10 Richest People in History

Success leaves clues. (Should i review my history, learn investigative research or study financial forensics?) :)

Tony Robbins said in his best selling book Unlimited Power, "If you want to achieve success, all you need to do is find a way to model those who have already succeeded."

Most people out of stubborn pride or sheer ignorance want to reinvent things that have already been done. If you want to be rich just look for people who are rich and consistently think, feel and act the way they do and you will inevitably become like them.

So for the sake of following such line of practice, i am borrowing an article representing the 10 Wealthiest People in history and how they started. Thanks to Alex (the original writer) and Wikipedia.

Here is the list of the 10 Richest People of All Time and How They Made Their Fortunes.

1. John D. Rockefeller

Peak wealth: $318.3 billion (based on 2007 US dollar). Age at peak wealth: 74

As a young man, John Davison Rockefeller said that his two greatest ambitions were to make $100,000 and live to be 100. He died two months shy of his 98th birthday, but boy did he make good on the first goal.

Rockefeller wasn't born to a rich family. His father, William Avery "Big Bill" Rockefeller was a shiftless man who spent most of his times thinking up schemes to avoid actual work! Nevertheless, thanks to the guidance of his mom Eliza - a homemaker and devout Baptist - John D. grew up to be quite a hardworking man.

Rockefeller started out in business as a wholesale grocer and went on to found Standard Oil, which through shrewd business decisions and some say predatory and illegal practices, grew to be a gargantuan monopoly. At its peak, Standard Oil had about 90% of the market for refined oil (kerosene) in the United States (in the early days of Standard Oil, gasoline wasn't an important component of the oil industry - indeed, gasoline produced by the refineries were dumped in rivers because they were considered useless!)

In 1911, the US Supreme Court declared Standard Oil a monopoly under the Sherman Antitrust Act and ordered it to be broken up into 34 independent companies with different boards of directors. By that time, Rockefeller had long since retired from the company but still held a large percentage of shares. Ironically, the busting up of Standard Oil unlocked share values and his fortunes doubled overnight.

Rockefeller got his first job at 16 as a bookkeeper. In a move that portended his lifelong commitment to philanthropy, he tithed 10% of his income - from his first paycheck on - to charity. As his wealth grew, so did his charitable contributions. When he died in 1937, Rockefeller had given away half of his amassed fortune, and established philanthropic foundations to continue giving after his death.
2. Andrew Carnegie

Peak wealth: $298.3 billion. Age at peak wealth: 68

Andrew Carnegie immigrated as a young child to Pittsburgh from Scotland and began working at 13 years old as a bobbin boy in a textile mill. He changed spools of threads for 12 hours a day, 6 days a week for a weekly wage of $2. At 16 years old, Carnegie became a telegraph messenger boy, and soon after was promoted to be a telegraph operator.

Carnegie became a personal assistant to Thomas Scott, superintendent of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company and learned the ins and outs of the railroad business. It was Carnegie who invented a brutally efficient way to clear the tracks after a railway accident: by burning the railroad car!

When he was 20, Carnegie mortgaged his mother's house and made his first gutsy investment of $500 for 10 shares of the Adams Express company - sort of the Fed Ex delivery company of the 1800s - and was handsomely rewarded. He then invested in a company making sleeping cars for the railway. By the time he was 30, Carnegie had expanded his investments to iron works, steamers, railroads, and oil well.

But the real money came from steel. In the late 1880s, Carnegie built his steel empire to become the world's largest manufacturer of steel rails, pig iron, and coke.

In 1901, at the age of 66, Carnegie retired by selling his shares to John Pierpont Morgan for more than $225 million (a large sum today and an astounding amount of money back then) in form of gold-bonds. When the bonds were delivered, a special vault had to be built to physically house them!

Carnegie was big proponent of philanthropy - in a famous 1889 essay "The Gospel of Wealth," he wrote that wealth should be distributed to promote welfare of other people and enrich society. True to his words, Carnegie gave away more than $350 million or almost 90% of his fortune.

