What is “Real” Life?

“Welcome back”

I had just returned to work after my vacation. My coworker was asking me how my vacation was, what fun things I did, and if I had any suggestions for him when he went. As the conversation dwindled to an end, he spoke a phrase that struck a chord with me in the wrong way. “Well, welcome back to real life,” he said. I know he didn’t mean any harm by saying this but I had to correct him. “This is NOT real life. Real life is out there,” I said as I pointed outside. “Well, everyone is here so this is real life,” he retorted as he gestured to the consortium of cubicles surrounding us. “I am not everyone and you know that,” I said with a conviction layered with a smile.

Vision

This bothered me because this comment assumes that getting up and going to work is the only way to live and that your vision is too small to see the opportunities that reside outside of the “traditional” work space. There are other, more lucrative and more fulfilling ways to make a living for yourself rather than selling your soul in 8 hour at a time. Now if you are getting fulfillment in your current position, by all means, do not let my viewpoint sway you into discontentment. This is for people who don’t like their jobs and want other things. The world around us is defined by how we look at it and because of this we are able to change our situation by changing how we see and decisions that follow. Take that side hustle, write that blog, or make that travel video. Exhaust your options until you find what you love and then pursue it to the fullest.

 

Tell the world that you reject their reality and substitute it with the one you have created.

Never let anyone put your brain in a box.

Matthew Gaddy

Think and Grow Rich Breakdown: Decision

Decision

“I am not a product of my circumstances. I am a product of my decisions” — Stephen Covey

You have the power to become who you want to become, have to what you want to have and accomplished whatever goals you have and right now you have this power in the form of a decision. Everything good or bad in your life is a result of the decisions you did or didn’t make. This extends from your physical or mental actions, the way you respond to things. Knowing this, how do you tailor your decisions that will achieve your goals?

Sitting still is a decision

“Procrastination, the opposite of decision, is a common enemy which practically every man must conquer”, wrote Hill. We sometimes can put off the hard things that lead us to our goal or leave them be because we’re not in the mood or simply don’t want to do them. This will move us away from the goal because we are not moving towards it. Your goal is something that you should desire to the point that you are willing to do what is needed to pursue it regardless of how you feel at the time. Goals should draw the greatness out of you and if it doesn’t it, you should really evaluate it to see if it’s what you want.

Think for yourself

“If you are influenced by the opinions of others, you will have no desire of your own.” This quote by Hill digs deep. How many times have you had an idea but you put it aside or didn’t follow through with it simply because you were dissuaded by the negative opinions of others? Protect your ideas. Guard your mind against people who intentionally or unintentionally berate your ideas with their negative energy. Hold yourself accountable to pursue the steps that will lead to your goals in the face of opposition. Henry Ford, the founder of Ford Motors, held to his decision to make the Model T Ford despite the opposition of his advisors. He held to his determination and realized his goal on the physical plane. His goal of a mass and efficiently produced car was accomplished.

The “Show me” State

We all know someone who talks a big game but can’t back it up. This quality makes this person appear unreliable, untrustworthy and having an inaccurate view of themselves. You may read this, remember the Autosuggestion article and think that I am contradicting myself when it comes to telling yourself you are who you want to be. The distinction is this: Autosuggestion are words that you are speaking to yourself. Boastful comments are words that you say to others in order to make yourself appear a certain way to people. Autosuggestions are said by you to you. Boastful words are said by you to others.

The way we should show others the change we have made inside is to show them through the way we act based upon what we believe. A quote that I once heard that resonated with me is, “You actions are so loud, I can’t hear what you are saying.” A great habit for us to build is to speak LOUDLY with our actions and quietly with our voices. We should decide to let our action not our words define us.

Make the choice

This chapter on decision empowers us to take back control of our life. If we are the product of our decisions, we can change our circumstances by making new decisions. Show; don’t just tell others about your new direction in life by making choice that fall in line with your goals. Live your life in such a way that what you do speaks for you.

