Schedule, Week 1

Week 1:

Think and Grow Rich, chapter 1.

The 15 Invaluable Laws of Growth, chapter 1

Heaven's Wealth Food, disc 1

Listen to these at least 3 times.

During the first week, it can be complicated to listen to the same thing over and over again.  Think of this as training mental discipline.  Discipline is doing the right thing when no one is watching.  It's easy to not do what you should be doing.  Growth is hard.  But it is worth every minute.  Continue listening, despite the mental fatigue.  

Work book: From John Maxwell

1) Which gap is the one that keeps you from growing the way you should have.

2) Rework your calendar to fit growth into the schedule 5 days a week, fifty weeks a year.  

Discuss what you did to make this fit.

the passenger

It's been almost 10 years since I was last in Iraq.  I've got to wait until March 2017 for that time line to pass.  It's taken me that long to understand a few things.   Probably the wrong things.

Such as: why was I so willing to die for my country?  Why was I not willing to put the effort in to to my own interests?

I guess this is the conclusion I came to.

Regardless of who you are, you are going somewhere.  You can easily think of it as a car ride.

The question is simple.  Are you driving the car, or are you riding?

It doesn't matter which you are doing.  You are going to end up somewhere.  Would you rather that be a place you decided.  Or would you rather it be a place someone else decided?

The interesting part of the equation is regardless of what you want to do, you are still going.  The car is still driving.  You can be in denial about that all you want.  But it's still going somewhere.  If you have children, think of yourself in the back yelling how you don't want to go to school as your parents take you to school.  All that complaining didn't help then.  It's not going to help now.

My days of dying for random ideas are gone.  Now, I have concrete things to protect.  I have  people that depend on me. They are small and ornery some times, but I still love them.  And they are still worth protecting.  It's worth it to provide them opportunity.

So figure out what you want to do.

Do you want to control what you can about the journey?  Or are you going to complain every step of the way.

Either way, you're going to end up somewhere.

Question is: is it a place you want to go?

Start

Because you have an idea.

Because everything you think about that idea is wrong.

Because it's time.

Because it's worth it.

Because trying and failing is better than never having tried.

Because you don't want to be Al Bundy.

Because you currently are Al Bundy.

Because all the problems are in your head.

Because you aren't even aware of the real problems.

Because someday never comes.

Because you can.

Because you should.

Because it's still worth it.

Because failure is not an option.

Because if you don't start, you will fail.

Because there are more reasons to start than their are to not.

Because you are wrong.

Because you have the wrong reasons.

Because you have the right reasons.

Because you have no reason.

Because it sounds like fun.

Because you don't owe anyone an explanation for your dreams.

Because they are your dreams.

Because you can achieve them.

Because it's going to be hard.

Because it's going to be hard for reasons you aren't even aware of.

Because.

Thoughts

I read an article on Forbes a week or two ago about a person who was mad.  I don't remember what the title of the article was, but it was humorous.  It was one of the advice columns.  The writer complained they kept jumping into startups and then the startups sold.  The creator/owner made a killing while the employee didn't.  

What was more humorous was how the author declared that having these high profile jobs caused them to buy a horrendously expensive house due to California's expensive real estate market.

The part that bothered me most was the author/responder didn't tell the person a fundamental fact.  The person probably got caught up in the hoopla of the question.

The fundamental fact is this:

It is not your employers job to make you rich.

It is not your employers job to make you rich.

It is not your employers job to make you rich.

Do I need to say that again so that you hear it correctly and without question?

It is not your employers job to make you rich.

It is your job to make you rich.

Your employer agreed to pay you for the work you do.  You agreed to work for that price.  That is all.  If you want to be rich, then quit waiting for your employer to make you rich.

I'll go with a quote attributed to Abraham Lincoln, but I've heard it attributed to many different people.

The best way to predict the future is to create it.

If you want to be rich, start doing the things that will make you rich.

If you do not know how to be rich, go study people who are rich.

Quit waiting for someone else to make your future and go create your own.

walking in the rain

Saturday,  I took a walk and got caught in the rain.

