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	<title>The Article Library &#187; Keeks_Cunningham</title>
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		<title>Success Factors &#8211; Is this the Key to Success in Just About Anything?</title>
		<link>http://articlelib.com/personal-development/success-factors-is-this-the-key-to-success-in-just-about-anything.html</link>
		<comments>http://articlelib.com/personal-development/success-factors-is-this-the-key-to-success-in-just-about-anything.html#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Keeks_Cunningham</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Personal Development]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false"></guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Although success can mean slightly different things to different people; it&#8217;s fair to say that success can broadly be described as peak achievement in a particular area of focus. Successful people essentially achieve results. In this article you will discover simple yet highly useful ways of unlocking and igniting your passion. Passion is a Source [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Although success can mean slightly different things to different people; it&#8217;s fair to say that success can broadly be described as peak achievement in a particular area of focus. Successful people essentially achieve results.  In this article you will discover simple yet highly useful ways of unlocking and igniting your passion. </p>
<p>Passion is a Source of Unlimited Power</p>
<p>We&#8217;ve often heard self-development gurus telling us to live our lives with passion.  Passion excites our minds which in turn drives our actions. To achieve greatness in anything requires passion. People who love what they do have passion by the truckload. If you love what you do, you&#8217;ll be passionate about it and people will love you because of your passion for what you do. Passion is a source of power. It is an infectious energy that some people have. People with passion simply love what they do-and it shows.  They stand out in a crowd like a supernova in the sky and their enthusiasm catches like wildfire. </p>
<p>Why Passion is Critical for Success</p>
<p>Why is passion so important in the achievement of success? Simply put, if you&#8217;re not passionate about what you do, you&#8217;ll never stick with it long enough to become truly successful at it. Whilst you can set goals and achieve results in the short-term without passion, to sustain results requires burning passion.  You will literally stay up all night to pursue something you&#8217;re passionate about. If you&#8217;re passionate about what you do, you become an unstoppable force that can literally jump over train stations and move mountains.  Passion is like rocket fuel except it doesn&#8217;t burn out!</p>
<p>Would You Do It For Free?</p>
<p>The really great thing about passion is that when you have it, work becomes effortless, tasks become enjoyable and life is purposeful. Unless you love the work you do, you cannot possibly see yourself as successful.  True success extends beyond achieving results for yourself and involves helping others achieves their goals. If you have a sense of &#8216;mission in life&#8217; about what you are doing, I guarantee you will attain a very high level of success.</p>
<p>People with passion will even do it for free! In other words, they will do what they do regardless of whether there is a monetary pay-off. This is the litmus test. Asking yourself &#8220;Would I do this for free&#8221; is a great question to ask yourself to find out if you&#8217;re truly passionate about something. I&#8217;m not suggesting you actually do it for free as you do need to be generating a sustainable income from your work life but if you can answer yes to the question, then you are not only will you achieve results in your chosen field but this passion will positively impact all areas of your life.</p>
<p>A Final Word of Caution about Passion</p>
<p>Whilst I totally believe passion is a catalyst to success there are also other requirements. Can you be passionately stupid, passionately wrong and passionately incompetent? Ahmm, unfortunately yes. So there are a number of other skills required (leadership, management, sales and marketing, finance, etc.) and a number of personal characteristics (discipline, strong communication and interpersonal skills, self belief etc.) that are not only vital ingredients of business success but also success in life general.</p>
<p>We will be exploring more about the Science of Success in a series of articles on Success Factors. Why not sign up NOW for more insider secrets on <a href="http://www.MillionaireMindsetSecrets.com">Success Factors</a> at http://www.MillionaireMindsetSecrets.com for FREE. In addition, you&#8217;ll discover more about personal and business success factors, building wealth and how to get rich at <a href="http://www.MillionaireMindsetSecrets.com">www.MillionaireMindsetSecrets.com</a> for FREE.</p>
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		<title>Retirement Planner &#8211; Don&#8217;t Plan Your Retirement Until Your Read This First!</title>
		<link>http://articlelib.com/finance/finance-personal-finance/retirement-planner-dont-plan-your-retirement-until-your-read-this-first.html</link>
		<comments>http://articlelib.com/finance/finance-personal-finance/retirement-planner-dont-plan-your-retirement-until-your-read-this-first.html#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Keeks_Cunningham</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Personal Finance]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false"></guid>
		<description><![CDATA[If you love doing what you&#8217;re doing you&#8217;ll most likely never want to retire. It&#8217;s often said that most of the wealthiest people in the world still work in their own companies not because they have to but because they want to and enjoy it. However, I bet you they all have retirement plans folded [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>If you love doing what you&#8217;re doing you&#8217;ll most likely never want to retire. It&#8217;s often said that most of the wealthiest people in the world still work in their own companies not because they have to but because they want to and enjoy it. However, I bet you they all have retirement plans folded away neatly in their back pockets. </p>
<p>For many people their job-description becomes their self-description and so when they retire from work they can feel worthless and wither away fast. To cap things off, many retirees at 65 die within 2 years of retiring. Jeez, what an anti-climax! It&#8217;s no wonder people don&#8217;t bother planning their retirement!</p>
