Do You Sincerely Want to be Rich?
You Must Have a Plan
“To Make Serious Money, You Must Know What
You Want and Have a Plan for Achieving it.”
There is a well-known yet powerful method of achieving
everything you want in life. It only takes five minutes. Anyone can do
it but hardly anyone does. Imagine - something you can do in just five
minutes which can send your income through the roof, improve your
relationships and power-boost your life towards total success.
Wouldn't you want to do that right away?
I'm talking about the time-honoured technique of goal-setting.
It has been proved beyond reasonable doubt that people who set
written goals lead richer, happier, more fulfilling lives than people
who merely drift through life, rudderless.
Now if you're yawning and thinking “seen it, done it” I challenge
you to go right this moment and fetch your own list of goals. If you
are able to do this, it marks you out as very special. If you cannot go
and get your goal list, right this second, may I suggest you stifle that
yawn and take a few minutes to do this exercise?
The great motivator Brian Tracy is fond of recounting how often
people come up to him and say something like this: "Brian, a year ago
I attended your seminar and you got us to do that goal exercise. Well,
I did it, but only because you said so. When I got home, I put that
piece of paper in a drawer and forgot about it completely. I found it a
couple of weeks ago and you know what? Six out of ten of those
goals had been achieved by me without my even remembering I had
set them!"
Now since this is so easy why do so few people do it?
Why People Don't Write Goals
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For a person wilfully to miss out on the staggering advantages of
setting goals, there must be a psychological block somewhere. I
believe the block is the subconscious realisation that every goal has
an associated price tag - that it doesn't come free. It doesn't “flow
freely from the wondrous bounty of the universe.” There is a price to
pay in order to achieve each goal. This knowledge evokes fear which
triggers inertia and this stops you from taking this important first step.
Of course most people realise this subconsciously, and after a
decade of research, I now believe that I have isolated the main reason
why people do not set goals.
It is not ignorance. Everybody now knows the importance of
setting goals. Thirty years ago, this was a startling new idea. No
longer. Goal setting is a powerful and proven tool for success in any
field of endeavour. Everybody knows this, but still they don't do it.
Why?
It can't be the difficulty of the task. Writing out ten goals is not a
particularly arduous job - in fact it is quite enjoyable and only takes
about twenty minutes. And yet 98% of people never write a goal in
their entire lives, even though the task of writing out your goals is so
easy and the rewards so obvious.
It isn't even the difficulty of pondering what it is you ultimately
want out of life - just ease yourself in with some simple goals, say to
move up to the next biggest house and to earn an extra ten thousand
pounds this year. Leave complex life-goals ("Who am I? What's it all
about? Why am I here?”) until you are happier with the whole goal-
setting process.
No, there must be something else, and I think I have identified it.
To set yourself a goal means to set yourself up for change. Any
goal that you can think of, large or small, basically reduces to the
statement: "I hereby promise to change in the following way..." We
all fear change - it is the unknown. Fear stops us dead in our tracks.
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Above everything else, a goal is a written contract with yourself to
do something. To achieve even the smallest goal requires discipline,
work, and focus; all three in some measure.
How do you think people react when faced with a contract
containing the words 'discipline,' 'work' and 'focus'? Why, they break
out into a cold sweat. Their hands tremble and seem unable to grasp
the pen. They go to sign, then draw back, then go to sign again.
Suddenly, they feel faint. The pen slips from their numbed hand and
clatters to the floor. They'll sign that contract one-day real soon now -
perhaps tomorrow...
I believe this is why people don't set goals.
Something For Nothing
The people who do not set goals still want all of the rewards and
goodies which would have come their way had they set goals and
applied the discipline, work and focus. They want all of these things,
but they want them for free. They seek to short circuit reality, and this
attitude leaves them vulnerable to the happy-clappy, "you can have it
all" seminar snake-oil artist.
