The Law of Accumulation

The Law of Accumulation: how your financial fortune accumulates slowly over time and then becomes enormous, like a snowball.

The Law of Accumulation: Every great financial achievement is an accumulation of hundreds of small efforts and sacrifices that no one ever sees or appreciates.

Develop Discipline

The achievement of financial independence will require a tremendous number of small efforts on your part. To begin the process of accumulation, you must be disciplined and persistent. You must keep at it for a long, long time. Initially, you will see very little change or difference but gradually, your efforts will begin to bear fruit. You will begin to pull ahead of your peers. Your finances will improve and your debts will disappear. Your bank account will grow and your whole life will improve.

Build Up MomentumThe first corollary of the Law of Accumulation says: "As your savings accumulate, you develop a momentum that moves you more rapidly toward your financial goals."

It is hard to get started on a program of financial accumulation, but once you do get started, you find it easier and easier to keep at it. The "momentum principle" is one of the great success secrets. This principle says that it takes tremendous energy to overcome the initial inertia and resistance to financial accumulation and get started, but once started, it takes much less energy to keep moving.


Start Slow, Finish Fast

The second corollary of the Law of Accumulation says, "By the yard it’s hard, but inch by inch, anything’s a cinch."

When you begin thinking about saving 10 or 20 percent of your earnings, you will immediately think of all kinds of reasons that it is not possible. You might be up to your neck in debt. You might be spending every single penny that you earn today just to keep afloat.
If you do find yourself in this situation, instead of saving 10 percent, begin saving just 1 percent of your earnings in a special account, which you refuse to touch.

Increase As You Go Along

This small amount will begin to add up at a rate that will surprise you. As you become comfortable with saving 1 percent, increase your savings rate to 2 percent, then 3 percent, then 4 percent and 5 percent and so on. Within a year, you will find yourself getting out of debt and saving 10 percent, 15 percent and even 20 percent of your earnings without it really affecting your lifestyle.

Action ExercisesHere are two things you can do to apply this law immediately:

First, decide upon your long-term financial goals and then resolve to work toward them one step at a time. The first steps are the hardest and you must discipline yourself to avoid backsliding into old habits.

Second, practice the law of accumulation in other parts of your life as well. Resolve to master a subject one page at a time. Lose extra pounds one ounce at a time. Learn a language one lesson at a time. The cumulative effect can be enormous.

www.briantracy.com

The Key to Motivation

Your Real Goal

Your goal is to become a transformational leader, the kind of person that motivates and inspires people to perform at levels far beyond anything that they had previously thought possible.

Keep People In the Know

Transformational leaders empower others by keeping them "in the know," by keeping them fully informed on everything that effects their jobs. People want and need to feel that they are "insiders," that they are aware of everything that is going on. There is nothing so demoralizing to a staff member than to be kept in the dark about their work and what is going on in the company.

Give Regular Feedback

One empowering behavior practiced by transformational leaders is regular feedback on performance and results. People need to know how they're doing so they can improve if performance is below standards and so that they can be proud of their successes. The more feedback you give to people, the better it is, as long as the feedback is objective and not critical. My friend, Ken Blanchard, says that, "Positive feedback is the breakfast of champions."

Be Generous With Praise

Be generous with your praise and encouragement. Remember, people are the only asset that can be made to appreciate in value by giving them warmth, respect, approval and by creating a climate of positive expectations.

Create An Exciting Future

What companies and countries and institutions need today are courageous visionary leaders who are committed to creating an exciting future for themselves and others. You have within yourself the ability to evolve and grow as a leader and to make a real difference in the world around you. And the one thing you can know for sure about yourself is that, no matter what you've accomplished up to now, there is far more that you can do. As you practice the behaviors of effective leaders, you will grow more and more toward the realization of your full potential. It's completely up to you.

Action Exercises

Here are two things you can do immediately to put these ideas into action in your work.

First, hold regular meetings with your staff and tell them everything that is going on. Invite their comments, questions and concerns. Make everybody feel as if he or she was an insider in the organization.

Second, continually look for opportunities to give positive feedback, praise and encouragement. People need praise and encouragement like roses need rain and sunshine. Take every opportunity to make people feel better about themselves and their work.

www.briantracy.com

Positive Self Talk

One thing that the Guru, Brian Tracy teaches, is to say to yourself, "I can do it. I can do it. I can do it", over and over to yourself when you face a challenge. Your self talk matters.
You can change your self talk by intentionally saying positive things to yourself, and by hypnosis, and subliminal programming. Look at www.financialindependenceuniversity.com for a lot more success tips.

Book Review - Brian Tracy _ Goals

Goals, by Brian Tracy, is an out of this world manual on goals. The 21 chapters cover everything you could possibly ask about goal setting. Brian teaches you to achieve personal, financial, and professional goals. The chapter on using your super conscious mind was truly compelling and worth reading. Brian also chronicles his rags to riches story in this book. Brian's personal story is up there with Tony Robbins and Mark Cuban. I have read the book twice and plan to get the audio download soon.
You can't go wrong on with this book. Goals is available in the bookstore at http://www.financialindependenceuniversity.com/.

