Episode 17: The Wealth On Any Income Book – Section II: The Inspiration and Action Structure – Transcript
Hi Folks, Welcome to the Wealth On Any Income podcast. This is where we talk about money tips, techniques, attitudes, information and provide inspiration. I’m your host, Rennie Gabriel.
Today I’ll be reading from Section II of my award winning, best-selling book, Wealth On Any Income. It will be about 15 minutes.
In this section we start to discuss the inspiration and action structure to produce results and create wealth. You will hear about what some experts said that show they have no clue about what works, and this can be a great boost to your self confidence.
As I read, I could stumble over some words. I am not a professional voice over actor so please forgive me if that happens.
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The Inspiration and Action Structure to Create Wealth
Thomas A. Edison said:
Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time.
This is the section where the rubber meets the road; it separates the men from the boys, the women from the girls; a stitch in time saves nine; a bird in the hand is worth a bush... forget about all that.
I say this is the critical part of the program, and most workshop participants agree. In the introduction we discovered the challenge to creating financial freedom; a lack of education. We will address this again in Section II. Plus, I will provide the tools to overcome the challenge: Later you’ll have a form to list and pay off credit card debt, create a Spending Plan, use a Spending Plan Checkbook Register, pay yourself first, allocate money for the expenses which show up on a sporadic basis, and use time and the tax laws to your investing advantage.
In this section, we’re going to talk about developing the motivation to use these tools. And before we get to that, I’m going to tell you a joke. It’s about a guy sitting at a bar who says half to himself and half in prayer, “I’m really up the creek. I’m broke, no job, and the rent’s due. If only I could come up with an idea, some kind of gimmick to make money.”
Off to his right he hears a sound. It’s coming from a shellfish, and it says, “Hey! Hey, Mac. Look at me! I’m the world’s only talking clam!”
The guy at the bar responds, “Geesh, and I thought I had problems.”
Sometimes we’re so stuck in our own problems, we can’t even see the solutions we’ve asked for.
I want to remind you again how to listen to what’s coming up next. There are two ways. You can make statements like, “I know about this stuff,” or “this is not new to me” or even “I’ve done this,” which closes your mind to creative solutions. The second way to you can listen is to can ask questions like, “How can I use this to accomplish what I want?” “Where would this apply to me?” “What do I need to do to get started?” or “Who can support me with this?”
If you’re willing to ask questions as you hear familiar information, you’ll be able to bring in the power of your mind to overcome the challenge of creating Complete Financial Choice®. It’s likely there will also be some things you haven’t heard or read anywhere else before. In a program dealing with people in career transitions, the author Mark Stein asked, “Who can resist the temptation to blame one’s shortcomings on some childhood trauma, whether real or imagined?” And then he proposed, “It’s true you are the way you are because of your past, but staying that way is an active decision.”
It’s now time that I share a secret with you: I will bring no value to you in reading this book. This book isn’t worth anything on its own. Only you can make it worth something. Only you can create the value from what I’ve written and will read to you. How? You create value for yourself by taking the actions necessary to produce the life you want to have. Don’t wait to feel a certain way before you take action. Your feelings will come from the actions you take. Self-esteem is built on the actions we take. You may not have control over outside influences, circumstances, or even your feelings, but you do have control over the actions you take and the way you respond to your feelings.
To get what you want, you need to be specific about what you ask for. I once read a personal ad where a lady asked to meet, “A big, strong, vegetarian, animal lover.” Do you realize if a gorilla showed up she would have gotten what she asked for? That’s probably not what she wanted, but it would have been what she asked for.
I believe strongly in the power of written, I said written, goals. In 1987, I was having some marital difficulty. Every evening I wrote, “My marital problems will be resolved.” Two weeks later my wife came to me and said, “Rennie, I want a divorce.”
This isn’t want I wanted, but it fits what I wrote down. Maybe I should have been writing, “Judi and I will have a happy married life.” It is too late now but with marriage counseling, it turned out to be the best for both of us. Counseling allowed us to get at what was really in the way of our having a loving marriage, not the things we made up. It allowed us to separate without blaming the other partner. In 1993, six years after Judi and I separated, my second wife and I went up to visit my daughter in Seattle and stayed with my ex-wife and her new husband for two days. This comes from setting and taking actions on our goals. So you see, I’ve experienced relationships that work, and I think anything is possible.
