Wisdom from Alice In Wonderland

A great passage from Lewis Carroll's "Alice In Wonderland:

“Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?
''That depends a good deal on where you want to get to," said the Cat.
"I don't much care where," said Alice.
Then it doesn't matter which way you go," said the Cat.

Clever but true. The modern day "Alice" is often someone who wants to start their own business but has no idea what their goal is.

Shopping for a business -- especially a home business -- without knowing your goal is that it's a bit like choosing a vehicle before knowing where you want to go.

You run the risk of choosing Hawaii as your destination only to find out too late that you've got a skateboard for the trip.

The correct order is: know your goal first. And then find the business that will get you where you want to go in the timeframe you select. You can get to the Cayman Islands by luxury yacht in a few hours. A cruise ship will take a day. A bicycle won't go at all.

Know your goal before you choose your business.

Tony Rush

The Number or, "How To Know What You're Worth"

Want to know what you're worth from a financial standpoint? Really. Do you?

It's very simple.

Grab a pencil. And some paper.

And on that piece of paper, write down how much money you want to earn this year.

Go ahead. I'll be here when you get finished.

Got it? Great.

Look at that number. That number -- to the penny -- represents EXACTLY what you believe you're worth. Not a penny more and not a penny less.

Now, someone might argue, "Tony, that's not what I'm worth. I'm worth a lot more than that. That's just the number that I think is realistic based on what I do and what I can reasonably expect in the next 12 months."

And your way of thinking is valid to an extent. But, here's what many people don't understand: it's actually that way of thinking that is creating your present results.

In other words, until you are willing to see yourself as earning, say, a multiple six-figure income....then you won't be able to see the opportunities that will allow you to achieve that.

I'll give you an example. Today I spoke with a gentleman who was looking to start a business that he said would pay him about $150 a day . So, when I told him that he views himself as worth $150 a day....he was offended. It made him uncomfortable.

But it's still true. This person is capable of earning thousands of dollars a day. I can see that. But he can't see that of himself. And until he does....then the most he will be able to earn is $150 a day.

On the other hand, if he could adopt the Million Dollar Mindset that this blog is devoted to....then he could very easily start creating opportunities that would pay him far more. But until then....God Himself cannot give him more than he's willing to accept.

Incidentally, I regularly partner with individuals and partners to show them how to create a multiple six-figure income in 6-12 months. But, I'm very selective about who I work with.

So, when this gentleman told me that he wanted only $150 a day...he disqualified himself. He knows better than I what he's worth. He sees himself as worth $55,000 a year. And I want to work with people who see themselves worth a minimum of three times that. So, without even realizing it, his mindset cost him $100,000 today.

And let me be clear: this is not a judgment of someone being good, bad, right or wrong. There are plenty of wonderful husbands, fathers, mothers, wives, sons, daughters, etc. who are wonderful people. And they are wonderful people no matter what their financial thermostat is set for.

But in terms of MONEY....their sense of self-worth is tied directly to what they are willing to settle for. And until they are willing to raise the bar for what they will settle for....then they will only get what they believe they're worth.

Bottom line: if a person with a $50,000 mindset takes an opportunity that will pay $1,000,000......that person will take that million-dollar opportunity and go make $50,000 with it. They will literally leave $950,000 on the table simply because they cannot accept it mentally. And until they accept it mentally, they cannot accept it in reality.

But here's the best part: whatever number you've got on your paper right now, you can change it. You can erase it or scratch it out and raise your bar right now....by simply choosing to see yourself as worth what you really deserve.

Questions to consider:

What number is on your paper right now?
What do you really see yourself worth?
What are you willing to settle for?
What would it take for you to see yourself worth ten times more?

Life is a choice -- choose well.

Tony Rush

The Box, or "Why You're Not Already Wealthy"

Everyone lives in a box. Your perception of "how things are" is your box.

Own a house? It's in your box. Got kids? They're in your box. Earning $43,565 at a job you don't like? That job is in the box. So is the $43,565.

Here's what else: if you believe you have to work hard to be successful...that hard work is in your box, too. If you think that you're not wealthy because of your lack of education...that lack of wealth is in the box. Along with your lack of a college degree.

It's all in there. Everything you have and accept as "how things are" is in the box.

Now, here's what's also true...