Note: At the end of the Spanish American War, the United States bought the Philippines from Spain for $20 million. Carnegie was appalled at what he perceived to be an imperialist move and personally offered $20 million to the Philippines so it could buy its independence from the US (they didn't take him up on his offer).
3. Nicholas II of Russia


The last Russian Imperial family

Peak wealth: $253.5 billion. Age at peak wealth: 49

Nicholas II of Russia (born Nikolai Aleksandrovich Romanov) was the last Tsar of Russia. He ruled (badly) from 1894 until he was forced to abdicate in the Russian Revolution of 1917 by the Bolsheviks. His reign was marked with antisemitic pogroms, a crushing defeat by Japan in the Russo-Japanese War, revolutions, internal unrests their bloody suppressions, undue influence by the mystic Rasputin and World War I. A year after he was deposed, Nicholas and his entire family were executed by Lenin's order.

The life of the last tsar of Russia was filled with fascinating myths, legends, and history - and readers interested in it are encouraged to read more about Nicholas II and the Romanovs. Suffice it to say that Nicholas II became the third richest man in history the old fashioned way: he inherited his wealth.
4. William Henry Vanderbilt

Peak wealth: $231.6 billion. Age at peak wealth: 64

William Henry Vanderbilt had a pretty good start in life: he inherited nearly $100 million from his father, the railroad mogul Cornelius "The Commodore" Vanderbilt (if you want to read a rags to riches story, Cornelius' is pretty good - see below).

William Vanderbilt was groomed by his father to be a businessman (at times harshly - the imperious and domineering Cornelius liked to call his eldest son a "blockhead," "blatherskite," "sucker," and "good for nothing") and William turned out to be quite an able businessman. He expanded the family's railroad empire and thus the family fortune, finally earning his father's respect and friendship.

When William died in 1885, he was the richest man in the world.
5. Osman Ali Khan, Asaf Jah VII

Peak wealth: $210.8 billion. Age at peak wealth: 50

Asaf Jah VII (whose given name was Osman Ali Khan Bahadur) was the last Nizam or ruler of the Princely State of Hyderabad and Berar, before it was invaded and annexed by India in 1948.

By most accounts, "His Exalted Highness" the Nizam of Hyderabad was a benevolent ruler who promoted education, science and development. He spent about one-tenth of his Principality's budget on education, and even made primary education compulsory and free for the poor. In his 37-year rule, Hyderabad witnessed the introduction of electricity, railways, roads, and other development projects.

In 1937, Asaf Jah VII was on the cover of Time Magazine, labeled as the richest man in the world.
6. Andrew W. Mellon

Peak wealth: $188.8 billion. Age at peak wealth: 80

Andrew William Mellon was the son of a Pittsburgh banker Thomas Mellon (who founded the Mellon Bank). Andrew got his start early: he started a lumber company at the age of 17 and by the age of 27 had taken over his father's bank. He also got into oil, steel, shipbuilding, and construction business.

In 1921, President Warren G. Harding appointed the financier Mellon as the Secretary of the Treasury, where he served for 10 years (under three U.S. Presidents). At that post, Mellon increased federal revenue by decreasing the taxation rate and cutting federal spending.
7. Henry Ford

Peak wealth: $188.1 billion. Age at peak wealth: 57

If Henry Ford's father had his way, Henry would take over the family farm and become a farmer. But after the death of his beloved mother, Henry, who didn't particularly like farming, left home in 1879 at the age of 16 to work as an apprentice machinist.

At 28, Henry Ford became an engineer at Thomas Edison's company and started experimenting with gasoline engines (with Edison's approval). In 1896, at the age of 36, Ford started his first car company, the Detroit Automobile Company, which went bankrupt two years later.

Soon afterwards, he set up his second company, the Henry Ford Company. A year later, his partners hired Henry M. Leland to troubleshoot problems on the shop floor. Ford clashed almost immediately with Leland, and was forced out of the company bearing his name with only $900 cash. The Henry Ford Company was renamed Cadillac, and Ford went on to form his third car company, the "Ford & Malcomson" company ...

... and immediately got into trouble when he couldn't pay his suppliers, the Dodge brothers. Ford's partner, Alexander Malcomson was able to convince the Dodge brothers to invest in the company instead and the company was reincorporated as the Ford Motor Company. And a good thing they did because third time was the charm. The Ford Motor Company made Henry Ford a very rich man.

