Decisive Action
“Serious People Actually DO Something; Non-
Serious People Talk About Doing Something or
Plan to do Something One Day”
If you want to be wealthy, you must take action.
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Action really is the key. You can have the best ideas in the world
or be the most talented person on the planet, yet still if you do not
take action you will remain poor. A half-wit who actually does
something will beat an inactive genius, hands down.
You need to take action, but most people cannot master this one -
it is far too hard for them.
We live in a physical world which has a tendency to decay into a
random warm soup of molecules. This is entropy at work. Only
energy, such as that supplied by living creatures, can reverse this
process and build structures. Food, clothing, shelter, 'toys' - all require
energy to make them exist. All require human action.
Without energy, all is dust and decay.
Thinking is not enough. To complete the equation, you must also
act. You must do something.
Here is the startling two-step secret of success:
1. Think.
2. Act.
Most people do neither - in a concerted, meaningful way, I mean.
Some act without thinking. No good. Some think and never act. No
good. The winners, the rich, the successful all think first, which
usually means coming up with a creative solution to a human need,
and then they put that idea into a tangible program of action. This is
what you must do if you wish to join them.
Do you find this daunting? That's okay, there's no shame in this,
but please, do yourself and everyone else a favour and stop talking
and thinking about 'one day' becoming wealthy. This is a delusion
because you are not prepared to pay the price we discussed in the last
chapter. The price is thought followed by action, so if you want to
become wealthy, then start now today. You've written your goals,
now ask yourself what actual steps you can do, right now, today, to
move you closer towards your dream.
Would you like to know two ways of getting rich apart from luck
or crime? Remember, I'm talking here about getting rich, and not
making a living. Anyone can make a living. Getting rich is far harder.
To become a wealthy man or woman, you must come up with an
original, creative idea for a product or service which you believe the
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public will want to buy from you. Then you must put in the hours to
research and test this idea. If it looks no good, you must create
another idea until you find a winner. The second way is to locate a
hot, fresh idea which is working somewhere right now (say in another
country) and then to recreate the idea in your own territory, obviously
without plagiarising somebody else’s work. E.g. if you hear that a
new premium rate telephone line on Irritable Bowel Syndrome is
taking 19,000 calls a day in the USA, this is an idea you could
immediately pick up and run with in the UK. In other words, you wait
for someone else to find a winner, then jump quickly onto the
bandwagon.
When you have found a winner, then you must pursue your idea
and dream with passion, and not some wimpish and feeble 'attempt.'
This is called 'paying the price.' The price is action and sometimes a
little money. If you are broke, then you must chose an idea which
doesn't take a lot of money.
If you don't feel passionate about your idea, then it's not for you.
How do you think you're going to succeed at something you feel
lukewarm about? What will drag you out of bed on those cold winter
mornings? What will give you the courage to face those waves of
problems we discussed? What will keep you fighting on when all
about you is turning to ashes and you are filled with hopeless despair?
Your lukewarm desire to 'have a go'? I don't think so!
An idea without action is almost worthless. So I would not try to
go down the route of thinking up 'inventions' which you can sell to
Black and Decker, etc. Only very rarely do such ideas get taken up,
and even then you would not make a fortune. Instead, your idea
should be one that you can operate and reap the rewards from. The
more original the better, otherwise you are just picking over the bones
of somebody else's idea, and you will not become wealthy.
Even when you jump onto a new bandwagon, you still need
creative energy to transform that idea into something which will work
in your area. There is little money to be made when you are tenth out
of fifty in the marketplace, with nothing to distinguish your product or
service from that of your competitors.
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When I tell people this stark truth during consultations, they often
complain: "I don't have any ideas." "What can I do? I'm not really
sure." "I've tried for ages to think of something, but I just come up
with a blank." "Help me! Have you got any original ideas you don't
want and which you can pass on to me?"
I know it's hard to be in this position - remember I was there too.