Decide to be great today

Matthew

Think and Grow Rich Breakdown: Specialized Knowledge

Specialized Knowledge

The next section in Think and Grow Rich is about specialized knowledge. Specialized knowledge is different from the knowledge that you learned in traditional schooling which Hill calls general knowledge. I will go over the differences between the two below.

“When am I ever going to use Calculus?”


General knowledge pertains to the majority of information taught at universities. Schools expose you to a very rushed and surface level “understanding” of information but generally, don’t know present enough about the subject to do anything useful. (As a disclaimer, I am not putting down schools as they do serve a purpose but I do not believe they are the end all be all for education).

If the saying “Knowledge is power” is true, college professors should be among the nation’s highest paid professions, By looking at our college campus and faculty payrolls, we see that this is typically not the case. As Napoleon Hill states, “General knowledge, no matter how great the quantity or variety it may be, is of but little use in the accumulation of money.” After looking at this statement, you make think all your learning is a waste if it doesn’t lead to riches. I will be disproving this concept by shifting your desired knowledge from being wide to being deep.

“I know a lot about a little”


How cool and interesting would it be to a lot about a wide variety of subjects? Regardless of the conversation, we could always chime in with our tidbit or insights that would leave our listeners floored. Sadly, this is not the case. I’m not saying that you can’t be well versed in more that one area but I am saying that wealth favors depth of knowledge over breadth of knowledge.

Deep knowledge leads to specialization which means you are an expert amongst your customer base about a particular topic. This specialization monetizable because while anyone could spend the time to know about a particular topic as much as you do, they may want to devote their time to a different activity. By paying you, they are rewarding you for the time you spent practicing, studying and becoming more proficient at whatever task you are presenting for sale. Consequently, you can cut your learning time drastically by paying someone else for their knowledge and expertise.

“It pays to know how to purchase knowledge,” is a section in the chapter about specialized knowledge.  Never be scared to pay for information is you know you need it but don’t have enough time to learn effectively yourself. The time you save could lead to a significant profit later in life.

Have smart friends


This is where knowing the right people comes in handy.

Here’s a secret to success: You don’t have to know everything, you just have to know the people who do. Management is about the movement of people not the direction of things. If you can learn to place people in the best position for them to succeed, you can leverage their talents to obtain success.

I know the word “leverage” sounds like you are using people but it’s actually a good thing. When you put people in the best place for them to succeed you are actually helping them become successful and gain notoriety. If you can do this successfully, you will gain fame because you know how to make the others around you better. This is the definition of effective leadership.

“QQS” Formula


The last topic we will tackle in this chapter we will tackle from this chapter is your personal QQS Rating. QQS stands for Quality, Quantity, and Spirit. Hill emphasizes this point emphatically stating, “The quality and the quantity of service rendered, and the spirit in which it is rendered, determine to a large extent, the price, and the duration of employment.”

This is may be different from what you were taught initially. WHAT you do is not more important than HOW you do it. But what do each of these characteristics mean and how can you apply them? I will reiterate Hill’s words and my analysis will be under each paragraph.

Quality

“QUALITY of service shall be construed to mean the performance of every detail, in connection with your position, in the most efficient manner possible, with the object of greater efficiency always in mind.”

This means we should always provide as much value or service to the person we are helping. We should also complete out work in a timely manner without sacrificing the end product.

Quantity

“QUANTITY of service shall be understood to mean the HABIT of rendering all the service of which you are capable, at all times, with the purpose of increasing the amount of service rendered as greater skill is developed through practice and experience. Emphasis is again placed on the word HABIT.”

We must never skimp in our service or give a customer less than our best effort. We should also increase the amount of service we give each time we are working. Each iteration of our product or service must be better. Give your best so many times that it becomes a habit that you don’t have to actively think about.

Service

“SPIRIT of service shall be construed to mean the HABIT of agreeable, armonious conduct which will induce cooperation from associates and fellow employees.”

No one cares how good your product is if you continuously have a bad attitude about performing or act as if doing a service is an inconvenience to you. People want to feel important and by making them feel welcome and providing exemplary service, you will gain a customer for life that will refer other people to you.

