A message from the Bahamas

It's 9:30am on a Tuesday. Look around you.

Now, watch this video.




Tony Rush
http://www.tonyrush.com

Be A Contrarian

I hate to be the one to break this to you.

Actually I don't. I LOVE being the one to break this to you:

If you want to be successful, wealthy, prosperous and abundant, you're going to have to become different from most of the people you know, see and meet.

Think about it: does it look to you like "most" people are doing well?

No? Then, doesn't it stand to reason that -- if you don't want to have their kind of life -- you'd better have different thoughts and decisions?

While this might sound a bit cynical, the truth is that most people are NOT doing well.
They're sick.
They're broke.
They're struggling.
They're frustrated.

And the reason they're sick, broke, struggling and frustrated is because they have not yet figured out that their thoughts and mindset are creating their circumstances.

But you have. So, prepare to become a contrarian. When you encounter ideas and concepts that you don't agree with, ask yourself, "If this person is happy and successful, maybe I should consider that there's something for me to learn here."

You may wind up adopting the powerful ideas of a relatively small group of people who are healthy, happy, prosperous, abundant and wealthy!

Cool, huh?

Tony Rush

Success Lessons From A Vampire??

Wow...talk about an unlikely place to find a powerful concept.

The other morning, Easton (my two-year-old) and I were the only ones awake and -- while he was pondering the joys of Thomas the Tank Engine -- I decided to flip through the channels to see if anything interesting was on.

And I happened upon a show called "Angel". If you've never heard of this show or what it is, I hesitate to even tell you because of how crazy it sounds.

But it's basically a show about a vampire who's given a soul to feel remorse for what he's done...and he spends his time in L.A. as a detective "helping the helpless".

Yeah, I know. And it went for 6 seasons.

As it turns out, this particular episode had some interesting characters and some good writing. And as I was watching, I heard something that made me bolt upright, look at the screen and say, "Yeah! That's RIGHT!"

The gist was that the main character (the vampire Angel) is telling another character about his perspective on the world. And he said

Nothing in the world is the way it ought to be. - It's harsh, and cruel. - But that's why there's us. Champions.

It doesn't matter where we come from, what we've done or suffered, or even if we make a difference. We live as though the world was what it should be, to show it what it can be.

Wow. I love that language.

"Living as though the world is what is SHOULD be....to show it what it CAN be."

Mahatma Gandhi said it a little differently: "Be the change you want to see in the world."

There's a powerful success lesson in these words and it's simply this: change starts with understanding that you are a cause, not an effect.

A lot of people get bogged down when they look a their bank account. But that's not who you ARE....that's the result of who you were being over the last few weeks or months. The same is true of your relationships. And your physical health. And your spirituality.

YOU are the cause of your life...

And if you want to start living successfully, take the advice of a vampire: "Live as though the world was what it SHOULD be...."

Be the leader. Followers are a dime a dozen.

Tony Rush

There Are Four Ways To Make Money

There are only four ways to make money. Understanding each of them will give you an idea of what you should do to start creating profits for your life (instead of just working for wages). Here they are:

A. Investing. No question about it. Real estate, gold, stocks, etc. are proven ways to make money. The obvious challenge is that you have to already have acquired some money and it's a highly intensive route. The investment-graveyard is full of people who operated on too little information. Most people add this as a 2nd or 3rd income stream which is highly recommended.

B. Sell A Skill. To me, this seems the least attractive although quite a lot of people do it. The biggest issue is that you usually have to be the one to roll up and do the job yourself. And when you're selling your time....well, there's always a limit to how much money you can earn because you've only got 24 hours in a day.

The upside is that most people do such shoddy work that -- if you're good at what you do and you come from a place of "excellence" -- then you can charge a heck of a lot of money to do something someone else doesn't want to do. This is why I've given my lawn man three raises in the last year and he deserves every penny of it.

But, in the end, the 24-hour day is the Great Equalizer. So if you're going to sell your time, charge a lot for it. You can't get it back.

C. Sell information. Ah, this is my favorite. We live in an information age. Pick any topic under the sun and there's no shortage of people who want to know how to do it. So, if you know how to do something, then you can share that information with others.

