I just want to give a quick apology for not posting over the last week and a half. I have spent a few months posting about luck, luckortunity and how to get lucky and I decided that it is time for me to put it all to work.
Ever since I discovered that you can make your own luck, I have become a luckier person.I see more opportunities because I know how to look for them. I take more little chances because I know I will more likely regret not taking them more than I will regret taking the chance if they failed.I also have a much better outlook on life because I know, no matter what happens, I am in control of how lucky I will get in the future.
Now it is time to put everything together and take the big chance.Like many people out there, I have ideas all the time for new businesses that I can start.I rarely start them because they take a lot of time, effort and startup cost which I don’t usually have available.I finally decided that if I don’t start something up now, I may never start something up.After all, I will never be younger than I am now and the younger you are, the easier it is to take a risk.
I will document the process of starting my business as I go through many steps involved.The idea is still a secret for now but as soon as I am a little further into the process, I will reveal the idea and introduce the business on this site.I will tell you that it is an online service though.
The First Step
The first thing I did was a little research to see if a business like my idea exists anywhere and if it does, can I do it better?As far as I know, my business idea does not exist, at least the way that I want it to.
I looked into the potential for the idea.I don’t want to put all of my effort into a business that has a low cap on how much return I can get on my investment.I want a business that can continue to grow and bring me a bigger return every year.
Step Two
I planned out the basic site.I wrote down how it would work and designed a preliminary system that will enable the business to succeed.I made notes of what is needed on the site and where everything should fit in.
The next step is finding the right person to design the site and then discussing the structure and functionality with him.
When you are stuck in a situation and you just can’t think, whether it is writer’s block or a high amount of stress, there is always something that can calm you down and give you perspective.Everybody has their own way to start their creative juices flowing.Some people know what theirs is and some people don’t.In case you don’t know what yours is, here is a list of things that might help you get lucky.
1. take a walk around the block
2. go for a drive
3. listen to music
4. stand outside and listen to nature
5. go for a jog or run
6. lift weights
7. shoot some baskets
8. hit some tennis balls or baseballs from a machine
9. move to a different room
10. brainstorm on a piece of blank paper
11. listen to classical music
12. read the newspaper
13. take a shower or bath
14. paint
15. draw a picture or doodle
16. look through picture albums
17. clean your desk drawers
18. organize your desk and/or office
19. stretch or do yoga
20. change into more comfortable clothes
21. breath deeply
22. close your eyes and wander around your happy place
23. go fishing
24. meditate
25. do a puzzle
Doing activities that involve some thinking such as reading the newspaper can increase new ideas while activities that do not require much thinking help clear your head and focus on problems at hand.Very often when you have a problem and you take a shower, go for a walk or exercise, even without thinking about the problem, solutions start jumping into your head.Most of these activities are best performed alone so that you are alone with your thoughts.
If you have a special activity that helps you, leave it in the comments.
A while ago I wrote a post “Stop Trying So Hard to Get Luck” where I spoke about people concentrating so hard that they miss details such as missing the forest because the trees are in the way. I just found this video as I was catching up on some of Seth Godin’s posts and I thought i would share it.
To continue writing about the “Get Rich” seminar that I attended in Atlanta, I’d like to give some of my thoughts about “get rich” types of seminars.At the seminar, a nice gentleman whom I met at the beginning of the seminar came over to me during a break and asked me what I thought about the seminar so far.This is what I told him:
All of these free seminars are the same.There is no such thing as a free lunch and these seminars are no different.The goal of any of these seminars is to get people interested enough in what they have to say to sign up for their really expensive full day or weekend seminar/workshop where they will learn everything that they need to know to get rich.To get people interested, they give over a few facts or pieces of information for people to see that there is something to it and then they offer a lot of fluff and a lot of motivation.The motivation that they offer is partly to get people excited about their potential, possibilities and opportunities but mostly to get them to come to their paid seminar.
They convince people that if they come to their paid seminars and workshops that they will have everything that they need to make it rich but the truth is that all they will get at these paid seminars will be a few more facts, a lot more fluff and some more motivation.At that point, the speakers will offer more of their expensive services such a coach who will send them deals and walk them through each step to make them rich.
