The Difference That Makes All The Difference: Part 3

BE AMERICAN?


So here's a topic some people are quite shy to talk about while some wish to talk about it but only few people have a good understanding of the subject. The subject of financial success appears to be so extensive and difficult to understand to most people but the truth is that it's quite simple to comprehend and achieve if you are willing to follow some simple set rules. The absolute understanding and the application of these rules is another factor that differentiates the successful from others, and by this, I mean this is the difference that makes the difference. Today, I want to share with you one of those things financially successful people know and do.

   Financial success for some set of people simply means to be free from debt while for some others, asides being free from debt, it means to be able to save some money for retirement. On the other hand, it means yet more for another set; it means to have enough to pass over to their unborn generations. However, the fact is that it doesn't matter which category you belong to because it's totally up to you to decide. In the meantime, the question remains, "how do we achieve this?".

   I once read an article online that says "if you want to be billionaire, then Be American. Design software. Sell luxury baubles. Brew beer. Open a shop. Make chocolate ... But don't be British- they are rubbish at becoming billionaires."

   This made me wonder what those that are British or those, like me, who are from some part of Africa should do. You might be from another part of this world; perhaps from Asia, Russia or France and you aspire to be financially successful, what then should you do? "Does that mean we don't stand a chance of being financially successful?". After thinking about this for some time, I concluded, using myself as an example, I believe that I can still design software, sell luxury baubles, brew beer or open a shop; I might even make chocolates or do any other form of Business and investments if I desire to be financially successful but I don't have to be American. And the same applies to all my non-American audience in Africa, Europe, Asia and the rest of the world.

   The good news is, if you are American like my amazing audience from the United States, then good for you. And if you're not, then good for you also because this is as simple for you as it is for our American brothers.

   You might ask, 'now you're saying I don't have to be American before I can achieve financial success, what then should I do?'. The answer is quite simple, although it requires a lot to bring to a successful issue.
In this case, the distinguishing factor between the financially successful people of the world and the rest is the fact that they 'Do Business'. They provide goods and services to the rest of the world, they offer value and they are rewarded based on the value they offer. This is yet another difference that makes all the difference.

   Mind you, you too can be a part of that group 'if you're willing to pay the price'. And to do achieve that, you will have to set out to Invest in yourself first'.


You will have to:
1- Discover and develop your talent: Find what you're good at, what you're talented at doing and develop that talent. Work and learn to be the best of yourself or you can learn a skill.


2- Find a need: The reason some people get frustrated while starting a business is because they are not seeking to meet a need. People go into Business most times just because they want to make money. This shouldn't apply to you if you are willing to be financially successful. You must seek to meet the needs of the people if you want to be indeed successful in business. Find a need and look for how you can use your talent or skill to meet such need.


3- Do your market research: Research on the nature of market you want to go into, research on the location and culture of your targeted costumers and get familiar with the statistics.


4- Write and setup a rock solid business plan: Write down your business plan and get the necessary things you need to start.


5- Brand your business: This is important. You have to give your business a name and register it for trademark.


6- Get your finances in order: This is not the same as loaning a huge sum of money to start your business. This is simply to understand the financial statistics of your business which should be made very clear in your business plan. Know your estimated income and expenditures and work in line with it.


7- Market your business & Launch: Now you're good to go, get the word out and let people know about your business then start operations. (You might want to inform the press too and invite them over on your launch day. You need the awareness).


8- Lastly, don't be afraid to start small. Great things usually have small beginnings. Never despise those days of little beginnings.
"Dream big, start small but most of all start".     -Simon Sinek
Simple isn't it?


   I like to share at least a little bit of fact in my articles, and this time, we'll be taking a quick look at some interesting statistics. And just incase you're still thinking you need to be American before you can achieve the financial success you desire, then you should take a closer look at this.

   Leading the list of indeed financially successful non-Americans is 80 years old Spanish retail magnate, Amancio Ortega. He is the C.E.O of Zara, a fashion retail business which he started in 1963. Amancio Ortega is the second richest man in the world with a Forbes estimated net-worth of 67 billion as at the time of publication of this article.
You should know that Amancio Ortega is not the only non-American citizen who is financially successful. Included on the list are notable people like Carlos Slim Helu from Mexico, Liliane Bettencourt from France, Jack ma from China, Aliko Dangote from Nigeria, Roman Abramovich from Russia to mention but a few.

   So here's a secret, 'the difference that makes all the difference'.
Along with the fact that this men are 'passionate' people, 'Optimistic' and have set out to add value to the world is the fact that all these men are businessmen. This affirms the fact that the key to financial success is not to 'be American' but to 'do business', and that financial success can be achieved irrespective of what part of this world you're from.

   In the light of this, I must say that It's not by power nor wisdom, nor nationality but God that makes all this things possible. And with this in mind, it is up to you and I (non-Americans) to justify the fact that we don't have to be American to achieve financial success.

