Do you realize the importance of your personal development? Do you know that your level of success is determined by your level of self-development? Do you work to develop yourself everyday? I bet your network marketing business pushes you to develop yourself, right? Well all these questions lead to the 2nd Asset that Robert Kiyosaki knows you gain by involvement in a network marketing business from his book The Business Of The 21st Century. That Asset #2 is a profitable path to personal development!

If you are an open-minded person that decides that network marketing is an answer for you, you must realize that it’s not just about changing what you do, but it’s about changing who you are! Most of us are middle-class people who now aspire to be financially free. There is a big gap between middle-class and financially free. To accomplish this monumental change, you must change your core values, your base make-up. Again, your level of success is controlled by your level of personal development so it is critical that the changes are deep, sustained and continually developing. Robert quoted his Rich Dad when he said “Money and success make you arrogant and stupid.” And that happens when self development does not accompany the money and success.

As Robert emphasizes in this book, most network marketing companies focus strongly on the personal development of their associates. Can you say that about your JOB (Just Over Broke)? I highly doubt it since for most employers your level of self-development means either they have to pay you a higher wage or you’ll leave them for someone who will pay you more. In network marketing, everyone benefits from the ever-increasing level of your self development!

Robert talks about the fact that there is a winner and a loser in each of us and we must fight to maintain the mindset of a winner every day. Robert states that “the reason you want to join a network marketing company is that they will support the rich person inside of you to stand up and be counted.” The network marketing company does this by focusing on self development in the training of its associates. They want you to change your core values; to go beyond your past history; to no longer do what you used to do; so you can become a new person who is financially free. This can only be accomplished through self development!

So what can you take from this post and the teachings of Robert Kiyosaki? Hopefully you take the importance of developing yourself. (Only You can do that for yourself, no one else can!) The next point is that joining a network marketing business is your profitable pathway to personal development. So when selecting your network marketing company, be sure they give great priority to self development in their trainings. There are so many great companies out there that really get this requirement, but there are also some who do not. As you may have heard me shout out about before, Robert specifically endorses the network marketing company that Dave and I are involved with. I can easily see why since our company makes self development one of its core commitments, and we’re loving the push to be winners!

I’d love to hear your thoughts on personal development and how well your network marketing company is pushing you to be a winner so please leave a comment below. If you have any questions on this subject, then please leave your question as a comment.

To the Winner in You!!

Are you ready to begin to learn the assets you gain by developing a network marketing business? Ok, great! Then we’ll start slowly so we can fully understand and take advantage of each asset.

Robert Kiyosaki identifies and lays out these eight assets plus some other excellent advantages in his latest book – The Business of the 21st Century.
Network Marketing is Not about Making Income

Let’s start out with a profound statement made by Robert “Network marketing is not about making more income; it’s about building an asset.” Now this is not how most people think at first. As we begin, we are only focused on bringing in more income. But that is short-sighted. Rather we need to think like Big Business owners and think about the income-producing asset we can create by building our network. As we recruit people to build their own Big Business, we create an network of big businesses that generate passive income for us. It’s passive income since our team has made the sale that created the income that we have received. We did not have to make all those sales ourselves, therefore, the income is passive.

The #1 Wealth Building Asset – Real-World Business Education

Now to begin to look at the 8 assets that you gain from network marketing, I’ll cover #1 in this post and the rest in future posts. Robert’s #1 Wealth Building Asset earned through your network marketing business is a real-world business education. This education is not learned in schools, colleges or trade schools. This business education is not learned by employees because they have no need to use these real-world business skills! These skills are what allow big business owners to create a strong and successful business.

Your Real-World Business Skills

Here’s a list of the important skills required for a big business that are learned by a network marketer:

1. Ability to get organized and set your own agenda
2. Having a vision
3. Setting goals
4. Organizing a plan of action
5. Managing your time
6. Executing a clear plan

Your Tax Advantages Education
Your real-world business training, according to Robert, also includes the tax advantages that come from owning your own business. These are the same tax advantages that rich use to greatly reduce their taxable income.

