A Plum in the Syrup by Daniel Herzner - HTML preview

Each of us is in possession of an asset that is, by far, the single most valuable asset we’d ever hope to call our own. In fact, this asset is so precious it would be impossible to put a hard dollar figure on its value. This asset I speak of is, in fact, utterly priceless.

 

I want you to take a moment and ponder the many assets you’ve been blessed with. When you take stock of all that you have, what would you say is your single greatest asset – the one that tops all others?

 

You’re reading this book, right? So that means you have 2 good eyes. Are you able to put a hard dollar value on your eye site? I’ll also bet that your overall health is good – you have two good arms and two good legs and a sharp brain between your ears. Is it possible to put a dollar figure on your physical health? I don’t think so. Your body is priceless. A healthy physical body is your temple.

 

 

But, as priceless as your health may be, it is not what I'd consider your greatest asset. Why? Well, there have been many people throughout history who have achieved extraordinary success with less than perfect health.

 

Blind people are capable of achieving great success and wealth. Invalids are also fully capable of great achievement.

 

So, although your healthy body leaves you so much to be thankful for, it still cannot be considered your number one most cherished asset.

 

So what is it? What could possibly hold such significance over your life and your potential for success and wealth? Again, I ask you, taking stock of all that you have, what would you say is your most precious asset? I’ll give you a hint – this asset is a birth right. From the moment we’re born into this world this asset is ours and we have each been given it equally.

 

Without this asset, the accumulation of wealth becomes virtually impossible and the possession of wealth becomes utterly meaningless.

 

If you had answered that time is your most valuable asset you'd still be wrong. No, time is not your most valuable asset. It is true; your personal time is extraordinarily valuable. So valuable in fact that you should never limit the amount of money you make based on your time. Even though time is an extremely valuable asset it still does not hold the top spot on your “most valuable asset” list.

 

What then is at the top of the list? The single item to occupy the number one position on anyone’s valuable asset list is freedom. Your personal freedom is, without question,

your number one – bar none – most valuable, precious, irreplaceable asset. So precious is your personal freedom that without it, your second most valuable asset – time – loses significant value. In fact, without your freedom one could argue that your time becomes worthless.

 

Think about it. How you choose to use your time will determine conclusively how wealthy or successful you stand to become. But, if your freedom is relinquished, has your time lost significant value? I would say so. In fact, your personal time, without the freedom to choose how you spend it, can actually become a liability.

 

Let’s take this discussion a step further. Earlier in this chapter you were asked if your healthy body is your most precious asset. There’s no question that two good arms, two good legs, a healthy body, two good eyes – the entire physical package – is an asset to be cherished. But, as ghoulish as this may sound, there are some people out there who

 

I'm sure would sell a body part for a multi-million dollar payoff if ever such an offer were to be made. Not that such a thing is legal but there are some pretty destitute and desperate people out there who probably would take that kind of a deal.

 

I’ll bet that there are also some people out there who would give up time off their lives for money. Let’s again hypothetically offer someone down on their luck a multi-million dollar payoff if they were to give up their final 5 years of life. I’m sure there are some who would take that kind of a deal too. (I know these hypothetical’s I’m throwing at you may sound outlandish but stick with me here, I’m making a salient point.)

 

Now, ask anybody to give up their freedom for a multi-million dollar payoff and I’ll bet you won’t find a single person, no matter how impecunious, who would take the offer. Why? Well, the answer is obvious. What good is any amount of money if you didn’t have your freedom to enjoy it?

 

If you were to accept any of these observations, it would then certainly stand to reason that freedom could be considered your most precious asset.

 

Freedom is your God given birth right. So, for practical purposes your freedom is never taken from you. Rather, you relinquish it as a consequence of some action you've taken. And, through due process which everyone is entitled to – at least in much of the civilized world – you could stand to lose your freedom.

 

I understand that, unfortunately, freedom, in some parts of the world, is not always a birth right. I also understand that in some parts of the world, freedom can be taken away without due process. And, yes, we occasionally hear of the individual who, as it turned out, had been mistakenly incarcerated. And, as terrible as these occurrences are, I would say that in this day and age these are the overwhelming minority of cases. Therefore, this entire commentary is directed toward all people born as free citizens in civilized societies throughout the globe.

 

Getting back to my point about recognizing freedom as your most precious asset; it is something I came to realize the hard way.

 

I'd always looked at time as being the most valuable asset a person has until I had to spend a night in jail. Having to spend exactly 24 hours in a 6 X 8 jail cell was the worst ephemeral experience of my life. It was then that I realized that freedom, not time, is an asset without peer.

