Author: akosiallan

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How To Tutorials

Overcoming Fear

One of my greatest fears is in speaking with other people.  Growing up, I was not fond of going to birthday parties.  I was the geek at home, studying for school. 😉 I believed that if you want to appear smart, you have to keep quiet.  Unconsciously or not, it became one of my debilitating habits that I formed over the years. 

Rather than try to relate with other people, I shied away and hid in my own cave. 

The more I think about it, the more I realize that it is one of the main reasons why I have not been making the progress that I want to happen in my life.  At work, I don’t socialize that much.  Not because I don’t care, I certainly do.  But sometimes, I am just plain lazy.  I don’t want to make the effort and get rejected in the end.  I feel comfortable just being with myself, because then I won’t have to worry about anything else.  My simple mantra was.."do you work, go home and mind your own business."  Big mistake.

How do you confront your fear and laziness? 

Simple.  Go to the cemetery.  Look for tomb stones.  Imagine looking at your own tombstone.  Ask yourself if this is your last day in this world, would you be hiding under the bed, cowardly waiting for something to make your fears go away?  Or would you make the most of the time you’ve got, not a care in the world whether people will think you are crazy or not?

When you realize that you only have a limited time to live, you have no choice but to give everything you’ve got in every moment of your life.  After all, we only have one life to live.  Live it to the fullest or never live it at all!

P.S.  I am working on a project helping people live their life’s dreams, if you want to learn more and be a part of it, CLICK HERE to contact me.

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Investing Stocks

Philippine Stock Market Investing Basics

Last month, I had the priviledge of being invited as one of the resource speakers in the University of the Philippines Diliman College of Business Administration’s (UP CBA) Alternative Class Learning Experience (ACLE).  The event titled “Stockticks: Learning the basics” was organized by Adelfe Enu Crea Sorority, UP CBA’s only business sorority, helping promote Philippine Stock Market Investing to students of UP Diliman.

The experience was a blast!  More than 60+ students were able to attend the event and learned the basics of investing in the Philippine Stock Market.  I was also fortunate to share the stage with one of the more experienced stock market investors in the Philippines, Mr Aaron Say of Rhyme and Reason Investing.

Good news for you, my wife (a.k.a my number one fan), was able to take a video of my talk.   In the video, I discussed the basics of stock market investing, what a stock is, how do you make money from stocks, its advantages/disadvantages over other investment vehicles and more.  The video is around 30 minutes long so I had to split it into two so it can be uploaded to You Tube.

CLICK HERE to watch part 1 of 2 of the video.

CLICK HERE to watch part 2 of 2 of the video.

Watch and enjoy!

P.S.  I understand that the information contained in the video is basic for some who are already investing in the stock market…but for those of you who are still clueless how to invest in the philippine stock market, I hope this will be a welcome mini-tutorial for you.  I am like you and I know how it feels to want to learn but don’t know where to start.  This video is a good starting point, if you’re really interested to pursue stock market investing in the Philippines. 🙂

DISCLAIMER:  I am NOT a licensed stock market analyst or stock broker, nor am I a seasoned investor.  I am just like you, an ordinary person wanting to learn how to grow the money I have.  Please note that everything I say in this blog and in the video are purely my own personal opinion and nothing else.  Take them at your own risk. 🙂 If you seek professional advice, please consult licensed professionals engaged in that line of business.

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Business Investing Money Mindset Passive Income

5 Questions You Need To Ask Before Joining a Network Marketing Company

Recently, one avid reader of this blog emailed me to ask my thoughts regarding highly controversial topics such as Network Marketing or Multi-Level Marketing.

I have often hesitated sharing my thoughts on topics such as network marketing, because for one, I don’t have much to share to begin with.  I was not confident enough to share what limited knowledge I had about the industry.  I didn’t want to share with you mere hearsay or what someone else has experienced good or bad.

Now, I know a little bit more and have gained first-hand experience to at least share with you simple tips to help you avoid falling into scams that has given this industry a lot of bad reputation.

First of all, let’s define what network marketing is so we all start off from the same page.

“Network Marketing is a system of moving products from the factory to the consumer, through an organization of users, retailers and network builders.” 

Secondly, I highly encourage you to CLICK HERE to watch a video explaining how network marketing model really works and how is it different from other distribution models.  The video features an interview with a university professor who holds a PhD in Business Administration from Harvard University who is involved on researching, teaching and consulting about network marketing.

Lastly, I want to help you avoid falling into ponzi schemes or pyramid scams.  After learning more about the industry, it has become one of my advocacies to help educate people on legitimate and professional ways to build a network marketing business…and more importantly, if you decide to become part of this industry, to help you build your business with the right foundation of integrity, honesty and sincere desire to help other people get what they want in life.

Here are 5 questions you need to ask before joining a network marketing company.

1) Who are the owners of the company? 

What are their backgrounds in terms of starting and running a business, especially a network marketing business?  Every industry is different.  Some people may be good with traditional businesses, or have succeeded in franchising, but it doesn’t necessarily mean they will succeed using a network marketing business model.  How many years have they been in business? What is their mission and vision?  What are their core values? Is it aligned with what you believe in?

