Creating Wealth - A Call for Financial Literacy

Generally, financial literacy is not something that is taught in schools or colleges. Yet, everyone uses money and therefore needs to have a certain level of financial to avoid the many financial pitfalls that exist. And this week, the Editor of the City A.M., Allister Heath, suggested that London's top banks should each make "an immediate and very large donation to a special new educational fund for financial literacy".

It's not the first time that he has made this recommendation. And, Allister Heath's suggestion goes beyond just the large banks. He believes that big insurance companies and wealth managers should become involved as well. It's a splendid idea that many people endorse. It remains to see though, whether or not the big financial institutions will have the foresight to actually put this idea into action.

Allister Heath is calling for an education campaign for children as well as adults to help them better understand personal finance. While nations pay attention to literacy levels, i.e. the ability to read and write, the same level of attention isn't paid to financial literacy.

Recently, the self-made millionaire Eben Pagan asked the following two questions:

Question #1: Where did money come from and why was it created?
Question #2: How does money and the money system actually work?

And the fact is that most people would not be able to provide a comprehensive answer to these simple questions. Relatively few people truly understand the nature of our monetary system - how it came into being, how it has evolved over the years and what the resulting changes really mean to their personal finances. Relatively few people are therefore equipped with the level of knowledge and comprehension that will help them to consistently make sound financial decisions.

There's a plethora of financial products available on the market and throughout your life people, even on a daily basis, you have to make a multitude of financial decisions – some seemingly simple and others more complicated - each of which will, nonetheless, either make you richer or poorer.

It was Albert Einstein who said that:

"Problems cannot be solved by the same level of thinking that created them."

There is currently a global recession and while many people are thriving, there are many facing severe financial challenges. Many of the tactics currently being applied to the economic situation are failing because they are tactics derived from 'old thinking' and also lazy thinking. What is needed is a fresh approach and to achieve this we need to elevate our thinking.

We also need an action plan that everyone can enthusiastically 'buy' into and one that creates a win-win situation for all involved. For instance, regarding the financial literacy campaign, one idea that has been proposed is to set up a new voluntary system of financial exams. Individuals passing these exams would be offered easier access to credit and possibly lower interest rates as they would be regarded as a 'safer' investment, i.e. less likely to default.

Whatever your views on implementing a financial literacy campaign, one thing is certain - the better you understand money the better you can use money to your advantage. The better you understand finance and our monetary system the faster and easier you'll be able to grow your wealth regardless of what the economy is doing.

For a FREE video training series and special reports on creating wealth please visit:

http://www.secrets-of-creating-wealth.com

The Key to Achieving Your Goals in the New Year

I recently overhead a group of teenagers talking about the subject of goal-setting or I should say the futility of this activity. And you may share their sentiments as we all know that while many New Year's resolutions are set, few are achieved.

So what's the reason for this and how can you avoid this pitfall?

Well, going back to the young boys I overheard - I could tell that they hadn't even given goal-setting any deep thought. They had not truly considered what they wanted to achieve in their lives and with their lives. And many people are like this. The setting of New Year's resolutions or indeed any goal is often done hastily in the wrong frame of mind and people often set goals for the wrong reasons. What's more, people often do not set goals that are worthy of them, yet the question that runs through their mind either consciously or sub-consciously is:

"Am I worthy of this goal?"

And herein lies the crux of why so many people fail in their attempt to achieve their goals.

They do not believe they are worthy of their goals and so self-sabotage their attempts to achieve their goals.

The problem therefore lies not with the goal but with the mindset or the identity of the individual setting the goal.

You see, we all know that to achieve your goals you have to take action. The bigger the goal the more actions you have to take and often the bigger the actions that you have to take. And it's not just about taking action. You have to consistently take actions that propel you in the direction of your goal. If you stop we lose momentum and often the impetus to continue at all.

Yet, time and time again, this is exactly what happens. You abandon your goals and you have very good reasons for doing so…

~ Not enough time
~ Not enough money
~ Not enough energy
~ Not enough connections
~ Not enough resources

But, in reality, the reason why you fail to achieve your goals is because there is a mismatch between your identity and your goal.

