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?

I simply decided a long time ago to stop living by default and start to live By Design!

Now, what if I told you I could help you achieve the same results in your own life — show you how to navigate the rough water we’re all treading these days by creating a plan to not only survive but actually thrive in these difficult times?

As of July 2008, there were more than 123,000,000 Americans who were either struggling or suffering, in great part but not entirely due to the economic crisis. As things progressively get worse, that number continues to skyrocket, eclipsing the number of thriving Americans month after month.

Are you one of them?

To fully understand what holds us back from living to our fullest potential, you have to recognize that most people live life by default. What I mean by this is they fail to decide how they want their lives to be or have an unwillingness to do whatever it takes to make that happen, and simply accept things as they are. They believe they have no say or power to affect their course. But the bottom line about living by default, in my view, is that it represents choosing to be a victim!

Most people are living in what I refer to as an active coma. They’re alive, functioning, but appear to be plugged into an imaginary life support, hoping someday when they wake up everything will be okay. Think about it; they’ve become victims of the circumstances of the world and they’re doing little to nothing about it! They’re suffering with the economy, the housing crises, politics, their finances or lack thereof, their relationships, their health and their emotional well-being, just to name a few. And they’re stuck, concerned, worried and afraid to act! They’re afraid to change, afraid to try a new approach; they’re in a coma!

Why is it that some people live their lives full of love, abundance and purpose, what I would call a rich and full life, while others live in a state of fear, lack and indecision? It is because most of the world sees themselves as victims. They’re always suffering. Now more than ever, adversity is destined to be on your path. Are you worried about losing your job, home, marriage, health or money? The question isn’t how did you get here, but what will you do now?

When you realize that you’ve been living your life by default, you will become consciously aware that you are responsible for your choices. With 20 years and nearly 30,000 hours of success coaching behind me, I have learned that most people get comfortable suffering and accept things as they are too quickly, rather than choosing to change or try something new!

Aristotle said the formula for happiness and success is to “first, have a definite, clear, practical idea, goal or objective. Second, attain it by whatever means available, whether wisdom, money, materials, or methods. Third, adjust all your means to that end.”

All success is predicated on finding what you are passionate about and then becoming relentless in your pursuit of every possibility so you will achieve your dreams.

When I was making some difficult decisions to change things up in my own life several years ago, my mentor and friend Mike Vance asked me five thought-provoking and life-altering questions to help me envision and then plan out the path I should take.

1. Why are you here — what’s your purpose?

2. How do you want to show up for others — what are your values?

3. What are your God-given talents?

4. Five years from now, how is the world experiencing you?

5. Who would you already be if you were already there?

None of these questions was easy to answer, but they all got me thinking … hard. It was as if a door had been opened that I never even knew existed. If I could identify these answers, anything was possible. All I had to do was figure out my next step. If I could do that, I could stop living by default and would discover the keys to creating a life, By Design.

The people living By Design live by a different set of rules. They know an upset is just an upset, their problems are assets and the past is where it belongs — somewhere behind them. They aren’t victims; they’re victors, heroes if you will, because they are willing to jump through hoops to live the life they dream of. I’ve met people who don’t have two nickels to rub together, as well as extremely successful business people that fall into this category. Living By Design isn’t about how much money you have. It’s a frame of mind that positively impacts every core area of your life. It isn’t easy, but living By Design is hugely rewarding, and that my friend, is our goal.

The Four Addictions

I’ve discovered four addictions we all have that destroy more dreams, more hopes and more lives than alcohol, drugs, food, gambling or sex combined. When I refer to addictions, I am not focused on any of these. To me, those are habitual symptoms or effects brought on by four much larger causes that are the root cause of those symptoms.

They are:

1) The Addiction to opinions of other people. As a society, we’re addicted to what others think about us and how others’ views of the world affect us.

2) The Addiction to drama. Some people are drawn to and consumed by any event or situation that occupies their thoughts and fills their mind with negativity, which often brings attention to them in unproductive ways.

3) The Addiction to the past. These people have an unhealthy attachment to events or situations that have occurred in the past. They’re stuck in how things used to be.

4) The Addiction to worry. This addiction is comprised of all the negative and self-defeating thoughts that make us anxious, disturbed, upset and stressed, that hold us back in life.

TAKE THE QUIZ:

Tom Ferry’s Sure Signs of Four Addictions — these are merely ideas to help you identify how each addiction could be showing up in your life. Do not reject the addiction if you don’t relate to the six examples in each category. Think about situations in your life that might be more relevant to you.

The Addiction to the Opinions of Others

1. You Are Concerned About What Others Are Saying or Think About You.

2. You Have Good Ideas and Intentions But Find Yourself Afraid to Act on Them.

3. You Over Leveraged Yourself Financially in the Last Decade With Cars, Clothes, Homes, Jewelry and More.

4. You Are Constantly Seeking Other People’s Approval or Avoiding Their Disapproval.

5. You’re Afraid to Speak in Public.

6. You’re Afraid to Speak Your Mind.

The Addiction to Drama

1. You Love To Gossip.

2. You Are Always In The Middle of a Crisis.

3. You’re Glued to the News, Magazines and Stories About X Y & Z.

4. You Have a Tendency Toward Over Reacting Versus Rational Behavior.

5. Everything Is a Bigger Deal Than It Actually Is.

6. You’re a Pot Stirrer.

The Addiction to the Past

1. You Constantly Talk About the Past and the Way Things Used to Be.

2. You Resist Change.

3. You Continually Fail to Plan for a Better Future.

4. You Argue for the Past That Things Used to be Better.

5. You’ve Allowed Relationships to Become Stale, Uninteresting and Without Passion.

6. You have Physically or Mentally Peaked.

The Addiction to Worry

1. You’re Depressed, Concerned and Fearful about Everything.

2. You Spend Time with Other Worriers.

3. You Turn to TV and Movies as a Way to Escape the Thoughts in Your Head.

4. You Continuously Wake Up at Night from Your Mind Chatter.

5. You Continuously Go to the Worst-Case Scenario First.

6. You Use Food, Alcohol or Drugs to Control Your Moods and Feelings.

If you were to take away only one message from me, I want you to free yourself from the four addictions. Your life will become instantly and infinitely better.

