Poverty Choices You Must Avoid

“If we are born poor, it is not our fault, but if we die poor, it is!”…… Bill Gates

Lack of Vision and Imagination sufficient to recognize favorable opportunities: People, who are unable to use their minds positively, stand little or no chance of escaping poverty. The mind is subject to control and manipulation by anyone. You can control your mind when you choose to. That you lack imagination or you are unable to visualize is absolutely your own making. All these can be handled with clear and concise thinking which your mind can do. The only person who can think for you is you. One of God’s greatest gifts to man is his mind. This is the only thing that separates him from beast. Imagination is literally the workshop of the mind where desire is given shape and positive action plan is formulated. If you are incapable of using your mind positively, you may not be able to make money.

Ill-Health: A healthy-mind in a healthy-body is a must for success and wealth creation. Health is a feeling of wellbeing. Anything you do that undermines your good health and wellbeing will push you to failure and poverty. When you have not developed a Positive Mental Attitude, you can’t rest or sleep, you indulge yourself in excessive eating and drinking, you are stressed-up, you do drugs and abuse other substances; you are certainly on the highway to poverty.

Lack of Persistence: If you have the habit of not sticking to the job and you quit at the slightest obstacle, you lack persistence. The basis of persistence is willpower. I have heard that “the will to win is more important than winning.” The will to win is built by persistent desire. If you lack persistence, you are incapable of any worthwhile achievement. The game of life has no stands for spectators. Everyone is an active player. Those who win and get rich are those who have the desire and persistence to win and be rich. It is a clear choice. If you can’t persist, you can hardly achieve any worthwhile venture that will enable you to make money.

Why You Too Can Make Money

 “If we are born poor, it is not our fault, but if we die poor, it is!”…… Bill Gates
 

If you take a very close look at the people who have succeeded to make money, you cannot find any visible reason why they made money. It is clear that sex, age, circumstances of birth, luck, destiny, color, religion and even physical disposition had nothing to do with it. What then is responsible? You may say they were lucky. I will say luck played little or no role in it. You may then say God favored them. I will say God favors us all without discrimination. You may even say it is their destiny. I will say destiny favors those who help themselves. To avoid stretching this endless argument further, let us mutually agree that the only discernible reason why these people made it is because they “chose” to make it. This is the incontrovertible truth. Chief M.K.O Abiola would not have made it if he accepted that he was born to poor parents and that Abeokuta was not destined by God to produce a multi-millionaire. Orprah Winfrey would not have made it in life if she accepted that being born black and a female to boot were setbacks deliberately imposed by God to make her a poor second-class citizen in a country of unlimited opportunities.  Colonel Sanders would have died a poor man if he accepted that at 65 he was already too old to become a successful entrepreneur. Jose Feliciano would have been begging in the back-streets of Puerto Rico if he accepted that once you are blind, it was the end of the road for you.

In the business of money-making, what sometimes appear to be a set-back when properly handled could turn out to be a blessing when appropriate and deliberate choices are made. When Arnold Schwarzenegger who later became the Governor of California immigrated to the United States from his native Austria, he was a body-builder. This was the strength that got him into the movies but his thick Austrian accent almost ruined his chances of succeeding in the movie industry. Many people particularly women and children loved his great body and wanted his movies despite his accent which was at the beginning a glaring weakness. Some clever producers exploited this accent which is stuck with the man into a fad and it became an identifying part of his character. This is how the “Terminator” series of movies was born. Every kid in the neighborhood started acting like the lead star in the “Terminator.” When the movies were released, many children started identifying with Arnold, the star of the movies. Many decided to start dressing, looking as strong, as heavily-built and speaking gruffly as the “Terminator.”  This caught-on in the world and a superstar was born. A glaring weakness well exploited was thus turned into strength and stupendous wealth.

 

6 Probable Reasons Why You Are Always Broke

Worldwide, it now appears that many people are just scraping by financially. Even those not technically classified as poor are just managing to get by financially. The sad result is that many of us are always walking around broke even if we earn regular incomes. Somehow, for most people, that income just isn’t enough to allow them live the kind of life they will like to live. Here now are some of the probable reasons why.

01. Poverty comparisons. If you always think that your financial situation is better off than someone else who maybe starving, that does not make your own financial situation any better. What you are doing is simply trying to make sense and justify your financial situation by finding others that are worse off than you are. That in a way explains only your own situation and can leave you real broke while thinking that you are better off than some other persons.

02. Financial recklessness. The habit of spending money on things you don’t need and can’t even afford is one common form of financial recklessness that may leave you broke most of the time.

03. Economic illiteracy. If you are always broke, chances are, you are economically illiterate. It means you either spend money without giving a serious thought to the value of money and the wide range of uses it can be put or you are just taking money like any other commodity that is expendable. That is economic illiteracy and it can leave you real broke most of the time.

04. Over-dependence on paid employment. Most people who are on paid employment live from paycheck to paycheck and they are always broke. These are people who work 9-5 daily and they are always looking forward to the next paycheck. If you are unable or unwilling to engage in activities that will allow you earn additional income alongside your paycheck, you will always be broke.

05. Trying to live like the Joneses. This is one form of financial recklessness that can leave you broke all the time. Trying to live exactly the way your neighbor is living is reckless. Doing things with your money exactly the way you see your neighbor doing them is not on too. The earlier you come to the reality that you are not Mr. Jones, your neighbor, the better for your finances.

06. Financial apathy. If somehow you become apathetic about your finances, you will always be broke. There is no way you can have money if you don’t pay attention to it. It helps to admit to where you are financially and start paying attention to your money. Acting like there is no problem doesn’t make the problem go away, it makes it worse. Money issues are so very serious issues which no one who wants to avoid being broke most of the time can afford to ignore.