It was an interesting experience.

Normally, people avoid walking through the rain.  The instant a down pour starts, people scatter.  We can't stand the thought of being drenched and out in the cold.

As the rain hit, I realized I would be just as long to turn around and head home the way I came.  The path behind was longer than the path before.  So I walked on.

Years ago, I used to read a comic called Hound's Home.  The author made a comic where a person is desperately running to get away from the rain.  Only to make it home and take a shower.  The contradiction has stuck with me for more than a decade.

So I decided I wasn't going to pick up and go at any faster pace than I had been.  The rain started lightly, and I kept walking.  And I realized: despite the seeming trouble that I happen to be in thirty minutes from now I will barely remember any of the experience.

And the rain got harder.  I could see the house as I turned the corner.  There was an urge to break into a run.  I didn't.  And that realization hit again:  ten minutes from now, I'll walk into my driveway and stare at the rain, protected and observing.  Twenty minutes from now, I'll be playing with my kinds.  And thirty minutes from now, I will have completely forgotten about the rain.

And I was right.

And it happened just as I thought it was going to.

It made me realize that some of the darkest times in my life have suddenly just disappeared.  And then it's back to a sense of normalcy.  A place where nothing seems to be complicated.

The problems of the moment are the problems of the moment.  Nothing more.

When the moment passes, the problems will be gone.  The moment might be twenty minutes.  It might be two days.  It might be three years.

But one day, after slugging through the rain, you will realize you have walked into your carport, and the misery is behind you.

Keep walking.

cisco 4 class

Back to class for Cisco 4, and I wonder where the passion is.  There are a lot of people in the class spouting the typical stuff.  Worried about how much homework they have and how to get out of it.  A lot of spurious griping and complaining from people.

I wonder why they are there.  What's the purpose of giving up your Thursday night for a class you don't care about?

I guess it's part of the degree plan.  But where's the drive to be the best?  Where's the drive to do something great in the world?  To make a name for yourself in your position?

It doesn't exist in the classroom I'm in.

I guess they haven't learned yet.

You do not rise to the occasion.  You fall to the level of your training.

And if your training sucks, so will your response in stress.

How did we get here

I work for an established company.  The company has changed since I've been a part of the company.  Partly because I keep driving change.

Why in the world would I want to do that?

And that, is the essence of this tirade.

It's very easy to sit back and say you are an original thinker.  It's also very easy to sit back and criticize someone else's plan.

So I present the Dale Carnegie/man solution.  The next time you find something that doesn't make any sense at work, don't gripe.  Seriously.  Don't gripe.

Ask people why that policy is in place.  Ask questions about how the policy was put in place in the first place.

If the answer becomes "because that's the way we've always done it" then you are ripe for revision.

"I don't know" is also a good one to work on.

Whether you believe it or not, there are many policies and procedures that end up "because that's the way its always been done".  And there is a lot of "I don't know" in the procedure.

So... once you've find something like that, figure out whether you have the ability to change it.  If you are in IT, you aren't going to change marketing without some deep evidence.  You aren't going to change operations.

Initially, look to change your own department.  Because then you are dealing with people you know and policies you have internalized.

There are two ways to approach producing the change.  The first is to get permission.  The second is to implement and ask forgiveness.

I usually go with the second approach for two reasons.  1) No one understands the need to adjust the policy, and rocking the boat is probably not going to happen.  2) Your idea might sound great on paper, but suck in implementation.

So implement the easiest possible answer to the problem, and start using it.  You might come to the conclusion that your idea sucks.  Good.  Kill it then.  Go back to the drawing board and come up with a new solution to the problem.

If the idea is awesome, show other people.  Get them to start using your idea as opposed to the other policy.  See if people gravitate towards the new policy or the old.

I ended up implementing a Cacti server in this way.  I think it was a great idea, but no one uses it other than me.  So to me that's a partial success.

