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- Herausgeber: John Wiley & Sons
- Kategorie: Fachliteratur
- Sprache: Englisch
An inspiring guide to getting off the road to more debt and financial insecurity and on the road to wealth and financial freedom You can take charge of your financial future. You can reduce your debt, increase your net worth and enjoy a life of prosperity. You can stop struggling, doing things the way you've always have, and embark on a new pathway to wealth. So what's stopping you? According to bestselling motivational author and wealth building advisor, Pat Mesiti, it's all about identifying what's wrong with the way you think and feel about money and the path they've put you on. And it's about creating a new, more prosperous path for yourself. * Provides you with the tools you need to create your own roadmap to greater wealth and financial security * Gives you priceless insights into your wealth-defeating mindset and how to stop repeating the same mistakes and start building wealth by design--not by chance * Offers proven prescriptions for digging your way out of the debt-heavy financial rut you're in so you can start building wealth right away * Features numerous inspiring case studies of Mesiti clients and mentees who found financial freedom following his "shift your mind, touch your heart" approach to wealth
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Seitenzahl: 251
Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2012
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Pathway to Prosperity
Table of Contents
First published in 2013 by Wrightbooks an imprint of John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd 42 McDougall St, Milton Qld 4064
Office also in Melbourne
Typeset in 10.5/12.5 pt ITC Giovanni Std
© Pat Mesiti 2013
The moral rights of the author have been asserted
National Library of Australia Cataloguing-in-Publication entry:
Author: Mesiti, Pat.
Title: Pathway to prosperity: the 12 steps to financial freedom / Pat Mesiti.
ISBN: 9781118523995 (pbk.)
Subjects: Finance, Personal.
Wealth.
Dewey Number: 332.024
All rights reserved. Except as permitted under the Australian Copyright Act 1968 (for example, a fair dealing for the purposes of study, research, criticism or review), no part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, communicated or transmitted in any form or by any means without prior written permission. All inquiries should be made to the publisher at the address above.
Internal design by Peter Reardon, pipelinedesign.com.au
Cover design by saso content & design
Author photo: Dennis Iezzi
Printed in China by Printplus Limited
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Disclaimer
The material in this publication is of the nature of general comment only, and does not represent professional advice. It is not intended to provide specific guidance for particular circumstances and it should not be relied on as the basis for any decision to take action or not take action on any matter which it covers. Readers should obtain professional advice where appropriate, before making any such decision. To the maximum extent permitted by law, the author and publisher disclaim all responsibility and liability to any person, arising directly or indirectly from any person taking or not taking action based on the information in this publication.
To my daughter Sophia Grace Mesiti, our joy bringer.
About the author
Pat is a highly effective communicator and income acceleration coach. His passion is to equip and empower individuals and businesses to experience growth and prosperity to their full potential. He is an expert in shifting mindsets and building bigger people to produce results.
Pat has spoken at some of the largest conferences around the world, and his books and materials have sold over two million copies. Having built some of Australia’s largest people–driven organisations, Pat understands the power of harnessing people’s potential.
Pat Mesiti’s enthusiasm combined with his great sense of humour gives him the ability to move an audience into action as well as give them practical resources to help them achieve their goals. He is a gifted communicator and adds tremendous value to the lives he touches. Pat is dynamic, entertaining and unforgettable!
Acknowledgements
Thank you to Kirstie Wood for always being there to type up my messes. A big thank you to Steven Slaven Spehar for checking the manuscript in the early days and giving me great insights. To Mark Badham for transcribing and translating my thoughts. To my editor Jem Bates — you are absolutely brilliant. To everyone in the Mesiti team for your tireless hard work. And thank you to my beautiful wife Andrea, who is selfless.
Introduction
Are you where you want to be?
I have a goal to create 10 000 millionaires in my lifetime. That’s why I run special events every year. That’s why I travel the world speaking to men and women who hunger for financial success. That’s why I’ve written this book. You see, I want you to become wealthy and prosperous, and I believe you can.