The packaging varies, but the message is essentially the same:
"The universe has an infinite store of wealth, bounty and benevolence
- there is more than enough for all. Just tune your mind into the
pulsating rhythm of the universe using the following method (tape set
£49.95, book £29.95, course £199.70) and claim your share of this
infinite bounty."
People love this message. They sign up for it in their millions in
one form or another. They think: "Why bother to sign that stuffy old
contract with all those tedious ‘work, discipline and focus’ clauses? I
could have it all for free merely by tuning in to the bounty of the
universe!"
And so a few more irreplaceable years slip by. They buy the
books; their collection of boxed tape-sets grows. Yet strangely, they
remain as broke and powerless as ever. How odd! Seems like the
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Do You Sincerely Want to be Rich?
‘mystic bounty of the universe show’ is on 104.3MHz FM, and their
brain is tuned to BBC Radio 4 - long wave! "Hmm - perhaps another
seminar will help me re-tune my cosmic receiver..."
I cannot resist telling you a little true story which illustrates this
perfectly. A couple of years ago I wrote a booklet entitled “How to
Double Your Way to a Million Pounds Starting From Nothing.”
You've probably seen this, but basically it's a bit of fun with a serious
message. The first step is to find a penny in the street. Then, you go
through a process of just 28 steps, doubling your money each time,
2p, 4p, 8p, 16p and so on.
Surprisingly, if you were able to do this just 28 times, you would
end up with well over one million pounds! I take out adverts in the
press which describe this system and offers my booklet for free. It
really is free, and you don't even pay the postage to send me your
request because we use Freepost. Recently we had a customer on the
telephone shouting and raving. He was going to take us to Trading
Standards. He was going to get a crowd of mates together and
personally pay us a visit. He called us a bunch of conning b***s and
he was going to get us, whatever it took. The reason? He had received
my free booklet (which cost him not one single penny) and he had
had it for one week but still not received a million pounds from out of
thin air.
This man, who seemed sane by the way, was virtually incoherent
with rage; he was screaming and swearing, shouting and threatening. I
thought this was an extremely good example of the hopeless
irrationality exhibited by many people.
So if you do nothing else, please deprogram yourself from the
erroneous belief that goodies will 'flow' to you if you only concentrate
hard enough. That's not how our universe works and authors who
produce books and tapes implying that this is so, are doing people a
great disservice.
Writing a few goals is not a difficult exercise - each one only takes
a few moments - but the point is you actually have to do the exercise
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in order to receive the benefits. Simply reading the exercises is not
enough.
The rewards of life come to those who do, not to those who merely
read, talk or day dream. Action is the key.
Now, with your permission, I would like to ask you a simple
question: "Thinking back over the last twelve months, did you achieve
all you set out to achieve?"
This is a ‘yes or no’ answer, so don't spend too long considering it.
The answer, of course, is 'no' - unless you are a pathological liar!
Next question: "Did you set out to achieve anything in that
period?"
Aha! Now that's a more interesting question I think.
Deciding at the start of a year that you want to achieve a certain
result by the end of that year, is another example of goal-setting.
High-performance people set goals. Winners set goals. Losers
never set goals. Why? Because it takes about twenty minutes of
concentrated effort to write down your goals, and people have far
more important things to do than this. It interferes with valuable
drinking and socialising time, for example. Such a task would take up
nearly a whole episode of a soap opera. You could read a tabloid
newspaper from cover to cover in this time.
But there is a more important reason why many people don't write
goals as I have intimated already. Writing goals commits you to
action, otherwise there is little point in writing them.
Turning your dreams (goals) into reality will not happen
automatically. It will require work and effort.
"Ohmygod! WORK, and EFFORT? Forget it! I'm not writing down
anything on a piece of paper which will commit me to that!"
This is why people do not set goals (write down their dreams).
They cannot bear to have that piece of paper leering at them in silent
accusation as the months and years tick by.
But what is at stake here? Nothing less than a solvent, even
wealthy, lifestyle, improved happiness, and a fulfilled life.