The difference that makes all the difference

I'll be sharing with you on some important lessons/ facts that everyone who desires all round success should and must know in a series I title 'The difference that makes all the difference'
We'll be looking into the lives of successful people in numerous fields around us and learning about some distinguishing attributes in their lives that we can also use in improving our individual lives and achieving our respective 'big dreams'.
In an article I'll be posting this week, I want us to start by looking into one of the major attributes that gives and maintains all round success: Passion
  WATCH OUT!!!
By Celeb



In the mean time,
Here are 21 inspiring quotes on passion for you:
  
Passion and purpose go hand in hand. When you discover your purpose, you will normally find it’s something you’re tremendously passionate about.”. — Steve Pavlina, Blogger and Author


Only passions, great passions, can elevate the soul to great things.” — Denis Diderot, French Philosopher


One person with passion is better than forty people merely interested.” — E. M. Forster, English Novelist


Enthusiasm is one of the most powerful engines of success. When you do a thing, do it with all your might. Put your whole soul into it. Stamp it with your own personality. Be active, be energetic and faithful, and you will accomplish your object. Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson, American Philosopher


Purpose may point you in the right direction but it’s passion that propels you.” — Travis McAshan, Entrepreneur and Web Strategist


My mission in life is not merely to survive, but to thrive; and to do so with some passion, some compassion, some humor, and some style. Maya Angelou


If you don't have passion for that cause, it's going to go nowhere in the long run.


Every great dream begins with a dreamer. Always remember, you have within you the strength, the patience, and the passion to reach for the stars to change the world.  Harriet Tubman


Follow your passion, be prepared to work hard and sacrifice, and, above all, don't let anyone limit your dreams.  Donovan Bailey


You can do anything as long as you have the passion, the drive, the focus, and the support.  Sabrina Bryan


Let me define a leader. He must have vision and passion and not be afraid of any problem. Instead, he should know how to defeat it. Most importantly, he must work with integrity.  A. P. J. Abdul Kalam


Passion is one great force that unleashes creativity, because if you're passionate about something, then you're more willing to take risks.  Yo-Yo Ma


With out passion you don't have energy, with out energy you have nothing.  Donald Trump


There is no fulfillment in things whatsoever. And I think one of the reasons that depression reigns supreme amongst the rich and famous is some of them thought that maybe those things would bring them happiness. But what, in fact, does is having a cause, having a passion. And that's really what gives life's true meaning.  Ben Carson


My ambition comes from my passion: finding what I love and then expanding on that.  Miranda Kerr


Whatever you want to do, do with full passion and work really hard towards it. Don't look anywhere else. There will be a few distractions, but if you can be true to yourself, you will be successful for sure.  Virat Kohli


"Passion is energy. Feel the power that comes from focusing on what excites you.". -Oprah Winfrey


"You have to be burning with an idea, or a problem, or a wrong that you want to right. If you're not passionate enough from the start, you'll never stick it out.". Steve Jobs


"If you feel like there's something out there that you're supposed to be doing, if you have a passion for it, then stop wishing and just do it.". -Wanda Skyes


"If you don't love what you do, you won't do it with much conviction or passion."  -Mia Hamm


"I have no special talents. I am only passionately curious." -Albert Einstein

When at first you don't succeed

"The test of success is not what you do when you are on top. Success is how high you bounce when you hit the bottom."   ~ George S. Patton Jr.


   What do you do When at first you don't succeed? Do you decide to try something else? Maybe your response is to just sit down and carefully look for who to blame for the failures. Do you blame others for your failure? Rather still, you might be careful enough not to blame others but instead choose to go about sulking over your failed attempt at doing something good. Or maybe you don't sulk over unsuccessful attempts to succeed but instead decide not to try any further and choose to sit back, to give up, and quit trying.
   We all respond to failure in various ways and in the process of working on our dreams, we are going to encounter a lot of difficulties, disappointments, pain and  setbacks at some particular point in our lives. Some of you, like me, might have experienced this more than once in your life. Some of you might have been nurturing the thought of tagging yourselves a 'failure' because of the tangible number of times you've failed at one thing or the other. Well, its high time you had a change of perspective.
   I'm glad to tell you that what you perceive as failure today may actually be a crucial step towards the success you seek. So never give up because there is no failure except in no longer trying. 'One of the things I've realized about success is that the ones who make it are the ones who keep trying until they do.' Mario Andretti once said that "desire is the key to motivation, but it’s determination and commitment to an unrelenting pursuit of your goal - a commitment to excellence - that will enable you to attain the success you seek." As we seek to change our perception of failure and success, let me enlighten you on something I find quite fascinating which I believe will help us to see disappointments, setbacks or failure in a new light. I'll like to start with a short story, a popular one at that; and just in case you are familiar with this story, I would implore you to open your mind and read it like it were your first time so that you can hopefully learn something new.



"It's failure that gives you the proper perspective on success." ~Ellen DeGeneres.