The word prosperity comes from the Latin prosperare, which means to prosper, thrive or flourish. I love those words! And I know you do too. After all, that’s why you picked up this book. Unfortunately, most people can’t honestly use these words to describe their life. So many of us aspire to prosperity, but our reality is quite different. We want to be financially secure, but we’re struggling to get there. The purpose of this book is to help you get from where you are now to where you want to be. I want to show you how to live your life by design, not by default.
Some 98 per cent of people spend their lives working hard, only to end up with fewer financial resources than they had planned. Most would confess that financially their life did not turn out the way they had hoped it would. In Million Dollar Habits, speaker and author Robert Ringer wrote: ‘The world is saturated with intelligent, highly educated, extraordinarily skilled people who experience ongoing frustration because of their lack of success. Millions of others spend their lives working hard, long hours only to die broke.’ In 2010 the National Bureau of Economic Research found that nearly 50 per cent of Americans would be unable to come up with $2000 in 30 days if an emergency arose. That means half the country is living one pay cheque away from financial collapse.
There is often a tension between where we want to end up in life and the path we choose to get there. We fail to see that good intentions are never enough. We need to understand why, despite our good intentions, we may have ended up at the wrong financial destination. One reason is that we are surrounded by people who are moving in the wrong direction with us. In recent years in Australia, New Zealand, the US and the UK, for example, many people made the same bad decisions that led to too much debt: they bought overpriced houses they could not afford while they did not have enough savings in the bank. When everyone around us is doing the same thing we’re doing, it’s easy to deceive ourselves into thinking it will work out. And when we end up where those poor decisions take us, we’re confused about how we got there.
Over the years I’ve talked to many individuals and couples with financial problems who assure me they are close to a solution — a fix here or an adjustment there. But just as there is no easy fix when you accidentally wind up a hundred miles from where you want to be on a road trip, there is no quick fix when you wake up to the reality that you are far away from where you want to be financially.
Some years ago I was inLos Angeles and decided to drive myself to the airport. My hosts had given me some simple directions and a hand-drawn, step-by-step map, so I climbed into the rental car, grabbed the wheel and took off. My objective was to negotiate a labyrinth of interconnected freeways in a foreign city, yet I was so confident I decided to take a shortcut. Instead of getting onto Interstate 405, I decided to take another freeway that I thought would get me to the airport a lot quicker.
It wasn’t long before it dawned on me that I had taken a wrong turn, but I didn’t stop. I just kept driving. An hour later I found myself in what looked like one of the most rundown city neighbourhoods in America. Here I was, a budding young preacher travelling the globe, selling my message of good news, driving a rental car loaded with suitcases and t-shirts, and I had no idea where I was. I began to get nervous, and the more wrong turns I took, the more anxious I became. Worse still, it was dark outside and I could no longer see the street signs.
As I turned into a small street I noticed a light outside a van selling burgers. By now I was ready to ask for directions, so I pulled up next to the burger stand and got out of the car. As I began to ask for directions I suddenly found myself surrounded by four young men. ‘What are you doing around here?’ one asked. ‘This is not your place!’
Here I was in a dark street, in a foreign city, absolutely lost, accosted by four gang members. My knees started shaking and my mouth went dry. I knew I was in deep trouble, but all that came to mind was Crocodile Dundee. And in moments like that you don’t think, you just act. So in a broad, true-blue Australian accent, I said, ‘Oh, g’day fellas. I’m from Australia and I’m trying to find Los Angeles Airport. I’m totally lost!’
The mood changed in an instant. They stepped back and smiled. ‘You’re from Australia? You know Crocodile Dundee?’
‘Yeah, I’m a neighbour,’ I replied. ‘I live just down the road from his place.’
‘Man, we love that scene where he says, “That’s not a knife — this is a knife!”’
‘Yeah, in Australia we all carry knives like that.’
We were instant friends. Those boys ended up giving me directions to get back on track. The difference was that this time I listened.
