“Who Do You Think You Are?”

My son was in high school and it was raining hard. I told him that he could leave his bike at home and I would give him a lift instead. Parents were supposed to drop their sons off at the gate at the bottom of a long and winding road that led up the prestigious old boy’s school, but since it was raining so hard I decided to drive him up, anyway. Along the way, we found our passage blocked by a teacher who was walking his dog up the road. He knew we were stuck behind him, but he purposefully meandered slowly along. I honked the horn loudly at him until he got out of the way.

Later that morning, I received a call from my son, telling me that this teacher had berated and humiliated him in front of the class, asking him, “Who does your father think he is?” I drive to the school and demanded o see the teacher. I was told that he was not available without an appointment. I told the secretary that she should tell the teacher that he had two choices; he could meet me in his office in exactly two minutes, or I would drag him out of his classroom. From my demeanor she realized that I was serious. I went and waited for him in his office.

Our one-sided conversation went something like this: “You want to know who I think I am, so I am going to tell you. I am a successful businessman who cares about my son. Now let me tell you who I think YOU are: You are a male teacher, in other words, a man amongst boys, and a boy amongst men. You can’t handle adults, so you prey on vulnerable kids. You will apologize to my son in front of the class within five minutes. If you do not, I will come back and beat you up. That is who I think I am.” (He did the right thing, not out of decency, I’m afraid, but fear - typical of a bully.)

We need to have a well-defined idea of who we are. Our self-image has to be accurate, crystal clear and positive. If you want others to believe in you, you have to believe in yourself. Confidence, courage, and clarity are essential. Standing up for yourself, your team and your loved ones reflects the way you esteem yourself.

Robin J. Elliott www.DollarMakers.com

A Deed Once Done

Choices have consequences which stay with us and affect our perceptions, self-esteem and circumstances for years – until we make a new choice in a similar context. Two stories will illustrate my point. The first was a time cycles of months, whilst the second has lasted forty-six years so far.

At the age of eleven, I was being bullied at school. Because my Dad was a teacher at the school, I had been warned to stay out of trouble, and when I did misbehave, I received a harder beating from Dad than others to demonstrate that there as no favoritism. Yes, in my day, kids got caned at school, and we were better off for it. The way many kids behave these days is disgusting; they generally have no respect for adults and no values either. No consequences have serious consequences. But, as usual, I am wont to digress. After a few months of this bullying, my Mom sat me down and offered me a dollar to retaliate. “Grab his collar with your left hand”, she advised, “yank him towards you, and hit him as hard as you can on his nose with your right fist.” I hit him, got the dollar, became his best friend and never allowed myself to be bullied again after such a great experience.

Years before, that, at the age of nine, we lived on a farm in South Africa. My Dad and uncle were viciously attacked with by a steel-pipe-bearing farm worker. My Mom urged me to flee to the neighbors with her and my sisters, but I refused and stood on the kitchen table to see the action through the window, helped my uncle into the bathroom and wiped the blood off his face. He had both his arms and wrists broken in several places, a broken jaw and fractured skull, but he still managed to smile his thanks to me, brave man that he was. I returned to the window and threw my Dad my BB gun and a spear to defend himself with. He wouldn’t back off and stood his ground against the savage until the distant sound of police sirens scared the animal away. The fact that I stayed to support my Dad and uncle and the site of his courage in the face of imminent death has stayed with me.

So here’s my little lesson. A bad choice, like allowing yourself to be bullied, with erode your expectations, self-esteem and weltanschauung until you hit back and react differently. You can remedy the consequences in a similar situation with a different choice; it’s not too late. Any bad choice can be turned around if you identify the root and take decisive action (unless the other person is no longer around, of course). We need to evaluate the choices that caused negative consequences and beliefs that we are saddled with and seek to make new choices. Replace the evidence that makes you interpret opportunities in a disempowering way. We will seek evidence to support our dominant beliefs. Had I not struck back at the bully, my belief might be that I am a coward and I would seek evidence and instances to support that belief. Simple, isn’t it? If you’re used to quitting, it doesn’t mean you’re a quitter – it just means that it’s time to stop quitting. You can, you know.