"We are never able to do anything consistently that it inconsistent with how we see ourselves therefore we fall short of the goal because we did not engage in the action consistently enough… If there is a mismatch between the goal and our identity then our identity will trump the goal because our identity is a dictator of play."
Stephen Pierce

So what is the solution?

It's clear, isn't it? You have to work on your mindset as much as you have to work on doing the things that will move you towards achieving your goals.

There's a television program called Faking It. It's a great program and a testament of what individuals can accomplish with the right approach. Individuals on the program had four (4) weeks to learn a completely new skill and convince experts that they were the real deal. For instance, in one show a professional nightclub dancer became a show jumper and, in another, a lawyer became a rapper.

Now, a month is not a lot of time to master a new skill. Yet, in most cases the amateurs were able to fool the experts. So how did they achieve this?

They completely immersed themselves in their new world. They became the person they needed to be in order to perform the role they needed to perform. Often they had to change their wardrobe, way of walking and talking, hairstyle, makeup, etc. to become the "new person".

You can do the same.

You need to identify who you need to be in order to do the things you need to do to achieve your goals. Remember, your outer world is merely a reflection of your inner world and so ask yourself the following:

"Who must you be inside in order to materialize outside the thing you desire?"
Stephen Pierce

At this point, you may be saying to yourself that you don't know. If this is the case, simply identify someone who has achieved what you want to achieve. Study them and model them. The better you're able to achieve this, the easier it will be for you to consistently take the actions you need to take to achieve your goals. And the better you become at this, the more effortless achieving your goals - New Year's resolutions or otherwise will become.

Happy New Year!

Bill Bartmann - Down, But Never Ever Out

Bill Bartmann has led a rather extraordinary life through which he has endured many hardships and many triumphs.

The hardships he has endured include:

~ Poverty
~ Homelessness
~ Bankruptcy (Twice)
~ Paralysis
~ Alcoholism
~ Depression

Poverty
He was born one of eight children. His father was a janitor and his mother cleaned other people's houses for a living. The irony of this was that his family was so poor that they were sometimes turned out of places in which they sought refuge because the building was not considered fit for human habitation. Homelife was certainly nothing much to shout about and so at age 14 he left home to join a travelling carnival.

This was certainly provided a change of scenery but the work was arduous and dirty especially for someone who weighed less than 100lbs as Bill did back then. He decided it was time to upgrade...

Gang Member
So Bill Bartmann became a member of the "Manor Boys". The Manor Boys were no choir boys. Many of the things they did were in violation of the law. Naturally, they also got into fights and they drank. By age 17 Bill was a raging alcoholic. This led to a very serious accident...

Paralysis
One night, in a drunken stupor, Bill Bartmann fell down stairs. He regained consciousness in a hospital where the doctor informed him that he was paralysed and that he would never walk again. It was a diagnosis that Bill Bartmann refused to accept. The story of how he overcame this adversity is truly remarkable.

Homelessness
While life at home was rough, after Bill Bartmann left home things often became rougher. There were times when he ate out of dumpsters and slept under a bridge viaduct. He spent one summer in a farmer's hayloft - that is until the farmer discovered his hideaway and burnt his few meagre possessions.

Bankruptcy
Bill Bartmann has been bankrupt not just once but twice. The first time was when he was in the oil industry and the price of oil suddenly plummeted from $40 a barrel to just $13. Incredibly, he overcame bankruptcy by starting a debt collection agency and went from bankruptcy to billionaire becoming the 25th richest man in the world in the process.

Then his business partner committed fraud and Bill Bartmann's life was plunged into chaos again. The federal government decided to indict Bill Bartmann on 57 counts of felony. If found guilty, he probably would never taste freedom again as the 57 felony counts represented 600 years in prison. His company folded and Bill Bartmann became bankrupt again.

