Warren Buffett says happiness comes from within. And yet he has so much “external wealth” that millions of people read books about him to find out how it’s done.
Here’s a clue as to what his secret really is:
Warren Buffet doesn’t own his personal jet like the Hollywood stars do – even though he’s far wealthier. He doesn’t own a massive yacht. Or a mansion. Why not?
Because he doesn’t want those things and he’s not going to get them just to impress people.
I don’t think he’d object to owning these things if he truly wanted them. But he knows that a private jet or a massive yacht will not make him happy – and he doesn’t have either of those for his personal use because he simply does not feel the need. He can’t understand why you would want a huge yacht simply because it’s a bit bigger than anyone else’s. He lives in the same small three bedroom house that he’s lived in for the last 50 years.
Why? Because he’s happy like that.
These facts are well known, and they make a good story. But there is a lesson in there for all of us:
Warren Buffett doesn’t care a bit about what other people think. Some years ago when the stock market was going up and up – he wasn’t buying. He was ridiculed for doing nothing. But he knew one of the main rules of wealth – if there is nothing to be done, do nothing. He had the patience and the discipline to sit it out until conditions were right and then he took action – and hugely increased his wealth.
So it is clear that he takes a different approach to investing – one that ignores crazy crowd behaviour, the gurus, fashionable trends, opinion pieces in the financial pages, everything except what really matters. And it works.
The lesson?
Live in the house you want to, even if it is a mansion.
Have a yacht if you want to – if you really enjoy sailing. If it’s really you.
Do what really works for you.
And, importantly, find a formula for wealth that really works no matter what the crowd says. A formula that usually means you’re going in the opposite direction to the masses. A formula that works in any and all economic cycles. A formula like the Formula for Riches – simple, powerful, effective, tested, timeless.
If you do what you love and love what you do, you’ll be productive and happy. If you have the courage to be yourself, you can be all you could ever be. If you have the guts to stick to the truth no matter what others are doing, you will be wealthy.
Friday, September 19, 2008
We’re always asking, why are things getting tougher financially?
But I thought today I’d turn that question around and ask who is benefiting from things being the way they are?
Oil companies – Exxon made $40,610 million in 2007 ($40.61 billion, or nearly $78,000 per minute). Its previous record was $39.5 billion in 2006. Shell, Chevron and other oil companies weren’t far behind. They dominated the list of the top 10 earning companies in the world. Not too surprising though ... since oil prices jumped about 100 dollars over the past few years, where do you think the money would be going to?
Banks and insurance companies are also very, very prominent and come high up on the Fortune 500 list. They make their money out of interest fees and charges. And business has been very good for them for some time now. What does that mean for you?
So ...
If you drive a car or travel in one...
If you have a bank account or loan...
If you have insurance ....
You might want to know why these are the most profitable companies in the world, while your premiums and your interest rates just keep going up.
They may be massive corporations with company jets and glittering high rise head offices, but in the end of the day there is a correlation between your costs and their profits. Don’t let all that financial jargon intimidate you. It’s simpler than you think. Your costs ARE their profits.
Just something for you to think about.
And remember, it is not possible for the consciousness that created a problem to solve it.
The system cannot and will not heal itself. Why would it, when the profits are so good?
So if you are part of the system – by which I mean, if you are not challenging and questioning it, and finding the real, simple, solutions that can set you free, then you are a slave of the system.
The Formula for Riches is a simple solution to wealth creation and everything else you want to address.
The solutions to all problems are much simpler than we have been led to believe. Because the system that depends on us to feed it is hardly going to voluntarily change things, is it?
But you can change yourself. Starting with your mind. That is the way of freedom. Financial freedom and every other kind.
Oil companies – Exxon made $40,610 million in 2007 ($40.61 billion, or nearly $78,000 per minute). Its previous record was $39.5 billion in 2006. Shell, Chevron and other oil companies weren’t far behind. They dominated the list of the top 10 earning companies in the world. Not too surprising though ... since oil prices jumped about 100 dollars over the past few years, where do you think the money would be going to?
