Entreprenuership – The Wealth Maker

June 11, 2020June 14, 2020

The Digital Worker, Episode 1: Overview

For years and years, and since the dawn of the Industrial Revolution, workers had only had one work scenario: Report to work at 9:00 AM, do the tasks assigned by your direct manager, and leave at 5:00 PM.

The advent of the Internet, and especially the recent proliferation of mobile data, have brought about another revolution, which we wouldn’t call the Information Revolution. That has taken its course since the invention of the first computer. It is handing over the keys to something new and disturbing. A combination of multimedia communication anytime, anywhere, social media, broadband network coverage, and devices that can handle unthinkable amounts of data in real-time, have made it possible for a new phenomenon to emerge: The Digital Worker.

The dynamics of ‘work’ have dramatically changed for a large sector of the workforce.

The ‘Digital Worker’ no longer needs to report to work at 9:00 AM and leave at 5:00 PM. He/she does not even need a traditional workspace: An office, a cubicale, or even a desk. All they need is a ‘machine’ and an Internet connection. Hence the new terminology: Anywhere, Anytime.

Teams can meet virtually. Projects may have members in Iceland, South Africa, India, Canada, or South Korea. And those are just examples to convey what ‘anywhere, anytime’ looks like.

How about products and services? Physical products that consumers request. How can that be achieved digitally?

A new e-Commerce model has emerged, which is called drop-shipping. The Digital Worker runs an online ‘store,’ which show products’ images, specs, videos, prices, and of course, digital cart and checkout facilities.

Customers place orders right at the digital store. In the background, suppliers receive those orders automatically, once placed, process and fulfill them on behalf of the Digital Worker, right to the customer’s doorstep. Read more about this model in a previous TWM post: How to Choose the Right Product.

To offer a service, Digital Workers must be highly innovative. Let’s take medicine as an extreme example, which has always required the physical co-presence of the patient and the heathcare provider.

Well, that is no longer a rigid requirement. Telemedicine has soften that need by allowing doctors and patients to communicate virtually, in realtime. Physicians can diagnose and prescribe remotely. On the farside of the spectrum, a surgeon would perform an operation via telemedicine, using virtual reality and robotics technologies. You can read more about telemedicine in a previous WTM article: Reaching Out to Patients: Telemedicine.

It is hard to comprehensively cover all aspects of The Digital Worker’s attributes, work environment, rewards and challenges, in one article.

In the next post, we will explore with you the last two aspecs mentioned above: Rewards and challenges.

Stay tuned.

TWM™

October 16, 2018October 16, 2018

Patience, Persistence and Faith

Life is a journey worth taking, even though none of us has been given the choice to take it or not. Now that we are here, in it, let’s explore together some aspects that would make this inevitable journey enjoyable, as well as rewarding.

Remember learning to ride your first bike, competing with your classmates, working hard to get your first paycheck? None of those, and million other things, you’ve achieved or endured, would have seen the light without the jewel of all virtues: Patience!

Yet, patience alone is not enough, especially if it was serving the wrong dream; something that would lead to agony instead of joy, to disappointment not satisfaction. But do we always pick and choose what to bear and what not? A sudden illness, the death of a loved one, natural disasters, the list is long, very long.

Here comes another weapon in the face of the unfortunate: Persistence. One could be patient, but that patience is short-lived, fleeting as soon as the squeeze of the situation gets firmer. I’m not talking hypothetically, but rather factually.

Persistence is staying the course, no matter what it takes. Tough? You bet! Nevertheless, and most of the time, behind that mountain of toughness there would be a meadow of peace.

Now you might ask: Where do I get the momentum, the positive energy to be patient and persistent? You need a purpose you believe in. And that is the third element: Faith.

Without unwavering faith in what you do, and where you’re going, it’s almost impossible to endure patience, let alone persistence. Faith gives you the capacity to ‘see’ what’s beyond that which seems ugly and impossible. It gives a feeling of assurance and an enriching sense of possibility, of reaching that which you’ve been striving to reach.

