How to be a "Millionaire"..Automatically! - Part Two

I know, It has been a while since my last post about how to be a "Millionaire". Anyways, remember my last words in the previous part? Yes, it is all about "Patience".

I got many people who were asking and wondering when I am going to write about my second piece of work, and they sounded it, like I should write a series about it. Firstly, I am really grateful and proud that you have a genuine interest in reading my blog. I really appreciate that. Secondly, I am quite confident that the key words for such enthusiasm were:

"Millionaire" and "Automatically" , right?

Well, let me confess something. I don't have a magic formula for that, neither I think anyone does. But, I have come across a book for a reputable author that make things for me clearer and have more sense, when it comes to money management. This guy is called "DAVID BACH", and his lovely book is "THE AUTOMATIC MILLIONAIRE".

The things I like about this author, that he is first of all, a well known financial adviser, that has been interviewed many times in the TV, radio, newspapers and magazines, as a financial expert, that helps people to manage their wealth, especially those who are desperate for help. Also, he is an author of many best sellers, like "Finish Rich", and knows what he says, and not just selling dreams for the people. In short, the guy is damn good in his field, and particularly his book that I read, is far from complication, misleading, gambling, and most importantly, brain washing! He smartly starts his book by a disclaimer:

"..Let's be clear about something. I am not promising to transform your financial situation overnight......What you'll learn to become a millionaire- steadily and surely -over the course of your working life..."

Well said, isn't it? OK, let me share with you some key notes that I thought they are easy to understand, yet difficult to do by many people. His entire discussion is about being a millionaire and retire before the real age of retirements. So, his plans practically, for those who wish to be a millionaire over medium to long terms only. That's why patience is so much handy here!

First of all, he made it clear when he said that being rich IS NOT like showing rich, AT ALL! We can always find people that wear expensive clothes, drive luxurious cars, have wonderful vacations, but when you check their monthly financial statements, they are badly in debts, and live a pay-check to a pay-check. These type of people live their live as materialistic as possible, and wouldn't bother what to save or how their financial situation would be 5 years down the road. I call them Continuous In Debts people (CID).

Another interesting fact he talked about is the "Latte Factor". Basically, we might overlook unintentionally, our little expenses, just because they are tiny, and we might think that they have no big roles on our savings. Well, supported with figures and statistics, he again proved that if we manage to know what are our these little expenditures, that we do needlessly, we can have a lot of savings, in the future. A good example he gave, that I personally know many like to follow, is buying a coffee every morning from a big branded coffee shop chain. If you save half of that money everyday, and with a compounding interest factor, you can have an unexpected amount of money later on. So on so forth for other items. So it is all about finding your "Lattee Factor" and try to eliminate it from your daily or routine expenses, and the coffee was just an example, where he actually derived the word lattee from.

An interesting secret that David Bach revealed also was to do with the order of your expenses. He reckons that everyone should pay him/her self first, then subsequently, look into other things. We always say we will save by the end of this month, or I will try to spend only 80% of my income this month, and save the rest...etc. Actually, nothing, most of times work out, right? The concept of paying your self first is not a new one, to be honest, but I don't know why people still can't take this and do it! Simply, we should save every month, at least as a starting point, from 5% to 10% of our income. For example, if we earn every month $1,000, we should save something between 50 to 100 dollars, at least. People need to assume that they get only $900 and not the $1,000. Thus, they can accordingly adjust themselves better with their buying and other expenses.

See, all this is can be quite workable for anybody looking for a financial assistant, without a need for capital budgeting or any other fancy financial work around.

The book still rich of knowledge and easy techniques, and let us see if you can commit your self to what have been discussed so far..

I will give more tips in my third post..

Till that time, BE A REAL RICH and show them how much alive you are!

How to be a "Millionaire"..Automatically! - Part One

Well, I bet that you are one of the many many people who would like to be one of them (not die trying of course), and in a very short time, I guess. True? If you are not, still I believe you would like to continue reading the coming lines, at least, as it would be out of a normal human being curiosity!

Truth to be said, I don't believe that there is a secret normal honest and smart way for anyone to get rich so badly in a very short period of time. It is like injecting a chicken with some hormones in order to gain 2-3 KG more in a just 12 hours! The increase in weight will be remarkable, but simply, it is not the normal way and the way it should be, and anyone would question the healthiness of it.