 

I won't bore you with a long story but here's what happened:

 

I had a bricks and mortar business in the city in which I live; White Plains, NY. It was a typical Friday at the office prior to having been arrested – I'll explain in a minute what lead up to this.

 

I was placed under arrest by two officers without struggle or fanfare. I was taken, in handcuffs, down to central booking on two pretty insignificant charges. I was under the assumption I would've gone through the typical processing procedure and released on my own recognizance; pretty typical for what I'd been accused of.

 

However, much to my great chagrin, the person who decided to press charges had also requested a restraining order against me. It was late Friday afternoon when I was brought in for processing. The police can do the arrest processing, but they have no authority to issue a restraining order. Only a judge can issue such a document. But, because it was a late Friday afternoon, there were no more judges in the building. Every last one of them had already taken off for the weekend.

 

The police on duty had no other recourse but to hold me over until Saturday. A judge would be back in the building at some point on Saturday.

 

I had never been in any kind of trouble with the law up until this point. I'm about as boring a citizen as you'd find anywhere. I work hard (and smart) at running my businesses, pay my taxes and raise my son. I do the things any decent, productive member of society does.

 

What hurts most is I lost a precious day of my life over a restraining order. I've never harmed anyone and never will. I'm the last person anyone would need a restraining order against. And truthfully, a restraining order is a worthless piece of paper that seldomly deters the criminal who it's really meant for.

 

But, be that as it may, I'd spent exactly 24 hours in a jail cell – from 3PM Friday until exactly 3PM Saturday – and realized how valueless time becomes without the freedom required to do with it what you please.

 

My cell phone, belt and shoes were taken away from me. There were no books, no newspapers, no magazines. There was absolutely nothing to do but to stare at the blank walls of this stinking little concrete box I was in and wait.

 

You're probably asking yourself how and why I found myself in this predicament to begin with. I'll try to keep this as short as possible.

 

My wife had stopped by my office that morning to drop something off. She was with me for no more than 15 minutes at the most. Later that day she'd stopped by again to pick up one of my employees. When she stopped by this second time I saw through my office window that a meter maid was writing her a parking ticket.

 

I went outside to find out why she was being given a ticket. The response I'd gotten was that it was for violating a two hour parking limit. I tried to explain that the car was only in that spot for a short while in the morning and now it happened to be in the same spot again this afternoon. When I'd protested that this was not a legitimate parking ticket, the meter maid's reply was "I can do whatever I want" and proceeded with issuing the ticket.

 

Maybe I'm crazy but here I thought a two hour parking limit meant you were not allowed to park your car in that area for more than a straight two hours. I didn't know it meant that if you parked in that spot for any length of time that you're not allowed to park there again for the rest of the day.

 

When the meter maid told me that he can do whatever he wanted to, I'm sorry to say that I lost my marbles.

 

I understand that parking ticket revenue is a major part of municipal budgets. And, in White Plains it's no secret that meter maids have ticket quotas they have to meet otherwise they'll lose their jobs. Ticketing quotas have been reported on extensively in the local newspaper. These quotas mean that tickets are not issued on what's right and

 

what's wrong, it means that many times they're issued for unsubstantiated, flimsy reasons.

 

I'm sorry to admit that my frustration with the meter maid's callous response got the better of me and I blew my top. I went into a tirade. What I did next is what had gotten me in trouble.

 

Have you ever heard that sometimes a split second can change everything? Well, for a split second, out of shear anger with the situation, I reached out and grabbed the ticket writing machine. The machine never left the guy's hands and it took me literally a second to realize I'd stepped over the line and let go of the machine instantly. That split second cost me a night in jail.

 

I guess the meter maid requested the restraining order because I was beside myself with anger and yelling and cursing up a storm. As my wife and my employee are witnesses, I never laid a finger on the guy nor did I threaten any kind of violence against him. Nonetheless I guess he felt threatened by my actions.

 

I know my reaction to the situation was poor at best. But, being human also means I'm fallible. As such, I let my emotions get the better of me. Sure, all parking tickets can be contested in traffic court but who has the time to diddle away 2 hours for a $25 ticket? Municipalities know that citizens don't want to be bothered with fighting these tickets which give them free rein to issue as many as they want willy-nilly. The really sad part is a parking ticket automatically makes you guilty and you have to waste time in court to try and prove your innocence. It's the complete opposite of the basic presumption our judicial system is built upon: innocent until proven guilty.