 

7 Great Opportunities to Negotiate a Raise with Your Employer

Whether in business or social life, it is inevitable that everyone has to negotiate. However, to negotiate successfully, timing is very crucial to the outcome. What ordinarily you may have been able to get easily, if your timing is poor, you could lose it. In any employment, keen observation and a quick decision on when to act, most times makes the difference between success and failure. For this reason, one person may succeed to get something out of a boss while some other person may fail woefully in similar attempt. The key is timing. It is of utmost importance to know when to take the opportunity to negotiate with your employer either for a raise or for some other concessions. The following opportunities come in very handy if you want to successfully negotiate a raise with your employer.

01. When your employer is in a very good mood. All humans have mood changes from time to time. Some persons experience these changes more frequently than others depending on individual differences. If you are able to time your employer very well, you can always seize the opportunity to initiate the matter of a raise with her when she is in a very good mood. At such times, your chances of success could be very good.

02. When you have just completed a major project successfully. As an employee, any time you are able to deliver to expectations on your job, it makes your employer happy. Such times usually present a very good opportunity to negotiate a raise.

03. When company reports indicate that the company’s earnings are up. Most employers are always in upbeat moods when their company’s earnings are up. Such periods are usually good opportunities for smart employees to negotiate a raise.

04. When you have just acquired a new training or skill useful to the company. With a new skill or training in your kitty, your value to your company usually increases. That is a very good opportunity to negotiate a raise. A good employer will at such times accede to a raise if she wants to retain you. If not, she knows she could lose your services to rival employers. 

05. When you have just brought in a very good and profitable business for the company. Only very valuable employees bring good businesses to their companies. If you are able to do that, it will make your employer happy. Negotiating a raise with her at that moment could earn you a very sympathetic and favorable hearing.

06. When your employer’s confidence in you is at the highest. Many employers do have plenty of confidence in employees who always deliver on promise. Any time you are able to deliver successfully on some valuable projects that earn you the commendation of your employer, such times are okay to negotiate a raise.

07. When you have just made a significant amount of money for your company. The bottom-line in any business is to make money. Employees who are good at helping their companies to make money are very valuable employees. If you are able to make a significant amount of money for your company and your employer acknowledges it, the time is conducive to negotiate a raise.

Many employers know that no employee wants to earn a fixed salary in perpetuity. Employees who are capable of making themselves extremely valuable to their employment and are able to time their moves very well usually get raises from their employers if they ask. With keen observation and action taken when the time is ripe and proper, more often than not, you can always succeed to negotiate a raise with your employer. That is what many smart employees know which enables them to get a raise from their employers anytime they ask for it.

Women Too Do Make Real Money

Money-making does not depend on your gender. Statistics indicate that there are more male millionaires than females. That is hardly surprising as it is indicative of a male-dominant world. Females themselves have also held their own in wealth-creation and accumulation. 

Oprah Winfrey was born on January 29, 1954 in the backwoods of a Mississippi little known town of Kosciusko USA to an unmarried teen-age mother.  She resolved early in life to work hard and be successful. This mindset lured her into show business. This is how she became a television talk-show host that has earned her fame and wealth. Ms. Winfrey worked hard and became the head of many companies under her HARPO Inc. which employed many people, both male and female. She at some stage became arguably the most popular talk-show host in the world. By 1993, she was reported to be earning about $98 million dollars per year. Not bad for a little black girl born into abject poverty in a race-tainted United States in the fifties.

These days, you can see multi-millionaire female stars like the Kardashians, Williams sisters, Jennifer Lopez and many others whose careers cut across Talk-show hosting, Sports, Music, Business and many other fields of human endeavor. Women are really making money in this age and time and that is very good for humanity.

 

Why the Physically Challenged Can Make Money

 Have you heard of Ray Charles, Stevie Wonder and other physically challenged persons who are using their God-given talents to earn good money to make a living? Good if you have. Here let me tell you the story of Jose Feliciano who incidentally is less well known as the first two just mentioned. 

Jose Feliciano was born blind in Puerto Rico at a time and in a place where even able-bodied people had a tough time making a living. His handicap notwithstanding, he pursued his passion for music by acquiring an old guitar and teaching himself to play. His passion for music was so great that he at times practiced until his fingers bled. He moved on to become one of the greatest musicians of our time and earned millions of dollars from his works. One of the finest pieces of music ever played is a Christmas carol called “Feliz Navidad.” It was written by Jose Feliciano. 

Just like Jose Feliciano and all others, all you need is to find your passion and deploy it to good use. You too can make money even if you are physically challenged.

 

Money-Making Does not depend on How Educated You Are

This is no longer big news! The man who at some point was the richest in the world, Mr. Bill Gates dropped out of school to pursue his dreams. Many people around the world who are very rich today cannot be said to be well educated in the sense of formal schooling. Many are only well educated from experience in the business world. Back in Nigeria, Prince Samuel Adedoyin is reported to have had only secondary school education but started out in business when he was only 13 years old. He later founded Doyin Investments and started manufacturing household consumables that have been competing favorably with products of multi-nationals like Unilever. His other business interests have spanned Real Estate and Properties, Banking, Chemicals, Pharmaceuticals and Motor Vehicles.  

These are all commendable achievements from a man who did not go beyond secondary school. His success has earned him a lot of respect and recognition at home and abroad. He has made a lot of money from his investments and businesses. As a result, he currently enjoys considerable wealth and comfort from his efforts. A large percentage of successful entrepreneurs in Nigeria have similar low educational background as Prince Adedoyin’s.