In the next story we will talk about tips that would enhance our ability to attain and maintain these three vital life endowments: Patience, Persistence and Faith.

Stay tuned!

TWM

P.S. This post has also been published on Medium.com under Yaman Saleh, Owner of TWM

View at Medium.com

February 11, 2018March 11, 2018

Risk and Reward- The Vital Two R’s of Business

We are risk takers by nature, all of us, in varying degrees. But marching into the unknown is a human instinct that manifests itself in obvious, as well as mysterious ways. Every hour of every day we take risks. You may allow your mind to explore this idea and find examples. Traveling to a new country, hiking an unmarked trail, buying a gift for a loved one, tasting a weird- smelling food, going to war, getting married, asking for forgiveness, climbing the Himalayas, camping, skiing, driving, falling in love, leaving home, and doing nothing is also a form of taking risk, yet indirectly.

For the sake of our topic, let’s narrow down that endless list to just one: Starting your own business and deciding to become an entrepreneur.

Why do people leave the comfort and security of a guaranteed pay-check, and go on their own? For starters, that comfort has become unattainable lately. Downsizing, mergers, acquisitions, financial crisis, to name a few, have made job security a thing of the past.

But that is not the main reason entrepreneurs go out and face the world alone. It is something within each and every one, a calling if you will. I bet you’ve heard this before and you might be thinking: “OK, a calling, but what is the percentage of success of that calling? Show me the money!”

True, no matter how strong a calling was, and how enthusiastic the person would be, a business venture must yield financial results. In other words: Money 🙂

That’s why, before delving in the ocean of entrepreneurship, one must evaluate few traits that are vital to making that journey a pleasant and fruitful one.

So what are those traits? The first that comes to mind is risk tolerance. I’ve talked about this, giving it an acronym of RT in several posts about investing, and it still applies here, probably more so. A low RT isn’t going to help here. A very high one would result in taking too much risk, and again that is dangerously dangerous 🙂

We are looking for a healthy RT, which on one hand drives the entrepreneur to explore new, uncharted frontiers, most of the time alone and with little knowledge and tools, and on the other, keeps him/her aware of the potential challenges, and do enough research and preparation ahead of, during and after taking the risk. What is that called in plain English? Wisdom combined with courage. And in eloquent English: Courageously wise or wisely courageous 🙂

The heart of our discussion here is the following:

‘Risk and Reward are proportional: The more risk one takes, the higher the probability of reward. The opposite seems to be true, most of the time.’

Let’s start with a simple example: If you decided not to teach your four-year old child how to ride a bike, fearing the risk of injury, you denied him/her the rewards that come with riding a bike. One of them is innocent joy!

To get any reward, we must do something, right? And any doing involves taking a risk, no matter how small. That’s why they are related proportionally.

Raise the level of one, the other gets a boost. The challenge is to find that threshold where raising too much would result in unwanted results rather than rewards. And that threshold differs depending on the situation.

In the example above, rushing the learning curve increases the risk of injury. Taking the matter way too slow may delay the reward or even prevent it from happening.

We need to be patient with the whole process. We start by taking small risks and observe our emotional and mental reactions, just like building, you start with a foundation, then keep adding to it.

Another aspect of this building process is appreciating the results, no matter how small.

When it comes to building a new business enterprise, the principle would be the same, however, the application is different.

Does that mean you start with a tiny little venture then expand gradually? That’s one way to approach it. Say open an online store with only one product line, give it your best till it starts making profit, then add a second product line, and so on.

Nevertheless, if you know that your RT is high enough to get into bigger business adventures, especially if you know you have good financial and practical backing by trusted partners, then you may want to create a vision that would lead to more aggressive plans. For example, starting an eCommerce platform, where small business owners can open their one-product-line stores.