  This was the story of a great man who was faced by a similar challenge (failure) in the pursuit of his dream. Thomas Alva Edison was an American inventor and businessman. He invented many devices like the phonograph, the motion picture camera and developed the electric light bulb that affects our lives greatly; but Thomas Edison's life wasn't all about success. While growing up, Thomas Edison's teachers concluded that he was ''too stupid to learn anything''. Asides that, he was fired from his first two jobs for being "non-productive" but as an inventor, Edison showed a great deal of perseverance when he recorded 1000 unsuccessful attempts at inventing the light bulb i.e he failed 1000 times and kept on trying until he finally  achieved his goal.
   This tells me that success in life is not determined by the number of times one fails. Rather, it is determined by your reaction every time you fail. Your attitude and the actions you take when at first you don't succeed is what determines if you are going to remain at that point where you failed or succeed eventually. No wonder Denis Waitley said that "Failure should be our teacher, not our undertaker. FAILURE IS DELAY, NOT DEFEAT. IT IS A TEMPORARY DETOUR, NOT A DEAD END. Failure is something we can avoid only by saying nothing, doing nothing, and being nothing." When at first you don't succeed, analyze the cause of failure, learn from the experience, then try again. When a reporter asked him, "How did it feel to fail 1000 times?" Edison replied, "I didn’t fail 1000 times. I have successfully discovered 1000 ways to NOT make a light bulb. What a reply that was!. You've got to develop a positive mindset that sees every setbacks as a chance to learn something new and an opportunity to begin again, more intelligently.
   Some say “When at first you don’t succeed, just sit down and eat cake . . . then try again.” It might sound funny but it's true and I totally agree with that as long as you don't forget while eating cake to get back up and try again. It really doesn't matter how many times you've tried without success, you just have to get back up and try again and again believing in yourself even if you are the only one that believes in you. You also have to believe that "it's not over until you win". Even the famous Henry Ford failed and went broke two times before he successfully created the Ford Motor Company. That moment when at first you don't succeed is not the time to lose hope in that dream, instead you have to believe much more that it can be done. Like David J. Schwartz said in his book 'The Magic of Thinking Big' that "Believe it can be done. When you believe something can be done, really believe, your mind will find the ways to do it. Believing a solution paves the way to solution."



"Little minds are tamed and subdued by misfortune;
but great minds rise above them"
~ Washington Irving



   We can't always be winners the first time around and we sometimes get frustrated; you may even entertain giving up because of the idea of failing. The good news is you can always go back and try again, better this time because in the process of doing that, you'll discover some things about yourself than you don't know right now. "The true measure of success is how many times you can bounce back from failure". ~Stephen Richards. As the saying goes, "When the going gets tough, the tough get going." You have to be tough in the pursuit of your dream, you have to stay hungry for that course, don't get discouraged to try over and over again until you get it right and can celebrate your success.


"I don't believe I have special talents, I have persistence … After the first failure, second failure, third failure, I kept trying."
~ Carlo Rubbia, Prize winning Physicist



   Now, how about you think through these: The popular Harry Potter story book was rejected by twelve publishers before it was finally published a year after but more than 400 million copies of the book have been sold today. Walt Disney was turned down 302 times before he got financing for creating Disney World. Micheal Jordan was dropped from his high school basketball team but he turned out to be the greatest basketball player. Bill Gates failed at his first business with Paul Gilbert, and Paul Allen but wasn't discouraged from trying again; he went ahead to cofound Microsoft with Paul Allen which turned out to be a major success. Colonel Sanders (the founder of KFC) had his fried chicken recipe rejected 1009 times before it was finally accepted by a restaurant. Steven Spielberg was
denied two times to the prestigious University of Southern California film school but he went on to direct some of the biggest movie blockbusters in history and in 1994 got an honorary degree from the film school that rejected him twice. And of course Thomas Alva Edison ended up as the greatest innovator of all time with 1,093 US patents to his name, along with several others in the UK, and Canada.


"There is something to be said for keeping at a thing, isn't there?"
~ Frank Sinatra

The Key Word For Success

Don’t forget: the magic word that makes the world go around is "ACTION"!
You could read thousands of books or attend numerous classes while learning something, but nothing will change in your life until you actually start moving. Everything will stay the same as long as you don’t act. Start something, don’t wait to be perfect, do it now! It’s the key word for success: ACTION!

LIBRARY

A library is a good place to go when you feel unhappy, for there, in a book, you may find encouragement and comfort. A library is a good place to go when you feel bewildered or undecided, for there, in a book, you may have your question answered. Books are good company, in sad times and happy times, for books are people - people who have managed to stay alive by hiding between the covers of a book." [Letters of Note; Troy (MI, USA) Public Library, 1971] ~E.B. White

Top Quotes

1. When you stop learning you stop growing and When you stop growing you start aging.


2. learn something new, try something different, convince yourself you have no limits.


3. knowledge is nothing until it is established by action


4. You don't have to impress anybody or prove who you are to anybody. You know who You are ' A Child Of The Most High God, Anointed, Equipped, Empowered.' So keep your shoulders back, keep your head held high and be secured in whom God made you to be.


5. If not you then who? If not now then when?