What I've been working on recently is a different way to document.  It's mostly a combination of PHP, Apache web pages, and a MySql database.  So far, the implementation doesn't work.  But the idea seems valid.  So I'll keep working on it until the idea is operational.  Documentation is always the hardest part of the IT world.  The second hardest part is designing a knowledge base that people are going to use.  You want a solution that is easy to implement and follow.  And a webpage seems to be a good idea.  But the non-technical parts of my team aren't going to run queries against a database.  That's beyond them.  So I have to provide a solution for them.  And that's what this approach is.

Try it.  You may find the cruddy company policies go away.

And you may find yourself with a load of new work.

Either is good.

Content Production

A while ago, I was thinking about content creation.  And I was thinking that the ratio should probably be better than a 2:1 ratio of production versus consumption.  It was just some number that randomly popped into my head.  And the number sounded good, but that's...  quite unrealistic.

A production of that level would mean for every 2 pages you write, you would read 1 page.  Which sounds like a great idea, but I consume a page at about every 2-3 minutes.  Production of a page can take upwards of an hour.  So the time comparisons aren't really comparable.

And then you deal with esoteric subjects like measuring production of non-text info.  What about drawings?  Or 3D models?  You don't really consume 3D models.  You could consume drawings in the form of comics and cartoons.  But how do you measure progress on those things?  It's a good question.

So, rather than use absolute measures of production/consumption, I think the measure should be time spent.  I'm still convinced you should maintain a 2:1 ratio, but it's two hours to one hour.  Two hours of content production can produce different levels based on the media, but it still produces.  It also causes long term progress towards goals.

One hour of consumption allows you to get a more absolute measure.  Because really, it's all opportunity taxes.  An hour spent consuming is quite literally an hour you will never get back.  An hour spent producing is also, paradoxically, an hour you will never get back.  But it makes you feel a lot better to spend an hour working on something that will lead you to accomplish your goals.

Outliers

I read Malcolm Gladwell's book Outliers.  I think I've come to a distinct set of realizations afterwards.  It's a collection of things rumbling through a head that doesn't quite understand what is trying to be said.

I've watched through the YouTube version of Patterns of Conflict once, and I'm working on watching it again.  I've often wondered if I could write distinct lines in my life between things I read or done with the realization that those things are the future points of tomorrow.  They are the points when life departed and the old fell away.

I know Patterns of Conflict will have an impact on my life.  It already has.  Several statements have already begun sticking in my mind, leading to wanderings down paths that just aren't normally taken.  The ability to deconstruct and reexamine thoughts gives way to new perspectives.  I've often thought going to college is like staring in through the wrong side of a peep hole into a three story house, without the realization that there is even a house to be looked at.

I've also began wondering what would happen if one intentionally went to spend the 10,000 hours it takes to reach mastery of a subject.  In doing so, I contemplated buying the www.10000hours.com domain name, but it was taken.  I don't even know what I'm going to do with it, but I think I've got an idea.  I think it's what Driven was initially created to do.  I just never finished that project, and it went by the wayside.

I guess the goal is then quite simple.  Pick a project, and start a timer.  Figure out how much of your free time you have spent on the path towards mastery.  It would be great if you could suddenly know where you are on that path.  But without extensive time management analysis, I don't think that's possible.

But it might make a good story here and there.

I've got a thought running through my head.  What if everything we do can be described as the difference between attrition warfare and maneuver warfare?

Attrition warfare is the tactical decision of the 19th century, and was codified by Carl von Clausewitz in On War.  von Clausewitz argued heavily for the kind of attacks seen during World War I, in which soldiers lined up and charged at each other.  These were heavily destructive battles that were exceptionally costly and ineffective.  This strategy persisted far into the Cold War and beyond.

It has mostly persisted due to simplicity.  It's a lot easier to teach Attrition War versus Maneuver War.  Now, jump back to the point at which von Clausewitz was writing On War.  He was a Prussian, writing about the battles of Napoleon.  Shortly after, the Prussian level of thinking also created the basis of the modern education system.   Prussia needed to move into the 20th century as fast as possible to prevent something like Napoleon from happening again.