You need to understand that a huge part of business success is about the people who own or are running the company.  The owners, as well as the CEO, and the other employees who will be there face to face with your customers will make or break your business.  You need to think like an investor who is looking for a CEO to run your own company.  If you have doubts about their background, or worse, you don’t even know who the owners of your company are, better STOP and do more due diligence than regret losing your hard earned money in the end.

2) What is the track record of the company?

How stable is the company?  A lot of the bad reputation the industry has been getting is based on some companies’ poor track record.  Not a few companies have started so fast but folded up in a few years. As a consequence, many distributors were left hanging in the end.

The thing to understand about a network marketing business, is that IT IS still a business. The success ratio still applies: 9 out of 10 businesses fail in the first 5 years; and for those who survive, 1 out of 10 of them will fail in the next 5 years.  The simple reason? Any start up business will go through growing pains.   The systems are still being built and not yet in place.  If the systems break down, the business collapses. That’s why, you need a great visionary team running the company, who will make good decisions and never compromise money over the long term health of the business.  You need people who are going to be there for the long term.

How long is considered stable?  A good benchmark is at least 10 years.  By then, the systems are already in place and has proven to work through business cycles like economic recessions and depressions.

3) How is the product different from those in the market?

After watching the video earlier, I hope you at least have an idea how different the distribution model of network marketing companies are compared to traditional ones.  Different they may be, both, however, have the same goal in mind — move the product from the factory to the consumer.

There are three things to consider when looking at the companies’ products: 1) it must have unique selling proposition, it must be of high quality and 3) it must be consumable.

First, the product should have a unique selling proposition.  You cannot sell a product, distribute it via network marketing and have that same product also distributed in traditional retail stores.  Just think, if the same product is available in your neighborhood grocery store, why go through all the trouble and buy it from somewhere else?

Second, the product must be of high quality. The good thing about network marketing is that because it minimizes the distribution cost, the products tend to be of higher quality.  This ensures that it gets the better end of the network being a two-edged sword.  People talk about great products.  But they talk MORE about bad products.  So if you are in a network marketing business, your products must be top-notch, otherwise, your network’s multiplying advantage may even be your worst enemy.

Third, you want your products to be consumable.  You want your customers to keep coming back to use your products.  That’s the only way to build loyal customers.  That applies to a traditional business, but even more so for a network marketing business.  And you can only do that if your product is of high quality.

4) Where are the sales coming from?

There are two-sides to a legitimate network marketing business.  One, is direct sales, where you buy a product at a lower price and sell it higher for a profit.  The other side is in sponsoring other people to help you sell more products to more users, retailers and network builders.  Normally, the company will give you a start up kit or enrollment pack which contains your initial inventory of products.

To know if the company is legitimate or not, you need to watch out whether the direct-sale activities balance with the sponsoring side of the business.  If the sales are coming mainly from direct sales with minimal sponsoring activities, then it is operating mostly as a direct sales business.  On the other hand, if the sales of the company are coming mostly from selling of start-up kits or enrollment packs, and not much is coming from direct sales, then the company is bordering on becoming a pyramid scam or ponzi scheme.  The company may be legitimate, but if the only thing they are selling is the startup kit, and there are no repeat purchases from satisfied customers, then sooner than later, the company will also fold up.

Obviously, the commissions should be based on how many products were sold and how many repeat purchases there are, and NOT based on the number of people who signed-up.  In the end, the heart of a business is still and will always be satisified customers.

5) How fair is the compensation plan?

Is the compensation plan built upon rewarding only those people at the top? Is it possible for someone new to surpass the earnings of those who have joined the company earlier?  How will you be rewarded?

How healthy is the financial condition of the company? Has the company put in place control mechanisms to ensure the long term health of the company?  Obviously, the company has to make profits as well as give a fair share to the distributors.  If all profits are given to distributors, it is just a matter of time before the company folds up and the owner runs away with your money in his pocket.

You also need to ask yourself how many people have already succeeded in the company, and what are your chances as a new distributor to succeed as well?  What available training and support will you get in order to achieve the same or greater level of success in the business?  What challenges will you expect if you decided to pursue this business to get the results you want? These are simple questions you need to ask to really understand what you are getting into.  Network marketing business can give you potential residual or even passive income, but it doesn’t happen overnight.  It is certainly not easy, but it can be done.

The above 5 tips is just a simple list you can refer to before joining a network marketing company.  My hope is that you keep this handy list with you when you start exploring getting into a network marketing business.   The world has changed…and one of those changes is the coming of age of the network marketing industry.  It has even been tagged as the “business of the 21st century” by Robert Kiyosaki, the famous author of Rich Dad, Poor Dad.  The only question is whether you will become part of it or not.

Starting a network marketing business can be your gateway to success if you do it right.  It will most likely change your life for the better if you work on it and do your own due diligence.  In the end, it is all up to you.  Be driven.  Be careful.  Be wise.

