488. For Your Eyes Only.

All the advice given here is for your use only. If you tell people that you are following it, you will reduce its power by 50%. The whole power of it can be destroyed very easily if you share it with negative people or those who don't want you to do well.

487. Rules for Speech

Do not Swear or Blaspheme.
Do not Lie.
Never Cover up for another.

It saves a huge amount of time and energy if you have a rule that simply says that you never lie swear or cover up. That way, your decisions about what you will say have already been made for you.

This should not stop you from being careful, economical, if you will, with the truth. It is a powerful thing and not everyone is entitled to the whole truth. If you are ever asked a direct question, you must tell the truth but you don't have to go out of your way to get someone into trouble or give away too much information.

486. Work Hard but Don't Let it Show

Never let anyone know how hard you work. No matter how hard you do work, let the World believe that you are coasting, that it is all effortless. One day it will be.

485. Planning and Success

Always have a plan. Have a plan for Sport, Study, Income, Expenditure, Work, Play, Love and Life itself. Without a plan, how would you know if you were a success ?

484. Criminality

Remember that the criminal mind does not have to have a reason. It sees you as prey. In a room full of saints, the thief will only see pockets to be picked

483. Wisdom and Problems

Remember that no matter what happens or whatever challenges arise, if you are wise, it is never a problem. The wise man never has problems, merely situations that require his attention.

482. Your Most Powerful Asset

The most powerful asset you posses is your brain if you learn to run it properly. If you use it improperly, it can become your most powerful liability.

481. Definition of Ingenuity

The definition of ingenuity is that it is the invisible thought process that turns a liability or neutral possession into an asset.

The real power that you have is your thought process. The secret of this power is in developing your follow-through. Acquire the practical skills needed for follow through.

Do not work simply for money. Your real job is to create assets.

The acid test of an asset is to ask if you can pass it on to your loved ones. If you can and it continues to put money into their pockets then it truly is an asset.

The Ten Principal Upanishads

480. Your Most Valuable Resource

The most valuable resource you have is your time. It is finite. That means it will run out some day. You should invest your time wisely. The 3 Es are what you should invest it in :

Education (Philosophy and Finance)
Experience (Work place, volunteering, charity)
Excess Cash (management and re-investing)

479. Become a good Investor

Keep your earned money secure by converting it into property and shares that will become assets to return income to you. It is your responsibility to determine whether your securities become assets or liabilities. This is called Risk Assessment. Be a good investor not a risky one. There are no risky investments, only risky investors.Rich Dad's Guide to Investing: What the Rich Invest in, That the Poor and the Middle Class Do Not!

478. Passive Income

It does not matter where you earn your money or what job you have. What matters is that you convert the maximum percentage of it into portfolio and passive investment as efficiently as possible.

477. Losing Money

Every time you lose money, you destabilise your financial position. Never deliberately make a loss just so you can take a tax break. It is ALWAYS better to make a profit and pay the tax if you must. Better still, make the profit and avoid,(not evade), avoid the tax.

There is a distinction between tax avoidance and tax evasion. Tax avoidance is LEGAL, evasion is illegal. This distinction can keep you out of jail.

476. Your Business

Make sure that as the captain of your own ship, you do exactly the right work. Work ON your business rather than simply IN it. Do not manage your business by luck, manage it by design. Smart money shortcuts to becoming rich

475. Arrest and Trials

If ever you are arrested by the police or military in a "civilised" country remember and remind them too that you have the right to remain silent, that you have redress under the law in cases of wrongful arrest and cases of defamation, and that they can only hold you for a limited time without charging you. Ask for your solicitor and until he arrives, you are better off remaining totally silent, keep schtum (omerta).

Do not reply to remarks, comments, suggestions etc., that are designed to lull you into a trap by sounding innocent or inoffensive.

Offensive remarks are designed to provoke you into saying something unwise or self-incriminating or to rising in anger. Do not answer any questions that are clearly just a fishing expedition.

Do not volunteer any information or opinions.

If you ask a question and they say "You tell me." stay silent.

When they stray off the point stay silent.

Do not give them anything to twist or turn. Anything that is not a straight answer (Yes or No) is only giving them a handle on you.

