Tip of the day: When you are feeling a little poverty conscious, when thoughts of doubt about your financial future enter your mind frequently and things just don’t quite seem to be going your way, JUST LEAVE! Seriously, pack your suite case, get in the car and go somewhere that makes you feel good and prosperous. Get the heck out of Mayberry and go to a place where things are happening and the atmosphere is breath taking.

Spend the money it will take to get you there. It will be worth it!

Seriously though…..think about the most successful people you know. And if the most successful person you know is your best friends cousin Daryl, who won $1000 in the lottery once, think of the most successful person you know of…..a businessman, actor or athlete. Where do they hang out all the time? Do they stay in one spot?

NO! Successful people are on the move. Think about it, if you had all the money in the world and you started having feelings of doubt about your success, would you sit there and entertain that thought?

NO! You’d get up and replace that thought with a prosperous thought. And one of the best ways to do that is to have plenty of prosperous thoughts to replace it with.

Visiting Telluride Colorado gave me a dozen or more thoughts of prosperity! The waterfall, the cliffs, the Aspen trees in the fall and the snow tipped peaks were amazing. The town was busting with business and the weather was perfect. If I was having any thoughts of doubt or discouragement before I came here, believe me, they are gone. They’re insignificant now!

You see, there is a constant battle going on inside your head. The majority wants control and the majority is poverty, or averageness. Not even positive if averageness is a word, but it wants control, because everything in the world is pointing you in that direction. You’ve got to have some ammo to fight off the intruders. That ammo for me, today, was all I witnessed in Telluride.

If you haven’t been somewhere in a while, plan a trip. Not just to your mom’s house in the home town you came from, but to a place you have never been to before…a place that will inspire you. Take some pictures and record some video. Take your most favorite people in the world with you. Create some memories. It will be well worth it for you personally, and for your business. I promise!

If you haven’t truly listened, not just heard, but listened to this song from Johnny Cash, do it……and whatever success you strive after in this life…..don’t be that guy! Achieve your dreams without losing yourself.

[audio:http://www.createfinancialwealth.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/johnnycash.mp3|titles=Johnny Cash – Hurt]

Valerie Aguinaga ,  is an amazing, young mom of four and has been diagnosed with Stage 2 Hodgkin’s Lymphoma.  To avoid the devastating and less effective methods of chemotherapy, they are asking for help in raising enough funds to get a more proven, effective method of treatment. Since their insurance won’t cover the costs of treatment, please help her by spreading the word to your friends or by donating  $10, $20, or even $50 if you can.

Please, be the change you wish to see in the world! Let’s help out this deserving family. Thanks a ton!

Donate by clicking HERE!

Those of you who have visited this blog before will know of my conviction for entrepreneurship. It really is the only way to keep the soul alive and progressing. A life spent fulfilling and building someone’s dreams other than your own, no matter how passionate you are about them, is a life partially fulfilled. Think about it! How many people have you spoken to over the years who have at one point said the famous words, “You know what would be a good idea for a business?” I hear it over and over again, yet, there is no action to follow the idea. They remain in what I like to call, the Employee Rut!

Now in past posts here at CreateFinancialWealth I have really bagged on having a job as if it was the worst punishment anyone could have in this life….and I have to apologize for that. A job has its purpose, and there are some benefits to having one, versus being self employed. It’s a lifestyle choice. Without employees there would be no employers. It’s the circle of commerce and industry. There must be both and at times you might find yourself being one or the other, wishing you were the other, struggling day in and day out to find an opportunity to become such.

Yet, when you get home from work, it’s so easy to eat dinner and just sit down on that couch for a few hours as you plug away on the internet or watch TV. Between spending time with your wife and kids and visiting with friends and family, it’s extremely difficult to find the time your entrepreneurial ideas deserve. So you find yourself attempting to stay up late at night trying to figure things out to get things moving, but you tire yourself so quickly and nearly go into a coma the rest of the week when you attempt to stay up a few more hours.

At this point, the job starts to take priority in your life. It’s much easier just to wake up, go to work, come home and not have to worry about anything until the next day when you start that drill all over again. Life becomes very predictable….with a bi-weekly paycheck and your schedule mapped out, you get on a routine. This routine is so habitual that it becomes nearly impossible to fit anything else around it. You are now 12 inches deep in the mud and are spinning your wheels every time you attempt to get out of the rut you’re in.

This is what I mean by the Employee Rut. Not that it’s a bad thing. Some do prefer and enjoy being in this rut….but it rips the spirit out of others. At times in your life, you may find yourself in this rut, not because you want to be there, but because your past choices have landed you there. Don’t become content with your lot! Get out as soon as you have the opportunity to, or the entrepreneurial spirit within will begin to diminish. Plan to succeed. Act on those ideas you have or someone else will, I promise you that. How many times have your ideas been so called, “Stolen,” by someone who acted instead of speculated about “Good ideas for a business.”

