Y'dig?

I love the term foolproof. Whoever admits to being a fool? Yet the truth is, we all are, at some time in our lives. Which means that foolproof excludes all of us. But consider this, the difference between those who really make it and those who don’t, is that those who make it make the same mistakes as everyone else, but they recover from them better, they get over them quicker. Here’s my list, I hope you find some or all of them useful. The first one is a joke, so it’s really nine ways.

1. Start from a very low base – i.e. if you earn $100 a week, doubling it is a cinch.

2. Stop working for someone else, resign immediately. This is the best time ever to start your own business, and when you make it work in these ghastly times, when things get better, you’ll fly.

3. Whether you work for yourself or someone else, spend a solid hour a day marketing yourself.

4. If you are in a hierarchy, stop thinking like everybody else at your level and start thinking like the people at the level above. Add this to 3 above and in 6 months you’ll join them.

5. Look the part. If say, you are in sales and you want to be a sales manager, you have to dress, look, think and act like one. Look around, you’ll be amazed at how many fall at this fence. Take a look in the mirror and be honest, if you were the big boss, would you give you a promotion?

6. Stop thinking like a sheep. Be a wolf.

7. Understand the fundamentals of earning. If you earn say, $30 an hour, you work one hour, you earn $30, end of story. But, some people work an hour, for that they earn $30, and next year, they also earn $30 for the work they did in that hour a year ago, and the year after, they also earn $30 for that hour’s work they did two years ago, and so on. For example, an author who’s books sell year in and year out. Or, people who work in Financial Services who get commissions every year. OK the math is different in that situation, but it is the principle we’re looking at here. If you get your head into this way of thinking, you’ll be earning $30 for the hour’s work you are just doing, plus $30 for the hour’s work you did a year ago, plus $30 for the hour’s work you did, two year’s ago. That’s $90 compared to the wage slave who just gets $30, end of story.

8. Remember the motto – Virtus Fortunae Comes – Fortune Favors the Brave. Be brave.

9. “Wisdom is a butterfly and not a gloomy bird of prey” W.B. Yeats. Be a butterfly, smile

10. Enjoy whatever you do, be enthusiastic. These qualities are contagious and others will want to help you.

Go for it.