Even experts can be wrong about what is possible. Look at the following quotes:
“The phonograph has no commercial value.” If you know anything about history, you already know phonographs were a huge commercial success. And guess who said that? It was Thomas Edison in 1880. He ought to know, he invented it—but he was wrong, wasn’t he?
“Sensible and responsible women do not want to vote.” Would you believe this came from Grover Cleveland, the president of our country in 1905? Was this a guy ahead of his time, or what?
“Who the hell wants to hear actors talk?” Harry Warner of Warner Brothers Studios said this in 1927. This guy was in the movie business, he ought to know—but if it hadn’t been for his brother, Jack Warner, they wouldn’t have made talkies.
“I think there’s a world market for about five computers.” Tom Watson, the chairman of IBM said this in 1943. I think he was wrong. What do you think?
In 1977, Ken Olson, the president of DEC computers said this, “There is no reason for an individual to have a computer in their home.” Talk about a visionary. This book was written on my home computer. I produced PowerPoint presentations and manage my client & tenant database on a home computer. Maybe Kenny’s right and I’m wrong, but I doubt it.
Here are some final examples of what “experts” have said:
“We don’t like their sound, and guitar music is on the way out.”
—Decca Recording Company rejecting the Beatles, 1962
“Heavier-than-air flying machines are impossible.”
—Lord Kelvin, president, Royal Society, 1895.
Spencer Silver worked for 3M and created the unique adhesives for Post-it notes. He said, “If I would have thought about it, I wouldn’t have done the experiment. The literature was full of examples that said you can’t do this.”
I could go on for pages about experts who said such things: “The radio had no commercial value.” “Computers could never weigh less than 1.5 tons.” “The microchip isn’t good for anything.” “Data processing is just a fad.” “The telephone has no value for communication.” And, “No one would pay for overnight delivery, even if it was feasible, which it isn’t.”
Have experts told you what you can or can’t have, or do, or be? Maybe they weren’t even experts, but well-meaning relatives or friends. Are you going to limit yourself based on the limited thinking of people who have expressed their negative beliefs in your direction? I am asking you to think for yourself. I was lucky. My mother didn’t impose limiting beliefs on me. I think she figured I could do anything I wanted, and my dad didn’t live long enough to tell me what I “wasn’t” capable of doing.
Because my father died when I was eleven and my mom was a single parent who was not around much, I developed other limiting beliefs on my own. As an example, in my young childhood I figured that if my parents weren’t around to take care of me, it must be because I was not worthy of their care. As an adult, I operated on the belief that if my parents wouldn’t help me, then no one else would either. I invented a limiting belief and avoided asking for help.
The point is we either invent beliefs that limit us, or limiting beliefs are given to us by people we depend upon or respect. In either case, they are inventions and, as such, we can choose to believe them, discard them, alter them or transform them. Each one of us has the power to choose how we will let our circumstances affect us. I choose not to have them limit me. I choose to go after what I want and you can choose to do the same.
It doesn’t work to judge yourself, or other people, based on past circumstances or situations. We all have the ability to create our own future. An example would be a poor black girl born to unwed parents. She was sexually abused from the time she was about age seven and by the time she was fourteen, had a baby which died after a few days. She was thrown out of reform school, her weight bounced all over the place, and she used drugs.
While this sounds like a typical talk show guest, I’m describing one of the most successful talk show hosts ever: Oprah Winfrey. Most people would predict a person coming from this past to amount to nothing. Oprah created her future, and it wasn’t based on her past. She said it was reading books which saved her. She read about the better life she could have, and she believed it. You can do the same thing.
When it comes to getting what you want, don’t bother listening to the people who you think may know more. I’m telling you, when it comes to knowing what you want, you know best!
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In the next episode we will continue in Section II of the Wealth On Any Income book and cover step 2 of the 12 steps or secrets to your financial freedom; how to write financial goals from the future instead of the present.
Here’s your opportunity to grow: Determine what limiting belief you have that holds you back.
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Until next week, be prosperous. Bye, bye for now.
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