<p>No Job, No Stress, No Pay! </p>
<p>A popular rule-of-thumb claims you need roughly 70% of your pre-retirement income (90% if you wish to maintain your pre-retirement standard of living). Work-related expenses will decrease whilst healthcare, leisure-related expenses increase. This assumes you&#8217;re in relatively good health and medical care costs are modest. If your health is poor your healthcare expenses will escalate.</p>
<p>Financial security during retirement is probably priority no. 1 for most people. To live securely and comfortably in retirement for many people means at the very least generating sufficient income passively by means of some retirement savings plan or other financial assets to allow them to live according to their usual standard of living. </p>
<p>There are 4 typical sources of retirement income:<br />
- Social security benefits<br />
- Employer-sponsored retirement plans<br />
- Post-retirement employment income<br />
- Personal savings and investments </p>
<p>Whilst you may be diligently putting away for your retirement, the real challenge is to know your retirement income needs way before you ever want to retire. Try one on the many retirement income calculators available online to work this out.</p>
<p>When calculating the expenses you will have in retirement, keep in mind that they are in today&#8217;s dollars. To get a better idea of what they will be when you are ready to retire, you should adjust them for inflation. A current income need of $20,000 per year adjusted by 4% inflation year on year translates to a requirement of $43,800 per year 20 years later.  </p>
<p>Cat Food or Caviar!?</p>
<p>A standard employer-sponsored retirement savings plan such as a 401(k) is the mainstay in most financial retirement plans. Individuals can utilise a standard IRA or Roth IRA also. Many self-employed people opt for a Self-Directed 401(k). Relying on a standard retirement savings plans will prove unsatisfactory as it generally will fall way short of your retirement income needs. However, faced with a choice of having a standard retirement savings plan (e.g. a 401(k), standard and non-standard IRAs etc.) versus having no retirement savings plan at all, I would definitely prefer to have even a standard 10% of my earnings invested in standard retirement plan than in nothing at all. If nothing else it&#8217;s a good habit to &#8220;save and invest&#8221; a % of your income. However, unless you are putting away large chunks of cash into your retirement plan, it alone is probably not going to give you more than a lower-middle class lifestyle during your retirement. </p>
<p>Typically, if your retirement income needs are modest, social security benefits may provide 20-30% of your retirement income whilst employee-sponsored retirement plans may provide 20%. Therefore, it is your personal savings and investment strategies that will be the key differentiator between you living off cat food or caviar!</p>
<p>P.S. If you&#8217;re serious about retirement planning then why not sign up NOW for more insider secrets on <a href="http://www.MillionaireMindsetSecrets.com">Retirement Planning</a> at http://www.MillionaireMindsetSecrets.com for FREE. In addition, you&#8217;ll discover more about how to build wealth and income using clever savings and investment strategies at <a href="http://www.MillionaireMindsetSecrets.com">www.MillionaireMindsetSecrets.com</a> for FREE.</p>
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		<title>Property Investing Secrets &#8211; Why Property is the IDEAL Investment</title>
		<link>http://articlelib.com/finance/finance-investing/property-investing-secrets-why-property-is-the-ideal-investment.html</link>
		<comments>http://articlelib.com/finance/finance-investing/property-investing-secrets-why-property-is-the-ideal-investment.html#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Keeks_Cunningham</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Investing]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false"></guid>
		<description><![CDATA[As a young investor you may be more focused on the rise in capital value; whereas someone in their golden years can be more focused on generating income. Property is one asset class that does both, rising in value and generating income. It is often referred to as the &#8220;IDEAL&#8221; investment. &#8220;IDEAL&#8221; is a simple [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>As a young investor you may be more focused on the rise in capital value; whereas someone in their golden years can be more focused on generating income. Property is one asset class that does both, rising in value and generating income. It is often referred to as the &#8220;IDEAL&#8221; investment. &#8220;IDEAL&#8221; is a simple acronym that highlights just some of the key benefits of owning real estate:</p>
<p>1. Income<br />
One of the key benefits of property investment over many types of investments is its inherent ability to generate passive income. When investing in property the key thing is to focus on net income. Many real estate agents will quote gross yield figures i.e. the annual rent as a percentage of the property price. Whilst this is a reasonable indicator of your potential return on investment, I prefer to focus on net yield or net income.You absolutely must have net positive cash-flow otherwise you haven&#8217;t got an investment on your hands but a burdensome liability. The challenge in property investment is to minimize the down payment (which will maximize your mortgage) whilst at the same time generating positive cash flow each month.  </p>
<p>2. Depreciation<br />
A rental home is seen as a depreciable asset just like a car or piece of factory machinery. Rental properties with positive cash flow can show an accounting loss, granting the owner a tax deduction, or, as Robert Kiyosaki calls it, &#8220;Phantom Cash Flow&#8221;. Depreciation is an accounting loss and only shows up on paper. It can result in you being able to turn a small economic profit into a small tax loss. So, even though you could be &#8220;loosing&#8221; money on paper you could actually be making a monthly cash profit.</p>
<p>The building value (Purchase price &#8211; Land Value = Building Value) of residential property is usually depreciated over 27.5 years.  Commercial property is usually depreciated over 39 years. </p>
<p>3.Equity Build Up &#038; Expenses<br />