Develop a Sense of Urgency

Perhaps the most outwardly identifiable quality of a high performing man or woman is "action orientation."
Take Time to Think and PlanHighly productive people take the time to think, plan and set priorities. They then launch quickly and strongly toward their goals and objectives. They work steadily, smoothly and continuously and seem to go through enormous amounts of work in the same time period that the average person spends socializing, wasting time and working on low value activities.
Getting into "Flow"When you work on high value tasks at a high and continuous level of activity, you can actually enter into an amaz ing mental state called "flow." Almost everyone has experienced this at some time. Really successful people are those who get themselves into this state far more often than the average.
In the state of "flow," which is the highest human state of performance and productivity, something almost miraculous happens to your mind and emotions. You feel elated and clear. Everything you do seems effortless and accurate. You feel happy and energetic. You experience a tremendous sense of calm and personal effectiveness.
Become a high achiever by getting more done in less timeWouldn't you like to have more success, today? I have figured out a way to help you achieve your daily tasks in less time. With my organization skills, you can really focus on what is important in your daily work. When you separate the urgent from the important, you can plan every day in advance. Become More Alert and AwareIn the state of "flow," identified and talked about over the centuries, you actually function on a higher plane of clarity, creativity and competence. You are more sensitive and aware. Your insight and intuition functions with incredible precision. You see the interconnectedness of people and circumstances around you. You often come up with brilliant ideas and insights that enable you to move ahead even more rapidly.
Develop a Sense of UrgencyOne of the ways you can trigger this state of flow is by developing a "sense of urgency." This is an inner drive and desire to get on with the job quickly and get it done fast. This inner drive is an impatience that motivates you to get going and to keep going. A sense of urgency feels very much like racing against yourself.
Create a "Bias for Action"With this ingrained sense of urgency, you develop a "bias for action." You take action rather than talking continually about what you are going to do. You focus on specific steps you can take immediately. By employing this technique you concentrate on the things you can do right now to get the results you want and achieve the goals you desire.
Action ExercisesHere are two things you can do immediately to put these ideas into action:
First, select one major task confronting you and launch into it immediately. Don't hesitate. Move fast.
Second, start doing this every morning, first thing, until it becomes a habit.
Taken from and written by Brian Tracy www.briantracy.com
The best Brian Tracy audio books are available at www.financialindependenceuniversity.com

The Law of Clarity

October 25, 2007

The Law of Clarity
Clarity accounts for probably 80% of success and happiness
Clarity accounts for probably 80% of success and happiness. Lack of clarity is probably more responsible for frustration and underachievement than any other single factor. That's why we say that "Success is goals, and all else is commentary." People with clear, written goals, accomplish far more in a shorter period of time than people without them could ever imagine. This is true everywhere and under all circumstances.
The Three Keys to High AchievementYou could even say that the three keys to high achievement are, "Clarity, Clarity, Clarity," with regard to your goals. Your success in life will be largely determined by how clear you are about what it is you really, really want.
Write and Rewrite Your GoalsThe more you write and rewrite your goals and the more you think about them, the clearer you will become about them. The clearer you are about what you want, the more likely you are to do more and more of the things that are consistent with achieving them. Meanwhile, you will do fewer and fewer of the things that don't help to get the things you really want.
The Seven Step Process for Achieving GoalsHere, once more, is the simple, seven-step process that you can use to achieve your goals faster and easier than ever before.
First, decide exactly what you want in each area of your life. Be specific!
Second, write it down, clearly and in detail;
Third, set a specific deadline. If it is a large goal, break it down into sub-deadlines and write them down in order;
Fourth, make a list of everything you can think of that you are going to have to do to achieve your goal. As you think of new items, add them to your list;
Fifth, organize the items on your list into a plan by placing them in the proper sequence and priority;
Sixth, take action immediately on the most important thing you can do on your plan. This is very important!
Seventh, do something every day that moves you toward the attainment of one or more of your important goals. Maintain the momentum!
Join the Top 3%Fewer than three percent of adults have written goals and plans that they work on every single day. When you sit down and write out your goals, you move yourself into the top 3% of people in our society. And you will soon start to get the same results that they do.
Review Your Goals DailyStudy and review your goals every day to be sure they are still your most important goals. You will find yourself adding goals to your list as time passes. You will also find yourself deleting goals that are no longer as important as you once thought. Whatever your goals are, plan them out thoroughly, on paper, and work on them every single day. This is the key to peak performance and maximum achievement.
Action ExercisesHere is how you can apply this law immediately:
First, make a list of ten goals that you would like to achieve in the coming year. Write them down in the present tense, as though a year has passed and you have already accomplished them.
Second, from your list of ten goals, ask yourself, "What one goal, if I were to accomplish it, would have the greatest positive impact on my life?" Whatever it is, put a circle around this goal and move it to a separate sheet of paper.
Third, practice the seven-step method described above on this goal. Set a deadline, make a plan, and put it into action and work on it every day. Make this goal your major definite purpose for the weeks and months ahead.
Get ready for some amazing changes in your life.
www.briantracy.com
- FIU highly recommends listening to Brian Tracy's audiobooks. The best Brian Tracy books are available at our bookstore.

Financial Independence 101 - Study Successful People

Live below your means and invest the difference is the first thing you do to become FI (financially independent). The next thing you do is: study successful people. When you meet a successful person, ask them how they made it. Read magazines that profile successful people. CNN/Money profiles millionaires in the making, read that. Read "The Millionaire Next Door". Read the autobiographies of successful people. Listen to audio programs by Tony Robbins and Brian Tracy. Tony and Brian interview successful people and teach people like us how they made it big.

I personally ignore most detractors of self made millionaires and billionaires. I think you should too.