Conclusion


Hill’s chapter on organized Knowledge is effective at teaching us the difference between General and Organized knowledge, the importance of getting the right people around you and being a good leader, and that HOW we perform a service takes precedence over WHAT service we provide. By carrying out these points, we can better monetize the knowledge we already possess in a more effective manner.

 

Thanks

Decide to be Great today

Matthew

 

What is your Legacy?

What will be your legacy?

The time to decide that is now while you are alive… Not after you pass away! Determine your legacy now!

Leaving a Legacy


The person who leaves a legacy lives on so to speak. They can remain impacting lives long after they are gone. Their money continues to make money. The ideas, books, recordings or the time they have spent with others leaves an impact and continues to live on. They stay alive. Through their impact, they can become immortal.

This is the goal I have for my life and I have truly spoken this into existence. Anybody can do the same! As a result, many people and opportunities have been placed in front of me since I have set a legacy goal.
It is up to you to be aware of your surroundings, know when an opportunity is facing you and decide if that opportunity will launch you in the direction of your legacy. Pray for a clear answer, then continue to go in that direction.

Breaking Even


The second type of person is one who just exists, pays their bills, and keeps to themselves. This person would work and go home each day. Arriving at starting time and leave exactly when the workday ends exactly 8 hours of work later.
If they would simply find their passion, seek their gifts and love what they are doing, they would be so much happier!
When you’re doing what you love, time flies by. This average type sadly lives and works without passion or with little reason to be remembered after they pass on.

 

Me and MINE!


The third type of person is out to take whatever they can get without giving back. They are always looking for a handout and live off of society even if they are capable of making money on their own.
They borrow money and rarely if ever, pay it back. You know these people…When they call, you do not even want to answer…
They truly detract or take away from the world not only in money but take away other’s energy and happiness. They may even leave lasting scars on friends and family as a result of how they acted or spoke.
When they die they leave a negative thought, feeling, or expense to be made up for after they die. These are the people that you may even end up having to pay to bury because they never thought of others, sadly, only themselves!

How then will you live?


What legacy will you leave behind?
Will you add to the world, just existing and break even or will you be one who takes from the world?
We all may go through each of these phases at some point in time but the vision you set out to achieve is what the universe will send your way before you die.
How can you get there if you do not know where you’re going?
Try setting a goal to leave a lasting legacy and you may be surprised at what the universe sends your way. People who set goals and write them down with a timeline, live with a purpose and have a sure destination or course of where they are going and will be the Legacy makers that will ultimately succeed and live on forever!
Thanks for reading
Melinda

Think and Grow Rich Breakdown: Autosuggestion

Autosuggestion

Autosuggestion isn’t a word that’s commonly used in our vernacular so I will break it down before we go in depth on it.  Affirmations or autosuggestion as we will call it here is nothing more that intentional self-talk; words you say to yourself about yourself in order to develop a particular characteristic in your character. I know this sounds fanciful but the fact is this, whatever you tell yourself consistently over an extended period of time, you will believe regardless if it’s true or false. This is why autosuggestion or affirmations are important. With them, you can build yourself into who you want to be.

Excerpts

“AUTO-SUGGESTION is the agency of control through which an individual may voluntarily feed his subconscious mind on thoughts of a creative nature, or, by neglect, permit thoughts of a destructive nature to find their way into this rich garden of the mind.”

The subconscious mind is one of the most powerful and effective tools we can utilize when pursuing success. It controls all the habits we perform and by harnessing it, we can make success habits a subconscious behavior. Once success habits become injected into our subconscious, we will begin to work towards our goals without even having to actively work on it.

“Plain, unemotional words do not influence the subconscious mind. You will get no appreciable results until you learn to reach your subconscious mind with thoughts, or spoken words which have been well emotionalized with BELIEF.”

Just saying monotone words with no emotion will not inject a characteristic into your subconscious. You must not only say the words, you must back them with the emotion of belief and faith. As you say whatever words you choose, you must already believe that you have become this person. I know that this is a mildly difficult concept for grasp. The easiest way to say this is you have to believe that you are the person you desire to be even if you are not there yet.