Yes, it seems difficult; impossible sometimes, but this is what will
mark you out as a winner if you can pass this initiation test.
Please let me be absolutely clear on this and give you the stark
truth if you are also tempted to complain about not having any ideas.
You're not creative? You've never had an original thought in your
life? You've tried a couple of times to think of something new, but
given up? Well I have some very bad news for you. You will never be
wealthy unless you win the lottery or get lucky in some other way.
You will always be poor, struggling along with the masses, scarcely
able to pay your way and probably in debt until the day you die. At
the very best you will eke-out survival in a paid job, or rake over the
dead ashes of somebody else's dream, hoping to raise the Phoenix, but
the bird will have long since flown away.
I am sorry if I sound a little harsh, but I believe quite strongly that
you would rather have the truth from me, bitter though it is, than to be
fed more lies and distortions.
Reminder: These comments only apply to getting rich. It's okay
not to want to be rich - really, it is - in which case this doesn't apply.
Wealth belongs to creative people alone. There is only one way to
get honestly wealthy. Persuade lots and lots of people to give you
their money. You can either do this at the point of a gun (dishonest),
or you can offer them something which makes them give it to you
voluntarily - to trade with you.
Now if you cannot muster the energy to come up with your own
idea, or you think that you are 'not creative,' then guess what? - you
pick up somebody else's fifth-hand idea and try to run that. Guess
what again? Only a few people hand you their money, the rest trade
with the hundreds of others who are all trying to run the same idea
and you don't get rich! You just about make a living. This is not what
you want, I hope.
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Now if you take action and create something original and new,
suddenly you're the only supplier. Thousands or millions of people
flock to willingly exchange their money for your product or service
and you become wealthy. More importantly, you become guiltlessly
wealthy - you earned it through your creative endeavours.
We Are All Creative
Finally, everyone is creative. "I'm not creative" is often an excuse.
If we are honest, it often means: "I'm lazy and can't be bothered to put
in the hard work which I know this creative effort will cost me."
Right? Remember I'm saying all of this for a very good reason, and
that reason is not to attack you. I either want you to wake up, finally,
to the fact that you are not prepared to do what it takes to get rich, or I
want to jolt you into action so that you make a start towards your
dream. That is my only motive and I'm sorry if sometimes what I say
seems a little hard on you.
So let me make myself very clear. If you are not interested in
becoming wealthy, then that's okay. There's nothing wrong with that,
and none of these comments apply to you. I'm being sincere now
when I say there's absolutely nothing wrong with earning a living,
raising a family and doing all that other good stuff - or even sitting on
a Zen mat all day meditating. Whatever makes you happy and
fulfilled is fine because it's your life and your happiness we are
talking about.
But if you have ever wanted to be rich or if you aspire to great
wealth one day, then please listen closely to the message in this
chapter. In fact read it again and again.
Above all, please wake up and stop dreaming. Ignore 'get rich
quick' schemes and the like. Forget other people's 'off the shelf' ideas.
Take action. Start doing something now, today to move you an inch
closer to your dream. Not tomorrow - that's too late. If you can't work
until midnight tonight to make a start on turning your dream into a
reality, then the year will engulf you. It will be business as usual. The
same old dull routine. Last year replayed.
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I really do want you to succeed because I know how sweet is the
taste of success. You will love it. So go for it and start taking decisive
action.
This Might do the Trick
If you need a little guiding shove, I'm going to use the well known
tactic of fear to see if I can initiate some action.
Let me remind you of something scary - this could be you.
Over 65% of people remain poor throughout their entire lives; they
retire penniless or in debt and they die broke and embarrassed. That
is, after a lifetime of hard slog, usually in a job they detest, they
manage to accumulate... nothing. They are able to leave...nothing.