Cheers to your success!

 

P.S.  CLICK HERE to mail me  if you are considering building a network marketing business and would like to be part of my team XTRM 1-11 Inc, one of the most professional and highly successful team in the network marketing industry. If you become part of the team, you will also get a chance to receive personal mentoring from me.
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Life Updates Passive Income Personal Growth

Mid-year Financial Goals Update

It’s now August and more than half of the year has already passed.  It’s time to get back to my financial goals this year and share with you my insights into what what I’ve been up to the past months.

At the start of the year, I shared with you 3 personal goals I had in mind.  One is financial in nature, the other two is for my health and personal development.

Goal #1: 3 income streams earning $100 each per month

The journey in achieving this goal has surprised me more than anything else.  Last March, I was on my way to earning at least $100 income from affiliate income from this blog as well as ebook sales.  I had to turn off Google adsense because while I already earned my first $100, I didn’t feel it was aligned with my long term goals for this site.

For the past few months my affiliate earnings from Bo Sanchez’ Truly Rich Club has been pretty consistent.  It actually reached around $65 for the month of May.  My affiliate earnings to Jomar Hilario’s Workshops and Seminar climbed up to $157 on the same month.  The thing was, while my site got hacked, went down and its traffic plummetted to zero overnight last month, my affiliate earnings were hardly impacted at all. As for the ebook, that’s another story.  It has not been doing very well the past few months.

But the most surprising thing I’ve experienced for the first half of the year is the result from one of my new ventures which was 5x all my affiliate earnings combined for the month.  That’s why, like an aspiring entrepreneur would do, I’ve had to re-align my resources to focus on this new venture of mine.   I’ve also had to reassess my goals for the year, given that I may not need 3 income streams to hit $100 each anymore.  Focusing on one can practically earn more than the three combined.  My financial goal has changed, and that’s one of the topics I will be sharing with you the rest of the year.

Goal #2:  Weigh no more than 176 pounds by December 31, 2011

One of the main challenges I’ve encoutered over the past few months is in looking for healthier food to eat.  Given the proximity of our condo to the mall and the convenience of a 24-hour store nearby, sometimes, it’s hard to convince myself to make the extra effort of looking for healthier food options.  Compound that with the seemingly hectic (but actually just mismanaged) time that I have, that’s a constant battle I have to face everyday. 

From my last quarter’s update, I was able to lose 13 pounds to bring down my weight from 200 pounds to around 187 pounds.  I’ve had to change my habits to a healthier lifestyle over the past couple of months as part of my regimen to make that happen.  And even though I still haven’t reached my goal, I still think I am on the right track to hit it by the end of this year. My goal is only a few pounds away as I am sitting comfortably at 181 pounds at the moment. 

One of the great blessings I got in losing those extra pounds has to do with being able to stay healthy and not get sick as often as before.  While I got sick because of stress and exhaustion due to my hectic schedule last month, I was able to get back to the office with only a day of rest.  Compare that to the whole 2 weeks of vacation ruined last Christmas when I had to battle through with colds and fever while going on a 3-day vacation with my wife in Bohol. 

I’ve never felt healthier in my life.  It really surprises me that when I go up the stairs in the MRT station, I no longer need to catch my breath.  In fact, I even take 2 steps at a time when I am in a hurry.  Life is good, indeed!

Goal #3: Go somewhere I’ve never been to once every quarter.

This is a goal I’ve struggled to accomplish over the past 6 months and continue to struggle with as I look for travel opportunities for the next half of the year.

The last vacation I had was with my wife and her friends in Fontana Resort.  I had lots of fun.  The only problem? I’ve been to Fontana before a few years back.  So I’m stil zero out of 2 for this year.  I really need to catch up fast.  Summer is gone and rainy season is here.

Looking back, I can give you a lot of reasons why I couldn’t take a vacation or go out of town.  I have no time.  I have a hectic schedule.  My boss won’t allow me.  In the end, though, they are all excuses.  Instead of dwelling on those excuses, I think a more positive thing for me to do right now is to "just do it."

What amazes me is that while I’ve not had some vacation time the past months, I’ve had a lot of opportunities to catch up with old friends lately over dinner or a cup of coffee.  It’s really amazing how time seem to stand still when you and your friends share old memories together and laugh at ridiculous things you did in the past.  It’s really a great blessing to have such great friends.  That alone makes me believe that God has really blessed me tremendously all these years.

Looking ahead to the rest of the year

I realized that in almost anything worth doing, you have to put in the time and effort to really see significant results.  To tell you honestly, I’ve had days when I didn’t do anything at all on this site.  If you noticed, I only had one article written for the whole month of June and July.  There were times when I had to re-assess what I really wanted to do with this site…and that also means I had to rediscover what I really wanted in life.  Is it money?  Is it freedom? Is it being able to help others in however way I can?

While I have been blessed financially at my daytime job, I still wonder whether there’s more to life than just financial blessings. The more I think about it, the more I realize that one thing I don’t have is TIME.  I am still a slave of the 9-to-5 job and all the things that come with it. My dream is to be able to have control of my own time.  I want to be able to work on things that I really enjoy, and in the process, contribute however I can to also help inspire other people discover what it is they truly want in life.