In these cases, the only people getting rich are the speakers who are charging for their motivation disguised as promises to get rich.They continue to promote their services and encourage people to continue paying them for more and more.As I see it, the only real value that these seminars offer is a kick in the pants.I mean that in a good way though.To get lucky and rich, you must be motivated and go after opportunities.Just by going to one of these seminars, people get motivated and the lucky ones, take that motivation and turn it into luckortunity.They use what they learn, research what they still need to learn, network and move full force ahead to get rich.The unlucky ones don’t see the opportunity at their fingertips so they sign up for the next class and keep coming back until they either give up or see the light.
Each seminar is a kick in the pants to wake up and do something for yourself.Some people need that kick, some people need a few kicks before they start moving.But if you want it enough, one of the kicks will eventually work.I needed a couple myself.
If you can kick yourself in the pants, youmay be saving yourself a lot of time and money.So go ahead, kick yourself into action, get motivated, get lucky and get rich.
On a side note, there are two things I do like about these seminars.One is that they are an extra place to get out of your routine, see new things, network and get lucky.The other is that however little information they do give for free, it is still something and you can always learn something even if you’ve heard the same thing 100 times already.
In my last article I mentioned that I was at a “get rich” seminar in Atlanta.One thing that the speaker repeated over and over was that now is the only chance to capitalize on the foreclosure market.They said it has never been like this before and it never will be like it again.They said that there is a 2-4 year window that we can take advantage of and if we don’t, we will never have an opportunity like it again.If they want to get rich, now is their only chance.
They may be right that the foreclose market has never been like this before and will never be like this again but I don’t agree that this is their only window to get rich.Over the years, decades and centuries, we have seen many people get rich.Some got rich in real estate, some in the stock market, some with their own businesses and some in completely different ways.The speakers at the seminar tried convincing everyone that it is now or never but the truth is that opportunities to get rich are all around us and always will be around us.
There are some people that walk around complaining that if they only bought that stock when they were thinking about it, they would never have to work again in their life.Pretty much anyone who thought about buying a house many years ago looks back at what they would have paid for it and what it is worth today and wishes that they would have made the purchase.These same people today say that it is too late and everything is too expensive now to make it big or make a nice profit.
The truth is that opportunities are all around us and if the foreclose window closes, another window will open.The trick is, never get stuck in the past and blame yourself for not moving because it will do you no good.You just have to make sure that you don’t get stuck in the present by not doing anything. Theodore Roosevelt once said, “the best thing to do is the right thing, the next best thing to do is the wrong thing and the worst thing we can do is nothing.”Don’t feel that you have to jump on an opportunity just because someone tells you that it will never happen again and now is your chance, but also, don’t feel that you can just let life pass you by without doing anything because then you really will lose.
Lucky people find something that they like, look for opportunities and jump on those and that is how they get rich. If it is right, they will win by profiting, if it is wrong, they will win with experience but if they do nothing, they will for sure lose.
I just got back from Atlanta, GA where I was working at a tradeshow that my company produces.The show took place at the GeorgiaInternationalConvention Center by the AtlantaInternationalAirport.As always, wherever I go, I look for opportunities to get lucky by wandering around and paying attention to what is going on around me, especially in new environments.
The convention center is a big place and when I had some free time, I decided to walk from one end of the center to the other to see what other conventions were taking place while I was there.It just so happened that once of the conventions taking place was a free “Get Rich” Seminar.Although I believe that most of these “free” get rich seminars are just commercials for a paid service or seminar, I also believe that you can always learn something in every environment.If I read a book 10 times, I will usually learn something new each time.Sometimes it is something I missed, sometimes it is a better understanding of a topic and sometimes it is just a refresher of one of the topics that is not constantly at the top of my head.That being said, I decided to attend the seminar during my free time.I was in and out of the seminar all day going back and forth between my tradeshow and this seminar.