Remember they will try to push all your buttons by making insulting remarks about you, your parents, your wife or girlfriend, your children, your dog even. Do not let them provoke you. They will try to make you feel guilty about the "disgrace" and how your parents will feel. It is all hogwash. Don't fall for it.

474. Civilisation ?

Where we live today, despite all our advances, is still in many ways quite primitive. Furthermore, you will find primitive people where you least expect them. They exist in the ranks of society where better people might be expected.

473. Live in the Present

Live in the Present. Remember the Past and learn from it. Study your History but do not let remeniscences impede your progress here and now. Look to your duty. Your duty is what is right in front of you.

472. Follow Up

Life nearly always arranges things so that your best efforts can easily be thwarted by the wrong-doings of others. It is never enough to simply give an instruction, ask a question or place an order. You need to constantly follow up to make sure your wishes are carried out.

471. Victory

Whenever you gain a victory celebrate it quietly. Do not crow. Real men don't crow. Do not let it go to your head for if you crow you will stir your enemies up against you needlessly and if you let it go to your head, you will inevitably wind up doing something foolish that can set you back to a point on your path that is worse than before you gained the victory.. It may even lead to your destruction. Therefore, you should beware of your victories as much as your defeats.

470. Iteration (Repetition)

Iteration is like friction, it is likely to generate heat rather than progress. Whenever you keep repeating yourself, you only succeed in agitating your mind and the minds of your listeners. You will certainly irritate them but do nothing to advance your plan.

469. Education

"It is better to spend a few thousand Euros more on your children's education than to leave it to them in your will." -George Elliott.
Once you have determined that a course would be valuble, sign them up then find the money to pay for it.

468. On Being a Lender

"Neither a lender nor a borrower be." - William Shakespeare. This is advice that is a little over-simplified. If someone asks you gor a loan, examine what it is for. If the project looks like a winner and the person has a good track record, offer them a convertible loan. (No, this is not a loan for a sports car !).

A convertible loan is a properly legally binding loan agreement with repayment schedules and details all worked out and forming part of the agreement.

If the project is successful and profitable, you have the option to convert the debt (to you) into equity (shares) in the project and this will give you a share in the profits.

Two things to remember about convertible loans are that you should make sure that your equity is made up of VOTING shares, and that the loan is SECURED against their property, so that you will still get paid if anything goes wrong. This degree of due dilligence will sort out the wheat from the chaff.

467. Role-Models

Among others, you should pick the following people as role-models :
Bill Gates, Richard Branson, Warren Buffett, Paul Mc Cartney, Alan Sugar, James Dyson, Peter Kellner and Charles Schwabb. These are all hard-working men. Study their biographies for inspiration.

Work hard, work smart. There is no virtue in working hard for little or no reward. Work hard, but only on projects that will give you Assets.

466. Keep Schtum !

Keep quiet about your wealth and your plans for wealth-creation. Unless you are talking to people who are 100% supportive of you do not share this information. Other people's opinions can be negative and put you off what you are doing. Never allow yourself to be S.N.I.O.P.-ed, i.e. Subject to the Negative Ifluence of Other People. One way to do this is by inviting them NOT to give you their opinions in the first place.

Another very good reason for not telling them is that they may steal your ideas. You do not have to give away your best ideas.

It is always, i.e. WITHOUT exception bad for you to have others discuss your business amongst themselves. You do NOT want people around you to become jealos and try to do you down. It never costs you anything to keep silent. Omerta ! Herkos Odonton - behind the edge of the teeth.

465. Defining Wealth

How would you know if you were wealthy ? Could you become wealthy if you didn't have a way of measuring it ?

Wealth is a state of knowing.

One definition of being wealthy is living off the interest off the interest on your capital. You need to know, month by month, week by week, day by day, how much money the interest on the interest on your money is producing for you. Interest can be defined as ROI or return on investment.

To put it more viscerally, you need to know whenever you go out for a meal, the following 3 things :
(a) How much your wealth increased by while eating the meal,
(b) How much the meal has cost you and
(c) The difference between (a) and (b).
So long as (a) is greater than (b) then you are wealthy.

464. Start Afresh

Step up, make your move and say "YES". Each and every day starts with a clean slate no matter what has gone before. Meditating has the effect of cleaning the blackboard. You can make a fresh start any time even with your last breath.