How about you? How’s your first half of the year been so far?

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Life Updates Money Mindset

Rich Money Habits is being re-built to serve you better…

Hey there!

Thanks for visiting Rich Money Habits by akosiallan.com.  My blog www.akosiallan.com got hacked a few days ago and my old hosting account was cancelled as a result…I thought this will also be a good time to overhaul the whole Rich Money Habits blog so please be patient if the rebuilding takes quite a bit of time.

Anyway, I hope to have the site up and running as soon as possible so you can enjoy the helpful money tips and articles once again.  While waiting, I encourage you to consider signing-up to my newsletter by filling-up the form below and receive the 8 ways to shift your money habits and be rich email series.  It’s totally FREE!

God bless you!

Sincerely,

Allan Inocente

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Business Investing Life Lessons Money Mindset

How Can A Janitor Be Better Off Financially Than A Doctor?

A humble low-income earning janitor became better off financially than a highly successful doctor. It happened…only in the Cashflow 101 game.

Last weekend, I had the great fortune to host another round of Rich Money Habits Cashflow Workshop.  And I couldn’t have prepared myself for the suprise that I was about to witness — a janitor beating a doctor in the cashflow game.  It happened.  It really happened.

How did it happen?  Simple.  The janitor took advantage of the opportunities that came his way, even though he had little money to begin with.  In the end, he got out of the rat race and achieved his dream.  The doctor, on the other hand, was a little bit more careful and took his time investing in opportunities.  While he was able to generate a lot of passive income, in the end, he wasn’t able to get out of the rat race.

Of course, it helped that the janitor only had minimal expenses, so he only needed a few extra passive income to get out of the rat race.  But then again, he also did not let his meager paycheck affect his willingness to invest in income-producing assets.  Even when the deal was “too big” for a janitor’s income, he still managed to face his fears and take advantage of the opportunity.  In short, he invested in income-producing assets and when the market turned up, he sold those assets and got a hefty sum that allowed him to invest some more.

The doctor, on the other hand, wasn’t doing bad financially at all.  In fact, he actually acquired more properties, earning him more passive income than the janitor.  How many? A lot more, I would say.

Why then was he not able to get out of the rat race?  Reason? He had a high expense.  That high expense spelled the difference.  Because of the high expense, he needed to do a lot more than the janitor.  Whereas the janitor needed only 2 properties to get out of the rat race, the doctor was only half way to getting out after acquiring about 10 properties.

It appears a story like this happens only on fairy tales.  A happy ending.  A triumph of David vs Goliath.  But the message is clear.  It isn’t so much about how much money you make.  It is also about how much you spend, and how you invest the difference so you can get out of the rat race faster.

Taking this important lesson to real-life, here are things you can do to help you get out of the rat race.

1) Take charge of your cashflow

As my good friend Jay Castillo mentioned in one of his popular articles, you should become the CFO (Chief Financial Officer) of your own financial life.  You have to treat yourself as a business enterprise.  You have to look at your finances from an eye of a business tycoon.  How much money is coming in (salary, side businesses, investment income, etc), how much money is going out (rent, food, car, starbucks, etc), and how you are going to invest the difference.

2) Take the right mindset

Having the right mindset will help you build the right money habits which will lay out a good foundation to your financial journey.  It is not about getting rich quick by taking advantage of other people.  Nor is it getting rich winning the lottery. It is not about getting rich being a crook, or a dishonest politician, or an evil-villain in movies or soap operas.  It is about being rich with integrity and honesty by providing value to a lot of people.  It is about being rich so you can bless more people.

3) Take baby steps

One of the most dangerous things you want to get your mind off is the idea of winning a one-time BIG-time fortune.  It just doesn’t happen that way.  Take baby steps.  You start small.  You learn.  You grow.  Once you learn the lesson, you’ll be able to handle the responsibility when the BIG fortunes come your way.  Having the BIG fortune when your not ready can even be detrimental to your growth.  Ask any of those who won the lottery and ended up poorer a few years after winning.

4) Take your time

Be patient.  It will not happen overnight.  It takes time to learn the right mindset, to develop yourself to be able to do the things that you need to do to provide value to other people.  You will go through a lot of discouragements.  But all people who have accomplished great things have gone through trials.  It just makes the victory even sweeter.  Just like wine, the longer the wait, the tastier it becomes.

5) Take responsibility

One thing all great people have in common is that they take responsibility of their results.  If you fail, it’s your fault.  If you succeed, it’s also your fault.  There are no excuses.  We are dealt with the same lemons every now and then.  It is up to you to take those lemons and turn them into a lemonade.  It’s never a question of being lucky or being dealt with a fair amount of challenges.  Time and time again, the thing that makes people great is never in the amount of challenges they have to face.  It is in the realization that they have a tremendous power to take on those challenges, if only they believe in themselves enough and the God who made them.