I’m not a guru. I am a regular guy who has made it his life’s mission to make a difference in other people’s lives. I have been exposed to more and perhaps different models of excellence over the course of my career, which has helped me develop and brand my own model of excellence, one you can now benefit from and experience for yourself.

I am one of the fortunate guys in this world who wakes up every day eager, anxious, excited, fired up and ready to get to work. I love my wife and two sons. Against many obstacles, I have created an extraordinary life. Am I somehow luckier than you?

No.

I simply learned to and choose to live my life By Design–not by default. So can you.

Tom Ferry is CEO of YourCoach, and success coach to more than 100,000 people and leader of more than 100 business motivation seminars per year. He speaks to dozens of major corporations annually and has served as head coach to hundreds of top executives over the past 20 years. His latest book is his instant New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestseller LIFE! BY DESIGN: 6 Steps to an Extraordinary You.

Huffington Post

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.

1. Trading commissions
Surprise! Cheaper is not always better. We know you’ve probably figured that out, but the price per trade at a discount broker may also indicate the level of customer service that comes with it. If you aren’t trading in and out of stocks very often (and you shouldn’t be), and you’re not too concerned about whether your trade is executed within 15 seconds or two minutes (and you shouldn’t be), there really isn’t a significant difference among the brokers charging $7 to $20. If you go much cheaper than that, you may have trouble getting someone on the telephone to answer any questions you may have. And if you’re paying much more than that, you should expect near-flawless service.

2. Other fees
You’ll get a good idea of what we find important as far as additional fees are concerned in this comparison chart of our broker sponsors. Beyond the trading commissions, you’ll find that brokerages may charge other fees, including fees for transferring assets into the account, fees for closing an account, IRA custodian fees, wire transfer fees, account inactivity fees, annual fees, and fees for not maintaining a minimum balance. If you know your needs, you won’t end up paying for services you don’t need.

3. Minimum initial deposit
If you’re just starting out, consider what you’ll be able to comfortably invest initially. Some brokers have account minimums, so find the one that best fits your budget. We have more on this topic here.

4. Customer service
For Fools, customer service is a biggie. If nothing else, you should put some time into researching a broker’s service before you sign on the dotted line. In the case of discount brokers, customer service includes website performance and interface. Check out each brokerage’s website. Is the interface intuitive? Can you find what you’re looking for without having to click 65 links? Is it speedy? If talking to a live human is important to you, test their phone service. Does the brokerage answer the phone promptly? Is there an office nearby, just in case you need to talk face-to-face? (Not everyone does, but if that’s important to you, put it down on your checklist.) You’ll definitely want to see how the brokerage does at sending you all relevant material you ask for online.

Finally, check out The Motley Fool Discount Brokers discussion board for invaluable insight into the praise and complaints being put forth regarding each of the major brokerages. It’s an active board, with many strong opinions. Understand that those with complaints are more likely to post their thoughts than satisfied customers.

5. Traditional banking services
This might not be tops on your list, but if you want to consolidate your PINs and pennies, think about looking for a brokerage account that can accommodate your banking needs. Many brokers now offer:

* Money market sweeps
* Check writing and bill payment
* Visa cards
* Direct deposit
* ATM cards

Your cash will typically attract higher interest rates in a brokerage money market account versus the typical savings or checking account. Check out our banking area for more details.

6. Research
Some brokerages market their research as a real plus. That’s fine, but you probably don’t want to pay for it. There’s plenty of research available on the Web (including right here at Fool.com). Some of the offerings include analyst reports, real-time quotes, and detailed financial data.

7. Mutual funds
No-load mutual funds can be purchased directly from mutual fund companies, so unless you’re a mutual-fund trading addict, the availability of thousands of mutual funds in one location probably shouldn’t affect which broker you choose. While you may purchase some no-load mutual funds from discount brokers without paying a transaction fee, some brokers do charge a fee for funds — so be sure to check on this before making a purchase. And, of course, if there’s a particular mutual fund family that you’re set on using, make sure that the brokerage you select offers that family of funds.

8. Investment product selection
All the brokerages offer stocks traded on the major exchanges, and most will offer equity mutual funds. But there are a number of other investment vehicles that you may wish to use. If you’re interested in risking your hard-earned moolah on over-the-counter (OTC) bulletin board stocks (shame on you!), you’ll have to see which brokerages offer them. Other choices such as options, government bonds, corporate bonds, and the like are not available through every brokerage. Determine what you expect you’ll need — we’re fans of just plain old stocks, especially if you’re young — and act accordingly.

9. Other methods of getting your trades executed
What if the Internet breaks? We’d all probably get a bit more exercise and sun now and then. Seriously, though, sometimes you may not have access to a computer. Check out whether the brokerages you’re considering also have touch-tone phone trading, and how that works. Sometimes you just might want to place an order through a real, live person, and many discount brokerages offer that option, too.

10. Other freebies and perks
We wouldn’t suggest making too big a deal about the freebies. After all, they are one-time things, and $100 or a new Koosh ball probably isn’t going to be worth the hassle if you soon find that you’ve made the wrong choice and have to move your account elsewhere. Still, free money is free money (and Kooshes are a great way to relieve stress). So if you find yourself deadlocked on which brokerage to go with, cash (or some other perk) can be a persuasive tiebreaker.