The web is full of tools and articles on how to assess your RT level. Here’s one, which I have no affiliation with, and can’t guarantee its results, but you may want to give it a shot, or look for something else in that line of tools:

http://www.moneycontrol.com/personal-finance/tools/risk-assessment-tools.html

In conclusion, know thyself before starting a new business. The time, money and energy spent doing that is worth the clarity that result from being aware where your next step will hit the ground.

All the best,

The WEalth MAker

January 31, 2018March 11, 2018

How to Show a New Product on Your Site

In the last post we talked about finding and acquiring a product into your online e-Commerce store.

Today we will cover few tips on how to make that product stand out and be easy to reach.

To begin with, I’d like to stress the importance of tags. Every product page should give a facility to list tags related to the product at hand. So what is a tag? Simply put, it is a searchable word that makes finding your product easier on search engines. Think of it as the hashtag you use when tweeting in order to attract the attention of people interested in that specific topic.

Then comes images. The more the better, but no repetition of the same pose or same outlook. You need your images to reflect the beauty, uniqueness, usability and quality of your product. And always put your best image upfront on ads and so forth.

A Product title is so important. It’s the punch line that would make it or break it. Select the words carefully and intelligently, both for SEO purposes and to tell customers what the product is about using as little and as meaningful words as possible. This is the ‘elevator pitch’ of your product. You need to practice being creative, direct and expressive in this department.

Finally comes the detailed description, which is usually the last to grab visitors’ attention, unless they are serious buyers. Here we need to give product specifications, so that the buyer knows what they are getting. Remember that the whole process is virtual and there is no physical appreciation. That’s why the description needs to compensate for that by being accurate and comprehensive.

Let’s have an example. Suppose the item you want to display on your storefront is a backpack bag. What kind of tags do you need to embed in the product page? Waterproof, light-weight, phone-pockets, school, business, laptop, and any other product-specific, unique features that would lead searchers to this item.

How about the title? Here’s a suggestion: “Waterproof, multi-purpose backpack for school or business.”

The images must show the bag from different angels, and must show the inside, where the user has ample space and good organization for their stuff.

The description specifies the bags material, interior and exterior, the brand, the dimensions and capacity, the colors and variants available, and any other detail that would help a buyer recognize the backpack as if they were holding it in their hands and going through its features.

The example below is from my store, storefour.ca. I’ll show all the details from the product page, which are hidden from site viewrs. This will aid our discussion with a real example.

Here are the tags:

And the extra images:

Heavy Duty Shockproof Armor Protection Case + Glass Screen Film for iPhone 7 6 6S Plus 5 5S SE

This page gives each visitor something they may be looking for: A certain use, dimensions, colors, etc.

The ultimate goal is to convert a visitor into a buyer. This attention to the way you post your product helps in that regard, but of course, it isn’t the whole story, something we will chat about in our next post. Stay tuned!

The Wealth Maker

January 29, 2018January 30, 2018

How to Choose the Right Product

In e-Commerce, products are represented by images, multiple images that aim to show site visitors how the product looks and feels, how it serves the need it is intended for, and how it is superior to other, similar products on the market.

As you can see, this involves several skills, tools and decisions. The first and most important decision must answer the question: Will this product appeal to the visitors of my site, and does it serve their needs effectively? The next question concerns the price: Is the product priced competitively, while still making a profit?

If you’re like many new e-Commerce entrepreneurs who decided to open their own online stores on platforms such as BigCommerec™ and Shopify™, you might have considered drop-shipping as an alternative to traditional approaches.

The idea is innovative, yet simple. Instead of keeping inventory and worrying about shipping to your customers, a drop-shipping model takes care of that. The products on your online store come from suppliers from all over the world, who, once an order is placed, process the request then ship directly to your customers.

In addition to saving time, energy, space and money, drop-shipping makes adding new products or deleting old ones a fun exercise. All you have to do is brows through a supplier’s catalogue, pick the items you like, modify few things to make the product fit your overall theme and categories, then push the product to your store, and it becomes ready to view, and hopefully sell.