 

Hill’s Autosuggestion Breakdown

 

“First.

Go into some quiet spot (preferably in bed at night) where you will not be disturbed or interrupted, close your eyes, and repeat aloud, (so you may hear your own words) the written statement of the amount of money you intend to accumulate, the time limit for its accumulation, and a description of the service or merchandise you intend to give in return for the money. As you carry out these instructions, SEE YOURSELF ALREADY IN POSSESSION OF THE MONEY.

For example :— Suppose that you intend to accumulate $50,000 by the first of January, five years hence, that you intend to give personal services in return for the money, in the Capacity of a salesman. Your written statement of your purpose should be similar to the following:

“By the first day of January, 19.., I will have in my possession $50,000, which will come to me in various amounts from time to time during the interim.In return for this money I will give the most efficient service of which I am capable, rendering the fullest possible quantity, and the best possible quality of service in the capacity of salesman of (describe the service or merchandise you intend to sell).I believe that I will have this money in my possession. My faith is so strong that I can now see this money before my eyes. I can touch it with my hands. It is now awaiting transfer to me at the time, and in the proportion that I deliver the service I intend to render in return for it. I am awaiting a plan by which to accumulate this money, and I will follow that plan, when it is received.”

Second.

Repeat this program night and morning until you can see, (in your imagination) the money you intend to accumulate.

Third. Place a written copy of your statement where you can see it night and morning, and read it just before retiring, and upon arising until it has been memorized.”

Now that you’ve read how Hill creates autosuggestion, I will show you how to create your own step by step.

How to write an Autosuggestion

  1. Go to a location where you will be able to focus on your autosuggestion without distraction
  2. Write out and read aloud your autosuggestion statement. Your statement should include
    1. “I am so happy and grateful” at the beginning. This will put you in a positive mental state regarding your autosuggestion.
    2. The specific amount of money you desire (specificity will help you lock down the characteristics of your goal).
    3. The time limit you set for it accomplishment (work will always expand to the time you give it. By giving yourself a time limit, you subconsciously will push yourself to achieve your goal before time is up).
    4. The service you intend to give to obtain this money (There is no such thing as something for nothing. Money is a reward for service rendered so if we want to receive for money, we have to offer more service.)
  3. When reading your statement, make sure to create the picture in your mind of you offering this service successfully and receiving the amount of money you desire for it.
  4. Read and visualize your autosuggestion statement every morning and night until it becomes ingrained in your subconscious and you can do it with ease
  5. Memorize your statement and post it somewhere you can see it every day

An example autosuggestion is:

“I am so happy and grateful that on Jan 1st, 2020 I am making $24,000 a month and am able to attend the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. In return for this money, I will give the most efficient, fullest possible quantity, and the best possible quality of service through Dollars and Decisions and my personal investing and trading. I believe that I will have this money in my possession. My faith is so strong that I can now see this money before my eyes. I can touch it with my hands. It is now awaiting transfer to me at the time, and in the proportion that I deliver the service, I intend to render in return for it. I am awaiting a plan by which to accumulate this money, and I will follow that plan when it is received.”

I hope this breakdown and example helped you to clear the air when it comes to autosuggestion and affirmations. This action is essential in implanting your goal into your mind and making working towards it habitually. If you have any questions about how to draft your own autosuggestion or any topic we have previously discussed, leave a comment and I will respond to you as soon as possible.

Thanks.

Decide to be great today

Matthew

 

Think and Grow Rich Breakdown: Faith

Faith

Faith was defined by Clarence Smithison as “The ability to see the invisible -to believe in the incredible. That is what enables you to receive what the masses think is impossible” and it is paramount to you achieving your goal. Hill recognizes this and devotes a whole chapter to this.

 

…you may CONVINCE the subconscious mind that you believe you will receive that for which you ask, and it will act upon that belief, which your subconscious mind passes back to you in the form of “FAITH,” followed by definite plans for procuring that which you desire….Repetition of affirmation of orders to your subconscious mind is the only known method of voluntary development of the emotion of faith.