Now, what the Prussians created was an attrition war versus the under-education of the the people.  In many aspects, that is still what the entire education system is based on.  But Attrition War has numerous problems.  It is costly in terms of human lives, and generally ineffective versus a decent defense.

Against the proper defense, attrition warfare costs thousands of lives.

Where does that all tie back towards Maneuver Warfare?  I think Boyd can answer that question.

Moving towards success

It usually feels weird, turning dreams into reality.  By and large, people are taught to dream big.  But they are never taught how to turn those dreams into reality.  Probably because it’s not fancy enough.  There’s nothing slick or amazing about it.  I guess people are in love with the fancy and great.  But it’s really simplistic stuff that causes success.

It’s strange, the amount of gain that can be had from just showing up and participating.  That’s half the effort in most cases, and that half is more important than any of the rest.  You could be the fastest, best person in the world but you aren’t going to get anywhere unless you show up and participate.  I’ll start with a good example.

It doesn’t matter how much you want to lose weight or “get in shape”, unless you do the work you will not achieve your dreams.  A person putting in 20 minutes a day will go farther than a person that shows up when it’s fashionable.  Sure, fashionable is a good time to show up.  But you must keep showing up.  Unless you keep showing up, you will never make it where you want to go.  And it’s really pretty simple. 

Show up.  Perform.  Rinse. Lather. Repeat.

I don’t care how much you want to know or learn.  Until you show up and perform, you won’t go anywhere.  Sorry.  It’s just not going to happen. 

Once you’ve made it beyond the “show up” portion, it’s time to spend a bit of time on the effort itself.  My other piece of advice is thus: don’t try to find shortcuts when you are trying to establish the routine.  Just keep showing up and chugging along.

Wait until the routine is established before you look for refinement.  

Decisions not made

I’ve been meaning to look into a book called The Lieutenant Don’t Know about a Marine motor transport lieutenant in Afghanistan.  Being cross trained in infantry (0311) and motor transport (3531) I understand a little bit about both.  I spent most of my time as motor-t.   If asked today, I’d say I have two MOS, and there’s a funny story behind all of that.  It might be a little funny (for a Marine) and it might be a little strange (to a person other than a Marine). 

Anyways, I was thinking about that statement.  The Lieutenant don’t know.  But I was thinking about it in terms of transition from military to civilian.  Because the two worlds are different and require different skillsets, the transition can be hard on many people.  One of the questions I’ve taken to asking former Marines why they are doing something, the statement is always the same.

Marine, why are we attacking this hill?

It’s a simple question, but shows the disparity of the officer/non-com look at the world.  The officer thinks of why.  The NCO comes up with the how.  The enlisted man performs the how.  As enlisted and NCO, we are always concerned with performing actions.  As a matter of fact, we get very good at performing actions.  Some are useful.  Some are pointless.  But we are very good at executing other peoples’ plans. 

I’ve seen many situations in which a Marine would be asked, “why are you doing that?” And the answer would be “because someone in charge of me told me to”.  I suppose that’s a perfectly good answer for a while. 

The only problem with this mindset is that eventually the person making the decisions gets killed.  So “because I was told” becomes the guy in charge.  Or the converse situation is the person leaves the military.  Then, the leadership position has swapped again.  The commanding officer might as well have gotten killed.  Now, the guy who answered “because I was told” now has to make decisions in their own life.  And they’ve never thought of the question “why should I attack this hill?”

And then, the blind begins to lead the blind.  The success in the military becomes a collection of potential failures and half measures.  All because the person never figured out where they wanted to be.

The problem really narrows down to what each individual needs to know.  The lieutenant needs to know the job of the private and the private needs to know the job of the lieutenant.  Everyone must be versed in every single other job.  Because eventually, you end up in charge.  

Back to Active Directory

Eating lunch, I once again have a brain running in circles.  In the end, I got a little done during that lunch break, but not much.  Now I’m back in the morning, and things are considerably calmer.  Earlier this week, I thought I was behind.  Now, I’m not as convinced.  I ended up finishing the Java book and now I’m moving on to the Active Directory book.  I have decided to start over and reread the Active Directory book because I essentially skimmed through to find the parts I was looking for the first time.  Now, I’m going for a decent level of competency.  So I have to read the entire book to make sure I get what I want out of it.  I’m pretty sure I will.  My Active Directory knowledge has moved in leaps and bounds, and a lot of things are making a lot more sense.