By the end of the day, I didn’t learn much that I didn’t already know but I did have many ideas come to me while listening to the speakers.Many of the things that the speakers said triggered something in my brain that started a flow of ideas for my blog, my business, my life and my future.
I have been interested in starting to invest in real estate for a while now and one of the speakers happened to speak about real estate.He mentioned many different ways to make money in real estate such as the regular foreclosures, REOs (real estate owned), tax liens and some others.Although he mostly gave teasers to what we will learn in the paid seminar that they were promoting, I did pick up enough information to do some research on my own.That brings me to my next point, the gift of Google.Google can be one of your best friends in the world.Anything that you don’t know, Google can teach you.Just type it in and he will give you thousands of answers and explanations.This past week I stumbled upon a site that made me laugh called www.justfuckinggoogleit.com. On the site there is a picture of Bart Simpson in front of the famous blackboard and he is writing over and over “I will use Google before asking dumb questions” and underneath it says:
Someone thinks you are an idiot because you were too stupid to check Google before asking a question. They gave you a link to this site as a joke. The fact that you followed it pretty much proves the point.
It is true.Although I am a strong believer in asking questions until you understand everything, we are blessed with resources such as Google which can answer our questions for us, give us more questions and answer them too.
My next few posts will be about what I learned or took from the seminar as well as how to research a topic online.
This morning I was reading “Why We Want You to Be Rich: Two Men, One Message” By Robert Kiyosaki and Donald Trump on my subway ride to work.The book is basically these two great business minds writing about why they want people to be rich and why people getting rich is for the greater good of the country.
They talk about the economic situation in the United States and how the deficit is constantly growing and digging a hole that the country won’t be able to get out of.Kiyosaki mentions his favorite example that Baby Boomers are starting to retire now and are entitled to Social Security and Medicare but the government doesn’t have enough money to cover it all.
Don’t Wait for the Opportunity to Come to You
One thing that jumped out at me was when Donald Trump was giving advice to college students.He said that “There is a lot to know in this world… if you want to be a major player in the world arena, pay attention and go the extra mile – every single day.Don’t wait for the opportunity to come to you.”He quotes Louis Paster who says “Chance favors the prepared mind”.
The way to get lucky is to go the extra mile and find the opportunity.Every once in a while opportunity comes your way and it is up to you to grab it and take advantage of the luckortunity.But, to be a major player and get lucky every day, you need to go out and find the opportunity in the world – anywhere you can.
Trump suggests reading the newspaper every single day and keeping up with international affairs.Kiyosaki mentions that the first thing every morning, he needs to know how the foreign markets did and what happened while he was asleep.
Find your Passion
If you are very passionate about something, it is automatic that you will check up on it as often as you possibly can and maybe even more often.A student checks daily on his science fair project to see if his hypothesis was right.A blogger checks his stats every other hour.A successful businessman checks his financials regularly.I am not saying to obsess over your passion and check up on it more than you need to and thereby waste a lot of time.I am saying find a passion that will get you where you want to be and obsess on moving forward.
If the student sees his science project isn’t going as planned, he will do something about it.If the blogger’s stats start to drop, he will put more effort into building his blog.If a businessman sees a problem in his financials, you can be sure that he will jump to remedy the situation.
Go out of your way to learn and know what is going on in the world, become passionate about being informed and luck will start coming your way.
Nowadays with the internet, the world is a tiny place.People all around the world have local United States phone numbers and keep to the USA business hours as well.This fact is killing some businesses while it is allowing others to thrive.The reason for this is some businesses are lucky and some are not.
Lucky Companies Succeed Under Any Circumstance
The lucky businesses are aware that the world is shrinking and that people in China, Pakistan, India and Bangladesh are trying to take over our jobs.They stay ahead of the game and keep their companies profitable by taking advantage of the foreign work.Companies all over are outsourcing their work to other countries.Popular outsourced tasks are manufacturing, web design and information technical, technical support and customer service and even data entry.By outsourcing work, some companies are able to flourish.
Unlucky Companies Don’t
The unlucky companies try to compete with the other countries and start dropping their prices, restructuring and cutting back on quality.Unfortunately it is very hard to compete this way and many companies have been forced to shut down.