Henry Ford's name became synonymous with automobiles for good reasons: he introduced the Model T, the first inexpensive car for the masses. He also popularized the use of assembly lines in mass productions, high workers' wages to attract talent and discourage employee turnover, franchise model car dealerships, and even the 5-day workweek.

One interesting note about Henry Ford: he didn't believe in accountants. On one occasion, his son Edsel contracted the building of a new office building with much needed space for the Accounting division. When Henry asked what the space was for, Edsel acknowledged that it was for the accounting department. The very next day, when the accountants showed up for work, they found their office had been stripped - no desks, chairs, or telephones; even the carpeting was gone - and that Henry had fired them all. (Source: Edsel.com)
8. Marcus Licinius Crassus

Peak wealth: $169.8 billion. Age at peak wealth: 62

Marcus Licinius Crassus (ca. 115 BC to 53 BC) is the earliest historical figure in this list. He was a Roman general and politician who defeated the slave revolt led by Spartacus.

If you think the rest of the businessmen on this list were ruthless - in reality they've got nothing on Crassus. The Roman general became wealthy when he bought the homes and belongings from the victims of Sulla's sacking of Rome (Crassus was one of Sulla's generals) for cheap. He then re-sold them at a princely profit. Crassus then expanded his wealth through the slave trade, silver mining, and real estate, especially by buying houses of those declared enemies of the state for next to nothing.

But it was Crassus' acquisition of burning houses that earned him his lasting notoriety. He maintained a troop of 500 skilled builders - and when a fire broke out in Rome (back then a frequent occurrence), he negotiated the sale of the burning properties and those nearby for cheap. Once he obtained the properties, he called upon his men to demolish the burning property and save the nearby buildings (that was the preferred technique of fighting fire during Roman times). He then rebuilt and leased back the property to the original owners! At one point, Crassus owned a large part of Rome and some wondered whether the fires might not have actually been his doing ...

Crassus was so greedy that when he died, his enemies had his head severed and molten gold poured into his mouth as a mark of his greed (Source).
9. Basil II

Peak wealth: $169.4 billion. Age at peak wealth: 67

Basil II (or Basil the Bulgarslayer) was a Byzantine emperor from the Macedonian dynasty who reigned from 976 to 1025. For historians, Basil II's reign represented the apex of the Middle Byzantine Empire - he expanded the territory of the empire by annexing Bulgaria, making it the largest and strongest it had ever been in nearly five centuries.

Basil had no heir, and within half a century of his death, the Byzantine Empire crumbled.
10. Cornelius Vanderbilt

Peak wealth: $167.4 billion. Age at peak wealth: 82

Cornelius Vanderbilt is a true rags-to-riches story: he quit school at the age of 11 (famously saying "If I had learned education, I would not have had time to learn anything else") to work on ferries in New York. By 16, persuaded his mom to loan him $100 for a boat to start his own ferry business carrying freight and passengers between Staten Island and Manhattan. He repaid the loan with an additional $1000 one year later. It's from this business operating ships that he got his nickname "Commodore" that stuck for the rest of his life, even after he started getting into the railroad business.

Vanderbilt was ruthless in business. He once wrote a short (and now famous) letter to Charles Morgan and C.K. Garrison of the Morgan & Garrison company. The two men manipulated his steamship company's stock in his absence and took it over. The letter read "Gentlemen: you have undertaken to cheat me. I won't sue you, for the law is too slow. I'll ruin you. Yours truly, Cornelius Vanderbilt." True to his words, two years later Vanderbilt forced them out of business by running a competing business.

Despite of their wealth - or perhaps because of it, the Vanderbilt family wasn't a happy one. The Commodore was constantly thinking of his will, which he called "that paper." He wanted the money to remain intact, and thus it must be handed down to a single heir. Indeed, he disowned all of his sons other than William (see above), believing that only William was ruthless enough in business to be capable of maintaining his empire.

__________

A note about the list: since it is based on the proportion of peak wealth to the national GDP in the country the individual lived in at the time they were alive, the list is dynamic: it changes as the GDP fluctuates, though it's rare to have a large shift in its composition.