The great part about selling information is that it can be imparted in so many ways. You can offer CDs, DVDs, MP3s, study guides, workbooks, ebooks, hardback books, paperback books, personal coaching, tutoring, video clips, seminars, workshops, consulting....you name it.

And the REAL beauty here is that you don't get paid for how hard you work; you're getting paid for how much profit margin you build into your pricing. And since your pricing is always based on "value", there's no limit to how much you can earn.

And knowledge is incredibly valuable.

If I know how to show someone how to earn $250,000 in the next 12 months even if they have no experience in business.....well, that's something valuable to know.

And when I offer to teach that for a tiny fraction of what they can earn, there's no shortage of people who are lined up to work with me.

Why? Because I'm the guy who "knows how".

So, selling information is powerful. And it's my favorite way to earn money. All it takes is the confidence in yourself to realize that you know SOMETHING that someone else wants to know. I know one lady who has made a fortune as a knitter! You read that right: knitting! She's a world-class knitter and she's produced tons of books and resources to show other people how to knit beautiful designs. She turned a hobby into an enterprise. Cha-ching!

D. Sell A Product. This is the old standby. The cool thing about selling a product is that there's no limit to how many you can sell. Once you've got a successful product in the marketplace, you can just keep selling it over and over to whoever shows up. And, just like with information, your earnings are based on profit margin...not on how "hard" you work.

The trick to becoming wealthy with a product is that it depends on being UNIQUE. If you're selling the same doo-dad that everyone else is selling, then it's going to boil down to who's closest to the customer and who's got a unique selling proposition. If you're like everyone else, it'll be tricky.

But, it's not that hard to market something unique. One of the most common ways is to get involved in a business where someone else takes care of product development and let them pay you for finding customers. I got involved in a drop-ship business 3 1/2 years ago where I could sell high-profit-margin products to people who wanted them....and I didn't have to stock the products or warehouse them.

Best of all the customers pay me directly and I just place a wholesale order with the fulfillment house. Think about that! I don't even place the order with the fulfillment house until I've already received the customer's money. They send me X amount of dollars....I keep 67% of the money and place an order with the company and they take care of the rest.

Heck, they even do the customer service. I'm just the guy who makes the product available to the public.

Conclusion: Making money is a piece of cake. It's a game. And you can get in the game at any time. There's plenty of room for new players.

Wanna play?

Contact me if you'd like to see how I've combined selling "information" and "drop-shipped products" in a way that allows me to pocket a few hundred-thousand dollars extra each year without having to touch anything.

Well....other than the deposit slips. :)

Tony Rush

So, why aren't you already rich?

Chances are good that you probably aren't rich yet. Do you want to know why? There is an answer. And I'll share it with you. But, first, let me offer you some related questions:

1. Why do people NOT drink 8 glasses of water a day when they know it's good for them?
2. Why do people eat at McDonald's when they know it's bad food?
3. Why do people smoke cigarettes even though they know it causes disease and death?
4. Why do people NOT set aside some of their money for investing even though they know all wealthy people do?

The answer: small errors in judgment compounded over time. Or, to put it another way, they know that the short-term payoff is going to be small so they're not motivated to do it.

But, try this on:

What if you knew the next cigarette you smoked would kill you instantly?
Answer: the tobacco industry would bankrupt overnight - snap - just like that.

See, no one plans on getting cancer and dying. They just figure that quitting smoking tomorrow will be just as good as doing it today. After all, what difference does a day make? Or another Big Mac? Or another day of not investing money?

You're smart. You see the point.

And it's the same way with choosing to be wealthy. One of the differences between wealthy people and broke people is that wealthy people choose to be wealthy today. We make decisions today based on the results we want to have.

It's an easy thing to do. But, as with most things, if it's easy to do....it's easier not to do.

Coaching question: What decisions and actions can you make today that would reflect those of a wealthy person?

Tony Rush

Your Ability To "Know"

If someone walked up to you and said, "Hey, did you know the sky was purple with pink polka dots?"......would you really need to go outside to check?

Probably not.

Why? Because you have the ability to know something. In fact, you have the ability to "know" something so strongly that what you will "know" will stand in the face of some kind of counter-information. You don't even waver on it.

So, what does this have to do with cultivating a Million Dollar Mindset? Simply this: most people constantly struggle between their ANALYTICAL mind and their REACTIVE mind.