 

I have no good explanation for why I let anger grab hold of me the way it did. To understand I guess you'd have to know the draconian ways in which White Plains uses their ticketing practices. Parking violations in this town are no longer about any measure of right or wrong. It's now become nothing more than a blatant revenue grab. I own a home and business in White Plains and am painfully familiar with receiving violations that just make no sense. The frustration got the better of me and I guess this particular violation was the proverbial straw which broke the camel's back.

 

It's usually best to just hold your nose and pay the fine. However, lucid thought is sometimes overshadowed by emotion. For the record, let me say that I take full, unconditional responsibility for having spent a night in jail. It was my own actions which landed me there. It was me and me alone who relinquished my own freedom as a consequence of how I'd reacted.

 

All I can tell you is to please always consider the potential consequences of your actions. I happened to be having a perfectly fine day at work prior to this incident I'd just told you about. My actions that afternoon were in no way premeditated or planned. Like I said I'm a fallible human being who paid a dear price for a dumb, knee jerk reaction.

 

What I will now never understand is how people can do things which are premeditated with the potential to relinquish their freedom. I'd mentioned Bernard Madoff and others earlier who willfully steal from people for their own personal gain. In court when he entered his guilty plea, Madoff told the judge that he knew what he was doing was wrong and he knew his day of reckoning would come.

 

Why would he do it? Is money that important to him that he would wreck thousands of lives and jeopardize his freedom? Is any amount of money worth the price of your personal freedom?

 

The reason why many believe time is your most precious asset is because what you choose to do with it will directly determine how successful you'll become. What many people take for granted is your freedom enables you to choose how you'll use your time. Without freedom, somebody else has effectively made that important decision for you.

 

8 – It's Better To Receive Then To Give

 

…how are you going to help somebody else if you haven't first helped yourself? You have to first help yourself which puts you in a position to provide others with assistance.

 

We've all heard the saying "It's better to give than to receive". I'm sure growing up you've heard it who knows how many times from your mom or kindergarten teacher as you were taught the valuable lesson of sharing. After all, sharing is caring, right?

 

Altruism is one the greatest gestures we can perform in life. I do think that the ability to help out another at his or her time of need is a cornerstone of what defines us as human beings. Philanthropy is a win for everybody involved.

 

When you're able to give a helping hand to your fellow man, it gives you a warm feeling inside unlike any other. There's a definite satisfaction and "fuzzy" feel good experience associated with helping out somebody in need – there's a win for you. And the person on the receiving end of your assistance is happy to have the help – there's a win for them. Everybody wins when one gives to another.

 

But, there's a major flaw in the notion of it being better to give than to receive. What if you have nothing to give? If you're struggling just to maintain your own survival, is it still better to give than to receive?

 

Let's suppose you regularly frequent your local house of worship (your religion for the purposes of the following example is insignificant).

 

At some point during the services, donations are requested to help support the church. Money is very tight for you at the moment and just paying your monthly bills is a struggle. But, be that as it may, you donate your last dollar to the church. By doing so, you feel that you are doing a really good thing. After all, you love your house of worship and you're happy to provide the support.

 

But really, what is your last dollar going to do for your church?

 

I know, I know, you're saying "but it's not just my dollar, mine is only one of the many dollars donated to help keep the church going. It all adds". True, many, many single dollar bills certainly can add up to a sizable sum of money. But, we're not talking about the donations from the many, in this example we're talking about the one dollar donation from you.

 

Before I go any further, lest you think I'm in some way bad mouthing church collections, I've given plenty of money to my church and to religious charities. And I'm happy to do so. I think it is extremely important to help support your church and its causes. But by all means I'm telling you to help yourself first. The more you're able to help yourself, the better you'll be able to help others.

 

Thus the title of this chapter: it's better to receive THEN to give.

 

Think of it this way – you're on an airplane, all passengers are seated and the pilot is preparing to pull away from the gate. The flight attendants are going through the pre- flight safety procedures. Have you ever paid any attention to these procedures? I know very few of us actually do. But if you had you would've noticed that in case of an emergency you're instructed to first put on your own oxygen mask before helping others with theirs. You're instructed to put on your own mask even before helping a child – a child for crying out loud! Who needs more help in an emergency situation than a small child??? But still, regardless of who may need your help, you're instructed to put your mask on first.

 

Do you know why? Because how are you going to help somebody else if you haven't first helped yourself? You have to first help yourself which puts you in a position to  provide others with assistance. So take that pre-flight procedure and use the same concept in your charitable donations. Help yourself first.