I am a realistic person who thinks that the god has created this universe in order to work in order and according to certain rules and standards, that were sat previously, by his almighty. Said that, he has given, intentionally, a chance for the mankind to explore things by their own and do whatever changes or amendments they wish. But still there are certain things that if altered for sake of having quick desired results, it would give some counter results, that on the long run, can be more harmful than advantageous.

Think about this again, and reflect your thinking to quite many things we face everyday or hear about in our lives. Did the below turn out to be a successful attempts throughout the history?:

- Loosing (or even gaining) weights, just after having some pills.

- Depending entirely on robots as teachers in schools.

- Performing an absolute perfect and enjoyable sex, merely by using Viagra!

- And becoming a multi-millionaire in no more than 1 year!

The thing is, the above can work out, as I said for a period, but the challenge is, can it be sustained? I doubt it. I strongly believe that they can be fruitful, if they are part of a well-studied cycle. In other words, they should be treated as elements that are part of other elements that make the whole attempt a rewarding one.

I want to talk more about the last but not the least, in the previous list: "Becoming a millionaire" in a short time.

I know many guys who are eager to become wealthy. That is plain right, and everyone has the freedom to dream about it, and work for it, the way he/she wants. BUT, I don't believe at all, that there is a secret where anyone can be crazily wealthy, in no time, with no efforts and legally. Of course, if it happened that you inherited some wealth, this is totally a different story, but what I meant is working and wanting to be wealthy, by your own hard efforts.

Well, you will come and say: "OK, what about winning a lottery? or gaining profits for the steep increase in the shares prices?". Actually, studies have shown, as I had read that once in a book called Success Principles for Jack Canfield, that more than 80% of those people who are getting absolutely rich quickly, loose their entire wealth and become bankrupt in less than 5 years. Why? of course, it wasn't planned well for, their subconscious mind has not been prepared for it and most importantly, it happened with no efforts!

Easy come, easy go. That is how I think about money! We need to work hard, to enjoy being paid what we deserve. We need to plan our income, so we can maintain our savings, and we need to accept the fact that wealth should come, only if we are serious about getting the hard-smart way.

I have been bombarded a lot with those silly ads, e-mails and word of mouth, to invest in such and such, do this and that, and you will be able, in less than 2 years, to buy a Ferrari every weekend. I have come across many websites and read a couple of books that teach you how to become so frickin rich, and trust me, nothing has worked out, and I have never heard about anyone really did it. It is purely misleading and deceiving people for their hopes.

I understand why you and many others out there are so much interested in having the extra money or a mean of income. But, why we don't do that scientifically and realistically? Well, the good news, I finally reached a way to make our BIG dream come true. Now, it might not be the PERFECT SOLUTION, but it is A way to reach there and become a millionaire.

Hasty to know it ha? Well, this is the first lesson: "Patience".

My next post shall be tackling this..

Till then, show them how much patient and alive you are!

Volunteer NOW, think LATER...

“Phone ringing…”

Me:

Hello!Salam 3laikom. Hi Khalid, How are you doing mate? Whassup?OK man it is a good idea, but I am afraid that I don’t have the time to volunteer and do that work, I Hope next time. OK, let me think about it, and I will come back to you soon OK? Bye-bye.....

Honestly, how many of us have replied in that way when we have been offered a voluntary task? Where we had to think and think, and sometimes just for sake of finding excuses to not do that job? I was one those people, frankly speaking, couple of times. Why? For a simple fact: I was under the impression that I won't pressurize myself, I have a busy schedule and I can’t substitute the important tasks in my life with non-financial rewarding activities. Later I discovered how guilty I was!!

Let us firstly see how “Volunteer” is defined in the dictionary:

“To perform or offer a service of one's own free will”

This can takes many forms and many unfortunately think that whenever there is something wrong, we have to step in, and volunteer and make that wrong thing, right! But it is just more than that. I think we have a debt as matured people to pay back to our societies, and I would say that volunteering shouldn't be just an option. But why we should volunteer?