But how would you know that what you have chosen meets your requirements? To begin with: Do you know your requirements? Before seeking anything in life, we must ask three questions: What, why and how. Requirements answer the ‘what’ question. But in order to get to the right answers, we need to have a clear idea of what the business is about; what values it serves, and what objectives it aims to achieve.

One of the collections in my online store, storefour.ca is named Digital. For any product to fit into that collection it must operate digitally, or has a digital aspect to it. Here’s an example:

So knowing your requirements is the first step to selecting the right product. The second is knowing the supplier. The e-Commerce landscape is so crowded. Finding the right supplier takes doing your homework diligently: reviews, returns, age on business, location, complains. The list is long, but you will figure it out based on what you’re looking for.

Now you know what you want and where to get it. The third step is to find the right channel and process to communicate with the supplier and secure the product.

If we go back to the drop-shipping model, the e-Commerce platform you use plays a key role in helping its merchants find credible suppliers as part of its service. Shopify™, for example, recommends an app named Oberlo™, which connects you to a pool of previously verified suppliers, making your life a lot easier. Yet, to be on the safe side and save your business future hassles, keep doing your research even on recommended suppliers.

The point here is to use all resources available to select and show the best product on your store.

More details on this in our next post, stay tuned!

The Wealth Maker

©Article Image Credit: https://storefour.ca

November 8, 2017September 3, 2020

StoreFour: Continuous Enhancement

Launching an online store requires a great deal of planning and attention to detail. From selecting the theme, to designing the logo. What will be the static content? How about navigation, payment processing, shipping rules, taxes, and a lot more.

Then once that’s been taken care of, comes one of the most important decisions to make at this point of store building: What exactly are we selling here? Is this going to be a general merchandise or a niche-oriented online experience? Who are the customers, and why would they buy from us?

Down the line from that is product strategy: What products should this store showcase and for how much?

As you move from one stage to the next you realize new understandings and, of course, learn new things.

The final ‘product’ just before the launch will never be perfect, and you know it. But does that mean you keep improving while delaying the launch? No! Continuous enhancement must hold a permanent place-holder on your project plan, just as sales and marketing. Failing to do so means choosing to fail in this fiercely competitive landscape.

Since the launch back in May, StoreFour has gone through several reviews, the last being just very recently. The depth and breadth of each review vary, but they all keep asking some essential questions:

In exchange for revenue, what value does this store offer?
Do current products serve that value?
Is there a clear line of sight between the products and the vision/mission of the business?
Are customers satisfied? How can we measure that, then improve it?
What products to keep, modify and/or delete?
What products to add?
Are marketing and sales efforts fruitful so far, and if not, why? How can they be enhanced?
What are the short and long-term objectives of this store?
Are the store’s design, look and feel expressive of its message and brand?
Is it easy to navigate and find information?

As you you can see, the questions do not follow a specific order. In these reviews, you capture questions as they arise, randomly. I like to use a large poster and a bunch of colored markers to write down whatever comes to mind. Then gradually move to a mind-map, before finally creating an action plan on a digital tool.

Casually writing down thoughts, questions and ideas allows something interesting to emerge: Clarity!

While just before you’d started your mind was processing everything simultaneously, and rapidly, now it can observe patterns and priorities, reasons and results. It’s much easier now to find answers and chart a new course, or adjust an existing one.

During the last review, which concluded around mid October, I realized that we need to have more focus on our brand, which means redefining or resharpening the concept behind that brand.

While the message has been to ‘Be, Love, Create and Live’, the products didn’t clearly trace back to it. The four dimensions sit on the titles of four product collections. However, when reviewing individual products, it wasn’t very obvious how each one would serve that message.

We finally came to an interesting conclusion: Let’s not try to find ‘Love’, or ‘Create’ products per say, but rather look a bit deeper and ask: Can a ring, for example, help the customer promote love in her or his life? How about a wallet or a bag? does any have a link to ‘Live’ or ‘Create’? And isn’t ‘Be’ a common thread underlying all others?