Everything you want from life that you don't already have...is outside your box. And the "odds" -- in terms of the percentage of people who make the choice -- the "odds" are that you will never get to have what you want simply because your wants aren't powerful enough to overcome your insecurity of being outside the box.

Get that. Because that's the only thing keeping you from getting what you want: the insecurity, the fear or the anxiety of doing the things that will bring those goals INTO your box. Thus, success is simply a choice.

So, why aren't you wealthy already? Simple: because you haven't chosen to BE that person. You're busy staying in your box.

In fact, maybe you've decided not to be wealthy. You might think, "Tony who would decide not to be wealthy?" Well, you probably didn't say "I've decided not to be wealthy"....but if you're not wealthy it's because you have made the choices that do NOT lead to wealth. And it's really the same thing.

You are where you are because -- either through action or inaction -- this is really where you wanted to be.

In fact, some of you are reading this right now and you're appalled that someone should say such a thing. That someone would suggest that your "not being wealthy" has been a choice on your part.

You might even have a lot of "monkey chatter" going in your head right now listing all the perfectly good reasons why not being wealthy is not your choosing.

And here's the catch: the reasons you give yourself for why you're not rich is the stand that you've taken against becoming wealthy. If you are not wealthy, you will be defending your decision to remain in your current state EVEN AS YOU READ THIS. If you don't believe it...stop right now and listen to your mind chatter.

Fortunately, the solution is quite simple. Understand that you cannot get to where you want to go with the same quality of thinking that created your present situation. Change your thinking and decisions and you change your life.

Get out of the box. Wonderful things are waiting.

Tony Rush

How To Have A Poverty Mentality

Last night I was watching a DVR recording of a Travel Channel show called "Passport To Europe". The host, Samantha Brown does a pretty good job of reviewing destinations without sounding like a cheerleader.

So, as I watching, I heard her say a few things that were so surprising that I actually had to rewind and see if I heard her correctly.

Madame Tussaud's wax museum is one of the #1 attractions in London. It's remarkable. And, as Ms. Brown was talking about it, she pointed out that the line to get into the museum would take you about an hour and a half to get in. I thought, "Wow. Pretty popular".

She went on to say that the admission price was 22 pounds (roughly $43 US.) But that you could pay 25 pounds and get in right away.

Read that again.

For $43, you can wait 90 minutes to get in.
Or for $49, you can walk right in.

Six dollars difference. That's all.

This is classic lack consciousness at work. If the people in that line had any critical thinking skills, they would understand that time is more valuable than money. That it's far more preferable to spend the extra $6 than to spend 90 minutes of your life standing in a line.

You see this all the time.

Someone will park their car in the rain rather than spend $5 on the valet.

Ask the reservations clerk which side of the hotel fills up first: oceanside or city side. Why? Because city side is $20 a night cheaper. People will stare at the roof of an adjacent building to save $20 when they could be looking at a sunset over the ocean.

Flying is the same way. There's almost always a ton of extra seats in first-class simply because most people don't mind being treated like cattle and crammed into seats that were designed 50 years ago when the average height of a human was shorter. "Hey, I might feel like a sardine...I might not can use my laptop...I might have to beg for a refill...but at least I saved a few hundred dollars on this flight."

Sheesh.

Or do this: go into any clothing store in any major city and just watch people. They will walk up to a rack, pick up a piece of clothing and the FIRST thing they will look at is the price tag. Not whether they like it or not. Not whether it fits them or not. Not if they think it's the best-looking thing they've ever seen. But they'll look and see the price.

People don't buy what they want. They buy what they think they can afford. And what they don't understand is that you can afford anything you choose. You simply have to create a mindset of abundance and prosperity.

Now some of you are thinking, "Yeah, it's easy for you to do valet parking and fly first-class....you're making a massive income." That's true but I didn't always. I used to be the guy who made $6.25 an hour working as an assistant manager at Waldenbooks. I used to be the guy who went around the neighborhoods sucking the wet leaves out of the gutters.

What changed? Simply this: I decided to be excellent to myself. I decided that -- no matter what it took -- I was not going to live my life by "settling".

Being excellent to yourself is a choice. You can start from where you are today, right now. And you can make progress. Or you can simply throw up your hands, say "I can't do it" and stay stuck where you are.

Life is a choice. Choose well.

Tony Rush