Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. & Governor Rod Blagojevich clearly need a few tips on getting the best bang for your buck.
As we know, there are many creative ways to make money. You can invest in stocks, invest in real estate or start your own business. The list goes on. But in Illinois our politicians consider these concepts so outdated. They like to pride themselves for “thinking outside of the box.” Unfortunately that creativity generally leaves the truly creative within a box of another kind — a cold cell block. They’re creative, just not too smart.
So yesterday was just another winter day in the Windy City. as our very own Governor Rod Blagojevich was led away by FBI agents from his home for corruption charges. While I try to avoid politics as much as possible and keep the discussions on the numerous ways to create wealth, I just can’t resist commenting on his creative thoughts on how to become a millionaire.
Living just two blocks away from the Chicago Blagojevic home, I’ve always wondered what goes on inside that house every day — now due to the convenient surveillance tapes I no longer have to wonder.
Today, our esteemed Governor Blagojevich is “upbeat” and back to work just one day after his arrest. And you thought going to work after embarrassing behavior at an office Christmas party was uncomfortable. Lucky for him he has company in the FBI’s attention today. Our ever honorable Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. confirmed that he is indeed Senate Candidate 5 — the individual Blagojevich was caught talking to on the FBI surveillance tapes about his willingness to pay money in exchange for Obama’s vacant Senate seat and $1 million in campaign contributions. Whoops.
So the FBI seems to be getting the best deal — 2 for the price of 1. And who can say that anyone is truly shocked? What would a political decision in Illinois be without handshakes full of money? What surprises most Illinois residents is not that Blagojevich was arrested. Everyone knows when you sign up for a political position in Illinois that corruption and eventual imprisonment is a job requirement. The shock value of this story is that the man was making deals when he knew his conversations were being monitored for another investigation he is currently under. We blame him not for his corruption but for his stupidity. We can tolerate the criminal politicians who run our state and city, just not the inept.
So it’s clear that Blagojevich is obviously just not cut out for the job. If you haven’t mastered the Illinois way of “pay to play,” you don’t deserve to serve… yourself that is.
I wish I could credit the person who stated after Obama’s election win that, “Maybe now Illionis will be recognized for someone other than Al Capone.” Well, they got their wish. Although I imagine they are now wishing that the glory days of Capone’s corruption and swindling as a means to get the job done (St. Valentine’s Day Massacre) was back in Chicago visitor’s minds — at least Capone tourism pays. And you know how Illinois folks like to make a buck.
It’s not all bad news for Governor Blagojevich. Luckily he won’t have to decorate his cell all by himself. Illinois has a wonderful tradition of mentor/mentee partnering in the state prisons. He will be warmly greeted by his predecessor, former Illinois Governor George Ryan, who is getting the top bunk ready.
I’m sure they’ll have plenty to share. Maybe they can work together on Blagojevich’s presidential bid for the 2016 presidential race that he plans to run for. I’m sure the next Illinois Governor will have begged the President to pardon him by then — another fine Illinois tradition.
And poor Jess Jackson Jr. He was so close to being able to buy himself the Christmas present that he always wanted. Apparently he didn’t read the memo on proper instructions for how to “pay to play.” Amateur.
U.S. economists are no longer denying that we are in a recession and facing the worst economic times since the Great Depression. It was frightening to hear President Elect Barack Obama on Meet the Press talk about how bad things are. Unfortunately, he gave no indication that things would get better. In fact, he mentioned a number of times that, “Things are going to get worse before they get better.”
Those are tough words to swallow when we are already facing the worst employment numbers in a long time. The Washington Post’s headline on Saturday read, “Monthly loss of jobs worst in 34 years.”
Over 500,000 jobs were lost just last month, and things are going to get worse?
If things are not getting better any time soon, it’s not a bad idea to prepare for the worst. The reality is that your safe, secure job today may not exist tomorrow. So what can you do to avoid your own personal recession?
Make Yourself Valuable: If you are an employee, it is absolutely necessary to make yourself an asset to your company. By either finding ways to save money or bring in more revenue, you can make yourself stand out from your peers. During times of downsizing, very tough decisions are made and sometimes the difference between you and someone else losing their job virtually comes down to a coin toss. Be sure you’re giving yourself an edge by increasing your company’s bottom line.