Here’s a list of the new tax deductions you can likely take with your network marketing business:

1. Home office deductions
2. Auto/Gas Mileage
3. Home computer
4. Internet and Telecom
5. Travel, dining, hotel
6. Personal product use

This list are just a few examples of things you already pay for that may become legitimate tax deductions once you begin your home-based network marketing business.  Note: This list is for illustrative purposes only; for tax advice for your situation, consult your tax professional.  You’ll be glad to know that the cost of the services of your tax professional are also deductible business expenses.

Your Life Skills Education

Rounding off the real-world business education that you will receive through network marketing are some critical life skills that will assist you in all areas of your life. Some of these life skills would not be learned in any other way.
Here’s the list of life skills learned through your efforts in network marketing:

1. An attitude of success
2. Dressing for success
3. Overcoming personal fears, doubts and lack of confidence
4. Overcoming the fear of rejection
5. Communication skills
6. People skills
7. Time-management skills
8. Accountability skills
9. Practical goal-setting
10. Money-management skills
11. Investing skills

Isn’t that an outstanding list? My favorite is 4. Overcoming the fear of rejection since this fear keeps me from enjoying so many other areas of my life as well. In network marketing, we all know that rejection is so prevalent that if you stick to it, you’ll come to expect and accept rejection and allow it to keep you motivated to keep asking. I loved Robert’s story in his book about how his lack of fear of rejection allowed him to pursue a date with his wife after she rejected him over three times. So it is easy to see how these life skills help you in your personal life as well as your business life.

Start Earning While You Learn

And here’s Robert’s last point on how networking marketing can provide you with this real-world business education. This point is a common expression in network marketing – “It’s a business where you earn while you learn.” You learn by doing it and you can start doing it from the very beginning since the training begins on day one.

I give my thanks again to Robert Kiyosaki for solidifying our decision to develop a network marketing business by sharing this #1 Asset gained through network marketing!

Does this make sense to you? Do you have any questions for me? If so, please leave your comments and questions below.

Are you one of the many who has found that their safe secure job is no longer?  Or are you lucky and only your hours have been cut? Are you starting to realize that a job, your current one or any other, will not take you where you want to financially?  Do you have aspirations to do so much more with your life? To have so much more? To become so much more? To use your money to make money?  Well Robert Kiyosaki and I have an answer for you.  I pulled Robert’s answer from his latest book “The Business of the 21st Century“.

First, you are so right in the realization that your job, with its insecurity, its income being taxed at the highest rates and its lack of tax deductions, will not create the financial freedom that you are looking for.  We all can now certainly see the insecurity in the job market.  We can all watch and experience the increase in the unemployment rate.  As an employee, your destiny is determined by people who you have no control over, and your personal situation and needs are the farthest from the minds of those that make the decision.

In regards to the tax rates that apply to the earned income you receive from your employment, the tax rate is not limited in any way for this type of income like it is for capital gains or passive income types.  Therefore, if your earned income is significant in amount, it will be taxed in the highest tax bracket which is currently set to be 35% in 2010 and 39.6% in 2011.  Does Uncle Sam deserve that much of your hard earned money?

As an employee, the only tax deductions you know are your mortgage interest, your property taxes, your charitable contributions and maybe some medical deductions.  That’s pretty much it for an employee.  There are so many more deductions that will reduce your taxable income and therefore your tax bill, but they are not available to you if you only work for someone else.

Most of us are now sick and tired of only making someone else financially secure, right? As Robert says in his book, “72% of all adult Americans would rather work for themselves than for a job, and 67% think about quitting their jobs regularly or constantly.” If you are in either or both of these groups, congratulate yourself!  You are on the right track and you need to start making headway on that track.

In Robert’s book, he tells of an excellent answer that will really take you where you want to go.  This answer falls within the B for Big Business quadrant in Robert’s Cashflow Quadrant diagram.  It is in this quadrant, and the I for Investment quadrant, that  you want to earn your income from.  The other two quadrants, E for Employee and S for Self-employed, will not generate any change for you and will not create the financial freedom you want.