As you pay down the principle of the mortgage loan you are gradually building up your equity stake in the property. So, even if there is no increase in the value of the property over the term of the loan you still end up with an asset with 100% equity at the end of the mortgage loan term. Expenses such as property management fees, maintenance, insurance, mortgage interest etc., are deductible from the rental income, thereby reducing your tax liability. </p>
<p>4. Appreciation<br />
Your asset should appreciate in value over time. Often the largest part of a return on an investment in real estate is in the appreciation in the value of the asset and the resultant gain in equity. Property prices can sometimes reduce in the short term due to changes in demand, access to finance, etc. but over the long-term you will benefit from appreciation.</p>
<p>5. Leverage<br />
Leverage is the principle of using a small amount of your own money to control a large value asset. One of the unique aspects of real estate over other investment classes is your ability to borrow up to 80% or 90% of the purchase price of the asset. This is leverage i.e.  using Other People&#8217;s Money (OPM).  </p>
<p>By fully understanding and utilizing these characteristics of property investing you can take advantage of this powerful investment asset to build wealth quickly and get rich fast.</p>
<p>If you&#8217;re serious about property investing then why not sign up NOW for more insider secrets on <a href="http://www.MillionaireMindsetSecrets.com">Investing in Property</a>. You&#8217;ll discover more about how to build wealth using real estate investing and other wealth building strategies at http://www.MillionaireMindsetSecrets.com for FREE.</p>
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		<title>Wealth Building &#8211; Better to be Wealthy than Rich!?</title>
		<link>http://articlelib.com/finance/finance-wealth-building/wealth-building-better-to-be-wealthy-than-rich.html</link>
		<comments>http://articlelib.com/finance/finance-wealth-building/wealth-building-better-to-be-wealthy-than-rich.html#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Keeks_Cunningham</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Wealth Building]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false"></guid>
		<description><![CDATA[There&#8217;s a massive difference between being wealthy and being rich. Not all rich people can be wealthy but all wealthy people can be rich. Confused!?&#8230;let me explain. If you are a millionaire, are you by default wealthy? Ahmm, not necessarily so. A millionaire by definition is someone whose net worth (asset value minus debt) exceeds [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>There&#8217;s a massive difference between being wealthy and being rich. Not all rich people can be wealthy but all wealthy people can be rich. Confused!?&#8230;let me explain.</p>
<p>If you are a millionaire, are you by default wealthy?<br />
Ahmm, not necessarily so. A millionaire by definition is someone whose net worth (asset value minus debt) exceeds a millionaire dollars/euros etc. However, if a person did have 1 million in assets but these assets were not generating income then that person by my definition is rich but not wealthy. </p>
<p>Why Making Money Won&#8217;t Make You Rich</p>
<p>You can make a lot of money and still be broke. I know many people who have made millions of dollars in the course of their life but are now neither rich nor wealthy. Why is this? Well, not all people are blessed with naturally good money management and investment skills. Some people can be more interested in living a certain lifestyle now rather than planning and building an asset base that will enable them to live the lifestyle they want for the remainder of their lives. It&#8217;s not how much money you make that matters, but how much money you keep. </p>
<p>How Rich is Rich?</p>
<p>We often say so-and-so is rich because he or she has a high-income corporate job, buys brand new luxurious cars, dresses in fancy clothes and so on. Although these are outward demonstrations of &#8216;rich&#8217;, crucially, that does not mean these people are wealthy (they might very well be of course but it&#8217;s not a given). </p>
<p>It&#8217;s actual quite hard to define in a dollar amount what rich is. It can be subjective and mean different things to different people. In addition, it can depend on where you live and the cost of living in that place. In 2003 Gallup poll of Americans the public&#8217;s median definition of &#8220;rich&#8221; was an income of $120,000 &#8211; or assets of $1 million. But if you ask someone who already has $1 in assets they are likely to say being rich would be to have $5 or $10 million in assets. Some people are never happy!?</p>
<p>Is &#8220;Rich&#8221; a Feeling?</p>
<p>In a way being rich is a feeling and you probably never think you&#8217;re truly rich or as rich as you could be. Someone making $30,000 per annum will probably say that if they made an income of $100,000 they would see themselves as &#8216;rich&#8217;.<br />
How someone defines rich depends on their expectations and how they feel about it.nSo the less money you have, the less money you think you&#8217;ll need to become rich. And the wealthier you are I suspect the more money it takes to make you &#8216;feel&#8217; rich.</p>
<p>Wealth is Best Measured in Time</p>
<p>If there was one defining difference between being rich and being wealthy it&#8217;s this: rich people can generate money now, wealthy people can generate income always. The best definition I know of for being wealthy is if the passive income from all your assets is greater than all your liabilities then you&#8217;re essentially wealthy.</p>
<p>The key here is the time it takes to manage your money. If you are working 60-80hr weeks just to make enough money to pay all your expenses, even though you could be making more than say $200,000 per year; then you are not wealthy. </p>
<p>Wealth is best measured in time, not dollars. </p>
<p>The longer your money or assets work for you the wealthier you are. The longer you can live without having to work and still pay all your expenses and maintain your standard of living the wealthier you are. So, for example, if your expenses are $2,000 a month and you have $10,000 in savings/liquid assets then your wealth is equal to 5 months.</p>
<p>The moral of the story is this: if you are rich, don&#8217;t be fooled into thinking you&#8217;re wealthy.</p>
<p>If you&#8217;re not already rich, don&#8217;t worry about it, focus on being wealthy and you will be rich anyway. Whilst it may be difficult to know if you are truly &#8220;rich&#8221;, you&#8217;ll definitely know if you&#8217;re truly wealthy and for how long! Strive to build wealth rather than focus on being rich.</p>