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Perhaps more importantly, you can meet your fear head on and live
like a warrior, not a frightened rabbit.
Why Are We All So Afraid?
The older I get the more I wonder what it is we're all so afraid of.
Like you, I travel the world and see or hear about real problems;
murder, torture, death, disease and starvation. Then I return to this
grey, stuffy country to witness intelligent and privileged people
wasting their lives down the pub or propped in front of the TV screen
for, on average, four hours each night.
Many people are also timid and completely risk-averse. Their
quest for safety comes way above their desire for pushing the
boundaries and living a powerful life.
Achieving great wealth and happiness starts with having a dream.
Today's dreams are surely tomorrow's realities.
No matter how far down you are at the moment, I promise that you
can make a greater success of your life from here on in. Not only have
I done this myself but in the past ten years I have helped thousands of
people to improve their lives. These are people similar to you. People
who were sick of the poverty and mediocrity of their lives, just like I
was twenty years ago when a small book changed my life forever.
It’s a famous book called: The Lazy Man’s Way To Riches by Joe
Karbo. Cheesy title and Joe is long dead, but that was the very first
exposure I ever had to the ideas of positive thinking, motivation and
goal-setting. The book was sold mail-order at £10. Like millions of
people I thought: “Yeah, I know how he got rich - by taking £10 off
mugs like me!” To this day, I receive about one hundred letters each
year which say the same thing about the advert for my own book The
Midas Method.
Anyway, I thought “what the heck” and decided to give it a shot.
(Note: Investing in myself). To my surprise, the book arrived and I
remember the thrill with which I opened it. The book was dynamite!
It talked about goal-setting and motivation. I had never heard such
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concepts. It talked about the magic power of goal setting and how it
worked. I was highly sceptical, but decided to try (Note: You need
flexibility. You must be willing to try something different, even if you
‘know’ it’s rubbish.)
I set my first six goals. One of which was to have a net worth of
£250,000 one day. Note this goal. At the time (and I can recall it
vividly) this was an impossible, fantasy level of money and I didn’t
believe for one microsecond that I would ever achieve this. I was
about £20,000 in debt on a salary of £6,000/year. But the book said to
set high goals, so I chose a ‘ludicrous’ amount of money. (Note: False
ceilings keep your aspirations low. What a low goal to set, whilst
thinking it was an impossibly high goal!)
Something changed that day. Imperceptibly. No flashing lights and
blaring trumpets. Just a small shift in gear and a tiny angle-change in
aiming point. I was not even aware of the change, but looking back I
can say categorically that writing my first set of goals was the turning
point. If I had not done that, I am totally convinced that I would have
remained a studio engineer at the BBC, or similar.
Instead, I decided to fight. Are you prepared to fight?
Writing Your Goals
Within the next hour, you are going to get out of the chair and
write yourself a fistful of goals. Here's how:
On a single side of plain, A4 paper, write a list of ten things you
would like to achieve in your life; five long term, five short term.
The first goal should be something which you cannot complete in
your lifetime. This makes you think carefully. It makes you realise
what is important to you, and why you are here. The long-range goals
stop you being frustrated by short-term setbacks.
You might be very surprised at what you write for this goal - it
might have nothing to do with your present life.
As an example, if you are a writer, your goal might read: “One
day, every educated adult on the planet will have heard the name
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Do You Sincerely Want to be Rich?
Stuart Goldsmith, and have some idea about his philosophy." By the
way, that isn't one of my goals because I am not out to save the world
- just you, you miserable sinner! But it is a good example of
something that would transcend my lifetime.
The next goal should state an exact amount of money which you
will one day have. Again, this is a lifetime goal and should not carry a
date. Example: "One day I will have a net worth of ten million
pounds." This goal quantifies your dreams of wealth and sets an
ultimate target. But before you write this particular goal, spend a few
moments considering if you are willing to pay the price. Don't want to
pay the price? - then don't write such a grand goal. I’ll discuss more
about paying the price in a later chapter.
