Learning about the right kind of leverage can move your world from barely getting by or worse to one of enjoyment and abundance.

Leverage is used every day. There are only 24 hours in a day. So, if you start a business and you are the only one working it, at most you could get 24 hours of work done each day. If you employed someone, you could get the benefit of their effort as well. If you had an online auction business, you could manage the auctions while they did the packing and shipping.

There is a limit to that kind of leverage since each new employee brings costs. Their contribution must be greater than their costs or it doesn’t make business sense to employ them.

Also, there’s the age old struggle of employees want to do only enough to keep from getting fired and employers want to pay only enough to keep people from quitting.

What if there was a way that each new member of your organization could reap the same types of financial benefits that you do without reducing your profits? Motivational problems aren’t there because they have an interest in the business. After awhile they would build your business with little to no effort from you.

Is this just a fantasy?

This is the world of network marketing. It’s not perfect, it’s just better.

As you work with your company to sell products, you find other like minded people who want to build their own prosperity. Depending on your company, you will get a percentage of the business their business generates. If they find other people who build a business, you will probably get a percentage of their business as well. As your business organization grows, there will be a point where you are receiving more money from other people’s efforts than your own. There is another point, a critical mass, where your organization and income grow exponentially without your effort. This money is called residual income.

This can result in lifestyle freedom where you have the money and the time to do what you want, with whom you want, when you want.

If you would like to know more, you can go to FreeRKCDForYou.com to get a free CD from Robert Kiyosaki called, “The Business of the 21^st Century.”

Technorati Tags: change your world, employees, leverage, lifestyle freedom, network marketing, residual income

Traditional career roles fall into 5 major categories – blue collar worker, white collar worker, sales, traditional business ownership and investing. I’m not saying that there’s anything wrong with any of these. Many good people have spent their entire life in these categories. What I’m saying is that if you want a better life, you might want to look outside of them.

One common trait of these categories is the lack of lifestyle. People that work in these categories earn just enough to keep them from going elsewhere or their constant attention is required. Staycations have become the norm today with Someday Isle being one of the most popular destinations.

Working for someone else is building their dreams, not necessarily yours. Robert Kiyosaki has a quote, “Why would you work so hard at something you will never own?”

Being your own boss is the dream of many people, but in reality, traditional business ownership results in the business owning you. If you go on vacation, so does your income.

Investing can give you what you want but has a high barrier of entry, namely, you have to have the money to make more money.

Why is network marketing better? You can get the benefits of business ownership without the problems. You can build it part time, for very little money, while you have other income. It offers the ability to create lifestyle, having the money and the time to do what you want. It utilizes leveraged residual income to give you the ability to take vacations and have your income increase.

Granted, building any business takes hard work. The advantages are that you own it, you can will it to your kids and it can provide you with income so you can “retire” at any age.

To find out more about what Robert Kiyosaki thinks about about how network marketing can benefit you, go to FreeRKCDForYou.com to get his cd, “The business of the 21^st Century.”

Technorati Tags: blue collar, network marketing, residual income, retire, white collar

When I arrived at that company, the division I was in was using extremely outdated technology and all the tech people had either left for other jobs or transferred to other departments. I was the only person doing the work of the four previous workers. I put in the long hours to solve the immediate issues, hired some workers and started updating the way we did things. I pulled their fat out of the fire and made it work well.

My sons remember it as the time when daddy would come home when they were eating dessert. I was putting in the hours to make sure our deadlines were met and our customers were happy. In fact, my manager received many compliments about me from our customers for my about ability to get crazy requests done quickly.

I thought I was secure.

My wife had stayed home with our second son, so I was the only breadwinner for our family. I was receiving a decent income that mostly covered our expenses. Major stuff that came up, air conditioning repairs, car repairs, etc. went on the credit cards.

The first warning sign came in June, 2002 during the normal performance appraisal and raise cycle. My performance appraisal was great, no problems there. Then I was told that I was making too much already to get a raise of any type. So much for work hard, do a good job and they will take care of you!

One day in March, 2003, I received a call from my manager and 20 minutes later, I was carting boxes of my personal stuff (I had a lot of technical books) out the door. I was laid off!

I learned firsthand about the lack of employer loyalty and job security. Anyone who has experienced getting the rug pulled out from under like this can tell you about the feelings of betrayal, helplessness and bitterness that come though not right away. Usually, you are too stunned to think.

