Time is money. The saying is old and clichéd and yet few things in life are as true. How often do you stop to think about the value of your own time?
Most people's time is worth very little. This is reflected by the fact that they do not make money for that time. If you take a moment to examine the reasons as to why this is so, the answer becomes apparent -- they spend most of their time doing things that are pretty much worthless. Their activities are not producing any value.
Before I get started, I want to make it clear that there's absolutely nothing wrong with relaxing or doing stuff that's fun. Such is absolutely key to a healthy and well-balanced life. There's no point in striving to become wealthy if not for the aim of enjoying the "finer things" in life! If you don't take the time to relax and enjoy your life you'll burn out.
With that in mind, however, it's important to keep in mind that time spent watching television or doing the countless other mundane things people do during the course of a day is time where you're not providing value. After passing that point where your basic relaxation needs have been met, your time is being wasted. No value is being created and you're not developing a talent that might provide value in the future.
A failure to understand the concept I'm about to explain is why most people stagnate in life.
The two driving factors for determining prices in a capitalist economy are the law of supply and the law of demand. Increased supply drives prices down and increased demand drives prices up. The area of the graph (it's not a single point due to there being a variety of factors involved) where these two forces meet is where price is determined.
Many people overlook that these fundamental laws play a role in determining the price of their own time. You have twenty four hours in a day. If you are smart, you're spending seven or eight of those hours sleeping. You can't be your best without being well rested. You also devote some of your time to eating. The rest is composed of the various other things you do during the course of a day.
So, in terms of your personal amount of time, supply is fixed at twenty four hours. You can't change that. The only meaningful way to increase your value, then, is to increase demand.
The demand that is attached to your time is directly connected to your ability to get things done within that 24 hours. Note that I intentionally did not say "your ability to do things." There are key differences between doing things and getting things done. Doing things doesn't mean that what you are doing will get done. Getting things done doesn't necessarily mean that you did them yourself. That distinction is what most people do not understand when it comes to the value of their time.
People don't pay you for the sheer amount of personal effort you put into a task. If that were the case, you could get rich digging holes and filling them back up for sixteen hours a day. No, what people value is your ability to get a job done in an effective manner. The more more you can do and the more effective you are at your tasks, the more they will value your services. To harp on a theme I've been covering as of late, you increase your effectiveness and the amount you do by hustling your own talents and by leveraging the talents of others.
Part of this involves looking for opportunities to do more. You can do this during your own free time or while you are at work, around your place of employment. Find tasks that people need done and offer to take care of them. It's best to start in areas that involves your own talents so that you can do them personally but sometimes you'll find yourself set to tasks which you can delegate to others. Turn people's problems into tasks, tasks into projects, projects into jobs, and jobs into money and indispensability. Find ways to use your talents and the talents of those around you to accomplish your goals. If you've used the talents of your co-workers, be sure to give credit where credit is due. That's leadership.
You will begin to establish value in the minds of people around you when you can demonstrate that you are able to get effective and refined results to the tasks at which you're set. Keep diligent records of everything you accomplish -- doing so will serve you well when it comes time to negotiate new wages or salaries. Demand for your time will increase dramatically in the wake of results and the price of your time will increase accordingly.
Hustling lets you use your twenty four hours more efficiently. Leveraging exponentially increases the amount of hours you set to a task without actually effecting your personal supply. When you are capable of hustling and leveraging work that would take a regular person fifteen hours into one hour's time, your time becomes worth fifteen times that of the regular person.
Your successful executives and business leaders are leveraging hundreds and thousands of individuals during their normal work hours. They leverage effective individuals who in turn leverage skilled individuals below them, in a chain that goes from the Vice President of Marketing to the mail room clerk. They get hundreds and thousands of hours of results out of a single hour of their time and thus they make that much more -- everything that is done produces a necessary result. They certainly don't work harder or physically do more but they do get more done with what they have. They are paid, in fact, for hustling the skill of leveraging people.
If you want to make more money, learn to maximize the results you can produce within a twenty four hour period of time. Look for ways to expand your role. Develop a unique skill and learn to do it better than anyone else. Find ways to tap into the talents and efforts of others to accomplish the tasks which you can't or won't do. Don't be content to let your free time go to waste when you can focus on learning and applying these skills.
The journey towards making more money is long and hard. You only get out of it what you put in. The results, however, will outstrip any and all of the hurdles you've met with along the way.
Showing posts with label power of action. Show all posts
Showing posts with label power of action. Show all posts
Thursday, February 10, 2011
Monday, February 7, 2011
Determine Your Value in Life
In one of my posts yesterday I spoke about the importance of creating wealth within your inner world as a prerequisite for manifesting wealth in the world around you. I'd like to expand upon the importance of that concept for you today.
We spend much of our lives being programmed by the society around us. Society programs us to believe that we amount to very little and that we're worth what it decides to give us. That doesn't tend to be very much. We are further trained to believe that there isn't much we can do to rectify this. We just have to accept it as our lot in life. When we have no job, we beg for what we can get and we eagerly accept whatever they throw our way to prove our worth.
