MindsofWealth.com

Here at MindsofWealth we are always trying to bring you the most relevant information about all kinds of Wealth.

For August, I will be bringing information to you about a book that we feel is very practical and functions as an excellent of reference on Wealth.

The book is called The Power of Focus by Jack Canfield et. al. (Clicking the link takes you to Amazon.com where you can support the MindsofWealth.)

We don’t believe any type of “book report” type of review would do justice for this book. So I’ll cover what I found most useful:

* Humans are creatures of habit. Up to 90% of our normal behavior is based on habits

* We all have good habits that help us on the road to Wealth, and we all have bad habits that hold us back from our true potential.

*You must make every conscious effort to slowly eliminate bad habits and add good habits. Make a list of both of these and set a goal for eliminating the bad by turning it into a good habit.

*Prioritize. Prioritize. Prioritize. Use the 4-D Solution:

1. Dump It - Just say no to it.
2. Delegate It - It needs done, but someone else would be best suited
3. Defer It -It needs done, but not right away.
4. Do it. Now. -Enough said. Do not procrastinate these.

The 4-D options are so simple, yet very effective in helping to prioritize and manage your life.

*Don’t let your business/work run and ruin your life. There are bigger and better things to value than office burn-out.

*Take a vacation: You deserve it. Make sure you get away from time to time. Re-charge your batteries and refocus your energy.

*There are several tools and acronyms that will help you focus on achieving your goals. Focus introduces a proprietary program called The Achievers Focusing System(AFS) and the B-Alert system for optimum balance.

The AFS contains seven categories that you should set goals in:

1. Financial
2. Business/Career
3. Fun time!
4. Health and Fitness
5. Relationships
6. Personal
7. Contribution

BAlert - blueprint Action learning exercise relaxation thinking

The reason Action is capitalized is because it is MOST important to always take action.

*Building Relationships- Find mentors, join mastermind groups. This has been our toughest part. We are now, after months of in-action finally putting it in motion. I suggest that you do not procrastinate!

There are many more details and explanations in the book which is why we recommend that you buy it. We’ve been so kind as you provide a link above, and below.

The Power of Focus will help you on the path to Wealth.

A.D.

When walking the path to wealth, organization is a very important habit. Being able to find things when you need them effortlessly is a key component to anyone’s success. How many times do you personally go to look for a piece of paper-work only to find out it is misplaced?

This is something I do all the time. I have tried several different techniques when trying to organize but some just do not work. There are several on the other hand that make my life so much easier. I have adopted three habits that probably save me close to ten hours a month of free time. Not to mention the amount of stress it saves me from not having to look for keys, papers, phone numbers etc.

Below I have the three techniques that I started with. Remember that everyone starts somewhere and if you are to succeed at anything you have to take it one step at a time. So take a step in the right direction and find out what it takes to be organized.

 Step 1 - Your Keys

This may seem petty but don’t neglect this important topic. Eight out of ten people loose their keys at least three times a week. Whether they are on their way to work or they are just in a hurry to get somewhere, people lose their keys. It’s a fact of life and it has happened to me thousands of times. One simple technique I picked up from a book I read stated this: place your keys in the same exact place, every time you come home for 21 days and you will never loose them again. I personally hang them on a hook by my door and although it took me a couple of weeks to remember to hang them there, that is where they go every time I come home. You can put them in a basket or next to the sink, whatever you choose to do. Did you know that if you loose your keys and are looking for them a total of twenty minutes a week you have spent close to eighteen hours a year just looking for keys? This is almost a full day of your life wasted looking for something as small as your keys. Keep that in mind and remember that it is the little things that count.

Step 2 - Filing Folders

Always, always, always, always file papers and documents away. I personally have a filing cabinet that has every bill I have ever paid in it. During the year every time I get say, an electric bill, I pay it then it is thrown into the “electric” folder. Along with filing it I put the date it was paid so that I know when I sent the check. This keeps everything neat and tidy so that if the electric company ever calls to say I never paid, guess what? I have it documented with easy access as to when and how it was paid. This goes for all paper and documents. I have all insurance papers filed an placed in folders as well as all of my old pay stubs from previous jobs. This makes everything so nice so that I do not have to hunt for anything.

Buy a filing cabinet and organize every piece of paper that is sitting on your desk right now. Believe me, when you need something you will be thankful that all you have to do is open a drawer and there you have it.