Go out there and be rich with honesty, integrity and humility.

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Life Lessons Money Mindset

5 Reasons Why Time Is Gold

I’ve never really undestood what the saying “Time is Gold” really meant until I learned a little more about the world of money.  Time is an abstract concept that doesn’t really exist, just like money.  But the sheer mention of the word ignites a lot of emotions from different people.  Those without it, are stressed out.  Those with a lot of time on their hands are either bored or dreaming.

While pondering this old saying, I realized there are actually 5 things that explain why time can be considered Gold.

1. You can never get it back

The only thing in this world that you cannot get back (aside from life itself) is time.  When you’ve spent 30 minutes of your time, you can not get it back, however you desperately want it.  You can invent the greatest time machine all you want, but at this point in human evolution, there’s just no way of turning back time.  That’s why the emotion of “regret” is very powerful.  If only you could turn back time somehow, you would give everything just to have it.

The ironic thing is, all the material things we trade our time for can be taken back.  I know of someone who lost her home to foreclosure, but managed to get it back years after because of her determination.  Donald Trump, the billionaire real-estate magnate lost a lot of money, but managed to get it all back and more.  Unlike material things, once time passes you by, you can never bring it back.

2.  You only have 24 hours in a day

This is really an amazing equalizer.  Everyone gets the same chance at life.  We all have 24 hours in a day.  Even the richest people on earth only have 24 hours in a day.  The poorest of the poor also have 24 hours in a day.  The only difference — they use their 24 hours very differently.

If you don’t like what your life is right now, there’s only one thing you need to do — change the way you spend your time.  You don’t need to place your hope in winning the lottery, or deceiving other people for your own financial gain.  You can get rich with integrity by learning to value your own time, and valuing other people’s time as well.

3.  You can trade time for money

You can trade your time for money.  How? Simply get a job and watch the next 40 years of your life traded for a monthly salary?  How much is your time worth?  Are you earning enough?  Is your time worth that much?

It doesn’t matter whether you are CEO or an entry-level employee, you still trade your time for money.  When you don’t go to work, you stop earning.  Unless of course, you are investing that time to build your own business, or investing your earnings on income-producing assets, that, hopefully someday allow you to hire other people to do the work for you and you can then spend your time playing with your kids, doing the things you love to do.

4.  You can leverage your time

Why is it that even though everyone only has 24 hours in a day, some people can get a lot more done than others? Reason? Leverage.  Henry Sy employs thousands of people to run his business empire.  By so doing, he multiplies his time by thousands.  With that thousands of hours, millions is earned by his businesses each single day.

Compared that into a one-man show employee.  His single-handed efforts, without any form of leverage, can only get to 24 hours, no matter how strong or skilled he may be.

5.   You can make the most of what you have

The hard truth is that your time is limited.  You never know when your time will end.  But one thing is for sure, you can make the most of the time that you have.

Spend your “golden” time with your loved ones.  Take care of them.  Enjoy what life has to offer.  Remember that we are just passers by in this world we call life.  When you live your life by the moment, you leave a long-lasting impression into the lives of other people…and your life’s meaning would be fulfilled.

P.S.  If you are searching for ways to earn passive/residual income so you can enjoy more time with your family, CLICK HERE to email me.

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The Single Biggest Lie You Need To Overcome If You Want To Start Your Own Business

Ask any of your friends if they want to start their own business someday and a lot would say yes.  There’s a certain enigma to starting a business that a lot of people associate it to risk-taking and entrepreneurial individuals who overcame huge obstacles in their journey from rags to riches.  While this may be true for some, starting a business is not always as rosy as it sounds.

If you are one of those few lucky souls who want to start your own business someday, you’re up against all odds.

They say 9 out of 10 businesses fail in their first 5 years.  And out of those left standing, 9 out of 10 would have failed after 10 years.  That’s the reality you have to overcome if you want to see your own business see the light of day.

Have you ever felt that your dream of owning your business is already over even before you get started?  That’s what I felt when I heard the sobering statistics.

But why really do most people haven’t started their own businesses yet?  Their most common excuse?  Not enough capital.

The interesting is…not only is this a myth, it is a blatant lie.  It may be by far, the biggest obstacle you have to overcome if you ever want to start your own business one day.

For one, if you need a lot of money to get started, then no one would have been able to grow their business from rags to riches.  Jollibee didn’t start out in day one as 100 stores! Not even Henry Sy is good enough to have an SM Megamall when he started.  How did they start?  They started small.  Jollibee started as a small ice cream parlor.  SM was small shoe store.

Most people who make the excuse of not having capital to start their own business is making a disservice to themselves.  It’s plain old excuse.  It’s as if it’s the only thing they need to actually succeed in business.  It could be the farthest thing from the truth.  If you want to succeed, having a lot of money may even be detrimental to your business’ growth.

A lot of starting a business is solving problems.  If you have a lot of money, you have to go against the temptation of throwing money at your problem.  Without money you are forced to be creative in solving that problem.  Your creative juices is nurtured like a muscle going for an exercise.  The more you exercise, the more you become good at it.  The more you become good at it, the more your business will grow.