My problem with the startup script had nothing to do with permissions.  I had the default software policy to basic, and the user didn’t have rights to access or run network resources.  They basically couldn’t run any software I didn’t specifically allow.  So that had to be dialed back to allow the company to operate.  Now, my proxy file works great and updates like I want it to.  This solution seems to work a lot better than using Content Adviser.  It also allows the use of Google Chrome without a separate blocking file.  That was nice of Google to allow all those things to interoperate well together.  Good design policy for Google, there.

Changing subjects: after restarting the Active Directory book, I’ve completed 11.96% of my goal.  Granted, I don’t have a date on any of these.  I just have an overarching goal to get it done.  I really only have a goal on getting my app built because there is a definite potential there.  Though I may be wrong, the financial outlay is low enough to where I’m not concerned with a flop.  I could make nothing on the thing, and still be happy I got it out there.  The hard skills in creating the app will still be there, so if I come up with another idea the lead time won’t be near what it was before.  Definite bonus to me.  Plus, the web based skills could easily be usable.  My brain is still running the thought of having MySQL and Tomcat running on my wife’s desktop, and doing…  I don’t know with it.  Something internal, probably.   I don’t want the hassle of hosting.  That’s just a pain.  It’s easier to pay someone else.

Spreadsheets, goals, and number systems

I was going to write something on how stupid the statement “it takes money to make money” is, but that started boring me, so I quit.  Instead, I’m going to talk about accomplishing long term goals by creating a measurement scheme. 

A few posts ago, I said I found a way to teach myself a bit about artificial intelligence, and I mapped out a plan to do so.  Part of mapping out that plan was creating a spreadsheet to track my accomplishment towards that goal. 

Remember:  goals are specific and measurable.  If you haven’t narrowed these two things down, try again.

Anyways, I created a spreadsheet to provide myself some encouragement and get an idea of how far I have come.  As of now, I’m currently 12.55% complete.  This doesn’t seem like much, but it provides everything I need to keep me going.  With this spreadsheet, I can see a sense of traction and movement.  That may not seem like much, but it’s a great motivator.  Looking at the enormity of reading 6,000 pages or so is daunting.   

Seeing numbers improve over time, and seeing where you started?  Motivating.

Secondary note:

Something I was reading about that was incredibly interesting.  

The problem with 1/3 being written as an irrational number, or .3333 infinitely repeating is a problem with the base 10 number system (decimal) that is primarily used.  Java has problems with 1/10, because its math is designed around a base 2 system (binary). 

There’s a little food for thought for everyone that happens to be slightly numbers obsessed.  

Going to Work

I’ve thought about this for a while, and I think it’s true. 

People treat change in their life like a trip to Disney Land when they should be treating it like work.

A trip to Disney Land is this magical, one time thing.  You plan for months on end and build up oodles of anticipation.  Then you go, and it’s nothing like you thought it would be and it’s over before you realize it.

Great.  Now time to start over on another trip to Disney Land.

Or not.  Perhaps the best solution is to go to work.  Let’s look at work for a bit.  You show up pretty much every day of the week.  Or five days a week.  Still, you show up a lot.  You show up whether you want to or not.  You show up despite the weather and your attitude.  You show up, and you keep showing up until you get fired or get a paycheck.

While you are there, you have to put out effort the entire time you are there.  Sure, there’s a coffee break here and there and perhaps lunch, but you still have to keep showing up.  And after putting in all that effort, you still don’t get a paycheck.  You have to continue waiting.

The problem is your first paycheck doesn’t even get handed to you until after three weeks of working.  You show up every day with no reward with the hopes that after a bit you will get a paycheck.  There are people that have put out effort and never ended up with a paycheck. 