Finally, remember this: If you’re only making five, six, 10, even 20 trades in a year, the difference between paying $7 per trade and $20 per trade isn’t significant. We think it’s better to make customer service a priority and not sweat about most of the other stuff. After all, how much did you ever worry about which bank to open your first checking account with? The differences are about the same.

Motley Fool

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.

2) Think of the big picture. Thoreau once said, “For every thousand hacking at the leaves of evil, one is hacking at the root.” Take a step back from the problem determine if there is an underlying bigger problem.

3) Be proactive. If a deeper problem exists take steps to resolve.

4) Make decisions, and take responsibility for the consequences. Exercise wisdom and experience when making decisions. Hope for the best and prepare for the worst. The best leaders reflect behaviors and make decisions they want the group to emulate. Be confident in your decisions by basing them on facts and not guesses. Follow through on your decision and be an acting participant in making it happen.

5) Share your vision. Inspire. Motivate. Guide. “Most important, leaders can conceive and articulate goals that lift people out of their petty preoccupations and unite them in pursuit of objectives worthy of their best efforts”-John Gardner. Expand upon the vision as a team.

6) Remember that it’s not all about you. Leadership is not about glory, prestige, or wealth. “A leader is best when people barely know s/he exists; when his/her work is done, his/her aim fulfilled, they will say: we did it ourselves”. -Lao Tzu

By: brosephj.com

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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.

Take the time and look at the man/woman in the mirror and ask:

Could I be doing better?

Is what I am doing today going to lead me to where I want to go 10 years from now?

Do I look/feel the way I want to look/feel?

Am I happy?

By answering these questions you may find yourself looking at life a little bit differently. The world is filled with so many distractions that we can often forget our goals and our dreams. So it is important that we regularly and consistently reflect and review our goals and actions. I strive to take a few minutes to reflect daily, weekly, monthly and yearly. This let’s me know if I’m on the right track and on the road towards accomplishing my goals. Over years of goal setting, I have found that the act of reviewing my goals can often spur up motivation and energy as the pain of not achieving is realized. Take action today: review your goals, adjust them as needed and follow through.

“As you grow older you find the only things you regret are the things you didn’t do.” -Unknown Author

By brosephj.com

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• Finding your ‘well’ of productivity and motivation. (dougbelshaw.com)

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.

Know your goals
What are you saving for? Retirement? College for the kids? A new speaker system complete with woofers and tweeters? An exotic animal menagerie complete with Chihuahuas (woofers) and canaries (tweeters)? A retirement villa in the sun-baked hills of Tuscany?

Say you take $2,000 of your savings and put it into the stock market. If your money returned 10% a year (the S&P 500’s historical average), two grand would be worth $34,898.80 after 30 years. That might not get you the perfect retirement home, but it’ll at least give you a down payment.

Maybe you don’t have $2,000 burning a hole in your bank account, but perhaps you can afford to invest your lunch money. Brown-bag your lunch and sock away just $4 a day, 250 days a year. It’s not a lot, but if you’re in your early 20s, you’ve got the investor’s best ally on your side — time. If you invest $1,000 once a year in an investment that averages a 10% annual return — the average annual stock market return since 1926 — it’ll grow to more than $1 million after 46 years, which is right around the time you’ll be ready to retire.

Of course, as you get older and more financially stable, you should be able to put away more to invest. Upping the ante to just $166 a month — which is probably less than lunch money plus what you pay for cable TV — would put you at the million-dollar mark in just 39 years.

The power of compounding
The table below shows you how a single investment of $100 will grow at various rates of return. Five percent is about what you might get from a certificate of deposit (CD) or with a government bond over time, 10% is about the historical average stock market return, and 15% is what you might get if you decide to learn how to pick your own stocks and take advantage of some of our lessons in advanced investing techniques.

Growing At

Why is the difference between a few percentage points of return so massive after long periods of time? You are witnessing the miracle of compounding. When your investment gains (returns) begin to earn money, and then those returns start to earn money, your investment can mushroom very quickly. Extend the time period or raise the rate of return, and your results increase exponentially. For instance, if you start young, say at 15 years of age, note how quickly a single $100 investment grows, especially in the later years.

Growing At

Looking at it another way, let’s compare two teenagers and their lifetime savings habits. Bianca baby-sits a lot and spends most of her spare time reading. She saves $1,000 a year starting when she’s 15 and invests it in the stock market for 10 years earning 12% per year on average. After 10 years, she comes out of her shell, stops adding money to her nest egg, and spends every penny she earns club hopping and on trips to Cancun. But she keeps her nest egg in the market.

Compare her account to that of her friend Patrice, who squandered her early paychecks on youthful indiscretions. At age 40 Patrice gets a wake-up call when her parents retire on nothing but Social Security. She starts vigorously socking away $10,000 every year for the next 25 years. Guess who has more at age 65? That’s right, Bianca. (You figured it was a setup, didn’t you?) Her 10 years of saving $1,000 per year (just $10,000 total — the same amount Patrice put away in just one year) netted her $1.8 million by age 65. Patrice, on the other hand, scrimped for 25 years to invest a quarter million dollars out of her own pocket and ended up with just under $1.5 million. Neither will be going to the poorhouse, but you see our point: Bianca’s baby-sitting money grew for 50 years, twice as long as Patrice’s, and Bianca barely missed it.

(It’s almost not fair to mention this, but if Bianca put her money in a Roth IRA, that whole $1.8 million would be tax-free. On the other hand, Patrice couldn’t put her full $10,000 in a Roth, so Patrice will pay capital gains tax on a good deal of her gains.)

The power of compounding is the single most important reason for you to start investing right now. Every day you are invested is a day that your money is working for you, helping to ensure a financially secure and stable future.

Common pitfalls to avoid
Before you race off through the rest of Investing Basics, there are some cautionary points to consider before you proceed. These are common mistakes many people make when considering what to do about investing.

