses with more engaged workers also experienced 147% higher earnings per share (EPS) compared with their competition in 2011-2012. On the other hand, active disengagement costs the U.S. $450 billion to $550 billion per year.

• Engagement drives higher performance more than any company policies or perks.

Engaged employees work hard and are more likely to put in extra hours. Engagement also has a higher impact on an employee’s well-being than any company benefits.

Gallup isn’t alone with their engagement conclusions. Accenture, the world’s largest consulting firm, also found through their research that:

Less than 50% of CFOs understand the enormous ROI (Return on Investment) when it comes to funding initiatives designed to increase employee engagement.

Organizations that invested just another 10% into engagement initiatives would increase profits by $2400 per employee.

So what do missions have to do with employee engagement, you might be asking by now. Don’t people just want more money? Isn’t that all you need to do to increase engagement?

Well, that’s always the go-to answer, but it turns out not to be true. Engagement does not result simply from increasing salaries – although nobody believes that! The truth is 89% of employers believe workers leave to make more money, when in reality…

…only 12% of employees leave for that reason!!!

There’s no question that people appreciate being paid at a fair rate and that does contribute to a certain satisfaction level. BUT…positive engagement actually trumps money in most employees’ minds – and that’s a fact most business people are completely oblivious about.

213


So yes, you want to have employee engagement in your organization. But the next question is – how do you get it? What’s the biggest proven driver of employee engagement?

Well, according to research generated by the Hay Group, a global management consulting firm with 87 offices in 49 countries as of 2013, it’s “Inspiration and Values.” And where do inspiration and values spring from? To our mind, they’re both generated directly by a company’s mission. The right mission is what it took to create those attributes for the South African Mercedes workers – and your workers will be no different.

Of course, Inspiration and Values don’t do the job alone. But research also shows that, without them, none of the other employee engagement drivers do the job at all! Although the Hay Group named a total six (6) elements necessary to engagement2, they found that “Inspiration and Values” was the most critical component. In their words: “In its absence, delivering on the other five elements of the Engaged Performance model is unlikely to engage employees.”3

Here’s more detail on how being Mission-Driven impacts engagement and the bottom line, from Gallup, the preeminent researcher of employee engagement:

“In conducting a meta-analysis of 49,928 business units across 192 organizations representing 49 different industries in 34 countries, Gallup scientists discovered that margin and mission are not at odds with one another at all. In fact, the opposite is true. As employees move beyond the basics of employee engagement and view their contribution to the organization more broadly, they are more likely to stay, take proactive steps to create a safe environment, have higher productivity, and connect with customers to the benefit of the organization.”4

All good, right?

The mammoth impact of a galvanizing mission on even the lowest-ranked employee is best illustrated by what is perhaps an apocryphal 2. Other 5 Elements of Employee Engagement named by the Hay Group are (1) Quality of Work, (2) Tan-

gible Rewards, (3) Work/Life Balance, (4) Enabling Environment, (5) Future Growth/Opportunity 3. Engage Employees and Boost Performance, Hay Group Working Paper, http://www.haygroup.com/

downloads/us/engaged_performance_120401.pdf4. Groscurth, Chris. “Why Your Company Must Be Mission-Driven.” Gallup Business Journal, March 6,

2014. http://www.gallup.com/businessjournal/167633/why-company-mission-driven.aspx

SUCCESS TODAY

214

anecdote, but nevertheless, a revealing one. Supposedly, in the 60’s, a janitor at NASA was asked what he was doing. His reply? “Helping to put a man on the moon.”

And by the way, missions don’t just help workers do their jobs better – if you’re running your own business or in a management position, missions also help YOU do your job better.

Deloitte is a national business consulting firm with 65,000 employees – and they too have studied how missions positively affect organizations. One of the most important ways missions do that is by giving business leaders confidence. A couple more statistics from their study:

• 82 percent of leaders whose companies have a strong sense of purpose expected to grow in 2014, compared to just 67 percent of leaders who didn’t feel Mission-Driven.

• 91 percent of leaders at Mission-Driven companies felt their companies would strengthen or maintain their brand in the next 5-10 years, compared to just 49 percent of other owners/managers.5

Most of you reading this chapter are aware of the power of positive thinking: if you believe it, you can usually do it. Conversely, if you lack that kind of confidence, you more frequently fail.

Missions can be invaluable in providing that kind of confidence. When your company is Mission-Driven, you are working towards a purpose you truly believe in and commit to – you, in effect, have a road map in place that you can follow to take your business to your desired destination. Without that mission? Well, you’re engaged in only a day-to-day grind, with no ultimate aim in mind (except perhaps to earn a profit). It’s hard to feel confident when you have no real direction in what you’re doing.

To be Zen about it, if you don’t know where you’re going, how can you get there?

5. Vacarro, Adam. “How a Sense of Purpose Boosts Engagement,” Inc. Magazine, April 18th, 2014.

215


THE FIVE (5) BIGGEST BUSINESS BENEFITS OF BEING MISSION-DRIVEN

It’s easy to see how an organization without a mission can end up as an organization that seems to lack leadership. Just look at the situation through your own viewpoint; when, as an individual, you feel you have purpose and something driving you forward in your life and/or work, we’re willing to bet you feel more excited, more directed and better able to realize meaningful results. But when you don’t? You probably feel a little lost, unmotivated and maybe even unproductive.

A business is no different. A mission declares the difference it wants to make in the world and what it stands for. Again, whether that mission is a pro-social charitable one or one that involves a unique way the company approaches its products and services, it still creates a definition that hopefully connects both with the external public and your internal workforce.

The Gallup research company has done an incredible amount of research on what makes businesses succeed – and they’ve identified five (5) specific ways that being Mission-Driven promotes success and profits in any business.6

1. Mission-Driven companies inspire loyalty in employees of all ages.

As noted, employees aren’t just driven by money – they also want to feel like they can answer the question, “Do I belong here?” with a resounding “Yes!” According to Gallup, that means, in addition to providing opportunities for them to do what they do best, mission and purpose have to be emphasized as much as possible. That’s the key to employee retention and performance. Without those Mission-Driven elements in place, you can easily lose valuable employees if they’re offered a comparable salary and/or position from someone else.

Think about the janitor from NASA – he’s never going to take a job anywhere else. After all, who else is going to help get people to the moon?

SUCCESS TODAY

216

2. A mission creates customer engagement.

The right mission not only engages management and workers alike, it also helps a company connect to its customers. One of the biggest examples of this principle is Apple. Its customers know that that company’s newest product is always going to be revolutionary in some way – even the smallest iPhone upgrade contains new and exciting surprises.

When a customer knows what to expect from a company’s mission – and, more importantly, can rely on them following through on that mission – they’re more inclined to return to buy more over the years.

3. A mission creates clarity.

A mission provides a company with a basic understanding of who it is and what it’s supposed to be doing. When those big issues are settled, everyone is suddenly on the same page as far as what the company’s philosophy is and what needs to be achieved. That can’t help but create a unifying clarity that inspires dedication and conviction.

4. A mission optimizes strategic alignment.

The above-mentioned clarity, once set in stone, then permeates an entire organization, allowing it to achieve an overall structural integrity. When addressing operational details, it just becomes a matter of filling in the blanks – and determining what serves the mission (as well as eliminating everything that doesn’t).

Take Zappos commitment to customer service. Once that mission had been decided upon, the Zappos management and workers knew they had to do all they could at every level to make customer service a recognizable priority. It was only a question of defining how far they wanted to take that mission and how to find the right employees who could deliver on it. Everyone knew what the big picture was, so it only became a matter of coloring inside the lines at every level.

5. Missions can be measured.

Because a mission can’t help but create strict definitions for your

217


business, it also provides specific benchmarks from which to set goals beyond the usual profit targets. This allows a company to measure how real its intended culture has become and how well it’s carrying out its intended mission.

Two important ways to do that is to survey both your customers and your employees. In the case of the latter, you need to make sure your employees both understand your mission and on how best to deliver on it in their specific positions. In the case of the former, it’s crucial to research how well your mission is being identified by your customers/clients and how well they think it is being carried out. Imagine if nobody had noticed Zappos customer service mission – or Apple’s commitment to superior style and technology. Both those companies would have quickly retreated and rebooted to find ways to successfully implement their mandates, thereby saving them from getting lost in the shuffle with other similar businesses.

When it comes to getting the nuts and bolts of your business operation just right…when it comes to inspiring both your own people as well as your customers…when it comes to keeping an organization on the same productive track…nothing beats a mission. All available research confirms the very real and very lasting business advantages for any company that chooses to commit to one.

So commit yourself and your company to a mission that matters – and you’ll set yourself up to experience a new level of lasting success that you’ll enjoy for years to come.

SUCCESS TODAY

218

About NickA 3-Time Emmy Award Winning Director, Producer and Filmmaker, Nick Nanton, Esq., is known as the Top Agent to Celebrity Experts® around the world for his role in developing and marketing business and professional experts, through personal branding, media, marketing and PR.

Nick serves as the CEO of The Dicks + Nanton Celebrity Branding Agency, an international branding and media agency with more than 2200 clients in 33 countries. Nick has produced large scale events and television shows with the likes of Steve Forbes, Brian Tracy, President George H.W. Bush, Jack Canfield (Creator of the Chicken Soup for the Soul Series), Michael E. Gerber, Tom Hopkins and many more.

Nick is recognized as one of the top thought-leaders in the business world, speaking on major stages internationally and having co-authored 36 best-selling books, including The Wall Street Journal Best-Seller, StorySelling™.

Nick has been seen in USA Today, The Wall Street Journal, Newsweek, BusinessWeek, Inc. Magazine, The New York Times, Entrepreneur® Magazine, Forbes, FastCompany.com and has appeared on ABC, NBC, CBS, and FOX television affiliates around the country, as well as E!, CNN, FOX News, CNBC, MSNBC and hosts his own series on the Bio! channel, Portraits of Success.

Nick is a member of the Florida Bar, a voting member of The National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences (Home to The GRAMMYs), a member of The National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (Home to the EMMYs), The National Academy of Best-Selling Authors, and serves on the Innovation Board of the XPRIZE Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to bringing about “radical breakthroughs for the benefit of humanity” through incentivized competition, best known for it’s Ansari XPRIZE which incentivized the first private space flight and was the catalyst for Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic. Nick spends his spare time serving as an Elder at Orangewood Church, working with Young Life, Downtown Credo Orlando, Entrepreneurs International and rooting for the Florida Gators with his wife Kristina and their three children, Brock, Bowen and Addison..

Learn more at: www.NickNanton.com and www.CelebrityBrandingAgency.com

219


About JW JW Dicks, Esq., is America’s foremost authority on using personal branding for business development. He has created some of the most successful brand and marketing campaigns for business and professional clients to make them the credible celebrity experts in their field and build multi-million dollar businesses using their recognized status.

JW Dicks has started, bought, built, and sold a large number of businesses over his 39-year career and developed a loyal international following as a business attorney, author, speaker, consultant, and business experts’ coach. He not only practices what he preaches by using his strategies to build his own businesses, he also applies those same concepts to help clients grow their business or professional practice the ways he does.

JW has been extensively quoted in such national media as USA Today, the Wall Street Journal, Newsweek, Inc., Forbes.com, CNBC.com, and Fortune Small Business. His television appearances include ABC, NBC, CBS and FOX affiliate stations around the country. He is the resident branding expert for Fast Company’s internationally syndicated blog and is the publisher of Celebrity Expert Insider, a monthly newsletter targeting business and brand building strategies.

JW has written over 22 books, including numerous best-sellers, and has been inducted into the National Academy of Best-Selling Authors. JW is married to Linda, his wife of 39 years, and they have two daughters, two granddaughters and two Yorkies. JW is a 6th generation Floridian and splits his time between his home in Orlando and beach house on the Florida west coast.

SUCCESS TODAY

220

221

BANKRUPTCY IS NOT THE END - IT IS THE BEGINNING — YOUR SUCCESS STARTS TODAY!

CHAPTER 24

BANKRUPTCY IS NOT THE END - IT IS THE BEGINNING — YOUR

SUCCESS STARTS TODAY!

BY JEFF JENKINS, ESQ.

Many of my clients feel that they are doing something wrong by filing a bankruptcy, that they should try to “stick it out” and pay their creditors somehow. Unfortunately, for many of them, repaying their creditors would be an utter impossibility. Financial problems can occur in almost anyone’s life for any number of reasons and the point of filing a bankruptcy is to be pro-active about your situation and do something to get your life back.

Throughout history, any number of famous people have had severe financial difficulties or have had to file a bankruptcy. I have listed below some of the famous figures who had financial difficulties and ended up solving them through filing a bankruptcy. Many of these people went on to lead productive and successful lives after their bankruptcy took care of their immediate financial problems. Filing a bankruptcy did not mean they were a failure, they used it as a tool to remedy a bad financial situation when no other remedy appeared to be available, and then they moved on with their lives.

SUCCESS TODAY

222

1. Morton Downy, Jr. (TV talk show host) filed four different bankruptcies.

2. Nick Fleetwood (Fleetwood Mac) (rock star)

3. Mike Tyson (boxer)

4. Frank Lloyd Wright (famous architect)

5. Burt Reynolds (actor)

6. Latoya Jackson (singer and actress)

7. Samuel Clemens (Mark Twain) (writer). Mark Twain made considerable amounts of money after his bankruptcy filing from his writing and his lectures.

8. Andy Gibb (rock star/musician)

9. Walt Disney (major business innovator)

10. P.T. Barnum (entertainer “The Greatest Show on Earth”)

11. MC Hammer (rapper)

12. Larry King (TV talk show host)

13. Francis Ford Coppola (film director/producer)

14. Kim Basinger (actress)

15. Marvin Gaye (musician)

Are you having a difficult time financially? . . . foreclosure, large credit card debt, IRS taxes, judgments, harassing calls, wage garnishments? If you have answered yes to any of the foregoing, hopefully, this article will be helpful to you.