So if you want to change, start treating it like a job and not like a trip to Disney Land.  

Show up every day.

Show up whether you want to or not.

Don't expect results for two weeks.

Not as much oomph

Day two doesn't have quite as much oomph as day one so far.  I was up late working on securing a site from itself and didn't get to bed until 11:30.  I’m usually in bed by ten.  So 5 came awfully early this morning.  It’s at this point that I have to remember all the wonderful motivation I’d come up with earlier, because now it’s gone.  I can’t say it’s gone completely, but to say it has been highly minimized would not be an understatement. 

So, almost two and a half years later, Seven Days has a cover photo.  I kept thinking I ought to go wandering around, taking all sorts of pictures and then I’d finally come up with the perfect picture.  And I realized since I finished the story, I haven’t really thought of it.  I could probably read the first dozen pages or so, and it would all come back.   But I haven’t done that, and the memory of it is mostly faded. 

Let me tell you about that cover, though.  I combined a picture I took with some horrendous text in Paint.net and slapped it up there.  I’m sure there are Photoshop heroes out there, but I’m not one of them.  Much as I’d like to be able to draw pictures of the things in my head, it doesn't work.  I just don’t have the talent.

I couldn't find the kind of picture I was looking for.  I’d be honest if I said I couldn't describe what I was looking for.  It was always just some vague idea that never formed.  So I gave up on that and went with a picture my kids drew with sidewalk chalk on the patio.  I guess it seems like a stretch, but I have to realize Seven Days was released back on September 11, 2011.  That’s almost three years ago.  So That’s pretty crazy that it never got a cover, though I can see where the indecision of finding the perfect cover lead me to never develop a cover.

I can’t say it will be the greatest thing since sliced bread, but it’s my first story.  And sure, it didn't sell even 100 copies so really why should I worry?   I've sold two copies in 2 ½ years, and I’m worried about whether the cover will be great or not.  There’s some misguided mind-trip crap for you right there.  

day something or other

Day one of waking up at 5 am was a bust.  Sure, I woke up at 5 am, but I woke up and had to immediately leave for work.  I guess that’s better than nothing. 

So, I got rid of Firefox and installed Chrome.  Chrome has a program add-on called Stay Focused.  Stay Focused has something called “the nuclear option”.  Under the nuclear option, it doesn't allow access to any website for a certain period of time.  I suppose this could be a bad thing, but the purpose of waking up this early is to spend time in learning and production.  You can’t spend time learning if you are constantly surfing the net for junk and cat pictures. 

I guess it all seems relevant at the time, but in the end it’s just a method to delay action.  I don’t want to delay action.  I want to produce something as opposed to just consume.  I’ve had that feeling before, when all I wanted to do was produce, produce, produce.    It was an excellent feeling, and I want to get it back. 

I guess part of the purpose of designing this system is to get some of the feeling out of this, though.  Sure, feelings are great but in reality you need to produce regardless of what you feel.  Timelines need to be met, and things have to get done.  You can’t wait on your feelings to get to work, or you will get fired.  Or you will get beat to market.  Or you’ll just lose.  And that is not what I want to happen. 

Hence the nuclear option.  Any research that needs to be done for this blog or anything else I produce has to be done and finished by the time I get up this morning.  Between 5 AM and 7 AM, my computer won’t let me go surfing the internet.  And I have to admit… that “shouldn't you be working?” message is fairly effective.  Simple, elegant, and basic.  It works perfectly to get your brain out of the wandering gear and back to the producing gear.

So here it is, not even 5:20 in the morning, and I've already produced greater than 300 words and the blog is done for the day.  I guess the only side effect to all of this is I will have to set up and schedule this post later today.  But that is a side effect I’m willing to take. 

I guess the point of Stay Focused is to give more power to something other than willpower.  Willpower alone doesn't seem to ever get me very far.  It works much better to have something that provides autopilot willpower.  Maybe autopilot discipline?  I don’t know.  Anyways, as for the first day…  I’m happy with the results.