Robert’s business of choice for the 21st century is…drum roll, please…Network Marketing!  Yes, you heard me right (unless the drum roll drowned me out), it is Network Marketing.  And the key word here as Robert explains, is the “Network“.  We can’t create a big business on our own.  We need the help of others and as they help us, we help them to create their own network and repeat the process.  One of the biggest reasons Robert loves and recommends network marketing is because it is the business model that helps people help each other.  It also has become one of the best things Dave and I like about it too.

So in closing, Dave and I hope you’re ready to join us on the right track that leads to all our dreams and financial success.  We have such a tremendous guide who is telling us which business is the best business for the 21st century, and we don’t know anyone else whose opinion we would value more in this area.  If Robert Kiyosaki recommends network marketing, there is no doubt that that’s the right choice for us, and we hope you’ll give it some valid consideration as well for the benefit to you and your family!

Yes, it’s true, I was on the phone with our financial idol, Robert Kiyosaki! (our dog is named Kiyo, if that gives you any idea how significant Robert’s teachings have been to us!) OK, I suppose you want to know how it happened. Here it is. Myself and 3,000 other network marketers for our primary business were on the phone as Robert and his wife Kim were the guest speakers on one of our team conference call Sunday night. Did I care that I had to share his wisdom and the sound of his live voice with 3,000 other people? No way! I was so happy that so many of us could have such a fantastic experience, receiving personal guidance from the financial master.

And guess what else was even better! Robert (yes, I feel I can call him by his first name now since he spoke to me on the phone!) was specifically endorsing our primary business! We feel so honored and privileged to have chosen one of the very few, if any, network marketing businesses that is endorsed by the man who gave us the courage and sound financial principles to change our lives through network marketing. We couldn’t be happier or feel more confident in our decision!

Ok, now let’s get into the specifics of what Robert and Kim Kiyosaki said during this awesome phone call.

Much of what he said came from his latest book The Business of the 21st Century, written specifically for the network marketing industry. (I have a copy on its way!)

“Politicians work for big corporations and the rich, not for the people” Robert said this was true since the big corporations and the rich can make huge political contributions that we, the people just can’t. Through Robert, I learned that the Supreme Court has overturned a bill that was pushed forward by John McCain that limited the amount of political contributions that can be accepted by politicians. The Supreme Court determined that corporations and individuals can not be limited in the dollar amount that they choose to contribute to politicians. As we all know, politicians listen to money more than anything else. That leaves us out in the cold and fully responsible for our own financial future.

The things we are fighting, per Robert, are:
• The economy will get worse
• The current 10% unemployment rate is likely to increase
• Taxes to go higher
• Inflation to increase

In regards to inflation, Robert said “$250,000 a year won’t get you ahead in 10 years!” Isn’t that incredibly sad!

Robert, as usual, offered the solution to these problems. “Work not as an individual, but create your own network. Build your own network so your income is not limited.” In my opinion, you’ll get absolutely no where if you continue to rely only on your own limited efforts. We can all be successful if we work together toward a common goal.

In regards to sharing your opportunity with your family and friends, Robert also talked about the fact that even some of his family members are still stuck in the employee mindset. He said that when he returns to Hawaii to see his family, he has family members who still ask him if he’s found a job yet, and they feel sorry for him when he says “no”. (What planet do they live on?) For those of us who have received the same reactions from our own family and friends, you can feel that you are in excellent company now. Robert says if your family and friends are in the employee quadrant (from his Cashflow Quadrant book), you will have a rough time changing them. Another quote from Robert: “If your friends don’t understand why you’re doing what you’re doing, then you need new friends.” This topic and this quote specifically have empowered me to move beyond the rejections from my family and friends and I hope it helps you in the same way!

The last thing that Robert discussed that I’ll include in this post here was in regards to spouses working together to mind their own business. First off, why mind your own business? As Robert and his Rich Dad explained in Rich Dad Poor Dad, in addition to your profession/job, you must create and mind your own business to invest in assets to become financially independent. As Robert indicated in the call, a network marketing business is a great way to make money that you’ll then invest in assets within your business. Now back to spouses working together. As Robert mentioned how important it is to have the full support of your spouse and gave huge credit to his wife Kim, as she came on the phone. Her big point was to highlight how she and Robert grew personally together in such a phenomenal way as they have worked closely together now for so many years. She couldn’t say enough about the increased success you can generate when you work together! I look forward to reading this chapter of The Business of the 21st Century that Kim wrote.