1. Doing nothing. There is no guarantee that the market will go up the first day, month, or even year that you invest in it. But there is one guarantee: Doing nothing at all will not provide for a comfortable retirement.
2. Starting late. Postponing your investing career is second only to not investing at all on the list of investment sins. You already know that the earlier you start the better off you are. (Take another look at the compound return example we gave above.) If you’re already past those formative twenties (you don’t look a day over 32 to us), we’ll reword this first pitfall to read: “Not starting now.”
3. Investing before paying down credit card debt. If you have money in your savings account and you have revolving debt on your credit card, pay it off. Many credit cards have an annual interest rate of 15% or more. Let’s say you have $5,000 to invest, but you also have $5,000 debt on your credit cards with an average annual interest rate of 18%. It doesn’t take an astrophysicist to figure out that you’re going to have to get an 18% return after you pay taxes just to break even on that $5,000. Pay the debt off first, then think about investing.
4. Investing for the short term. Only invest money for the short term that you’re actually going to need in the short term. Invest money in the stock market that you won’t need for at least three years, and preferably five years or longer. If you’ll need your cash next year for a down payment on a house or for the family Caribbean cruise, use one of the shorter term and safer havens for your cash, such as money market funds or CDs.
5. Turning down free money. You’d never turn down a dollar if it was offered with no strings attached. That’s what you’re doing if your company offers a 401(k) or similar retirement savings plan with an employer match and you’re not participating. Take advantage of all tax-advantaged, employer-matched savings programs.
6. Playing it safe. If you’re young, most of your investing dollars should be in the stock market. You have enough time to weather any dips in the market and to reap the rewards of long-term gains. Although you may want to transition into bonds later in life as you depend on your investments for income, stocks should make up a large portion of the portfolio of every investor.
7. Playing it scary. Not every investment is for everyone. Even if you’re a daredevil, you shouldn’t pour all of your money into something that could end up going down the drain.
8. Viewing collectibles or lottery tickets as investments. If old comic books, Barbie dolls, and abandoned exercise equipment could be used to fund retirements, do you think the stock market would exist? Probably not. Don’t make the mistake of thinking your jewelry, those Beanie Babies, or the lottery will provide for you in your latter years.
9. Trading in and out of the market. We believe the best approach to investing is the long-term one. Pick your investments well and you’ll reap greater rewards over the long term than you had ever dreamed possible. Trade in and out of the market and you’ll be saddled with fees that chip away at your returns, and you’ll potentially miss out on gains that long-term investors enjoy with much less effort.

Congratulations! You’ve made it through the first part of Investing Basics. (Bet you didn’t even break a sweat.) You’ve witnessed the power of compounding and you understand how some common pitfalls can ruin even the healthiest investing plan. Now, let’s turn to the various ways you can start investing.

By Motley Fool

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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.

We are forever, in our culture, letting someone else set our goals. You cannot let someone else set your goals for you. The goals have to be your goals— not your boss’s, not your spouse’s and not the person who came before you. They’re yours and you have to have ownership in them or you won’t execute them. There is no energy in other people’s goals. There is only energy in what is inside of you.

Have a Time Limit. How much time do you have to make it happen? If you don’t set a time limit, you will not push yourself. When you have a time limit you stay focused and on track.

Be in Writing. When you write these things down, they’re dangerous. A written goal is much more powerful than a goal you simply set in your head and don’t write down to hold yourself accountable. So, be careful what you write down because there is a good chance it will happen.

Don’t get discouraged if your goals aren’t accomplished in the exact way and down to the second according to your original plan. Be sure to talk with those around you who have achieved great goals they set for themselves. Find out what they did to overcome their intimidating obstacles and what they learned throughout the process. Some flexibility is definitely needed, but as long as you are focused on the end goal and are taking proactive steps toward accomplishing it, you are an achiever and on your way to great things.

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.

• Be in Control of Your Money – If you’re not paying attention to where your money is going, then you’re not in total control of your money. People who accomplish their goals get there by understanding how their spending habits, debt, and assets play into the big financial picture. Educate yourself on money matters and be accountable for your personal finances.
• Avoid Frivolous Fees – People don’t build their nest eggs by letting pointless fees slide. Familiarize yourself with the policies of anyone with the ability to charge extra — banks, credit card companies, your cell phone provider, you name it. Those fees add up to money in your pocket.
• Believe in Yourself – Of the wealthiest Americans on this year’s Forbes 400 list, 274 of them are self-made. Luck may have played a small role here and there, but in most cases it was about taking calculated risks and standing behind ideas, even when others are critical.

By SavvySugar, Yahoo – Shine

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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.

Tobi Lutke is the CEO of Shopify. Several months ago, I polled more than 50,000 Twitter users about e-commerce platforms, and the near-unanimous response was that Shopify offered the easiest-to-use full-service platform in existence. I’d never heard of them.

It seems I was late to the party.

From Pixar to Tesla, Pamela Anderson to Amnesty International, I saw slick design after slick design, all of which could be set up in minutes. Even Google Website Optimizer is built-in for testing. I was so surprised and impressed that I became an advisor upon meeting Tobi at RailsConf.

I want to give you a reason to finally take the jump with full confidence. Here’s what we’re doing:

The Competition – More Than One Winner

Shopify and I are running a 6-month “Build Your Business” competition. The store with the most revenue for two consecutive months (we’ll use your best two) wins $100,000.

There are other runner-up prizes, and there will be worthwhile surprises. To support you with the tools and skills you need, there will be expert tutorials on critical subjects (like Google Adwords testing, design, etc.) on a monthly basis at minimum, posts on this blog with real-life examples, and more.