I wrote this chapter to help people who are having financial difficulties have a better understanding of bankruptcy. I wanted to show them that there is hope, that you can take action to resolve your financial difficulties and get your life back.

If you are having financial difficulties and want to explore whether or not bankruptcy is an option for you, your best course of action would be to consult with an experienced bankruptcy attorney. In the meantime here are some helpful Frequently Asked Questions to help you get started down your path to Success Today! I recently published a book, Make Bankruptcy Work For You…Your Guide To Financial Freedom, that discusses the same topics [and more] in a more thorough and expansive manner. It is being sold on Amazon.com.

223


TEN BASIC BANKRUPTCY QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

1. Can you tell me what type of bankruptcies the Federal Bankruptcy Code provides for?

There are five basic types of bankruptcies provided for in the Federal Bankruptcy Code, one liquidation and four reorganizations. There is also a Chapter 15 that provides for coordination with foreign bankruptcies. The bankruptcies all get their names from what Bankruptcy Code Chapter they are located in. The one liquidation that the code provides for is a Chapter 7 and the four reorganizations are Chapters 9, 11, 12 and 13. When Detroit filed for bankruptcy it did it under Chapter 9. A Chapter 11 is what we generally think of as a business reorganization, however, any entity can file a Chapter 11 (a partnership, a corporation or a person). A Chapter 12 is a reorganization for a farmer. A Chapter 13 is a reorganization for a person.

2. What is a bankruptcy Trustee?

Every Federal Judicial District has bankruptcy Trustees that are appointed by the United States Trustee’s Office, which is a part of the U. S. Department of Justice. Remember, the Bankruptcy Code is Federal Law, not State Law and the bankruptcy courts are part of the Federal District Courts (the Federal Trial Courts). Each Federal Judicial District has one or more standing Chapter 13 Trustees to administer the Chapter 13’s filed in the District. Each Federal Judicial District also has Chapter 7 bankruptcy Trustees that are appointed to take care of the Chapter 7’s that are filed in the district. Chapter 11’s are taken care of directly by the U. S. Trustee’s office.

When you file a bankruptcy, you have to meet with the Trustee appointed by the U. S. Trustee’s Office. The Trustee’s job is to make sure that you submitted the appropriate documents to the bankruptcy court and to the Trustee and to go through your schedules with you and make sure everything is in order. You would always be accompanied at this meeting by your attorney (assuming you had one).

SUCCESS TODAY

224

3. Should I file a Chapter 7 or a Chapter 13 bankruptcy? And what is the difference between these two types of bankruptcies?

There are many reasons why a bankruptcy attorney would recommend the filing of a Chapter 7 or a Chapter 13.

The most common reason that we would recommend a Chapter 13 would be if someone is behind on a secured debt and they want to keep the property that acts as security for the debt. For example, if someone is behind with their mortgage and want to keep their house or they are behind on their car loan and want to keep their car, we need to do a “paying” kind of bankruptcy (Chapter 13). In a Chapter 13, the client would pay back the arrears (or even pay in full) through the Chapter 13 Trustee for things that the client wanted to keep (debts where the creditor had a security interest). Normal monthly payments on these debts would also be resumed. A Chapter 13 case will generally run from between three to five years.

If one of our clients has debts of the type that would all be erasable in a Chapter 7 and they do not have more property than the bankruptcy code allows them to have we would probably recommend a Chapter 7. Generally, the most common types of debts that are dischargeable are credit cards, medical bills, unsecured loans, etc. Remember, a Chapter 7 is the only liquidation provided for by the bankruptcy code and, as such, if you have more equity in property than the bankruptcy code allows you to have the Chapter 7 Trustee will take and sell that property and use any proceeds from the sale to pay your creditors.

If you have more property than the bankruptcy code allows you to have, we would normally talk to you about doing a Chapter 13 because in a Chapter 13 whatever amount of property you are over the limit with, you can simply repay to unsecured creditors through the Chapter 13 Trustee and keep that property.

4. Could you explain the protection provisions of the bankruptcy code? Specifically, if I file a bankruptcy:

• Can my creditors still call me?

• Can I stop a wage garnishment?

• Can I stop my landlord from evicting me?

225


• Can I stop a foreclosure or sheriff’s sale?

• Can I stop a repossession?

The protection provisions of the bankruptcy code are contained in 11 U.S.C. Section 362 (Title 11 is the portion of our Federal Laws that contain the bankruptcy code). The protections provided in Section 362 are the “teeth” of the bankruptcy code. Basically, when you file a Chapter 13, Section 362 (which is sometimes referred to as the “automatic stay”) dictates that creditors must stop what they are doing to you. They cannot call you, write you or sue you. If they started a law suit, it has to stop. As its name implies, once a bankruptcy is filed, the protection provisions of Section 362 happen instantly and automatically whether a creditor knows about the bankruptcy or not, or whether they are listed in your list of creditors or not.

5. I had a creditor take $1,500.00 out of my checking account. Can I get it back by filing a bankruptcy?

In the bankruptcy code, we have a concept called a “preference” (located in Section 547). A preference is where one creditor is paid a lot of money in close proximity to the bankruptcy filing and other creditors are not paid (or are not paid an equivalent percentage of money). If you pay all of your creditors what we would call a pro rata amount, these payments are not a preference.

Basically, any unusual transfers (any transfer of more than $600.00) you make during the 90 day period of time right before you file are called preferences. If a bankruptcy is filed, your bankruptcy Trustee can void these transfers and recover the money (even if, as in the above example, the creditor is the one taking the money).

If the transfer that you make is to an insider (an insider would be a relative, a business partner, etc.) the lookback period is one year, not 90 days.

6. What is a discharge?

Whether you do a Chapter 7 or a Chapter 13, once you complete the bankruptcy, your bankruptcy judge will issue a discharge order. This means that all of your erasable debts have been erased. Only a Federal bankruptcy judge has the ability to eliminate debts like this.

SUCCESS TODAY

226

When you file a bankruptcy, your basic goal is to obtain a discharge of your dischargeable debts as well as to, in a Chapter 13, repay secured creditors on items that you wish to retain.

7. If I file a bankruptcy will I lose my car or my house?

When you file a bankruptcy, you are allowed to protect certain property that you have. The amount and type of property that you can protect is itemized in Section 522 of the Federal bankruptcy code and these are referred to as “exemptions”.

The exemptions section of the bankruptcy code provides that you can shield a certain amount of equity in your home, car, household goods, clothing, jewelry, etc. There is also a miscellaneous exemption you can use for any property (such as money in a bank account).

If you are doing any type of bankruptcy, we would always take a close look at all of the property that you have and what it is worth. If you have something that exceeds your exemption amount, we would talk about that and would never file a Chapter 7 for you unless you did not mind losing that asset (because if you are above the exemption amount the Trustee might very well take that asset(s) and use that money to pay your creditors). In a Chapter 13, if you are over the amount of property that you are permitted to have (according to the exemptions provisions), you generally do not lose that asset you would just have to repay your unsecured creditors that amount of money through the Chapter 13 Trustee.

8. Do I need an attorney to file a bankruptcy?

Bankruptcy is an extremely complicated area of law. It is complicated even for someone, like myself, who has been doing nothing but bankruptcy work since 1985 and who is a Board Certified Bankruptcy Attorney. For a lay person to think that they can file their own bankruptcy and do it properly is kind of like thinking that you can do your own brain surgery.

I cannot tell you how many people have come to my law firm who filed their own bankruptcy and are having a problem with it and want us to help them fix it and become their attorneys. For example, someone may file a bankruptcy who just paid their mother $5,000.00 a week before the filing because the mother had loaned them $5,000.00 and they do not see that there is anything wrong

227


with that. These same people, then (not understanding the nuances of the bankruptcy law) are shocked when the Chapter 7 Trustee sues their mother for $5,000.00 (this is an avoidable preference).

Bankruptcy is serious business. A Chapter 13, with its plan, is even more complicated than a Chapter 7. Not having an attorney representing you in filing a Chapter 13 is insane.

Accordingly, I highly recommend that you get an experienced bankruptcy attorney if you are considering filing a bankruptcy. Doing it yourself (or going to an attorney who does very little bankruptcy work), while it may be possible, is fraught with booby traps and problems that you cannot even see or comprehend.

9. Will bankruptcy make my credit report worse?

This is a question that I am frequently asked by clients. What you have to understand is that if you need to file a bankruptcy, your credit report is most likely not in very good shape right now. It probably shows severe delinquencies in making payments. There may be judgments that creditors have entered against you. Additionally, there may be a significant amount of debt that you owe (and the amount that you owe certainly has an impact on your credit rating).

Ultimately, a bankruptcy is going to improve your credit report because it will eliminate all those significant liabilities that are harming your credit score. It will stay on your credit report for the period of time dictated by a Federal Law called the Fair Credit Reporting Act (10 years for a Chapter 7 and seven years for a Chapter 13), but, in the long run, you are going to be better off credit report-wise having filed a bankruptcy.

10. Someone told me that because of the changes in the bankruptcy laws in 2005, you really cannot file a bankruptcy and eliminate debts as you used to be able to do. Is that correct?

In 2005, the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act (“BAPCPA”) was enacted into law. Credit unions and lending institutions lobbied for years and spent a great deal of money to get this law passed. It is certainly not a “Consumer Protection Act”, it is more of a “Lending Institution Protection Act”.

Basically, the BAPCPA did not make it impossible to file a

SUCCESS TODAY

228

bankruptcy, it just changed a number of things in the bankruptcy code and made the bankruptcy process more involved and more difficult. What you need to understand about the BAPCPA is that you can still file a bankruptcy and discharge debts, fundamentally, the way you used to be able to. An experienced bankruptcy attorney will easily be able to navigate the law’s changes for you.

229


About Jeff

Jeff Jenkins graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point in 1973, obtaining a Bachelor of Science Degree in General Engineering. After serving our country for 8½ years as an Airborne Ranger Infantry Officer, he resigned his commission and attended the University of Pennsylvania Law School, in

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, from which he received his Juris Doctor Degree in 1984.

Mr. Jenkins began practicing bankruptcy law in 1985 and has focused on bankruptcy ever since. He started his own firm in 1986 and is now the Senior Partner of Jenkins & Clayman. He has been Board Certified by the American Board of Certification in Consumer Bankruptcy Law since 1995. He has lectured throughout New Jersey on Consumer Bankruptcy Law for both lawyers and accountants (Mr. Jenkins is an accredited instructor for the New Jersey and Pennsylvania Accountancy Boards).

Jeff Jenkins was admitted to the Bar in New Jersey and Pennsylvania in 1984. He is also admitted to practice before the Federal District Court for the District of New Jersey, the Federal District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit and the United States Supreme Court. His professional memberships include the American Bar Association, the New Jersey State Bar Association, the National Association of Consumer Bankruptcy Attorneys (“NACBA”), the Camden County Bar Association and the Mercer County Bar Association. In 2000, NACBA admitted Mr. Jenkins and his partner as Members of the Order of Protectors of Consumer Debtors. In 2003, Mr. Jenkins and his partner became Champions of NACBA’s Order of Protectors of Consumer Debtors and, in 2004, Mr. Jenkins and his partner became Distinguished Champions of NACBA’s Order of Protectors of Consumer Debtors.

Jeff Jenkins’ law firm, Jenkins & Clayman, has its main office in Audubon, New Jersey (which is in Camden County and right across the Delaware River from Philadelphia). The firm maintains branch offices (where clients are seen by appointment only) in East Brunswick, Trenton, Vineland and Atlantic City, New Jersey.

Jenkins & Clayman has generally filed more consumer bankruptcies each year than any other law firm in New Jersey since 1996.

Jeff Jenkins lives in Southern New Jersey with his wife, stepson and two dogs.

231

PLANNED SUCCESS

CHAPTER 25

PLANNED SUCCESS

BY PAUL POWELL

There is never a shortage of things to be done when you grow up on a farm. And my family’s farm was no exception. My family’s hard work instilled a work ethic for which I am thankful. As I think back on those days, the sense of accomplishment after a long day of work was very satisfying. Starting the day with goals and knowing what had to be accomplished that day, focused us diligently to work alongside family and friends in the same direction. I also remember that some days we fell very short of what we wanted to accomplish. There were days when Murphy’s Law was alive and well on the farm; equipment would break, the rain would come at the wrong time or something unexpected would happen. While those challenges brought frustration, we knew our hard work was worth it because we knew our family had a plan and a drive to be successful.

What if someone asks if your retirement plan is successful? What would you say? In this chapter I will reveal the Three (3) Steps to Retirement Plan Success. Three steps, that if followed, will provide a framework for decisions, and if through guidance and research you and your committee arrive at thoughtful answers, you will likely be well on your way to Retirement Plan Success. First, what is Retirement Plan Success?

RETIREMENT PLAN SUCCESS

As a plan sponsor, you have the ability to change someone’s life! Think about that for a moment. The decisions you make with respect to

SUCCESS TODAY

232

your organization’s retirement plan will have a direct impact on your employees’ financial ability to retire. This is an amazing opportunity to make a real difference in someone’s life. I realize you do not operate in a vacuum nor do you have an unlimited budget, but this is not solely about how much your company contributes to the plan. This is about ensuring that your company goals and participant goals are in alignment. What does this really mean? Is your retirement plan designed to help your company reach its goals and missions while helping your employees define what success means to them personally and providing a vehicle for them to make decisions that will positively affect their future? A successful retirement plan is hard work and there are no shortcuts or instant answers. It means asking hard questions and learning from the answers. It means recognizing when changes are needed and balancing those changes for the benefit of the stakeholders. We all know the phrase, “if it isn’t broken, don’t fix it.” If your plan is meeting your defined goals, there is no need to change it. Recognizing success is just as important as deciding what it means.