OK, there was more valuable information that Robert relayed in this phone call, but I’ll save some for the next post. For those of you who are huge Robert Kiyosaki fans, like Dave and I, I’m sorry you couldn’t be on the call. My offerings here in this post can’t compare to hearing him in person, but I hope, by reading this post, you’ve received some of the benefit I received. I’ll gladly respond to any questions you may have. Please leave your questions and comments below.

I’m not sure if I’ll ever come off the high I’m on after hearing Robert Kiyosaki speak to me and confirm that we are on the right path!! Thanks so much to my business partners, Sara and Bruce who clued me into the call on Sunday night! I’m so grateful!!

Yes, Bill Gates used more than his own abilities to reach his incredible success. In actuality, Bill Gates used several opportunities that allowed him to succeed.

Before we continue, we have to give full credit to Malcolm Gladwell and his book The Outliers – The Story of Success. This post is based on a portion of what we’ve learned from Gladwell.

We’re sure that you’ll agree with Gladwell that Bill Gates is an Outlier. The term “outlier” is a scientific phenomenon that lies outside normal everyday experience. Individuals who are so successful that their story demands a more complete explanation are “outliers” .

Now let’s list some of the opportunities that came Gates way that he took full advantage of:

1. His parents were well off. So when Gates was bored in public school his parents could afford to put him in a private school called Lakeside.

2. The moms of the Lakeside students chose to spend their annual rummage sale proceeds on the school’s first computer terminal (this state of the art computer terminal allowed for real time programming using time sharing) in 1968. In fact, this opportunity was so monumental because Lakeside was the only non-university school to have a terminal computer which was linked to a mainframe in Seattle. Gates found his love of computers and programming when he first sat down in front of the terminal.

3. Lakeside moms to the rescue again. They could pay for the expensive computer user fees to allow students, mainly Gates, to use the terminal for countless hours.

4. As young as an eighth grader, Gates could do real-time programming rather than using the very slow punch-card programming.

5. Gates could spend all his time in the computer lab. By high school, he was able to program eight hours a day seven days a week.

6. At Washington University, he could program for free for hours during the night when the mainframe was not scheduled for any other use.

7. By the end of college, Gates had already spent more than 10,000 hours programming. Below we’ll explain how Malcolm Gladwell performed research to determine that 10,000 hours is the minimum required to master any skill.

8. Gates was born on 10-28-55. Now you may be how your date of birth can be an opportunity. Well, the January 1975 issue of Popular Electronics was the first publication about the very first personal computer kit. So in reality, this was the very beginning of the personal computer industry. According to Gladwell, the best age to be to take advantage of this opportunity was 20 to 21 years of age. Backing up, that means those born in 1954 and 1955 were the perfect age in January 1975.

We were amazed to learn that Bill Gates was lucky in many ways and without some of these great opportunities, he may not be the richest man in the world. We do know that Gates did work very hard to make these opportunities work like everyone must. Gladwell, through the example of Bill Gates and many others, has shown us that taking advantage of opportunities is just as important, or more so, as innate talent to achieve success. In fact, innate talent is not required.

Of all the opportunities that Gates had, Gladwell focused highly on the need for 10,000 hours of practice to guarantee success in any area of skill. One of the success stories he studied to prove his point was about The Beatles, and we’d like to briefly explain how The Beatles, by chance, had accumulated 10,000 hours of practice before they arrived in America for their hugely successful British Invasion. Where did The Beatles have the chance to put in 10,000 hours? It was when they were sent to Hamburg, Germany in early 1960 where they had to play for seven days per week for eight hours per day for nearly a year. So they were not overnight successes. They were incredibly successful because they had put in their 10,000 hours.

So how can we apply this new knowledge to ourselves and our desires to succeed? Well, for starters, we can know that success is not limited to the few individuals who have innate talent. It is available to all of us who look for and take advantage of opportunities.

Second, we all have 10,000 during which we can prepare for our ultimate success by practicing the particular skills that our opportunity requires. Many of us are already well on our way to hitting our 10,000 hours so we just keep doing what we’re doing because we know that time is on our side. Success is not a get-rich quick scheme. 