The bullets:

* $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 two weeks of practice will give you a massive advantage. I strongly suggest playing with it now.
* The best two consecutive months of sales count
* Even if you don’t win the prizes, you should end up with a viable business at the end of 6 months
* The steps and details in the new, expanded 4-Hour Workweek will be used as ground-zero for instructions
* Contest open — unfortunately — to US residents only. Please see “Afterword” below for why you should do it regardless. The tools and guidance will be available to all entrants.

Outside the US? Perhaps you should just incorporate a US company online? But – I’m no lawyer. Speak with a professional first and read the fine print. Be sure to read the FAQ, which opens up even more opportunities.

[Update: there is a new forum on Shopify for questions and feedback about the contest]

Tens of thousands of online stores have been created with Shopify: everything from Nerdbots to CrossFit.

Will you be next? I know a Fortune 500 company employee who’s quitting in 2010 because his Shopify store makes more than $1,000,000 per year. Not bad for a side gig!

If you’ve thought of starting a muse but have put it off or given up, here are two reasons to make 2010 the year that changes everything:

$100,000 and know-how guidance from experts. Though I’m an advisor, I receive no commission or payment whatsoever for this competition. It’s to get more people to pull the trigger.

If you decide not to pull the trigger, ask yourself “why not?” If not now, then when?

This competition is intended as a benevolent and encouraging kick in the ass. This stuff isn’t rocket science, but it does require stepping outside your comfort zone for a bit to realize: this isn’t that hard. It’s just unfamiliar. If you do it now, a lot of people will be in the same boat and you’ll take the trip together.

No more excuses. Click here to learn how simple it can be.

[Update: there is a new forum on Shopify for questions and feedback about the contest]

###

Frequently Asked Questions with Tobi

[The most up-to-date FAQ is on the contest page here]

> Rachel: Can you sell a combination of affiliate products and your own products through shopify?

Yes absolutely. In fact we highly encourage our customers to source extra products that round off the product offering. A lot of our customers started by selling just a single product and later on started cross selling related products between their stores for additional sales.

> BrianReid: Can we use a drop shipper like Doba for products?

Yes, Shopify even integrates directly with drop shippers and consignment warehouses such as Shipwire, Webgistix and Amazon fulfillment. These services are really the key to fully automate your online store because manual shipping is labor intensive. At Shopify we have something called the App Store (http://apps.shopify.com) which allows you to add extensions to your store (think a mix of wordpress plugins and facebook apps). I know there are a few developers currently working on Doba integration.

> Erica: I’m using 1ShoppingCart right now. Can I just move stuff over to Shopify and qualify, or does it have to be a new business?

The point of this competition is to encourage people to create new businesses. If you could simply move a million or multi million dollar business over to Shopify and take the pot then the entire thing would be fairly uninteresting. So in other words, moving an existing business over: no go. Creating a new, related business that you organically grow from the start without simply redirecting your old store: OK.

That being said, we would love to get your existing business on Shopify. If you want to talk more in depth about this, contact me at tobi[at]shopify.com.

> Erica: For the Shopify folks: Do you offer a 1-click post-sale upsell feature like Upsell Express from 1SC?

I’m not familiar with the 1-click post-sale product but marketing to prior clients is a big part of Shopify. We have great integration with Sendloop, Vertical Response, Campaign Monitor and all such services. Through the App Store that I mentioned earlier there are also some really exciting new apps being developed that help people find related products that go well with their current cart content. Shopify is a very flexible platform.

Afterword

Gross revenue and US residents only? A case study in technology and real-life lawyering…

First and foremost, the best prize we can offer is this: your own near-automated, cash-flow positive business at the end of six months. The $100,000 is just a catalyst, a push. The former is, as the proverb goes, teaching you to fish, whereas the latter is handing over a single fish.

No contest is perfect. Shopify can’t verify net profit (without private investigators proving margins), so revenue is used as the measuring stick, which is trackable. Does this handicap you if you sell comic books instead of race cars? Not necessarily. It just means you’ll need to sell more units. Important: the most any single transaction can be applied the contest is $5,000.

Life is a competition. The rules were the best we could put together without making it impossibly complicated.

But, what’s up with the “limited to US residents” and all that?

From a post on Etsy about their own contest challenges (the whole post is worth a read):

Etsy is an international site. We have buyers and sellers from all around the globe. And we love our community. To solely enable U.S. residents to participate in an aspect of our site did not sit well with me or with Etsy. So I called an attorney who specializes in contest law to find an alternative. Unfortunately, his response supported my disappointing findings. He explained that in order to hold an international contest, Etsy would need to consult a licensed attorney who specializes in contest law for each and every country eligible for the contest. And, in fact, for many countries a translator would have to draft the rules. “How much would this cost and how much time would it take?” I innocently asked the contest law attorney. His two-word answer was most discouraging: “a lot.”

Here is Tobi’s version, especially frustrating, considering that Shopify is based in Canada!

“When putting together the contest we really wanted to make it a contest for anyone, anywhere in the world. Throughout the planning I spent more hours on the phone with lawyers than I’d care to admit to anyone. Unfortunately, as time when on, it became clear that it would be impossible to hold the contest anywhere outside the US without fundamentally altering the original concept.

Without going into too much detail, the crux of the matter is the classification of the contest as a game of chance versus a game of skill. Apparently, being good at selling stuff online is considered chance by many agencies and therefore would be governed by Lottery laws, as silly as this sounds.

That being said, you can still participate in this contest wherever you are. The prize money is significant, but don’t forget the spirit of the contest: to give a kick in the pants to all those people who have wanted to start businesses but haven’t. The real prize is having a business of your own at the end of the six months. You’ll still have all the same resources and guides as everyone else: support from the Shopify team, help and guidance from Tim and other experts, and more control over your financial independence.”

###

Elsewhere on the web:

Get the brand-new Expanded and Updated 4-Hour Workweek, published 12/15, which includes more than 50 new case studies (including families) of luxury lifestyle design, muse creation, and world travel.