Yesterday I spoke of the principle of "As Within, So Without." The thing about principles such as this is that, depending on the circumstances, the inverse can be true instead. If you don't take the time to form your inner world and develop a true sense of your own will, the principle at play within your life will be "As Without, So Within." You can see the effects of this everywhere you look. People are constantly defined by the circumstances of the world around them. It forms their sense of whom they are. Most insidiously, it forms them in such a way that they're powerless. The society around them defines the value of their life and they merely accept it, along with whatever price tag comes attached.
When you take the time to change your thinking and to shape your inner world you fundamentally change this dynamic. How much would you like to be making right now? Choose a number, higher than your current salary. Keep it realistic so that your mind will have no trouble accepting it. Congratulations, you've just changed your value! Now justify it. Sit down and list all of the reasons as to why you're worth this new value. It might be hard at first but whatever you do don't talk yourself out of believing it. List your education, your concrete accomplishments, and your various proven talents. Keep it worded in positive language -- write about what you are and not about what you're not. Make every statement an "I" statement. "I graduated from high school at the top of my class." "I have a doctorate in chemical engineering." "I was responsible for designing the new office mailing system that improved efficiency by 10% last year." Include even the small accomplishments that you don't think are worth much on their own -- taken together, they'll turn out to be substantial! At the top of this list, write, "I am worth $[insert your new value here]."
Now keep this list in a safe place where you'll see it every day. Read it out loud, once when you get up and once when you go to bed, every day. Read it more than once if you have the time. Embed the new amount and the reasons for the new amount deep within in your head.
When it comes time to ask for a raise or to negotiate a salary for a new job, keep this number that you have set in mind and do not settle for anything less. Make sure to do your homework before going in. Look at your list and determine the ways in which the qualities you listed apply to the job in question. "I graduated from high school at the top of my class" might not mean much twenty years after the fact, but it does translate into you being a motivated hard-worker who can meet deadlines and memorize loads of useless information! Tailor your list beforehand and, when you're asked to justify your new value to your employer or potential employer, name off the items. Don't beg for the new amount -- sell yourself like a polished marketer. Explain the reasons as to why you've assigned this particular value to your services. Convince your employer that this is really what you're worth.
If you want to be in the driver's seat of your life, it all starts in your head. Set a value in your head. Justify that new value with the facts. Assert that value in the world around you so that it is set in the heads of others. Look for ways to offer the service of your talents when opportunities arise, both around work and outside of work. When you start to think and act in this manner you'll find yourself on a road towards greater success than you had previously imagined.
We spend much of our lives being programmed by the society around us. Society programs us to believe that we amount to very little and that we're worth what it decides to give us. That doesn't tend to be very much. We are further trained to believe that there isn't much we can do to rectify this. We just have to accept it as our lot in life. When we have no job, we beg for what we can get and we eagerly accept whatever they throw our way to prove our worth.
Yesterday I spoke of the principle of "As Within, So Without." The thing about principles such as this is that, depending on the circumstances, the inverse can be true instead. If you don't take the time to form your inner world and develop a true sense of your own will, the principle at play within your life will be "As Without, So Within." You can see the effects of this everywhere you look. People are constantly defined by the circumstances of the world around them. It forms their sense of whom they are. Most insidiously, it forms them in such a way that they're powerless. The society around them defines the value of their life and they merely accept it, along with whatever price tag comes attached.
When you take the time to change your thinking and to shape your inner world you fundamentally change this dynamic. How much would you like to be making right now? Choose a number, higher than your current salary. Keep it realistic so that your mind will have no trouble accepting it. Congratulations, you've just changed your value! Now justify it. Sit down and list all of the reasons as to why you're worth this new value. It might be hard at first but whatever you do don't talk yourself out of believing it. List your education, your concrete accomplishments, and your various proven talents. Keep it worded in positive language -- write about what you are and not about what you're not. Make every statement an "I" statement. "I graduated from high school at the top of my class." "I have a doctorate in chemical engineering." "I was responsible for designing the new office mailing system that improved efficiency by 10% last year." Include even the small accomplishments that you don't think are worth much on their own -- taken together, they'll turn out to be substantial! At the top of this list, write, "I am worth $[insert your new value here]."
Now keep this list in a safe place where you'll see it every day. Read it out loud, once when you get up and once when you go to bed, every day. Read it more than once if you have the time. Embed the new amount and the reasons for the new amount deep within in your head.
When it comes time to ask for a raise or to negotiate a salary for a new job, keep this number that you have set in mind and do not settle for anything less. Make sure to do your homework before going in. Look at your list and determine the ways in which the qualities you listed apply to the job in question. "I graduated from high school at the top of my class" might not mean much twenty years after the fact, but it does translate into you being a motivated hard-worker who can meet deadlines and memorize loads of useless information! Tailor your list beforehand and, when you're asked to justify your new value to your employer or potential employer, name off the items. Don't beg for the new amount -- sell yourself like a polished marketer. Explain the reasons as to why you've assigned this particular value to your services. Convince your employer that this is really what you're worth.