Success is a 10,000 hour journey during which we take full advantage of every opportunity we find.

Are you going to be the next Bill Gates in your endeavor? You certainly can!!

If this peaked your interest of learning more about this great book, you can visit the following link for more information. http://daveanddawncook.com/31/our-mentors/malcolm-gladwell-outliers/

Did you like the first four steps to Become the Richest person in your city from George Clason in The Richest Man in Babylon?  I hope you did because there are more steps to create wealth that are still as applicable today as in ancient times.

As you may recall, here are the prerequisite and steps one to four:
(Feel free to refer to the post How to Become the Richest Man or Woman in Your City for more detail on the prerequisite and Steps 1 – 4)

The Prerequisite – A burning desire to create wealth along with the willingness to take the required action steps.

Step 1 – Start your wallet or purse to fattening by with 10% of your earnings that is yours to keep.

Step 2 – Control your expenditures to live comfortably on the remaining 90%.

Step 3 – Make your gold (money) multiply by investing the 10%.

Step 4 – Guard your treasures (money) from loss.

Now let’s learn the details of steps five through seven that complete the path to wealth as practiced by The Richest Man in Babylon.

Step 5 – Make thy dwelling a profitable investment
In the days of Babylon many folks rented unsuitable living quarters. It was true then that renting was a way to throw your money away where building a home through borrowing from the money lender resulted in nearly the same monthly expenditure that creates an investment. So the recommendation was to acquire a nice little home that you could afford where you and your family can live comfortably.

Most of us already see the value of this step and we’ve already acquired a home. The main point I took from George Clason in this step is to purchase a nice little home you can afford. We can’t let our mortgage payment strap us down since we have to live comfortably on the remaining 90%. Also it is important to note that 10% was set aside for investment in addition to the mortgage payment.

When we look at the importance of purchasing a home as well as investing in other income producing assets, I’m reminded of Robert Kiyosaki’s teachings in his book Rich Dad Poor Dad. Robert says that your home is a liability because it causes money to go out through mortgage payments and upkeep. This is a total opposite of what our banks tell us and what most believe that our home is an asset. So George Clason and Robert Kiyosaki strongly agree that your home is not your best asset and that you must have many more investment assets to have true riches.

Step 6 – Insure a Future Income
You must always be thinking of the future and make preparations for a suitable income in the days to come. Also you must make preparations for your family when you can no longer be there to support them. “No man can afford not to insure a treasure for this old age and the protection of his family, no matter how prosperous his business and investments may be.”, wrote George Clason.

Planning for the future involves making investments that will endure safely for many years. These same investments must be available when the time comes for their use as was anticipated. George Clason and the Richest Man in Babylon also make the point that the earlier you start planning and investing for your future income, the less you will have to invest each year. Notice that there was no mention of planning to depend on social security for future income.

It was very interesting to learn that back in ancient times, the men of Babylon predicted many men paying in a small amount regularly to create a handsome sum for the family of each man who passeth to the beyond. We all certainly know this plan as life insurance. The financial intelligence and wisdom of the people from this ancient period in history is astounding.

Step 7 – Increase Thy Ability to Earn
If you find that your expenditures exceed your income, the only real solution is to increase your capacity to earn more income. Some may think this can to be done by going to your boss to ask for a raise or using loans and credit cards.  The raise request may work, but most likely not, and incurring bad debt is definitely not the solution.

The sure way to increase your ability to earn is to learn more through self-education.  Per George Clason, your financial situation will improve when you seek greater skill so that you can better serve those whose patronage you depend on. Therefore, you must always make progress and be moving forward rather than standing still to be left behind.

This “seventh and last remedy for a lean purse is to cultivate thy own powers, to study and become wiser, to become more skillful, to so act as to respect thyself.” This sounds so close to Jim Rohn’s teachings to make yourself more valuable to the marketplace through the disciplines of self-development.

I can certainly tell that George Clason’s book The Richest Man in Babylon made a direct impact on Jim Rohn and he so kindly helped others to benefit as well. I hope you read this book and put it’s wisdom into action for you and your family.