Banks and insurance companies are also very, very prominent and come high up on the Fortune 500 list. They make their money out of interest fees and charges. And business has been very good for them for some time now. What does that mean for you?
So ...
If you drive a car or travel in one...
If you have a bank account or loan...
If you have insurance ....
You might want to know why these are the most profitable companies in the world, while your premiums and your interest rates just keep going up.
They may be massive corporations with company jets and glittering high rise head offices, but in the end of the day there is a correlation between your costs and their profits. Don’t let all that financial jargon intimidate you. It’s simpler than you think. Your costs ARE their profits.
Just something for you to think about.
And remember, it is not possible for the consciousness that created a problem to solve it.
The system cannot and will not heal itself. Why would it, when the profits are so good?
So if you are part of the system – by which I mean, if you are not challenging and questioning it, and finding the real, simple, solutions that can set you free, then you are a slave of the system.
The Formula for Riches is a simple solution to wealth creation and everything else you want to address.
The solutions to all problems are much simpler than we have been led to believe. Because the system that depends on us to feed it is hardly going to voluntarily change things, is it?
But you can change yourself. Starting with your mind. That is the way of freedom. Financial freedom and every other kind.
What sleep does for us
We know we need it. We know we feel worse if we sleep badly. We know that sleep deprivation will kill you in the end.
Yet it’s still a time which is very unknown.
During certain phases of sleep your body and brain restore and heal themselves. The best time for this work is before midnight, so you have an advantage if you’re an early to bed type.
While you sleep, your brain mulls over the information from the day before. It files it away, decides which is important and which is not. It “lays down” memories worth keeping and lets go of those it decides are not that crucial. It helps you match information from old memories to your newest memories, seeing connections, matching information that might not seem related.
People who work in creative fields know that after a period of intense effort on a task, it’s best then to rest, sleep on it, and wait for one’s subconscious mind to come up with a solution. And very often, if enough work is put into the first phase, and then you take some time off and go and do something quite different for a day or two, it will come to you in a flash.
The answer seems so inspired and yet so simple you wondered how you could have missed it. The answer is, rest and letting your mind get on with it without your conscious interference is the key.
Many incredible scientific discoveries have been made this way. I myself have come up with some extremely important wealth creation formulae in this way, such as the Formula for Riches, which is key to wealth creation and is also the subject of my book “The Formula for Riches, the Difference Between Rich and Poor”.
Yet it’s still a time which is very unknown.
During certain phases of sleep your body and brain restore and heal themselves. The best time for this work is before midnight, so you have an advantage if you’re an early to bed type.
While you sleep, your brain mulls over the information from the day before. It files it away, decides which is important and which is not. It “lays down” memories worth keeping and lets go of those it decides are not that crucial. It helps you match information from old memories to your newest memories, seeing connections, matching information that might not seem related.
People who work in creative fields know that after a period of intense effort on a task, it’s best then to rest, sleep on it, and wait for one’s subconscious mind to come up with a solution. And very often, if enough work is put into the first phase, and then you take some time off and go and do something quite different for a day or two, it will come to you in a flash.
The answer seems so inspired and yet so simple you wondered how you could have missed it. The answer is, rest and letting your mind get on with it without your conscious interference is the key.
Many incredible scientific discoveries have been made this way. I myself have come up with some extremely important wealth creation formulae in this way, such as the Formula for Riches, which is key to wealth creation and is also the subject of my book “The Formula for Riches, the Difference Between Rich and Poor”.
Different ways to learn
I talk to many, many people, and I learn so much along the way.
For example, the reason I started my property investment courses and the mentorship programme was to help people learn from my experiences – avoid the mistakes, save time and money, and get there quicker.
I’ve always understood the value of paying money to learn in a day or a year what it took someone else many years or a lifetime to develop. The money you pay is always a fraction of the true cost and the true value.
But not everyone learns this way. For example, someone who attended my property course some years back, couldn’t resist the attraction of going with the crowd, following the advice of the ‘gurus’ and buying property during the boom when many deals were overpriced.