In a marathon, each runner starts at the same point with over 26 miles between them and the finish line. Each runner starts at the same point, but they don’t all finish at the same time. Runners plan the race from start to finish. A map of the race course is reviewed and consideration is given to the topography along the way. Some runners excel at climbing hills and others struggle with inclines. Some runners run the same pace throughout while others alter their pace. Each milestone has its challenges and each runner approaches them differently. Each runner has a different mindset on how to reach the ultimate goal. Some however will stumble, fall, and become distracted by the discomfort and roadblocks encountered along the way. However, eventually, almost all will reach their goal.

The success of your retirement plan depends on how well you define the goals and recognizing that the path to those goals is not a sprint race. Everyone at the start line has a different way of looking at their goals. Some may want to just finish the race while others want to set a personal best record and a few want to be the first across the tape. Each goal has multiple components which are in turn a piece of the overall plan. What does your goal look like from different vantage points?

233

PLANNED SUCCESS

RESEARCH-BASED APPROACH

Setting your goals and making needed changes to your plan should be approached with a systematic and research-based process. Your plan advisor can help you take an in-depth look at your plan’s framework and design details. Why are you contemplating change? Is it because a vendor offers a new and improved version of what you have or is it something that your plan truly needs to change? Are the new changes in alignment with the goals, values and mission that corporate considers important. One example is that today’s C-suite recognizes that employee retirement is a strategic issue that greatly impacts the bottom line. Certainly medical costs alone have created a level of concern for corporate as well as employees.

The changing landscape of healthcare reform brought about by the Affordable Care Act (ACA) is still a great unknown for both employers and employees. Previously, employees often would not plan to retire until they were eligible for Medicare. Now, theoretically they will be eligible for other coverage to bridge that gap. Corporate now has the concern that some workers may retire early if medical coverage is no longer a major deterrent. Helping all employees reach their retirement goals – while still maintaining appropriate staffing for production and efficiency – is a fine balancing act for employers.

Another view is that uncertain medical cost combined with an ever-extending life expectancy creates the need for substantial savings at retirement. Unfortunately, many employees have a myopic viewpoint in the early stages of their career. This combined with the complexity and intimidation of saving for an “un-defined” retirement results in many employees’ disengagement from retirement plan opportunities. Employees look to the plan sponsor/administrator for answers and direction on ways to make the funding of retirement as painless and convenient as possible. Retirement calculators and actuarial tables do not provide definitive answers to the employees’ question of how much is enough. Each employee runs their own race and finishes the course by themselves. It is the race officials who set the course. But in reality, when the shoe hits the pavement, participants have to be ready for the next step by being trained, disciplined, and focused on their pre-set goal.

SUCCESS TODAY

234

As a plan sponsor you must help them learn the course, help them understand the obstacles along the way, encourage and cheer on your plan participants with the latest and best information available. Not every participant wants or needs to be an expert in financial planning, but every participant wants to feel confident that they have planned. Knowing the goals of the participants helps you set the course with the proper plan offerings. If a question is unasked, the answer remains unknown.

I. GOAL-DRIVEN PLAN DESIGN

The aspects of successful plan management can be narrowed down to three key decision topics. First, having a goal-driven plan design will not only keep your plan on track but will also provide a framework which can help you quickly see if changes are necessary. Any successful plan must begin with a foundation and a prudent systematic approach. Verify that the plan is sound and compliant with ERISA and contains the basic structures of fiduciary responsibility. Stay abreast of upcoming changes within the industry as well as legislative initiatives. Whatever has worked in the past may not be supported in the future. A traditional-based approach where plan changes coincide only with a vendor change can weaken the plan. Plans can become burdensome to administer because of outdated plan design or goals that are no longer relevant. Each change made to the plan should only strengthen and help achieve goals. Poor plan design can equate to inefficient benefit costs and/or the lack of goals being accomplished. Integrate your culture and corporate goals within your budget. Designing a plan that is in conflict with adopted corporate goals may actually prove to be more expensive as needed changes become evident later on.

II. OBTAIN VENDOR AND ADVISOR VALUE

Do the services currently provided by your vendors match the services you need at a fair and reasonable fee? Sponsors must understand not only the services they need but also the value of those services. Your plan advisor can help you understand the scope of the services needed. Once those decisions are made, comparisons can be obtained between vendors to determine which options are right for your plan.

235

PLANNED SUCCESS

Secondly, obtaining vendor/advisor value can play an important role because today’s retirement plans are complex to administer and the use of third party vendors is absolutely necessary to collect, analyze and manage the overwhelming amount of data. Due diligence is in order when determining the value of the services received. Keeping a critical eye on plan expenses by benchmarking is the best way to ensure that vendors are being fairly and reasonably compensated for the scope of work they perform. With fee transparency, it has become easier for sponsors and participants to better understand the true expenses associated with a plan. The C-Suite often looks for ways to consolidate staffing and reduce their bottom-line administration expenses. Once a framework has been established, there will be certain services that are absolutely necessary to keep whatever the cost, but may be offset by efficiencies in other areas.

With industry consolidation, opportunities now exist for streamlining services, processes and administration. This may help better manage plan administration costs, eliminate budgetary concerns along with time and energy of the plan administrator. Consolidation of plan administration can help from the employee perspective as well by providing one-stop shopping.

III. PARTICIPANT-DRIVEN INVESTMENT MENU

The third factor in a successful plan is utilizing a participant-driven investment menu. Almost all of us own a car with the basic purpose of moving us from one place to another. Some of us own a no-frills basic vehicle while others own a high performance sports car. Each vehicle has the same components such as tires, engine, transmission, and fuel system which work together to get us to our destination. But each of those components has unique qualities which dictate the performance of the vehicle. If the majority of your participants want a basic vehicle that helps them reach their destination, you don’t want to offer only expensive high maintenance options. Some participants only want to get to the destination without getting grease on their hands, while others will want to get under the hood and learn all they can about their vehicle. Whether your participants are shade tree mechanics or high performance technicians, they both want the same thing, a successful and problem-free route to their destination.

SUCCESS TODAY

236

Like vehicles, investment choices are plentiful. Asset classes in a plan should make up a core structure or fund line-up from which participants choose. How those classes are allocated or divided provides further guidance. Each participant’s needs and goals are individual to them. Some are more comfortable with a packaged investment fund and others prefer to choose from individual funds. Passive-managed accounts may be the preferred choice of those who would rather have someone else make the actual investment decisions. Investment risk levels are a key factor for many participants. Younger employees with many years ahead in their career will more than likely have a higher risk tolerance. A more aggressive target date fund may be their preference. Participants who are beginning to consider retirement will more than likely shift gears to lower risk tolerance funds such as a money market or a fixed fund.

When making decisions about the investment menu, a close look at the number of offerings should be taken. Loading a plan with funds that are too similar in nature can lead to extra expenses. Some plan design features include the adoption of automatic features such as default deferral percentages. No matter what features a vehicle has, when the Check Engine light appears on the dashboard, most of us will take it to the car dealer or a mechanic to find the problem. Sometimes the problem is small and easily resolved, but at times more extensive work is required. Your plan advisor can help you determine what the investment menu should look like.

SUMMARY

Once the definition of a successful plan has been set, goals have been determined, and investment options chosen, continued monitoring is critical. While the retirement plan industry has changed significantly over the last ten years, the Department of Labor still does not provide specific direction on target date fund selection. Essentially the industry remains at asset allocation models or “target date fund Version 1.0.” Automatic enrollment has been available for a while, but concerns still linger over liability for selecting participant’s investments. For some, this concern continues to over-shadow the benefit of putting participants on a path to retirement. Behavioral finance had not been applied to the retirement plan industry and sponsors did not realize that participants want specific direction.

237

PLANNED SUCCESS

Generating a lifetime income and the need to convey information to participants in a different perspective was not on the radar of Congress, the DOL or the industry. Going forward the issues we will face in the next ten years will likely not be thought of as well, so plan goals can and will probably change. However, by following a prudent process, basing decisions on the latest research and routinely monitoring past decisions, plan sponsors can have confidence in reaching their retirement plan goals and positively impacting the lives of their employees.

SUCCESS TODAY

238

About Paul

As a well-known speaker, writer and expert in the retirement plan industry, Paul Powell specializes in helping corporations design, implement and monitor retirement plans.

Over the past 15 years, Paul has built a successful retirement consulting practice by providing corporations with strategies that have helped improve outcomes for participants and reduced liability for employers. As a result of his success, he has been asked to speak at industry conferences such as the Plan Sponsor Council of America, the Louisiana SHRM Conference, Mid-Sized Pension Conference, Construction and Financial Managers National Conference and has been a panelist with other well-known industry experts like ERISA specialist, Fred Reish. In addition, Paul was recognized as one of the top 100 advisors in the Nation by 401(k) Wire.

As a plan sponsor and participant advocate, Paul’s expertise is in provider negotiations with a focus on lowering total plan and administrative costs for plans of all sizes. Paul’s interest in Behavioral Finance has helped plan sponsors understand how plan design can dramatically improve their employees’ ability to successfully retire.

Outside of the industry Paul will be found biking with his family and playing drums. As an amateur photographer Paul’s camera is never far away.

You can connect with Paul by visiting:www.plansponsorprofessor.com

Paul offers Securities through NFP Advisor Services (NFPAS), LLC, member FINRA/SIPC. He offers Investment Advisory Services through NFP Retirement, Inc. NFPAS is affiliated with NFP Retirement, Inc.

239

MISSION POSSIBLE: CONNECT THE DOTS, REACH YOUR FULL POTENTIAL, AND GET MORE OUT OF LIFE

CHAPTER 26

MISSION POSSIBLE: CONNECT THE DOTS, REACH YOUR FULL POTENTIAL, AND

GET MORE OUT OF LIFE

BY RENATE PRANDL, M.A., CHPC™ (CERTIFIED HIGH PERFORMANCE COACH)

As a high performance coach I change people’s lives.

If you look to blame others for your lack of success, this is not for you. If you hand over responsibility for your wellbeing to others, then respectfully, let me suggest you stop reading. These strategies for success and sustained high performance help those with an open mind, who take responsibility for their health and wealth, and want to live a vibrant, successful life.

I changed the course of my own life and the lives of friends and clients over the past 35 years – a simple, but not always an easy task.

DON’T TAKE NO FOR AN ANSWER

Taking charge of my destiny started when I was 23 years old.

“I strongly suggest stopping sports. No skiing. No running.” The doctor looked at me and was dead serious. So was I when I said I would try everything possible to continue doing the things I love.

SUCCESS TODAY

240

I saw this doctor because of swollen, painful knees and a sore back after extensive sports activities. As a physical education teacher and skiing instructor, sport was - and still is – a major part of my life.

Have you ever been told that you cannot pursue certain sports any longer? No running. No playing. I am sure you have. As we get older we tend to only listen to the advice of “experts” and forget to listen to our bodies and sensations.

[Disclaimer: I am NOT a doctor or medical practitioner. These are my own findings after 35 years of researching and studying different modalities.]

I tried traditional exercise, massage, “Touch For Health”, Kinesiology. The pain in my knees and lower back was still there. By then Pilates had gained popularity in Austria, the country I was born and grew up in. “Core strength” was to alleviate back pain, but not to the extent I had wished for.

I was on a mission trying every new “100% success guaranteed” technique.

CHANGE YOUR THINKING, CHANGE YOUR LIFE

When my husband and I moved to Singapore/Asia in 1996, I started my own personal training business, “Body And Brain,” from scratch. Focusing on a holistic approach, I added Neuro-Linguistic programming (NLP) to help people change.

Have you caught yourself talking about yourself in a negative way? That you are not good enough? How does this make you feel? Omit “don’t” or “can’t” for a day. How do you feel at the end of this day? Happier? Less stressed?

For my clients like actors, singers, pop stars, housewives, CEOs, whether injured or not, and stroke and cancer survivors I seemed to be the go-to person to get fit, lose weight, improve performance, get rid of back pain, and get life back on track.

I jokingly called myself the “resort doctor” – the doctor of last resort. When nothing else worked, they came to see me.

241


FLEXIBLE BODIES, FLEXIBLE MINDS

A 4-year-training program of the FELDENKRAIS METHOD® which works on the CNS (Central Nervous System) and the BRAIN followed. Habits and patterns can be fundamentally changed, gently, effortlessly. Focusing on what’s possible.

By observing a person’s movement I can sense where the pain is or will be. I had predicted tennis player Rafael Nadal’s injury woes a few years earlier. Unfortunately, no one listened. It would have been easy to avoid some injuries.

Feldenkrais® helped my clients get back on track much faster. Even my husband who was skeptical at first gained tremendously. We both love helicopter off-piste adventure skiing. One year we added Feldenkrais® moves to our training. The secret: The lighter and less effort, the more and profound the effect. The brain recalibrates and reorganizes. We are in a more balanced, more “neutral” state and do everything more efficiently.

It worked! Instead of 5-6 runs we did 15 in one day. He was convinced and now practices Feldenkrais every morning. Persistency is another key for successful performers.

THE MAIN PROBLEM IS NOT WHERE THE PAIN IS

The more I applied different strategies, the more I realized it was not about the obvious my clients came to see me for. Apart from the fact that acute trauma backache was not simply the result of weak stomach muscles, it was the SYMPTOM of something more fundamental. Most severe BACK ACHE and POOR POSTURE is linked to EMOTIONAL issues.

Makes sense, doesn’t it? When you are sad, you walk differently – heavy on your feet, round shoulders and flat breathing. Result: Pain in back and neck, less powerful presence in business, missing out on the joys of a healthy lifestyle.

When your lower back hurts, your back muscles get tight to avoid painful movement. “Strengthen” your abdominal muscles and your moves get jerky, resulting in injuries in other areas. In order to turn, bend or look up, one muscle group needs to tighten (contract) and the other one needs

SUCCESS TODAY

242

to lengthen. The Feldenkrais Method® teaches strategies for flexible bodies AND flexible minds.