If you want to be in the driver's seat of your life, it all starts in your head. Set a value in your head. Justify that new value with the facts. Assert that value in the world around you so that it is set in the heads of others. Look for ways to offer the service of your talents when opportunities arise, both around work and outside of work. When you start to think and act in this manner you'll find yourself on a road towards greater success than you had previously imagined.
Saturday, February 5, 2011
The Keys to Financial Success: PT 2
In Part One I spoke about the dangers of liberalism and the dangerous effects that secularist materialism will inevitably have on your potential for prosperity if you make the mistake of buying into it. Liberals can be wealthy, but it's the type of wealth one earns by taking advantage of others because one believes no one is watching from above. Their game is all about gaining and holding power in what they believe to be a godless world. They do their best to force the rest of us to live by their rules.
True wealth comes as a result of understanding that there's a God out there who wants our happiness and prosperity and that our thoughts have a powerful influence over the world around us. The world is a Thought -- a Thought of God in which he has made us a part. He created us in His image and has allowed our thoughts to take part in His Thought. Through constant affirmation and proper patterns of thought, we open up opportunities for great success.
This is not to say, of course, that we get rich just by wishing for it. I wish to make that perfectly clear. Thinking otherwise is a fatal blunder which leads to certain failure. Proper thought leads to the opening of doorways but it's up to you to actually step forward and walk through them. Proper thought shapes the course of events in such ways that they will work in our favor if we apply proper and continual action. It sets off chain reactions in our minds that lead to ideas that will be worth good money. Most importantly, proper thought shapes and reinforces a personal will that is willing to walk through fire and ice to attain its goals.
Proper Thought is critical because it's the foundation for properly focused intense action. God rarely just hands us what we want. He does, however, provide us with the tools to obtain it if we are sincere enough in our desire. He guides us along every step of the way. This's the key to success. The only means to achieve a Communion between your thoughts and the Thoughts of God is through vital action. Vital action is sacramental in every way.
Secularist naysayers, with their purely materialistic understanding of the world, will claim that it was only the action that mattered all along. They'll claim that "thinking" and "will" had very little to do with any of it. This, of course, is coming from a group of people who tend to be very liberal and believe that significant action can only be accomplished at the direction of the government. They do not believe that individuals are capable of significant action in the first place. Yet, despite their ballyhooed attempts to argue the contrary, great men have existed and have gone one to do great things all on their own. They were able to do so because of the force of their thoughts, which in turn shaped their subconscious reality and their personal wills. This enabled them to carry forth with actions which most liberals would decry as impossible. One need only look to the grand successes of our American Founding Fathers to know the truth of what I'm saying.
If you want financial success, first learn proper thought. The thought exercises mentioned in The Master Key System (referenced in my last post) are a good starting point if you want to develop this skill. Just as importantly, however, you must become a doer -- a person of action who thinks positively and never puts off until tomorrow what he or she can do right now.
True wealth comes as a result of understanding that there's a God out there who wants our happiness and prosperity and that our thoughts have a powerful influence over the world around us. The world is a Thought -- a Thought of God in which he has made us a part. He created us in His image and has allowed our thoughts to take part in His Thought. Through constant affirmation and proper patterns of thought, we open up opportunities for great success.
This is not to say, of course, that we get rich just by wishing for it. I wish to make that perfectly clear. Thinking otherwise is a fatal blunder which leads to certain failure. Proper thought leads to the opening of doorways but it's up to you to actually step forward and walk through them. Proper thought shapes the course of events in such ways that they will work in our favor if we apply proper and continual action. It sets off chain reactions in our minds that lead to ideas that will be worth good money. Most importantly, proper thought shapes and reinforces a personal will that is willing to walk through fire and ice to attain its goals.
Proper Thought is critical because it's the foundation for properly focused intense action. God rarely just hands us what we want. He does, however, provide us with the tools to obtain it if we are sincere enough in our desire. He guides us along every step of the way. This's the key to success. The only means to achieve a Communion between your thoughts and the Thoughts of God is through vital action. Vital action is sacramental in every way.
Secularist naysayers, with their purely materialistic understanding of the world, will claim that it was only the action that mattered all along. They'll claim that "thinking" and "will" had very little to do with any of it. This, of course, is coming from a group of people who tend to be very liberal and believe that significant action can only be accomplished at the direction of the government. They do not believe that individuals are capable of significant action in the first place. Yet, despite their ballyhooed attempts to argue the contrary, great men have existed and have gone one to do great things all on their own. They were able to do so because of the force of their thoughts, which in turn shaped their subconscious reality and their personal wills. This enabled them to carry forth with actions which most liberals would decry as impossible. One need only look to the grand successes of our American Founding Fathers to know the truth of what I'm saying.
If you want financial success, first learn proper thought. The thought exercises mentioned in The Master Key System (referenced in my last post) are a good starting point if you want to develop this skill. Just as importantly, however, you must become a doer -- a person of action who thinks positively and never puts off until tomorrow what he or she can do right now.
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