Bruce’s Wealth Blog

As we look at stock portfolios, job losses, and our current economy, it is easy to feel sorry for ourselves.  But tomorrow is Thanksgiving.  And, on Thanksgiving we should be counting our blessings instead of the things that are wrong.

If you live in our country during this harsh economic time, regardless of your income level, you are still wealthier than 90% of the rest of the world.  I learned this year that in Cuba, income is limited to about $20.00 per month.  Just try living on $20.00 per month.  After you tried it, you can start counting your blessings.  The folks at the intersections of our country with cardboard signs make more than that in a single day.

If you wanted John McCain to win the election, you may be down in the dumps.  But since you live in America, you can now enjoy the privilege of complaining about Obama for the next four years without fear of death or being thrown in jail.  You may also be thankful that congressional elections are only two years away.

Maybe this is the year you planned to quit your job, but you couldn’t.  Guess what.  Like it or not, you still have a job that is paying most of your bills and is probably providing you with insurance.

Warning – Shameless Plug – Maybe you spent $20,000.00, or $30,000.00, or $40,000.00, or even more on a guru’s course and found the reality did not live up to the promise.  But as luck would have it, you can still join my Inner Circle for only $19.97 per month.  You could spend the rest of your life as a member and still not spend the big bucks you are paying to other "gurus."  Imagine how much education you could get from me during that time.  End Of Shameless Plug

Regardless of where you are and your perspective, there are things to be thankful for.  So, for this Thanksgiving spend some time counting your blessings.  Fill your belly full.  Then, have a wonderful nap!

Take care and Happy Thanksgiving.

Bruce..

As we dissect the campaign that got Barack Obama elected as our next president, and compare that to John McCain’s campaign we will see that while there really was not much substantive difference between the two platforms, there was a huge difference between the two campaigns.  Over the next several weeks I am going to dissect the structure of Barack Obama’s organization and the role it played in getting him elected.  As I do that, I will relate it to the organization of our businesses and discuss how to use that model to help us accomplish our goals and dreams.  But before I start, I will say this.  The decision America made was a result of one undeniable fact.  It had nothing to do with race.  It had nothing to do with party affiliation.  It didn’t even have much to do with the economy, the war in Iraq, or even President Bush, although they did play minor roles.  The one thing that got Barack Obama his mandate from the American people is this:  John McCain was doing his best to look presidential.  Barack Obama simply was presidential.

The Message

One of the reasons Barack Obama was presidential during the campaign was the fact that he had a message, and with few exceptions he stuck to that message.  Consistency is one of the most important qualities of a leader.  The message was that President Bush started a war he didn’t need to start, let those greedy business owners suck all the money out of the economy, America has lost its way and has lost the respect of the rest of the world, and Americans are hurting as a result.  The second part of his message was that John McCain would do the same.  Much of the message was not true but that didn’t matter.  Barack Obama stuck to the message like a locomotive sticks to the tracks while pulling a train along the track.  And, just like he was coming down off a mountain side the Obama locomotive kept going faster and faster along those same tracks.

If we compare that to John McCain, McCain was not a locomotive.  He was a jet ski on the water.  He would go one direction then flip around and go somewhere else never hitting the same water twice.  When a hurricane hit Louisiana, the jet ski postponed the convention so he could look presidential.  But the locomotive kept chugging down the hill and was presidential.  When the economy crashed and congress was thinking about a bailout package, the jet ski "suspended his campaign" to look presidential.  But the locomotive kept chugging down the hill.  Even though the engineer of that locomotive needed to participate in bailout discussions, the assistant engineer kept the locomotive chugging down the hill.  The locomotive was still presidential.  In the days leading up to the first debate, the jet ski wanted to postpone the first debate so he could look presidential.  The locomotive just kept chugging down the hill and was presidential.  On November 4, 2008, the jet ski found himself sitting on the tracks, and the locomotive just plowed right through that jet ski because the locomotive had to be on time to its next stop.  The next stop was the White House, because the locomotive was presidential.

How does this pertain to our business?  What on earth does this have to do with being an entrepreneur?  Well, it pertains because the entrepreneur is a jet ski.  Entrepreneurs notoriously have short attention spans.  As soon as we start one thing, we see something shiny and follow it.  Then while we are following that shiny thing, we see something else shiny and follow it.  Sometimes we even find ourselves stranded on the train tracks watching a locomotive come closer and closer until it runs right through us because it has to be on time to its next stop.

American entrepreneurs are even worse off than most.  Not only should we be taking massive doses of Ritalin to treat our chronically acute attention deficit, but we live in a society that has little or no patience either.  Part of the reason we are in the financial mess we are in is because we are not willing to save up to buy the next thing.  We need it and we need it now.  If we don’t have the money, we just hand the cashier a little plastic card.  We are fickle, impatient, and willing to follow the next shiny object regardless of what it is.  When we hear the next multi-level marketing program is the best wealth making strategy we follow it even though it has nothing to do with our investing.  Then there is the new real estate technique that has never been done before making people millions.  So we follow that until we find out it is illegal.  Is it any wonder that most small businesses fail before they ever get started?

Step 1 in your journey to success is to find your niche.  Find something about which you are passionate.  Find out where it is needed, who needs it, and why they need it.  Then like the locomotive, build your tracks so you can deliver your passion to every station that needs it or wants it.  Then start chugging and don’t worry about the jet skis.  And when they are foolish enough to sit on the tracks in front of you, just smash through because you need to be on time to your next stop.  You will never have to look like a wealthy person.  You will be a wealthy person. 

And now we can truly say this:  If your passion is the White House, then regardless of your race, religion, or anything else you won’t have to worry about looking presidential.  You will be presidential.  America is the land of opportunity for everyone.

Be the locomotive.

Bruce…

I would be remiss if I didn’t comment on the historic election of Barack Obama.  I will be back on topic at the end of the week.

To All:  Whether you voted for Barack Obama or John McCain, you exercised your responsibility to vote in record numbers.  President – Elect Obama has broken barriers and in doing so is deserving of our respect and admiration.  Maybe the racial chasm that has been ever present in our country is a little narrower – a little shallower today than it was yesterday.  We have given him a mandate to lead our nation to a better place than it is today.  It is up to us to give him the support he needs to do so.

To President – Elect Obama:  You did not earn my vote today.  But you did earn my respect and admiration.  You have done a great thing.  You have been given a mandate from what I think is a more united America.  You have been given a mandate to lead us back into prosperity and to do so with integrity, honesty, wisdom, and discernment.   I hope that you can heal the deep wounds that exist and divide this country.  I also hope that you can set an example that will help us as a people to regain our trust in our government and to strengthen the moral fiber that is critical for the future of our country and our society.  Maybe, just maybe, in four years you will also earn my vote.  Good luck and Godspeed.

Bruce..