THERE IS ALWAYS ROOM FOR IMPROVEMENT

The latest brain research and my own experience show that increased presence and AWARENESS of WHAT and HOW we do things enables CHANGE. This empowers people to find their strengths, beliefs, and uniqueness to live the healthy life they want and deserve. I have helped my clients improve their health, their performance in business and sports, and create their dream life. This is no rah-rah approach, but real breakthrough strategies taking you to heightened and prolonged levels of energy, focus, courage, and clarity.

One of my clients survived a stem cell stroke and was diagnosed to be wheelchair bound for the rest of his life. Applying these strategies made him walk again. He is over 70 years old and plays tennis and golf nearly every day. Change your mind, change your movement, and improve your life.

Another client, a mother of triplets and sufferer of back pain, wanted to run the Singapore marathon. We did it together, and most importantly, she did not get hurt. What an accomplishment!

TOO BUSY. REALLY?

My clients are very successful and busy. You may be just like them:

• Trying to connect the dots.

• Trying to improve health and performance (whether in sports or your business).

• Trying to reach full body-mind-brain integration.

• Not knowing where to start.

For YOU to succeed and become a high performer, I offer a proven SYSTEM to shorten your learning curve and make you reach your goals faster. Want to be able to do sports again? Play better golf? Be able to play with your kids or grandchildren? Be more present on stage as a speaker, actor or singer? Or just walk again after a stroke? Make your healthy life your priority.

243


In 2014, I put all the dots together and became a Brendon Burchard CERTIFIED HIGH PERFORMANCE COACH™, one of 250 in the world. Using a trusted, highly effective model combined with over 30 years of my experience, training, studying, and teaching will provide you with the necessary STRATEGIES for REAL BREAKTHROUGHS. It is about helping YOU get real results faster by following this STEP-BY-STEP program.

By learning how to master your psychology, physiology, productivity, persuasion, presence, and purpose you will experience what makes a high performer, a person with heightened and sustained levels of clarity, energy, courage, productivity, and influence. I show you the way, but you have to do the WORK. Whoever tells you otherwise is lying. You know yourself best and only YOU can change yourself. Let me help you and give you the right tools.

SEVEN KEY FACTORS TO BEING SUCCESSFUL IN HEALTH, LIFE, AND BUSINESS

1 – Become CLEAR where you are and where you want to go. Others can guide you, but do what works for YOU. Close your eyes and answer these questions in as much detail as possible:

• What are my dreams?

• What does my dream life look like?

• What has prevented me from having this dream?

• What exactly does SUCCESS look like for me (in health, business, relationships)?

2 – Take 100% RESPONSIBILITY for your actions. Ask for guidance, take advice from experts with a pinch of salt, and take action. Step-by-step, one habit change at a time.

3 – Inspiration vs. PerspirationMentors are great for inspiration, but YOU need to do the work. Remember: no shortcuts, only shortened learning curves.

You may say: Well, this is not rocket science. I have heard it before. But is it common practice? Do you DO what you should do?

SUCCESS TODAY

244

4 – The “BUT-FACTOR”™ It starts with excuses like:

• “Yes, I know I should go for a walk every day, but (you may fill in your favorite excuse).”

• “Yes, I know I should spend more time with my kids, but (excuse).” Sounds familiar?

Instead of excuses, change the BUT-FACTOR as follows:

Believe that you can do it.Use what you have, what works for you, and build on it.Transform into the person you want to be.

5 – Learn from your mistakes.Everyone makes mistakes. They help you learn and grow. When you stumble and fall get up on your feet and do it again. I am not talking simple repetition, do it with increased awareness. Go slower. Ask for a second opinion. Maybe just wait and see. Whatever it is, change the approach ever so slightly.

This is valid for competitive sports training, exercise for wellbeing, discussions with your kids or your partner, as well as business negotiations.

6 – Strive to make your dreams happen.Miracles and dreams come true when you make them happen.

Self-reflection: How productive are you towards your dreams? Decide on three projects you “must” accomplish every single day.

Are you enthusiastic when sharing your ideas? What is holding you back? Are you doing the things taking you closer to your goals? (No pain, better food choices, to name but a few.)

Close your eyes and gauge how present you are on a scale of 1-10 (10 is the highest).

Sit tall, feet flat on floor, take a deep breath, inhale through your nose and push the air down into your stomach (yes, it will come out), exhale through your mouth and let stomach come back in – do this a few times. How present are you now on scale 1-10? Do this several times per day.

245


Calms the mind, too.

What is your purpose in life? How do you see yourself? Self-esteem has a huge impact on your health, physically and emotionally.

Integrate these “secrets” into your life. Take ACTION. You can sit and wait for the magic to happen (which will most likely not happen) OR you take charge of your life. I did it successfully. So did my clients. So can you!

7 – How to pick the “right” moment.Have a plan for short term and long-term achievements. The secret to success, however, is to start NOW. The “right” moment to succeed is “right now.”

Now it is your turn to change and improve your future health, your relationships, your self-esteem, your influence and performance. Now it is your turn to lead your dream life full of vibrancy and energy – and fun!

As a FREE GIFT to honor your willingness to improve and take action, I share two of my favorite quick daily exercises to lengthen and activate the spine with you. This improves your posture, releases muscular tension, and energizes.

Lie on your back, bend legs and stand feet:

a) Gently start to tilt pelvis back and forth so your lower back presses against the mattress and comes off when arching the back. Go slowly, gently, and stay in your range of comfort. When arching the lower back this pulls your head and chin away from your chest. When flattening the lower back this “pushes” your spine towards the head and chin towards your chest.

b) Slowly tilt legs right and left. Simple, small moves. Pleasurable like “meditation in movement.”

Amazing to fight lower back pain.

Enjoy!

SUCCESS TODAY

246

About Renate

Renate PRANDL helps clients reach their full potential in their private and business lives by applying a unique blend of cutting-edge as well as proven approaches and techniques like NLP or findings from the latest brain research.

For over three decades Renate has influenced and empowered individuals and organizations to excel and reach sustainable high levels of performance.

As a professor at a commercial college in Austria where she was born and grew up, she taught English for Business and PE (Physical Education) always pushing her students to strive for more than they thought they could do. She applies very high standards of excellence in herself, her former college students, and her private and corporate clients as a high performance coach.

Renate gave up her college career and followed her husband to Singapore in 1996 – where she set up her health consulting business, “Body & Brain” in a completely different environment.

She was a pioneer offering a holistic approach to personal training and was the “go-to” person when nothing else worked. Renate had noticed that most of the ailments, health problems, or challenges in people’s sports performances had psychological or emotional roots and added NLP, imagery, acupressure, and kinesiology to the training sessions with great success. Touch a person’s body and you touch the whole person.

Renate studied in Vienna and Salzburg and holds a Master’s Degree (M.A.) from the University in Salzburg/Austria majoring in English and PE, and a minor in Psychology. She studied with Gary Yardley to become a Certified NLP Practitioner.

A four-year training program in the USA under Donna Ray and the late Mark Reese followed and made Renate one of only a handful of certified Feldenkrais® Movement Professionals in Asia. Based in Singapore, which is base for expats from all around the world, her clients are of different nationalities and very diverse, from pop stars to CEOs to actors and runners and homemakers.

Renate coaches and teaches programs tailored to the person’s individual needs to optimize results. To provide her clients with even more proven and cutting-edge strategies from the latest research in physiology and psychology, Renate became a Certified High Performance Coach™ in 2014. She has been studying with one of her mentors, Brendon Burchard, for years.

247


Renate grew up in Austria and has lived and worked in Europe, USA and Asia. She loves to work with multi-cultural clients and understands how to deal with challenges based on different cultural backgrounds.

Whether you want to run a marathon, walk again after a stroke, be more confident or persuasive in business, Renate listens and challenges you to find your personal best and succeed. She strongly believes that every person has the power to improve.

Renate has completed two Singapore marathons and enjoys running, playing tennis, and off-piste helicopter skiing in places like New Zealand, India, and Greenland. She loves and collects art and enjoys healthy food and good wines.

You can connect with Renate at: [email protected]://about.me/RenatePrandlwww.bodyandbrain.com.sgwww.twitter.com/BodyNBrain

249

IN THE BEGINNING, THERE WAS NOTHING

CHAPTER 27


BY RICHARD TYLER

My story began like many success stories - from nothing. I admired those who were successful, and I had ambition. When I was starting out and needing to make money, I really didn’t know what I would do; I didn’t know what I could do.

I had some family in the jewelry industry, so while I was attending college, my first stab at a career was selling jewelry. I want to be clear to say, when I say my family was in the jewelry industry, I don’t mean they owned the jewelry business or anything like that. My grandmother, aunts, and uncles all worked as piece workers in jewelry factories in Rhode Island.

Working on piecework means you get paid per piece produced – this was the original pay-for-performance model. I learned from listening to my family all about the fashion jewelry industry. By fashion jewelry, I am not referring to eighteen caret gold, diamonds, or precious gemstones, rather I am talking about department and clothing store and gift shop jewelry, you know, things like electroplated and gold-filled chains, bracelets and fashion rings with genuine semi-precious as well as man-made stones.

I felt confident I knew enough about fashion jewelry that I could buy it wholesale and sell it direct. With an entrepreneurial spirit, I began selling one-on-one, face-to-face, door-to-door, business-to-business. I’d

SUCCESS TODAY

250

be telling you a tale if I said I was an instant hit. People liked what I had. However, I still experienced a lot of failures. To me each failure turned out to be a lesson that taught me that if you have ambition, drive, and mental toughness and are willing to make a commitment that you can build upon, you can be successful.

HATE THE FAILURES, BUT LOVE THE LESSONS

So when someone said, “No,” to me, I didn’t get angry with the person. I got frustrated with myself because I didn’t know a proper answer to give them so that they could turn their “no” into a “yes.” Experience quickly taught me that sometimes the product you are selling is not something the person wants or needs, or something that they can afford.

In the beginning, most of time when I didn’t succeed it was because of my inexperience or lack of knowledge. In order to correct this, I began to write down what I said and what the customer said, and I even wrote down my answers to their questions. I reviewed and researched the transactions, so that I would have a better answer the next time around.

DEVELOPMENT OF SUCCESS

Soon, I began to see certain principles emerge. Through a continued commitment to learn more, I researched business people who were successful. I did not realize at the time I was laying the foundation for the type of work I am doing today.

Over time, I consolidated what I learned through my own experiences and the principles of success from others I studied. I distilled this knowledge into a saying to live by, “Your success tomorrow is in direct proportion to your ‘Commitment to Excellence®’ today.”™ The statement and its underlying concepts were so powerful that I trademarked it. As a student of success, I’m absolutely convinced that there are just no shortcuts to lasting success. Success happens when there is a commitment to excellence, a commitment to continuous improvement, a disdain for the status quo and a resolve to never be satisfied with less than your best performance.

We all have the opportunity for success, and we also all have obstacles in front of us. I certainly don’t disagree that some have greater challenges than others, but regardless of where any of us stands today, we do have

251


the opportunity. Whether or not we achieve success has everything to do with how we choose to attack those challenges that sit between where we are today, and the success that we intend to achieve.

Tyler Learning 6™

I have discovered there are six principles necessary to achieving success in whatever it is a person chooses to do.

Step One: Commitment Commitment is that mental determination to accept only excellence, no matter how difficult, no matter how uncomfortable, and no matter how stressful.

Step Two: VisualizationThis is the mental imagining of yourself as you wish to be. I have found this is such a critical process, yet so many people do not practice it, and many programs teach nothing about visualization. It is important to understand that our mind doesn’t care whether we’re a success or a failure. To condition the mind properly we must feed it images and thoughts of the way we wish to be, so it can seek out and recognize the paths to obtain what it is focusing on.

Step Three: ApplicationApplication is the physical process of moving from visualization into action.

Step Four: IndoctrinationThis step is the conscious use of your skills.

Step Five: IndividualizationThis step involves converting your knowledge into your beliefs; thinking in original terms and “walking your talk.” When you first learn the processes that I am talking about, then they are my thoughts, my beliefs, my values and principles about these areas. Through practice and working on them yourself, you begin to think of them in original terms and they are no longer Richard Tyler’s beliefs. They’re David’s beliefs, or they are John’s beliefs, or Mary’s beliefs, or Betty’s beliefs. This individualization allows you to think in original terms and literally act as you believe. This is critical so that your mind does not get conflicting messages.

SUCCESS TODAY

252

There are so many people who will say one thing and do something else. You can’t achieve lasting success like that. You can’t turn it on part of the time; instead you have to live it, breathe it and it has to be part of you.

It’s not enough to commit to just being successful between the hours of nine and five, but that doesn’t mean you can’t turn business off when you go home and create the proper balance. I’m talking about a belief structure, a set of philosophies, an attitude and a conviction that is part of you.

Step Six: Review You have got to frequently go back to the basics to avoid performance slumps, to refocus the mind, and to re-establish commitment. Every day negative people, negative environments, and negative news pummels you. You are constantly being told the things you can’t achieve, and no one, no matter how strong they are, is impervious to this barrage. Little by little negativity or lack of faith in yourself creeps in and you don’t even recognize it’s happening. Your skills begin to erode, your belief structures start to deteriorate, and one day you wake up to find yourself dramatically off course.

Once you have programed yourself towards a success philosophy then you must go back and review the basics frequently. You must do the right things that are necessary so you can avoid most setbacks or slowdowns on the road to success. This behavior establishes an environment more likely to experience success. Review is so critically important.

VINCE LOMBARDI

Many years ago, there was a great leader and football coach, Vince Lombardi. Today we have the Super Bowl, but before that existed there was a game called a League Championship. Vince Lombardi’s team won the very first League Championship. On Lombardi’s team, he had an all-pro quarterback, all-pro linebackers, and all-pro receivers. They knew the game and they were excellent at it.