Of course, another concern is: What is the market pulse for any product we offer? On the one hand, we definitely want to provide true, authentic value. Yet on the other, the business must meet its financial objectives in order to continue serving that value and progressing to even higher levels of success.

From that understanding, and to bring more focus to the product offering, we decided to keep the main theme, but rename the collections: Rings, Bags, Wallets and Digital.

With few specs about what products to choose for every collection, including high-quality, trendiness, and usefulness, we did an extensive research and decided to have only nine products under each collection. This is a major shift from 30 or so products, some didn’t clearly reflect the theme. Now when a customer clicks ‘Rings’, she or he will only see rings under that collection. The same applies to Wallets, Bags, and Digital.

It’s logical and natural after feeling that comfortable with the content of your store to turn to marketing with a renewed will and a fresh determination.

On that, StoreFour now has its Twitter and Pinterest storefronts up and running, with new content and interaction on a daily basis. Facebook already showcases StoreFour, and all are ready from another round of ad campaigns.

We are very pleased to share these exciting developments with our readers, and as always, happy to hear your questions and comments.

Till the next post, be open to new, enriching ideas!

The Wealth Maker

November 5, 2017October 26, 2020

The Soaring Eagle Group™, SEG: An Overview

What’s in a name? Inspiration, motivation, direction? How about: ‘A fresh view through an Eagle’s eye, every day.’?

The Soaring Eagle Group™ (SEG) was born years ago before the launch of my poetry blog: “The Soaring Eagle, a free soul, like an eagle.” The blog’s URL still carries the original name: earlyeagle1. Our eagle is both early and soaring 🙂

The group now embodies our Multiple Streams of Revenue (MSoR™) strategy, which can be summarized in the following excerpt from the group’s charter:

‘MSoR is a wealth-generating strategy where two or more money-making-machines join forces to provide a stable, sustainable and flexible ‘river’ of revenue for a family or a business.

T = P + (N x S)

Where:

T: Total Revenue

P: Primary source (Established: business, employment, etc)

S: Secondary source

Why is MSoR important?

To level and streamline the cash-flow of an institution (diversification)
To provide financial safety in the face of the loss of one stream, and/or the fluctuation in one or more sources
An opportunity to keep learning, growing and giving
Change in this manner guarantees continuous sharpening of vision, creativity and will
Lots of fun and an antidote to boredom as opposed to doing just one thing all the time’

You may also refer to our previous post on the concept of Multiple Streams of Income

Right now, there are three online businesses under the SEG:

The Wealth Maker, TWM Blog
StoreFour
CanFour
The Soaring Eagle Poetry™ Blog

We will dedicate at least one post to each business in the coming weeks, but for now, here’s a quick highlight of each:

TWM has been a trusted source of original wealth creation and growth knowledge and practices for more than six years. Now the blog is assuming an additional role, to be the ‘voice’ of the SEG, extending its news and updates to readers all over the world. TWM has recently incorporated select online advertisement through WordPress’s WordAds™, to participate financially in the SEG’s MSoR strategy.

StoreFour is an innovative online store geared towards promoting vibrant, balanced lifestyles through products under the theme: ‘Be, Love. Create and Live.’ A new Venture is a previous post on TWM capturing some thoughts about StoreFour.

CanFour is an original art and craftsmanship online store, focusing on handmade wooden products. You may also read this previous post on woodworking.

The long-term vision is to keep these business elements integrated through digital links, as well as organizational solid and/or dotted lines.

The group is working on adding a fifth element during the coming months, and also investigating moving into a multidimensional business hierarchy, which would integrate the existing elements in a larger business model. More on that as relevant details become available and ready to share.

The SEG is active on Linkedin. You may visit the SEG business page here.

Stay tuned, and be truly wealthy!

The Wealth Maker

October 22, 2017October 23, 2017

Woodworking: A Sleeping Talent to Explore

‘A sleeping talent is a gift one has, but they are not fully aware of its existence.’

