Tom Ferry helps us keep our dreams alive and our lives in check..

In the midst of the economic meltdown … with chaos and hardship everywhere, my business is growing, I’m happily married 17 years and counting, I’m connected with my two boys, I have a terrific social life, I’m physically fit and most important … I’m happy! Is it possible during these challenging times to be this way?

I say yes!

Look, I have been to the lowest point in my life — waking up in the gutter, wasted on drugs with no hope of ever changing my life. If I can turn my life around, so can you.

Today, as a success coach, I think of myself as a life strategist in a business world. I travel from city to city giving lectures and conducting seminars that help change people’s lives. Guiding people toward greater success in their chosen field, while simultaneously enabling them to achieve a better balance across all the key areas of their lives — that’s what I do.

How is this type of turnaround possible? Continue reading →

Brokers are a lot like mechanics. There are a ton of them out there, yet it’s really tough to find one you can trust with your assets.

The Motley Fool can help you find a broker that will make your dreams come true.

Whether you’re ready to open your first discount brokerage account or simply wondering if you’re getting the best service for your money from your current one, here are 10 things to consider.
Continue reading →

Leadership is certainly a manified trait. Whether in the household or in the workplace, leaders are tasked with making important decisions and are looked to for guidance. A manified leader leads with the utmost integrity, honesty, respect, courage, confidence, responsibility and wisdom.

“A leader leads by example, whether he intends to or not.” -unknown

Whether you wear the title of a leadership position or not, you can still lead. Follow these steps to lead:

1) Contribute to solving problems. Know the problem and eliminate the noise (unimportant information). Leverage skills, abilities, knowledge and experience of yourself and your team to arrive at a solution. Continue reading →

Did you make New Years resolutions this year?

How are they going?

Are you on fire with motivation and accomplishing everything that you set out to do?

Or have your goals/resolutions fallen to the wayside?

I hope that you are part of the former, but if you do find yourself in the latter, it’s not too late! And for those that planned on creating resolutions, but just didn’t get around to it, don’t wait until next year! You have 11 more months to make this your best year ever.

We set goals and resolutions because we believe that there is something that we feel we need to change or improve upon. It is very healthy to set goals and it can have a tremendous effect on your future. Most successful people haven’t always been successful and people in great physical shape haven’t always been healthy. At some point they looked at themselves and where they were in life and decided that they wanted better, made plans to become better and followed through on the plans. We should follow the same model.

Continue reading →

Welcome to Investing Basics! If you’ve found your way here, chances are you’ve either got some money socked away or you’re planning to do so. But first things first. Why is investing a smart idea?

Simply put, you want to invest in order to create wealth. It’s relatively painless, and the rewards are plentiful. By investing in the stock market, you’ll have a lot more money for things like retirement, education, recreation — or you could pass on your riches to the next generation so that you become your family’s Most Cherished Ancestor. Whether you’re starting from scratch or have a few thousand dollars saved, Investing Basics will help get you going on the road to financial (and Foolish!) well-being.

Continue reading →

How to Move from a Dream to Real Success

By Dave Ramsey, Success Magazine

For your vision and goals to have long-term positive impact, they must include several areas of your life. You must have career goals, financial goals, spiritual goals, physical goals, intellectual goals, family goals and social goals. If you leave one of these areas out, you have what’s known as a fl at tire. Your life will be out of balance and the ride won’t be as smooth.

In order for your goals to work, they must:

Be Specific. If you are going to win, your goals have to be specific. Do not have general concepts. Break everything down and get defined. It’s not specific enough if you can’t tell it occurred.

Be Measurable. It’s easy to set measurable and quantifiable goals in areas like sales. Things that are more cultural in your life, where you’re shifting philosophy in your career or family, are a little harder to measure, but there are ways. Create a baseline and develop a process to measure where you are now and where you are going from there.

Be Yours.

Continue reading →

Acquiring wealth isn’t a priority for everyone, but it’s safe to say that most of us want to live comfortably. Whether you’re striving to gain a financial peace of mind or shooting to be a cash money queen, these six basic habits of millionaires will help you land on your feet.

