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A Plum In The SyrupA Plum In The SyrupPage 2Welcome…First things first…thank you very much for yourinterest in my book.I've been an entrepreneur for the better part of the past 20 years. I've been through a lot in therealm of

business over that time. And when you gothrough a lot that also means that you've beenlearning a lot.So now that I have a solid 20 years under mybelt as both a success and a failure as anentrepreneur, I

felt that now is the time for me to write thisbook.I recognize your unique individuality. I amtherefore careful to point out that I do notproclaim this book to be a road map or blue print for success. This

is not a "How To" book.Rather, based on my many years of experience,I'm offering you truths, suggestions andobservations



I've used to reach a point in my life where I'dconsider myself a success. Which also remindsme; you area success when you consider yourself to besuccessful not when somebody else considersyousuccessful. I ask that you never let anyone elsedefine the word success for you; you can onlydefine it

for yourself. As you'll discover within the pagesof this book, the word success, as you define it,is asunique as your thumbprint.So again I thank you and ask that you pleasekeep in touch and tell me what you think of both

this book and the Easy Reader publishing model. The bestway to reach me is through one of the linksfoundbelow. Thank you…Blog: http://www.DanielHerzner.com – visit my

blog today where you will find acomprehensive library of well over 100 freeeBooks



Facebook:http://www.DanielHerzner.com/facebook A Plum In The SyrupPLEASE READ THIS VERY IMPORTANTNOTE:In addition to writing the book "A Plum In TheSyrup", I've also developed and have patentedThe Easy

Reader Publishing Model. This book is the firstin literary history to be published using the EasyReadermodel. This publishing model was developed tohelp you boost your reading speed by as much as100%

or more when reading books and documents ona computer screen or digital reader. People arelookingfor a better, more efficient way to absorbinformation and this model will help them do

just that.

Reading books and documents when renderedon a computer monitor presents a unique set of



challenges. Namely, skim reading is a methodused by many to get through an electronicdocumentmore quickly. The Easy Reader publishingmodel will assist with skim reading.Here are the two rules to keep in mind to get themost from the Easy Reader publishing model: 1)Everyother line of a paragraph is rendered backwards.

The words themselves in backwards lines arerightreading but the line itself is backwards.(Confused? Don't be – you'll soon see foryourself how easy it isto read a backwards sentence.) Rendering the

book's text in this way will enable you to read ina zigzagpattern rather than dragging your eyes back across the page. Reading this way will boostyour readingspeed considerably with no loss of reading

comprehension. 2) The first line of everyparagraph isrendered right reading, left to right, regardless of how the last line in the previous paragraph was



rendered.Just a quick note: you may find The Easy ReaderPublishing Model a bit awkward at first. That isbothunderstandable and expected. The mind will atfirst be somewhat resistant to reading this waybut thatis merely because the mind is naturally resistantto change. This type of change in the way we

read is sonegligible that you will be able to make therequired adjustment after only the first fewparagraphs. Toget the most from Easy reader, allow your eyesto scan ahead as you normally would when

reading atraditionally published sentence. Before youknow it you'll be reading with an increasedspeed that younever before thought possible.So again I thank you and ask that you please

keep in touch and tell me what you think of boththis free



chapter and the Easy Reader publishing model.The best way to reach me is through my blog –seebelow.Remember – a traditional reading patternrequires that you read in one direction; from leftto right, leftto right and so on. You are about to read in azigzag left to right, right to left pattern. Give

yourself thefirst page to get used to reading this way and I'msure you'll find reading the rest of the text to beabreeze.Please not the "end of line" indicators - < or > -

to help you with your reading flow.A Plum In The SyrupPage 4Here’s the HONEST ABE CopyrightNotice…This book is copyrighted material by

Transformation TimeIs Now, LLC and Daniel Herzner. This book belongs to you



and you alone. You may not resell it or give itaway. If youfeel that somebody else would benefit fromownership of this book then I ask that you please direct themto myweb site so that they can gain access to theirown copy:http://www.APlumInTheSyrup.com

Is there any way that I can ensure you willfollow thiscopyright notice? No there isn't.But, if you are reading this notice and have notaccessedthis book for yourself then you are in violation

of businessdecency. And, what comes around goes aroundso oneday you will get yours.So, I’m assuming you have gotten your owncopy of this

book and your ownership of it will test yourhonesty.I also ask that you not save the download link tothis book



in any social bookmark web sites.I thank you for having gotten a copy of this book and forrespecting this copyright notice.A Plum In The SyrupPage 5TABLE OF CONTENTSIntroduction ....... ……. ……. ……. ……. …….……. ……. ……. P. 6

Prologue ……. ……. ……. ……. ……. …….……. ……. ……. P. 111 – Evolution Is The Key To Your Success……. ……. ……. ……. ……. ……. P. 152 – No Excuses ……. ……. ……. ……. …….……. ……. ……. ……. P. 20

3 – The Nature Of Things ……. ……. …….……. ……. ……. ……. P. 244 – Niche Yourself ……. ……. ……. …….……. ……. ……. ……. P. 315 – Identify A Trend And Get In Its Way …….……. ……. ……. ……. ……. P. 35

6 – Create A Trend ……. ……. ……. …….……. ……. ……. ……. P. 397 – Your Most precious Asset ……. ……. …….……. ……. ……. ……. P. 43



8 – It's Better To Receive Then To Give …….……. ……. ……. ……. P. 509 – Believe In Yourself ……. ……. ……. …….……. ……. ……. ……. P. 5410 – Caustic Brain Farts ……. ……. …….……. ……. ……. ……. ……. P. 5811 – Stay Tuned In To Life's Lessons …….……. ……. ……. ……. ……. P. 6412 – Focus On The Needs Of Others ……. …….

……. ……. ……. ……. P. 7213 – Do Not Make Other People's ProblemsYour Problem ……. ……. ……. P. 7514 – Do Not Subjugate Yourself To Failure……. ……. ……. ……. ……. P. 7915 – Keep It Real ……. ……. ……. ……. …….

……. ……. ……. P. 8316 – To Be, Act As If ……. ……. ……. …….……. ……. ……. ……. P. 9117 – A Plum In The Syrup ……. ……. …….……. ……. ……. ……. P. 95Appendix A ……. ……. ……. ……. …….

……. ……. ……. ……. P. 101Please be sure to check Appendix A afterreading this book for a very special message.A Plum In The Syrup



Page 6IntroductionIf there's any one thing I've learned aboutsuccess over the years is that there is nothe of number a discussing be I'll book this of pages the Throughout .formula secretthings I see as integral to success. That's not tosay that everything I touch upon is.required absolutely

In fact, will I touch on all traits found in asuccessful person? No, that would not be.book single a in accomplish to possibleHaving said that, there are a number of traitscommon to all successful individuals:the ,However .on goes list the and work hard

,wisely time using ,successfully thinkingcomplete picture of what makes person Asuccessful as opposed to what has enabled.different massively be can successful become toB personThe path you travel to success will be as unique

as your thumb print. So there are twofor worked has what ;success to journey your onremember to need you things



somebody else will not necessarily work for youand achieving your goals is not aare You .else anybody against progress yourmeasure Don't .race a not it's ,contest100% unique so the path you travel will be100% unique.Allow me to clarify this some for you. I've beeninvolved in real estate investing and Ia niches of importance the on more) investing

sale short in myself for niche a out carvedbit later in the book). In case you're not familiar,short selling is a strategy commonlyits and foreclosure in is property a If .estate realforeclosed with dealing when usedvalue is lower than the amount of money still

owed to the bank, the lender or lenders onshort as to referred is This .owed is what thanless take to willing be may property theselling the property.I learned short selling by taking a weekendforeclosure investing seminar. Everything

an structuring ,owner the with ethically dealing,property foreclosed locating as insofaroffer for the lender, dealing with propertyappraisals, lining up new financing to pay off



this attending After .out laid neatly wastransaction the of facets other all and note theA Plum In The SyrupPage 7seminar, short selling real estate seemed simpleenough and seemed to make sense.involved parties all forWell, what you learn inside of a seminarenvironment about short selling and what

realization the to came quickly I .drasticallydiffer world real the in transpires actuallythat every short sale situation is unique.Successfully closing foreclosed real estate bytwo no are there and parts moving of lot a withtransaction a is selling short of way

transactions that will play out exactly the sameway.All short sale transactions may start off the sameway (a home owner is in foreclosure)what for lender the off paying) way same theend will ,executed successfully if ,and

they've agreed to accept as payment). Buteverything else in the middle, from one shortsame the exactly out play ever will two No.unique 100% is ,next the to transaction sale



way.And so it is with the journey each one of us willtake to success. There are no twobe may success define you How .same theexactly are which success to pathwayscompletely different from how I would define it.And the path that you and I both take to

journey same the experience ever will peopletwo No .different be certainly will there get

to the success they seek.As in my short sale example above, you mustn'tbe pedantic about the path to success;I'm hey" say to yourself allow never can You. path the as anyway thing such no is theredoing exactly what I've been instructed to do,

why isn't this working out?"If only success were that easy.I think every last one of us wants the best out of life. Who doesn't want a nicer "this" or acommon a is life from more wanting That?families their and themselves for "that" better

starting point for all of us. Sadly however, ashockingly low number of people will end up.reaching envision they place that at