After you have finished writing your list, I want you to look at
your 'money' goal and answer the question: "What one thing can I do
right now, today, which will take me a step closer to this goal?" It
could be a simple thing like a telephone call, but write it down as your
eleventh goal: "By the end of today I will have................. which will
advance me one step closer to my financial dream."
The rest of the sheet is for eight specific time-dated goals. For
example: "By January 1st 2003, I will have moved into a four-
bedroom, detached house in large grounds."
Goal-Setting Tip #1
Do not get bogged down in worrying about if goals should be in
the past tense or future tense; or if they should be written at midnight
or midday. The bottom line is that none of this matters nearly as much
as actually writing them!
Goal-Setting Tip #2
Do not write a goal in the hope that you will attain it by mystical
methods; that somehow the ‘bountiful universe’ will cause this money
to ‘flow’ to you. It won't. That stuff is for dreamers. To make your
goals come true requires action on your part.
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Goal-Setting Tip #3
Buy yourself one of those natty little credit card wallets at some
point in the near future. They are small leather wallets with individual
clear plastic pockets designed to hold about ten credit cards. Write out
your goals onto credit-card sized pieces of white card. You should
keep the cards in this wallet and carry them with you always.
Normally, goals are written on a sheet of paper - fine if you live
alone; you can leave it lying around to remind you of your goals. But
if you have a family, or people coming to visit you regularly, then you
don't want these people to see your private dreams. So what happens
is that you put the piece of paper away in the drawer - and there it
stays for several months! I really like this card idea because it means
that you always have your goals with you, and they remain private.
Goal-Setting Tip #4
Before writing a big life-goal, do a double check to see if you can
uncover the underlying need. It would be a great shame to spend your
life pursuing a grandiose long-term goal when in reality this just
stands as a symbol for an underlying need - a need which could
perhaps be filled far more easily.
How Many Goals?
Remember: Ten things only.
I could have made this a list of fifty or even a hundred items, but
this would take an hour or so to complete, and I know from
experience that this would result in most people not even starting the
job. So, ten things only.
Could I suggest that some of the items are fairly major projects? I
would like to make a further suggestion. These projects should take
you a little further down the path of where you want to be in life.
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As an example, imagine that you have always fantasised about
being a rich and famous author. A suitable goal might be: "Complete
outline and first chapter of novel."
Compare this with a task which would probably take longer to
achieve, but would not move you one inch closer to your life's dream,
e.g. "Completely re-landscape garden and plant ornamental trees and
shrubs." Although a useful job, unless your aim in life is to become a
renowned landscape gardener, I think you will agree that this task
does not move you closer to where you want to be in life.
Here's another example. Let us assume that you have always
wanted to become a millionaire "one day," and that you fancy your
chances in direct mail publishing. One of your goals might read:
"Spend one day coming up with ten exciting mail-order business
ideas, write each idea down on half a sheet of A4 paper, and rate them
1-10."
Now that goal will move you closer to your dreams of becoming
wealthy, whereas this goal does not: "Take a week off work and
spend it reading up on Greek mythology." Assuming, of course, that
this is an interest of yours. Notice that this goal also consumes seven
days instead of one but does not advance you closer to your
dreams.The point here is that if you are only going to set ten goals,
then make some of them goals which will move you toward your
dreams, as we discussed in the last chapter.
But what are your dreams?
Before you can successfully write goals, you need to have a dream.
You cannot make your dreams come true if you don't have any
dreams! This sounds obvious, but only a tiny percentage of people
can name their dreams: one, two, three on request - and these are the
people who will eventually achieve them.
I have deliberately presented this important topic of goal-setting in
reverse order to make you think about it.
Effectively I have asked: "Did you achieve your goals last year?"
Followed by: " Did you set any goals last year?" Then I suggested that
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you set ten life-changing goals and finally I asked you to consider