463. Clarity Again

When you are going to deal with the changes in your life, learn how to re-arrange things in your mind.

462. More Advice from Alan Alda

When they offer you fame without the money, dont take it. It's a scam.

461. Relating to People

"Don't think that relating to people is the icing on the cake. It IS the cake. Real listening is having the willingness to be changed by what the other person has to say. Relating happens not when you are TALKING but when you are listening and in between listening and talking.

When you are willing to be changed, when you are really listening, life becomes much more interesting than when you are engaged on a simple exchange of monologues, duelling monologues."- Alan Alda

460. Gambling

The actor Kirk Douglas once received this piece of advice from his mother : "If you must gamble, gamble on yourself; work hard and you'll be OK." This quote comes from the book Never Have Your Dog Stuffed by Alan Alda.

459. C.A.N.I. Constant and Never-Ending Improvement

Kaizen or CANI is constant and never-ending improvement. This should be one of the foundation stones of your philosophy. (The alternative is hopelessness). Continually raise your standards. Once you get 60%, aim next time for 66% or 70%, then 75% and so on. Don't stop at 100%. Look frequently at your own beliefs. Review them daily and cultivate only the empowering ones. Don't be content with just being a dreamer saying "It would be great to ..." and then stop. Look realistically at the issue and ask yourself "What would it take to..." and go and figure out for yourself how to achieve the goals you set for yourself then JUST DO IT !

It is not good enough to just know what to do, you must DO what you know you should do. Life is a practical course. Live it, don't just study it.

458. Do Not Dabble

Do not dabble, that is for ducks. Do not major in minor things. Whenever you pick a subject (make sure it is a worthy one) make a study plan and stick to it until you have mastered the subject. Only then should you move on to the next worthy subject.

457. Controlled Focus

Focus is the master key to your success. Whatever you focus on is what you wind up getting. Focus on Poverty, you get Poverty, focus on Wealth, you get Wealth. Controlled focus is like a laser beam that cuts through the apparent obstacles. You need to practice this focusing consistently until it becomes the way in which your mind operates by default. Focussing like this is the concentration and directing of your power.

Here is a nice formula :

Focus X Consistency = Effective Power.

456. There is No Need for Misery of Any Kind

Pain and Misery are unnecessary and will finally come to an end once you take control of 3 things :

(a) How you feel
(b) How you think
(c) How you act.

Once you control these 3 you will be able to modify the course of your life.

455. Guarding Your Tongue

Guard your speech. Train yourself never to say anything you will regret later. If you MUST speak at all, be forthright - always say what you mean and mean what you say. Things you might come to regret saying are things that cause hurt or pain or harm to others, things that display your ignorance, things that get you fired, things that get you sued, things that lose you money or friends and things that get you into fights. Try to find other things to add to this list.

454. The Illuminated Mind

To the illuminated mind the whole world burns and sparkles with light. Such a mind is fixed on the highest of ideas.

453. Budgets

Keep a tight rein on your spending. Learn how to prepare budgets and to re-adjust them. Learn to live by your budgets. Become friends with accounting and spreadsheets. Learn to project into the future using spreadsheets.

452. How to Avoid Getting Lost

It is easy to start out being disciplined and then to lose your way because you think you know what you are doing. Whenever this happens, you need to bo back to basics and revisit the Golden Rules that apply to what you are doing. Stick to your Golden Rules.

451. Risk

You can never eliminate risk 100% but by being prepared, you can minimise its impact.

450. Protecting Yourself

As a way of training your memory in how to protect your face and head, touch your two elbows together in front of your face from time to time.

449. Paranoia and Hypervigilance

"Just because you're paranoid, that doesn't mean they're not out to get you!"

Joking aside, paranoia is not healthy. It is a form of psychosis often brought on by the abuse of psychotropic drugs and other substances. You do not want to become paranoid. There is nothing wrong, however, with a little hypervigilance. This is a healthy response to an event that causes you stress or that causes you to feel threatened in some way. It is the thinking behind keeping meticulous notes and records of conversations etc. It is one of the tools that you should use throughout life to protect yourself. Definition of HYPERVIGILANCE: the condition of maintaining an abnormal awareness of environmental stimuli. A person suffering from PTSD may have hypervigilance, heightened startle responses and flashbacks.