<p>You can build wealth by starting or running a profitable business, investing in real estate, etc. The key thing is to focus on generating future income from these assets. Now you are creating wealth. Discover some fast <a href="http://www.millionairemindsetsecrets.com/build-wealth.html">wealth building strategies</a> and tips at <a href="http://www.millionairemindsetsecrets.com/build-wealth.html">www.MillionaireMindsetSecrets.com</a></p>
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		<title>Debt Reduction &#8211; The No. 1 Way of Eliminating Debt!?</title>
		<link>http://articlelib.com/finance/finance-personal-finance/debt-reduction-the-no-1-way-of-eliminating-debt.html</link>
		<comments>http://articlelib.com/finance/finance-personal-finance/debt-reduction-the-no-1-way-of-eliminating-debt.html#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Keeks_Cunningham</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Personal Finance]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false"></guid>
		<description><![CDATA[There are many different strategies for getting on top of debt. One popular technique is known as the debt snowball. The reason it&#8217;s named &#8216;debt snowball&#8217; is because you start with the smallest debt and work your way up to the biggest one, like rolling a snowball. When the first loan is paid in full [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>There are many different strategies for getting on top of debt. One popular technique is known as the debt snowball. The reason it&#8217;s named &#8216;debt snowball&#8217; is because you start with the smallest debt and work your way up to the biggest one, like rolling a snowball. When the first loan is paid in full you allocate the payment from this first loan to the next highest one. As each loan gets paid, the pay down amount getting applied to the next largest one gets larger each time &#8211; hence the term &#8216;debt snowball&#8217;.</p>
<p>The reason this method is so popular is that paying the smallest debt off first gives you a quick win early on, giving you momentum and so you are more likely to stay with the plan. </p>
<p>Debt Snowball Step 1: List all your debts starting with the smallest balance</p>
<p>List all your loans starting with the smallest balance first and ending with the largest balance. Credit cards, personal lines of credit, bank loans, student loans, car loans, 2nd mortgages (yes that&#8217;s debt too), home equity lines of credit, overdraft credit lines are all included. The most distinctive feature of the debt snowball strategy is that the order is determined by amount owed, not the rate of interest charged. However, if two debts are very close in amount owed, then the one with the higher interest rate would be moved above in the list.</p>
<p>Debt snowball Step 2: Only pay the minimum amount on each debt </p>
<p>Find out from each lender what the smallest payment you can make on each loan is and only pay this minimum monthly payment. The reason you pay only the minimum amount on all other loans each month is so you can quickly pay off the smallest one first and not have to unnecessarily struggle to pay off all the others simultaneously.</p>
<p>Debt snowball Step 3: Make extra payments on the smallest debt</p>
<p>For the smallest amount owed you determine how much extra you can pay off whilst maintaining minimum monthly payments on the others. (It is this step that differs with other debt reduction strategies, focusing on paying off quickly the smallest amount owed rather than the amount with the highest interest rate)</p>
<p>Debt snowball Step 4: Once the smallest loan is paid in full, celebrate!</p>
<p>I don&#8217;t think this step needs much explanation! Needless to say don&#8217;t use any additional lines of credit to pay for your celebration! </p>
<p>Debt snowball Step 5: Tackle the next smallest loan</p>
<p>Now that the smallest loan is paid in full, you add the old minimum payment (plus any extra amount you were paying) from the first loan to the minimum payment on the second smallest one, and apply this new sum to repaying the second smallest.</p>
<p>Debt snowball Step 6: Repeat until all debt is paid </p>
<p>Repeat the process with each subsequent debt. In theory, by the time the final ones are reached, the extra amount paid toward the larger debts will have grow quickly, similar to a snowball rolling downhill gathering more snow (thus the name).</p>
<p>Note: A first home mortgage is generally not included in the debt snowball method, but is instead paid off as part of a larger financial plan. Many financial plans recommend pay off home mortgages in a later step, along with any other debt which is equal to or greater than half of one&#8217;s annual take-home pay.</p>
<p>Should One Make Retirement Contributions During the Debt Reduction Process?</p>
<p>Some financial advisors argue that all contributions are to be put on hold during the debt snowball, thus freeing up more money to make payments. However, if this is the case, it is recommended that retirement contributions should not be put on hold for more than 2 years. Others dispute this practice, citing the cost of compounding interest to be greater than the gains made from paying off debt. It&#8217;s really your call to make based on your financial priorities.</p>
<p>Debt Snowball vs. Avalanche </p>
<p>There&#8217;s a lot of debate over whether debt snowballing is better than other techniques such as the debt avalanche method (paying the highest interest rate loan first). The mathematics favor the avalanche, the psychology favors the snowballing. Should you have a $2,000 balance at 10% interest, and a $6,000 balance at 18% interest, it would make no financial sense to focus on paying off the lower amount first. So when there are large differences in the interest rate on each account then the snowball method would not make the most financial sense.</p>
<p>People with more financial discipline can make quicker headway by paying off the loans with the higher interest rates first. However, attacking the smallest loan first, whilst still maintaining minimum payments on everything else is a great strategy so long as you follow through on the plan and step up to the next smallest loan each time and knock those loans on the head for good!</p>