Side note: I looked at my document on how long it has been since I worked on Causality Crimes, and it has been 22 days.  Before that, it was 20 days.  Before that, 24.  As you can see, the results of what I was trying to do previously show fairly obviously.  Even though you only have to write 300 words per day to reach 100,000 words, I was only writing once every three weeks.  That isn't even enough time to think about the story and get the thing moving.  

If you are only touching something every three weeks, then you have no idea where to even start.  Another good reason to follow this plan.  It will take five days to get the average period between writing under ten days.  That looks to be my goal for the moment.  Get it under ten days, at 300 words per day.  That is how you succeed.  Show up every day, and make effort every single day.

The definition of wealthy

So… now you are motivated to do something with your life.  What now?  There are several areas in life that everyone needs to work on.  Those are, in no specific order…

1)      Financial

2)      Health

3)      Spiritual

4)      Family

5)      Personal

Now, let’s look at the financial part.  I start with that one, because all of these have to be done every single day.  This is not something you can work on step by step, process by process.  It has to be done all at the same time.

Anyways, in order to be “wealthy”, one must first define “wealth”.  The dictionary says wealth is “an abundance of valuable possessions or money.”  Which is a really worthless definition.  Buckminster Fuller provided a better definition.  He said wealth is a measure of how long you could live if you quit working tomorrow.  A person is “wealthy” when the income produced comes from efforts that are not their job.  That’s a big can of worms…  so let’s make this simple. 

1^st example.

Let’s say you have $1,000 in expenses every month.  Your investments and other income aside from your job equates to $100 a month.  Your wealth could now be defined as 1/10^th of a month. 

2^nd example

If you have $2000 in savings, $1,000 per month in expenses, and $100 per month in  income.  Then your wealth is now…  

First month…  $1000 expenses, minus $100 in income.  Leaves $900, so take that out of savings.   So you now have $1,100 in savings. 

Second month.  $1000 in expenses minus $100 in income.  Leaves $900.  Take that amount out of savings.  Leaves $200 in savings. 

Third month.  $1000 in expenses minus $100 in income.  Leaves $900.  Minus $200 from savings.   Leaves you with a $700 deficit.  Your wealth has lasted you 2 3/10ths of a month. 

3^rd example.   You have $2,000 in expenses per month.   Your income from investments and other (non-work) methods is $2,100. 

So long as this person continues to live within their means, then this person would be considered wealthy, because that person can live effectively forever without ever working again. 

So, that’s my definition of being wealthy.   Now that we have that part considered, let’s look at what we can do.   Your best bet is to follow the Dave Ramsey plan.

1)      $1,000 cash in the bank.

2)      Get rid of all debt except your house.

3)      3-6 months expenses in the bank.

4)      Save for retirement

5)      Save for kids college.

6)      Pay off the house early

7)      Build wealth, and give a bunch of it away.

IN THAT ORDER.

Why do you want to do this?  Remember our 2^nd example.  The person with savings lasted much longer without a job than the person without savings.  The next part, elimination of debt, is to decrease our expenses so we can become wealthy faster.   It’s a lot easier to get $1,000 per month in income you don’t work for than it is to get $5,000 a month.   In my case, I only need about $1,500 a month to reach the definition of wealthy.  At that point, I could quit my job and survive indefinitely without ever getting another job.  

All making sense?  I hope so.  This is the easy part.

The end of excuses, and a new beginning

Back to where I was yesterday.  I’m going to finish this last part. 

Race/Ethnicity/Gender:  Also blatant, pointless excuses when it comes to reaching your goals.  Think race matters or gender matter?  Examine the habits of Oprah Winfrey or Jay Z.  Both probably end up fairly close to what Tom Corley identified with his study of the habits of the rich.  See, behaviors are gender/race/ethnicity independent.  If you spend three hours a day in front of the TV after work, it doesn’t matter what your race or gender, you are going to end up going nowhere.  But if you spend those three hours a day working on your goals, then you will achieve your goals. 

If you haven’t guessed, most excuses are pointless.  And stupid.  So quit making them.  Next time you start stating why you can’t do something, add the mental sound of a crying baby behind it.  It will strike you as hilarious and make you realize your excuses are just as ridiculous as the temper tantrum of a two year old.