I didn't come up with the idea for the list - the top 10 list presented here is but a small part of a larger list on Wikipedia. For the complete list, visit Wealthy Historical Figures 2008
__________

Now you know how they did it. Shouldn't it be your turn now to become at least a tenth of who they are? (Forget the unfavorable acts they did and focus on the positive ones for sustainability.) On another thought, you deserve to be rich and you will be if you are committed to be one.

Be wealthy in most if not all areas of your life.

Start living the life of your dreams.

GROW!

Radden

********************************
Primary Source:
http://www.neatorama.com/2008/07/09/10-richest-people-of-all-time-and-how-they-made-their-fortunes/

Reference:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wealthy_historical_figures_2008

Mastery: The Higher Level of Success

The LEAP to Mastery

"Man is what he believes." Anton Chekhov

Day 3 of the Unleash the Power Within.

Mastery is what comes after success. It has been said that success is a double-edged sword. It can bring you down to failure again or it can lift you up to greater heights; it can intoxicate you or show you areas where you can sharpen you as a person. The result depends on your perception. However, if you take on the latter choice, it may be more challenging but a more fulfilling path to take.

Here are the insight details i want to share with you from the third day of this amazing program. There are just so much substance to take in...Swwossshhhhh! (a shower of refreshing water to the soul!) :)

The Seven Areas of CONSTANT Growth for an Extraordinary Life.

1. Physical Body

• Capacity to maximize your health, energy and vitality.
  

2. Emotions and Meaning

• A firm grasp of your emotions frees you to be proactive rather than reactive to the changes you face.
  

3. Relationships

• The quality of relationships reflects the Quality of Life.
• Three important realtionships to nurture: A) Self, B) Other people and C) Your Creator
  

4. Time

• The great equalizer.
• How you transform time to your reality creates the life you have.
  

5. Work/Career/Mission

• Work is an obligation.
• Career is an expression.
• Mission is your passion that takes you to flight.
  

6. Finances

• A significant tool to add spice and value to life.
  

7. Celebrate & Contribute: Spiritual Sense

• The source of fulfillment from sowing the right seeds.
  

To continue your path to mastery or greater success (or even just to sustain your journey to success), evaluate whether you have the

3 Pillars of Success.

1. Get Laser-focused, make it Compelling.
What (Clear)
Why (Compelling)

2. Get the Best Tools.
Correct Map - select a proven map. Success leaves clues - follow it.
Outstanding Mentor - choose those living the results you want and not just teaching it.

3. Get into Action
Values. What are your values? How do you prioritize them?
Beliefs. Replace limiting beliefs with EMPOWERING Beliefs.
Mastery by Modeling, Total Immersion and Spaced Repetition.
　
Start living the life of your dreams...You deserve it.

GROW!

Radden

Be Successful! Your Proven Success Strategy.

The Ultimate Success Formula

"We are not creatures of circumstance, we are creators of circumstance." - Benjamin Disraeli


Day 2 of the Unleash the Power Within. I re-learned a very valuable lesson that is very practical and applicable to ALL endeavors where you seek success. (Would you be doing something without planning to succeed? Apparently, when you do not deliberately exercise our power of choice and act, you are planning to fail.)

So allow me to share with you, the best insight i had from that day which may change your life forever, The Ultimate Success Formula.

1. Know Your OUTCOME

• Clarity is Power!!!
• Be specific. (e.g. save $10,000 instead of save some money)
• Put a deadline. (e.g. save $10,000 in three months)
• Decide to achieve it. See and Think about it every single day.

2. Know Your Reasons "WHY"

• Why is it a must?
• Test question: Is the consequence of not accomplishing your outcome more painful than accomplishing it? If the answer is yes, you have a strong "Why". Otherwise, find another reason. (e.g. If i do not save $10,000 in three months we will lose our home, my family will sleep on the streets and we won't have anything decent to eat!)
  

3. Take MASSIVE Action

• Do something out of your comfort zone.
• Do it now.
• Do it consistently and regularly to realize your outcome.

4. Know What You Are GETTING

• Evaluate your progress.
• Are you getting nearer or farther?
• Are you going faster or slower?

5. CHANGE Your Approach

• If you do see progress in what you are doing change the way you do things until you see the result you want.
  　
  