<p>The power of the debt snowball is in the momentum you obtain as you eliminate each debt. As well as that there&#8217;s the financial power you get from applying payments from previous loans onto the next ones, snowballing your payments. If you&#8217;re serious about eliminating debt, creating wealth and achieving financial freedom then why not sign up NOW for more insider secrets on debt reduction at <a href="http://www.MillionaireMindsetSecrets.com">www.MillionaireMindsetSecrets.com</a> for free.</p>
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		<title>Business Startup Success Secrets &#8211; 2 Big Mistakes You&#8217;ll Probably Make</title>
		<link>http://articlelib.com/business/business-business-opportunities/business-startup-success-secrets-2-big-mistakes-youll-probably-make-.html</link>
		<comments>http://articlelib.com/business/business-business-opportunities/business-startup-success-secrets-2-big-mistakes-youll-probably-make-.html#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Keeks_Cunningham</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Business Opportunities]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false"></guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Let&#8217;s talk about 2 big business startup mistakes that are often made and what you as an entrepreneur can do to avoid them. Business Startup Mistake # 1 &#8211; Not Creating the Business System Starting a business throws up many opportunities and challenges on a daily basis. You are both head chef and chief bottle [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Let&#8217;s talk about 2 big business startup mistakes that are often made and what you as an entrepreneur can do to avoid them. </p>
<p>Business Startup Mistake # 1 &#8211; Not Creating the Business System</p>
<p>Starting a business throws up many opportunities and challenges on a daily basis. You are both head chef and chief bottle washer; creating the vision, devising your sales and marketing strategy, raising sufficient finance to fund the businesses growth etc. Now, add devising a whole business system into the mix and you&#8217;re gonna be knee-deep in a whole lotta challenges. One way of looking at is asking yourself would you be better off investing time and money into building a pipeline (i.e. a system) rather than hauling buckets (i.e. no system). A lot of entrepreneurs have not worked in large systematized business or franchise operation before so they find it very testing and almost impossible to devise and implement a business system. Most small businesses are therefore hauling buckets.</p>
<p>The whole purpose of creating a business system is to allow you to create a business that will quickly run itself without your own day-to-day involvement. For most small business owners this is merely a pipe dream. The reason this happens is that not enough time is invested up front devising the systems to run the business. So avoid the mistake that 99% of self-employed business owners. Read The E-Myth by Michael Gerber to help your find out more about what&#8217;s involved in creating your own business system. Finally, rather than trying to build a business system you may want to consider buying a franchise instead.</p>
<p>Business Startup Mistake # 2 &#8211; Not Choosing the Right People </p>
<p>A system without the right people to manage it is like a ship manned by drunken sailors, unmanageable and destined to hit the rocks. Choosing the right kind of people to manage a system is essential and will maximize your chances of success.  Interviewing and selecting people is going to be a key part of your job as a business owner. If both the system and the people building the system are flaky then the chances of failure are great. </p>
<p>Once you have selected the right kind of people the work doesn&#8217;t stop there. You will be required to manage and lead your people often at the same time &#8211; motivating, monitoring, measuring and rewarding.  </p>
<p>Motivation is an art, measurement is a science, monitoring is a skill, rewarding is fun! People are generally motivated by personal reward which in general takes the form of financial remuneration, job security etc. However, the best form of motivation is giving someone a simple compliment. And it doesn&#8217;t cost you a dime. Being genuine and saying something as simple as &#8220;well done, I like how you did that job&#8221; will do more for motivating your people and strengthening your business than any amount of cash reward. </p>
<p>In my view, your people are your biggest asset, not your customers. Properly motivated and managed people will crawl over broken glass for a good quality organization with good leadership. Indeed, for the business owner, unlocking people&#8217;s potential is an extremely gratifying experience. </p>
<p>Finding the sweet spot between personal reward and organization benefit is the key to success. In summary, good systems + good people + good management and leadership = business success. </p>
<p>Educating, training and mentorship is widely available to help you avoid making these typical startup mistakes. But, what could you right now do to avoid these 2 typical small business startup mistakes?  Well, help is only a mouse click away. Why not sign up NOW for more <a href="http://www.millionairemindsetsecrets.com">business startup success secrets</a> at <a href="http://www.millionairemindsetsecrets.com">www.MillionaireMindsetSecrets.com</a> for FREE and get access to a wealth of resources</p>
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		<title>Think and Grow Rich &#8211; 6 Surprisingly Simple Steps to Turn Desire into Gold</title>
		<link>http://articlelib.com/finance/finance-wealth-building/think-and-grow-rich-6-surprisingly-simple-steps-to-turn-desire-into-gold-.html</link>
		<comments>http://articlelib.com/finance/finance-wealth-building/think-and-grow-rich-6-surprisingly-simple-steps-to-turn-desire-into-gold-.html#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Keeks_Cunningham</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Wealth Building]]></category>

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		<description><![CDATA[The starting point of all achievement is desire. Not a hope, not a wish but a pulsating desire. Oscar Wilde famously said &#8220;we are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars&#8221;. Similarly you may be down and out financially right now but your thoughts could be those of a [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>The starting point of all achievement is desire. Not a hope, not a wish but a pulsating desire. Oscar Wilde famously said &#8220;we are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars&#8221;. Similarly you may be down and out financially right now but your thoughts could be those of a king. </p>