Get Lucky and Start Your Own Business
Today outsourcing has become so popular and accessible that anyone can do it.It even gives people with absolutely no skills a chance to start a business.Anyone can start a business that offers writing, editing, graphic design or any other task that can be outsourced.All you have to do is find people in another country to do your work for you at a lower rate than you can charge and you can keep the difference.There is almost no overhead if any, at all for one of these businesses.
Use Your Expertise or Familiarity to Make More Money
If you have an expertise or are very familiar with a community or topic that people need help with, you can act as a consultant to your workers in other countries and mark up the price a little more than usual.An example would be if you are asked to do some work for your local community.People in Pakistan have no idea what your community is like but with your help, they can pull off a pretty good job.
Work Anywhere
The best part of all of this is that you can do all this work from bed, or a lawn chair by the pool, whichever you find more appealing.
Start Outsourcing
To get you started, try out the outsourcing links below.All you have to do is sign up for an account and then post the project you have and people will start bidding on your work.Find a company that has good feedback and that you will be able to create a relationship with.This will take a little work looking through all the replies to find a good company to work with but it is worth it.
To start working you can advertise for free on www.craigslist.com as well as search the ads for help wanted or in the gigs sections.Networking with friends, family, neighbors and anyone you meet is a good way to start getting clients.
Get Business Cards Free
Another thing you should do is print business cards for your new company.You can get 250 free cards from www.vistaprint.com.You can upgrade to nicer cards for a few dollars and they also have pretty good prices on other marketing materials.
I was just skimming through my rss reader when an article by Lazy at www.lazymanandmoney.com hit me.The title, “Why a Recession Doesn’t Have To Hurt” is what really caught my interest.He pretty much said what I have been thinking in my mind since there started to be talk about the country being in a recession.
Two of the points he makes that I would like to expand on are to buy stocks while the price is low and to buy a house if you are in the market since the prices have dropped.
Buying Stocks While The Price is Low
Any true investor knows that the safest way to invest in stocks is to buy and hold for the long term.The reason for this is that in general, stocks fluctuate too much on a daily and yearly basis to make a steady profit.Over 5 to ten years, good stocks have a record of increasing in value but less than 5 years can be risky.
I made the mistake of buying some shares of Apple AAPL when they were at $170.Seeing as I was a novice, I had no idea what to do while I watched them crash down to $119.I took that as an expensive lesson and then started to research more about stocks and the market so that I don’t get stuck in that position again.In the meanwhile, I am holding onto those shares because I believe I will make a profit.The shares hit $151 today and I am looking forward to them continuing to soar.The point I am making is that within a year I lost over $50 per share but if I hold onto them for 5 years, the chances are that I will make a nice profit.Obviously you can’t just choose any stock, but if you do your research and find a good company, you raise your chances of getting the profit you want.
In 5 years from now some people are going to be looked at as lucky because they made a killing on certain stocks when others bought those same stocks and didn’t make quite as much.It is not chance that this will happen.It will happen because the lucky person realized that we were in a recession and that the prices hit the bottom so it was a good time to buy.The unlucky people will either buy too early and lose money at the beginning which offsets their gains, or buy after they see the stocks come back and lose out on the beginning of the rise.
Buy a House If You Are In The Market
If you’ve been reading the papers you will have noticed a few things about the housing market:
there are more foreclosures than ever before
there are too many new houses in the market
the price of houses has dropped significantly over the last few months
All of the above are connected but that doesn’t mean that they can’t all be taken advantage of.If you have money for a down payment and can afford a house at the reduced prices, this is the best time to buy.This is your chance to get lucky.
There are so many people who started real estate businesses or their personal investing by buying a foreclosed property and then fixing it up a little and either renting or selling it.Use this opportunity to get lucky.
Do you have any additional ways to get lucky during the recession or have you in the past?Leave me a comment.
This self improvement blog is full of advice on how to increase your luck and improve your life. You can start off by reading 40 Ways to Increase your Luck.
I was just skimming through my rss reader when an article by 
