Isn’t it a sad thing that most of America is $200 from being flat out broke? During the last few months I have heard all this talk about the price of gas. Here in Pinetop gas is running only $1.90/gallon. That is the lowest it has been in over a year and it only costs me around $40 to fill up my Tahoe. Not a bad deal and I am not complaining at all. I appreciate saving a buck here and there like just the next guy and it’s better than when it was costing around $80 to full up my tank when the price of gas was up and around $4.00/gallon.

I would say that I fill up about once a week, depending on whether or not I leave town that week. So to be safe, 5 times a week. My gas bill would then be around $200 a month. Of course when the gas was higher, I was spending and extra $200 a month. It was amazing to me to see people terrified to leave their homes because the price of gas was too high! People were having to do some serious budgeting and were looking to other areas in their finances to cut back so that they could take a weekend drive to visit family!

HOW SAD! So I say again, most of America is $200 or less from being broke and they don’t even know it. $200 is not a lot of money but to alot of people, it obviously is. Most people seem to be living paycheck to paycheck and will never have enough to do anything extra, so they remain stuck in their dead-end job hoping to get their break in life. Something that is even more sad is the fact that an employee will wait around an entire year of working their job, missing their family, struggling financially, just to get a 2% raise….and then do it all over again the next year. For most people, that is an extra $20 – $40 a week! WOW!

Instead of waiting around for an employer to determine your worth, which is only $40 more than it was last year, make it happen for yourself. What if it were possible to earn and extra $1,000 a week or even and extra $5,000 a week? Would you have the courage to step out of your comfort zone? Would you take the risk or would you stay with what is comfortable until you are either retired or let go?

Most Entrepreneurs, Millionaires, Successful Business owners have been called crazy at least once in their lives. I will admit that most members of my family thought I was crazy for starting a Home Based Business. I have been called “crazy” to my face several times and I think I am actuallyl beginning to enjoy it! We are called crazy for our ambition for a better life, for success, for big ideas. Sure, some may feel the easy path is to just get a job. For me, getting a job is the hard path. It is the boring path and most of the time, will lead you to being $200 from broke!

Decide here and now who you would like to be. Are you going to be the one with big ideas, a passion for life, a mountain of ambition, and a burning desire for success? Or, are you going to be the one who settled? The choice is really simple to make, but the destinations are completely different!

This is a great explanation of an entrepreneur who merely survives compared to an entrepreneur who thrives! There is a huge difference. So as you read this analogy, take a personal inventory and think of which entrepreneur you are being. The results in your life will reflect it!

The Potato Farmer and the Apple Orchard

Some time ago there were two neighbors who lived out in the country. Both of these farmers owned a considerable amount of land and wanted to do something with the land to support their families with. One man decided to turn his land into a potato farm and the other planted an apple orchard. Both of these men were very hard workers and were out tending their crop daily. They did this for the entire year and come harvest time, the potato farmer harvested his crop, took it to town and made enough to support his family until it was time to start planting again. Then he would start the whole process over again.

On the other hand, the apple farmers orchard had yet to produce any fruit to harvest. The trees were still too young and would need more time to mature.

One year goes by and the same story stood true. The potato farmer harvested his potatoes once again and was able to support his family for the remainder of the year while the apple orchard had no fruit to harvest. The farmer of the apple orchard still continued to nurture his trees preparing for the time that he could reap his rewards.

Several years pass by in the same manner and finally, as the potato farmer was harvesting his crop as he did every year, the apple orchard produced it’s first year of fruit. The apples were harvested and were sold. Both farmers were able to support their families for the rest of that year.

Now, when it came time to start planting for the next crop season, the potato farmer got to work on his fields while the apple farmer watched him. You see, the apple orchard will continue to produce fruit year after year after year with very little effort from the farmer. He won’t have to replant the his crop every year but will instead enjoy the fruits of his labor for many years ahead. A few years of hard work will support him for the rest of his life while the potato farmer is still laboring away in his fields.

There is a word called leverage that every Entrepreneur should become familiar with. The leverage I speak of is TIME. When you learn to increase your profits without increasing your work hours, then you have discovered the true way to accrue serious wealth in your business and in your life.

So create an apple orchard, not a potato farm!