<p>The accumulation of wealth has nothing to do with chance, good fortune and luck.<br />
Wishing will not bring riches. But desiring riches with a state of mind that becomes an obsession, then planning definite ways and means to acquire riches, and backing those plans with persistence which does not recognize failure, will bring riches. The following 6 steps to turn your desires into gold and outlined in Napoleon Hills book &#8216;Think and Grow Rich&#8217;, have worked for countless others.</p>
<p>Step 1 &#8211; Pick a Number</p>
<p>Fix your mind on the exact amount of money you desire. Don&#8217;t be fuzzy about it. Rather than say you want to have lots of money someday, be more definite. Instead try saying something like &#8216;I want savings of 100,000 dollars in my bank account&#8217;.</p>
<p>Step 2 &#8211; Give in Return</p>
<p>Decide what you are going to give in return for achieving your desire. There is no such thing as a free lunch. Giving in return for riches gained is like doing a deal with the universe. It works kinda like the principle of fair exchange in business. You get something; you give something of at least equivalent value in return.</p>
<p>Step 3 &#8211; Decide on a Date</p>
<p>Pick a specific date in your calendar by which you intend to posses the wealth and money your desire. Setting a date focuses the mind and is a great motivator. Time bound goals are measureable and therefore more achievable. </p>
<p>Step 4 &#8211; Create a Plan</p>
<p>Develop a definite plan to achieve your desire and begin it at once, putting it into action immediately, no matter whether you think you are ready or not. It&#8217;s important not to delay the taking of action. Act immediately even if the plan isn&#8217;t perfected. </p>
<p>Step 5 &#8211; Make a Statement</p>
<p>Draft a clear, concise statement of the amount of money you intend to acquire, the date by which you will achieve it, what you intend to give in return and describe clearly the plan through which you intend to accumulate this wealth. This statement becomes your affirmation of intent. </p>
<p>Step 6 &#8211; Read Aloud Twice Daily</p>
<p>Read you written statement aloud, twice daily, once before going to bed and once in the morning. As you read, see and feel and believe yourself to already be in possession of this money and wealth. Doing this exercise evokes the powers of autosuggestion which allows you to communicate the object of your desire to you unconscious mind. The unconscious mind in turn influence the conscious mind, its daily thoughts and actions.</p>
<p> It is important that you follow the sequence of steps described in this article and especially make sure you carry out point # 6 as this will ensure your money attainment and wealth creation programme seeps into your unconscious mind and you will become an unstoppable force just like a heat-seeking missile. It is irrelevant whether you are stone broke or have just a small amount of money in your bank account. If you truly desire money and wealth you will have no difficulty in convincing yourself you will acquire it. In fact, no convincing is required. Your desire combined with these 6 steps will ensure your success. </p>
<p>All who have accumulated great wealth or attained great success first did a certain amount of dreaming, desiring and planning before they got what they wanted. Follow these 6 steps and turn your desires into gold.</p>
<p>All who have accumulated great wealth or attained great success first did a certain amount of dreaming, desiring and planning before they got what they wanted. Follow these 6 steps and turn your desires into gold. Read this article again and complete the six steps. In addition, why not Sign up NOW for more <a href="http://www.millionairemindsetsecrets.com">Think and Grow Rich</a> secrets at <a href="http://www.millionairemindsetsecrets.com">www.MillionaireMindsetSecrets.com</a></p>
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		<title>Success Secrets &#8211; 8 Ways to Live Big and Regret Little</title>
		<link>http://articlelib.com/personal-development/success-secrets-8-ways-to-live-big-and-regret-little.html</link>
		<comments>http://articlelib.com/personal-development/success-secrets-8-ways-to-live-big-and-regret-little.html#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Keeks_Cunningham</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Personal Development]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false"></guid>
		<description><![CDATA[&#8220;If you could live your life all over, what would you do differently?&#8221; This is the very question that was put to 4,000 Retired Executives over the age of 70 by Dr. Gerald Bell, University of North Carolina (Professor of Organizational Behavior and Management). They responded in common to 8 key areas that if they [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>&#8220;If you could live your life all over, what would you do differently?&#8221; </p>
<p>This is the very question that was put to 4,000 Retired Executives over the age of 70 by Dr. Gerald Bell, University of North Carolina (Professor of Organizational Behavior and Management). They responded in common to 8 key areas that if they could live their life all over again, they would do so differently.  </p>
<p>The purpose of asking a great question like this NOW is to get to the bottom of what really is important to you and your life. It may not in actual fact be what you previously thought was important.</p>
<p>Regret # 1 &#8211; Life Goals</p>
<p>&#8220;I would have carved out life goals and owned my life&#8221;</p>
<p>Key Message: Life is not a dress rehearsal. It&#8217;s the real thing. Take charge of your life with goal setting. Fulfill your life purpose.</p>
<p>Regret # 2 &#8211; Health<br />
&#8220;I would have taken better care of my health. I threw away health as though it were trash&#8221;. </p>
<p>Key Message: Health is wealth. People only realize how much it&#8217;s worth when they don&#8217;t have it. So, whether it&#8217;s having a better diet, reducing stress levels, going to the gym, taking a brisk walk etc., Look after your health and it will look after you. </p>
<p>Regret # 3 &#8211; Money Management</p>
<p>&#8220;I would have managed my money a lot more effectively&#8221;.</p>
<p>Key Message: Manage your own money. Don&#8217;t over-rely on your financial advisor, bank manager etc. It&#8217;s your money not theirs. Attain financial literacy and money management skills for yourself.</p>
<p>Regret # 4 &#8211; Family</p>
<p>&#8220;I would have worked on quality family goals a lot more&#8221;. </p>