Now I want to give you some directions too, so listen up. The first thing you’ve got to do is recognise where you are right now financially. Be very honest with yourself (after all, this is just between you and me). Don’t let another day go by in which you ignore the real situation you are in. Once you’ve given it some attention, ask yourself, did you plan to arrive where you are today or did you arrive here by accident? In other words, are you where you are by design or by default?
If you’re massively in debt, tied to a business or job you don’t like or living in a home in a suburb that’s not ideal, then my guess is you’re not there by design. But if you’re there by default, I don’t want you to worry too much . . . because you’re not alone. You’re living in a society full of people just like you.
Now it’s my turn to be very honest with you: I’m here to tell you that you are where you are today largely because of the steps you took along the way. It’s no good placing the blame on your upbringing, your background, your education, your accountant or the government. You are responsible for your current financial situation. But here’s the upside: you can do something about it. You can get out of your current financial surroundings. You can reduce your debt, increase your worth, make wiser investments . . . and even give away a lot more than you do now. And I want to help you get there.
Do you remember that great song by the band Talking Heads called ‘We’re on a Road to Nowhere’? You may feel like that sometimes. Or maybe you feel you’re on a carousel and don’t know how to get off. I have some good news for you: you can change the path you’re on. Your destination — your destiny — is in your hands. It’s up to you where you end up — with your finances, your business or career, your relationships and even your health. If you follow the right pathways you will prosper in all these areas. You just need to ask for directions, take advice and stick to the right roads. And if you find you are on the wrong pathway, you can get off again and find the right one. It’s your choice. It’s not too late to jump onto the path that leads to financial success.
If there’s one thing you don’t need in your world it’s another solution, another quick fix, another get-rich-quick scheme. Some of us think, Oh if I could just get connected on the internet it would be the answer to my financial problems. Or, I’ll buy and sell a few properties, and then I’ll be able to retire in a few years. Wrong! Most likely you’ll make the kinds of decisions you’ve always made and end up financially worse off. Why? Because you are looking for solutions. This book is about directions, not solutions. If you want to get from where you are to where you want to be financially, the answer is not in a solution. The answer is getting the right directions to steer you onto the right pathways to financial freedom. Certain pathways will surely lead to financial rewards; others will guarantee your financial ruin. Pathways are predictable like that.
A lot of people tell me they want to ‘make it’ financially. ‘I want to make it in business,’ they say. ‘I want to make it in property!’ ‘I want to make it in the stock market!’ Well, I don’t agree. I don’t want you to make it. I want you to build it. There is a huge difference between making it and building it. In the 30+ years I’ve been helping people create prosperity, I’ve seen many people make it and then lose it. Making money is not as important as building it. I want to teach you how to build your wealth so that it sustains you for many years to come. I want to increase your capacity to earn money over time. I want you to enjoy life, to prosper and flourish long term, to experience all the good things life has to offer, to taste what it’s like to live a life of abundance and increase.
Why am I encouraging you to build a life of prosperity? Because I’ve learned that money is good and that there’s enough of it on this Earth for everyone. I want to acquire all I can, give all I can and save all I can. And I am committed to the financial success of others, including you. In fact, I hope you will become one of my 10 000 millionaires. Will you join me on the pathway to prosperity?
Chapter 1
What path are you on?
The pathway to your prosperity
Late one night, many years ago, I received a phone call that my father had collapsed. We knew he had been suffering from cancer, but we weren’t yet aware of how far the cancer had spread through his body. I hung up the phone, jumped in the car and sped off towards his home. I’d had a very busy day, and now I was on my way to see my father for what might be the last time. In my frantic state, I made an impulsive decision to try a new route. Between my father’s home and mine a new housing estate had sprung up. I had never driven through the area, but that night (it was long before the days of car navigation systems) I decided to navigate my way through the maze of new streets to try to save time.
Now, those who know me well know I don’t have a strong sense of geographical direction at the best of times (a shortcoming already illustrated in the introduction), but that night I was desperate to get to my father as quickly as possible. As I ventured into the new suburb I became aware of three problems: first, the street lights had not been switched on; second, some of the street signs had not yet been erected; and third, there was no moonlight. It was pitch black outside, but now I was committed. My journey had its own momentum and, a typical man, I was incapable of turning back or stopping to ask for directions.