Here is something to reinforce what you learned:

　

Start living the life of your dreams.

Grow!

　

Radden :)
　

The Power Within: Unleashed

"There is always room in your life for thinking bigger, pushing limits and imagining the impossible." - Anthony Robbins

Today I realized a dream. I attended a seminar by my personal development "Idol" and World's No. 1 Success Coach, Anthony Robbins, LIVE! in Singapore. The seminar is entitled Unleash the Power Within.

I have attended great seminars from very good speakers but none came close to experiencing a program from the "rockstar" of the personal development world. Oh no, you would not get motivation from Tony. (You get motivation only from yourself.) The awesome value of his programs is that you learn and practice strategies on the spot supported by like-minded classmates which can give the immediate results you seek from improving your life.

Let me share with you the insights i gained from Day 1 of this 'Weekend Event for Creating Lasting Impact in my Life (and probably yours too.)

Warning:

the words you read here

may sound cliche

as they are not the substance of the lesson.

What brings these words to life

is the immediate application you do

to experience the WISDOM (Knowledge-In-Action) they contain

immediately and consistently.

Let us begin with FEAR:

• Fear stops action.
• The two primary fears are: 1) We're not enough. and 2) We won't be loved.
• To Grow you must face your fear.
• You do not fight fear, you dance with it.
• Fear exhausts itself if you go with it, or share its point of view, and...act anyway:)

The antidote to fear: FAITH

• Faith is the solution to all our problems with unknown solutions.
• Faith is a gift we receive at birth. Belief is learned.

The 3 elements of Practical Psychology:

• Fear stops us from moving forward. "What you are afraid of determines your limitations."
• The Meanings we associate to the things in our life controls our life. "Life is not about me; Life is about we."
• Human Needs make us do the things we do.
  

The Triad of Emotion.

• A pattern of Physiology (Motion creates emotion)
• A pattern of Focus ( What you focus on you will feel)
• A pattern of Language (Experience put in words changes its meaning)

There are 6 Fundamental Human Needs (1-4 Primal and 5-6 Spiritual)

• Certainty
• Uncertainty / Variety
• Significance
• Love & Connection
• Growth
• Contribution
  

Quotes for Desserts:

• Find a higher meaning and you improve your life.
• Psychology, not age, control your energy.
• Meaning is dictated by your state (feeling) and blueprint (beliefs, values, rules of life).
• All we want in life...is the feeling we get from the meaning we give.
• Meaning = Emotion = Life
• Pain is a symptom of the need to grow.
• With love time disappears; you disappear; and you need nothing else.
• Take back response-ability. Do more of what you want.
• Anything used grows/expands.
• Pride comes not from doing easy things but from hard things accomplished.
• If i can't, then i must.
  Gratitude is a great antidote for anger.

My Main course: The Firewalk experience.

"I literally walked barefoot on a 12 feet bed of red-hot coals!" The best part of it is that it is just a life metaphor...Awesome reference for SUCCESS!

• With a powerful state, you can do anything despite of fear.
• You can condition yourself to beckon a powerful state at will (in a heartbeat!).
• When you stretch yourself, you begin to make your life extraordinary immediately!
• YES...., I CAN!

Just in case you forget everything else i wrote here, remember just this most important thing in this post: "Everything you need to succeed in your life is already within you ready for use."

Grow and start living the life of your dreams!
　

Radden
　

Simplest Money Management Strategy for Adults (and Smart Kids Too!)

Are you MONEY-ging your money or is it MONEY-ging you?



Do you find it difficult to budget your finances every month?
Do you think your income is too small for your expenses?
Do you feel challenged to manage your money?
Do you ever wish you have a simple effective strategy you could start to turn your money matters around?

Fret not. A solution (without any need of a money management software) that has made wonders for a lot of people who share the same challenge as you have (including me) is here. The only ingredient necessary is COMMITMENT as you begin until the strategy becomes a habit (Give it at least a 3 month probationary period.). Then it will become automatic over time especially with the other suggestions i will present to you.

Disclaimer: The ideas presented here will only work if you ACT consistently. If you only ponder on it, this system is not going to help you much. So, please proceed only if you are committed. Otherwise, i give you a friendly reminder to just enjoy the read for now and try this when you are ready. YOU are your best money manager. Are you ready?