<p>Key Message: If you have family, consider the value of those relationships and the quality of your family goals.  Be sure everything you do with your family is in sync with the 8 areas set out in this article.</p>
<p>Regret # 5 &#8211; Personal Development<br />
&#8220;I would have spent more time on personal development&#8221;.</p>
<p>Key Message: Without personal development and growth it&#8217;s unlikely that you&#8217;ll be achieving your true potential. Seek out mentors, more training, education, seminars etc. and put knowledge into action to ensure your personal growth. </p>
<p>Regret # 6 &#8211; Fun</p>
<p>&#8220;I would have had a lot more fun in my life&#8221;. </p>
<p>Key Message: Even if you are very focused on achieving goals why not have a bit of fun at the same time. Add more fun to your day whether it&#8217;s at the workplace or at home. </p>
<p>Regret # 7 &#8211; Career</p>
<p>&#8220;I would have planned my career&#8221;.</p>
<p>Key Message: Take control of your career and plan it out according to your life goals and vision. Get some career planning/life coaching if needed to help you clarify.</p>
<p>Regret # 8 &#8211; God and/or Community</p>
<p>&#8220;I would have lived in oneness with my God and or given more back to my community&#8221;.</p>
<p>Key Message: Connecting with your God, the higher self and servicing your community are facets of life that shouldn&#8217;t be ignored and bring about fulfillment.</p>
<p>In summary, I think this is a powerful and invaluable study on what&#8217;s really important in life. If you attend to these key 8 areas in life you could ultimately look back on your life with no real regret and consider your life a true success story. How great is that!</p>
<p>So, what would you do differently NOW? Why not review this article again and decide now on how you can live your life differently. Have no regrets. Sign up NOW for more <a href="http://www.MillionaireMindsetSecrets.com">success secrets</a> at <a href="http://www.MillionaireMindsetSecrets.com">www.MillionaireMindsetSecrets.com</a> for FREE and get access to a wealth of resources to help you lead a more meaningful and successful life.</p>
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		<title>Money and the Law of Attraction Secret &#8211; Change Your Vibration Forever!</title>
		<link>http://articlelib.com/personal-development/personal-development-goal-setting/money-and-the-law-of-attraction-secret-change-your-vibration-forever.html</link>
		<comments>http://articlelib.com/personal-development/personal-development-goal-setting/money-and-the-law-of-attraction-secret-change-your-vibration-forever.html#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Keeks_Cunningham</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Goal Setting]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false"></guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Right now, as you are reading this, The Law of Attraction is at work in your life. It is always at work just like gravity or any other Law of Nature. Simply put, the Law of Attraction can be defined as &#8216;whatever you think about most, manifests in your life&#8217;. The only question is are [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Right now, as you are reading this, The Law of Attraction is at work in your life. It is always at work just like gravity or any other Law of Nature. Simply put, the Law of Attraction can be defined as &#8216;whatever you think about most, manifests in your life&#8217;.</p>
<p>The only question is are you attracting what you want? Or are you &#8216;attracting by default&#8217;, bringing what you don&#8217;t want into your life over and over again? The Law of Attraction is at work in relationships, careers, health, wealth etc.</p>
<p>You are either a) attracting wealth, or b) attracting poverty. There is no option c.</p>
<p>So, how can you use the Law of Attraction to attract more money into your life? Well, one way is by raising your vibration.</p>
<p>What Do We Mean by Vibration?</p>
<p>What differentiates one form of energy from another is the speed at which it vibrates. You naturally attract what is in harmony with your state of being so if you want to experience something different in your life, you must somehow change the signals you&#8217;re putting out. The true, actual signal I&#8217;m emitting isn&#8217;t a thought. It&#8217;s a frequency formed on my beliefs. You can&#8217;t hide your state of mind. It&#8217;s in everything you say and do.  </p>
<p>The good news is, you can change your vibration by changing what you continually think about which will eventual change your beliefs and this will in turn change your actions. </p>
<p>Temporary vs. Permanent Vibration Change</p>
<p>Creating a temporary shift in your vibration is easy, you can do this in seconds&#8230;simply raising your head and looking towards the sky will bring out a more uplifted state; playing your favorite song, dancing, taking a cold shower, holding a smile for 30 seconds and so on are all examples of how you can change you state temporarily.</p>
<p>However, this won&#8217;t create any sort of lasting change and you return to your old vibration soon afterwards. Therefore, you need to make some permanent, lasting change in order to manifest your desires. Essentially to change your vibration on a more permanent basis requires a deeper level of change in the unconscious mind. Ok, don&#8217;t worry this isn&#8217;t going to require some kind of brain probe! It&#8217;s actually simpler than you may think to tap into the unconscious part of your mind.</p>
<p>Changing Your Vibration&#8230;Permanently!</p>
<p>You can achieve lasting change at the unconscious level of the mind through:</p>
<p>1. Relaxation &#038; Visualization<br />
Visualization simply means seeing what you want in your life but seeing it in your mind in the present tense as if it has already happened. To create what you want in your life, in this case money and wealth, you create strong visuals of your wealth and imprint these on the deeper part of your mind. It&#8217;s best to do visualization when you are very relaxed as this enables you to imprint these images better on the deeper part of your mind.  So, if you desire more money and wealth in your life you might be visualizing yourself in the house of your dreams, or standing on a huge pile of money or simply looking at a bank statement with a specific quantity of money in it. </p>
