According to neuroscience studies, the adage that you should “be careful what you occupy your mind with” has more teeth to it than you might imagine. Your brain is very good at attending to whatever you direct it to. If your mind is always thinking about your current situation, your lack of money, your troubled relationships or all the people who wronged you in the past, you will surely live a miserable life. Our mind is programmed in such a way that what occupies your mind most of the time will inevitably influence your behavior and motivation in life.

The difference between successful people and those who are not successful is their mental capacity to dream positively. Successful people occupy their mind with positive things, their dreams about a successful future, while unsuccessful people occupy their mind with their present situation. Read the rest of this entry »

As a young man, Earvin “Magic” Johnson admired his father and other small-town entrepreneurs who created jobs and served as leaders in his Midwestern community. He worked for them, watched them, and his interest in building communities through economic development grew even while his basketball career flourished. His fame as an NBA star gave him access to some of the most successful business leaders in the country. It was Earvin’s own entrepreneurial spirit that inspired them to serve as his mentors.

Earvin made the transition from great athlete to greater entrepreneur through hard work and by avidly pursuing opportunities. He recognized that densely populated urban communities were ripe for commercial and residential development. He partnered with major brands like Starbucks, 24 Hour Fitness, and T.G.I. Friday’s to lead a major economic push in these communities. The success of his businesses proved that ethnically diverse urban residents would welcome and support major brands if given the opportunity. Earvin continues to be a leader of urban economic development that provides jobs, goods, and a new spirit of community.

32 Ways to Be a Champion in Business will inspire and enlighten readers who wish to make a similar impact with their careers and business endeavors.

Robert Kiyosaki is an American investor, businessman, self-help author and motivational speaker, who has written 15 books, with combined sales of over 26 million copies.

Three of Robert’s books, Rich Dad Poor Dad, Rich Dad’s CASHFLOW Quadrant, and Rich Dad’s Guide to Investing, have simultaneously been on the top 10 best-seller lists of The Wall Street Journal, USA Today and the New York Times.

In this Q&A interview with Alex Pirouz, Robert Kiyosaki discusses what it takes to be successful in business, the No 1 skill every entrepreneur should learn and the five qualities required by every entrepreneur in order to become successful. Read the rest of this entry »

1. Steve Jobs – Walter Isaacson

Based on more than forty interviews with Jobs conducted over two years—as well as interviews with more than a hundred family members, friends, adversaries, competitors, and colleagues—Walter Isaacson has written a riveting story of the roller-coaster life and searingly intense personality of a creative entrepreneur whose passion for perfection and ferocious drive revolutionized six industries: personal computers, animated movies, music, phones, tablet computing, and digital publishing. Read the rest of this entry »

First, understand that you no longer want to be just a millionaire. You want to become a multimillionaire. While you may think a million dollars will give you financial security, it will not. Given the volatility in economies, governments and financial markets around the world, it’s no longer safe to assume a million dollars will provide you and your family with true security. In fact, a Fidelity Investments’ study of millionaires last year found that 42 percent of them don’t feel wealthy and they would need $7.5 million of investable assets to start feeling rich.

This isn’t a how-to on the accumulation of wealth from a lifetime of saving and pinching pennies. This is about generating multimillion-dollar wealth and enjoying it during the creation process. To get started, consider these seven secrets of multimillionaires. Read the rest of this entry »

LinkedIn co-founder and angel investor Reid Hoffman says now’s the time for bold entrepreneurship. Current economic conditions offer an ideal environment for startups, he says, because you have more time to get a new venture off the ground before the competition catches on.

At last week’s the South by Southwest Interactive conference in Austin, Texas, Hoffman offered what he calls his “Ten Rules on Entrepreneurship.” And if anyone is qualified to come up with such a list, it’s this web-savvy wizard who was a founding board member and executive vice president of PayPal and now serves as a partner at venture capital powerhouse Greylock Partners.