Managing money has never been fun! Let me share with you an amazingly simple money management system i read from a book, reinforced in a seminar and practiced out of financial desperation. Since i started it this very simple strategy has been doing wonders for my financial life. By the way, it involves jars, yes jars similar to the jars where we put cookies or candies or some other treats in our homes or stores. But since we are adults, the treats are now the dreams we cherish or the everyday needs we have to fulfill (You need a little imagination to see them though!). So let us begin the "Managing Your Money" Basic Strategy . I simplified the process to make it easier for those who are really challenged to catch on this liberating habit (or virtue?).

You need 5 Jars for starters. Label them with the following:

• MF - Money Freedom


• GIVE - Charity/Sharing


• NEED - Expenses


• EDUC - Education


• FUN – Play!

Here is how you use them:

EVERY TIME you earn income (every time means every single time and not just during your pay day.) you divide your income accordingly

1. MF - Money Freedom = 10%. (Pay Yourself First!) This fund is never to be spent. It must ONLY be invested. Investment is defined as something that gives you more money when you put money on it. You also put your loose change daily on this jar. This is the fund that will take care of you and your future.


2. GIVE - Charity/Sharing = 10%. This fund is what you share with others (or give back to God). You draw from this fund when you give to your church, support a charitable institution or help ANYBODY without expecting anything return. (But you will be surprised how this gives you back more than you gave. However, for more fun don’t expect anything.)


3. NEED - Expenses = 60%. This fund takes care of your basic (food, clothing, shelter, kids' education) and supplementary (other bills) expenses. (Gosh, 60% is just below the poverty line!) When you MUST do it your brain will find ways to make it happen (Creating a second income source would be a great idea!). Moreover, when you start fitting this (account) to your everyday expenses, your third eye will be opened to a lot of frightening stuff! (okay, am exaggerating). What I mean is you will discover a lot of unnecessary expenses that drain your wallet…like that “Grande” cup you crave from that fancy café everyday so that you can “work” better? Or that new gadget you must also have because your “friend” just bought one? Or that ‘beautiful’ pair of shoes you must “invest” in because your best pair is already a week old? (Did you notice ALL are “justified”? You be the real judge.)


4. EDUC - Education = 10%. This fund is used to fund your OWN education. Invest this on seminars, books, mentoring and other self development programs (like reading this blog.:))


5. FUN – Play = 10%. This is the source of your money splurging. You must spend (you read it correctly) this every time you allocate this from your income on things that will make you feel HAPPY (It is your reward for your commitment). It can be as simple as your favorite food or a foot massage. It could also be a vacation. (What if it’s too small?) Ok, if it’s a little small, you can save it to up to a maximum of 2 months so that it will be bigger to spend. What is important here is the FEELING of reward and not being deprived. This will help you reinforce the habit of managing your money wisely.
   

So, there you go! I have simplified it to a point that it can easily be implemented. I will share more advanced strategies on my future posts. (Well, if you like this and succeed on it immediately, drop me a comment and I may post it sooner than scheduled.

As an epilogue (more suggestions), this can also be done through separate bank accounts as your funds outgrow the jars. (You can still keep your passbooks inside the jar.) The mother account is the NEED account; where your paycheck is deposited. This becomes your allocation source. You transfer 40% of the income every time it comes and allocate them to the other accounts accordingly (including the Fun Jar). Just make sure you check the maintaining balance so that you will not be spending more on charges. That is why the NEED (jar) account is ideally a payroll account because there is no maintaining balance required.)

I’m getting ahead of my objective here. Enjoy doing this simple yet effective money managemet program first. Watch out for more money management tips in my future posts.

Have fun in your MONEY-gement!. This is a great start on your journey towards successful wealth management.

GROW!

Radden

P.S. Want to massively change your life for the better, FAST? Anthony Robbins is coming to Asia (Singapore Expo Hall 2) on the 4th-7th of September 2009. If you are from the Philippines and committed to go at tremendous value, contact Radden at ronibungco@gmail.com not later than 29th of August 2009. Visit http://www.anthonyrobbinsasia.com/upw/ for more details.

