Gaming the System

I've been attempting to follow the Rich Idiot's guide since May of this year - well - it did get me started on this blog, and stumbled upon this related web-site: The Rich Idiot Game. An interesting concept to say the least. The game takes tasks - or to-do items - from the Rich Idiot book and puts them in game form. You complete the tasks and earn points for doing so, such as: write a mission statement (100 points), contact a financial planner (500 points).

Alas they started - as of October - charging $14.95/month to play the game. Boo-hoo. Why does everything cost $14.95/month on the web, anyway?

I can't really recommend joining unless you want to try it out for yourself - buyer beware. They still have a few kinks to work out. For the clever of us; maybe we can design our own games.

Lesson learned: If you make your tasks a game, it's not so bad (maybe you can reward yourself).

Bonus lesson learned: You don't have to make tremedious strides towards your goal everyday, just do one or two little things.

Anarchy

Alright, so I'm bit of an anarchist. Even though this site is suppose to give you motivational tips and tricks that I've come across along the way, I have a secret site despair.com. You all are familiar with the inspirational posters found on company walls from Successories Inc. like "Teamwork - Together we can reach the heights of excellence and perform the extraordinary." (r). Well this site couldn't be more opposite. My new favorite is "Blogging: Never before have so many people with so little to say said so much to so few."

Yet in all these anti-inspirational themes there are grains of truth which are worth pondering on.

Lesson learned: Sometimes looking at the opposite of what you want to achieve, can make you think deeper than just focusing on the positive.

On Telekinesis and Self-Help ?!

So my son wanted to go to Barnes & Noble to get a book on telekinesis - of course I'm thinking huh? But recalling my own youth and the belief I could move objects with my mind; vis-à-vis the old television show "My Favorite Martian." I decided why not.

I guess this is the teenager's version of Santa Claus, or the Tooth Fairy. After a couple of weeks of reading - he comes back and asks me if I believe in it, in telekinesis. As I was sitting their thinking, I saw a glass of water way over in the kitchen. I say to him "You see that glass of water" - I could tell he was getting excited now. I boldly stated, "I can make it come to me without leaving the couch". So, I called my other son, and asked him to get me the glass. I turned to the older one and said, see I had the glass come to me without getting up, just using my mind and my mouth.

After relentless objections and protest such as I wasn't allow to "open my mouth", the glass had to "float in the air", I could only "use my mind." I relented - kids make irresistible debaters.

Life lesson learned: Whether you believe it or not; self-help is kind of a telekinesis: using your mind and only your mind to bring changes to life, whether you directly participate in them or get others to help you.

On Financial Planning...

Financial Planner

I - as in my wife and I - recently had a visit from a financial planner. You know, it's one of those things you should have done - married or not - about 20 years ago kinda like exercising. We sat down, discussed goals - fortunately I had been thinking about them quite a bit lately, which is why I wanted a planner. We talked about how to finance those goals, he worked some magic and 'voila!'. Funny, I don't have more money than when I started, but I feel like I do. I guess that's the main point.

There are three things I learned from the experience:

• He doesn't print money - he can only tell you how to allocate the money you have.
• He doesn't finance goals - he can only recommend the one's you can afford now.
• If you want to achieve your financial goals - you're going to have to make the wealth.

Actually in retrospect it was a good meeting, and "whack on the side of the head". I would highly recommend it.

Life lessoned learned: "You can't print money; you can only allocate what you have. If you want more - earn it" (same could apply to most any goal)

If anyone is in the Southern California area - let me know, I'll give you his name. Sadly, I don't get any kick-backs, but I did promise him referrals every chance I get.

If we do not change direction...

Quote of the Week

~ If we do not change direction, we are liable to end up where we are headed ~ John Whitmore "Coaching for Performance"

Climb the RI Ladder: Step 2, part 1

It’s never too late for a second beginning

Let me start this blog category again…

I have to give credit where credit is due. I started this blog because of one book: the Rich Idiots book. The book contained one three letter word that stood out: A-C-T. Funny one of the blog’s I’m following had listed rules for career changers: and that idea was: 1. Take Action. As a rule when ever I see the same idea from two sources I tend to secure it as a fact of nature - at leas in my mind.

I’m still not sure why this book is sticking with me. As you read this blog I’ve been following the self-help community for awhile. Maybe it’s me - the author just hit me at the right time. By the way, I discovered this book by accident while waiting in Barnes and Noble for my kid to pick a book on of all things levitation. Karma, I guess.

A contradiction

I gave some advice – I was solicited - to another blogger on how to make their web-site better. They were mixing topics, and I told them split it out. Now here I am. As mentioned I started this blog to following the book. But I’ve also include self-help nuggets along the way, that seem to have permeated my thoughts. Oh well, carry on.

Cigar chomping Scrooge McDuck.

Not all people who want to better themselves – by better I mean to obtain more money - are cigar chomping Scrooge McDucks. This blog is more of a humorous adventure in – do any of these books help – or are they a money making scheme for the authors.

Brass Tacks

Ok let’s get down to brass tacks.

The Judgment

In the Rich Idiots book the author lists 4 main paths to wealth all dealing with assets: Cash, Stocks, Real Estate, and owning a Business. There may be more assets Art collections, Acting Abilities, etc. I will ignore them for now.

Alright given these four I was left with conundrum: how to judge how I’m doing. What I came up with was a scale from 50 to 0 – for each asset with 0 being the best.

I will talk more about this scale later on but for now here’s the score

Cash (48)
Stocks (23)
Real Estate (23)
Business (0)
Over All (27)


to be continued…

Quote of the Week: "The only difference..."

~The only difference between a rut and a grave are the dimensions ~ Ellen Glasgow

A call to action if ever I heard one.