And this is just a snippet of Bill Bartmann's story. The thing is that some individuals would be irrecoverably crushed if they had to deal with just one of these adversities. So how does Bill overcome adversity? How does he survive such lows and scale such incredible heights?

He believes that "in large part my experiences weren't really meant for me. They were meant for you. They were meant to be an example of what is really possible. And they were meant to be a road map of how any of us can achieve the wealth we desire, regardless of our circumstances."

Despite the many hardships he has endured, Bill is very thankful for his life, what he has accomplished and the opportunity to accomplish even more and help hundreds of thousands of people in the process.

Emmy Award winner Jim Stovall said,

"Bill Bartmann has experienced more success and failure as an entrepreneur than anyone I know. He has the spirit of a champion and the heart of a teacher."

And on Tuesday 23 November at 8:00pm EDT, Bill Bartmann will be hosting a special Thanksgiving Webinar where he will be sharing his story in his words, the lessons that can be drawn from it and strategies that you can use to conquer the obstacles that stand in the way of your health, happiness and financial freedom.

To join Bill Bartmann for this free webinar "Down, But Never Ever Out: A Journey From A Homeless Gang Member to the 25th Wealthiest American" simply click the link below:

Down, But Never Ever Out

The webinar is limited to just 1,000 attendees (first come, first served) so sign up now to avoid disappointment.

The Power of Your Beliefs and Why What You Seek Maybe Hidden in Clear View

Your beliefs are critical when it comes to achieving your goals and you can just as easily believe something that isn't true as believe something that is true as the following story which began many million of years ago.

The much-respected naturalist, David Attenborough, who has graced our television screens with his marvellous natural history programs for over 50 years grew up in Leicester. As a young boy he was a passionate collector of fossils and stones. However, he didn't collect fossils from the nearby Charnwood Forest where the rocks are among the most ancient in the world - more than 500 million years. You see, at the time, geologists believed that rocks that old could not possibly contain fossils of any kind.

Then a boy from David Attenborough's school, just a few years after David Attenborough left, made a discovery that turned that disproved that theory - he found a fossil in the ancient rocks of Charnwood Forest. The boy's name was Roger Mason. He was rock climbing with friends when he made the discovery and, although he is credited with the discovery, he wasn't actually the first person to see the fossil.

Tina Negus, who was 15 years old schoolgirl at the time, later claimed to have had seen this fossil a year previously. She made a sketch of the fossil and presented it to her Geography teacher who disregarded her find telling her that fossils did not exist prior to the Precambrian period. In addition, one of Roger Mason's companions first spotted the fossil and pointed it out to Roger.

However, it was Roger who took action. He made a "brass-rubbing" of his find and told his father about it who knew a local geologist, Trevor Ford at the University of Leicester. He was very skeptical but he investigated the find but when he investigated the find he immediately recognized its significance and went into high gear. He published an article about the discovery and named the fossil Charnia masoni - after both the forest and Mason.

The fossil that Mason found is the oldest fossil in the country and one of the oldest in the world. Charnwood Forest is now a protested fossil site and Roger Mason went on to become a professor at the China University of Geosciences at Wuhan.

So what's the moral of this story?

Well, while fossil finds are rare in Charnwood Forest, they certainly do exist. Yet, because of a prevailing belief that they could not exist there, some individuals didn't even look for them there and others would not even consider physical evidence to the contrary. Many others may have seen this fossil and disregarded it.

This happens generally in life as well. People believe something that isn't true and then they act accordingly. Unfortunately, the consequence of this is that you can miss out on splendid opportunities. The discovery of Charnia has been significant in helping scientists to understand the origins of life.

It's therefore useful to examine your beliefs to see whether or not they serve you. In other words are your current beliefs helping you to achieve your goals? If not, then perhaps it's time to challenge and change your non-serving beliefs. When you do this you'll find that you'll become aware of the opportunities and resources that you need to achieve your goals. What's more, you'll probably find that everything you needed was already there - hidden in clear view.