Lombardi was a smart man and he knew the principles of the Tyler Learning 6™. He especially knew the importance of Review. When training camp came about the following year, as all the League Champion players were gathered into the training room for the opening session, Lombardi stood at a podium up front. As he was about to

253


address the men he reached underneath the podium and he pulled out an oblong object. He held it with both hands high above his head. He said, “Gentlemen, this is a football.” Of course, there wasn’t anybody in that room that didn’t know what a football was. What Lombardi was really saying is this is a fundamental, and no matter how good we’ve gotten, no matter that we have all-pros position after position, or that we are world champs, if we forget the fundamentals and we don’t go back to the very beginning and keep that foundation strong, we cannot sustain success. In other words, no matter how beautiful we build a house, if the foundation crumbles it is all for nothing.

In his language, if you can’t block and you can’t tackle, you can’t win! That’s what the Review process is. So many organizations and individuals put into place some success principles, but they don’t take it all the way. They don’t put in a Review program. They’ll have a training program where they teach a set of skills, and then they abandon that set of skills because they never go back and have refresher programs. The thought process is, “I already learned that, so I don’t have to learn that again.”

This could not be any further from the truth. Review, refocus and the re-establishing of commitments are absolutely critical to achieving lasting success.

THE SECRET-TO-SUCCESS MYTH

Although I don’t believe it’s simple, I do believe that there is a secret to success: working very hard and continuously at the right things. And if this is a secret, it’s only because it involves “continuous” hard work, and because people often have a difficult time defining the “right things” to be working on.

There’s an entire industry devoted to hawking the latest magic bullet or the magic pill – the overnight success strategy that, of course, never works long term. I know we’d all love to have a shortcut, but if you are looking for long-term results, then short cuts don’t exist.

THE UNIVERSAL SCALE

Nature doesn’t allow us to have the shortcuts, however she provides us a wonderful scale, where on one side exists something that we want and on the other side, something we’ve got to give up in order to

SUCCESS TODAY

254

get it. What we give up may come in many forms: time, extra effort, commitment, study, certain relationships and habits are some examples. There is always a price to pay. We have to be willing to do that if we want sustainable success.

When you look about the ethical challenges that you’ve seen across the globe, people looking for shortcuts have created all of those. Some may have achieved great success, but at the same time there’s a big difference between great success momentarily and lasting success over time. Deciding what you want and deciding what price you are willing to pay to get it, within moral and ethical boundaries, is the key.

Most people are continually busy doing something, but is it the right something? Something that’s going to make a difference for them, their families, their loved ones, their company, and their relationships. So again the secret is the combination of the three: really hard, continuous, right things.

THE TRUTH BEYOND THE MYTH

In order to make your success lasting you have to have drive and commitment. You have to be focused on success, and be willing to do whatever it takes within moral and ethical boundaries to achieve success.

To be in it for the long haul, to look for constant improvement, you should seek mentors – people, companies, individuals – who are successful. Follow the things that they are doing or have done. Some mentors may be good in one area but not good in all the areas. Find the very best at each area and learn from them. Involve yourself with them and stay away from negative thinkers. Stay away from individuals who will pull you down into the quagmire, the abyss that is failure.

The great Sir Francis Bacon once said, “Knowledge is power.” He was wrong. Knowledge is not power it is “potential power.” Only knowledge put to use to benefit you, your family, your loved ones, and/or your company – is true power. It doesn’t make any difference how many books are in your library if you never open them. It doesn’t make any difference if you open them and read them if you never learn from them. You see: learning requires action to have any lasting effect.

255


It’s not enough to have faith. Faith is an important part of success in life, but in and of itself, it is not enough. You must have faith that you’re going to be successful, but like knowledge, you have to take action to make your dream of success a reality. The great book, the Bible, says it best, “faith without works is nothing.” If I could speak to my young self, when I was starting out knocking on doors selling gold chains, it would be, Faith with action equals success.

Now you have the basic principles. The decision is yours. Success or failure, which is it going to be?

SUCCESS TODAY

256

About Richard

Richard Tyler is the CEO of Richard Tyler International, Inc.® as well as a diversified family of successful companies and services.

Richard is a highly-acclaimed speaker, trainer, consultant and best-selling author. He has earned a worldwide reputation for

his powerful educational methods, motivational techniques and success training. His background in sales, leadership, management, customer service and quality improvement has allowed him to become one of the world’s most sought-after consultants, lecturers and teachers. Richard shares his success and Excellence philosophies with millions of individuals each year through keynote presentations, writing, radio, television, seminars, books, CDs and web-based programs. Richard has authored or co-authored fifteen books with top experts such as: Stephen Covey, Mark Victor Hansen, Ken Blanchard, Denis Waitley, Dr. Warren Bennis, General Alexander Haig, Alan Keyes, Dr. John Gray, Ty Boyd, Dr. Robert Schuller and many others.

Richard was selected as one of America’s PremierExperts™ and his philosophies have been featured in Forbes magazine, Entrepreneur magazine, The Business Journals, Bloomberg Businessweek, MarketWatch, Yahoo! Finance, CNBC.com, CNN International, BBC.com, Sales and Marketing Management magazine, Wealth & Finance International magazine, Acquisition International magazine, the Houston Chronicle as well as in hundreds of articles and interviews. Richard has been seen on FOX, CBS, NBC and ABC television affiliates.

Richard’s recognition and awards include, the “Distinguished Speaker Award” from the School of Business Administration at the University of Houston, Who’s Who Worldwide of Global Business Leaders, the American Biographical Institute “Man Of The Year Award”, Who’s Who in American Education and the Outstanding Young Men of America Award to name a few. He has been showcased on Keeping America Strong, a special 30-minute addition of Heartbeat of America – a national television program hosted by William Shatner and Rear Admiral Kevin F. Delaney (ret.) that featured Richard and Richard Tyler International, Inc®. Richard received the coveted “Keeping America Strong” Award for outstanding contributions to the strength and growth of American Business.

Richard’s “Commitment to Excellence”® Sales Immersion™, Leadership Mastery™, and Excellence in Quality and Service™ programs have been taught at the university level and Richard serves as a Master Trainer to students at The Center for Entrepreneurship at Houston Community College. Richard serves as a council member of the Mayor's Office of Trade and International Affairs for the City of Houston.

257


Richard is a contributing writer to LinkedIn’s Pulse News and is a Mentor in the “LinkedIn For Good” Mentorship Program For Veteran Job Seekers. Richard serves on the Advisory Board and is past Chairman of Be An Angel Fund, a charity that helps children with multiple disabilities and profoundly deaf children to have a better life.

Richard Tyler International, Inc.® has been recognized as one of the top training and consulting firms in the world. Among it’s numerous honors are, International Sales Training and Management Consulting Firm Of The Year, “Top Sales Training and Management Consulting Firm in the United States”, the “Best For Corporate Growth Strategy – USA”, the “Award for Excellence in Sales Training – USA”, Management Consultancy of the Year and the “Best of Business Award” Management Consultancy.

As Richard says: "Remember, your success tomorrow is in direct proportion to your ‘Commitment to Excellence®’ today.™"

You can connect with Richard at: [email protected] www.RichardTyler.com www.SalesImmersion.com www.linkedin.com/in/RichardTyler www.facebook.com/RichardTylerInternational www.twitter.com/RichardTylerInt https://plus.google.com/+RichardTyler/posts Tel: (+1) 713.974.7214

259

DISCOVERING THE POWER TO HEAL: SHEDDING THE ANGER AND FINDING THE LIGHT

CHAPTER 28

DISCOVERING THE POWER TO HEAL:

SHEDDING THE ANGER AND FINDING THE LIGHT

BY SANGITA PATEL

Our world is always changing, but we do not always realize it until we experience an event that demands our attention. I learned this in a single moment in 1989. I had gone back to India with my husband and two-year-old son to disperse my mother-in-law’s ashes in the holy river of Ganges, which is traditional for Hindus. After the ceremony, my husband went back to the States, and my son and I remained behind until my younger brother Niraj finished his finals. We were going back to the States together—me, his big sister, was taking him there for the first time! We were on our way to get his passport, and Niraj was driving. One of my father’s employees, John, was also with us, when suddenly we had an accident. An eighteen-wheeler swerved and hit us head-on, sending my brother and John out of the car. Only I remained in the small car, pinned underneath it.

I had survived the crash, but not without serious health problems that kept me in the hospital for nine months. The doctors wanted to take my legs, but my father fought against it. As for Niraj, he was not as fortunate. He lost his life that day, but no one told me for many months. They were fearful about how I’d respond. I was so tired, angry, and

SUCCESS TODAY

260

vulnerable. They didn’t want me to relapse. When the time came, they told me as gently as they could, and their worst fears came true. I didn’t handle the news well, and the emotional pain, topped with the physical pain, was just too much to take. I shut down!

Through painful surgeries to repair my broken legs, and undergoing therapy, I did walk again. However, while I was physically ‘there,’ I was not emotionally present. My years were filled with surgeries, having to have several per year just to remove the bone fragments that constantly lodged in my left ankle, which was void of any cartilage. I saw everything happening through vacant eyes. The world around me hadn’t stopped living, but I had. WHY ME? That’s what I thought constantly. I was so angry – angry with God, and angry with the world. My tears were my only release. If only they could make me feel better...

When we are in pain, we end up hitting a road block, reaching that point where we cannot take it anymore. That day did come for me, and I just didn’t want to deal with what was happening in my life any longer. I was exhausted from so many surgeries that didn’t fully heal me, and I couldn’t take anything more that the world was dishing out to me. I was a volcano ready to erupt. I didn’t know what else I could do, and turned to the universe in one last desperate attempt, looking and praying for a miracle. Help me heal.

I had never focused or prayed upon something with that much conviction before, or had ever felt more desperate. Without warning, and in a nick of time, something truly incredible happened. I started to receive mail about non-Western healing practices and strategies. I was aware, and I knew I had nothing to lose by doing some research. I did have EVERYTHING TO GAIN! It was the beginning of a change; the start of a series of discoveries that ended up saving my life. This was in 2005—sixteen years after the accident.

IMMERSING MYSELF IN: THE NEW WAYS

The universe had given me enough hope to explore what I could do, within my own control, to make my life better, and heal me from the pain that I had for eighteen years. I went on a retreat, where I met a man who would become very influential in my life: Qigong Master ChyuniLin. His main message was (and still is) that anyone can heal one’s own body. That message caught my attention, and I longed to hear more.

261


Qi means “energy,” and gong means “working with.” Qigong is an ancient Chinese healing modality, in which there are two energies, yin and yang, female and male. When there is an imbalance between these two energies, illness, organ dysfunction, stress, and even diseases such as cancer, diabetes, and high blood pressure occur.

I sensed the wisdom in what Master Lin was saying—here was a healing modality that I could practice while sitting down, or even lying on my bed. It was a start, and I felt something starting to change.

Next, I took a spiritual course with Master Jeddah Mali, a teacher of self-awareness, expansion, and the art of living-in-the-moment. This was a perfect companion-practicing piece with Qigong, and I found myself starting to heal, inside and out. I became more aware, and I started to recognize the signals that I’d suppressed for so long. There was that voice inside of me, the one that I’d always heard, but never acknowledged. It had become a weight upon my chest, and I began to explore, asking, “What’s happening? How am I feeling?” I was more aware of what was happening, and it opened up opportunities to explore my inner-child, and find acceptance with so much that was within me. That lonely six-year-old girl that had been sent away to a school hours away from her home came out, and I got to tell her that I loved her. I found a way to come to terms with losing my brother, who was only ten when I had gotten married and moved away to the United States. This entire, incredible experience gave me a chance to heal, forgive, express love, and move on to the present.

I had lived far too long trapped within my own constructed circumstances, not aware of what I could do within using my own inner-power. Those who loved me: my husband, and children—I had a daughter by this time—didn’t have access to me in the way that they should have had. The pain was very raw during this time, but it was no longer unbearable, and I wanted to process it, and move on. In my desire to achieve this long overdue healing, I came across the teachings of the Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT), which is also known as tapping.

EFT works with our body’s energy, allowing us to think about and target the events of our life that cause us pain, anxiety, and other emotions. We learn how to accept, process, and deal with

SUCCESS TODAY

262

the pain, which stops it from controlling our lives.

This technique was the third element to my healing, and it liberated me. My dreams, and even my outlook on the present moment, changed. My internal vibration (our positive energy with the universe) began to rise, and I started feeling more confident, even excited about my life. And most importantly: I realized that I was on this planet for a purpose. My life was more than cooking, cleaning, and suffering.

This healing was not just an internal transformation, either. I could feel improvements in my physical well-being, and the changes were significant. The inflammation in my legs decreased, and I could stand and walk for longer periods of time. Even standing for a half an hour was a huge accomplishment! Today, I am so grateful that my present health, both physical and emotional, is at an incredible level. The practices that I drew upon to make all of this happen were ones that were a bit “suspect” to my relatives, but as they watched my transformation unfold, there was no denying that what I was doing was working.

Then another beautiful, brilliant thing happened…I met my angels! It started with an angel healing session with a wonderful therapist, Judy Toma. She helped me clear the clutter that was blocking me from connecting with my higher self, and with the archangels. YES, we all have guardian angels! To learn more about connecting with them, I learned about Integrated Energy Therapy (IET), which is a wonderful channel for achieving higher self-awareness. Going through this particular journey was so intimate, profound, and special to me. Just when I didn’t think it could become more wonderful, it did. I learned how to use my energy to connect with Seraphim Angels, who are believed to be a collective consciousness that assists in governing the universe and galaxies in the divine order of the universal alignment and flow. It was at that point that everything became clearer than it had ever been before: I had to SHARE this gift with the world, this limitless possibility for healing.

I’VE EMBRACED MY ABILITIES

I experienced a transformation that took me from believing that my life did not matter to a wonderful point where I realized that I had potential, purpose, and the power to make incredible changes in my life. This allowed me to look at tough experiences as ways to grow, and it has

263


allowed me to live in joy more often than not. I learned so much, and I was living in a larger, more impactful way.

