This morning I was obligated to take a drive with my one year old daughter. We took this drive at 5 AM in attempts to get this little girl to sleep. I had been up with her since 3 AM and enough was enough. The good news, it worked! The bad news, I only got 2 hours of sleep last night. I’ll live!

As I was driving around, I saw cars idling in their driveways warming up for the trip to work, people coming out of their homes and apartments in their work uniforms, contractors pulling up to job sites and it was barely 5 in the morning. Now, I live in a small town where the commuting time isn’t huge, so I know that these people would most likely be starting work at 6 in the morning.  As the time went on and 6 Am started rolling in, the streets were full of people heading to work.

It seems as though the so called “9 to 5″ job is no longer only 9 to 5. In fact, I don’t think it has ever been 9 to 5. It is more like a 6 to 6! If you think about your time spent getting ready for the job and traveling to and from the job, it should all be counted. It is time spent for someone other than you and yours. That is time spent that you are not getting paid for. Take into account how much time, if added up over a few years or even a lifetime, that you are wasting in preparation for your job. Let’s say on average it takes 30 minutes to get ready, 60 minutes to commute to and from, and 30 minutes to get, so called, “unready.” That is 2 hours a day. Over a one year period, you have spent an average of 10 hours a week, 40 to 50 hours a month and around 520 hours a year preparing to get paid for your time instead of getting paid for your time.

What if you invested that time into a business opportunity of your own? I can tell you that I know people who have, like myself, made more in a 10 hour work week than most people make in an entire year! It’s all about getting paid for your results instead of your time. There is only so much time, but results are unlimited.

Since our move from Pinetop to Payson Arizona we have been able to enjoy a few quick trips down to the Phoenix area. Where it would take 3 hours from Pinetop it now is only an hour away and so these few quick trips happen a little more often. This past Saturday we decided to do a quick trip to the Phoenix Zoo. So we packed the kids in the car and took off.

The Zoo was pretty packed when we got there. We actually drove around for 25 minutes before we finally found a spot, and guess where it was? It was right up front!! That’s the law of attraction in the works right there!

The kids had a blast. Animals, Kennel Corn and Snow Cones make up for a great time when you have children. It was cool to see the excitement on their faces. I asked them what their favorite part was and you won’t believe what they told me. When we were looking at the Rhinos, one of them decides to let go of nearly 50 lbs of dung and urine no further than 20 feet from us. So yeah, that was their favorite part!

The point of my post is not to tell you of the great time we had but to speak about Elephants. Here is an interesting fact that you all may not be aware of: Elephants in captivity die 20 years sooner than those that live in the wild! Elephants in the wild will travel nearly 25 miles a day where animals in captivity don’t. Now the biggest killer of Elephants in captivity is their feet. Zoo keepers are constantly cleaning and taking special care of their feet because they don’t have the opportunity to wear down the bottoms of their feet while in captivity while those that live in the wild have little trouble at all. Elephants in the wild will normally live up to around 80 years old.

You know, I think there is a little more to it. The professionals blame these early deaths on foot trouble and that may be part of the issue, but let me throw this idea out there. The elephants natural home involves a seven letter word, “Freedom!” They go from traveling 25 miles a day in the open to maybe just 5 miles of the same old cage. Even if they were born in captivity, it still runs through their veins. They are animals that were created to be free and to roam in their domain. How would that feel to know you were capable of more, yet, you were being constrained or held back from what should be natural?

It is amazing to see the growth in the people I assist every day in this business. Especially when they are coming from a place of captivity. If we all truly understood what we were capable of, the world would be a very different place!

I would be interested to know the average life expectancy of a person that works in a cubicle for an employer for his entire life versus an entrepreneur who travels frequently and has complete control over his time. I bet the stats are somewhat similar. I know for sure which of those two people would experience the most joy in life.

You see, there are different forms of captivity. When you take a look at an Elephant in the zoo, one might think, “Wow, now that’s captivity!” On the other hand, is being cooped up in a job any different. It’s basically a lighter form of house arrest. We can call it ‘commercial arrest’. After you are finished doing your time, you are allowed to go home for a few hours for relaxation, but, you had better be back the next day to do it all over again. What sounds enticing about that?