The analytical mind is the part of your mind that is very good at sifting through information and coming to a conclusion. But the reactive part of the mind is where you entertain all the "self-talk" that often stems from the programming you've received from outside yourself.

Example: A guy wants to start a business. He looks at a business and can clearly see what is involved. He likes the concept. The products are something he's interested in. The compensation plan makes sense to him. He says, "This is in line with what I'm looking for. I'm going to do it."

That's when his reactive mind usually says, "Are you nuts? Don't you know how many people fail in business? Do you want to wind up a statistic?? Don't you remember when your brother-in-law started in a business like this and he quit after two weeks?"

A lot of people observe that inner self-talk and say "that person is analytical. He needs a lot of time to sort things out before making a decision."

Truthfully, the analytical mind is AMAZINGLY fast at knowing what it knows. All the delay comes from the above dialogue which is NOT the analytical mind; it's the analytical mind at war with the reactive mind.

Part of the solution is to simply realize and understand that you DO have the ability to know something on your own. And whenever you form your own conclusion and then go "outside" to learn more, you will usually only see the data that matches what you've already decided.

Example: three of your close friends tell you that the new restaurant that just opened has lousy service. If you bother to eat there at all, you will be "primed" to notice all the times that your glass was empty for too long, or that you had to ask for chopsticks twice before you got them.

Conversely, if three of your close friends tell you that the new restaurant is incredible and you should definitely try it, you might have the same experience but will be far less likely to notice the service problems.

So, how can you use this knowledge to move forward in life?

1. Have confidence that you really DO have the ability to know if something makes sense to you or not. Be open for outside information, but think for yourself.
2. If you have a lot of "mind noise" that is swirling around and keeping you from making a decision on information that you know is valid....that's your reactive mind. It's where all the hesitation and fear comes from. See it for what it is. Trust your instincts.
3. Practice holding an opinion that is counter to the masses. (If you've been reading this blog for any length of time, you already know that the masses are frequently wrong about a lot of things.) Consider a social experiment where you can have a conversation with someone and express a differing opinion and then notice what goes on internally. Do you find yourself wanting to change your opinion because it's uncomfortable to be in the minority? Do you find that your ability to "know" is unchanged? Derive your own conclusions.

But most of all, understand that the only time you have fear, hesitation and uncertainty is when your analytical mind is at war with your reactive mind. By choosing to exercise the one instead of the other, you really CAN achieve a state where decision-making is easy and your path is clear.

How can you apply this to your business and your life today?

A Recipe For Failure

If you actually were to assign some "language" to the way most people think, here's what it would look like. And it's a recipe for failure:

I am fed up with this situation I'm in. I'm serious about making a ton of money. I want to start living the life I deserve. I want to get into my dream home. I want to get out of this job and get home with my family. My kids deserve for me to be there. And I want to finally start earning the kind of money I see other people earning. So, I found this great business where people are really earning multiple six-figure incomes and they really look like they're having fun....

...so I think I'll go talk to all my broke friends about it and ask what they think. Then I think I'll get on the Internet and find a discussion forum and ask those people what they think about it even though I don't know them and I have no idea if they've ever been successful in a home business.

Wow. They were really close there for a moment, weren't they? They had the resolve and they had the decision. And then they made the mistake of listening to people who weren't qualified to advise them.

As crazy as that sounds, that is EXACTLY the kind of process that keeps most people stuck in their lives and frustrated with their situations. They cultivate the belief that making money is "hard" simply because they spend their time polling people who aren't any more successful than they are.

The key to success is simple: make decisions and take actions every day that take you closer to your goals, not further away. And the example above is a guaranteed way to stay stuck and frustrated.

Tony Rush

Making A Run For It

I was reading a blog this morning and ran across an interesting sentence:

If you live in a world where most people are deaf, and you gradually begin to hear sounds, how will you explain your new perceptions to others? Good luck!

It seems to me that the main ingredient in "breaking away from the herd" (whichever herd that might be; there's more than one.) is that -- sooner or later -- you have to ditch the need for the approval of others.

Because, the truth is that you are creating your own life.....and sometimes that means being unreasonable, radical, illogical and doing things that make complete sense to you and none to the herd.

And the herd doesn't like that.