Five minutes later I knew I was lost and for the first time I felt a wave of panic sweep over me. The more I panicked, the more lost I became, and the more I was lost, the more distressed and desperate I became. Now I couldn’t remember how to get back and I had no idea how to move forward in the right direction. I was lost in the dark . . . and my father was dying.
Getting utterly lost like that is a horrible experience, but getting lost financially has far greater implications. Have you arrived at a financial destination you hadn’t planned for? Is it less rewarding than you had expected? Have you found yourself in a financial rut that you can’t see any way out of? Like me that night, you may have found yourself lost (financially, I mean) with no signs to guide you back on course.
I did eventually find my father’s house, and I got to talk to him before he passed away a few weeks later. Being lost — geographically or financially — is something we have all experienced. In this book I want to show you how to find your way out of the financial fog. I want to show you how to get from where you are now financially to where you need to be — to show you how to build wealth. My aim is to equip you with some incredible tools that will help you build a life that is financially rewarding for you, your family, your friends and your community.
Recently I read a book that changed my life. It’s called The Principle of the Path and in it author Andy Stanley describes a unifying principle that governs what happens in every area of our lives, including our finances. Let me unravel this principle a little more.
Whether you know it or not, you are on a path heading somewhere in life. Some paths lead to good destinations; others lead to less desirable places. Your destination is determined by the decisions you make throughout your life. It has nothing to do with your level of intelligence, education, goals or even wealth. In other words, it doesn’t matter how educated or smart you are, or how connected you are when you start out — if you’re on the wrong path you’ll end up at the wrong place. The only way to get to your desired destination is to pick the right path.
With the right information, pathways to wealth can be predictable. Most of our financial challenges are the result of bad advice. That’s why it’s critical that we ask for directions from the right people.
If you’re on the wrong path you’ll end up at the wrong place.
How do I start for the Emerald City?
Remember The Wizard of Oz? For those of you who are too young to have seen the movie or read the book, let me summarise the story, because there’s a life-changing lesson in that old classic. Dorothy has been swept into a strange world by a storm and she sets out to find her way home. First she meets Glinda, the good witch of the north. Glinda tells her she must seek advice from the great wizard of Oz, who lives in the Emerald City. Dorothy asks: ‘But how do I start for the Emerald City?’ It’s a simple question that we should all ask when we start out on our financial journey. I’m not saying we should all head for the Emerald City, of course. But the Emerald City can symbolise our financial destinations, and the sooner we ask the right questions, the sooner we will begin to make progress.
‘How do I start out to have my car paid off in three years?’
‘How do I start out to save enough money to pay for my children’s education?’
‘How do I start out to own three homes in 10 years?’
‘How do I start out to have enough money to retire at age 60?’
And Glinda’s famous answer applies to all of us seeking to know how to get from where we are to a place of financial success. She tells Dorothy: ‘It’s always best to start at the beginning — and all you do is follow the yellow brick road.’
Now, like any journey in life, Dorothy encounters a few obstacles that could have knocked her off course and even stopped her progress, but she doesn’t get sidetracked or lost. What’s her secret? She sticks strictly to the path. She takes one step at a time, following that yellow brick road. Eventually she finds herself in the Emerald City simply because that’s where the yellow brick road led, and that was the path she chose.
The origin of the path
The principle of the path is not a new idea — it’s as old as humanity, cutting across time, religion and culture. As the late Jim Rohn would have said, beware of the man who tries to sell you a new antique. Sometimes, though, the familiar can be missed, forgotten in the rush. Over the years I have seen the path lead a lot of people to great financial, emotional and personal rewards. At the same time, I have seen the principle violated, ignored or mishandled with sometimes devastating consequences. When I ran a drug rehabilitation centre in Sydney I worked with young men who had chosen a path whose destination was predictable to everyone except the person in the middle of it. We never deliberately choose to follow a destructive path. Most of life’s personal as well as financial disasters are a result of poor decision making based on quite subtle influences. You sow a thought, you reap an act; you sow an act, you reap a habit; you sow a habit, you form a destiny.
