The Pledge E-Book

Michael Masterson

• Herausgeber: John Wiley & Sons
• Kategorie: Fachliteratur
• Serie: Agora Series
• Sprache: Englisch
• Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2010

Seitenzahl: 359

Beschreibung

An actionable guide for quickly improving one's wealth, personal development, and happiness Successful people don't sit around waiting for everything to be "100%" right or to be "absolutely sure" they will succeed. They don't need absolute assurance, because they realize life doesn't provide any. To get what they want out of life, they set specific goals and put together a formal plan to achieve those goals, one step at a time. Successful people know that the cost of failure is modest compared to that of inaction. Failure means they are smarter the next time. Inaction means there is no next time-there's only a lifetime of regret. In The Pledge: Your Master Plan for an Abundant Life, author Michael Masterson reveals how to become successful-and not just financially, but in every area of life. The book * Offers simple tips to making immediate changes and to establishing long-term goals * Details strategies on becoming more productive at the office and defeating depression * Explains why simplifying goals into four major ones makes them much easier to achieve The Pledge teaches readers how to start and finish projects they have been dreaming about for years, boost confidence, strengthen skills, build wealth, and enjoy life.

Leseprobe

Table of Contents

Title Page

Copyright Page

Dedication

Acknowledgments

Introduction

HOW GOOD IS YOUR LIFE? TAKE THIS TEST AND FIND OUT

WITH WHOM YOU DO IT . . . YOUR PARTNERS, VENDORS, AND MAIN CLIENTS

WHERE YOU DO IT . . . THE PLACE YOU LIVE AND WORK

HOW TO SCORE

OBSTACLES TO ACHIEVEMENT: WHY YOU CAN’T GET STARTED

Part One - YOUR MASTER PLAN FOR AN ABUNDANT LIFE

WHAT DOES IT REALLY TAKE TO CHANGE YOUR LIFE?

REINVENT YOUR LIFE WITH A PROVEN PLAN FOR SUCCESS

INTRODUCING THE MASTER PLAN

Part Two - HOW TO TURN YOUR BIGGEST DREAMS INTO REALITY

ARE YOU SETTING GOALS . . . OR STILL DREAMING?