Cows like all other cows to stay in the pasture and act like cows. And they worry about the ones out on the fringe. You never know when one of them might make a run for it. That's not good for the herd for several reasons. The main one is that it forces them to confront their own mediocrity.

And here's the funny part. If someone makes a run for it, it's almost impossible for them to make sense to those who are determined to stay in the herd.

It's like trying to explain music to a person who's hearing-impaired.

Tony Rush

What's

What's better than flying first class? Watch the video here to find out more about the lifestyle YOU deserve.


Tony Rush
http://www.tonyrush.com

What's Your "Game"?

Making money is a GAME. It's a fun game that benefits everyone involved. But it IS still a game.

And here's the thing: human being are natural problem-solvers. And if you don't create your games deliberately and consciously....then Life will usually create one for you. And it might not be a game you want to play.

For example, when I understood that I could create a game of "How can I earn $50,000 in personal net profit in ONE month"......well, that's a much more fun game to play than the one I used to play about "how am I going to be able to pay my light bill AND my telephone bill without getting either one disconnected?"

So, it really becomes a matter of choice. What games do you want to play? And how soon are you willing to start?

Tony Rush

An Accidental Life

Was in a chat room today and someone was asking about insurance. They said, "What is 'accidental life'."

It occurs to me that's a term that doesn't just apply to some types of insurance...it's a description of how most people spend their time here on the planet Earth.

If you want to be wealthy, you'll have to live your life on purpose. Being the cause for things in your life....not just being someone who deals with the effects.

There's no joy, pleasure or abundance in going through life just careening from wall to wall like a car out of control. In fact, it sucks. And that's where most people are.

--TR

Have You Been To Hogwarts?

The new "Harry Potter" movie "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix" was released this week. Jessica and I both enjoy the books and the movies. We're going to Atlanta this weekend and will probably catch it there.

As I was thinking about the story, I realized that most of us are a little like Harry Potter.

In the first book/movie "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone", we find out that Harry has spent most of his early years in trouble for the strange things happening in his life. He doesn't know that he's got magical abilities....and so he often gets punished for things that happen....and he doesn't know he's the one causing them.

At one point he gets upset by his cousin at the zoo and -- without realizing he does it -- the glass in front of a snake exhibit disappears and his cousin falls in with the snake. He gets punished by being sent to his room with no meals.

So, Harry's problem is that his magic works to cause all kinds of trouble but -- because he doesn't know he's a wizard -- he sees himself as an innocent victim of those happenings.

And guess what....that's how it works in real life, too.

Most people go through their entire lives without understanding that THEY are creating all their struggles....all their adversity...all their financial difficulties....all their relationship issues.

They may blame their boss.
Their parents.
Their negative relatives.
The economy.
The Democrats.
The Republicans.
Their boss.
Their company.
Or any one of dozens of other factors.

But the truth is that you are where you are because this is the situation you've CHOSEN for yourself.

Now, when I was dead broke and struggling to make ends meet.....would I have agreed that I was "choosing" to live that way? Of course not! But, I was. Because while it's true that I didn't consciously choose to struggle....it is 100% true that I was making choices every day that led me to a life where struggle was inevitable.

And choosing to succeed is the same way. When you choose to develop a Million Dollar mindset by taking responsibility for your own quality of life....you can begin making daily decisions and actions that will lead you to a life where wealth, abundance and wads of money are a natural way of life.

It's all about choice.

So, which "Harry Potter" are you being? Are you the confused one who doesn't understand why things keep happening? Or are you the one who understands that he's in control of his own power and has the ability to make things happen deliberately?

Life is a choice -- choose well!

Tony Rush

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

Why the concept of "retirement" doesn't work

There's a lot of talk in our country about the ability to "retire". That's the Holy Grail for a lot of people, isn't it? The ability to finally stop working...the finish line of a 40-50 year career so that now they can finally sit down and enjoy the fruits of their labor. Right?

Wrong.

The whole concept is flawed from the beginning. It's an outdated concept from the early Industrial Revolution when employers told laborers, "Hey, if you'll work for me for 40 hours a week for 40 years...then you can quit and get a gold watch and a pension."

That plan hasn't worked since the 1950's. It probably didn't work for your mom and dad and it's definitely not going to work for you, either.