Let me offer an illustration. A young man who desperately seeks the approval of his friends jumps at the chance to go out partying with them. One of his older buddies passes around a joint. At first he is shocked, then there’s the adrenalin rush and he thinks, ‘Hey, all my friends are doing it,’ and once never hurt anyone, did it? So he takes his first step. As time goes by the occasional puff isn’t enough. He’s rolling joints, and his friends don’t discourage it — in fact, they think it’s pretty cool and he’s feeling more accepted. Then they start to go to all-night dance parties where someone offers him a pill to keep him feeling high all night. Of course, he has no idea what’s in it or who made it. That’s his second step. He has no job now, and his behaviour is starting to form a pattern. When he’s not taking dope, depression kicks in and he feels like no-one understands him. His parents just don’t get him, his father is always picking on him and then his girlfriend dumps him. Someone suggests he try shooting up, because it feels great and you can just escape all the hassles of life for a while. Soon he’s injecting heroin, and before you know it he’s caught breaking and entering. Now he’s an addict facing a prison sentence.
Let me give you another illustration. He’s a middle-aged man and a bit of a workaholic. At home the zing has gone out of his marriage, and the more hostile the relationship becomes, the more he retreats into work. It’s just as well he earns a good salary, because they keep needing new stuff — a new car, a bigger home as the kids grow up and need more room to play (they can’t just go to the park or the beach). Starved of intimacy at home, he starts to take more notice of a cute girl in the office, and she obviously likes him. The truth is, she can’t help comparing him with her lazy bum of a boyfriend and thinking how nice it would be to be looked after the way this guy obviously looks after his family. So they find more excuses to be in each other’s company and they text each other all the time . . . now you fill in the blanks. How many of you can recognise this path?
I’m not here as anyone’s moral policeman, but let’s apply the same principle to your financial life. You start off with a manageable home mortgage. Later you want something bigger, and you need new furniture because the old stuff doesn’t quite work in the new house. Of course, like every soccer mum you need a four-wheel-drive big enough to fit five kids (even though you have only one), and you have to buy new clothes, even though you’ve hardly worn most of last year’s. If your husband could just land that new job or if he was paid what he was really worth, you’d be able to afford these things — and, by the way, the new iPhone and iPad are coming out soon so of course you’ll need those. Oh and our friends are going away for a three-day luxury weekend — I know it’s a little expensive on top of our three weeks in the snow and the two weeks at the beach in the summer, but don’t we deserve it?
Can you see the pattern here? When people with a Kmart income want to live a Gucci lifestyle, no wonder their path leads to financial ruin. None of these pleasures are wrong in themselves. If you can afford the new car and all the other stuff, go for it, but if you want to play now you have to understand that you’ll end up paying for it for the rest of your life.
Our steps form a path in one direction
What steps have you taken that brought you to where you are today? The truth is that every financial decision you make is a step in a certain direction. Each decision you make is connected to the next and the next . . . Your decisions form a pattern that eventually connects you from A to B right through to Z. In time you can look back on your life or your business or your career and see how the decision dots connected to lead you to where you are now.
Your decisions form a pattern that eventually connects you from A to B right through to Z.
It’s funny how we can shake our heads over the patterns of behaviour we see in other people’s lives yet we cannot see them in our own life! I’m sure you know people who seem to have it all together and you’ve wondered how they did it, because you don’t know them well enough to see the right decisions — which are often the tough decisions — they made along the way. That’s the truth of it: these people made more right decisions than others.
Recently I was watching the Wallabies play the All Blacks in a rugby match. From high up in the stadium, I could look down on the field and see all the players in their respective positions as the match unfolded. During critical stages in the game I even saw try-scoring opportunities forming before the players themselves would have seen them. That’s the advantage of an elevated view: you can see the steps taken and the momentum building in a certain direction much better than you can at ground level. But I found it frustrating to watch because there was nothing I could do about it.