This event made it very clear to me that if you want security, seek freedom. Build your own business and make sure it gives you lifestyle freedom. That’s the time and the money to do what you want. Build it while you have an income on a part time basis so you aren’t under the gun to get it done.

You want your business to continue providing money even if you aren’t there for a period of time. You can build an online auction business but if you go on a two week vacation, you either have to stop your auctions or hire someone to fulfill them. That’s not time freedom.

Robert Kiyosaki, author of Rich Dad, Poor Dad, describes how a home based network marketing business is the coming trend in his CD, “The Business of the 21^st Century.” You can get a free copy at FreeRKCDForYou.com.

Technorati Tags: employer loyalty, home based network marketing business, laid off, lifestyle freedom

I know a guy named Mark who was a very successful owner of a real estate brokerage in a hot market. Mark did all the right things with his brokerage and pulled in six and seven figures in profit each year, but he had the same problem as a fast food worker. Every January 1^st, the start of his new pay period, he started from zero, just like a fast food worker starts each week.

Mark realized that no matter how well he did in the past, if he didn’t get back on the hamster wheel, his income would stop. Not only that, he felt like he was running up a down escalator with more competitors, a higher bar set from the previous year, etc. It just became harder and harder to even obtain the previous level.

What Mark, the fast food worker and almost everyone else who works earned was linear income. You trade one unit of work for one unit of pay.

What did Mark do? He found out about earning residual income with a home based network marketing business. He replaced his former income and sold his brokerage. Now, every week, the benefits of his previous efforts are there providing him with residual income. His paycheck is already there before he wakes up on Monday morning. It’s up to him how much he wants to increase it which he does by helping other people become successful as well.

The reason I know Mark is because we work with the same network marketing company. If moving from the down escalator to the up escalator sound appealing to you, go to FreeRKCDForYou.com, and get a free cd from Richard Kiyosaki, the Rich Dad, Poor Dad guy, to get more information.

Technorati Tags: home based network marketing business, linear income, pay check, Poor Dad, real estate brokerage, residual income, Rich Dad, richard kiyosaki

He calls the Forever Recession is the result of the end the Industrial Age. The jobs and those skills are going away and not coming back. It’s like horse carriage makers at the beginning of the 20^th Century.  As cars replaced horses, the market for the carriage makers disappeared.

During the last 80 years, people could do as they were told, get paid average to above average wages and retire. That is no longer the case. Layoffs, mergers and shutdowns mean that people can lose their jobs through no fault of their own and it will be very difficult to find the same type of job elsewhere.

The other concept, the Race to the Bottom, has its hand in this as well. It the concept that companies are forced to find ways to cut costs just to stay in business. Their competitors are now global and they have to compete or shutdown. In the process of improving efficiencies, often jobs are shed in the process of automation.

What does this mean to you? The first thing is you either have to be different or the cheapest in order get the work. You can survive and thrive but not by being the cheapest worker out there. Be different.

One of the ways to be different is to create your own business. Having a home based network marketing business is one of the cheapest, most effective ways to do so. With the company’s starter kit, you get a business in a box while they have all the risk in product creation, order fulfillment, systems, training, etc. All that you supply are the customers.

I’m not saying it’s the easiest thing in the world, but, there is no upside limits and it’s under your control. You work with partners that have a vested interest in your being successful so they teach you and support you.

Here’s Seth’s video.

Technorati Tags: forever recession, home based business, network marketing, race to the bottom, seth godin

The first step is to decide what you want. I suggest at least one from each of these categories: finance/professional, health and relationships.

A finance/professional goal would be to bring in at least $300 more per month. This can be accomplished in many ways such as starting a home based business, learning a new skill which will get you a pay increase or promotion or even cutting out $300 worth of expenses.

A health goal may be to lose 10 pounds, give up smoking or cut down drinking. Giving up bad habits can also improve your money situation as well. Losing 10 pounds in a year can be as easy as walking 30 minutes a day consistently, giving up or cutting back on high glycemic foods or drinking a glass of water before meals to make you feel full faster.

A relationship goal could be to have dinner with my family at least 4 times a week or to leave work at work. Often people get the saying backwards – you should actually spend quality time at work so you can spend quantity time with your kids.

Once you have down what you want, you will have to sell it to yourself until you buy it. That is, do it consciously until it becomes the habit or the norm. Until you buy into the goal, it will be easy not to do.