The world is full of people who can fill the ruts on the road to success…..but lacking those who have the fortitude and the ambition to make their way around, through, in and out of these ruts until they reach their destination. If there is a single ounce of entrepreneur in you, join the minority and live a life fulfilling and building your dreams! If you don’t, enjoy what you are doing now…because you’ll probably be doing it for the rest of your life.

“Live today as if it’s already tomorrow!” Lately, this is a motto I have come to know well in my life. Basically, if it’s today, yesterday is already gone. You can’t change it, alter it or get it back. What’s done is done…or on the other hand, what’s not done is just a missed opportunity. It’s gone! So seriously, live today as though you will never have today again…and the crazy thing is, you won’t ever have it again. I know….deep right!?

My point is simple. Yesterday, I listened in on a conversation my wife was having, and it was the most motivating conversation I have ever heard. It brought tears to my eyes to sit there and listen to this man pour out a life of regret. He had spent his life striving to live the dream, business venture after business venture. He started out in the Glass Industry. Instead of running his business, his business ran him. His paperwork kept him at the office into the late hours of the night. He rarely saw his family. Then one day, he decided to build a shop behind his house and his daughter said, “Mommy, I’m so happy that Daddy is building his house so close to our house because we can go visit him now.”

He went on to say that the big house, the nice cars, the huge successful business, the glory and the fame just don’t matter. Looking back on his life now, he realizes that he was never there. The words “I wish I would have” rolled off his tongue as he spoke of his children. He wishes he would have been around more when they were little. That’s all that matters to him now, and now he is full of regret. He can never get that time back.

To me, to hear stories like this, is very, very depressing….yet at the same time, extremely motivating! I don’t ever want to say, “I wish I would have.” Ever! I don’t want to be the guy with 20/20 hindsight. I want to be the guy who lives today as if there is no tomorrow…..and so I do. If I have  and idea or a gumption, I act on it. I don’t wait. Waiting is a waste of time and besides, what are you waiting for? A better time? There will never be a better time in the history of YOU, to act on your dreams.

So just don’t. Don’t be the guy that says “I wish I had!” Don’t live a life of regrets. Don’t put off your dreams for anything. And yes, that includes the lack of knowledge on how to achieve your dreams. That’s no excuse. Live a full and fulfilling life. Every moment counts!

In the last post I covered success category #1, Self….and for a quick reference, here is a link to the 5 categories of success post. Today, I’d like to share a bit about the second category, Family. I am sure you have all heard the common phrase: No other success can compensate for failure in the home. Family is the very first organization a child is exposed to. It is the first source of education, principle and love. If correct principles are taught in the home, those principles will be carried out and practiced throughout relationships, business decisions and the life of that child. If those principles are not taught by parents, no other success experienced outside of that can compensate for it.

Family Success – The Second Category of Success

My greatest source of happiness, sense of belonging, fulfillment and sense of accomplishment stems from my family….my wife, my children, my parents and siblings. It’s my support structure. No where else on the planet can you duplicate the result, environment and feeling of having a successful family. As parents, we have a sacred duty to make sure correct principles are taught to our children. Many of the problems in the world stem from the deterioration of the family unit and lack of proper, initial education. It’s a proven fact that those who are raised in a family that teaches correct principles, are more likely to succeed.

Why do you think that so many people search for a feeling of belonging, or a community they can feel welcome in. It’s in our instinct. We want to be loved, included and supported.

Family is always first. Everything else comes second. If I am successful at home, my life flows well. If I am not, I stress.

Now this isn’t to say that someone cannot be a success if they have failed in the home. That’s not my point at all. Many successful people have come from or have created broken homes and relationships. An example is Abraham Lincoln. Given the circumstances in his time, he had a broken home and neglected his children, yet, he was extremely successful. But, all of the success he achieved for himself and this country will never compensate for the emptiness he causes in the lives of his family. And maybe that was a sacrifice he had to make……a divided home or a divided country. Which obligation is greater? Maybe he didn’t have to choose?

So my advice to you is to choose a career that brings you closer to your family, instead of tearing you apart. If you are faced with a decision to work more hours so that you can pay for that bigger boat or spend time with your kids, spend time with your kids. Teach them what their Mom and Dad value in life. Teach them correct principles of integrity, honesty, love, compassion, boldness, ethics and faith. They don’t learn these types of things in school. It’s up to the family to build that solid foundation correctly, before they send them out into the world. If we can do that as a country, as a world, this planet will become a better place to live.

Success isn’t a status, it’s a series of events, one right after the other, that go right. The success series for a child starts at home, within their family. It’s where the ball starts rolling, or doesn’t roll at all. Let’s make sure it starts!