 

Look, there is nothing noble or pious about being broke. Being broke only means you can barely help yourself let alone somebody else. Do you want to be able to help others or your church or whatever or whoever in a really big way? Then it's your duty to become as successful as you can be.

 

My son was born on the evening of January 15, 2006 at White Plains Hospital in White Plains, NY. To be specific, he was born in "The William & Sylvia Silberstein Neonatal & Maternity Center" wing of the hospital. As soon as you step off the elevator and enter this state of the art birthing center you see a large portrait of the wing's benefactors; William & Sylvia Silberstein. Now why do you suppose this wing of the hospital was named after the Silberstein's and why was there a large portrait of them hanging in the lobby?

 

Could it be that they donated a little money towards the construction and outfitting of the birthing center? I would say so. It's obvious that they were major donors to getting the wing built thus the wing bears their name. See what happens when you first help

yourself in life? And the more you help yourself in life, the better you'll be able to touch a lot of lives in a really great way.

 

My example of donating millions to build a hospital wing is a bit extreme I'll admit. But just think of how you can impact the lives of others on a smaller scale when you've first helped yourself. Think about the toys, clothing and shoes you could donate to an orphanage. Or the sports equipment you'd be able to provide to your local youth center.

 

You're reading this book which is proof that you have the desire to be more and to do more. And, hopefully that means that you also have the desire to give more. The more you got the more you can give.

 

Remember in the prologue I made a point of saying that money will make you more of what you already are? I wrote that statement into the prologue with this chapter in mind. For me, the most significant aspect of becoming wealthy in life is the ability to give back.

 

And now, more so today than ever before, you have an obligation to become more successful and wealthier than you are. Your favorite charity or charities are counting on you to do so.

 

9 – Believe In Yourself

 

Having a firm, committed belief in yourself is the foundation of achieving everything you aspire to in life. Think about it, when you have a can-do attitude you’re giving yourself the power and energy to accomplish anything.

 

Are you a news junky? Do you make a habit of watching the evening news on television or perhaps reading newspapers on a daily basis? I'll admit that up until a few years ago I was a news junky. Then one day I just quit cold turkey; I cancelled both of my  newspaper subscriptions and have sworn off watching TV news coverage.

 

I just couldn’t take all of the negativity anymore. If the major story wasn’t about some senseless crime it was about how our economy and banking system is in ruins. Every day; day after day after day. Enough is enough already – repeated bad news will do nothing but weigh you down like a boat anchor.

 

And let's face it, the main stream media thrives on reporting bad news.

 

Before you might even realize it, exposing yourself to bad news day in and day out can do some pretty bad damage to the psyche. Everything you hear and experience is stored away in your subconscious mind and I mean everything. I'm no scholar on this subject but I have read enough from many credible sources

to know that it's true.

 

So it stands to reason that the more you expose yourself to stories about senseless crimes and violence, the souring economy and general doom and gloom you're doing yourself a world of hurt. What could eventually happen is you’ll start to fall victim to the negativity without even realizing it.

 

And if that ever does happen; look out. You see, victimhood is a very, very dangerous place to be. Anybody who allows themselves to be the victim of outside influences (such as bad news) is on a slippery slope to a lot of disappointment – don’t let this happen to you.

 

Here’s the deal – all you've ever needed and will ever need to succeed is already inside of you. What you’d need to do to bring out your greatness is believe in yourself and NOT let outside influences get in the way. This may sound simplistic but it is the absolute truth. Having a firm, committed belief in yourself is the foundation of achieving everything you aspire to in life. Think about it, when you have a can-do attitude you’re giving yourself the power and energy to accomplish anything. The “how to” will always appear to the person who believes that “they can do”.

 

One of the greatest challenges you'll ever confront in life is yourself. How you see yourself and what you believe about yourself comes from your subconscious. Your brain is extraordinarily powerful. Like a computer, it can be easily programmed. Your mind will perform based on the instruction it receives; good or bad, negative or positive it doesn't care. Therefore, you have to give top priority to what you let your mind absorb.

Whatever you let into your mind is where your beliefs about yourself and the world around you will come from.

 

It really makes no difference what beliefs you may’ve formed for yourself. Your beliefs are what you will act on whether they are true or false. If you doubt your abilities, you’re defeating yourself before you’ve even begun. When you doubt your abilities your mind will attract circumstances to support your beliefs and eventually, you will fail.