When you accomplish your goals or even before, you will also gain many other benefits. These things include increased self esteem, self empowerment, a sense of well being and the belief that you can accomplish even greater goals.

The best sale of the year will be the sale to yourself that your life can be better.

Technorati Tags: goals, home based business, sale

Most people accept what comes their way. They work in the job that was available in a field that was available and keep doing it as long as it’s available.

What if you applied your vacation attitude to your life? In five years, where do you want to be? What do you want to be doing? Who do you want to be doing it with? Take some time, sit down and do this without restricting yourself with “realistic” goals. There’s a saying that goes that people usually overestimate what they can do in a year and underestimate what they can do in five years.

Once you have a destination in mind, next comes the logistics – how do you get there from here? Do you need more money? Do you need to change your profession?

If you want to have a better year next year, start the planning now.

If you have financial challenges, are you looking at the potential problems (the wall) or solutions (where you want to go)? Most people will look at the problems and when those problems materialize, they wonder what happened.

Some will call it Law of Attraction. Some will say it is your Reticular Activating System (RAS) filtering things. Others will point out that the problems are the result of the past, which cannot be changed, while the solutions are the future which can be changed by your present actions.

Years ago, when I was laid off, I was at an age where getting another job in my line of work was a challenge in the best of times. I had a choice. I could either lament the recent problems, wonder how I was going to put food in our mouths, keep a roof over our heads, etc. or I could choose to figure out where I wanted to go from there.

I chose to take my own future under my control and make money from home. Have things been wonderful since? Not always. There have been bumps and skids but, I always kept looking where I wanted to go and it has made all the difference.

Technorati Tags: laid off, Law of Attraction, make money from home, Reticular Activating System

With the change in seasons comes a change in thinking. Instead of trying to avoid the heat, people around here are looking forward to the State Fair, crisp mornings and Halloween with Thanksgiving around the corner.

This could be a season to change how you think about your life. Many people look towards others for the major requirements in their life. A job, either having one or looking for one, to pay for the things you want gives your power to other people. This is especially acute when you are looking for a job in these times. Like Blanche DuBois, you are dependent on the kindness of strangers.

This dependency shrinks your dreams. You shrink them to fit your income. You take a “staycation” instead of a memory making vacation with loved ones.  You drive a car that fit your budget, not your fancy. Your living accommodations are “cozy” instead of breath taking. All the while, you rationalize to yourself that it will get better “someday”.

I challenge you to change your thinking. Expanding your income to fit your dreams is not only possible but so much more rewarding. You can be your own boss. You can have a carpet commute. You take back your power and control. If you want a raise, you can give it to yourself.

Look at starting a profitable home based business. You can do so for relatively little. Even in down times, people can be successful in business. In fact, down times often force people to come up with ways to be successful because of the lack of alternatives.

Some of the things it has brought me are the two most important things to people at the end of their lives – memories and relationships. Many parents feel they are sending a stranger off to college because they don’t know who their child has become. I have been involved with my sons’ lives especially during their critical teen years. Before that, I was working much too long hours. My youngest still remembers when I would come home when they were finishing dinner.

I have chaperoned a choir trip to Walt Disney World. I have chaperoned band trips. I am often the only dad that’s chaperoning. I have been there dropping them off at school and more importantly, picking them up afterwards. I have confidence in my son’s driving because I had the time to teach him and log the required 20 hours before he got his license.

I have built relationships with my sons and provided foundations for having great relationships with them as they mature into adulthood because I had control of my time and my life. That’s often called time freedom and lifestyle freedom.

I am urging you with the change of seasons to change your thinking. Interrupt the “get a good job” mantra and take control of you life.

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Having a definiteness of purpose is one of the major ingredients for your success. Napoleon Hill wrote about it in Think and Grow Rich. Having a definiteness of purpose is like a ship having a destination before it leaves port. It gives you a sense of satisfaction and control that once you taste it, you want more and more.

Have you ever sat down and figured out what you would really like to do? Or where you would really like to live? Or what car you would really like to drive?

Once you figure out the destination, you can map out how to get there. You can also plan for how much it will cost in time, effort and money. There is always a price to pay but there’s also a price to pay for drifting.

The drifting days of summer are coming to an end. Take control of at least some part of you life and work towards you goal with definiteness of purpose.

Technorati Tags: control of your life, definiteness of purpose, drifting