 

While faith may have initially been presented to you as a characteristic that can’t be actively developed, this is not true. Through repetition of certain ideas and words to yourself in the form of affirmations, you are able to develop your sense of faith in whatever you choose. This is why it is important to choose our words carefully. By repeating ideas, we develop a sense of faith in that thing. If we repeat negative words or think negative thoughts, we build faith in the negative. By replacing negative thoughts with positive ones, we can voluntary build our belief in good faith.

 

THOUGHTS WHICH ARE MIXED WITH ANY OF THE FEELINGS OF EMOTIONS, CONSTITUTE A “MAGNETIC” FORCE WHICH ATTRACTS, FROM THE VIBRATIONS OF THE ETHER, OTHER SIMILAR, OR RELATED THOUGHTS.”

 

This is so profound yet so simple that want to draw your attention to it.

 

Thought + Emotions = Results

 

This is the equation for success. Every book, every theory, every teaching you have ever read about success boils down to this.

 

If you want more information on the thoughts portion of this equation, please check out the first article in this series called Thoughts Are Things. I will be tackling the emotions portion of the equation in this post.

 

Faith is built upon and affected by your emotions. Emotions are among the strongest trait of us as humans. Think about it, how many times have your emotions empowered or degraded your sense of faith?  You could have either continued to have faith embolden by your emotions even when it was illogical or not in your best interest to do so or you could have discouraged yourself to the point you no longer believed.

 

Your faith is either solidified in your emotion or killed by them. It is therefore important to take full control of our emotions and train them to behave in the way we desire. This will be addressed in more detail in the post on Auto-Suggestion.

 

Faith helps us paint the mental picture of who we desire to become and maintain that picture regardless of what’s going on.

 

First,

I know that I have the ability to achieve the object of my Definite Purpose in life, therefore, I DEMAND of myself persistent, continuous action toward its attainment, and I here and now promise to render such action.

Second.

I realize the dominating thoughts of my mind will eventually reproduce themselves in outward, physical action, and gradually transform themselves into physical reality; therefore, I will concentrate my thoughts for thirty minutes daily, upon the task of thinking of the person I intend to become thereby creating in my mind a clear mental picture of that person.

Third

I know through the principle of autosuggestion, any desire that I persistently hold in my mind will eventually seek expression through some practical means of attaining the object back of it, therefore, I will devote ten minutes daily to demanding of myself the development of SELF CONFIDENCE.

Fourth,

I have clearly written down a description of my DEFINITE CHIEF AIM in life, and I will never stop trying, until I shall have developed sufficient self-confidence for its attainment.

Fifth.

I fully realize that no wealth or position can long endure. Unless built upon truth and justice therefore, I will engage in no transaction which does not benefit all whom it affects. I will succeed by attraction to myself the forces I wish to use, and the cooperation of other people. I will induce others to serve me, because of my willingness to serve others. I will eliminate hatred, envy, jealousy, selfishness, and cynicism, but developing love for all humanity; because I know that a negative attitude toward others can never bring me success. I will cause others to believe in me, because I will believe in them and in myself.

I will sign my name to this formula, commit it to memory and repeat it aloud once a day, with full FAITH that It will gradually influence my THOUGHTS and ACTIONS so that I will become a self-reliant, and successful person.

The previous quotation is the creme de la creme of the chapter of faith. Hill writes an equation that will help you develop the confidence in yourself and faith in your abilities and the power that works through you.

Self-Confidence Equation Breakdown

  1. Affirm faith in your abilities and promise to yourself to not quit
  2. Visualise the person you want to become for 30 min a day
  3. Perform self-confidence affirmations for 15 min a day
  4. Write down the goal you desire to achieve and promise to never stop pursuing it
  5. In pursuit of your goal, maintain your integrity.