 

Next thing you know you'll be telling yourself, "you see, I knew this was gonna happen. I knew that I was foolish for even attempting this". That, my friend, really is how powerful your beliefs are.

 

Believe in yourself, have no doubts about your abilities and DO NOT let outside influences control you.

 

Unfortunately, many people go through life being envious of other people’s success thinking that it’s out of reach for them. The really sad part is how they don’t even realize that they’re sabotaging themselves with such an attitude. A big part of this self-defeating behavior comes from your past.

 

So what if you were cut from the high school team that you really wanted to be a part of? Michael Jordan was – literally – cut from his high school basketball team. Did that stop him from becoming one of the NBA’s all time greats?

 

Robert Kiyosaki, America’s rich dad, has stated that he’d always struggled with the subject of literature throughout his schooling. But, he has never let that stop him from becoming one of today’s most widely read authors. His Rich Dad franchise is one of the most popular book series in the history of publishing. Today, Kiyosaki jokes that he is a bestselling author, not a best writing author.

 

As a matter of fact, the deficiencies that may have prevented you from achieving certain things in the past are the very tools that you can use today to make yourself the best you’re capable of today. Both Michael Jordan and Robert Kiyosaki used early rejection from outside influences as fuel to propel themselves to great heights.

 

The desire to prove people wrong, to shut them up when they tell you that you won't be able to do "it" and to stop wasting your time, is a very powerful motivator.

 

Obviously, believing in yourself that you can accomplish whatever it is you put your mind to is the first step. Regardless of how great a belief you have in yourself you'll still be confronted with many struggles along the way. But, through persistence and a committed belief in yourself those struggles will become nothing more than nuisances.

 

Starting today, do yourself a huge favor by not allowing your past to dictate your present or future. Appreciate yourself as the unique individual you are and believe in your capabilities to accomplish anything you dare to dream of.

 

And here’s the really fun part – you can adopt whatever beliefs you choose. Only you and you alone can adopt specific beliefs about yourself and about your circumstances and surroundings. Once you realize this, it will become very empowering for you.

 

Finally, change is rarely easy. Changing a lifetime of beliefs you hold of yourself is not an easy undertaking. Yes, at times it will take a great deal of work and discipline but in the end it is always, always worth it.

 

I’d like to conclude with this killer thought: you can spend your time and spend your life anyway you choose, however, you can spend them both only once. DO NOT waste your time mired in the past. Rather, spend it learning from your past and use that learning to build a better tomorrow. You owe it to yourself and you are worth it!

 

10 – Caustic Brain Farts

 

We know so much more today about the human psyche and the way in which the subconscious mind works than we did only a few decades ago. We now know that what we pick up from the day we're born – either good or bad – will stay with us for life.

 

My son Daniel is 3 years old. Ever since he was a newborn I would talk with him about the topic of money. I don't think I'm unique there. I would think that many parents discuss the topic of money with their children. Maybe where I am a bit unique is I'd started these conversations with him from the day he was born.

 

I tell my son that the accumulation of wealth is a noble pursuit. I want him to know that it's OK, no, that it's more than OK, it's great in fact, to be wealthy. I do not want him to grow up with a mindset counterproductive to being successful and wealthy.

 

I think a big part of the problem with my generation and generations before mine are that we've grown up hearing phrases and statements counterproductive to success. These statements are what I like to refer to as caustic brain farts.

 

As an example, have you ever heard the statement "we may be poor but at least we're honest"? That is a classic caustic brain fart. If you've grown up hearing that kind of stuff then your subconscious is telling you wealth equals dishonesty. If you have that kind of crap lurking around in your subconscious then it's got to be identified and purged if you ever hope to become successful. Like I said earlier, money will only make you more of what you already are.

 

If you're dishonest by nature, having money will help you to be more dishonest. Remember, money is neutral – it doesn't care who you are and what you do with it. But, make no mistake about it, money alone will not automatically make a person dishonest and by no means is dishonesty a prerequisite to becoming wealthy.

 

We know so much more today about the human psyche and the way in which the subconscious mind works than we did only a few decades ago. We now know that what we pick up from the day we're born – either good or bad – will stay with us for life. Research suggests that we are most receptive to the messages we receive from the ages of 0 – 5.

 

Frequently, becoming successful in adulthood requires us to reconcile counterproductive messages from the past.

 

In a nutshell, when we're born and as we grow, we look at our parents, teachers and adults in general as trusted figures. We believe everything they say to us. As a growing child your parents can tell you that the color of a banana is red and you'd believe it. You'd have to; you don't know any