Tony Robbins' Laws of Success Part III

Here is Anthony Robbins' Laws of Success - Part Three - Focus on What You Want, Not on What You Don't Want


By Nancy Stremmel



Anthony Robbins tells a powerful story of learning to drive a race car. His teacher taught that one of the most important lessons is how to come out of a skid.



Apparently, most people focus on where they don't want to go rather than on where they do want to go. When Anthony Robbins' turn to skid came up, he knew he was supposed to keep his sights on the road ahead, but he couldn't help but look at the wall. His instructor physically turned his head to be facing back along the road. The car wheels caught, and straightened, and they managed to continue along the track without nearing the wall. The next time, a verbal reminder to Anthony Robbins was enough. The third time, Robbins was able to remind himself.



He describes this as building muscles. We need to build our "goal facing muscles" so that they can withstand any skidding and still not look at the wall.



So, this is true in our lives, and we know it. When we focus on the unpaid bills, we aren't able to pay them. When we focus on the extra money coming in, more comes in. Whhooo, hooo. Keep building your goal facing muscles.



Ask the Right Question



Matthew said, "Ask and you will receive. Seek and you will find; knock and it will be opened to you." And, in any study of success, inspiration always plays a big part.



Anthony Robbins tells a story of a Krakow Death Camp escapee. His name was Stanislavsky Lech, and when his home was stormed and the Nazis herded him with his family into Krakow, he watched as they were all murdered. He was put to work. Eventually, he was weak and starving, in addition to his grief, and a thought crossed his mind that he would not survive one more day in Krakow.



He changed his question from "How can there be such a terrible place" to "How can we escape from such a place?" At first the answer was the same, "There is no escape." He kept asking in slightly different ways, "How can I do it?"



Soon, he smelled rotting flesh a few feet from where he was working, and noticed that the bodies of those who had been recently gassed were piled into the back of a truck. Again, he changed the "How can God allow this to happen?" to "How can I use this to help me escape?"



When he returned from work the next evening, the truck was there. He pulled off his clothes when no one was looking and, pretending to be dead, climbed into the pile of dead bodies. He waited while the cold of the corpses pressed against him, and the smell invaded his body. The ride to the open grave wasn't long, and he was dumped along with the others. He waited until it had been quiet for some time before he dared to look around.



They were gone. He got up and ran, naked, 25 miles to freedom that night.



He was able to free himself, in part, because he asked a different question. Our intuition, or higher self, will always answer our questions. Just as it is helpful to know what we really want, it is also helpful to know where we could use some help.



Questions can put you in a better state of mind:



Not only will questions be answered, but in the meantime they can help you have a better outlook on life.



One of Anthony Robbins' favorite morning power questions is



"What am I happy about in my life right now? What about this makes me happy? How does that make me feel?"



He suggests that if your answer is "nothing", then change the "am I" to a "could I be". This is a device that allows you to imagine yourself in a place where you are happy.



A question should always be in the present tense. It is only our most mundane and stressed level of consciousness that even knows about time. We're always asking our more evolved, higher self level of consciousness for help. Our higher self is another name for our soul self. One of its helpers is our intuition.



Anthony Robbins' question above sets you up. It puts you in a good state; an open state of abundance. It makes you grateful for past gifts. We can now ask our intuition for inspiraton:



- on creative endeavors,



- for settling disputes,



- for a way out of difficult situations or



- for next steps.



We only need to ask one time, because this is a demonstration of belief. As long as our request is in our best interest, it will be answered in a big way. The answer will not always be obvious, but it will be persistent.



Intuition speaks clearly, but succinctly. It will never come with an argument or historical persuasion. (That would be your ego speaking.)



Focus on what you want, not on what you don't want:



Remember, when you are formulating your question, to ask for what you want, rather than for what you don't want. For example, you might say, "I request assistance in receiving an extra $2000 this month." You wouldn't say "What should I do?" because the answer will be "Whatever you want." You wouldn't ask "How can I pay my bills?" because the answer will be "with a check." And worse, since you are focusing on bills, with emotion, you could manifest more bills. Or even worse, as Byron Katie points out, our higher self only wants us to be happy, so if the mortgage and the car payments are causing stress, the universe could take them away to solve this problem.