For a FREE report that reveals the root cause as to why people do not achieve the success they strive to achieve in life and how to overcome this simply click the link below:

FREE Report: The Core Solution

How Events Can Help Shape Your Destiny

Events, even those which at the time may seem insignificant, can have a profound effect on our lives and help to shape our destiny.

When Anthony Robbins was growing up he repeatedly heard that people didn't care about each other. Then one day an event happened that, in his eyes, disproved that view.

Anthony Robbins, didn't have a priviledged upbringing. His family was actually rather poor. It was Thanksgiving and his family certainly wasn't able to afford the traditional Thanksgiving fare. Then there was a loud knock on the door and when Anthony answered there stood a tall man carrying a basket brimming with goodies.

Now Robbins' father was a proud man and he did not want to accept this gift. But the man said he was just the delivery man and that the gift had come from someone who knew they were in need and wanted them to know they were loved and cared for.

And so it was that the young Anthony Robbins had a Thanksgiving to remember and for all the right reasons.

When setting goals you are often encouraged to set big goals and sometimes that can be overwhelming. Some people want to impact thousands and millions of lives but struggle to see how they can achieve such a goal. But when setting out to achieve any goal no matter how big or how small you first have to take the first step. And so, if you want to impact millions of lives first begin by changing the life of one person.

Who knows how many other families in need the person who gifted the Robbins family the food basket had helped. The thing is, when he gave the Robbins family the gift of the food basket, it made an 11-year old boy realise that, if a total stranger could be so generous that people did care about each other after all. He was so moved by this act of kindness that he promised to "pay it forward" and do a similar kind act for a family in need.

When Anthony Robbins was 18, he took his meagre wages and bought food for two families he know were suffering extreme hardship. The next year he was helping 8 families and he realised that, if this continued, he was going to need a little help and so he started enlisting the help of volunteers.

And so the Anthony Robbins Foundation's International Basket Brigade was formed, an initiative which has grown exponentially over the years and which now distributes food, clothing and other resources to an estimated 2 million people globally.

A single event, a single act of kindness, was the catalyst for change that has now benefited millions of individuals. Sometimes we hestitate to do things because we perceive that what we can do is insignificant. While it's possible that you can impact the lives of many people at one time, you should never overlook the opportunity to make a positive impact on the life of just one individual whenever you can. You never know what ripple effects your actions will have.

The stranger's act of kindness to Anthony Robbins family created an event that helped to shape his destiny and helped to forge the personal development expert who has dramatically changed the lives of millions of people

Sometimes we hestitate to do things because we perceive that what we can do is insignificant. While it's possible that you can impact the lives of many people at one time, you should never overlook the opportunity to make a positive impact on the life of just one individual whenever you can. You never know what ripple effects your actions will have.

"Everyone has the need to contribute. It is one of the six human needs. If you give from your heart, it will come back to you tenfold."
Anthony Robbins

Self-Made Billionaire Bill Bartmann Explains "The New Normal" in FREE Webinar and What You Need to Do to Be Successful in this New Economy

Bill Bartmann will be hosting a FREE webinar titled "The New Normal: Living in a future that doesn't include secure employment, growing investments or adequate social security" on Thursday 19 August 2010.

There have been a multitude of changes in the national and global economy over the past 24 months which have adversely impacted individual lives as well as businesses. Many are hoping and waiting to ride out the current economic recession and expecting that things will return to "normal". Bill Bartmann, a self-made billionaire, advises that this is a big mistake.

"In the last 24 months our financial world has been profoundly altered. The problem is that most people believe things will eventually return to normal. They won't."
Bill Bartmann

He is of the view that we no longer live in a world governed by the financial "rules" that have shaped our lives, such as:

~ Do great work and you'll never get fired,
~ Safe investments will yield 8-10% annually,
~ Real estate values always go up, and
~ IRA's, 401k's & Social Security will be enough for you to retire on.

It has been said that:

"It is not the strongest of the species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change."

Therefore, you must change if you want to be successful in this new economic environment. And the changes are not over yet and those who are not prepared will undoubtedly suffer the consequences.