Hill’s chapter on Faith is a powerful and impactful one. I encourage you all to track this chapter down and read it for yourself. I guarantee you that you will learn something that will help you achieve your goal if you look for it. Also, the self-confidence formula is called a formula because the steps WILL lead to a better sense of confidence in your abilities and an enhanced sense of Faith. Please take the 45-60 min it takes to perform the ritual and watch your Faith and results from both move you towards resonance with your goal.

 

Thanks for reading

Decide to be great today

 

Matthew

 

Think and Grow Rich Breakdown: Desire

Desire

Desire, Hill writes, is the first step to riches. There is no joy or satisfaction in reaching a goal if we had no desire to accomplish it initially. 

 

“I will burn all bridges behind me, and stake my ENTIRE FUTURE on my ability to get what I want.”

 

How bad do you want it? If you aren’t willing to pursue your goal as hard as you can for as long as it takes, you may want to find a new goal. Now I’m not trying to say that you should be irresponsible and drop everything you’re doing to make your dream a reality (Unless you deem this necessary) but I am saying you have to be prepared to sacrifice lesser things to achieve the greater goal. Find a goal that is worth not watching TV or changing your circle of influence or being uncomfortable for. These are the goals that mean enough to you to pursue.

  1. Fix in your mind the exact amount of money you desire. It is not sufficient merely to say “I want plenty of money.” Be definite as to the amount.
  2. Determine exactly what you intend to give in return for the money you desire. (There is no such reality as “something for nothing.)
  3. Establish a definite date when you intend to possess the money you desire.
  4. Create a definite plan for carrying out your desire, and begin to at once, whether you are ready or not, to put this plan into action.
  5. Write out a clear, concise statement of the amount of money you intend to acquire, name the time limit for its acquisition, state what you intend to give in return for the money, and describe clearly the plan through which you intend to accumulate it. 
  6. Read your written statement aloud, twice daily, once just before retiring at night, and once after arising in the morning. AS YOU READ— SEE AND FEEL AND BELIEVE YOURSELF ALREADY IN POSSESSION OF THE MONEY.      

There is so much in this these simply six steps so we will be breaking them down for the remainder of this post. 

First, identify the amount of money you want and be as specific as possible. Do this because you want to make your goals definite and not vague. If simply as for more money, finding a penny on the ground technically fulfills your goal. Be specific about what you want from life.

 

Money is offered as the reward for services rendered, whether this is done in the capacity of a job, as a stock trader, or even an entrepreneur, you can and will never get what you want out of life before giving. Think about this example, you have a box packed with newspaper and your goal is to fill the box with money. You try as hard as you can to pack the money into the box but only a few bills will stay in the box and the rest fall onto the floor. What should you do? By giving up the newspapers you not only prepare the box for the money to be added, you make space for the money by giving up the lesser newspaper. As people who are seeking to achieve goals, we have to not only be prepared to give of ourselves, talents and capabilities, we have to make space for the good we want to occur.

Work expands to fill any space that you give it. A project that normally takes 15 min will take an hour if you left it. This was the story of my life in college. We have to be intentional about our goals and give ourselves deadlines. Deadlines move a dream forward. A goal with no date is simply a wish.

If you fail to plan, you plan to fail. It sounds so cliche but there is gold in these words. How many times have you known you had something to do but can’t remember what? How many times have you thought you’ve been productive only to later be reminded that you forgot something important? These issues can be solved by having a plan. A plan guides you when you don’t know what the next step is and keeps you focused on the task at hand.

Write down a goal is an important step because it transmutes your goal from thought (ethereal plane) to the physical plane. By doing this step you are confirming to yourself that you can turn an idea into a reality even if it is on a smaller scale. If you can do this once, you can do it again.

Affirmations are words that you say to yourself to reaffirm an idea to yourself or to implant an idea into your behavior. By repeating your written statement, you are implanting it into your subconscious. This allows the idea and goal to not only be something that you want but become a part of who you are.

I want you to stop what you’re doing right now and follow all 6 of these steps. If you are serious about reaching your goal, these 6 simple steps will prove invaluable to you in your pursuit of excellence. 