Now that we know excuses are a waste of time, let’s start looking into what it does take to succeed.  Let’s throw an example out there.  Let’s say you want to be an author, but you have no idea how to do it.  Well, the first thought is come up with an idea.  Once you have an idea for your book, the next step is to write.  And this is the part where most people fall apart.  They have an idea, but action is never put towards an idea.   So how long would it take me to write a 100,000 word novel?  I mean, that’s a lot of words, right?  

How about 300 words a day?  Can you write 300 words every day?  Yeah, that’s much more reasonable and shouldn’t take more than an hour a day.   If you write on average 300 words per day, at the end of one year, you will have written 109,500 words. 

Wow.  So you just wrote your 100,000 word novel, 300 words at a time in a single year.  If you can produce 400 words a day, then you can write your 100,000 word novel Monday through Friday and have the weekends off. 

See, we’ve been told a nice Hollywood lie.  We are taught and told that success happens in great giant bursts.  It all gets crammed into a five minute training montage.  And that’s just crap.   Success in anything is a matter of eating an elephant.  How does one eat an elephant?  One bit at a time.  For a long time.  Success is a matter of constant, small accumulations.  It’s going to the gym seven days a week for a year.  It’s saving $20 a week for a year (that’s $1,040 in a year without any effort). 

So, your goal for the rest of your life is daily accumulation of effort.  Can you produce 400 words a day to achieve your goal?   I mean, you do want to achieve this goal, right?

Excuses are like something something...

I’ve thought about posting more about myself on my blogger profile, but I think that is a pointless idea.  It all narrows down to blame.  Successful people don’t worry about blame.  The assignment of blame is the least important thing to them.  All the other people in the world make sure the blame doesn’t rest on them. 

Now, let us break down the difference between the two ideas.  If you are successful, then 1) A problem happens, 2) identify the problem 3) determine a solution for the problem 4) determine what caused the problem 5) act on part 4.   If you are part of the rest of the world, then your flow chart is…  1) a problem happens, 2) blame someone else, 3) blame society 4) blame some other external aspect 5) identify the problem, 6) determine where the blame should be placed 7) place the blame 8) move on.

Note that in both examples, things start the same.  Something happens.  In the first problem with the successful person, the goal is solving the problem.  In the second example, solving the problem becomes secondary as soon as the proposed solution doesn’t work. 

Now that we’ve looked at the process, let’s examine common things to that people blame. 

The economy:  For being blamed so often, the economy is a giant nebulous thing that is hard to pin down.  In fact, the problem is so vague that the problem becomes indefensible.  It is that vagueness that makes blaming “the economy” so popular.  In this situation, the real truth is this: the economy in my job sector/city/state is bad, and I refuse to go where the jobs are.  If you are looking for a job in Detroit, then good luck to you.  But if you drive down I-40 in Amarillo, Texas, you’ll find almost every building you see has a “we’re hiring sign” on it.  So if the economy is bad in your area, pack up and move.  In the end, blaming the economy is just another of the overly vague excuses people use to excuse their failure.

The man.  Point of fact: the isn’t even aware you exist.  And if by the man, you mean the police then you need to quit breaking the law.  There is no reason to move into the illegal realm when there is plenty of opportunity in the legal one. 

No money: now this one can be fixed.  First, start getting your spending under control.  Work off a written budget and identify and remove wasteful spending.  If cable TV is getting in the way of your goals, get rid of cable TV.  $100 a month can lead a long way to getting your finances under control.  Secondly, examine what you need the money for.  If you have a generic nebulous idea, then form that idea into something solid.  Search the internet for prototyping tools and try to build your idea without spending a dime to see if it works.  I’d guess most of the time people say they need money, they really don’t have a solid idea.  By the time you apply money to your idea, you should already have a general idea and something concrete to start working on. 

There are others, but I think I will cross those later.  And to invalidate all your excuses, here’s a video of a kid with down syndrome getting into college.