There are a lot of moving parts in yourindividual journey to success. Your own journeyblue a with you provide to not is book this of purpose the So .are you as unique as isA Plum In The SyrupPage 8print for success. Rather, it is meant to inspireyou, give you food for thought and.journey own your in use can you suggestions

many hopefullyYou may take everything I say to heart and useit all to your advantage. You may takeyou'll all at anything adopt not may you and sayto have I things the of selection a onlydiscover in this book.

And that's OK. Because of your uniqueness, it'sup to you to embrace that which makesothers while selling face to face love peoplesome ,example For .you for sense most theare scared to death of the idea. Both people canbecome wildly successful and both will

.there get to paths different wildly takeYour success is a culmination of everything youlearn and everything you experience.things two those apply you how and



It's not possible for one, single book, program orseminar to provide you with everythingyou ,Therefore .becoming of dream you successthe become to need individually you'llhave to understand that your success is a neverending process of learning andthe in rung single a only least very the at is book this that hope only can I .discoveryladder you use in your climb to the top.

At this point you may be looking at the exampleabove I'd just given you on the uniquenot ,no ,that thinking be might You .fulfillmentof life a to travel must all we journeyeverybody starts from the same spot. Look atsomebody like Paris Hilton for example.

at look You ?she did ,one have didn't she likeSeems ?success to journey her was Whata Paris Hilton and you realize she was born intoa life of wealth and privilege. There wasto available immediately was Abundance.journey no really and point starting no really

her the moment she was born.On the opposite side of this argument, look atsomebody like Clarence Thomas. His



the when age early very a at homeless left wasand 2 was he when off took fatherfamily's house burned down. Against all odds,his journey lead him to become only the.Court Supreme the on sit to American AfricansecondA Plum In The SyrupPage 9Here's the point; the overwhelming majority of

us were not born with a golden spoon inwant don't I ,So .circumstances desperate anddire into born we were nor mouths ouryou to become hung up on extremes. You won'tbe doing yourself any favors in yourof out that put so – spectrum the of end extreme

either at looking by success to journeyyour mind right now. It will help you to getmore out of this book and to get more out of .lifeThere are many principles I've personallydiscovered to be true in living a life of

maybe – them of Some .book this in you withthem of 17 sharing be I'll and achievementmany or most of them – are things you'vealready heard. And to that I say good! If that’s



success important these with yourself re-familiarize to you help only will it ,case theprinciples. After all, repetition is the mother of all learning.I've heard it been said that there has been moreinformation and reading materialI .combine years previous other all in then years20 past the over published and printedcannot say with certainty whether or not that is

true. But, one thing I can saydisposal your at material reading of shortage noabsolutely is there that is unequivocallytoday.Forget about all the books in all the libraries andbook stores around the world. And

are that newspapers and magazines of thousandsand thousands the about forgetpublished daily, weekly and monthly. With theinformation age that we're living in, thelast every on material reading of supply endlessan access to us enables alone internet

subject you can possibly think of. And we canaccess those materials with such easecomputer our onto bring can web wide world thewhat granted for take easily so we that



screens with the simple click of a mouse. It istruly remarkable and mind boggling when.it about think to stop really youTo say that our choices of available readingmaterial is inordinate is nothing short of athat humbled truly am I ,disposal your at read tomuch so With .understatement massiveyou’ve chosen to read this book. I thank you forspending some of your precious time

for ability the beyond far compliment a is book this read to chose you That .me withA Plum In The SyrupPage 10words to express. I really hope my simple "thank you" is enough to tell you how

.am I appreciativeI have some things to tell you, things which Ithink you'll draw great value from, so I.say to have I what enjoy you hopeA Plum In The SyrupPage 11

PrologueThe definition of the word "success" is as uniqueand individualistic as the person who



.close even Not .money the about always not issuccessful Being .it definesSuccess is about living the life of your dreamswhatever that might mean for you. It'schange would you that yourself to sayinghonestly and content perfectly being aboutvery little, if anything, about your existence.If you think success comes down to how much aperson has in the bank than you're

.mistaken sorelyAfter all, can anyone argue with the success of Mother Theresa of Calcutta? She wascountries many from dignitaries with met She.world and the around millions by admiredwas adored and admired by presidents and

kings.Did Mother Theresa have money? Did she wantmoney? Can you tell me she wasn't a?success phenomenalA person can be extraordinarily successful andlive a very modest life. I think of a

professor a ;Beck Ed was name His .college instudent a was I when had I'd professorof Economics at SUNY Oneonta in upstate NewYork. Mr Beck made it a point to know



it and subject his and students his for love a hadHe .name by students his of eachshowed. By all accounts Ed Beck was anincredibly successful college professor. You.do to loved he what doing was he that tell justcouldAt the same time, a person can live a very elitelifestyle but be miserable inside. We'vea of appearance outward the gives who

executive overworked the of story the heard allsuccessful life. He lives in the 6000 square foothome with a Ferrari parked in thehis ,However .jet private a in cities flung far inmeetings to travels He .garage heatedhome life is a wreck. His wife is lonely and

miserable, because her husband is neverfor there seldomly was discipline and love dad'sbecause derelict a is son His .aroundhim. Despite his net worth being deep into themillions, can he be considered?successful

A Plum In The SyrupPage 12Albert Schweitzer said it like this: "Success isnot the key to happiness. Happiness is



".successful be will you ,doing are you whatlove you If .success to key theI'll say it again; being successful is not abouthaving money.Success is about following your passion. It'sabout doing what it is you want to do. It'sable being about It's .you to closest those byrespected and admired ,loved being aboutto look at yourself in the mirror and being

unequivocally happy with the person looking.you by defined be only can success personalown Your .back Having said that, the word success in our societyhas pretty much become synonymous.success judge to used commonly stick

measuring the is money ,all After .money withAnd there's nothing wrong with that. It is amaterialistic world we live in and money islive to just required is money ,fact of Matter .lifegood a live to required frequentlyperiod.

And money is neutral. Money won't make youbad and money won't make you good.generous and kind a you're If .are already youwhat of more you make is do will it What



person then having more money will enable youto be more kind and generous. If you'rebigger even an be you'll good are chances thenwealthy become you and asshole anasshole. Money doesn't give a damn who youare and its accumulation is not reserved.other the or sex one ,other the or race one ,otherthe or class one forMoney, and lots of it, is out there floating

around and it doesn't care where or who itblood a can as wealthy become can Pope The asheart a kind as with person A .to goesthirsty drug lord. A person with an aboveaverage intelligence can become wealthy as.school high finished barely who person the can

You can hold a lit match to a worn out, beat upold single and hold that same match to a;paper neutral is Money .smoke in up go boththey'll and hundred new brand crispynothing more, nothing less.But, as the great Zig Ziglar has said, "money is

not the most important thing in life but itafter sought ,popular a what…money…yes Ah".oxygen with there up right rank doesA Plum In The Syrup



Page 13thing this neutral paper is. There isn't much outthere more popular than the almighty.dollarBut the accumulation of money should never bethe driving force of your life. Whatyour by driven be to yourself allow you as longAs .passion your is you drive shouldpassion, the accumulation of money will flow

naturally along.There's something else worth mentioning hereon the topic of money and thelong too Not .2009 ,21 April is date the,sentence this write I As .wealth of accumulationago, back in December of last year, a guy by the

name of Bernard Madoff was arrestednever have which of likes the fraud investmentan orchestrating for authorities the bybefore been seen.I'm sure you're familiar with the story so I won'tbother recapping it here. Even though

just are There .iceberg the of tip the only is heproportions epoch of swindler a is Madoff too many stories of people grossly takingadvantage of others in the name of