When you realize something amazing, you need to be mindful of it, and help maintain it. In seventeen years, I had been through so much, yet I realized how much more there was that I still wanted to do and accomplish. This led to a continuing journey of improvement and awareness. I never want to take anything for granted, or assume that anything is permanent. I embrace this awareness by eating organic, healthier choices, taking natural supplements instead of prescribed medications and exercising my mind and body daily. It’s this holistic approach to my life that helps keep me balanced, and whole, too.

MY DAILY PRAYER

Every morning as I wake up, and every evening before I go to sleep, I close my eyes to recite and reflect upon my daily prayer:

Thank you, God, for making me your humble and loving instrument of love and healing.

Please send all of your healing energy through my heart to others, so they can heal and find their light.

Through this prayer, I know that when God asks me, “Did you share your gift?” I can answer with a wholehearted “Yes!”

USING MY GIFTS

I am so grateful to God and to the universe for helping me find the lessons in my pain, and connecting with the gifts that I have carried within me that I am meant to share with others. I will always be a student of learning, and seek out new ways to embrace my inner self. We change daily, which means that we must be aware of those changes. This is how we understand them, and maintain our joy.

Over the years, I have thought about what I had to offer to others, and wondered what it would be like to go from student to teacher. I was not certain, but I was open to it. And as it always does, the universe presented me with the opportunity in a most amazing way.

I’d been working as an interior designer because I truly enjoyed

SUCCESS TODAY

264

decorating homes, and was really building up confidence with this new me. People had known my experiences with healing, and I was always willing to share the experiences, but it was not my career. One day, one of our hotel employees (my husband’s business), came up to me, and she was so upset.

“Okay, what’s happening? Why are you crying?” I asked. She was absolutely heartbroken, wearing her pain upon her face, and she was pregnant.

“The doctor has found a cyst on the baby’s brain, and they don’t know what to do. I don’t know what to do,” she said. As a mother, my heart ached for her. As a person who’d been through some pretty bad pain, the healer in me wanted to help her.

I suggested that she try some Qigong exercises. I gave her information, and everything that she needed to try this out. She practiced it with conviction and devotion for six weeks, and went back for her check-up at the doctor’s office. This appointment involved a scan to check on the baby. Those doctors were surprised! The scan revealed nothing; there were no cysts anywhere. She called me to share the exciting news, and she was crying tears of joy. I was crying, too. It was so powerful, and such a testament as to the power that we all possess to heal ourselves.

After we had finished our conversation, I processed everything that had just happened and said, “Oh my God. I am ready to teach!” I was ready to teach, and I couldn’t wait to start this new journey in my life.

TODAY

I am so excited about the opportunities that I have to teach others about healing, and finding the inner abundance of joy that is waiting to shines in their lives. It’s a powerful concept that starts with our own individual thoughts. Knowing that I can help guide people to be more aware of what is happening in their inner selves brings me such joy. There are so many exciting ways that I can do this, whether it be working with people individually, or in a group setting through one of the workshops that I offer.

Realizing that I have the opportunity to use my life lessons and gifts to help another person in need creates so much positive energy, it demands

265


to be noticed. You see, we are all connected, and our individual wellbeing is a part of our universe’s wellbeing.

I am not the only person that knows these lessons, nor am I the only one to teach them. Still, I reach out to everyone with true compassion for their situations with the desire to find answers that will help bring them contentment, clarity, and peace. I have an executive team, given to me by the universe, and we all work together to help everyone find their team – so that they too can experience warmth and happiness in the way they were meant to in this world.

SUCCESS TODAY

266

About SangitaSangita Patel is the owner of the Global Organization of Self Healing, holds a degree in Metaphysical Sciences and hosts over eighteen various seminars and workshops for people year round. Her topics include: Qigong, positive energy, transformational techniques for relationships, finances, healing, manifesting joy, angels and Limitless

Life Transformation Three Day Retreat along with many other topics that are related to helping individuals connect with the abundance of goodness that exists within them.

Sangita is the author of the book Embrace Your Inner Self, a radio host for her show, Embrace Your Inner Self and Empower Yourself on Voice America’s Empowerment channel and a inspirational speaker. She is also a certified teacher of Seraph ADALIAN’s Love and Faith and a member of the Global Association of Holistic Psychotherapists. She is a Certified Holistic Coach, Spring Forest Qigong Level 4 Teacher and Practitioner, Level 1 Certified EFT Practitioner, Integrated Energy Therapy Master Instructor, Practitioner of Chakra Healing and Aroma massages with MLD, DoTerra University Independent Product Consultant, and Certified Angel Card Reader.

Sangita’s co-created books : Succeeding Against All Odds, Manifesting Soul Purpose, and her upcoming books in 2015 are: Choosing Happiness with Aspire Magazine and Success Today with Brian Tracy. She has been featured as a author at the Baltimore “I CAN DO IT” convention of 2014 and on the Dr OZ TV show in the episode of helping Sleeping Issues with Qigong in 2013.

In her personal life, Sangita receives endless joy from her children, Nishan and Pooja. Embracing the lessons that she’s taught others, Sangita has always been a strong advocate of her children following their own dreams and passions. Her son Nishan, a gifted artist, is an art teacher and published children’s book author and illustrator (he has even created the artwork for her book - Embrace Your Inner Self, and her daughter, Pooja, is graduating with a degree in Mechanical Engineering. Sangita’s emphasis on family and healing is visible in everything that she says and does through her daily actions. She is supported by her mother’s love, her husband, friends, family, mentors, guides, and Rocky, her German Shepherd, who always reminds her that love is unconditional and everlasting.

Sangita is affiliated with Spring Forest Qigong, The Heart-Math Institute, The Global Association of Holistic Psychotherapy, The Tapping Solution, The EFT Universe and The Center of Being, and Seraphic Spheres. Her favorite charities are related with children’s educational programs around the world.

You can visit Sangita and get in touch via her web-site www.embraceyourinnerself.com

267

LIVE WISELY, LOVE CAUTIOUSLY AND LAUGH ABUNDANTLY

CHAPTER 29

LIVE WISELY, LOVE CAUTIOUSLY AND

LAUGH ABUNDANTLY

BY SHENIA MARIE DANCY, ESQ.

I was inspired to write this chapter out of the reflections of my own personal and professional experience with marriage and divorce: mine, that of my parents – and that of my clients. As a practicing Family Law attorney for over a quarter of a century, I have witnessed countless times the devastating affect that a divorce can have on the fabric of one’s life, and on that of loved ones. I have represented countless divorcing individuals of diverse backgrounds. Be certain that it does not matter your race, creed, religion or social class. I am equally inspired to write books to come in the hopes that it will shed light on the extreme importance of a marital partnership.

Marriage is a covenant before God. Most of us that marry take a vow to love, honor and cherish each other until death do us part. We are one flesh. We form a marital partnership – always and forever. As a young, glass-half-full kind of girl with a nickname of “Sunshine,” I too believed that once I married, it would be for always and forever.

Statistics, however show that the so-called American family, whether you are of African-American descent, Caucasian descent, Hispanic-American descent, Asian-American descent or Native American descent, is and has been in crisis for quite some time, and the “Leave It to Beaver” family is pretty much extinct. We are now undoubtedly

SUCCESS TODAY

268

shouting louder, “Move over Darling” and “Why Did I Marry You?” We are no longer saying, “till death do us part” or “let no man put us asunder.”

I too joined the ranks of the growing numbers of divorcees. I ended a 10-year marriage. At the time of separation, my sons were eight and nine. I, now more than ever, during my then 15 years as a Family Law attorney, beg the questions: Why is it that love relationships are not a requisite part of the secondary core curriculum? Why is it that we spend more time in elementary school than we do in a love relationship before entering a marital partnership? Is not school and higher learning allegedly designed to prepare us for success and life lessons? Is it more factual than not that whom we choose to marry will have a significant and long-lasting impact on the direction of our future, our children’s future and on future generations? Is it more factual than not, whom we choose to marry affects the very fabric of our existence – spiritually, emotionally, physically, financially, and professionally?

Reflecting on my own experience with marriage and divorce, I recall the pain and embarrassment running deep in my veins – as I stood that first day in an all-too-familiar courtroom. This time I was standing on the other side. I was standing as a divorce litigant, not as a legal advocate. I recall thinking, “I am standing in the wrong place.” Colleagues present that day offered genuine words of encouragement such as, “Heads up,” “I have been there” and “You are not the first attorney we‘ve seen in this courthouse on the other side of the table.” Although their words were comforting, and based on my legal knowledge, I could pretty much predict the legal outcome – the experienced pain and embarrassment continued as there were many court appearances to come over the years. Looking back, that journey affected all areas of my life, and I didn’t understand it at that time, but, as my mama says, “By-and-by you will!”

Mama was right. The older I became, the wiser she became in my eyes. I later realized that the now-absent pain I experienced came from the misdirection of the life I had planned for myself. The now-absent embarrassment I experienced came from not fully knowing all that I needed to know prior to exchanging vows. I didn’t count the cost. You see, my no-nonsense parents who remain the strong wind beneath my wings instilled in me very early on to be a victor in life – not a victim. I resolve now to live wisely, to love cautiously and to laugh abundantly! A

269


legacy that I choose to leave to my incredible sons who are undoubtedly the gentle wind in my sail: To God Be The Glory!

So, to those contemplating marriage, this chapter is for you. Know that you are wonderfully and uniquely created. Before you take those sacred vows, remember who you are, and to whom you belong. Assess closely your self-worth and those childhood dreams. Inspect what you expect, don’t leave it to chance. Think predominantly with your head and not your heart. Yes, marriage is a partnership – spiritually, socially, economically and legally. It is hard work – but there is work to do. Are you ready for that journey?

So, to those that have gone through a divorce, this chapter is for you. You are wonderfully and uniquely created. Yes, somebody or something almost got away with you – the best of you! You, you are amazing, find those lost childhood dreams and begin now to live wisely, to love cautiously and to laugh abundantly. Know that God has a plan for you – a plan to give you hope and a future. Your best is yet to come – but there is work to do. Are you ready for that journey?

Let’s take a look now at the lives of two couples (names changed) to help drive the point home:

DANGER! THERE IS A STRANGER IN THE HOME (SEMENYA AND REESE)

Semenya, a spiritual, college-educated and strikingly beautiful woman, was born on the East Coast. She was the middle child of six born of her parent’s union. Her parents divorced when she was five years old. She recalls happy childhood memories of spending Saturday afternoons with her Dad and siblings. She had aspirations of becoming a part of the military, but personal reasons altered her dreams.

At the age of fifty-three, with her children from her first marriage now grown, Semenya began dating Reese who was fifty-two. He looked good, smelled good, said all the right words, and did all the right things. She was thrilled with joy that there was someone to come into her life and take charge as she was tired of going it alone, and she longed for some rest and peace.

SUCCESS TODAY

270

As time went on, Semenya realized that she really did not know her husband. Reese no longer said the right things. He no longer did the right things. He laid indolently around the house from sunset to sunrise. He became complacent and nasty. Creditors were chasing him, and the bills were mounting. He missed celebrating her birthdays and family gatherings. He never gave her flowers.

Emotionally, she was on edge most of the time trying to hold the marriage together like a dutiful wife. Daily arguments ensued. Physically, she felt drained and feeble. Financially, she was tired of paying his personal bills as well as all of the household bills. Spiritually, her faith was in need of holy repair. Her existence, as she knew it, was drowning on a sinking ship with no lifeline in sight.

Semenya, now fully aware that Reese was a perpetual and grandiose liar, began to ask herself the following questions: Who is this person? What do I really know about him? What do I know about his childhood? Why did I marry him? Semenya often reflected on her wedding day. God was trying to tell her something then, but she was too hardheaded to listen. The signs were there. She was literally sick on her wedding day. She wanted to flee the church. She knew then that Reese was a liar, and that they were not equally yoked. She knew then it was not wedding jitters, but decided to save face and go through with the ceremony.

She thought about her children, and vowed not to allow her mistakes to adversely affect them. She began to stop reflecting on her wedding day and began to reflect on her life, her childhood and the things that her mom had taught her. She realized she could do badly all by herself. She began to work on her faith.

Today, in her early sixties, Semenya accepts accountability for marrying Reese when she did not really know anything about him. She did not even know if this was his fourth or fifth marriage. She has regained her physical strength, spirituality, and finances. She is happy, at peace and looks forward to retirement and traveling abroad, hopefully with a companion, as her mom’s last words to her were: “It makes a difference.”

Today, she is successful in all areas of life. She acknowledges that God was always there, carrying her through her darkest hours.

271


BBC TIP: Keep your eyes wide open before marriage, half shut afterward

~ Ben Franklin

STOP! IN THE HONOR OF LOVE (GEORGE AND GRACIE)

George, a spiritual, self-motivated, robust good-looking man was born on the East Coast. He was the eldest of three children born of his parent’s union. His parents divorced when he was three years old. His dad was a womanizer, a drug-user and seldom present in their home. His mother was a strong, nurturing woman that struggled with the disease of alcoholism. He recalls his childhood memories as very busy and adventurous. As a child, he had aspirations to be successful at everything he sought to do.

He first met Gracie when they were in elementary school. Over time they moved in different directions. Their lives reconnected seventeen years later. He still found her attractive and sexy; they dated and lived together for two years. Things were seemingly good for them. They worshipped together as a family. They were thriving on each other’s love. They had two children in a four-year period but they were not close with each other’s respective biological family.

Two years after the birth of their second child, George found himself unemployed, drinking, drugging, suffering from a mental illness and heading on the path to self-destruction. They parted ways, but remained in contact.

Time passed. After refusing several proposals from George to marry him, Gracie agreed to accept his hand in marriage believing he had changed, but George knew that his life was a mess. He felt like a chameleon. He was now thirty-six, and she was thirty-eight.