THE VOCABULARY OF ACCOMPLISHMENT

BEFORE SETTING YOUR LONG-TERM GOALS, FIGURE OUT YOUR CORE VALUES

SETTING SEVEN-YEAR GOALS AND SHORTER-TERM OBJECTIVES

USING DAILY TASK LISTS TO ACCOMPLISH YOUR GOALS

HOW TO MAKE MEASURABLE PROGRESS TOWARD YOUR MOST-NEGLECTED GOALS

TRACKING YOUR SUCCESS: WHY YOU SHOULD KEEP A DAILY JOURNAL

Part Three - YOUR ABUNDANT LIFE, DAY BY DAY

HOW TO BECOME AN EARLY RISER

A LIFE-CHANGING EARLY-MORNING ROUTINE

YOUR PERFECT DAY! HOW TO ALLOCATE YOUR HOURS FOR MAXIMUM PRODUCTIVITY

THREE STEPS TO SUCCESS: THINKING, ACTING, AND BREAKING UP THE DAY

HOW TO BE ON TOP OF EVERYTHING

FOUR THINGS YOU CAN DO TO GIVE YOURSELF MORE TIME TO BE MORE SUCCESSFUL

HOW TO CREATE A PERFECTLY ORGANIZED OFFICE

HOW TO CHANGE YOUR WORK HABITS AND BECOME A SUCCESS MACHINE

Part Four - CREATING A RICHER, MORE ENJOYABLE LIFE

MAKING OUR LIVES GOLDEN: THE CHOICES WE HAVE

REWARDING YOURSELF

FIVE STRATEGIES FOR LIVING A SIMPLER, FULLER LIFE

WANTING THINGS

EMOTIONAL DETACHMENT AND THE ZEN OF GOLF

PUT A LITTLE LEVITY IN YOUR LIFE

Part Five - THE PUSH YOU NEED TO SUCCEED

GIVE YOURSELF A KICK IN THE PANTS

THE JUNKIE’S SECRET

WHY POSITIVE THINKING DOESN’T WORK FOR MOST PEOPLE

TOO SCARED TO TRY? A FORMULA FOR DEFEATING THE FEAR OF FAILURE

HOW TO BECOME WHAT YOU WANT TO BE

WHEN TO DOUBT YOURSELF

TAKING THE BIG LEAP

CHECKING YOUR PROGRESS

Part Six - SKILLS OF THE MOST SUCCESSFUL

WHY YOU CAN LEARN SO MUCH FROM A MENTOR

WHAT DANCING CAN TEACH YOU ABOUT LEADERSHIP

THE POWER OF A SIMPLE QUESTION

DOUBLE YOUR PERSONAL POWER BY MASTERING ONE SKILL

THE RIGHT WAY TO TAKE A WORKING VACATION

READ TO SUCCEED

Part Seven - THE OBSTACLES TO YOUR SUCCESS—AND HOW TO DEFEAT THEM

WHEN DISASTER STRIKES

GIVING UP YOUR INFORMATION ADDICTION

INFORMATION OVERLOAD: HOW TO ESCAPE THE CRUSH

INFORMATION OVERLOAD: THE E-MAIL PROBLEM

HOW TO GET OUT OF THAT DAMNED RUT

WHEN YOUR LIFE SUDDENLY TAKES A TURN FOR THE WORSE

NINE STEPS TO DEFEATING DEPRESSION

Part Eight - BUILDING YOUR WEALTH

HOW MUCH ARE YOU WORTH? FIGURE IT OUT AND MAKE YOUR LIFE MUCH, MUCH RICHER

WHAT IT REALLY TAKES TO BECOME WEALTHY

PAY YOURSELF FIRST AND GET RICH AUTOMATICALLY

THE BEST WAY TO RISE TO THE TOP OF ANY BUSINESS

FIVE SECRETS TO DOUBLING YOUR MONEY EVERY THREE YEARS

HOW TO THINK LIKE A BILLIONAIRE

HOW NATURAL-BORN BILLIONAIRES FEEL ABOUT CHANGE

THE KEY TO ENJOYING A GREAT RETIREMENT (AND A LIFETIME OF HAPPINESS)

BECOMING A BETTER PERSON

CONCLUSION

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

INDEX

Copyright © 2011 by Michael Masterson. All rights reserved.

Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey. Published simultaneously in Canada.

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning, or otherwise, except as permitted under Section 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without either the prior written permission of the Publisher, or authorization through payment of the appropriate per-copy fee to the Copyright Clearance Center, Inc., 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, [phone], fax [phone], or on the Web at www.copyright.com. Requests to the Publisher for permission should be addressed to the Permissions Department, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030, [phone], fax [phone], or online at www.wiley.com/go/permissions.

Limit of Liability/Disclaimer of Warranty: While the publisher and author have used their best efforts in preparing this book, they make no representations or warranties with respect to the accuracy or completeness of the contents of this book and specifically disclaim any implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. No warranty may be created or extended by sales representatives or written sales materials. The advice and strategies contained herein may not be suitable for your situation. You should consult with a professional where appropriate. Neither the publisher nor author shall be liable for any loss of profit or any other commercial damages, including but not limited to special, incidental, consequential, or other damages.

For general information on our other products and services or for technical support, please contact our Customer Care Department within the United States at [phone], outside the United States at [phone] or fax [phone].

Wiley also publishes its books in a variety of electronic formats. Some content that appears in print may not be available in electronic books. For more information about Wiley products, visit our web site at www.wiley.com.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data:

Masterson, Michael.

The pledge : your master plan for an abundant life / by Michael Masterson.

p. cm.

Includes index.

ISBN 978-0-470-92240-8 (hardback); 978-0-470-94927-6 (ebk); 978-0-470-94926-9 (ebk)

1. Success. 2. Self-actualization (Psychology) 3. Success in business. 4. Finance, Personal. I. Title.

BF637.S8M315 2011

650.1—dc22

2010034714

To Stephen Covey and Dale Carnegie, who helpedme learn the art and science of prioritization,planning, organization, and getting things done.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I would like to thank the following people for their help with this book:

Kim Lansdale for her efforts in finalizing the text and putting it all together in a cohesive package.

Suzanne Richardson for her work in selecting and compiling the essays in this book.

Jason Holland for his quick and enthusiastic work in checking facts and tracking down supporting data.

Judith Strauss for her efforts to make my sentences clean and comprehensible.

Introduction

HOW TO LIVE YOUR ABUNDANT LIFE STARTING TODAY

We all want better lives, but too few of us are willing to make the changes necessary to have them.

Take my old friend Joe S., for example. Every time I see him—which is not very often these days—he complains about his (a) wife, (b) job, (c) kids, (d) body, and (e) friends. Usually he manages to complain about all those topics before he finishes a single beer. In the past I used to encourage him to change.

“Go to a marriage counselor,” I suggested.

“They don’t do anything,” he assured me.

“Then get a divorce.”

“It’s cheaper to keep her.”

All our early conversations went that way. Then I stopped making suggestions. Nowadays, when we meet, I have one beer and then get going.

Joe is an extreme example. He says he wants to change, but he doesn’t really. He prefers to keep doing what he’s always done. To lead a miserable life and waste his spare time complaining about it.

Joe is stuck. So is John K., a UK-based electrical engineer who had been reading my daily e-letter Early to Rise (ETR) for about three months when he wrote me. John said that although he regularly found “excellent” ideas in ETR, he couldn’t get started. His problem: He “lacked motivation.”