Lou ,Israel Sam ,Madoff Bernardaforementioned the There's .moneyaccumulatingPearlman, James Nicholson and the list just goeson and on and on.What's the point? What good is accumulatingwealth if you're doing so at the detrimentfor freedom your compromising you're if moneyof lots having is good What ?others of

it?It just doesn't make sense to me. For mepersonally it is far more important that I bethat knowing night at pillow the on head my restand eye the in son my look to ablenobody is being hurt by my actions. Sure, I

desire great wealth for myself and my family.success for quest my by hurt be to going is elseanybody if damned be I'll butLook at money for what it is; a tool that can beused to improve the quality of life. Don'tuse and people Love .you for do can money that

things the love ,rather ,money lovemoney, not the other way around.So as you read this book, understand that I usethe word success frequently to mean



for success define to you want I ,importantlymore far But .money of accumulation theA Plum In The SyrupPage 14yourself as only you can define it. Whether ornot money is in your definition is only.you for "success" word the define else anybodylet ever Don't .you to importantHaving said that, I wish for you a life of success

that reaches far beyond your wildestyou help will book this of pages the within findyou'll what that hope sincerely I .dreamsto get there.A Plum In The SyrupPage 15

1 – Evolution Is The Key To Your Success… your success is areflection of the value youbring to others and yourvalue is a direct reflectionof your skill set. The more

valuable your skill set, thebetter your chances of high achievement.I can sum up this entire chapter in a 7 seemingly



become must you ,more have to :phrase wordsimplemore.This is a truth which transcends everything elseif accumulation the includes success of definitionyourof wealth. Is that you? Does your definition of success

words these read ,so If ?account bank large aincludeagain and let them really sink in: to have more,you.more become mustLook, everybody wants more from life but only

a veryis what do to willing are us of percentage smallactually required to get it. If you're willing toacceptto truth definitive the as you tell to about I'mwhat

having your heart's desire, then everything youwant.yours be will - more and - life in achieve toIf you’re expecting this to be some complicated,



of out you’re ,say to sorry I’m ,then formula outdrawnluck.The fact is, any and all success in life can beboiledALWAYS is process The .process step two a todownthe same. The process, at times, is moreinvolved,

always it but times other at than detailed moreremains the same.A Plum In The SyrupPage 16By the time you’re through reading this chapter,you’ll know the exact success formula

saying I'm What .used already has life dreamtheir achieved ever has who anybody thathere is not hype and I assure you that if you takethis advice to heart, then you’re.conclusion foregone a is success ultimateWhat's really nice about the formula I'm about to

give you is that it can be used byto entrepreneurs and advancement professionaland wages higher garner to employeescommand higher fees of their clients.



The process I’m about to reveal does notdiscriminate; it can be applied equally byother any or level education ,backgroundreligious ,race ,sex ,age of regardless anyone“obstacle” you think might be standing in yourway. I can promise you that if you apply.certainty a is success your then consistency withyou give to about I’m whatTo begin, understand this: your success is a

reflection of the value you bring to othersthe ,set skill your valuable more The .set skillyour of reflection direct a is value your andbetter your chances of high achievement. Forexample, an auto mechanic stands abetter a stands attorney an and laborer day a than

more earning of chance betterchance of earning more than an auto mechanic.The reason for this is obvious. Thespecialized more the ,And .skills greater forprices higher pay to willing is marketplacethe skill one can bring to their area of expertise,

the more they can expect to get paid for.service theirIt’s important you understand that themarketplace will always pay you what you’re



.more become must you then ,more make towant you If .more penny a never and worthFrom this observation we can conclude that thefirst part of the success formula is toskill your to value Adding .set skill your uponimproving by valuable more yourself makeset means learning something new – acquiringmore knowledge – about your area of .altogether expertise of area new a developing or

expertiseIn general terms, the more specialized – or niche– your chosen area of expertise, thebecause "terms general in" say I .income highera earning of probability your greaterhow you choose to niche yourself will, in large

part, determine your ultimate level of after sought highly ,specific a in herself nicheswho woman the ,example For .successA Plum In The SyrupPage 17area of international law stands a better chance

of great success than the person who.crochet of area the in niche a choosesEqually important to the concept of improvingyour value to other is the avoidance of



the taken you’ve Once .perpetuity in set skillyour to add to want You’ll .stagnationinitiative to enhance your value then keep themomentum moving forward. There isalways is There .subject particular a of knowledge your expand to opportunity analwaysthe opportunity to become better at what you do.The more knowledge you acquire, the

.become you valuable moreAcquiring knowledge is the first part of thesuccess formula, applying that knowledge is?use good to put not it’s if knowledge acquiredis good what ,all After .part second theBut, many people neglect this crucial step. I

offer you the following example to illustrate.point thisLet’s say you decide to get involved in realestate investing. You know that real estatehave stuff their know who people many andinvestment dynamic a for make can

become wealthy in real estate. So you buy abook to learn more about the topic. Theyou so more know to need you determine youbut informative was it ,good was book



purchase a real estate training course or attend aseminar. You study the course and itbook another buy you ,So .niche interesting an isinvesting foreclosure like looksspecifically on how to buy and sell foreclosedproperty. After all, you owe it to yourself to.matter subject complex this about possible asmuch as knowHowever, after a while, things at work have

gotten really busy and whatever free timeof aspirations your ,end the in ,So .kids the of care taking spent is had may’ve youbecoming a real estate investor are placed on theback burner – life has simply gotten in.way the

Does this scenario sound familiar? Have youever let this type of thing happen to you orreads who anyone ,is truth The ?describes storythis whom someone know you perhapstwo books and studies a course on real estateinvesting has built up a great deal of

other most than topic the on more knowprobably They .subject the on knowledgepeople they’ll ever come in contact with. Butsadly, all that acquired knowledge will go to



A Plum In The SyrupPage 18and applied never was it – chance fair a givennever was knowledge the because wasteused.Sometimes, along these same lines, what’scalled analysis paralysis will hold someoneno that ready get to ready getting spent is timemuch So .more achieving from back

meaningful action is ever taken. There are manyunderlying reasons why we, as humanupon touch we'll – lives our with moreaccomplishing from back ourselves hold ,beingssome of these reasons throughout the remainderof this book. It could be fear of failure

our of out getting of pain potential the be couldIt .success of fear ,enough oddly ,orcomfort zone. It could be just about any excusewe might want to tell ourselves. But, in.lost opportunity is taken not action ,end theTo recap, the universal success formula can

always be boiled down to a two stepand knowledge acquired the apply (2 and skillsand knowledge new acquire (1 :processskills.



In a later chapter entitled "Keep It Real" we'll gointo greater detail on the importance of that time this at note to important it's ,But.perspective proper their in things keepingthere is no such thing as an evolutionary silverbullet. Your evolution toward highermake to take to need you steps deliberate of result a as about come will successyourself more valuable to the marketplace.

Along the way you will discover what's knownas "ah-ha" moments. Those are thewhen ,know you that knowledge of bit usefulsome discover you when momentsapplied, can help move yourself towards highersuccess. But, do not expect one book,

.reach to striving you're place that to youcatapult to else anything one or course oneThink of it in terms of Darwin's theory of evolution. Knuckle dragging cavemen did notdefinite a was There .man modern becomethey'd that find to day one up wake suddenly

evolution which took place.Here are a few final thoughts: the knowledgeand skills you choose to acquire will have



the ,skills your niche or specialized more The.others to value your on impact direct amore valuable those skills are likely to be. And,always, always add to your skill set.A Plum In The SyrupPage 19For example, an interior painter can makehimself more valuable by learning fauxplastering Venetian learning by still valuable

more himself make can He .finishestechniques and so on.You will always be compensated according tothe value you're able to deliver to other.demands reach to wish you income of level nextEvery .more penny a never and people

a new you.You hold the key – it’s all up to you. You caneither survive or you can thrive. You aloneto are you resource a valuable how on based takeyou’ll path which determine willothers.