Here are Hoffman’s top mandates for entrepreneurs: Read the rest of this entry »

Africa's most Successful woman - Divine Ndhlukula

Divine Ndhlukula, a Zimbabwean national, is the founder and Managing Director of SECURICO, one of Zimbabwe’s largest security companies. The Harare-based outfit is a market leader in the provision of bespoke guarding services and cutting-edge electronic security solutions.Ndhlukula has done remarkably well. In less than 15 years of doing business, SECURICO has achieved a number of significant feats: The $13 million (revenues) company now has more than 3,400 employees – 900 of whom are women. The company was also the first security outfit in Zimbabwe to achieve an ISO (International Organization for Standardisation) certification. Last December the company was the winner of the prestigious Legatum Africa Awards for Entrepreneurship. Read the rest of this entry »

Steve Jobs

Apple’s stock has soared to a market capitalisation of $460 billion this week, buoyed by impressive results and rumours of new products around the corner. The tech giant’s stock is worth more than the market capitalization of rivals Google ($196.8bn)  and Microsoft ($256.1bn) combined.

Apple’s profits recently passed $1 billion a week and the company now sells a million iPhones a day. Apple’s market capitalization only overtook Microsoft’s in May 2010. Fortune magazine also pointed out the worthy statistics that Apple’s stock is worth more than the gross domestic product of Sweden – $458 billion.

Apple is worth more than all the gold in the American Federal Reserve – $350 billion, by Fortune’s reckoning – and all the illegal drugs in the world, $321 billion. ‘It comes soon after Apple reported its best quarter ever, earning $13.06 billion,’ says Apple Insider, which pointed out the milestone comparison with the company’s rivals.

Market research has found out that more than 90% of new businesses fail in the first 120 days of operation. As an aspiring entrepreneur you need to understand that all successful businesses have common traits. They are SUCCESSFUL because they trade and imbibe the same principles of success followed years back by past entrepreneurs like Dale Carnegie and Henry ford. The first year of your business is a crucial stage where you need all the guidance from your mentor. I will write more about the importance of a mentor for your success in subsequent articles.

As a budding entrepreneur you need to understand simple and basic ideas like acceptable over-head expenses in relation to projected income. A college degree in business in not essential for an entrepreneur to be successful, but it will be handy in many instances. Just some basic business knowledge is absolutely vital.

If you have a hard time balancing your personal check book, you probably should keep your day job and forget about starting a business. It is true that you can hire accounting firms that will tell you WHEN you must make tax deposits, for example, but these firms will not be able to tell you IF you need to make them.

Accounting firms can tell you whether or not you made a profit but not how to make it. If you have no business background you need to, at the very minimum, get some good business advice before you even consider opening business. The fact is that all successful businesses operate on sound business principles. Successful businesses aren’t accidents. It is not even reasonable to expect to make a profit from a new business enterprise for many, many months.

You must have sufficient resources available to not only launch your business but provide for your own personal needs for an extended period of time. It’s called ‘capital’ and there is no way around the need for enough of it. Many budding entrepreneur make a BIG mistake and dont provide adequate for operation, which in most cases stifles the business and suffocates it before it takes off.

Have the Right Mindset

You have most likely heard the phrase, ‘He has an attitude!” This is usually a derogatory remark made about a person with a disagreeable attitude. But the word ‘attitude’ is an important one when discussing business start-ups. A good attitude…a good mind set can’t insure success but a bad attitude and a bad mind set can certainly guarantee failure. Here are some wrong attitudes that will absolutely guarantee failure:

I can work when I want to. Wrong, this is absolutely piffle! You can’t just work when you feel like it. You have to expect to put in many long and very tedious hours of very hard work to make a new Business enterprise succeed.

I can get rich quick! You cant be more wrong and you are not only wrong but you are putting yourself in danger as well. There are billions of crooks out there on the internet who are waiting for their next easy mark and if you are looking for a quick way to get rich, you ARE the next mark. It is possible to make a very comfortable living by starting a new business enterprise but if anybody ever tells you it is quick or easy, they are lying to you.

I don’t need a business plan. There you are…wrong yet again. Every business needs a road map. It is imperative that you have a plan for success that is based upon sound business principles. I will cover this topic extensively in my future posts. keep watching this space.

There is an old saying, which says: “Those who fail to plan, plan to fail”. You need to have a well strategized plan of execution for any assignment you embark on. You need to have clear plan on how you will move from point A to point B listed in a succinct manner and should include realistic cost estimates for accomplishing each step.

When you have a business of your own, you don’t have a boss. Again a BIG LIE! You are your boss. If you aren’t a good boss who sees to it that work is accomplished on time and in full, you will fail. Unless you are a boss who sets up a working schedule and establishes goals that must be met, you will find your business heading down a steep ravine to oblivion.