Step 3 - Very Important, Important, and Not Important Folders

I have three folders on my desk that are labeled very important, important, and not important. Every time I have something that need to be done right away I put it in the very important folder and deal with it either that day or the following day. If something is fairly important I put it in the important folder and you get the picture. This saves clutter from my desk and also provides information as to what I need to take care of now and what can wait. I schedule a few days a week to clean each of these folders out and because of that I rarely have a mess anywhere regarding paper work. These folders are mainly used for documents and papers that do not require filing. Say you have a loan application you need to fill out you would probably want to place it in the “Very Important” folder. This way you do not forget and you have it ready to go when you need it. I also place customer information such as estimates and billing questions in there. This is just another simple task that has made my life a little easier.

Please, I urge you to practice these techniques. Like I said by just doing these three things I have saved myself countless hours.

Try one a week or use them in succession. What ever is easier for is what we want. Just remember that nothing will happen unless you take action. So take action, buy some folder and get yourself organized. Check back with other posts on organization and successful habit forming techniques.

If you are asking yourself: Why would anyone want to give up sweet carbonated beverages??? Then you may want to pick another item to read, for the rest of this post is for those with a desire to give these up.

For the purpose of the rest of this blog I will refer to the carbonated drinks(Pepsi, Coke, Mountain Dew, etc) as PSC (Pop/Soda/Coke). This will prevent any regional arguments about what exactly to call these beverages.

Their are several reasons for wanting to give up PSC. Perhaps you want to lower your sugar intake. Maybe lower the amount of caffeine. For the diet drinkers out there maybe its cutting back on Phenylalanine?

I personally crossed PSC off of the habit list back when I was 15. I started practicing for high school football and was strongly advised to drink only water before, during and after practices. PSC would impact my performance it was said because caffeine, sugar and more were bad for endurance training and strength. So there it was after my initial dismay, I parted with my PSC lifestyle with a big cup of water in hand.

So how can you cut out PSC?

Step#1: Prepare yourself. If you aren’t ready to stop drinking it, you won’t. If you don’t have anything else to drink then you won’t quit for long. My suggestion would be to focus on this goal. Write it down, and set a short term date that you will quit for good. Buy bottles of water. These will help in a moment of weakness when PSC rears its ugly head. Keep in mind ALL dine-out places have plenty of water, all you have to do is ask. Please remember that ALL PSC machines also have water as well.

Step#2: Start changing your Self-Talk. This is the little voice in your head that will tell you its ok to drink PSC when you’re having a bad day, or when you are really thirsty, or when you are ordering a Combo Meal at McD’s. You have to step in and tell yourself that this is not in my best interests. The person who knows your Self-Talk best is you. You have to sell yourself on this for it to work. You know what objections it will have, so you must be prepared to overcome those each time they are brought up.

Step#3a: Ok this is where those rare strong folks out there give it up. Done. End of story. It will be tough, but its all or nothing. I give great Kudos to those individuals.

Step#3b: For the rest of us: Ease your way toward your ultimate goal date. Talk yourself out of that daily PSC during lunch, or at dinner. Each week cut out 1 PSC per day, and eventually you’ll be down to Zero. As mentioned earlier, make sure you know what your options are when you are thirsty.

Say goodbye to PSC, and hello to the new world of healthy non-carbonated beverages like WATER!

To read up some more on healthy eating stop by the 3-2 Eating plan post.

A.D.

As of yesterday I am still trucking. I have done all of the chores I set forth for myself and feel SOOOOOOO good for doing them. For the next couple of days I am going to skip writing a post because I am almost positive you do not want to hear about how well I am doing. If you feel the need to share your progress please do so. I would love to hear what you went through and how well you are doing. Good Luck!

21 Days to Discipline

21 Days to Discipline - Day 1

21 Days to Discipline - Part II

After day one in our experiment I have decided to keep everyone up to date on how things went. I know it has only been a day but let me explain. In the previous post, “21 Days to Discipline” I said that everyday I would write ten personal goals that I wanted to accomplish and three business oriented goals I wanted to accomplish. The results: ASTONISHING. I am so surprised at the amount I have completed after only one day. If you do not already know myself and Adam own a lawn care business called Appealing Lawn Care LLC. We have had a few landscaping jobs I have been putting off until I added them into my first three things to do. Now as you suspected they are all done. Also I wrote a letter to my uncle that I have not spoken with in months, went to the dentist, read a book, and organized my office. This may sound simple to some people but most put these things off EVERY day. Today I am well on my way to completing my new list and cannot wait to post what happened.

My point with these updates is to let everyone know that small steps eventually turn into big results. Keep focused and remember to write your goals down the night before so that you have them in hand when you start your day.

Matt Batcho

21 Days to Discipline