A Plum In The SyrupPage 202 – No ExcusesYou and you alone, can



hold yourself back fromgreater accomplishment.There is no outside forceor circumstance, there isno other individual or noother "thing" that cankeep you back. You canonly do it to yourself.In the previous section we talked about the

There .value personal your expanding of importancereally is no other way around it; if you wantmore you.more become mustAnd truthfully, there is no such thing as a force

somaking from back you hold can which powerfulyourself a more valuable person. The ability togrow.right birth your is limits without yourself However, in actuality, there is one force that can

holda is this And .accomplishment greater from back youforce that only you can marshal. You have to be



wields it because force this of aware madeunmitigated power over you.This force I speak of is you. You and you alone,can.accomplishment greater from back yourself holdThere is no outside force or circumstance, thereis noyou keep can that "thing" other no or individual

otherback. You can only do it to yourself.You are the one who can propel yourself on tolive theto back yourself hold to one the or of dream youlife

live a life of mediocrity. And which path youchooseand out go you not or whether by determined bewillmake things happen or you make excuses. That'sA Plum In The Syrup

Page 21make can you or excuses make can you Because.to down come all will it what reallythings happen but you won't be able to do both.



The force you hold over yourself to keepyourself back from accomplishment comes outare excuses All .matter doesn't it ;ones little,ones Big .excuses of form the indetrimental to your success. And, you shouldfind no excuse you'd ever tell yourself .acceptableSo as an example, in the previous section wesaid that to have more you must become

subject what care don't I .read to is more becomecan you that way best The .moreinterests you, there is a book out there on thetopic. And, with the internet so readilyfinger your at there right knowledge of amountinfinite an is there ,us of all to available

tips.No excuses; if you want more out of life, start byreading.Excuses are like the stars in heaven; they'relimitless. It would be both impossible and awhy about themselves tell could person a

excuses the with up coming time of wastethey don't read more but here are a few:Excuse: "I don't have the time" – nonsense, youbetter believe you have the time. If you



If ?now time your with doing you are what isyourself ask to question the ,don't you think there's one thing we all have in common, it'stime. I don't care who you are or where onit's Whether .equally us of all on sets sun the andrises sun the ,live you planet thisgoing to sleep an hour or two later or waking upan hour or two earlier, you can find the.self-improvement for time

Excuse: "I don't have any money" – nonsense,self-improvement is entirely independentyou've Once .read to than yourself upon improveto way better no is There .money of opened a book, you've also opened up thepossibility for self-improvement. And, hello,

?courses self-improvement or books buy tomoney no have you say You !free are booksWell then go to the library.A Plum In The SyrupPage 22If I were to ask you to open your wallet and

show me how much money you have toyour were that if And ?"none" be answer yourwould ,books self-improvement purchase



answer, what if I were to then ask you to openyour wallet and show me your library"one have don't I" answer to were you If ?question that answer you would How .cardthen guess what, you deserve to be broke.One of the greatest institutions ever created byhumanity is the public library system.not for excuse good no is really There .disposalyour at there right are books Free

reading and reading is the number one way toimprove your skill set and make of .person valuable more a yourself Read. Period.And finally, remember this: if you don't read,then you're no better off than the person

.read can't whoThere is literally no limit to the number of excuses a person can tell themselves if theymore any listing book this in space anymore uptake to not choose I And .to wantedthan the two above. I think you get the point and

for your own sake, I really hope that.do youThe reason excuses are so detrimental to yourachievement is because they are the



victim a be to possible not just it's thenprosperous be to want you if And .victims of stuff too; the two simply do not co-exist.Maybe you're telling yourself excuses andcoming up with reasons why you're not doing.in engage all we something is Self-talk .it of aware even aren't and life your with moreOur thoughts are always with us and we are

always sending ourselves messages. If anysimilar or "…can't I" ,"…only if " ,”…if what,but" as things such includes self-talk your of types of phrases then you are definitelyvictimizing yourself with excuses.You've got to stay tuned in to your self-talk and

determine whether it's supportive oras nearly be can which you to say can anybodynothing is there ,Remember .damagingdestructive as what it is you say to yourself.A Plum In The SyrupPage 23

Another sign whereby you may be guilty of making excuses is if you're ever feelingseems it when times Those .like it's what know Iand there been I've .yourself for sorry



like you're putting your every effort into tryingto make something work and it just seemswhatever and effort your ,time your ,money yourin putting You're .nowhere going be toelse you feel your endeavor requires but yourgoal just seems to be getting further and.away furtherAt such times it is very easy to feel sorry foryourself; to feel as though there is

making when time a is This .you againstconspiring somewhere there out somethingexcuses and feeling sorry for yourself can bemost detrimental. And believe me, I know.there been have I – feeling awful an it's – feelsit how

When you are feeling battered and even defeatedby a lack of positive results in yourtake ,rest a Take .doing you're is it what re-evaluate to sign a as it take ,business or lifea step back and take a good hard look at what itis you're doing. You'd be amazed at

.goal a of outcome the to make can adjustmentsminor few a difference tremendous theThe bottom line is, stay away from the "woe isme" trap. It has never served anybody



.either well you serve not will it ,wellThere is a quote I one time came across that isperfect for this chapter; one that.excuses to relates it as failure and successbetween relationship the up sums perfectlyHere it is: The person who really wants to dosomething finds a way; the other person.excuse an findsWhich person are you?

A Plum In The SyrupPage 243 – The Nature Of Things…know that you have agrand plan pre-defined bya higher power; no matter

where you are in life it'swhere you're supposed tobe. It's part of your masterplan. Now this is not tosay that you're supposedto accept mediocrity…

In the universal scheme of things, we all have agrandto earth this on placed been has us of one Each.plan



fulfill a specific role. Those who understand thistheir finding to necessary doors the open willtruthintrinsic purpose. And those who find thatpurpose will.lives satisfying and full living to on go surelyFor some people their purpose is more obviousandwith familiar you're know I .easily so come to

seemsthis type of person; success seems to fall rightintofor James Lebron at Look .effortlessly lap theirexample. Is there any doubt as to what his roleand

those For) ?be to meant is earth this on purposehiswho might not know who he is, Lebron James isanatural such possesses He .prodigy basketballbasketball acumen he was drafted into the NBA

right(.school high of outAlas, the likes of Lebron James is the exception,



on go to have us of majority The .rule the notcertainlya quest to discover our true calling. Ouruniversalup is It .apparent readily not is here being forpurposeto us individually to find out what it is.Very few people are willing to take the journeyto

that reason this for is It .calling true theirdiscoveringthe hoi polloi finds themselves in a dailystruggle justabundance of life a living If .status quo themaintain to

A Plum In The SyrupPage 25is what you want, then you've got to discoveryour calling. Anybody who is not living.life in calling their discovered not has whoperson a is abundantly

I will not get into a philosophical discussion onuniversal law but I believe everybody hasfulfilled a ,discovered is gift that when And.world the to contribute to gift unique some



life naturally follows. Again, we each were puton this earth as a part of a divine,".parts spare no has universe The" ,says ChopraDeepak As .plan universalThose who do not set out to discover theirnatural talents are destined to a life of have you Once .beginning the just it's ,enoughnot is talent your Discovering .mediocritydiscovered it, you have an obligation to promote

it; to get out there and share it with,Truthfully .gift unique your sharing not by goodany yourself doing not are You .othersnot sharing your uniqueness with others is asocietal injustice. You owe it to yourself .have you what share and embrace to world the

of rest the to andI'll give you a perfect example. After living a lifeof obscurity for 47 years, a woman byfamiliar not you're If .sensation global abecoming rapidly is Boyle Susan of name thewith her story, Ms Boyle had auditioned on a

talent show from the United Kingdom"Dream a Dreamed I" entitled song a sing tothere was She ."Talent Got Britain's" calledfrom the play Les Miserables.



Boyle is a frumpy woman. She keeps a messyhairdo that looks like a bird's nest haslives She .introvert textbook a be to seems She.down upside head her on placed beenunwed with a cat in a small row house in aScottish village. By her own admission, she'sstreet the on by her passed you If .kissed beeneven never has and married been neveryou more than likely wouldn't look at her twice.