One rags to riches story I remember from the Truly Rich Entrepreneur’s Workshop I attended last month was about a young guy who started with PhP 100, fought against all odds and became a Multi-millionaire.  He didn’t have a lot of things, but one thing he had was his passion for cars.

One day, after having little success at school, his parents gave him PhP 100 as his last allowance.  With his back against the wall, he thought about how to start a business using only that PhP 100.  Because he was passionate about cars, he thought of opening a business around fixing cars.  The only problem, he didn’t know how to fix cars.

How did he solve this problem?  Simple.  He asked his friend who knew how to fix cars become his business partner.

With a new business partnership formed, the next problem he had to solve was to look for clients.  To solve this, he went out to the parking lot of a mall, looked for high-end cars which needed fixing.  He used a portion of his PhP 100 to come up with a flyer and slipped them into the car’s windshield.  Out of those flyers, 5 people called him up and he was able to close a deal with 2 of them.  He and his friend used the remaining money from the PhP 100 to go to their client on board a taxi.

Left without any money, they had another problem — they didn’t have the necessary tools to fix the car.  Solution?  They asked for a down payment from the client and used that to buy the tools.  And the rest as they say is history.  He was able to franchise the car fixing business system and now earns PhP2 Million peso from that business alone.

You see, it takes a lot more than just capital to start your own business. You need passion.  You need specific skills most especially sales and marketing.  You need a brilliant team around you to help you achieve your business goals.

I am not saying having money is NOT good.  What I am saying is that you need to stop making excuses and start doing what needs to be done if you are really serious about starting your own business.

Stop reading.  Go do something.  Starting your own business cannot be learned from reading books alone.  Like riding a bike, you can never learn it watching by the sidelines.  You have to actually ride on your bike, fall a lot of times, and get back up to try again..and again.  And once you learn and able to balance yourself, it will be the greatest feeling you’ve ever felt in your life.

P.S.  If you are searching for a home-based business you can start part-time with minimal risk, CLICK HERE to email me.

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Business Investing Life Lessons Money Mindset Passive Income Personal Finance

Tales of the Cashflow 101 Games Part 2 – Lessons Learned

Last April 3, I had the priviledge of hosting our second session of Rich Money Habits’ Cashflow 101 games.  This time, at The Old Spaghetti House (TOSH) Restaurant at Robinsons Forum, EDSA Pioneer, Mandaluyong City.

There were two great news in this session of Cashflow 101 game compared to last time —

First and foremost, all participants got out of the rat race.  Congratulations to the participants!  Yehey!  Granted, it took some time for some of the participants to get out.  In the end, however, when one of them finally got out, like magic, everyone followed suit and got out in no time at all.  It could be because they saw that getting out of the rat race is indeed possible.  Everyone focused on making more passive income from then on so they too can also get out of the rat race.  In hindsight, I realized that this is also true in real life.  The more like-minded people you surround yourself with, the more people will support you and cheer you on as you go for your dream of financial freedom.

Second, we had the luxury of time and we were able to enjoy the game without getting kicked out of the restaurant.  The first time I hosted a Cashflow 101 game in Tapa King Edsa Central, we were kicked out because apparently playing cashflow boardgame is prohibited inside the restaurant.  We were lucky the caretaker still allowed us to play the game if only for a couple of hours.  But when the guard saw us, the caretaker didn’t have any other choice than to request us to stop playing, even though we weren’t done yet…just when the participants were now beginning to see how the cashflow 101 game works.  I felt really bad for the participants and promised myself never to allow a similar experience to happen again.

Hosting the second cashflow 101 session had its own challenges but the fact that everyone got out of the rat race was a reward in itself.  It was a gratifying experience witnessing the participants get out of the rat race and cross over to the fast track.  Seeing their spirits come alive and become animated as they celebrate their personal victory is truly an amazing experience.

After the game, I asked the participants what realizations they’ve had while playing the game.  Here are 5 lessons they’ve willingly shared that I am now passing on to you so you too can learn from them as well.

1) It’s OK to start all over again. 

One of the players over leveraged and got into debt so much so that he was already paying more money than what he was able to earn.  In short, his expenses was greater than his income.  Whenever he passes by the “Paycheck” cell, instead of receiving income, he now shells out extra cash to pay out his debts.

Needless to say, this led to his downfall as he eventually filed for BANKRUPTCY.  After declaring bankruptcy, he had to sell off all his assets for half the price.  After selling his “assets” off and paying his debts, he finally got into a positive cashflow situation.

That means, he had extra money at the end of the month again.  The surprising thing was, after getting rid of his “asset” he was actually better off.  He had lots of cash and he didn’t have to pay every month for his “asset”.  What he considered to be an asset was actually eating him alive because of the HUGE loans, causing him to file for bankruptcy.

Does this sound familiar?  I think this is very similar to the housing crisis a couple of years back, and still being felt up to this day.

2) It’s OK to borrow money as long as your asset is paying for it.