• Learn From Your Mistakes – Don’t dwell on the mistake, focus on the lesson. Many of the wealthiest Americans on this year’s Forbes 400 list endured some tough obstacles in their careers, but they learned from those experiences to keep them on the right track later on.
• Look For Value – People who have money to spend don’t skip the process of comparing prices and seeking out deals just because they can technically afford to pay for the most expensive item. They look for value.
• Find Your Niche – Think you’ll hit the jackpot by doing something everyone else can do? Not likely. Most people who earn big bucks have found a niche that increases their demand and therefore, their paychecks. Not sure what your niche is just yet? That’s OK, for now, work on becoming indispensable at your job.

Continue reading →

By Tim Ferriss, Four Hour Work Week Blog

“So, do you have any ideas?”

“Well, if we’re going to do something, it should be big. It should make people sit up and say OMFG. Make people actually do something,” I responded.

The conversation continued in front of the Thai restaurant, me pacing on my cell phone in San Francisco — foregoing food in excitement — and Tobi in his offices in Ottawa, Canada.

We decided in the subsequent 10 minutes to offer $100,000 cash as a bribe to you all. The overview?

* $100,000 for the grand winner
* $120,000 total in prizes
* 6 months starting January 1 but you can (and should) get started now
* Even if you don’t win the prizes, you should end up with a viable business at the end of 6 months

The details make it even better…

Background

Randy and Nicola Wilburn, featured in BusinessWeek’s “Mom-and-Pop Multinationals“, are just two of the thousands of people in 35 countries who have used the steps in The 4-Hour Workweek as a basis to create near- or fully-automated businesses. The principles of automation have been equally applied within both Fortune and Inc. 500 companies.

The problem?

Some things just aren’t as simple in execution as they appear on paper. If there is one place where readers fail or give up, it is on such automated “muses”, as such automated businesses are called in book to abbreviate.

It’s most often due to lack of technical skills, lack of testing abilities, or — much more often — simple intimidation and failure to attempt it at all. The truth: it’s easier to continue in the predictable and comfortable mediocrity of the 9-to-5 than to start a business. It seems too big and there is little perceived incentive to change.

Let’s change that.

Continue reading →

Tax season is here and it’s time to get all your donations, W-2’s, 1099’s and all the rest of your tax papers together.

If you are donating to charities providing earthquake relief in Haiti, you may be able to claim those donations on your 2009 tax return. Here are 10 important facts the Internal Revenue Service wants you to know about this special provision.

It’s a fact that you cannot have true abundance in ANY area of your life without first feeling immensely confident in yourself. The main determining factor in your confidence is how you feel about your body.
Continue reading →

Do you like lending money to the IRS? The answer is yes for three-quarters of taxpayers.

Every year, about 75% of us overpay our taxes. By quite a lot. In fact, the average tax refund last year was around $2,400, which amounts to $200 a month lining Uncle Sam’s pockets until he pays it back to you … without interest.

If you hit the refund jackpot last April (or already know that you’re getting a refund this year), then it’s time to give yourself a raise, starting with your next paycheck.

What’s wrong with getting a refund?
I know it’s hard to beat the thrill of a windfall, but consider what you’re passing up by giving Uncle Sam an interest-free loan for roughly six months (on average). If the IRS were paying out measly checking-account rates of around 0.5%, you’d be able to pick up the tab for a few espressos — or $6. Even if you could earn 2% from a high-yield savings account , it’d amount to just $24.
Continue reading →

Lessons From the Personal Finance Guru, Dave Ramsey

1) Live on less than you make

2) Get out of debt

3) Have some money set aside for a rainy day, because it’s going to rain

4) Invest for the future

5) Learn to give

Continue reading →

Bling and Bentleys don’t bring true happiness, Russell Simmons says. Not that the hip-hop mogul ever was in it totally for the money—-at least not that kind of money, he says.

Continue reading →

It’s not too late to make a New Years resolution. Follow these principles to have an extraordinary 2010! Continue reading →

Everybody knows that in this day and age, it’s not always about what you know, it’s who you know. During trying economic times like these, the key to landing your dream job is to stand out from the competition by showcasing both your talent and personality.

For a quick and painless networking experience, follow a few tips that will help you leave a lasting impression:

Continue reading →