Standing on the stage of "Britain's Got Talent",her moment had arrived. The song she;back nothing held Boyle Susan .life her changesubsequently would sing to about wasshe let her voice go and brought the housedown! Within a few days time the news of

YouTube on views video of millions of tens:globe the swept performance incredible herdozens of news appearances, and an invitation toappear on the Oprah Winfrey show.A Plum In The SyrupPage 26

Here's the kicker; prior to taking the stage sherevealed that she's been singing since48th her of short Just ?audition the of time the atshe was old How .12of age the



birthday. By the time she was done with heraudition it was obvious a star had just beenthereby heard be to voice angelical her allowedaudition minute 3 one That .bornopening the door to what is sure to be a magicalrecording career.Where did she come from? How couldsomebody with such a voice have reached thenobody but sing could she knew Boyle Susan

?discovered getting without 47 of ageelse knew it besides for maybe the members of her church choir.What if she hadn't taken the stage for thataudition? What a shame it would've been forwould've she injustice great a What .us of rest

the with talent that shared have not to herdone to herself and to us by not letting her talentshine.What if she'd auditioned elsewhere 20 or 30years ago? She's lost a massiveshe'd where wonder only can One .sooner world

the with voice that share to opportunitybe today had she taken initiative sooner to puther voice out there for others to enjoy.



Regardless of the reasons, her appearance onthat stage only a week and a half ago (atthe needed world the Maybe .plan granduniversal her of part is (writing this of time theinspiration her story provides at a time whenwe're so mired in economic and social.turmoilBoyle's success from that audition is a feel goodstory that we can all draw inspiration

And .true come can still dreams ,yes that ideathe with re-connect to us enables It .fromage and the past and personal appearance and"whatever" matters not. Well, Ms.to years many ,many for here be you may andstage world's the to welcome ,Boyle

come.Back to the point of this story, by sharing yourintrinsic gifts with others, life will richly.so doing for you reward“The universal grand plan" is sometimes alsoknown as the law of attraction. By putting

universal a leveraging be you'll ,talents uniqueyour expressing and there out yourself A Plum In The SyrupPage 27



force which will attract the exterior requirementsneeded to help you fulfill your dreams..from you hold can man no which birthright youris dreams your of fulfillment TheI will refrain from turning the remainder of thischapter into a discussion on the fineras so do to me for pointless be would It .works ithow and Attraction of Law the of pointsI am by no means an expert in this area. Plus

there already exists many terrific books.topic single this onAt the same time however, there are a number of areas I would like to take a look at.law universal to respect withI will start by saying I am a proponent of the

laws of universal attraction. At the same.understand not do I that law this about much sois there that add must I ,however ,timeI’ve seen the law in action in both my own lifeas well as in the lives of many othersor about read I ,basis daily a on almost ,hand

other the On .personally know I whomhear about things that happen which leave mescratching my head in disbelief.



A question I've always wrestled with is, "do Ibelieve the law works constantly and"?intermittent something it is or consistentlyFor example, I remember watching a show onetime on lottery winners and how theirlife his Throughout .profiled was man elderlyAn .lives their changed had lucre windfallhe bounced around from one menial job to next.He never managed to hold onto any

.employment meaningful of typeOne day, he had won the lottery. It was a multi-million dollar jackpot. At the time of hisbeen he’d ride The .carnival traveling a foroperator ride a as working was he winningworking was one that would spin riders upside

down. I remember him telling histhe After .fortune good very be to ride thisoperating considered he’d interviewercarnival had shut down for the evening he couldwalk around under the ride to pick up.pockets people’s from fallen had that change

loose theNext thing you know, he had won the lottery. Inan instant, he went from scrounging



.fingertips his at fortune instant an to changeloose for aroundA Plum In The SyrupPage 28The law of attraction states that we attracteverything we receive in life through ourattract you is it what determine will out put youenergy the) vibrations energy internalback into your reality). The law also states that

there is no such thing as luck – neitherwho someone can how is with left was Iquestion obvious the So .bad nor goodconsidered picking up loose change to be goodfortune hit a multi-million dollar jackpot?huge a such attract to vibrating been have man

this could energy internal of kind Whatfinancial windfall?This cannot be reconciled as just good luck –again, the law of attraction says there is.thing such noAccording to the law of attraction the question

ultimately lies in what is particular to thishe how of question a Not .lottery the of winnings the attract to energy internal man’s



obtained money before the lottery but a questionof who he was before the lottery. I will.questions these to answer the know to pretendnotThe law also says to fully expect to receive thatwhich you deeply desire.I recall an interview I heard with CarrieUnderwood following her victory on theto expect even didn’t she how said she

,interview this In .show talent "Idol American"make it through the first round of auditions andwas still in shock to have won the fullamazing an she’s – Underwood Carrie fromaway anything taking not I’m Now .magillatalent who deserves all the fame and good

fortune she now enjoys.But back to this truth on the law of attraction tofully expect to receive that which isdid how ,auditions of round first the through itmake even to expect didn’t she If .desiredthe law of attraction play out so that she wound

up the grand prize winner?On the flip side, I recall a time a few years agowhen I accompanied my niece Olivia –



and town of out was law in brother My .dancedaughter / daddy a to – old years 6 thenmy sister asked me if I’d like to step in and go inhis place. I was thrilled to do so.Upon entering the dance, every little kid wasgiven a ticket for a raffle that was to bethe all displaying lobby the in up set was table A.dance the of conclusion the at heldprizes that were to be raffled off that evening.

Olivia was fixated on this radio cassetteA Plum In The SyrupPage 29combo purple ,miniature a was it – it forgetnever I'll .prizes the among was that playerradio / cassette player called "The Groovy

Grape". I swear she spent a good part of thetell to as far so went even She.box boom littlethis at staring there standing just nightmy sister and I repeatedly how badly she wantedit.My sister and I, being the knowledgeable adults,

proceeded to explain to Olivia thatgiven be to were prizes so or 20 only and dancethe at kids hundred several were there



out. We explained to her that she had a reallylong shot at winning and not to get her,But .adults worldly ,learned the are we ,all after;logical was ,felt we ,This .up hopeswhat does logic mean to a six year old?When raffle time arrived, one item at a time waspulled from the table and the winningthe choose to permitted not was ticket winningthe – item particular that received ticket

item they wanted. Wouldn’t you know, as God(and my sister) is my witness, when Thethe won she and called was number Olivia’stable the from pulled was Grape Groovyvery prize that she was so fixated on!It still makes me smile to this day – 6 years later

– thinking about that special evening.Yes, I’ve seen the law in action and I’ve seenevents unfold that leave me incredulous. Ifigured fully it have I’ll ,die I before ,hope I andattraction of law the in believer firm a amout.

I'm sure you've heard it said that nature works inmysterious ways – and it sure does. Allto respect with fine just be you'll think I andmind in things few a keep to is you tell can I



the universal law of attraction.Firstly, understand that each of us was put onthis planet for a reason. We each possesof life fulfilled a to us lead will ,others withshared when that special somethingabundance. It's your job to discover your uniquegift; it's your personal responsibility to!it share ,purpose and talent true yourdiscovering After .so do

Second, know that you have a grand plan pre-defined by a higher power; no matterNow .plan master your of part It's .be tosupposed you're where it's life in are you wherethis is not to say that you're supposed to acceptmediocrity – hell no. You have to put

A Plum In The SyrupPage 30But .calling your discover to risks takinginvolves that sometimes and there out yourself if the risks taken leave you battered and bruised,accept it as an important part of the

.processFor example, I've always been a risk taker. Andat times – more times than I'd care to



bother that let never I ,Yet .expected I'd way theout pan not did risks my – rememberme. I'd always maintained a sense of inner calmknowing that wherever I was,you'll struggles the at look to you encourage I.plan divine my of part a be to happenedface the same way.Recognizing your struggles as being a part of your universal divine plan will also free

focus and courage the yourself giving be You'll.them by controlled being from youneeded to learn from your struggles rather thanbeing held back by them.Third, be bold. When you discover your uniquegift, resolve to put it into massive action.

the ask to timid be ever Don't .reward potentialyour greater the ,action your greater Theuniverse for what you want.Even at my lowest point financially I'd alwaysdreamed big. Never did I quietly ask fortremendous a was survival daily when times at

even bills the pay to enough justfinancial struggle.I can clearly recall numerous times where Iwould look up in the sky at a jet flying



one having myself imagine would I financespoor of pinch the despite And .overheadeven though, in reality, ownership of a private

jet seemed like a preposterous notion.I would never allow struggle to hinder me fromachieving my goals. I ask that you do the.yourself for sameThe point: be bold. Don't ever be shy about whatyou ask for in life.