1. Expecting to work very hard to accomplish your goals. You must never expect anything to be easy. You will be right most of the time because things are rarely as easy as they look. Each step toward success requires work, time and patience. Sometimes things don’t work out right on the first try. You have to be willing to try again and again until you succeed.
2. Not falling for ‘get-rich-quick schemes. The road to business success is full of those who prey upon those who are looking for quick and easy ways to become rich. Those ways do not exist. Get over thinking that there is an easy way. THERE IS NO SHORT CUT TO SUCCESS!!!! You need to work hard in order to earn success. There is no other route available to success than following the straight path.

Always remember those statistics! Ninety percent of all new businesses fail in the first 120 days. You don’t have to be part of that majority. You can become a part of that 10% minority of successful business enterprises. With proper planning and vision, you will make it to the promised land.

To your success!!!!!!

Would you like to realize your goals? Maybe you’d like to run your own business, expand your material possessions, or succeed in the arts. There is no one path to the pot of gold, but many people of all backgrounds have successfully found it.

Whether you want to follow the ways of the great financiers, the famous politicians, or the dynamic movie stars, there are common modes of behavior each of them followed. And in many cases, they have shared their secrets so YOU CAN FOLLOW THEIR FOOTSTEPS.

“If you wish to know the road up the mountain, ask the person who goes back and forth on it,” said the ancient sage, Zenrin. What better way is there to know the secrets than to ask those who made it? What goals do you want to achieve? And what amount of effort can you commit?

You may want money for the extra things in life, money to build a corporate empire, or money to support yourself while you pursue the fine arts. Perhaps you’d like to take the risk to start something new in your life. You may want to open your own business, devote your energies to an artistic career such as acting, or reap the benefits of your yearly endeavors with fabulous vacations several times a year.

What will bring you happiness? The satisfaction of success takes many forms. Not only are people seeking financial fortunes, but also the ancient goal of peace of mind.

Do you worry? You might be concerned about your health or your family’s well-being. You may be anxious about the added expenses of education, medical bills, or the steady increase of cost of living.  There are ways out of the endless cycles of worry, stress and anxiety. Right now, you can rise above the whirl of survival to achieve the accomplishments you dream of!

When you’re for-real ready to put your whole effort into realizing your goals, YOU WILL SUCCEED.

What are Riches?

“Had I but plenty of money, money enough to spare,” wrote Robert Browning. And money is the greatest attribute of riches. A universal desire, money is the materialization of riches, the stuff that makes the rest possible.

Are you looking for financial security? For retirement, for education or leisure? Riches are the overflowing abundance of material possessions- houses, cars, boats, furnishings- everything you ever wanted.

Centuries ago, Horace wrote, “By right means, if you can, but by any means, make money.” For many people it is a path towards happiness, a cure-all for worry and peace of mind.

For others, riches come in the form of satisfaction and personal independence. Satisfaction comes from accomplishment in employment or attaining goals. It is that feeling of contentment and confidence from a good task well done. Riches are closely linked with success.

And with that comes fame and acknowledgment of position. Success might be the feeling of well-being from the rewards of good effort. Or the enthusiasm and vitality triggered by recognition. “Success is how well I enjoy the minutes,” said producer Norman Lear.

Throughout history, the people who lived with riches often achieved them by hard work, diligence and a belief in themselves. For some people, it took courage, genius and stamina. But for many others, it took nothing special but the desire to turn dreams into reality.

Whether you want millions of dollars, recognition as an artist, or personal freedom, you have the ability to make your life as rich as you want. Think about what you most desire. It may not be hard cash, but what it can buy.

Or, it may be those feelings of inner satisfaction, from creating something beautiful or strong. You may want personal independence from the work week, or freedom to live anywhere you want. You may be looking for something meaningful and significant in life- something other than things money can buy.

Whatever your goals, and however difficult they seem to be to accomplish, you have the ability to become who you want. Take a look-  can you see yourself surrounded by riches? Picture the world open and in front of you, ready to become the form of your dreams, ready to stage your desires. “Why then, the world’s mine oyster,” wrote Shakespeare, “which I with sword will open.”

Culled from my Ebook – ‘Secrets of the rich people’