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.

For more information see IRS Publication 526, Charitable Contributions and Publication 3833 , Disaster Relief: Providing Assistance through Charitable Organizations. To determine if an organization is a qualified charity visit IRS.gov, keyword “Search for Charities”. Note that some organizations, such as churches or governments, may be qualified even though they are not listed on IRS.gov.

Source: IRS

Links:

IR-2010-12, Haiti Relief Donations Qualify For Immediate Tax Relief

Search for Charities

YouTube Videos:

Haiti Earthquake Donations: English

For this and other videos: YouTube/IRS Videos

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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.

As many of you know, over the last 17 years, I’ve worked with several of today’s top Hollywood stars and Fortune 100 executives, helping them to develop tight, lean and youthful looking bodies. Although I taught them a lot in that time, I’ve also learned a lot.  On one hand, I taught my clients how to develop strong bodies and powerful health, but they in turn taught me how to develop fame and large-scale businesses.

One of the most powerful lessons I learned was that the foundation to all health and to all wealth resides in a person’s self-confidence. The main determining factor in a person’s self-confidence is how they feel about their body.  So, I’d like to share with you over the course of the next two blog posts, the daily action list that many of my most successful clients follow.

I hope you take this list to heart and implement it in your life. I know that if you do, you’ll experience the same amazing journey that I’ve been so blessed to experience in my life.

Breaking the 70% Rule

First and foremost, you have to understand that nearly 70 percent of all the energy you use during the course of a single day is used to digest the foods you eat. For example, if it takes 100 grams of energy (bear with me for using such basic terminology here) to digest each and every meal you eat during the day, by improving the efficiency of your metabolism we can get your body to digest each meal using only 50 grams of energy. This means you could have nearly double the energy to put towards all your normal daily activities!

So, if one of your main life goals is to grow your business, would it be beneficial if you had more “physical energy” to do the daily tasks necessary to build your revenue streams? How about the added “mental energy”? Could you put it toward creatively designing new ways to handle all of your daily challenges?

My (Short) Story

I’ve built and sold several large-scale businesses (including a chain of health clubs, a venture capital firm and a publishing company), but until I took control of my body, I personally never had any success in life. I remember feeling like a failure in everything I did. I remember not even wanting to leave the house because I didn’t like the way I looked in my clothes (I admit that’s a bit strange but it’s true …

Today, it’s a different story.

Now, I rarely think about the clothes I put on each day because I know my body enhances the way I look in clothes. Why? Because all clothes just hang better on a body that’s in shape! That means men no longer have to wear suit jackets all day just to cover up their belly fat (you know who you are). And women who wear dark colors because dark colors make them look thinner can now wear any color they like, because a fit BODY makes any color becoming.

Isn’t that the way everyone should feel?!

Take Charge!

When I finally took charge of my physique, everything in my life got better—my business grew much faster, my health improved, my family life improved, my spiritual life improved, and my financial life skyrocketed! I went from feeling like I had to earn my employees’ respect to having people follow and respect my every lead. What would be better in your life if you felt immensely confident in your appearance? What tremendous things could you make happen if you had loads of energy all day long and unstoppable motivation?

In today’s society, without a nice body, people subconsciously make life a bit harder for you. You see it all the time…people who are in good shape almost always get treated differently by others. Now I’m not saying that’s fair—it’s absolutely not—but it’s a fact of life. So why not take advantage of it?

What would it mean to your company if all your employees came to work feeling immensely confident in themselves? Would they close more deals, would they have a better attitude, would they contribute more? You see, you can’t change the fact that most everybody else in the world seems to treat good-looking people better, but you can change the one person who really matters, and that’s you.

You can make yourself and your employees as strong and healthy-looking as possible–making life easier for yourself and setting a good example for all those around you. People who are in shape portray more authority when they stand in front of their staff. They get more preferential treatment, and they have far more stamina to take on all the work necessary in order to build a powerful company.

Trade Secret

When I speak at a corporation or consult with top business leaders, the one trait that’s common among them all is the desire to find ways to improve themselves and their businesses. They don’t want to grow a huge company and then be so sick that they can’t enjoy the rewards. The secret all of these folks share is that getting in good shape didn’t start when they became successful. It started way before that—and probably had a lot to do with their success.

Next week, I’ll share with you the secret success formula that many of my most successful and productive clients stick to and swear by.

Until then, stay healthy…

Christopher Guerriero
www.christopherguerriero.com

Christopher Guerriero is the founder of the National Metabolic & Longevity Research Center, the host of the new television show called “The Energy Factor,” and author of more than 20 books and audio programs including the global bestseller Maximize Your Metabolism. His other titles include The 2 Day Workout, The Psychology of Weight Loss and The Art of Living Thin.

By Christopher Guerriero, Success Magazine

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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.

Nonplussed? I hear ya. For those who are tempted to skip this step and instead rely on over-withholding as an enforced savings plan, allow me to convince you otherwise.

Think about where else you could get a better return than 0%. Perhaps you have outstanding credit card debt? Or maybe you have $0 in your emergency savings account.

The point is, you could have $200 extra each month to pay off your debt (use our ” Get Out of Debt ” guide to wipe it out) or pad your emergency savings ( more on that here ).

Pad your paycheck with an extra $200 a month
Let’s get to the details so you can start seeing the fruits of today’s Fiscal Fitness tip ASAP.

To complete this task, you’ll need:

• Your most recent pay stub
• Last year’s income tax return
• A fresh Form W-4 from your employer, or download one from the IRS website

The idea here is to increase the number of exemptions you take while avoiding underpaying. To nail the number, use the IRS’ withholding calculator . The Form W-4 Assistant calculator at PaycheckCity can also help you.