Now married, George could not sustain the façade. He was now a full-blown, active drug-user and a player. Although gainfully employed, he began selling drugs to keep a roof over their head and to feed the family. Gracie complained that there was never enough money. He began to see her as controlling and bossy. She knew how to sting his manhood like a scorpion. It was all about Gracie. She made it clear to him that he was just a functioning drug addict and alcoholic.

SUCCESS TODAY

272

Gracie began to change. She now became a player. They tried marriage counseling. Mixed feelings however remained in the air. She complained that he was never home. He complained that she never made him feel like he had a home. Just living was becoming a chore. They eventually separated. He left the home with the clothes on his back. Emotionally, he was heartbroken, ashamed and painfully miserable. Spiritually he felt lost, confused and broken. Physically, he was drained, tired and weak. Financially, he was depleted. He was now living in any shelter that would take him in, and occasionally with family and friends, and even occasionally on the streets. The world seemed so cruel.

Nine years later, they ended their childhood love in divorce. George now realizes that the marriage should have never happened. Gracie had told him on several occasions, I do not want to marry you. I will not marry you. Why did I marry you? He and Gracie were advised by elders not to marry. Although he loved Gracie endlessly, he wanted to marry for the sake of the children. He now realizes that the love and children they shared were not enough to sustain a marriage with an active drug-user.

Today, George in his early fifties has found peace. He is stronger, wiser, confident and guilt-free. He has been drug- and alcohol-free for twelve years. He has stopped his womanizing as well. He has his own place, and is no longer struggling to make ends meet. He has built a successful career.

Today, George is successful in all areas of life. He attributes making it through the storm to the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and believes that God has provided him with everything he wants, needs and desires to sustain himself in this life and beyond, including well-rounded adult children, grandchildren and a companion.

BBC Tip: Women marry men hoping they will change. Men marry women

hoping they will not. So each is inevitably disappointed. ~ Albert Einstein

Now that you have read these stories of real people that have faced real-life challenges, and through it all found real-life solutions to move in the direction of success, I would like to leave some final thoughts for you as you move today toward success in all areas of your life.

273


Find a quiet place with a mirror. Look in that mirror. Do you see a reflection? Assess that reflection. Who is that individual? What do you see? What would you like to see? Who else do you see in the reflection? Ask yourself, “Is this the real me?” If it is not, when will the real me stand up? Stand up to a dying relationship! Stand up to the fears of moving beyond yesterday’s childhood ills! Stand up to opposition! Stand up to deceit! Stand up to shame and embarrassment! Stand up to weakness! Stand up for childhood dreams! Stand up for your strengths! Stand up for your children! Stand up for somebody else’s children! Stand up for faith! Stand up for hope! Stand up for creating a better life!

Now, that you are standing, know that the greatest gift of life is love, but continue to stand up for loving yourself first, and to know that your life is worth it. Stop, look, listen and stand up to what your head is telling you. God creatively created you for a purpose. Find your purpose.

Marriage is an intriguing institution, and, it can be undeniably rewarding if we approach it and understand that it is not just a love-relationship – it is a marital partnership – spiritually, socially, economically, and legally. Yes, I just might be ready for the journey to do it again!

So what is this Chapter really about – it is about you! . . . Your God-given birth right! . . . Your precious life! . . . Your unwavering faith! . . . Your sustainable dreams! . . . Your vision for your future! . . . Your success and all that you hope to be in every facet of your life!

A salute to a new you – wear it well – AND REMEMBER TO LIVE WISELY, TO LOVE CAUTIOUSLY AND TO LAUGH ABUNDANTLY!!

SUCCESS TODAY

274

About Shenia

Shenia M. Dancy, Esq., mother of two sons, has been a successful, no-nonsense general practitioner in law for a quarter of a century.

When she was a little girl in the mid-60s, Shenia moved from Holly Springs, Mississippi to Boston with her large family, which

included six sisters and one brother. Her passion for teaching, coaching and legal counseling was a natural outgrowth of being raised by two educators. She pinpoints the start of her passion for law to the age of 13, when she would stay up late reading law books of her father’s and those of a judge that previously lived in their home. Her love for “Perry Mason” growing up inspired her to major in Criminal Justice.

After majoring in her first love, Criminal Justice, at Northeastern University, she achieved the highest grade in her first year Property Law class at Suffolk University Law School, resulting in her earning the American Jurisprudence Award. She launched her career as an attorney with a firm that covered everything from real estate and divorce to high-profile murder cases.

When she started her own practice in 1991, Shenia continued in that vein, developing a thriving firm with multiple associates offering a wide range of legal services.

From 1989-94, while growing her practice, the Mississippi-born, Boston-raised attorney also taught college night classes in Constitutional Law, Criminal Law and Evidence and Courtroom Procedure. She later presented for several years at Family Law seminars for Massachusetts Continuing Legal Education (MCLE), served as a Real Estate Title Agent, a Real Estate Broker, a Commissioner to sell real estate and as a Guardian ad Litem, advocating for children and the elderly in the Probate and Superior Courts. Her other accolades have included two-time winner of the Outstanding Young Women of America Award, a Professional Life Coach and a Mediator.

She was also selected to the Hall of Fame Donors in the renaming of a local elementary school to the Dr. Catherine Ellison-Rosa Parks Early Education School as well as selected as a delegate by the American Trial Lawyers Association to participate in a bilateral exchange with her counterparts in China.

Shenia has a special expertise in family and probate law, and has worked on hundreds of divorces over the years. She has seen the way that it can touch, affect and devastate the lives of litigants and their children, and that’s only part of the motivation behind an exciting and purposeful new multi-faceted venture called Beyond the Bedroom and the Courtroom, LLC. This was launched in early 2014.

275


While she continues fighting passionately for her clients in family law, probate law and other areas in her thriving practice – which recently entered its second quarter century – she looks forward to the release of her upcoming book, From the Bedroom to the Courtroom, And Beyond©.

Shenia is slowly developing this concept as a way to help people survive divorce. Now that her boys are both in college, she is starting to pursue long put-aside dreams. For now, she’s full throttle with her law practice while preparing for the future.

277

HELPING TO CHANGE THE WORLD ONE INVESTMENT AT A TIME

CHAPTER 30

HELPING TO CHANGE THE WORLD ONE

INVESTMENT AT A TIME

BY WILLIAM WOLFE, CFP®

Jason is an exceptional person. At just shy of forty years old, he’s started his own company and is doing very well for himself. Recently, he called a meeting with his financial advisor to discuss his various investments. As they talked, he realized that some of his money was invested in companies that didn’t share his point of view when it came to the environment. Others were aligned with organizations with which he wasn’t comfortable based on their treatment of their employees. Jason also felt like he’d had so much good fortune in business that it was his responsibility to use his money to contribute only to the companies and organizations that were doing good in the world.

Jason’s financial advisor talked with him at length about some of the philanthropic investment opportunities available to him. He explained a couple of newer financial products that seemed to fit Jason’s needs: Socially Responsible Investing and Donor Advised Funds. Jason would be able to work with his advisor to move some of his invested dollars to organizations and companies that are more in line with his values. His advisor would also help him set up a Donor Advised Fund which has the potential to offer a variety of positive tax ramifications and would allow Jason to help right a few of the wrongs he saw in the world through charitable donations.

SUCCESS TODAY

278

SOCIALLY RESPONSIBLE INVESTING

As time goes on our world is becoming more socially conscious. Whether this is a trend driven by young people in the world or just a change in global thinking, it is a good thing for every one of us. Our awareness and our investments can help to improve the world in which we live.

Socially Responsible Investing goes by a number of names including sustainable, mission-based, socially conscious, and ethical. No matter what you call them, these investments are made in organizations that conduct business in an industry or manner that fits your personal value system. Each of us has issues we believe are important and ideas about how to make the world a better place.

Socially Responsible Investing means investing with a conscience. Investments can be made in an individual company or in one of the newly-formed socially conscious mutual funds and exchange-traded funds (called ETFs). Your financial advisor can help you find the right fit for your needs.

If you’re concerned about the environment, you can design a portfolio that contains a set of investments in organizations that share your concern. Perhaps you want to support companies who make the men and women of our military a priority, you can do that. If you’re anti-oil or anti-genetically modified food, again, your financial advisor can help you design a portfolio with a set of investments that only include the organizations that share your beliefs. The bottom line is that no one has to invest blindly; we all have a choice about who we support.

Because we are more socially conscious, we want to know where the money we invest is going. Who is it helping? Do I feel comfortable financially supporting that company or organization? The good news is that whether you’re an individual or non-profit group you can invest in a socially responsible way. Talk with your financial advisor about your options, find the organizations that resonate with you, and consider investing in them. By making that change you’re investing in your vision for the future.

279


DONOR ADVISED FUNDS

Socially Responsible Investing leads us to our next question: Have you ever wished you could right some of the wrongs in the world and make an impact without having a $10 million foundation? There are a lot of people who have wished for that very thing. Some of them started making gifts out of their portfolios to charities and non-profit institutions. In order to make a donation to the groups they believed in, some individuals started gifting the shares they had which had appreciated.

Let’s take a look at how that would work. If you buy a share of XYZ Company at $10 and it grows to $100, the traditional line of thinking is that you can hold on to it or sell it. If you sell it, you’ll pay taxes and incur commission charges and potentially other fees on the $90 of capital gains. However, if you gift that share to a charity you are able to fulfill a charitable goal or obligation without a tax burden and while supporting a cause.

What many individuals and families are choosing to do now is set up what’s called a Donor Advised Fund. It utilizes the tax structure of a charity and allows you to create an account for your charitable contributions. It also helps to alleviate some of your tax burden.

If you have a year when you bring in a lot of income, one of the ways to reduce your taxable income is to gift that money. If you’d like to gift $20,000 to a local non-profit group you can pull that $20,000 of appreciated securities out of your taxable account and move it over to the Donor Advised Fund. That fund can be named whatever you’d like, for example: The Bob Smith Family Foundation. You get tax credit for making that charitable contribution to the Donor Advised Fund and you avoid capital gains tax applied to you personally. Next you can choose investments for the gift you’ve added to your Donor Advised Fund, have it grow, and you can gift that money to charities and non-profits.

Let’s look at a real world example. Bob Smith gives $5,000 to his church every year. This year his income was very healthy and he wanted to gift $20,000 to his church. Rather than giving a large one-time gift, he could front load four years of his $5,000 contributions by putting that $20,000 into a Donor Advised Fund. He will get the tax benefit up front and know that his annual contribution is covered for the next four years.

SUCCESS TODAY

280

So we know that Donor Advised Funds allow for charitable contributions and a tax benefit up front. One of the other great features is that the money in this fund will be invested and has the potential to continue to grow. So, let’s say you start off with $20,000. The potential growth on that money can be saved toward a larger contribution in the future or you can simply give more each year.

The initial amount you invest into this account starts the growth of your charitable contribution fund. You may continue to add money to your fund over time with additional cash from your income or by moving shares of your appreciated stock invested into another portfolio. No matter what, this is a way for you to make a difference by helping organizations you believe in – to right some of the wrongs in the world.

Investors choose a Donor Advised Fund for any number of reasons. Some feel somewhat guilty about how they ended up with their money. Perhaps they inherited it and feel bad that they didn’t earn it on their own. Others prefer the anonymity provided because it is a separate fund named whatever you’d like making the donation.

Imagine a very charitable person living in a very small town. He might not want everyone in town seeing him give away a ton of money. He may be concerned that this would create an endless stream of new requests if he’s able to make donations all around town. So he might name his Donor Advised Fund after his favorite movie. He may then be comfortable giving sizable donations to some of his favorite local non-profit groups.

One might assume that Donor Advised Funds are just for very wealthy people, but that is not the case. For instance, imagine you receive an inheritance from a life insurance policy after a loved one has passed. You may decide to honor their memory by using some or all of the life insurance proceeds to set up a foundation using a Donor Advised Fund. The foundation could be used to help fund scholarships, art programs or athletic teams at schools the loved one may have attended or hoped to attend. This honors their memory and provides opportunities for other students.

Many people choose to set up a Donor Advised Fund as part of their legacy planning in the event of their death. The donor can chose to contribute money to whatever charities or non-profits he or she wishes.

281


The fund may also be endowed so that it can give a percentage of the fund’s value to a charity or charities each year. Finally, the donor can also name a subsequent advisor, such as a child or grandchild, to continue managing the fund and making contributions long after they are gone. Creating a Donor Advised Fund allows individuals to create a legacy of giving even after they are gone and allows families to keep their loved one’s memory alive.

I have even opened this type of fund for my own family. I grew up in a modest household and we didn’t have a lot of extra money for donations. So we put money in the basket at church on Sunday, but that was about as far as our charitable contributions could go.

I’ve known people over the years who have given their children an allowance and then asked them to divide it up keeping a certain portion for charity. Often it seemed that the kids became more focused on feeling forced to do something than on the fact that giving to charity is a good thing. By setting up a Donor Advised Fund for your family I believe you are sending a different message. You’re saying, “We’ve got a little more money than we need and we want to give back as a family. This is your portion of that extra, donate it wisely!”

I chose to use a Donor Advised Fund as a way to create a belief in and habit of giving in my family. Our family foundation generates an amount for my wife and I to give to a charity of our choice, another for my son to give, and eventually, when my daughter is old enough, she will have her own allotment to give to a charity that is important to her. My hope is that my children learn the importance of charitable giving as well as learn more about the amazing organizations that are trying to make our world a better place. Right now, my son can think of no bigger heroes than the firefighters in our town so that’s who he supports.

Donor Advised Funds can be held with your financial advisor’s firm much like a retirement fund might be, but there is typically a third party company that manages the administration of these accounts. They create reports to help you track where your dollars and/or shares are being contributed. They provide you with a letter noting your contributions for tax purposes so that you don’t have to collect proof of your donations from multiple organizations. Finally, the third party provides oversight to help protect you from high risk investments and assures that you are

SUCCESS TODAY

282

donating to true non-profit organizations.