The interesting thing about paying out your debts is that it ain't like paying your loan–off to the banks, as me being a banker, I do understand the frustration. But a voluntary task pay back has many benefits:

- Provide opportunities for personal achievement.
- Allow volunteers to make new discoveries about themselves and others.
- Feeling they are forming social bonds

Indeed, people have made new friends, found marriage partners (opportunity for those who are not married), learnt new skills, developed character, and discovered health benefits through the sheer act of volunteering.

I wanna emphasize on one of a very crucial voluntary type, which is inspiring the youth. The reason I am emphasizing on this point here, is not because other voluntary works are less important. NO. But because I think, especially in this part of the world, most of the voluntary attentions are focused for disasters, environment and helping the disabled. (Reactive volunteers)

This reminds me of a story of a young boy standing on the beach near the ocean's edge, throwing starfish into the ocean. Someone questions the boy about why he is throwing the starfish back into the ocean; with millions of starfish and miles of beach the boy couldn't possibly make a difference. Reaching for another starfish and throwing it as far into the ocean as possible, the boy exclaims, "I made a difference to that one"

We can’t reach all, but we can reach few and that is not bad.

I have been given this chance 2 years back to join a non-profit organization called "InJAz Bahrain" , a member nation of the worldwide organization Junior Achievement, was established to provide young people with a business and economic education so they will have the knowledge, skills, tools and hands-on experience they need when seeking employment.

It has many modules like leadership, setting up a company, interviewing skills and many others. And I have been chosen to inspire them with the leadership skills.

Initially, I thought I was not fit for this task, of teaching leadership skills to the youth. I was under the impression that only highly skilled and experienced leaders can do that. But I found students really appreciated that, and the age gap between me and them has helped a lot in bringing the synergy and fun in the course. The "great person" theory of leadership is just plain wrong – Jim Kouzes “The leadership Challenge” The question for each of us is not "Do I matter?" but "How do I matter? "

I am quite sure, in doing so, we will have a strong impact on their life, especially the professional life. If you believe it is right, just do it and think later about its consequences. Young people don’t need to be taught any more English, math, computer...etc. They need hope and to be motivated. They need the aspiration through showing them our leadership.

So well you be the first person to volunteer?

Show them how much alive you are...

The Secret: Law of Attraction - Part II

Put simply, the more we don't want things to happen in our life, the more the "universe" respond passively and make that happen. In other words, if someone for example fears that tomorrow in his way to work, will face some traffic congestions, this will come true. So, we need to think and say instead: "Tomorrow the traffic will be awesome, and I will reach office on time". It sounds weird, for some I guess, as it did for me honestly at the beginning of discovering this secret.

Somehow, the concept believers believe that the "universe" doesn't understand "I Don't want" statements, and automatically replace it with "I do want". Hence, people need to make sure to always think and talk positively, so their wishes become the universe commands. Practically, it is more of being optimistic in life and always believing that what ever happened to you is meant for a reason, a good one. The secret is to firstly and before anything else, to be grateful for the things that you already possess, accept it and be happy for having it. If for instance, you need to loose some weights, you need at the first place, to appreciate what ever is your physical appearance is, before being involved in any dieting programs. If you keep telling to yourself that you look ugly, unfit and won't be able to make it and loose some weights, that just will directly trigger a wish in your wish list to the universe: "I do want to be as is and keep putting on !!"

I need to admit that this concept has initially motivated and inspired me to do many many things in my life and think differently. Starting from owning a Porsche to dying very very old ( More than 120 years old ). However, I think they have really over simplified the concept, by saying you need just to make a wish, live it, visualize it and want it badly so then it will come to you, and you shouldn't really care about the "How" part, as this will be handled perfectly by the "universe".

Even, this law can aid in healing your own diseases without a need to go and see doctors. Well, they brought an example for a man who got paralyzed after a serious accident then after using this secret, he was able to got well and walk again. I do understand that this might be really handy psychologically for a patient, when he/she should be looking to the bright side of the things in life and fight for survival and good well, but I don't think that this itself would be efficient to cure the most dangerous diseases on earth.

Anyways, there are still some good parts that I have personally enjoyed from this DVD, it ain't bad overall. Maybe the part that pushes you to think and show how much alive you are!