That's it – now get out there and discover yourunique talents damn it. The rest of us are.it on waiting hereA Plum In The SyrupPage 314 – Niche Yourself

You will not be able tomake all of the peoplehappy all of the time. If you do – if you try toplease and appeaseeveryone – you will be

doomed to failure. Themost efficient path tosuccess is to nicheyourself and strive to be



the best at what it is youdo.You can serve some of the people all of the timebuttime the of all people the of all not.The true path to success in life is to serve others.The.be you'll successful more the ,serve you peoplemore

But, you have to serve those people well.Whetheror people 10 serve to you lead aspirations your10,000 people or 10 million people you have toserve.ability your of best the to people those

You will not be able to make all of the peoplehappyand please to try you if – do you If .time the of allappease everyone – you will be doomed tofailure.

yourself niche to is success to path efficientmost Theand strive to be the best at what it is you do.Your niche, by its very definition, will make you



the is niche your what at are you better The.uniquemore you'll be recognized as an authority. Thosefield any in authority an being as others byrecognizedof endeavor are almost universally successful inlife.business in andMcDonald's is the largest restaurant chain in the

on worldwide customers of millions serve They.worlda daily business. Their niche is food served upquicklycustomer huge a have They .prices cheap for andbase who loves their niche and they serve the

A Plum In The SyrupPage 32point I And .there out restaurant other any thanbetter niche that appreciate who peopleout McDonald's just so you can see that a nicheis not exclusive to small business.

The field of law provides some great examplesof what is meant by professionals whocan who there out lawyer a isn't There.specialties have Lawyers .themselves niche



specialize in all areas of law. If they tried to theywould not be effective in any one single.niche a of importance the of example excellentan are Lawyers .areaIn determining what niche to pursue you'd wantto make it an area that will enable youto you enable would that niche a it make least at,Or .people of number good a serve tocharge a premium for your services. As in the

example of McDonald's, there's a niche,say ,in specializes who one ,attorney an of example the in As .daily millions serves thatcomplex international financial law may nothave a large group of people to serve butvery niche their making thereby service their for

prices high very charge can theylucrative.When you go about making a determination of what niche is right for you, see to it thatother the over niche one into get you If .ininterested are and love genuinely you one it's

because you think it will be your fastest path tomaking a buck then you've chosen thelove to have you that it's on agree peoplesuccessful all thing one there's If .one wrong



what you do.Having a deep passion for what you do is animportant ingredient in becomingyou if little means success monetary;introduction the in out pointed I'd As.successfulhaven't got passion for your endeavors. If youdon't love what you do but at the sameI .so think don't I ?success a considered be that

can ,it doing money good make time just want to impress upon you the importance of choosing your area of expertise based.interest genuine uponAnd if your chosen niche is going to serve asyour path to success, make it one which

.desirable and valuable find will othersLet's say you have a passion for crochet and youmake of yourself the best in the landgood a make to niche your in interested there outpeople enough there Are .craft your atA Plum In The Syrup

Page 33business of it? The answer I'm sure is yes. I'd

just imagine though that those people are



will crochet of business good a make to themreaching Perhaps .wide and far flungprove a great challenge.Maybe your passion for crochet will serve youbetter as a hobby rather than a vocation.One thing you can do to find a balance betweenpassion and value when determiningon go ,list that with ,Then .have you interestsgenuine of the list a make to is niche your

the internet and spend some time researchingeach item.Are there many other people who already servethat niche? If so that's a good sign.can you that people of base strong potentially awith area an found you've means That

serve. What you'd want to do then is determineif you can sharpen the focus of thatmore use can that somewhere there in nuance athere's if determine maybe and nicheattention.When it comes to a niche, focus is important but

don't get too carried away with it. Forto wanted I business marketing informationonline first my started I when ,example



structure a product to help people start and growa home based business. However,Marketing Network to down niche my focused Iso term broad pretty a is business home(aka multi level marketing or MLM).However, this focus was still not sharp enough.When I did my research I found thata grow to how on information great providingthere out people of lots were there

Network Marketing business. But, I found veryfew products on the important steps thatgreat a was there that found I .started get even toorder in front up taken be shoulddearth of information on the important topic of MLM due diligence.

So that's where I started. I developed aninformation product to help people conduct duefor option viable a even was MLM fact in if determine help to industry the on diligencethem. The product I'd developed would walk you through a number of industry

you help to considerations important other andsteps examination self ,steps evaluationprepare to succeed in Network Marketing. I'dstructured my product as such based on



.conducted I'd research theA Plum In The SyrupPage 34I could've further sharpened the niche but like Isaid, there really is no limit to how sharpover are who Pete named men be will niche my,OK ,said could've I .it make can youthe age of 40 but younger than 63 who arelooking for information on the Network

too niche your of focus the sharpen to Trying?mean I what See .industry Marketingmuch is only counterproductive.Additionally, really knowing the people in yourniche will help you to effectively marketdon't you if effectively it market to able be won't

you ,fact of matter a As .product yourknow who is in your niche.Suppose your primary sales tool will be a website. You need qualified eyeballs lookingyour drive to need you :Translation .sales manytoo making be won't you or site the at

target market to your site. Tons of traffic to aweb site is useless when compared to a.traffic targeted of amount smaller much



You need to know who your target market is soyou can put a marketing campaign intodon't you if them find to able be won't You.people specific those out search to placeknow who they are.A final thought on marketing yourself or yourproduct to a niche. You need to speak theirhow and are challenges and problems their whatexactly know to need You .language

your product helps them to solve thoseproblems.There are so many terrific resources availabletoday to help you market to your niche.book a is niche a to marketing of topic the ,book this in discussing I'm topics other Like

in and of itself. But what I would like to do isclose out this chapter with a quote from.mentor mentor's marketing the – Kennedy DanDan Kennedy says this: get into the conversationgoing on in your prospect's head.or product your and conversation that of

extension an be should marketing You'reservice should answer their questions.A Plum In The SyrupPage 35



5 – Identify A Trend And Get In Its WayYou'll be putting yourself at a great advantage byidentifying a trend andgetting in its way. Just asdefining your nicheshould be based on yourpassion and talents, soshould any trend you'd

want to service.A natural extension of the niche concept asoutlinedbeing of importance the is chapter previous theinable to identify a trend and structuring your

businesshas strategy business good a ,Historically .itaroundalways been to identify a hot trend whichinterests.way its in get then you

This is a very easy thing to do – very easy.There areAnd .home earth planet the call who people of billions



the tastes, preferences, wants and needs of thethis What .changing constantly are populationearth'smeans from a business standpoint is new trendsare.perpetuity in createdIdentifying trends will require some duediligence onserving be only you'll that mind in keep And

.part youryourself well by finding the ones that interestyoufor just trend a of front in getting is good What.mostthe sake of doing so? Make sure you're always

in.passion your of pursuitThere are some astronomical opportunities thatstemthe is trend good a Finding .trends identifyingfrom

first part, building a business around it is thesecond.The most glaring example I can think of today isa



you guessing I'm .Twitter.com as known juggernautuse Twitter or at least you've heard of it.A Plum In The SyrupPage 36Twitter is described as a social networking andmicro-blogging service. Since itsdouble consistent with scene Web2.0 the onexploded has Twitter ,2006 in introduction

digit monthly growth.People from around the globe use Twitter forsocializing, business promotion,the ,popularity its Despite .more much so andphotos and links sharing ,marketingTwitter.com web site has numerous

shortcomings. It enables only bare minimum.functionalityIn response, hundreds of applications have beencreated to make using Twitter.com atake to created was itself Twitter.com.experience enjoyable and productive more

advantage of a trend – the Web 2.0 trend – andhas itself become a trend.And just take a look at Apple's iPhone.Thousands of applications have been developed



.iPhone the of popularity and power the harnesstoThe people behind creating productivity tools tobe used with Twitter.com and thethe in got and trend popular a identified hadiPhone the on run can which applicationsway of those trends.Profitable trends are not exclusive to the web orelectronic gadgetry. Popular trends are

.accordingly way their in get and them of noticetake ,you around allI recall reading an article not too long ago abouta burgeoning wedding trend. To makegrooms and brides some ,guests their for fun andmemorable more weddings their

began to scrap their traditional first dance as acouple for something livelier and morefirst amongst popular very becoming wereroutines dance Choreographed .funnewlyweds.In response to this trend, two dance instructors

from New York City formed a companyformed who women two The .trend growing thisserve to Mony MatriMony called they



the company would work with the bride andgroom to choreograph a dance routine toa in involved was party wedding entire the,instances some In .guests their dazzledance routine to mark a couple's first dance ashusband and wife; a miniature dance.will you if productionA Plum In The SyrupPage 37