Their entire assets amount to...nothing. There are a few cheap sticks
of furniture, some photographs, a heap of rubbish in the loft and that's
it. The whole lot would fit into a large skip - but generally it's just
tossed onto a bonfire by 'house clearance specialists.' A quick coat of
emulsion, and the house is ready for the next person - all trace of the
previous occupant having been eradicated. It wasn't hard. There was
little to eradicate.
A few people attend the funeral - mostly people press-ganged by
the immediate family into coming to swell the numbers. A few years
later only a handful of people remember anything about the deceased.
A funny story (from thirty years ago, usually) a brief recollection; a
fleeting image triggered by a place or a melody.
Soon, there is nobody left who remembers; there is only a name on
a cheap plaque in the 'garden of remembrance.' The person fades into
obscurity to join the teeming billions of others who were born, lived,
reproduced and died. They did not push mankind forward one iota.
They left the planet just slightly worse than they found it due to the
resources they consumed but otherwise, the entire effect of their lives
was...zero.
Why am I telling you this depressing story? Because I don't want
you to become one of these faceless billions. You are special. The
horrifying truth is that each one of those 'faceless' billions was special
too, they just did not realise it or do anything about it during their
lifetime.
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In the past perhaps there was some excuse. Opportunities were
harder to come by. People were born into poverty and negativity.
They were not exposed to motivational materials: society, religion
and family conspired to keep them locked into servitude. They
worked down at the mill and married the girl or boy next door.
Resistance was useless. Escape was almost impossible.
But you don't have this excuse. You live in the most startling,
incredible decade in the entire history of the human race - and that is
not even close to an exaggeration, it is an obvious fact. There are
more opportunities, more wealth-generation potential, more chances
than at any previous time since the dawn of man. That too, is a plain
fact. If you can't make it in this climate, in this country, in this decade
then I can absolutely guarantee that you will stay in, or join the 65% -
broke and embarrassed.
Believe me, you don't want to be retired and broke in the coming
years - it will not be fun. You are not going to get a state pension
worth having - not that it ever was worth having. If you do not start to
take action, you will be left behind. Within twenty years, the number
of retired people will far outstrip society's ability to care for them -
financially or medically. If you are over forty, then THIS MEANS
YOU! If you are under forty, prepare to be taxed even harder to
support the insupportable.
So how do you get started? What is the way forward?
Here are some guiding lights to help you on the path:
Ten Tips To Making a Million
I prefer being rich to poor, and I've tried both. I used to think that
being a millionaire was for other people - for me it seemed just a
ridiculous dream. I'm telling you this to show you that I've been
exactly where you are right now. I am merely further up the mountain
path than you. I am not unchaseable, indeed I invite you to overtake
me! Come on up, the air is cleaner and fresher here, I can promise you
that. My ten tips for making a lot of money are as follows:
1. Do something. That's what this chapter is all about. Don't sit
around any longer. Forget TV, forget the pub; start taking action to
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improve your life, even if it is just that first, small step. I judge people
by what they do rather than what they say.
2. Be rationally selfish. Take 'good for me' decisions. You don't owe
anything to anyone apart from your kids. They need love, consistency
and honesty. They don't need Adidas trainers and Nintendo games
machines. When you live your life trying to take 'good for others'
decisions, you are playing God and trying to second-guess other
people's lives. This is arrogant.
3. Stop believing in something for nothing. This one tip can save you
thousands of pounds and a lot of lost time. There is no such thing as
something for nothing. Ditch all of those 'business opportunities'
which come your way. 99% of them are scams operated by small
minded people of limited vision trying to cheat their way to a fortune.
They are relying upon your laziness and gullibility. Don't support
them, and above all, don't join them. The financial loss is minimal,
but the loss of time and momentum is far more serious.
4. You should have one burning question which you must answer as
soon as possible: "What honest value can I create which others will
voluntarily buy from me time and time again in order that I might
become guiltlessly wealthy?"
Only you can answer this question and you must work at it rather
than expecting the answer for nothing. Nobody is going to hand you a
wonderful, magic pre-packaged business on a plate. It's obvious why.