Build Up Your Cash Reserve: Now is not the time to reduce your 401k contributions, but it is a good time to cut back on discretionary spending. Put money aside that you would normally spend on entertainment, for example, to be prepared for worst case scenarios. If all else fails, then you still have your 401k to borrow against if absolutely necessary.
Diversify Your Income: Whether you are an entrepreneur or not, now is a good time to bring in additional revenue streams. If you have a business, you’re probably feeling the slowdown. Think about other markets you can tap into or where you can expand services. If you don’t have your own company, start thinking about how you can monetize your free time. It’s easy to start your own business from home by creating signs for local businesses or producing an income online. With some creativity and effort, you can easily bring in a few hundred dollars a month, which can go a long way.
During the Great Depression and other tough economic times throughout history, some people became incredibly wealthy. They were able to achieve this by being prepared and taking advantage of opportunities that no one else could.
Just because the over all economic environment is not positive doesn’t mean it has to affect you. Protect yourself, provide value, and produce your own income and you’ll be able to sleep soundly at night as things continue to worsen.
With the right frame of mind and determination, there are decisions you can make today to make success inevitable and change your life forever.
Here are a few strategies that you can put into action right now to improve your success — the first is a strategic, actionable method, the second method describes how to keep your goals on track, and the third is the Super Ninja Method to quickly reaching your goals.
These strategies are not limited to creating wealth either. You can use these methods to improve your relationships, increase self-confidence, or push yourself to lose more weight.
First the strategic method…
The first step is to identify your goal. What is it that you want to accomplish? Make sure these are measurable goals that you can achieve. Go ahead and write it down — even if you think it is a far fetch goal, give it a shot.
Now, paraphrasing Timothy Ferriss, if you you absolutely had to achieve this goal, you would find a way to reach it. If a gun was to your head and the trigger would be pulled unless you achieved this goal, your creativity, resourcefulness and motivation would reach new levels.
Think about your goal and what the outcome will be like. What circumstances need to be in place in order to help you reach your goal? What has to change, what do you need, what resources do other people have that you could tap into to help you reach your goal? Write them down.
Now that you know the circumstances that need to be in place in order to make your goal a reality, start thinking backwards from the end result to where you are today. Try to “reverse engineer” the achieved outcome in your mind and think about what steps will you need to take?
Now take action and and move the gears in motion. If your goal is properly set, it will require you to step outside your comfort zone, make yourself growth and think in new directions, and will require a level of determination that you may have not realized you had.
Creating the right mindset…
To keep yourself engaged and on task, it will take as much mental energy as it does physical. Reaching your goal will take planning and preparation, some sacrifices, and at times will be exhausting. There may be days you lost track of benefits and decide to give up your pursuit.
The only thing worse than not achieving your goal is looking back 10 years from now and thinking to yourself “I can’t believe I quit then. If I just stayed the track I could have accomplished this a long time ago.”
Now there are a couple ways you can keep yourself motivated:
Keep a picture or some reminder with you at all times that triggers an emotional response
Create additional goals that go beyond your primary goal, which cannot be accomplished without first reaching this primary goal
Generally speaking, we will do more to avoid pain than to gain pleasure. Set up a system to reward yourself when you accomplish tasks, but also have a system that punishes you for going off track
Super Ninja Method…
Some of the most successful people I know create their own reality. By visually achieving your goals, you can accomplish things you had no idea you were capable of. Watch this short video from an Aussie named Ryan Higgins to see what I’m talking about…
There’s literally hundreds of Mind Movies on YouTube. Visit Mind Movies to get started with making your own (they have a 2 month test drive), or just borrow a movie already posted on YouTube. Here are a couple I enjoy…
As we know, there are many creative ways to make money. You can invest in stocks, invest in real estate or start your own business. The list goes on. But in Illinois our politicians consider these concepts so outdated. They like to pride themselves for “thinking outside of the box.” Unfortunately that creativity generally leaves the truly creative within a box of another kind — a cold cell block. They’re creative, just not too smart.