Thanks for reading,

Matthew

Think and Grow Rich Breakdown: Thoughts are Things

Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill is a staple in the personal development space and is an excellent resource for goal setting and staying determined during the up and down that can occur when trading. Hill spent over 20 years and interviewed and studied hundreds of the most successful people in America to see what qualities, characteristics, and habits to see what made a successful person and if we could replicate it. Although we encourage each of you to read this book, we also want to highlight and extract ideas, quotes and concepts that we think could be beneficial to you specifically as a forex trader. We will break down this book chapter by chapter to give you the full picture of how to think and grow rich.

 

Thoughts Are Things

 

“TRULY, “thoughts are things,” and powerful things at that, when they are mixed with definiteness of purpose, persistence, and a BURNING DESIRE for their translation into riches, or other material objects.”

 

Have you ever had an idea? Whether large or small, the only thing that separates the unsuccessful and the highly successful are their ideas and the way they pursue them. Hill says that thoughts aren’t just musing of the mind, but they are literal things that, when we apply purpose, persistence and burning desire, can be converted from an idea we have into a physical realization. 

 

“An intangible impulse of thought can be transmuted into its physical counterpart by the application of known principles.”

 

A recipe is a set of instruction used to achieve a particular outcome. We all have followed a food recipe at some time in our lives. We also know that if we perform the recipe for a cake, we will get cake and no macaroni and cheese. We understand that the steps we take will lead to the outcome we desire. Hill says that there is a recipe for the success that we desire and we can accomplish it in the manner we desire if we simply follow his instructions.

 

“One sound idea is all that one needs to achieve success…Success comes to those who become SUCCESS CONSCIOUS.”

 

This is the crux of this book. Success isn’t something that happens because you simply “hustle”, “grind” or work long hours with no sleep. If your mind is not primed for success, all your efforts will be performed in vain. Success, like all other things, begins in the mind. We have to attack the mental aspect of achieving a goal first before the physical can be of a significant result.

 

“One of these is DESIRE: knowing what one wants.”

 

Who cares if you can achieve whatever you want if you have no idea what you want to achieve. Right now, take out a sheet of paper and write down the goals you want to achieve in your education(learning), in your trading and your investing. Write at least 3 down for each. This exercise will help you discover what you want and determine what is important for you to achieve. This entire book is for naught if you don’t have any goals in mind. Below I have written out some of my goals in the areas of learning, trading and investing.

Learn

  • I will have 3 of my heroes to become my mentors (Kanye West, Will Smith, Gerard Adams)
  • I will impact the lives of 3,000,000 people for the better
  • I will obtain a cleaner’s mentality (Check out Tim Grover’s Relentless)

Invest

  • I will invest in my wife to empower her and help her become the best woman, wife, and mother she can be
  • I will obtain a “passively” yearly 5% return of $250,000 due to my investments
  • I will personally invest in the lives 100 people and teach them how to become their definition of successful

Trade

  • I will ride the markets instead of trying to fight them
  • I will become a 7-figure forex trader
  • I will follow my trading plan every day

I hope you all will enjoy this series breaking down this wonderful book and please let us know if you have any additional quotes you like to talk about or would like further clarification on.

Thanks for reading,

Matthew

Trade-The Application Principle

Trade is an interesting concept with multiple layers of definition and application

In fundamental economics trade is defined as the action of buying and selling of goods and services.

In educational terms it is a skilled job, typically one requiring manual skills and special training

In terms of the market, trade gets a slightly more complex definition but it equates out to the pursuit of making a profit and building a sizable income stream whether that is earned from the Stock Market or the Foreign Exchange Market. Little

Finally, from a personal view trade could be defined as putting old things down in order to acquire newness.

What do we mean by this??

In reality the best way these can all be understood is to combine the definitions themselves as well as employing the use of the first two pillars of learning and investing as well. So, let’s paint this picture together.

In order to begin learning how to trade in the stock market or forex market one has to prioritize your time and instead of doing other things like watching tv, social gatherings, or just time spent doing nothing productive you may begin to trade (swap) the habit of laziness out for productivity.