I am beginning to realize the power of social networking sites. It is amazing to me the amount of traffic you can drive to your site through various sites such as Facebook and MyBlogLog. Twitter is a fun one as well. I am adding this site to MyBlogLog and am required to post this little snippet to verify my ownership.

Undergoing MyBlogLog Verification

I attribute my knowledge of this philosophy to the one and only Jim Rohn. I am sure this analogy has been around for some time now. What a visionary he truly is and what an entrepreneur. I guess it makes complete sense that in order to effectively teach people to become entrepreneur minded, you must know what you are teaching about. True knowledge comes from doing and doing creates results. What better way is there to gain a perfect knowledge than experience?

So on behalf of Entrepreneurialism, I bring you the 10 philosophies of the ant. What better way to understand, than by analogy. Some of my most respected mentors and role models have always taught by story. The relation between philosophy and real life stories embed principle and trigger memory to recall those principles because they are tied to those stories. So that sometime down the road of life, one might be going through a similar situation and remember the principle. How valuable is that?

So here are the 10 philosophies of the Ant:

1. Hard work always pays off.

2. Know your objective, or the task at hand and do just that.

3. Never quit. If an obstacle arises, find a way around, over, under or just go through it.

4. Take shelter in a storm and dodge the bullies with magnifying glasses.

5. Selfless service. When you assist others in getting what they want, you will get what you want!

6. Remain loyal and honest. True depth in any business comes from respect and a good name.

7. Prepare for Winter while it is Summer.

8. Think of Summer while it is Winter.

9. Strength comes in numbers.

10. Never say Die!

The list could probably be longer but 10 will suffice for now. I will expound on each of these philosophies in the next 10 articles and will relate each to a principle vital to the success of any entrepreneur. Now that I think of it, luck could be number 11, but I think luck has such a small part in success. Either you want it, or you don’t! That is my philosophy.

I read a story today that relates a story that applies to everything we do and become in life, and the causes for it. It starts off with a boy and his father hiking through the mountains. The father gets a little bit ahead and the boy slips and bangs his leg on a rock and yells, “Ouch!” Almost immediately he hears “Ouch” coming right back at him. A little startled he yells out to the mountains, “Who are you,” thinking it was someone mocking him. He gets the same response. He then yells, “You coward,” and just the same way it has been happening, he heard the same response! Getting more frustrated and about to burst into anger, he looks to his father and asks him, “What’s going on?” His father just smiles and says, “Son, pay attention!” He then yells back to the mountain, “I admire you, You are a Leader, You are a champion, You can do anything!” With each phrase he received the same response in return.

The boy looks and little confused so the father explains, “Son, people call this an ECHO but really this is LIFE. It gives you back everything you say or do. Life is a reflection of our actions!” If you want more love in the world, it first starts with creating more love in your heart. If you want more competence in your team or your employees, become more competent yourself. If you want more respect, give more respect. If you want all out massive success, help others to become successful.

This relationship applies to everything, in all areas of life. Your life is not a coincidence….it is a reflection of YOU!

I am not defined by my circumstances, however my circumstances define who I am being! How many people think just the opposite? How many people live in trailer parks thinking of themselves as trailer trash or live on the streets and consider themselves bums? There are very few people who understand the fact that their surroundings, their income, their clothes, their language, their job, and their results in life are not what defines them. That is just telling them who they are being, acting, and thinking as.

Many of the great and successful entrepreneurs of our time knew, even in times of bankruptcy and serious hardships, that they were successful and great! When I first started in Network Marketing I was making about $40k a year working a job. This is a great example of knowing who I was to become instead of who I was being for the previous 10 years of my life. I was speaking with people who were making well into the 6-figure income range and was a little intimidated. I was speaking with CEO’s and big business owners and thought that these people knew more, had more going for them, and were larger and better people than me. At first, that is the mindset I had, and that was who I was being. Do you think anyone wanted to get started with me in my business? Not very many did until I could change the view I had of myself. I had to change my belief of who I was and what defines me. My income surely does not define me nor does a label such as CEO. That is just who I was being at that moment in time.

In order to be successful in any venture and especially in Network Marketing, a person has to have a clear understanding of where they are going, who they want to be, and how to get there. Coming from a person who used to make the national average in income to someone who makes well beyond that now, I had to envision that for myself and become that person before I even had the results. I guess you can call it “Thinking outside the Box!” In other words, having the ability to look beyond your current situation. That, is what defines you!