How much is each exemption worth? Well, generalizations and taxes are a potentially lethal cocktail, but if you thrive on rules-of-thumb, figure that each exemption equals about $850 in tax.

Avoid Uncle Sam’s ire
To avoid underpayment penalties, shoot for the number of allowances that satisfies 100% to 110% of the prior year’s tax payment (not counting your refund). Don’t worry about nailing your withholding perfectly. Put a reminder in your date book in June, when you’ll have a better handle on how your annual wages and withholdings will shake out. (Here’s more on how the IRS handles underpayments .)

One more note before you fill out a fresh W-4: This exercise is best for those who do not anticipate any major life/tax changes (e.g., marriage, birth, Lotto payout) and have a predictably consistent income. So if this year looks like it’ll be a pretty close repeat of last year, go snag that $200 monthly raise right now.

More ways to save …
Don’t fritter away the extra money: Just because your paycheck is a bit fatter doesn’t mean you have extra money to spend. Nope — this tip is all about putting the money you earned to better use. So if you’re going to be tempted to blow the dough, have it diverted automatically to a separate savings or investment account. Out of sight, out of mind, and off to better use!

Get organized and snag all those deductions/credits you deserve: Everyone gets a standard deduction, but that doesn’t mean you should take it. Millions of people give up potential tax savings simply because they don’t keep records or take the time to itemize their deductions. Especially for homeowners and those with high medical bills, missing out on itemized deductions is hazardous for your financial health. And if you do go with the standard deduction, don’t just assume that you should take it on both your state and federal returns, or you could be leaving money on the table. Try this simple three-folder tax record-keeping system . What better time to put it in place than now, at the beginning of the year?

by Dayana Yochim, The Motley Fool,

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

Author-radio host Dave Ramsey dispenses advice on personal finance with the fervor of a country preacher and the common sense of Ann Landers. He colorfully pounds home his core mandate— eliminate debt—with a tried-and-true, step-by-step program to achieve fiscal fitness.

His message hasn’t changed, even as the U.S. economy trembles from the most crippling recession in decades. “What the recession has done is turn up the volume, so [that consumers] sometimes experience more hopelessness,” Ramsey tells SUCCESS. “We try to show that there’s a light at the end of the tunnel, not a train. Hope is a major product of ours.”

Ramsey guides people toward financial stability through his radio show, classes, counseling and coast-to-coast how-to events. He started in 1992 with the book Financial Peace. That same year, he launched The Money Game on a small Nashville radio station— mainly as a way to hawk the book. That show, now syndicated and renamed The Dave Ramsey Show, has 4.5 million listeners per week. And Ramsey has added two more best-selling books to his résumé: More Than Enough and The Total Money Makeover. The three books have combined sales of about 5 million copies.

Ramsey says the recession adds one major complication to financial rescues, however: reduced income from job losses, which impairs the ability to erase debt. “It’s easier to get them out of the hole if they have a good-size shovel.”

Having made and lost a small fortune while just in his 20s, Ramsey speaks from experience. With parents in the real estate business, Ramsey caught the bug early, attending sales conferences as a teen. After graduating from the University of Tennessee with a finance and real estate degree, he and wife Sharon started with nothing as he began buying and selling real estate. By age 26, he had built a $4 million portfolio and had a net worth of a little over $1 million—“which, for a kid from Antioch, Tenn., is what we called rich,” Ramsey says.

Keeping Up with the Joneses

Only I borrowed too much money, of course, and this was back in the go-go ’80s, and our bank got sold to another bank and they called our note, and we spent the next two and a half years of our life losing everything we owned. We were sued and foreclosed on, and finally with a brand-new baby, a toddler, a marriage hanging on by a thread, we were bankrupt.”

The pressure and stress were tremendous. “We were freaked out, awake at night and fighting a lot,” he says. “

I had such an empty feeling,” Sharon Ramsey recalls in Financial Peace. “I felt that the whole world was crashing in on us.”

Dave Ramsey pauses to calculate the length of their struggle. “It took four years to get everything paid off. It wouldn’t take me as long now, because I know how to do things now.”

While he rebuilt, Ramsey was a self-employed real estate broker and took a giant dose of the medicine he now prescribes for others. He worked 80 hours a week and drove an embarrassingly beat-up, older-model car.

He blames many of his past money problems—and those of most financially troubled consumers—on the keeping-up-withthe Joneses mentality. And that’s a product of the great American marketing and advertising machine, he says. “We’re the most marketed-to culture in the world, and we have the highest spending in the world. “

We see someone with something nice, and we think, ‘I want one,’” regardless of its affordability. “The nature of marketing is to create discontentment, so that we think we need to make a purchase.”

After working his way out of that financial hole, Ramsey was intent on learning about money by talking to “old rich people,” he says. “I didn’t want to talk to young rich people; I’ve been him, I didn’t want his opinion. And when I did that, I discovered this disturbing thing called common sense: Live on less than you make; get out of debt; have some money set aside for a rainy day, because it’s going to rain; invest for the future; learn to give.”

Money Fundamentals

Practicing these money basics is key, and Ramsey has remained consistent in his message despite these wobbly economic times. “We’re still trying to get them to plan, write it down, budget. It’s that much more critical to budget in today’s economy,” he says. “We’re trying to get people to slow down, to have a long-term strategy on investing, to think long term and invest when real estate is down, when mutual funds are down.”

Ramsey’s message is getting through. “Every Friday people call my radio show with stories of becoming debt-free. They call and scream, ‘I am debt-free,’ after one-two-three years. They are increasing their income [even during the recession]. They take on more jobs. And because they’re focusing on income, they tend to get raises,” he says. “

One guy—he owns a landscape company—he doubled his income in the recession. He really, really wanted to get out of debt. He worked twice as much, and he worked twice as hard to get clients. He refused to participate in the recession.”