As an educated man, John could “recognize the opportunities present in . . . real estate, import/export, online, etc.,” but couldn’t get started on any of them unless he was “absolutely, 100 percent sure” that he would be successful.

He recognized that he was disabled by a fear of failing. But knowing you have an emotional problem doesn’t mean you can solve it. “How can I get by this obstacle?” he wanted to know.

This is a book for people like John. People who want to improve their lives, but—for whatever reason—find they have been unable to do so.

HOW GOOD IS YOUR LIFE? TAKE THIS TEST AND FIND OUT

One of my favorite maxims is this: The quality of your working life can be determined by answering three very simple questions:

1. What will you do?

2. With whom?

3. Where?

I like the simplicity of that. And it makes sense. The amount of joy you have every day depends so much on making three wise selections:

1. The career you choose.

2. The business associates you choose.

3. The place you choose.

Chances are you’ve already made those three choices. You may have made them without much thought or made them passively by not choosing. But you are living with your choices.

Before we do another thing—and there are all sorts of wonderful things I’d like to do together in this book—let’s review the decisions you’ve made.

Take the following three-part test. Then see what I have to say about your score.

What You Do . . . Your Career

Rate your business or career by assigning a number between 1 and 10 for each of the following questions. A 10 means it describes your business perfectly. A 1 means it doesn’t apply at all to your business.

If you are an entrepreneur or professional, use this set of questions:

__ It is difficult to knock off because it has a unique selling proposition.

__ It is scalable: It can grow much bigger without my doing much more work.

__ It has a low overhead with low rents and no requirement for large capital investments.

__ It can be marketed well through the Internet and can take advantage of full direct marketing.

__ It has little or no inventory.

__ It is subject to few government regulations.

__ It is cash-flow positive. It can fund its growth through its own cash flow.

__ It has minimal labor requirements: It takes no more than four employees to generate $1 million in revenues.

__ It has an unlimited capacity to create wealth for me.

__ It challenges me fully—creatively, intellectually, emotionally.

If you are an employee, use this set of questions:

__ It takes advantage of my skills.

__ It challenges my logical brain fully.

__ It challenges my creative brain fully.

__ It meshes well with my lifestyle.

__ It surrounds me with interesting, intelligent people.

__ It gives me the opportunity to excel and advance.

__ It encourages independent thinking.

__ It offers mentoring.

__ It gives me a chance to learn new skills.

__ It makes honesty and providing value to customers a top priority.

WITH WHOM YOU DO IT . . . YOUR PARTNERS, VENDORS, AND MAIN CLIENTS

Rate your business associates by assigning a number between 1 and 10 for each of the following questions. A 10 means it describes your business associates perfectly. A 1 means it doesn’t apply at all to your business associates.

__ Share my value system.

__ Appreciate my strengths.

__ Forgive my weaknesses.

__ Make business deals beneficial to all parties.

__ Share my ideas about what is right and wrong.

__ Bring skills I don’t have to the table.

__ Are willing to talk through disagreements or misunderstandings.

__ Do not exhibit bad behavior, such as verbal abuse of colleagues.

__ Aren’t prone to endless planning and preparation.

__ Embrace new technology and techniques.

Now rate your key employees:

__ Share my value system.

__ Are productive and hardworking.

__ Bring skills I don’t have to the table.

__ Support my business goals.

__ Treat everyone, including competitors, with respect.

__ Trust my judgment.

__ Follow directions and advice.

__ Are receptive to change.

__ Do not panic at the first sign of defeat.

__ Are always willing to learn . . . and teach.

WHERE YOU DO IT . . . THE PLACE YOU LIVE AND WORK

Rate the location where you live and work by assigning a number between 1 and 10 for each of the following questions. A 10 means it describes your location perfectly. A 1 means it doesn’t apply at all to your location.

__ Has my perfect climate.

__ Has the physical qualities I love: mountains, seaside, etc.

__ Has the population density I like: urban, suburban, rural.

__ Has more than enough cultural/recreational activities for me.

__ Allows me to enjoy a full life without a lot of traveling.

__ Allows me to have a short commute to work.

__ Has a comfortable, safe, and productive office environment.

__ Has plenty of windows or an outdoor area.

__ Has amenities such as gyms and restaurants close by for after work.

__ Is well equipped, allowing me to do my job to the best of my abilities.

HOW TO SCORE

Each category has a total score of 100 (10 career questions times 10 points each; 10 business associate questions times 10 points each; and 10 location questions times 10 points each). Tabulate your scores and compare them to my notes:

• 90 to 100: Congratulations! You have what you need. Improving your life in this category will be just a matter of tweaking the levers.

• 70 to 90: You have accomplished a great deal. More than most people. But you can enjoy a better life in this category. Our master plan process will give you what you need to make the changes you want.