This is a great way for families to set up their own foundation without the headache of setting up a standard foundation. Private family foundations have many more requirements and require a significant amount of paperwork. With a Donor Advised Fund the paperwork is virtually non-existent and you simply need to provide your accountant the third-party letter showing that you made a contribution. Furthermore, you are able to reduce your adjusted gross income by up to 50% for cash and up to 30% for appreciated securities depending on your irrevocable gift to your Donor Advised Fund. The fund is then yours to manage as you wish. The only thing you cannot do is remove funds for your personal use.

What I’ve learned about Donor Advised Funds through my work with them is that you don’t have to be incredibly wealthy to have an impact on the world. I certainly understand that there are many people who don’t have even an extra penny. After all, half of the world’s population doesn’t know where their clean water is going to be for the day. But for individuals who have even a little more, this type of fund can help them reach some philanthropic goals.

Socially Responsible Investing and Donor Advised Funds are two ways that investors can marry philanthropy and investing. You can have an impact on the world and work to improve it, through thoughtful investing and strategically-designed funds. Take some time to consider companies or organizations you’d like to support, so that you can have a hand in helping to change the world and then reach out to a trusted financial advisor for help.

[Wells Fargo Advisors is not a tax or legal advisor. Be sure to consult with your own tax and legal advisors before taking any action that may have tax consequences. The material has been prepared or is distributed solely for information purposes and is not a solicitation or an offer to buy any security or instrument or to participate in any trading strategy.

The opinions expressed here reflect the judgment of the author as of the date of the publication and are subject to change without notice. The solutions discussed may not be suitable for your personal situation, even if it is similar to the example presented. Investors should make their own decisions based on their specific investment objectives and financial circumstances.]

– Wells Fargo Advisors, LLC, Member SIPC, is a registered broker-dealer and a separate non-bank affiliate of Wells Fargo & Company.

283


About William

William Wolfe, CFP® is a Senior Vice President - Investment Officer – for Wells Fargo Advisors, LLC. in Charlottesville, VA 22902.

Bill provides concierge financial services to a select group of private clients. He helps his clients align their investments with

their social viewpoints while also advising on issues ranging from charitable family-giving to risk-hedging techniques.

He began his career as a Financial Advisor with Merrill Lynch in Charlottesville, where he developed his fundamental investment knowledge. He joined Wachovia Securities, a predecessor firm of Wells Fargo Advisors, in 2007.

Bill has earned the CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNERTM certification by completing an approved educational program, passing a rigorous examination and meeting stringent experience requirements.

In 2012, he earned the Chartered Advisor in Philanthropy certification by completing several graduate level courses in philanthropy and gift planning.

Bill is a graduate of Emory and Henry College with degrees in Economics and Computer Science. He has completed post-graduate seminars in Investment Decisions and Behavior Finance at Harvard Business School, Stanford Business School, Wharton Business School, and New York University’s Stern School of Business. He is currently pursuing a Master’s Degree at the Irwin Graduate School of Business in The American College.

Bill is a past Vice-Chair of the Board of Trustees of Emory and Henry College, a past Vice-Chair of the Charlottesville Day School Board of Trustees, and serves currently as a Scout Leader for his son’s Cub Scout Troop.

Bill spends his free time with his wife, Karyn, a Pediatrician, and their two children, Will and Elizabeth.

SUCCESS TODAY

284

285

LONGEVITY - SHORT ON LONG ANSWERS

CHAPTER 31


BY DR. ROGER MURRAY

When I first started this project, there was a belly-warming excitement in me to find out how many new discoveries had occurred since the Human Genome had been unraveled in 2003. In a paper published by the Nationwide Children’s Hospital Feb. 2015 they were able to analyze the entire human genome in 90 minutes. So what took 12 years to do just 13 years ago can now be accomplished in 90 minutes. Science is truly moving at lightning speed.

I asked myself how many of the old theories had been substantiated and how many new gene sequences had been discovered to cure old diseases, specifically what was the new information regarding gene sequencing and longevity.

After reading large volumes of articles and books, we are today still asking ourselves many of the same questions we asked ourselves 13 years ago. Unfortunately, while we have been able to assign certain diseases to specific gene sequences, we have at this point in history not been able to cure one single disease using the unraveled human genome. So far the human genome has yielded a treasure trove of scientific information, but this has not translated itself into a medical tool we can use to cure someone.

Lets start by first defining ‘longevity’. Longevity is someone who has reached the age of 90 to 100 without major cardiovascular disease,

SUCCESS TODAY

286

dementia, good muscular and physical strength, an intact immune system, and engagement with life. Another way of putting it is, longevity is extending aging by about 30%. Aging is what we do or get genetically to potentially reach longevity. Hereditary influences longevity by about 25% with the largest part of that coming in the latter years of life.

When we talk about genetics we have to consider the three types of DNA in the body. Firstly there is nuclear DNA, which is that DNA which resides in the nucleus of all cells. Secondly, there is Mitochondrial DNA, which is that DNA which resides in the mitochondria of all cells. And thirdly, the Gut DNA. The trillions of bacteria residing primarily in the colon.

There are many neurological diseases associated with abnormalities of the mitochondrial DNA, but it turns our that this DNA has very little to do with longevity. In fact mutatagens and degenerative diseases occur in this DNA at the same rate – whether you are young or old.

The Gut DNA, which has been called the ‘brains of the body‘ since antiquity, is composed primarily of two families of bacteria the Firmicutes and Bacteriodes. Depending on where you live, the ratios of these two bacteria vary, but we do know that as you age, the total overall number of the good bacteria declines and the inflammatory ones increase.

Nuclear DNA is where most people believe that the Holy Grail of longevity resides. So far, in spite of thousands of research articles from around the world, it has been very reluctant to divulge its secrets .

The New England Centenarian Study involved 801 centenarians and 914 matched controls. The study identified 281 SNPs (Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms); these are DNA sequence variations occurring commonly within a defined population. Many of these SNPs do not reach genome-wide statistical significance and even those few that did so far, there is no practical medicinal applicability. It seems that longevity is a multi-factorial Rubik’s cube which is not letting go of its secrets easily.

Short term stress, called Hormetic stress, actually promotes longevity. Long-term stress overwhelms the compensatory responses, causing a toxic-like stress leading to a shorter life. The latter increases stress

287


hormones, inflammation and toxic cytokines.

Many, if not all of the studies look at a specific variable, be it an SNP, Calorie Restriction or specific gene(s). I believe that when a centenarian reaches 100 years of age, other intangible factors also need to be measured. For example, what was that person’s happiness index throughout most of his/her life, did his/her lifestyle involve regular exercise and a Mediterranean diet, did he/she have a life with enough financial means not to have a lot of financial worries, did he/she have a good relationship with his wife, God and community? Was he/she able to not have a traumatic divorce and are his/her children still living?

I believe that the above factors have to be measured and taken into account if you are trying to determine what influences a centenarian.

At this point in history (and it changes daily), there are only four consistent biological reproducible ways to attain longevity. There are innumerable studies which have found congruencies between certain genes in specific populations that confer longevity, but many, if not most of these, do not hold up to scrutiny in the general population.

The first is caloric restriction. Reducing calories in both animal and human studies confers longevity. Or the antithesis of that statement is that fat people do not live long lives.

The second is a drug already on the market for immune preservation called Rapamycin. In all studies so far, it lengthens life expectancy by about 10%.

Thirdly, the only gene that in all studies appears to confer longevity is the APOE gene. If you are lucky enough have this gene, then we can at least say longevity is in your genes.

And lastly the Sirtuins, of which there are seven. These genes mediate the effects of caloric restriction and the SiR-2 gene specifically promotes longevity.

In the course of research for this article, it was noted that most geneticists believe aging and longevity is an interaction between multiple factors.

The Telomers are the terminal ends of your genes and have a huge impact on longevity. The longer your Telomers, the less disease you get,

SUCCESS TODAY

288

and in all animal studies so far, transfecting an animal with Telomerase increases its lifespan.

The Nurses Health Study, which is an ongoing study, was started in 1989 and measures multiple factors. For this study, a subgroup of 4,676 were given and instructed on the use of the Mediterranean diet while having their telomeres measured both before, during and after the study. Since the length of the telomere is considered a biomarker for aging, and short telomeres are associated with shorter life and an earlier onset of chronic diseases, those nurses that adhered strictly to the diet had longer telomeres while those who smoked and were partially compliant had substantially shorter telomeres.

Exercise and diet have a huge effect on aging. Eating anti-inflammatory foods along with the Mediterranean diet has been shown to increase life span. Calorie restriction(CR) has been shown in all animal and human models to extend life. Diametrically, if a prenatal fetus is deprived of proper nutrition, the nephrons of the kidney do not develop properly and that child may grow up to have chronic kidney disease in the form of chronic interstitial nephritis.

Calorie restriction means decreasing the total intake of calories by 10-30%. In all animal and human studies investigated so far, this extends the organism’s life span. It does this by postponing the onset of the chronic diseases that tend to kill all of us, namely, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, cancer and brain dysfunction.

Interestingly, men responded better than women, which is remarkable because women typically outlive men by up to 6 years. Further studies have asked the question if you exercise to burn calories equal to the amount a person would decrease by calorie restriction, does this confer the same life-extending benefits. The answer was ‘yes’, and if you did both, you doubled your benefit ratio.

The Calorie Restricted Society is a group of individuals who practice living calorie restriction as a way of life. When one examines these people as a group, they had a lower body mass index, higher HDLs and lower total cholesterol, lower insulin levels and therefore lower blood sugars, better cardiac function and lower blood markers for inflammation. From a Doctors standpoint, this interprets into a healthy individual.

289


In general, the larger an animal is the longer it lives, or the longer an offspring takes to be in a position to physiologically reproduce in an independent manner, the longer that organism lives. Both of the above statements are true and imply that there is a long learning curve to independence. Also, because of our size and sophistication, accidental death from extrinsic causes favors natural selection or “living a long time.”

Lifestyle and the environment also play a huge role. Avoidance of carcinogens such as cigarette smoking and exposure to hydrocarbons and organophosphates will have a immense effect on your life. Chance or fate, be it either a war or on the job accident, can affect your longevity, and lastly, even your personality can affect your life span. People who have an ‘agreeable’ personality tend to live longer than the in-your-face pugnacious personalities.

Rapamycin is produced by a streptococcal bacteria and has anti-rejection properties with virtually no side effects. In 2009, the National Institute on Aging began feeding mice Rapamycin and it increased the lifespan in both male and female mice. This increase in lifespan applied not only to those mice that were young, but it also had a similar effect when given to older mice.

These findings have been confirmed by at least 15 separate scientists from around the world and the average life span increased by 10-11 %. To my knowledge this is the first time that it has been shown that taking a pill can prolong your life. Further studies on mice with Alzheimer’s disease showed great improvement in memory and task performance.

In other studies Rapamycin improved learning and restored memory to near normal levels. Treating young mice who had been engineered to develop Alzheimer’s prevented them from getting the disease completely as they aged. Even the accumulation of the tau Protein, a hallmark of Alzheimer’s disease, was prevented with Rapamycin. This anti-rejection medicine also does not prevent or inhibit in any other way any of the body’s other age-protecting pathways, e.g., your natural immunity.

The Hayflick Limit is a theory proposed by Dr Hayflick that says the human cells can reproduce themselves about 92 times in your life and once a cell has undergone its maximal reproductions “church is out.”

SUCCESS TODAY

290

Depending on the accumulations and speed of cellular senescence and DNA damage the faster we reach our Hayflick limit. This is also called “inflammaging.”

Below is a list of variables that can help us delay cellular aging. So putting all of the factors numerically, longevity is affected by:

1. Heredity

2. Exercise

3. Nutrition

4. Telomere length

5. Lifestyle and Environment

6. Specific chromosomes APOE, FOX03A, Chromosome 3

7. Chance

8. Agreeability

9. Size

10. Rapamycin

291


About Dr. Roger

Roger Y. Murray, M.D. completed his undergraduate work in both California and Charleston, S.C. He attended Medical School at the Medical University of South Carolina. Upon graduation, he spent a year in Dermatology followed by a year in Internal Medicine and then completed a full Residency in Family Practice.

Dr. Murray entered into solo private Family Practice in Altamonte Springs, Florida. Several years thereafter, his interest turned to Phlebology. Realizing that there were no formal training programs in the United States, Dr. Murray traveled abroad where he spent two years training with the finest Phlebologists in Europe. Upon returning to the United States, he co-founded the American Academy of Phlebectomy. For the next five years, Dr. Murray trained over a hundred surgeons to perform outpatient vein surgery. He recently completed a two-year term serving as President of the Surgical Section of the American College of Phlebology and was one of the first forty Physicians in the United States to be awarded a prestigious Fellowship in Phlebology.

While displaying several of his hand-carved marble sculptures in his practice, which showcase his artistic talents, more and more clients requested that he perform cosmetic procedures. The words of his talents and results spread quickly and now his cosmetic practice accounts for more than half of his overall practice. Dr. Murray performs highly delicate and state-of-the-art procedures, which require extensive global travel and continuous training from only the top doctors in the world. Along with his commitment to perfection, beauty and art, Dr. Murray is first and foremost committed to providing his patients with nothing less than exceptional care and highly successful results. His peers affectionately call him the “vein guy” and he is also known in cosmetic circles as the “non-invasive specialist.”

An avid reader and always in the pursuit of learning, Dr. Murray now adds “Author” to his many accomplishments. He has published two highly informative books, Practice Without Fear and Forever Young and Healthy. The medical community and public at large eagerly anticipate his newest book due out this year titled: The Complete Book of Sex, which addresses most of the medical conditions that negatively impact sexual performance.

Date post:	26-Jul-2016
Category:	Documents
Upload:	tom-fonseca-master-financial-coach
View:	217 times
Download:	3 times

Success Today - Tom Fonseca

Documents