He bought at low IRRs and with poor cashflow, but bargain on capital growth, expecting the rising market to cover him. Even though everyone said you can’t go wrong with property, things did not go as expected and now he is out of pocket in a very big way every month. Luckily he is able to survive because he’s highly qualified and has ways to increase his earnings significantly. But of course it has been a strain for him.
He’s someone who perhaps needs to learn by first-hand experience because even when he learns from someone else like me, his nature is to test it out and see what happens. And there is nothing wrong with that so long as you can survive it. It does mean slower wealth creation and much higher financial stress. But the lesson, once learned, is going to go so deep that you will never forget it.
Another student of mine had already bought 14 properties when he attended my property course and learned about the crucial second calculation. He decided shortly after going home and doing the calculations on all 14 properties, that 8 of them were not actually the good investments they looked like when he bought. So he sold them. He sold when the boom was still going, so he got good prices. And he freed up a lot of money to put into truly good investments. And had the calculations not worked out for any new prospects for a few years, then he would have done what I tell everyone to do: if there is nothing to do, do nothing! Two “okay” buys do not add up to one good one. And any mediocre buy is an opportunity cost that is slowing you down in terms of wealth creation. Something that Warren Buffet understood. But it does take guts, to ignore the criticism and to resist the temptation of jumping onto the bandwagon.
As you can imagine, he is doing very well today.
Think about your own style of learning. If you’re like the first guy – that’s fine. You need lessons that go deep. Try and choose lessons that are real, but not too expensive! You should consult the Formula for Riches to find out how to make sure your lessons do not hurt you if they go wrong.
If you’re like the second guy, then learn, learn, learn all you can by studying what other people do. Knowing that the prices for the right kind of wealth creation books and courses are always just a tiny fraction of what the lessons cost when lived through in real life!
However you prefer to learn, I hope you find the lessons you want and need, and the ones that help you grow!
For example, the reason I started my property investment courses and the mentorship programme was to help people learn from my experiences – avoid the mistakes, save time and money, and get there quicker.
I’ve always understood the value of paying money to learn in a day or a year what it took someone else many years or a lifetime to develop. The money you pay is always a fraction of the true cost and the true value.
But not everyone learns this way. For example, someone who attended my property course some years back, couldn’t resist the attraction of going with the crowd, following the advice of the ‘gurus’ and buying property during the boom when many deals were overpriced.
He bought at low IRRs and with poor cashflow, but bargain on capital growth, expecting the rising market to cover him. Even though everyone said you can’t go wrong with property, things did not go as expected and now he is out of pocket in a very big way every month. Luckily he is able to survive because he’s highly qualified and has ways to increase his earnings significantly. But of course it has been a strain for him.
He’s someone who perhaps needs to learn by first-hand experience because even when he learns from someone else like me, his nature is to test it out and see what happens. And there is nothing wrong with that so long as you can survive it. It does mean slower wealth creation and much higher financial stress. But the lesson, once learned, is going to go so deep that you will never forget it.
Another student of mine had already bought 14 properties when he attended my property course and learned about the crucial second calculation. He decided shortly after going home and doing the calculations on all 14 properties, that 8 of them were not actually the good investments they looked like when he bought. So he sold them. He sold when the boom was still going, so he got good prices. And he freed up a lot of money to put into truly good investments. And had the calculations not worked out for any new prospects for a few years, then he would have done what I tell everyone to do: if there is nothing to do, do nothing! Two “okay” buys do not add up to one good one. And any mediocre buy is an opportunity cost that is slowing you down in terms of wealth creation. Something that Warren Buffet understood. But it does take guts, to ignore the criticism and to resist the temptation of jumping onto the bandwagon.
As you can imagine, he is doing very well today.
Think about your own style of learning. If you’re like the first guy – that’s fine. You need lessons that go deep. Try and choose lessons that are real, but not too expensive! You should consult the Formula for Riches to find out how to make sure your lessons do not hurt you if they go wrong.
If you’re like the second guy, then learn, learn, learn all you can by studying what other people do. Knowing that the prices for the right kind of wealth creation books and courses are always just a tiny fraction of what the lessons cost when lived through in real life!
However you prefer to learn, I hope you find the lessons you want and need, and the ones that help you grow!
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