• 50 to 70: Your life is better than most. (Most people rate their lives at between 40 and 50.) But you have a lot of room to improve. You need to master plan a new and better life.

• Below 50: You have made some bad choices. You may have to make some better ones.

Don’t worry if your scores are lower than you hoped. Everything can be improved very quickly if you have the willingness to change. In this book, we’ll talk about how you can have your best life possible.

OBSTACLES TO ACHIEVEMENT: WHY YOU CAN’T GET STARTED

John says he believes part of his problem is that he is not absolutely, 100 percent sure that if he starts working on some specific opportunity, he will be successful. How does he get past this obstacle?

Life takes on meaning when you become motivated, set goals, and charge after them in an unstoppable manner.

—Les Brown

The single biggest reason that people fail in life is that they never take effective action. Poverty is a problem, but not an insurmountable one. Countless successful men and women began their lives in poverty. Ignorance is a problem too, but that can be overcome by anyone willing to learn. Indecision and fear (of failure or success) are common obstacles to success. But all of these obstacles can be overcome, easily, by the individual who makes a commitment to take action, to figure out where he wants to go, and then to set one foot in front of the other in that direction.

Inaction is John’s problem—not the fear that he will work on some opportunity that doesn’t materialize!

Successful people don’t sit around waiting for everything to be “100 percent” right or to be “absolutely sure” they will succeed. They assess the odds. And if the odds are reasonably good, they strike out boldly and energetically. They don’t need absolute assurance, because they realize life doesn’t provide any.

The cost of failure, successful people know from experience, is very modest compared to the cost of inaction. Failure means you are smarter the next time. Inaction means there is no next time. There is only a lifetime of unhappiness—first of worry and then of regret.

John is living in a world of worry now. If he doesn’t take action soon, he will settle into a retirement of regret.

My rule is Ready, Fire, Aim. I have written about it many times in ETR, and it is the title of one of my books. As I explain in Chapter 17 of the book:

Ready, Fire, Aim means disregarding most of the obstacles and detours that waylay others. It means finding and following the fastest path to any objective you set for yourself, so that time and all the problems time brings with it don’t defeat you. Ready, Fire, Aim achieves more in less time, because it puts the correct value on action. It is also a realistic approach, because it acknowledges human imperfection and failure in an intelligent way. In effect, Ready, Fire, Aim is a way of increasing the success you have in just about anything.

Key to understanding the Ready, Fire, Aim approach is the principle of accelerated failure. The principle of accelerated failure rests on the recognition that we learn the most—in any enterprise—by making mistakes along the way. The faster we learn the critical mistakes, the sooner we acquire the knowledge we need to succeed. In other words, don’t fear failure . . . seek it out!

John recognizes that any of the opportunities regularly discussed in ETR—real estate, information publishing, Internet marketing, and so forth—can be viable avenues for financial success . . . no matter what the economy is doing. That being the case, what is he waiting for? He’s not going to increase his odds by waiting and worrying. The sooner he gets going, the faster he will make the mistakes he needs to make in order to succeed.

I am very sympathetic to John. You may be stuck in the same place. His problem is exacerbated by his intelligence. Smart people are good at worrying. They are adept at conjuring up reasons to fear failure and delay action. They are the victims of their own IQs.

John has to compensate for this by making a greater effort to ignore his worries and put himself into motion. It really doesn’t matter which opportunity he chooses. He knows he is resourceful enough to succeed at whatever he does. All he has to do is get going. Put one foot in front of the other and start to move.

I am going to make that process easy—not just for John but for you, too, if you are in his shoes. I’m going to tell you what you need to do today. And then I’m going to tell you what you have to do if you want to become successful—and not just financially, but in every area of your life.

Ready? This is what you have to do today: Fill out the following pledge.

Okay, Michael. I am with you. I have committed to creating a master plan that I can use to succeed this year. I commit to following that plan without question or complaint. I further commit to keeping a journal on my progress and investing the time and money needed to achieve my goals. At the end of the year, I promise I will write to you and explain exactly what I have accomplished.

I hereby pledge __________________________________________

Name __________________________________________________

Date ___________________________________________________

That’s it! Do it now!

I can’t offer you an “absolute, 100 percent guarantee” . . . but if you are willing to take my advice and follow the master plan outlined in this book, I am willing to guarantee—99 percent—that this time next year you will be well on your way to health, wealth, wisdom, and happiness.

Is that good enough for you? If so, let’s get started!

Part One

YOUR MASTER PLAN FOR AN ABUNDANT LIFE

WHAT DOES IT REALLY TAKE TO CHANGE YOUR LIFE?

I was 13 when I first heard the word “underachiever.” Mrs. Growe, my ninth-grade English teacher, used it to describe a student who had, in her opinion, failed to work to his potential. The student? Yours truly.