Jim Rohn had repeatedly recommended the book “The Richest Man in Babylon” by George Clason, written in 1926.  I can now say that I have read it and I’m so glad I did.  In one of Jim’s many audios, Challenge to Succeed, he says that only 3% of his audiences every go out and get the book and read it.  When I heard his comment again recently, I decided to join the 3% crowd by getting the book (a used one at a great price) and reading it.  It’s not a long book and its fun to read since it is written in the way they would have spoken in ancient times in Babylon.

Today I want to let you know the initial steps that were used by the Richest Man in Babylon that allowed him to become so very rich.  First though, I need to mention the prerequisite that I did not mention in my video.  That all important prerequisite is to have a burning desire to become rich and wealthy.  Without that, any set of steps will fail because the desire is not strong enough. That strong desire will make you seek out the knowledge and take the required actions.

The Richest Man in Babylon’s first step to wealth began when he decided that a part of all he earned was his to keep.  Meaning he put aside 10% of all his earnings (his gold) to use that money to make him more money while he adjusted his spending so that he was able to live comfortably on the remaining 90%.  Learning to live on the remaining 90% was the second step.   Once he made the adjustment to spend only 90% of his gold, he felt no real decrease in his lifestyle.  Of course, the clinking gold coins (the 10% set aside for investment) in his purse (aren’t you men glad you can call it a wallet now) probably gave him a new happiness that boosted his outlook like nothing else could.

Now it is very important what you do with the 10%.  Guarding your investment from loss is the fourth step.   In the beginning as he learned by making mistakes, the Richest Man in Babylon invested his first year’s worth of 10% savings with his bricklayer so that they each could buy jewels to resell to the people of the City of Babylon for a large profit.  As you may have guessed, the bricklayer knew nothing about jewels and he was easily tricked into accepting colored pieces of glass in exchange for his and the Richest Man in Babylon’s full 10% investment.   The lesson learned here was that you should never trust a bricklayer’s knowledge about jewels, or, in today’s words, be sure you find an expert in the investment you plan to make or, better yet, become an expert yourself.

What I liked most about this book is that I now know the steps to immense wealth used and proven in ancient times and I love how relevant those steps are in today’s world.  Please take Jim Rohn’s recommendation and join the 3% who’ve read this little book.  Go out and get or borrow (Jim says that only 3% of American’s have a library card; must be the same 3%) the book, The Richest Man in Babylon, and use what you learn from George Clason to become the Richest Man or Woman in your City!

It sounds like a strange question, but do you know where you are going? Have you made any decisions for yourself in the areas of personal development, finances/wealth, health, relationships, spirituality and lifestyle?

What kind of person do you want to be? How much money do you want to make? What priority will you give to taking care of your health? What kind of relationship do you want with your mate and your family? Etc…

If the answers to these questions are No, then are you going anywhere?

According to all the reading that Dave and I have done from great self-development authors such as Jim Rohn, Tony Robbins, John Maxwell, Jeff Olsen and many others, the answers to these questions comprise your goals. With defined goals you have determined where you want to go and what you want to achieve. Without goals, there is nothing to strive for and you’ll end up stuck in the same spot in many areas of your life.

What we’ve learned from these self-development experts is that well-defined goals with lots of specifics and details and an assigned deadlines must be written down. Writing down your goals with the added detail and due date is the first step to achieving your goals.

An advantage of having your goals written out is that you can review them (and adjust as needed) every day so that your subconscious mind can be put to work to help you reach your goals. Our mentors have said you’ll be quite surprised on what your subconscious mind can contribute when it is focused on your desires. This daily practice of reading your goals will also keep your focus on the major priorities in your life rather than unconsciously focusing on minor things.

The specifics and details that you’ll define for each goal will include the daily action steps that you can apply each day so you can always be progressing towards the achievement of your goals. The only way to reach your goals is to take small steps forward every day.

In closing, determine your goals in all areas of your life since each area is equally important, write those goals down on paper with specifics, details and a deadline, and then document the daily action steps you will do each day for each goal. Then before you know it, you’ll have reached those goals and will be ready to start the process again for your next set of goals for future achievement.