Another very popular trend today is the "Green"industry. As more and more peopleproducts green with responding are companies,conscious environmentally become.Green building materials, recycling, hybridvehicles, all natural products, alternative

.today trends "Green" popular very all aresources fuel alternative and energiesI personally know somebody who is building anice business and beating up hisa markets He .treatments care lawn (intendedpun no) green offering by competition

chemical and pesticide free service. He promoteshis service using the popular,.angle friendly environmentally



Like everything else, trends do have theirdownside. Some trends can be short lived.course their run will andDo you remember the popularity of pre-paid,long distance telephone calling cards?this spot to vision the with Those .popularity inexploded they introduced first Whentrend early enough and get in the way of it didextraordinarily well for themselves

.course its ran eventually trend particular this,However .financiallyToday, pre-paid long distance phone cards areavailable in virtually any store you walk .back be never will and passed has cards these of opportunity incredible The .into

The point is, timing is critical when deciding ona trend to jump in front of.Some opportunities are omnipresent andalthough cannot be classified as trends, their.trend a being of terms in at looked be certainlycan relevancy

As an example look at today's real estate market.Buying and selling defaultedBut .itself estate real as long as for around beenhas that industry an is paper mortgage



at times such as these, with mortgageforeclosure rates going through the roof, dealingI ?trend a as regarded be this Can .opportunityhuge a presents paper defaulted inwould say its relevancy today certainly could be.A final thought on identifying trends. Not allbusinesses are built on trends. Look aroundon built not businesses of plenty see you'll –street main down driving you're time next

trends. You'll see pizzerias, hardware stores,liquor stores, toy stores and the list goesA Plum In The SyrupPage 38building to prerequisite a necessarily not is trenda spotting Although ?point the Get .on

a strong business, I do feel it can provide youwith a strong upside potential.You'll be putting yourself at a great advantageby identifying a trend and getting in itsso ,talents and passion your on based be shouldniche your defining as Just .way

should any trend you'd want to service.A Plum In The SyrupPage 396 – Create A Trend



…the most beneficialaspect of creating a trendis it means you'll be thefirst in a category andyou'll be the first in yourbuyer's mind. And that isa pretty darn good placeto be.Somebody originally came up with the idea to

sellpretty a like seems it surface the On .waterbottleddumb idea, doesn't it? I mean, why wouldconsumersfound be can Water ?water of bottle a for pay

everywhere and for all intents and purposes, it'sfree.of inventor the ridicule much how imagine onlycan Ibottled water had to put up with when he (orshe)

.action into idea their putting about wentWho's laughing now? Bottled water makes up

justrefreshment liquid U.S. total the of 30% under



beverage market, second only to carbonated softbottled selling of idea the was ,retrospect In.drinkswater a good one? I'd say it was. One hell of atrendpretty a be to seemed initially what with createdwasdumb idea.In the previous chapter we talked about the

of front in getting and trends identifying of importancethem as a path to success. In this chapter, let'stalk a.trends creating about bitThere was a time when changing the oil in your

caryour schedule to have either You'd .deal big awascar for service with your local dealership or youhad toother of lots had may've who mechanic your to it

bringcars lined up for service ahead of yours. Twopretty.indeed options inconvenient



A Plum In The SyrupPage 40You could always do the job yourself. Iremember as a kid growing up my dad would beHe'd .was that production a What .oil own hischanging car his under around climbingchock the back wheels, get out the jack the oildrain pan, a stack of rags and everythinghis under grime ,hands dirty have he'd done was

he time the By .required job the elsefingernails and a pan full of nasty old oil he nowhad to somehow dispose of. It all.me to hassle a quite like seemedSomething as simple as changing the oil in a carshould not be an ordeal. Somebody

to specifically cater would which business a startto opportunity an saw and that realizedchanging your car's oil and thus a huge trendwas started: the convenient 10 minute oil.business changeToday we have Jiffy Lube, Pit Stop and Grease

Monkey just to name a few. They're allcar's your change ;thing mundane one doessentially to created were which businesses



oil. These types of facilities provide additionalservices today but the trend was created.oil car's your change toYou can look back through history and identifya countless number of trends that hadindustries huge spawn to on go them of Some.ideas of simplest the with started beenas the two examples mentioned above.Meanwhile, others amount to nothing more than

unsustained and notoriety lived short withcreators their provide to pan the in flash ariches.Who out there can remember the pet rock? Talk about a seemingly dumb idea. The petspawn it did nor industry an spawn not did It

.trend a itself of and in was rock competitors. The idea was hugely popular butonly for a short while. It proved to a.pan the in flash classicMore recently, a kid from England needed a wayto raise some cash quickly to pay for

."Page Home Dollar Million The" called hesomething created he ,So .schooling hisBasically what he did was he created a web siteand on the home page he sold



for pixel per $1 charged and pixels million oneof grid a created He .space advertisingyou to advertise your business. And, your adwould link out to your web site. Because aA Plum In The SyrupPage 41his sold only he ,monitor computer a onmeasurement of unit tiny a such is pixel singlepixels in 10 by 10 blocks. Do the math; one

block of pixels purchased would equate to a.sale $100His idea went viral. It was even written about in"The Wall Street Journal" and it spreadthe on pixels the of all out sold he ,correctlyremember I If .web the across fire wild like

home page of his web site in only a few weekstime. Again, do the math; he raised $1.idea this with weeks few a just in millionOf course, the popularity of his idea was copiedby a countless number of other peopleselling of concept the ;it was that ,But .trend

potential ,hot a spotted they'd thought whoblocks of advertising pixels had run its course.His idea ostensibly had started a trend –



but all at trend a be to not out turned it but –success his duplicate to tried people manyrather a flash in the pan. Every copycat thatcame along behind him failed to get legs.Incidentally, his web page is still up and itactually looks pretty cool. You can go to.yourself for out it check tohttp://www.milliondollarhomepage.com/ My point in providing the latter two examples is

just to let you know that trends can be.pursuit of worthy and popular wildly be to sensemake to have doesn't Something .fickleIf you happen to be lucky enough to come upwith some cockamamie idea like the pet.ride the enjoy then page home dollar million or

rock I don't think there's any advice I or anyone elsecould give you on whether or not yourhe that rocks pet sold who guy the told could'veWho .pursuit your of worthy are ideashad a killer idea? Who knew that selling a pixel

for a $1 on your home page would?time weeks two in bucks million a raise to youenable actually



All I can tell you is to err on the side of caution.If you can afford to lose the money andcan that thing Worse .it go means all by then,there out idea your get to required timehappen is it doesn't pan out. But as long as youridea doesn't require too high an initial.off take to fails it if you kill won't it ,money ortime of investmentA Plum In The Syrup

Page 42I'd imagine that the Pet Rock or Million DollarHome Page are two ideas which didn'tit out worked had neither event the in So .groundthe off get to money of lot a requirewould not have killed its creator.

But, above everything else, the most beneficialaspect of creating a trend is it meansa is that And .mind buyer's your in first the beyou'll and category a in first the be you'llpretty darn good place to be.A Plum In The Syrup

Page 437 – Your Most Precious AssetIf you had answered thattime is your most valuable



asset you'd still be wrong.No, time is not your mostvaluable asset. It is true;your personal time isextraordinarily valuable,but…Each of us is in possession of an asset that is, byfar,call to hope ever we’d asset valuable most single

theour own. In fact, this asset is so precious itwould beThis .value its on figure dollar hard a put toimpossibleasset I speak of is, in fact, utterly priceless.