The Secret: It has been revealed! - Part I

I have been approached by one of best friends recently, telling me that he has found a secret. I was wondering what secrets he was trying to reveal and show it to me, but he insisted to not tell much, and instead gave me a DVD to watch and revert back to him.

So, I have decided to watch that DVD, hoping that it will show me some secrets, and many speculations were going in my head about its content. I thought, maybe it is a secret of how to be a millionaire in 1 week, or how to reach to the parliament without fooling people!, something hard to get straightway....

Anyways, I have locked up myself in the room, and started to play that DVD, where it had a very attractive cover, where it creates the curiosity and forces you to explore it.

With a nice introduction movie-clip, that was full of graphical effects, it followed by a brief discussion that tells you about the "secret". It has been buried long time back, and only few people where able to extract it and "use" it among themselves. Those who managed to do so, were pretty much successful people, and didn't want other people to benefit from it. But, now no need to hide such treasure, as it has been understood from the film, and all the mankind should know it, practice it, and get the credits out of it.

It is more of a documentary that has been presented in a very unique manner. Basically, it all revolves around a basic fact: "The Law of Attraction" !.

Should we continue this later, till that time, let us be alive!

The art of making people laugh!

I have been assigned an assignment, as part of my Toastmasters club , to simply put smiles on the members and the guests faces. (click here for more information about Toastmasters)

Normally, we as Toastmasters, get the assignment before a week or so, so we can have plenty of time for planning it (If you fail to plan, you plan to fail!). However, it is quite expected that people sometimes, due to many situations, cancel their assignments. Thus, other active members need to be ready to take their roles, accordingly. This is exactly, happened to me last Saturday, when one member, supposedly doing the "Joke Master" assignment, passed it to me for taking it over. I have been called at 5:00 PM to be ready for the 7:30 PM meeting!. Well, it is not only you have to let people laugh, but you have to be very picky in what sort of materials you are going to provide them. SEX, POLITICS & RELIGION (SPR'S) jokes are not allowed in Toastmasters, and unfortunately, 99% of my jokes are some where revolving around these things.

So, after some struggles, I have managed to pick up few "clean" jokes and present it to the club.

I have always thought that making people laugh is the easiest job. But, I guess I was not right. I found that it takes a lot of efforts, thinking, perfect body language and good-timing, to let others genuinely smile, not even reaching the laughing stage! It is really an art, that many people think that can be made in a blink of an eye.

My experience, proved to me that you need to control your voice patters, your facial expressions, body movements, and when to stress some words and when to not. The content is of course important, but I think all the other things are a must-to-have, so a joke turns out to be a funny one. That's why we find many times that if someone tells a joke, we laugh hilariously, while if another person tells the exact joke, we might even not notice when he is done!.

The "Charisma" is the secret...

So, show them how much alive you are!

"Alive"... That magical word

If we check out the dictionary, we would find the below possible definitions for the word "alive":

• In existence or operation; active
• Full of living or moving things; abounding
• Full of activity or animation; lively
  

Well, all the above are well said, I can't question any of them. But, do we really need to live just for :

• Being in operation?
• Moving? or
• Having a full of activity?

Do we really need that? I think, we have much a bigger role to play in this world. And God, didn't send all the creatures for a sake of "existence" only. We are meant for a bigger thing, and yet too many miss to figure out that, and those who managed to figure it out, even partially, they did that very late!!! I am a big believer of showing all sort of livelihood when our hearts can beat, our minds can function and our soul scan be reloaded. Being alive, feeling alive, living alive and ultimately showing alive, can make wonders in our daily lives. But, HOW?

Well, this is something easily said that done, I can't with my little fingers and a keyboard, siting in a very comfortable chair, give the magic recipe for it. It is never work like a press button, and I will never assume or even think that I can know all the secrets.

However, I will blog from time to time, about how can we express it, give it, take it, share it and most importantly have a faith in it, that it is the reason why we are here on this earth. I know people do breath, eat, have sex, talk, walk...etc. But, these are a very tiny part of the whole picture. These physiological activities are a must to have for a majority of people. Being alive encompass much more of that...

Till the next one, see you and show them how much alive you are!