In analyzing the financial crisis, Ramsey concludes the real estate market dragged down other sectors of the economy. Job losses are a symptom of the recession, not a cause, he says. “During the 1982 recession, unemployment was higher and the interest rate on mortgages was 18 percent. The mortgage rate has stayed around 4 percent in this recession. In ’82, energy costs were up and we had double-digit inflation. “

All recessions have more than one element. This one is unusual because it was the first time we’ve seen real estate values plummet. That scared people because their homes weren’t worth as much. The unemployment and stock market losses aren’t that unusual in a recession.”

Recession’s Silver Lining

But Ramsey, 49, sees an upside to today’s economic turbulence. “The wonderful news about this recession is it will permanently change some people’s attitudes about spending and debt. It’s this generation’s Great Depression. People in their 30s have never experienced anything like this. They’ve learned their lessons. They’ll limit their lifestyle to stay under their income for their lifetimes. They’ll curb their spending and stay out of debt.”

And Ramsey isn’t just talking about white-collar, middle-class success stories. His case studies include people with low, five-digit incomes as well as those in the six-figure range.

Ramsey’s egalitarian plan requires that everyone who signs on must build an emergency fund, write a budget, pay off smallest debts fi rst, and carefully invest in simple, understandable instruments such as mutual funds.

He insists that both halves of a couple must be committed for his program to work, and he gives tips for enlisting the reluctant spouse. After all, Ramsey says, they’re in it together, and disagreements over money are a leading cause of divorce. A united financial front can strengthen their marriage.

The couple must function as a budget committee, Ramsey writes in Financial Peace, with the Nerd of the couple preparing the budget and the Free Spirit giving input as a fully participating partner.

His wife, Sharon—the Free Spirit of the couple— says the budget committee has made her husband a better listener. “We don’t make major decisions without each other’s and God’s direction. The budget committee has really helped us have a place to discuss things, and that meeting is one where Dave practices taking my input,” she says in Financial Peace.

To bring around a disinclined spouse, the one who’s already on board with Dave Ramsey’s program must tactfully point out the prudence of having a common goal and agreeing on a course for getting there.

Next he charts a no-skipping-around game plan (see “Baby Steps to a Money Makeover” above). He takes the participants from building a $1,000 emergency fund, which is Baby Step One, to debt-free wealth-building, which is Baby Step Seven.

Road to Prosperity

His most important advice is to “pay attention. Most people spend more time watching reality TV than picking their 401(k) investments. They don’t pay attention to the college fund until their kid is 18.”

And Ramsey’s No. 2 pearl of wisdom? “Get control of your most powerful wealth-building tool, your income.”

He acknowledges that knowing what to do and doing it are two different issues, and that’s why his message includes equal parts education and motivation.

For instance, his “snowball ” approach to eliminating debt— paying down the smallest, lowest-interest debt first to gain momentum for attacking the bigger debts— might seem counterintuitive. And Ramsey agrees on one level. “People say, ‘Why don’t we pay off the highest-interest rate first?’ That’d be mathematically correct. But, darling, if we were doing math, we wouldn’t have had credit card debt in the first place,” he says.

People need the quick wins to stay motivated and keep at it, he says, comparing the satisfaction of paying off one entire credit card after another to seeing slow and steady weight loss while dieting. “You need something that shows you’re getting traction. It keeps you moving. This is behavior modification. That’s why this works.”

And providing that motivation and hope is why Ramsey’s strategies work, helping people pull themselves out of dire situations and get on track to prosperity. Working up his best country-preacher fervor, he says, “The trick is to get fired up and wired up, and become sacrificial to win, living like no one else, so that later you can live like no one else.”

By Mary Vinnedge, Success Magazine

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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.

Somewhere along the way to becoming one of the richest men in rap, with a net worth estimated between $325 million and $500 million, he says it became more important to give back. With a business empire spanning music, television, theater, film and fashion, Simmons is driven by a belief that hip-hop is a powerful change agent. That belief extends to his work for social and philanthropic causes, too.

Simmons chairs four nonprofit foundations and is active in several others. His pet causes include promoting education, financial literacy and voting among young people, as well as providing access to the arts for disadvantaged youth.

“Hip-hop is about creating and maximizing opportunity,” Simmons says. “It is about transforming the American dream into a living reality.”

Simmons organizes the ‘Get Your Money Right’ hip-hop summits as a way to help young people empower themselves with the basic tools of financial empowerment. With the proper education and information about financial literacy, Simmons believes a young person today can work hard and still be successful, even during the current economic environment.

Simmons has shown remarkable vision, ambition and stamina over the years, shepherding innovative projects to fruition against the long odds of corporate indifference and racial marginalization. Through it all, he believes a few key principles have endowed him with a wealth of success and insight, and furthermore, the desire to empower others.

To access the power in you, follow Simmons’ lead with these key principles:

• See your vision and stick with it

• Always do you [be true to yourself]

• Get your mind right [meditation and prayer]

• Stop frontin’ and start today [stop saying “one day, I’m going to”]

• Never less than your best

• Surround yourself with the right people

• There are no failures, only quitters

• Science of success: plant the good seeds

• You can never get before you give

• Successful people stay open to change

• Be powerful, be heard

As he continues to move forward with his ever expanding empire, Simmons reiterates the need to focus on happiness and take an active role in the well-being of those around you.

“I’ve found that the resources I get are no good unless I give them back,” Simmons says. “That cycle of giving is the process that sustains you, makes you happy and makes you whole.”

By Juliette Guilbert, Success Magazine

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

1) Break goals into series of small goals
2) Tell friends and family that will support you to achieve the goals
3) Remind yourself of the benefits of achieving those goals
4) Give yourself a small reward after each small goal is reached
5) Map out your progress

Cheers!