My advice: Make absolute certain that you are living your life as freely as you possibly can. You will be happier, you will experience more joy and you will live longer. And I sure hope it doesn’t take a trip to the zoo to help you realize that!

So I have often wondered what the most dangerous jobs would be. I would think that working on a nuclear bomb would be there, hazardous waste treatment, the military, test pilot,  Grand Canyon telephone repair man. They are all right up there…..but I had no idea that working in a cubicle would be just as dangerous. Think about it! What happens to a free animal when caged up? They flip out right?

You have to check out this video! I cracked up the first time I watched this. Go ahead, stay in your current job. Just know, you might become the next victim of Job Dementia and absolutely lose it!!

I am reading a book by Andy Andrews called “Mastering the Seven Decision” right now and wanted to share a brief story with you. It talks about this man who owns a zoo. This guy lived a few years back and at the time, all the other zoos would go out on safaris to catch the animals to feature in their zoo, but this one gentleman would breed his own animals and so it made his zoo that much better. Well, this guy heard about an animal that no other zoo in the world had and set out on a safari to find this animal and to bring it home for his zoo.

When telling the natives what his intentions were, they all laughed at him and told him that he would never be able to catch one, that they were too strong and fast. The only way to catch one of those was to shoot it from a distance and bring it back dead. This guy just shrugged and then told the natives that he would catch as many of these animals as he wanted and then pick the best of them for his zoo.

Out he went to find this animal. He laid down barley and honey every night for 6 weeks and every night these animals would eat all the food. Then, as he laid down the food, he placed a post near to it and continued to feed them for another week. The next week he placed another post just opposite of the last one, and fed the animals for another week. He did this for two more weeks until he had four posts. For the next several weeks he added boards in between these posts to make a coral. The last week the coral was nearly complete except for one board. That night he laid out the same amount of food and these animals squeezed through the gap to get to the food and he came up behind them and nailed on the last board and captured all of these beautiful animals. He picked the ones he wanted and let the rest go free.

Later on he was asked how he did it and his reply was: “I treat animals the same way I treat people: I give them what they want. I give them food and shelter. In exchange, they give me their beauty and their freedom.”

That statement was described as “bone chilling” in the book. Most of the world is giving away their beauty(talent, skills) and their freedom in exchange for food and shelter, not much more. Take a look, a serious look at your life, your job, what you are doing to provide for you and your family. Are you seriously free to do as you please? Are you living life to the fullest? Or, are you trading your freedom for pennies?

Are you feeling pretty secure and confident about where you are in your financial life? I’m speaking to those of you who are still in Corporate America. Are you living the life of your dreams. Do you love your job and does it allow you the time freedom to spend with your family? Can you go to bed each night with a feeling of fulfillment?

I found a definition of what Corporate America should be:

“Corporate America is an informal phrase describing the world of corporations within the United States not under government ownership.

Its negative connotations imply financial or ideological self-interest, greed, resistance to entitlements and the irresponsible promotion of counter-socialist self-interest at the expense of government and competitors.

Its positive connotations imply a liberal and productive capitalist free-market society that creates wealth, directly and indirectly lifts the people’s standard of living, rewards individual ability, and provides a ladder to financial success.”

Now you know what Corporate America is. America definitely needs these corporations. They do create financial success for themselves and their shareholders most of the time, but do they need you, as an employee? Do you need them for your, as wikipedia states, “wealth….(and) financial success?” I guess the question would be: Have you experienced that wealth and financial success as of yet? If you have, what things in your life have you had to sacrifice for that wealth and financial success?

Judging from the people I know that have left the rat race for this home based business, their great income, corporate car, and all the perks came at a great expense. Most hardly ever saw their kids and had a pathetic family life. They lived for their job while their loved ones sat on the sidelines waiting for some quality time.

I know it’s hard to see the bigger picture sometimes when all you know is where you’re at. It’s hard to realize you are in the middle of a miserable life when you haven’t tasted anything other than that. But I’m here to tell you….Wake Up! Open your eyes to what else is out there. You, right now, are only making a portion of your true income potential and are sacrificing too much of your valuable time for it.

Quit being the puppet that’s making someone else rich while having to sacrifice your life to do it. If you are in a job right now, it’s not all about you, it’s about them. Start thinking about you! Your family deserves it!