<p>However, the real key to successful visualization is connecting with the feelings of having this goal. This is where most people fall down. Feeling like you would feel if you had already achieved that goal is the vital element in successful visualization. Experiencing these feelings, these emotions, as you achieve this goal in your mind becomes the unstoppable catalyst of change in your life. </p>
<p>If you do this visualization exercise for at least 20-30 minutes, every day if you can you will bring about a changed state of mind. This visualization exercise is best done when you are in a relaxed state, often the start or end of each day is a good time to do this. </p>
<p>You must shift the vibration signal you&#8217;re emitting so that it&#8217;s vibrationally compatible with your goals and desires. Visualization enables you to identify the new vibration or state you want to operate in.</p>
<p>2. Changing Your Environment<br />
We are a product of our environment &#8211; physically, mentally, socially, and otherwise. If you want to shift your vibrational pulse, it&#8217;s a bad idea to consistently expose yourself to incompatible signals. If you want to experience money and wealth than you must create environment within which this can most easily manifest. Very simply, it could mean that you switch off the radio and the TV so you no longer listen to negative news about global financial meltdowns. It may mean reducing the amount of time you spend with negative family or friends, and spending more time with productive, positive people. Or it may even mean moving neighborhood.  </p>
<p>Making these changes will feel uncomfortable at first, but eventually you&#8217;ll start to integrate with your new environment and your own vibrational pattern will soon shift to come into resonance with these new people and places.</p>
<p>To sum up, you can either change your mental focus and thereby the signal you&#8217;re emitting or you can change the signal soup you&#8217;re immersed in. Ideally, if you can do both you will strengthen and quicken the speed at which you manifest your desires. Sign up NOW for FREE and find out more about <a href="http://www.millionairemindsetsecrets.com">Money and The Law of Attraction</a> at <a href="http://www.millionairemindsetsecrets.com">www.MillioniareMindsetSecrets.com</a></p>
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		<title>Starting a Business &#8211; 5 Important Personal Questions</title>
		<link>http://articlelib.com/business/business-entrepreneurship/business-entrepreneurship-start-up/starting-a-business-5-important-personal-questions.html</link>
		<comments>http://articlelib.com/business/business-entrepreneurship/business-entrepreneurship-start-up/starting-a-business-5-important-personal-questions.html#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Keeks_Cunningham</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Start Up]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false"></guid>
		<description><![CDATA[So you&#8217;ve decided to start your own business &#8211; congratulations! It&#8217;s a huge leap forward taking charge of your own destiny and accepting responsibility for everything to do with starting and running a business. It can be a great feeling freeing yourself from the tedium of employment and begin working on a new business. But [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>So you&#8217;ve decided to start your own business &#8211; congratulations!  It&#8217;s a huge leap forward taking charge of your own destiny and accepting responsibility for everything to do with starting and running a business. It can be a great feeling freeing yourself from the tedium of employment and begin working on a new business.  But before you rush headlong into starting you own business it&#8217;s worth asking yourself a few important questions: </p>
<p>1.Are you passionate about business?</p>
<p>A desire to get away from the regular working world can be a good motivation to start your own business, but this desire alone is not enough. You have to be excited at the prospect of &#8220;doing business&#8221;. Being passionate about baking cakes is not the same as being passionate about running a bakery. To be successful in business you don&#8217;t necessarily need to be passionate about the product you are selling or the service you are providing but you do need to be passionate about the business of &#8220;doing business&#8221;. </p>
<p>2.Do you have the necessary technical skills or business talents?  </p>
<p>Just being able to do something may not be marketable enough to convince customers that you will make a good supplier or convince bankers that you are a bankable business owner. You will also need to demonstrate sufficient business skills or qualifications to start this business? If not, do you have a partner that does?</p>
<p>3.Do you have the characteristics of an entrepreneur?</p>
<p>Qualities you must have are perseverance, a strong desire and willingness to take the initiative, competitiveness, self-reliance, a strong need to achieve, self-confidence, and good physical health in order to succeed as an entrepreneur. You will need all these characteristics if you are to succeed in starting your own business.</p>
<p>4.Do you have good people skills?</p>
<p>Good people skills will be required in networking, negotiating, selling etc. You will need the ability to work with customers, suppliers and of course employees. The most successful business owners have a high &#8216;emotional intelligence&#8217; in addition to strong technical and business skills. </p>
<p>5.Could you live with failure?</p>
<p>80% of small businesses fail within the first 5 years! So, if you are starting a business obviously you want to see yourself in the 20% that succeed. Never, ever consider the possibility of failure. Most small business failure occurs because of mismanagement&#8221; weak general management, weak financial management, or weak marketing capabilities. So you can increase your chances of success by strengthening these areas. However, just in case the worst case scenario occurred&#8230;could you live with that failure and start again? </p>
<p>Starting your own business is a great way of growing wealthy over time. The majority of rich people made their fortune rich by running their own business at some stage.</p>
<p>Running your own successful business is one of the fastest ways to generate cash flow and become independently wealthy. Find out more about <a href="http://www.MillionaireMindsetSecrets.com">starting a business</a>, personal finance and wealth creation strategies by signing up NOW at <a href="http://www.MillionaireMindsetSecrets.com">www.MillionaireMindsetSecrets.com</a></p>
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