Most of the time it takes doing something that requires using such talent in order to wake it up. It doesn’t have to be artistic though. Being good with numbers, for example, is a gift, which could come in handy one way or another, and be awaken by a genuine need (trying to figure out where all the money is going to 🙂

Recently, I’ve noticed an increasing interest in anything wood. Also noticed liking to go to hardware stores, enjoying the smell of wood, and exploring woodworking tools, raw wood boards and blocks.

It turned out that that was an actual sleeping talent (which might have its roots back in the childhood days), and when put to the test produced two handmade products, now posted on an aspiring new Etsy store, CanFour.

Of course, monetizing a genuine/original talent comes with few considerations:

Is it going to stay fresh and vibrant as product and financial concerns come into play?
While producing one item is exciting and engaging, creating a product line is a different story
Is there a market and what would drive sales?
Is an online store the right business model?

Some might argue that business, namely marketing and sales, carries an artistic spirit. I’d agree, but this is a different flavor of art.

In this case, the business vision drove creativity! The decision to start an Etsy store as an element of a Multiple Streams of Income (MSOI) strategy preceded finding product ideas, let alone alone production. I’ve found that quite interesting. I guess the lesson here is the following:

‘It doesn’t really matter where and how innovation kicks in; whether it’s a hunch while taking a walk in the mountains, or an insight popping up during a deliberate planning session. What matters is how you capitalize on that and bring it to light.’

Going forward, you will notice that The Wealth Maker blog is becoming a proactive ‘voice’ of the emerging ventures. Furthermore, it will continue its mission to deliver quality knowledge and practical tips to wealth aspirants from all walks of life…

Till our next post, stay tuned and enlightened!

The Wealth Maker

September 3, 2015September 12, 2015

A Farmer’s Approach to Wealth Making

The universe is a perfect example of collaboration and interdependence. Nothing stands alone!

We are members of that system. Our lives exhibit different dimensions that must work together if we aim for harmony and prosperity.

Attaining financial wealth is the result of thoughtful and intuitive groundwork on our part. Just like love, self esteem, happiness. They are all fruits, of healthy roots!

To use farming as a metaphor, a wise farmer decides what he/she wants to grow, picks up good seeds, prepares the land (weeding, leveling, fertilizing, etc), waits for the right season (which takes knowledge), then plants the seeds carefully.

That is the bulk of the work. After that, he or she must keep tending to the land, making sure it’s well-watered, free from insects, and so forth.

The rest is not his/her job! The seeds, given the right environment, know what to do. A farmer can’t speed up or slow down their growth.

Aiming to create and grow wealth is quite similar. It starts with knowing what we want, in as much details as possible, while leaving ample room for creativity and spontaneity.

The next step is finding the right “land”, which is the right business or investment that would translate what we want into actual products and/or services, profitable investments, or both.

The “seeds” are plenty. The challenge is to choose the right ones for you and your dream. It is essential to give this enough thought and soul searching. Sit down, write down, reflect, talk to others, collect and analyze information, release negative emotions, then make your decision(s).

What we seek, seeks us! As strange as it may sound, I’m sure you could find examples from your own life to the truthfulness of this finding. Most of the time we meet halfway, but it won’t come knocking on our doors (it might for a few). We must “move” intelligently towards it, and while moving, we continue to be open to what the road might throw before us. That might be another opportunity we haven’t thought of.

Let’s summarize what we have explored so far:

Know what you want.
- This can’t be emphasized enough. We either know what we want, or not. In the latter case, someone, or something, else would choose for us
- The farmer, in the above metaphor, knows that he/she wants to grow, say, corn this season. What do you want to “grow”, and how would you know? Go back to the basics. Ask yourself fundamental questions about your life in general. Be as honest as you can when you answer. Let those responses come from “you”, regardless of others’ approval, regardless of your current circumstances, and regardless of past conditioning and limiting self-concepts (this is a tough one. Go through it gently and steadily)
- The outcome is your vision/mission statement. The constitution of your life! Something that reflects who you truly are. Something that inspires you every time you read it!
- Derive from that statement your wealth objectives. Write them down as intentions, in the present tense. Avoid woulds and shoulds. And stay away from “wanting”. Here’s an example: “I intend to reach $$ net-worth by end of 20xx