As time progresses and you invest that time into developing your skills, training and aptitude in the art of trading. Naturally creating habits of productivity in other areas of your life because you chose to trade old things in order to acquire something new.

One of the biggest trading points that a large majority of us can relate to is the time for money trade made at jobs 40+ hours per week. We are fairly confident that 3 out of 5 people at least would love to make that particular trade end so that they could spend more time with family, traveling, more trading or doing whatever other activity it is that they love. Ultimately, now that you have decided to make that habit trade look at yourself now and realize that you learned the skill of trade that derives from the educational perspective giving you the ability to trade as it relates to the market definition and you have accomplished this from trading your old mindset for a new mindset resulting in earning yourself a new income stream compounding dollars all from making a decision. The benefit of all of these new-found aspects of trade is having armed yourself with the fresh financial flexibility.

Conclusively I would like to leave you with this quote:

“A man is worked upon by what he works on. He may carve out his circumstances, but his circumstances will carve him out as well.” -Frederick Douglass, The Portable Fredrick Douglass

You will define things in your life as you go as well those same things defining you so be mindful of what you do with and for yourself daily, you do not have to reinvent the wheel but you can customize your tread on it.

We will never make you do anything, we cannot but we will continuously offer our sincere and researched methods of improving your life as we strive to improve our own.  We must lift as we climb. So, if you are universally somewhere in life that you do not want to be first a decision must be made to change. Then consciously grasp that mentally, emotionally, financially it is within your capability and obligation to begin those changes learn what it takes, invest the time/money into crafting those changes and watch your new trade gain new profits in intellect and dollars.   Learn. Invest. Trade

Investing- Part 2- Planting The Money Tree

 

Investing-   

expend money with the expectation of achieving a profit or material result by putting it into financial schemes, shares, or property, or by using it to develop a commercial venture.

 

One of the most important things that you can do as an investor is to get an early start on investing. The old saying “the early bird gets the worm,” certainly applies to investing in a big way. Investing is defined as making an investment in order to earn a profit and earning that profit will be much easier to do if you get an early start. Investing at a young age isn’t always easy, but the benefits are numerous and can’t be overlooked, but just because you may not have started investing at a young age does not mean you cannot start today. Thankfully there are no age regulations or requirements when it comes to that.

A few of the most essential and beneficial reasons to invest is residual income and compounding returns which are extremely powerful over the long run, and the sooner you get started the greater your chance is to take advantage of this. Put more simply this is the power of the time value of money. Regular investments in an investment portfolio or a retirement account can lead to huge compounding benefits. Additionally, when you begin to invest you are putting yourself ahead in the world of personal finance as a whole. By growing your investments over time, you will be able to afford things that others can’t. Your personal finances are bound to get tight at times throughout your life as most of us well know and investing can help in those tight times.

*Golden Nugget* Investing definitely helps develop positive spending habits. Those who invest early on are much less likely to have issues with overstepping their boundaries in spending over the long run. Investing teaches important lessons and the earlier you are able to learn those lessons the more you can benefit.

The younger generation is a tech-savvy one, so the benefit of that to everyone is that we are able to study, research and apply online investing tools and techniques. Getting started has never been more accessible than now online trading platforms provide countless opportunities for both fundamental and technical analysis, as do chat rooms and financial and educational websites. Technology, including online opportunities, social media, and apps, can all contribute to a new investor’s knowledge base, experience, confidence, and expertise.

If you do not believe investing works for whatever reason or have doubts about getting started maybe you should take a look at this individual. “The Oracle of Omaha”

Before we depart today we want to leave you with a fun tool to play around with to see what it would be like to start making some investments and experience for yourself the power of this skill.  Also, we want to impart you with a few more advantages of taking a step to learn/start investing.

Conclusively, we hope that today you will be able to take something away from the learning of investing, so if you read part 1 and now have part 2 combined you should be well prepared for our next step in this journey which is to Tradethe Application Principle..

As always we thank you for your time with us. Invest in yourself and invest some money into something beneficial just to see what might happen…See you next week.