One of the most popular advise you will get is to NEVER borrow money.  And it certainly is a wise advise, especially if you are still learning your way to financial literacy and you don’t have the discipline to pay off what you owe.

The surprising thing was, because of the law of leverage, those who bought assets turned out to be in better position to take advantage of opportunities when the market changed.  For example, in the game when someone draws out a market card, it could turn out positive changes to the players.  Someone may be looking to buy for a new house.  And because you have the property, you get to sell it to him.

Of course, it is not always as rosy as it sounds.  One time during the game, someone drew a catastrophic market card — a financial crisis, if you may.  Tenants could no longer pay rent.  Everyone who had 3 bedroom/ 2 bath houses was affected and the owner had to let go of their properties.  Ouch.

3) It’s OK if you want to play it safe, you can still get out of the rat race

One of the players was very conscious about getting into debt, even though it was only a game.  At first, she was focusing on the paycheck and wanted to earn more, feeling safe with the money that she had.  She avoided debts as much as possible and ensured she always had extra cash at hand.  She occassionally invested in mutual funds and stocks throughout the game.

In the end, even she was able to get out of the rat race.  She didn’t have to quit her job.  In fact, after getting out of the rat race, she now has the option to still do what she’s always done.  But the good thing is, she’s no longer tied to her job anymore.  She can quit anytime she wants, and the passive income will still be able to cover her monthly expenses.  Isn’t that great?

The lesson? You can still get out of the rat race even if you’re afraid of debts.  You don’t have to despair if you find out you’re afraid of risks.  You can still get out of the rat race.

Of course, while the game went on, she had to shift her focus from paycheck to opportunities.  One time, she was even complaining why she landed on paycheck instead of opportunity.  At the time, she was almost out of the rat race.  One small deal was enough for her to become financially free.  In that context, it’s understandable why she wanted to land on another opportunity instead of a paycheck.

4) It’s OK to give away what you seek the most

It is sometimes counterintuitive to give away what you seek most.  Your tendency is to keep what you have for as long as you can.  In reality, however, keeping it to yourself does more damage to you because of the feeling of scarcity that you’re telling your mind.  Instead, do what one of the players did.  Here’s how.

The same player who went into bankruptcy had the habit of donating to charities, even when he was financially struggling. The surprising thing was, he eventually managed to get up and get out of the rat race even with the bankruptcy.  The fact is, he even surpassed and got out ahead of some of the other players. 🙂

He mastered the flow of money by starting to be generous with what he had. It is truly mind boggling how things fall into place when you set your priorities straight.

5) It’s OK to be the last one to get out of the rat race

It doesn’t matter whether all other players are already out of the rat race, although I might say, it can be demoralizing sometimes.  When that happens, know that we all start out somewhere.  Perhaps, one was able to get out of the rat race faster because she had only minimal expenses.  Or perhaps, she took advantage an opportunity and the market rewarded her investments.  The important thing is YOU are able to get out of the rat race.  It is your personal victory.

It’s inevitable to compare your results with other people.  It’s just what we normal humans do.  But instead of living your life in despair, use that motivation to be inspired instead.  You can say, “if they can get out the rat race, it only means, I too can get out as well!”.  Keep the positive attitude up, and sooner than later, you too will celebrate your day of financial freedom. Cheers!

Readers, have you played Cashflow 101 game board?  What other lessons can you add into the above list?

P.S.  Ready to play cashflow 101 in real-life?  CLICK HERE to email me.

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Rich Money Habits 2011 Financial Goals First Quarter Update

As some of you know, I started the year with 3 goals in mind.  One is financial in nature (3 streams of passive income $100/month each), the other two is for my health and being (weigh no more than 85kgs and go somewhere I’ve never been to every quarter of the year).

Financial Goal #1 – Three streams of passive income earning $100 per month each

For the first goal, the short status is that it’s halfway there.  I’ve shared my income report from Google adsense and the earnings form my ebook launching in one of my recent posts.  While they are not yet earning $100 per month, the income has been up to a great start!

The ebook is not selling as much as I hoped for but I am not one to complain because it is purely passive income.  I hardly do anything aside from promoting the ebook, which I must admit I am not doing a very good job at.  Besides, I am learning a lot just figuring out ways on how the ebook can be made more useful and how it can reach a lot more people.  That’s why I am excited because in the coming weeks there will be a lot more exciting things happening here at Rich Money Habits.

Also, Red asked me thru the comment section of one of my recent articles whether I’d be willing to share how much I am earning from being an affiliate of Truly Rich Club.  I sometimes hesitate sharing actual financial results because it might be taken the wrong way.  However, I feel being transparent to you and helping inspire you in your own journey is more important than my own fears.  So here it is.

The great thing about it is that I didn’t have to create a product or ship anything.  All I did is recommend a great product that I personally use myself, and would be very happy to recommend anyway with or without the affiliate income.

One of the challenges I’ve faced as an affiliate, however, was that because I didn’t have a way to contact those who signed-up as a result of my referral, I have no way to reach them and say thank you…and may be even give them a free gift or something.  That’s one of the reasons why I launched my own product so that I can have more control and be able to give freebies anytime I want.