Here's the good news: it doesn't have to. I'm not saying that you have to work 'til you die. I'm saying that the concept of deferring your life's pleasures until you're 60+ years old is STUPID.

Consider Timothy Nerriss' perspective from his wonderful book, "The Four Hour Workweek":

Retirement as a goal or final redemption is flawed for at least three solid reasons:

1. It is predicated on the assumption that you dislike what you're doing during the most physically capable years of your life. [Tony's comments: This is already an impossible situation. Nothing in the world can justify doing something you dislike for 50+ years.)

2. Most people will never be able to retire and maintain even a hotdogs-for-dinner standad of living. Even one million dollars is chump change in a world where traditional retirement could span 30 years and inflation lowers your purchasing power 2-4% per year. The math doesn't work. The golden years become a replay of lower-middle-class. That's a pretty bittersweet ending, isn't it?

3. And if the math DOES work, it means you are one ambitious, hardworking machine. If that's the case, guess what? One week into retirement, you'll be so damned bored that you'll want to stick bicycle spokes into your eyes. You'll probably look for a new job or start another company. Kinda defeats the purpose of waiting, doesn't it?

So, what am I (and Ferriss) saying? That you shouldn't aspire to have a life where you can relax and do as you please? Not at all!

On the contrary, my point is that you should begin living that life NOW. How much sense does it make to work hard for 40+ years so that -- when you're 60+ years old -- you can finally start doing the things you want to do.

Life is now. Don't postpone it.

Tony Rush

There are two kinds of people in the world....

A great perspective from Napoleon Hill's "Think and Grow Rich"...

Broadly speaking, there are two kinds of people in the world: leaders and followers. Decide at the beginning whether you intend to be a leader or remain a follower. The difference in income is vast.

The follower cannot reasonably expect the compensation which a leader is entitled to...although may followers make the mistake of expecting such pay.

And it's no disgrace to be a follower. On the other hand, remaining a follower isn't a credit, either. Most great leaders began in the capacity as a follower. They become great leaders because they were intelligent followers.

With few exceptions, the person who cannot follow a leader cannot BECOME an efficient leader. The person who can follow a leader most efficiently is usually the person who develops their leadership abilities faster.

So...which group are you in? Which group are you committed to staying in?

Tony Rush

The Two Sentence Wealth Formula

People ask me every week, "Tony, what would be the simplest advice you could give me for become wealthy?"

And, to sum it up in two sentences, I'd put it this way:

-- Find out what wealthy people are doing and do that
-- Find out what broke people do and -- whatever you do -- avoid doing that

While that may seem to be overly simple, the truth is that most people don't do either one. Ask yourself: have you ever actually sat down and studied the similarities between wealthy people? Did your parents teach you? Did you learn it in school? Do you see it on TV? Was it the topic of the last book you read?

Probably not.

And that is the #1 reason why the masses are struggling to make ends meet and are not experiencing the prosperity and abundance that is their birthright.

See you in the next issue!

Tony Rush

What the heck is an Astronaut Farmer?

I was looking through some movie trailers today and found one called "The Astronaut Farmer".

The Astronaut Farmer?? What the heck is that?

Turns out it's a new film from Billy Bob Thornton. And it looks pretty empowering. It's about a guy in Texas who has dreamed of going to space so badly that he finally decides to do something about it.

He builds a rocket. And despite threats from NASA, the government and everyone in between...he's made the decision to live his dream.

The movie isn't out yet but the language in the trailer is POWERFUL. Adjust your speakers and listen to this 30-second clip:

If you're not where you can listen right now, here's the quote:

Somewhere along the line, we stopped believing that we could do anything. You'd better know what you want to do. Before someone knows it for you.

Man, that's powerful. Most people go through their entire lives with no plan of their own. They're just fitting into someone else's plan. An employer. A supervisor. A boss.

And guess what they've got planned for you?

Not much.

And that's why you've got so many people driving what they don't want to drive, living where they don't want to live and doing what they don't want to do.

Have you figured out what YOU want in life? Are you doing anything about it? Or are you just going along with someone else's plan?

Here's the truth: you're either living your dreams or you're working for someone who's living theirs.

The ONLY people creating success in their lives are the people who are living their life "on purpose".

What's YOUR plan?

Tony Rush