Find the seeds
- Now that you know the destination, look for the vehicle(s) that would take you there. One source that is readily available for you is this blog. Read the articles from the beginning. You’ll find a multitude of concepts, strategies and techniques to help you decide what vehicle you’d like to ride
- Once you find what seeds you like to grow, look for the right implementation. This is also covered in details throughout the blog. However, you can do your own research using whatever tools that are available to you. The point is to plant those seeds in a good, “fertile” environment
Take care of your new farm. Nonetheless, allow it to grow on its own. Give it time and be patient. A farmer wouldn’t wake up every morning, go to the cornfield, and yell at it: Grow, grow! Be watchful at this stage and well-informed, but not willful

Finally, what we set out to achieve in life follows timeless principles. The more we know and understand those changeless facts, the smoother the ride, and the better the outcome would be.

The Wealth Maker

June 23, 2015June 26, 2015

How Can an Investor Read The Future?

Investing is not only an intellectual enterprise. It challenges all dimensions of an investor’s personality and character. That’s why it is an inner job, before it manifests in the outer.

Nonetheless, an investor is not a fortuneteller, a speculator, or a gambler. He or she sees the activity as a business, which is prone to loss and profit, rise and demise.

Human beings are bound by the laws of cause and effect, and governed by the flow of time. Is that so? We tend to “like” to surrender to such determinism because our minds need to find closure on everything. Without such “unconscious” obedience to these laws, without time, the mind gets lost.

Within each and every one of us is a potential greater than the mind. Tapping into that potential requires awareness and inner work. You may start by paying attention to the mind’s ceaseless thinking, and train yourself to be an observer, not a participant in the thousands of thoughts the mind conjures up everyday! You can reach a stage where you “choose” what serves you and add value to your life, while releasing that which confuses or troubles you.

The mind can’t stop working. This is a blessing. Nevertheless, it could turn into a curse when the mind starts using us to “entertain” itself, especially as it finds itself “free”. Keep it busy with something suitable to its nature, and useful to you and to the world around you. Apart from that, practice the art of “un-participation”. You are not your mind!

Here you might say: I’m confused! Are you telling me to be mindless?

Not at all. I’m asking you to be “mindful”. To be the master of your mind not its slave. There is a huge difference between the two worlds.

How is all of that related to investing? Surprisingly a lot!

When you become in command of your mind, and hence your life, all your activities start flowing effortlessly. You bypass the mind’s resistance to the new in favor of the old and familiar.

That leads to a very important fact, which sets the stage for the rest of this discussion: History does not repeat itself! Each and every moment is independent and new, and it may surprise you.

Does that make me read the future? You might ask.

Not literally. However, it advances you light years ahead in your ability to engage the moments while they unfold, which is, in my humble opinion, better than reading the future.

As you rid yourself of a troubling past, and be fully present here and now, you become “aligned” with true universal principles. Time becomes your friend. Cause and effect your servants. You are no longer asleep, spiritually. You start to “see”. You begin to “know” without thinking. You step into a new realm that has already been within you, but now you’re “awake” to its existence and brilliance.

From this new foundation, your investment decisions (and all your decisions) will change, for the better. You have on your side the best advisor ever, you! The real you…

This can only be proven through direct experience. Do not believe any of the above, but try it and practice it, honestly.

After all, whose life and whose money are we talking about? Doesn’t that deserve exploring something new? Haven’t we had enough of resigning to the old, only because it is familiar? And we all know, too well, that “familiar” does not equate to “successful”. Most of the time, it leads to the opposite.

Any breakthrough, throughout human history, has come about by challenging habitual thinking and exploring the frontiers that laid dormant behind the mind.

Gravity isn’t only physical!

The Wealth Maker