One thing you will notice in the report is that the affiliate income started only last May 2010, more than a year after my wife and I already signed-up as members to the Truly Rich Club.  I honestly cannot remember why it started so late, but the great thing is, even if it was only a very very small amount in the beginning, it consistenly grew to PhP2,572.80 just last month.  That’s US $59.83 already, more than half of my $100 goal! 🙂

There are other streams of income I’m planning to launch in the near future that are still in the exploratory stage, but I don’t want to spoil the fun and surprise.  You’ll hear more about them once there’s something more concrete to talk about.  In any case, the first quarter has been a great learning experience so far, one I totally didn’t expect.

Financial Goal #2 – Weigh No More Than 85 kgs

At the start of the year, I finally got the initiative to use our condo’s gym.  Jog on the treadmill for 20 minutes a day, 3 times a week — that was my goal.  I was able to do it consistently for the first few weeks and lost a few pounds…But after a few weeks of not going to the gym, I gained it all back.  My wife and I even bought a Wii Fit board, just to get some added motivation in trying to enjoy exercising, but after a few weeks, we hardly ever use it anymore.

I also started trying to eat healthy.  After learning from Bo’s book ‘Awaken the Healer In You’ that drinking fresh fruit juice can be a very healthy morning habit, my wife and I invested in a juicer that was offered at a 50% discount in one of our visit to the mall.  So we started using the juicer in the morning and got ourselves small cups of fruit juice.

The only problem – we had to clean up the juicer ourselves.  It’s not too much, but sometimes when you’re in a hurry to get to work in the morning, the last thing you want to do is spend some time washing your juicer.   So after a few weeks of being very busy, getting our daily juice in the morning became less frequent.  Of course, I could have hired a house helper to do that.  And it is certainly part of our long term plan.  But the thing is, our condo is small and just enough for me and my wife.  Getting a stay-in house helper doesn’t look like a good idea at this point.

Then I discovered Nutrimeal, a nutritious mixed protein drink designed for those who are trying to manage their weight.  I followed the recommended RESET program and in 10 days, I lost 8.6 pounds safely and easily without needing to starve myself and hardly any exercise at all.  I’m currently at 187.10 pounds, just a hair thin away from my goal of 85kgs (i.e 187 pounds)…almost there! Yey! 🙂 And because it is very easy to prepare, I can have my “meal” in just 45 seconds.  This solved my problem of not having any time to prepare a decent meal as I rush off to work in the morning.

The first time I took my weight and BMI was around January, when we bought the Wii Fit board.  Just for fun, I tried checking my weight again after the 10 days of RESET program was over.  Here’s a picture of my Wii Weight Loss Chart at exactly 190 pounds.  I actually went down from being an Obese to just Overweight.  And even though it’s not yet under the “normal” range, the funny thing is that I’m still very very happy because for the first time, I am now seeing some tangible results.  There is hope indeed!

After another 10 days, I weighed myself again on the Wii Fit board and was even more delighted to find out that I’ve lost another 2.9 pounds. Sweet! Now, I feel more confident going to the beach! 🙂

I am not sharing these to you to brag but to help inspire you to keep on going for your goals and dreams no matter what they are.  I’ve tried a lot of ways to achieve the results I wanted…a lot of them failed.  But finally, one worked and my goal is now closer than I think.  I have no doubt in my mind that I will be able to get to 85kgs (187 pounds) in no time flat.  In fact, I am now re-setting my weight goal to now target 80 kgs by December 31, 2011 instead.  My wish is that you achieve your fitness goals too.

If you are also trying to lose weight (and has seen limited success so far), this may be for you.  Unfortunately, you cannot get the Nutrimeal from grocery stores or even at any retail stores like Health Options.   If you want to find out how you too can get it, you can simply email me. No, this is nothing illegal or unsafe so don’t worry.  I am no drug dealer, alright. 🙂

Financial Goal #3 – Go somewhere I’ve never been to every quarter.

This is one area I’m struggling with.  Both because I’m always very busy at work and also for personal reasons I want to keep private for now.  In any case, this is still one of my most cherished goals.

Recently, my wife and I spent a nice weekend getaway in Tagaytay.  But that doesn’t count, because I’ve been to Tagaytay before.  In fact, our wedding a few years ago was held somewhere in Tagaytay.  So it’s a place close to my heart.

The reason I really want to travel is so that I can explore other places and meet other people, learn other culture and just be amazed.  Sometimes, with the very hectic schedule at work, and the many urgent deadlines, I feel the fast-paced lifestyle is draining my energy.  I long to find some time to just reconnect with nature…doing nothing, just relaxing.  That’s why I want to go somewhere I’ve never been to before.  To be surprised.  To be mesmerized.  To be refreshed.

It’s already April, so I better search for some place to visit fast!  Wish me luck!  Or better yet, if you know of a great place to visit that’s not too far from Metro Manila, feel free to mention it under the comment section below, so others will benefit too! 🙂

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