If you had some superb practical 'make a million' business, would you
operate it yourself and make a million, or sell a 30-page 'how to'
manual for £24.95 to a few hundred punters via an advert in
Exchange and Mart?
5. When you create values you become wealthy. When you trade
equal values you merely survive. There is nothing wrong with
survival. Most people do only this. But make sure you have
consciously selected this option, and not chosen it by default out of
laziness or fear.
Most businesses merely allow you to trade values - "You watch
my sheep and I'll mend your roof" - and so you will not become
wealthy by operating one of the 10,000 or so businesses you might
think about getting involved in. For example, "I'll cook fish and chips
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if you repair my car." At best, you will do slightly better than average
due to the division of labour and your superior bartering skills, but
you will never make a million.
To become wealthy you must create new values which didn't exist
before and then run with your idea until the copycats grab your idea
and rake over the bones of your fortune. Then you have another, new
idea which creates more unique values and you run with that... These
ideas do not have to be earth-shattering; many are just small creative
twists on an existing idea.
Most small businesses don't create new values, they merely trade
existing values. This is the main reason the proprietors never get
wealthy.
6. Remember that honest wealth is not gained at the expense of
others. In other words, contrary to socialist doctrine, other people do
not become poorer as you become richer (but this is how looters
operate). By trading with you, they should become a little richer
whilst you become a lot richer. Evaluate all business ideas by this
standard: "Does this business allow me to trade with others whilst
enriching their lives, or am I trying to scam, con, cheat and lie my
way to wealth? Am I using smoke and mirrors to pretend there is a
benefit to my customers, when no such benefit really exists?"
7. Anything can be justified by the clever human brain. Robbery can
be justified: "It's not fair that some people have so much money, I'm
just redistributing wealth. In a fairer society I wouldn't have to do
this." Cheating can be justified: "I'm giving people the expensive
education they need in gullibility. I am helping them to become less
gullible." Even murder can be justified: "We're all going to be dead
soon anyway, so what's the difference?" In view of this ability to
justify and evil-doing, you need to keep your business clean and make
sure it follows your own impeccable standards.
8. Make yourself wealthy - don't have as your motivation the desire
to make others wealthy or to improve their lot. This will not work
unless you are being conned, by religion for example. The feeling of
being a good little boy or girl is not enough to sustain you through the
difficult task ahead (making yourself rich). Operating in the way I
have described (by creating values which others will want from you)
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will both make you wealthy and improve the living standards of those
around you. Everyone is a winner. But if you have altruism as your
doctrine - the idea that you are a sacrificial animal only fit for
consumption by others - then you will live a powerless, unfulfilled
life as a slave or an interfering, do-gooder busybody. When you have
filled your own needs, then you become powerful enough to help
others, if this gives you pleasure.
9. Don't listen to broke people. They know nothing about money. If
they were merely neutral, it wouldn't matter, but they are not. Your
friends, your family, society, the media and the government all want
you broken back down to drone status, no matter what they say or
how much they protest to the contrary. There is one person you can
really trust on this wild adventure and that is you. You doubt this? See
what happens when you start making a bit of money and buy a new
house or car. This is a general rule about people - there are, of course,
exceptional people out there, like you, who will support you. They are
a rare breed so cherish them.
10. You must be prepared to pay the price, whatever it is, for
becoming wealthy. There is always a price. You can't get rich for
nothing. Most often the price is hard work, tenacity, guts,
determination and effort. Little more is needed to succeed in our
society because so few people have these characteristics. The rewards
are unlimited wealth, guiltless affluence, freedom from stress, power
and the feeling of leading a meaningful worthwhile life. The last of
these is the most important, and no lottery win can buy you that
feeling. It comes only from creating lasting worthwhile values which
enrich the lives of your fellow human beings.
Right Here, Right Now
It is time, right now, to snap out of it and get your sleeves rolled
up. The excuses are over.