During this FREE webinar, Bill Bartmann will detail changes that have taken place as well as changes that are about to take place and the effect these changes are likely to have. While many people have been adversely affected by the economic downturn, there are also individuals who are thriving despite the recession. And so Bill Bartmann will also share what successful people are doing in the "NEW normal".

This webinar is ideal for anyone wanting to better understand the implications of the changes that are occurring in the economic landscape and who is seeking ideas regarding the actions they should be taking to be successful in this dramatically changing economic playing field.

In tumultuous times such as we are currently experiencing it's important to keep learning so that you can adapt to the changes which might otherwise send you reeling. As Eric Hoffer said:

"In times of change learners inherit the earth; while the learned find themselves beautifully equipped to deal with a world that no longer exists."

To register for "The New Normal" webinar simply click the URL below:

http://bit.ly/New-Normal

Breakthrough With Tony Robbins - Love Conquers All

Last month, Tony Robbins launched a new primetime television series on NBC called Breakthrough with Tony Robbins.

It was due to be a 6-part series in which he works with six families to help them overcome various crises they are experiencing. I really enjoyed watching the program and was really looking forward to the other episodes. I felt inspired and motivated by what I viewed. However, I'm sad to report that the show was cancelled after just two episodes.

The first episode was called "Love Conquers All" and in this episode Tony worked with Frank and Kristen Alioto.

This couple get married in Mexico but what should have been one of the happiest days of their lives turned out to be one of their most tragic and traumatic. During the wedding reception Frank jumped into a swimming pool and broke his neck. He instantly became a quadriplegic.

And so when they should have been celebrating the Aliotos found themselves in a foreign hospital, facing a very uncertain future. When they returned to the US, Frank and Kristen became prisoners of their own home - afraid to venture out into what was once familiar but now hostile territory. They still deeply loved each other but Frank was wracked with guilt and Kristen who, in a split second, had been transformed from wifr to caretaker often felt frustrated and resentful.

They both frequently and futilely thought to themselves "What if..."

What Tony Robbins accomplishes with this couple is truly remarkable. And I don't want to give too much away, for if you haven't already seen the program I strongly recommend that you watch it. All, I will say is that he in order for them to achieve their personal breakthrough he makes them take a leap of faith.

If you live in the US you can watch replays of Breakthrough with Tony Robbins at www.Hulu.com. You can also watch highlights and behind-the-scenes videos of the program at:

http://www.BreakthroughInsider.com

Another treat in store for you at this website is Tony's analysis of his strategy in helping each family to achieve their breakthrough. He also challenges you to go for your own personal breakthrough. It's a great program to watch if you want to 'escape' your current situation and learn tools on how to achieve something more significant with your life. However, it's not a program watch if you're seeking mere escapism.

With so much mind-numbing television I found this program to be a breath of fresh air and very timely as, especially in this current economic climate, so many families are experiencing crises of one kind or another at this time. And people are looking for solutions.

It's important to note that these families did not nominate themselves for this program. Knowing all too well, how many people nowadays are simply seeking their "five minutes of fame", families for this program were nominated by others.

And the circumstances that each of the families in crisis found themselves in are circumstances that everyone can relate to in one way or another. For instance, even although you may not be a quadriplegic, it's highly likely that you've experienced feeling trapped in some area of your life. However, Tony Robbins reveals that one of the reasons he chose to work with the Aliotos is because when he conducted a survey of North Americans to find out what they were most fearful of the majority of individuals said that they were most fearful of becoming a quadriplegic and not being able to take care of themselves. Interesting, huh?

Now this program was filmed about a year ago and so another thing I like about this program is that on the Breakthrough with Tony Robbins website you can find out where these families are today. The breakthroughs are lasting and, as for the Aliotos, they've had to face other very tough challenges since the filming of the program but they are doing things that even I haven't done yet.

So remember:

"Whatever happens in your life, you are more than any moment. There's no challenge you can't overcome. The events of our lives don't control our lives - our decisions do."
Tony Robbins