This simple pop psychology actually works. Try it; you’ll like it. A deed once done can often be redone.

Robin J. Elliott www.DollarMakers.com

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AMERICA ALONE: The end of the world as we know it
by Mark Steyn

Handcuffed by Your Own Product / Service?

Are you imprisoned and limited by your business? Does your business own you? Are you restricted and constrained by the very products and services that you hoped would set you financially free? Are you hobbled and crippled by the very product you believe in and spend your life marketing? Perhaps it’s time to take off the blinders, shake off the shackles of conventional, industrial-age business, and leap the boundaries of income potential.

It’s sad to see entrepreneurs slaving for years to sell a product or service that nobody wants, while they sink slowly into the stinking quicksand of disappointment, pessimism, cynicism and financial ruin. It’s depressing to observe good people who insist on limiting their opportunity to a single product or service. They leave millions of dollars on the table over the duration of their business career. Worse still, most of them are blissfully unaware of the lost opportunities; although “bliss” is not something they’re familiar with… It’s time to emerge victorious from the quagmire of financial incarceration, wash off the old thinking and skip happily down the grassy path of abundance.

You were taught by people, who didn’t know any better, to FOCUS, that NICHE MARKET, long hours, hard work, sacrifice (read FAMILY), high risk, and sleepless nights would eventually allow you to succeed in business. That was true, years ago. Now we live in the information age and things have changed. Entrepreneurs wouldn’t think of traveling to work in a horse-drawn buggy or giving up their silly little Blackberries, yet they insist on using a business model that closely resembles a squeaky ox wagon, while a shiny, new Lexus is readily available – at no cost! And while this good news should be greeted with much applause, relief and excitement, I find their ears are clogged and their eyes blinded by that smelly old swamp water, so they snort derisively at any suggestion of a better alternative. Their skepticism is understandable. They’ve had enough exposure to conmen, coaches, consultants, and schemes and dreams to last them a long time. These jaded business warriors either have money and no time, or time and no money, but they don’t have time AND money.

Think about the typical “Financial Planner” – what if you don’t want more financial planning but you do want to buy a house, a computer, and a holiday? The insurance salesman will flounce off to find another client, whereas as he could easily have made more money (read PROFIT) by brokering the house, holiday and computer, with very little time, than he could selling you a life insurance policy or some mutual funds. And what if you did by insurance from him? Could he still help you find that house, computer and holiday as well and get paid for it? Of course he could. See, when you get your ego out of your eyes, you find all sorts of treasure.

Think about this: if you had no overhead, no employees, no inventory, no risk, no leases, no royalties to pay, no geographical or demographic limitations, and if you could sell any product or service, and earn residual income at 100% margin, would that be a good thing? Especially if it took very little time and could earn you an unlimited amount of money? Now, before you slam the lid of your laptop so that you can stagger off to the next networking meeting that is populated by other desperate, self-employed salespeople who also have no money, hear me out. Before you turn your jaundiced eye away, I challenge you to read the next paragraph. It will change your life if you understand it.

Instead of rejecting any business that doesn’t pertain to your own product or service, why not broker the products and services of other people, and earn on-going commissions, at 100% profit? Use other peoples’ time, money, equipment, risk, expertise and skills. You’ve heard of Other Peoples’ Money. That was old Aristotle Onassis, remember? Well, don’t limit yourself to their money – take it all. Brokers are smart – they spend little time and make lots of money. No selling, no risk, no overhead, no problem. All they do is link supply and demand and get paid. They create multiple streams of passive income.

So stop worrying and start looking beyond the marsh of debt, frustration and linear thinking. Mr. Onassis said, “It is during our darkest moments that we must focus to see the light.” Focus of www.DollarMakers.com and see how Joint Ventures can get you out of those pesky handcuffs and onto the nearest Club Med beach.

Robin J. Elliott