As Mike Dooley says, the Universe will always find the quickest, easiest way to answer us. You have to admit, the quickest way to pay a 30 year mortgage is to remove the mortgage altogether....



So, why is it that you want more money, if this is your wish? Focus on that. You want more employees? Focus on that. You want to send your child to camp for the summer? Focus on that. You want to make some improvements to your home? Focus on that.



More on manifesting at http://www.mindbridge-loa.com/manifesting-desires.html



And watch for more on Anthony Robbins here at Ezines!



Nancy J. Stremmel is the co-owner and developer of:

http://www.Mindbridge-LOA.com, the compendium of information on the Law of Attraction. She is a writer, licensed Social Worker, educator, artist and therapist. She believes that everyone can make the Law of Attraction work for them.



Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Nancy_Stremmel

Tony Robbins' Laws of Success Part II

Anthony Robbins' Laws of Success Two - Powerful Decisions Turn Your Life Around

By Nancy Stremmel

Thomas Edison, Henry Ford, and Colonel Sanders and Mr. Honda made decisions that changed their fortune and changed the world in which they lived. Each one took years to accomplish what they set out to do before they felt success. Yet, they never wavered in their intention, or their decision.

Right now, make two decisions you're passionate about. Passion makes it a promise to yourself. Passion fuels commitment.

The first will be something you can act on, or are acting on right now. Taking action is proof to yourself and others that you can make even bigger decisions. This strengthens your, as Anthony Robbins says, "decision making muscles."

The second is one that inspires you even though it will take even more commitment. This should be one that, as Wayne Dyer would say, causes you to be in spirit.

My Decisions:

1. Write a book
2. Start a website to advertise the book.

The first decision here, was something I had done several times. The second decision was something I knew nothing about. It was suggested by a publisher I knew as a way to turn a book into a best seller. The first activity took me 8 months. The second has taken 16 months and is still not complete. I have learned more from the second process.

Heeding Anthony Robbins' advice, these were both firm, unyielding commitments. I would never, under any circumstances, have given up on either.

Make sure, when you write your decisions, that they are doable by you. In the past I have made decisions to do something "successfully" or some such. First of all, this is not totally up to you. Second of all, it's very hard to define. If you would ask me about the website, I would tell you that the traffic increases from month to month and the income increases from month to month. After one year, I am not buying Ferraris. I did not expect a Ferrari after the first year which leads us to the subject of beliefs.

Beliefs

Anthony Robbins explains that there is a force that controls your decisions. These are our beliefs. We hear about these all the time in Law of Attraction coaching, but, as usual, Anthony Robbins has a unique view.

Before we believe in something, he explains, we can't see it. If someone asks us to hand them a book which we believe has been lost, we might ask ourselves, "where is it? How can he be asking me for this book that we haven't been able to find for a long time?" We might walk into the room where he said it was, and we might look in the place where he said it was, but we don't see it. Finally, with return to explain that we couldn't find it. There might be some feelings attached to that, but nevertheless, we answer that it was not to be found.

Now, if this person did indeed know where the book was, he might walk back into the room where he said it was, and go right to the place where he said it was, and pick up the book from the desk or table or bookshelf, just as he had asked us to do.....

We didn't see it because we didn't believe that it was there. We had no faith in his statement of where it could be found. Yet, it was there all the time.

This, he explains, is the way with abundance.

Anthony Robbins' useful beliefs are

There's always a way to turn things around if I'm committed.

There are not failures in life. As long as I learn anything from something, then I've succeeded.

God's delays are not God's denials.

The past does not equal the future.

In any moment, I can change my entire life by making a new decision.

Without these beliefs, or similar ones, we will not be able to see the opportunities or the abundance around us and we will not be able to accept the wealth the Universe has prepared for us.

Nancy J. Stremmel is the co-owner and developer of:

Mindbridge-LOA.com, the compendium of information on the Law of Attraction. She is a writer, licensed Social Worker, educator, artist and therapist. She believes that everyone can make the Law of Attraction work for them.

One way to avoid the pitfalls of negative beliefs is to use a robot. http://www.mindbridge-loa.com/why-Forex_robots.html

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Nancy_Stremmel