I want you to take a moment and ponder themanytake you When .with blessed been you’ve assetsstock of all that you have, what would you say isyour?others all tops that one the – asset greatest

singleYou’re reading this book, right? So that meansyou



dollar hard a put to able you Are .eyes good 2havevalue on your eye site? I’ll also bet that youroveralltwo and arms good two have you – good ishealthgood legs and a sharp brain between your ears.Is it?health physical your on figure dollar a put to

possibleI don’t think so. Your body is priceless. Ahealthy.temple your is body physicalBut, as priceless as your health may be, it is notwhat

there ,Well ?Why .asset greatest your considerI'dhave been many people throughout history whohaveperfect than less with success extraordinaryachieved

health.Blind people are capable of achieving greatsuccess



great of capable fully also are Invalids .wealthandachievement.A Plum In The SyrupPage 44So, although your healthy body leaves you somuch to be thankful for, it still cannot be.asset cherished most one number yourconsidered

So what is it? What could possibly hold suchsignificance over your life and your,have you that all of stock taking ,you ask I,Again ?wealth and success for potentialwhat would you say is your most precious asset?I’ll give you a hint – this asset is a

have we and ours is asset this world this intoborn we’re moment the From .right birtheach been given it equally.Without this asset, the accumulation of wealthbecomes virtually impossible and the.meaningless utterly becomes wealth of

possessionIf you had answered that time is your mostvaluable asset you'd still be wrong. No, time



.valuable extraordinarily is time personal your;true is It .asset valuable most your not isSo valuable in fact that you should never limitthe amount of money you make based ontop the hold not does still it asset valuableextremely an is time though Even .time yourspot on your “most valuable asset” list.What then is at the top of the list? The singleitem to occupy the number one position on

,question without ,is freedom personal Your.freedom is list asset valuable anyone’syour number one – bar none – most valuable,precious, irreplaceable asset. So– asset valuable most second your ,it withoutthat freedom personal your is precious

time – loses significant value. In fact, withoutyour freedom one could argue that your.worthless becomes timeThink about it. How you choose to use your timewill determine conclusively howhas ,relinquished is freedom your if ,But

.become to stand you successful or wealthyyour time lost significant value? I would say so.In fact, your personal time, without the



.liability a become actually can ,it spend youhow choose to freedomLet’s take this discussion a step further. Earlierin this chapter you were asked if yourtwo ,arms good two that question no There’s.asset precious most your is body healthygood legs, a healthy body, two good eyes – theentire physical package – is an asset towho there out people some are there ,sound may

this as ghoulish as ,But .cherished beA Plum In The SyrupPage 45I'm sure would sell a body part for a multi-million dollar payoff if ever such an offer wereand destitute pretty some are there but legal is

thing a such that Not .made be todesperate people out there who probably wouldtake that kind of a deal.I’ll bet that there are also some people out therewho would give up time off their livesmulti-million a luck their on down someone

offer hypothetically again Let’s .money fordollar payoff if they were to give up their final 5years of life. I’m sure there are some



you at throwing I’m hypothetical’s these know I).too deal a of kind that take would whomay sound outlandish but stick with me here,I’m making a salient point.)Now, ask anybody to give up their freedom for amulti-million dollar payoff and I’ll bet.offer the take would who ,impecunious howmatter no ,person single a find won’t youWhy? Well, the answer is obvious. What good is

any amount of money if you didn’t?it enjoy to freedom your haveIf you were to accept any of these observations,it would then certainly stand to reason.asset precious most your considered be couldfreedom that

Freedom is your God given birth right. So, forpractical purposes your freedom is never.taken you've action some of consequence a as itrelinquish you ,Rather .you from takenAnd, through due process which everyone isentitled to – at least in much of the civilized

.freedom your lose to stand could you – worldI understand that, unfortunately, freedom, insome parts of the world, is not always a



away taken be can freedom ,world the of partssome in that understand also I .right birthwithout due process. And, yes, we occasionallyhear of the individual who, as it turnedI ,are occurrences these as terrible as ,And.incarcerated mistakenly been had ,outwould say that in this day and age these are theoverwhelming minority of cases.in citizens free as born people all toward

directed is commentary entire this ,Thereforecivilized societies throughout the globe.Getting back to my point about recognizingfreedom as your most precious asset; it is.way hard the realize to came I somethingA Plum In The Syrup

Page 46I'd always looked at time as being the mostvaluable asset a person has until I had toworst the was cell jail 8 X 6 a in hours 24exactly spend to Having .jail in night a spendephemeral experience of my life. It was then that

I realized that freedom, not time, is an.peer without assetI won't bore you with a long story but here'swhat happened:



I had a bricks and mortar business in the city inwhich I live; White Plains, NY. It was awhat minute a in explain I'll – arrested beenhaving to prior office the at Friday typicallead up to this.I was placed under arrest by two officers withoutstruggle or fanfare. I was taken, inthe under was I .charges insignificant pretty twoon booking central to down ,handcuffs

assumption I would've gone through the typicalprocessing procedure and released on.of accused been I'd what for typical pretty;recognizance own myHowever, much to my great chagrin, the personwho decided to press charges had also

was I when afternoon Friday late was It .meagainst order restraining a requestedbrought in for processing. The police can do thearrest processing, but they have no,But .document a such issue can judge a Only.order restraining a issue to authority

because it was a late Friday afternoon, therewere no more judges in the building. Every.weekend the for off taken already had them of one last



The police on duty had no other recourse but tohold me over until Saturday. A judge.Saturday on point some at building the in back be wouldI had never been in any kind of trouble with thelaw up until this point. I'm about asmy running at (smart and) hard work I.anywhere find you'd as citizen a boringbusinesses, pay my taxes and raise my son. I do

the things any decent, productive.does society of memberWhat hurts most is I lost a precious day of mylife over a restraining order. I've neverrestraining a need would anyone person last theI'm .will never and anyone harmed

order against. And truthfully, a restraining orderis a worthless piece of paper that.for meant really it's who criminal the detersseldomlyA Plum In The SyrupPage 47

But, be that as it may, I'd spent exactly 24 hoursin a jail cell – from 3PM Friday untilfreedom the without becomes time valuelesshow realized and – Saturday 3PM exactly



required to do with it what you please.My cell phone, belt and shoes were taken awayfrom me. There were no books, noblank the at stare to but do to nothing absolutelywas There .magazines no newspaperswalls of this stinking little concrete box I was inand wait.You're probably asking yourself how and why Ifound myself in this predicament to

.possible as short as this keep to try I'll .withbeginMy wife had stopped by my office that morningto drop something off. She was with mepick to again by stopped she'd day that Later.most the at minutes 15 than more no for

up one of my employees. When she stopped bythis second time I saw through my.ticket parking a her writing was maid meter athat window officeI went outside to find out why she was beinggiven a ticket. The response I'd gotten was

in only was car the that explain to tried I .limitparking hour two a violating for was it thatthat spot for a short while in the morning andnow it happened to be in the same spot



the ,ticket parking legitimate a not was this thatprotested I'd When .afternoon this againmeter maid's reply was "I can do whatever Iwant" and proceeded with issuing the ticket.Maybe I'm crazy but here I thought a two hourparking limit meant you were not allowedmeant it know didn't I .hours two straight a thanmore for area that in car your park tothat if you parked in that spot for any length of

time that you're not allowed to park there.day the of rest the for againWhen the meter maid told me that he can dowhatever he wanted to, I'm sorry to say.marbles my lost I thatI understand that parking ticket revenue is a

major part of municipal budgets. And, inmeet to have they quotas ticket have maidsmeter that secret no it's Plains Whiteotherwise they'll lose their jobs. Ticketingquotas have been reported on extensively inand right what's on issued not are tickets that

mean quotas These .newspaper local theA Plum In The SyrupPage 48



what's wrong, it means that many times they'reissued for unsubstantiated, flimsy.reasonsI'm sorry to admit that my frustration with themeter maid's callous response got thegotten had what is next did I What .tirade a intowent I .top my blew I and me of betterme in trouble.Have you ever heard that sometimes a split

second can change everything? Well, for aticket the grabbed and out reached I ,situationthe with anger shear of out ,second splitwriting machine. The machine never left theguy's hands and it took me literally asplit That .instantly machine the of go let and

line the over stepped I'd realize to secondsecond cost me a night in jail.I guess the meter maid requested the restrainingorder because I was beside myself are employee my and wife my As .storm a upcursing and yelling and anger with

witnesses, I never laid a finger on the guy nordid I threaten any kind of violence against.actions my by threatened felt he guess INonetheless .him



I know my reaction to the situation was poor atbest. But, being human also means I'mbe can tickets parking all ,Sure .me of better theget emotions my let I ,such As .falliblecontested in traffic court but who has the time todiddle away 2 hours for a $25 ticket?tickets these fighting with bothered be to wantdon't citizens that know Municipalitieswhich give them free rein to issue as many as

they want willy-nilly. The really sad part isto court in time waste to have you and guilty youmakes automatically ticket parking atry and prove your innocence. It's the completeopposite of the basic presumption our.guilty proven until innocent :upon built is

system judicialI have no good explanation for why I let angergrab hold of me the way it did. Touses Plains White which in ways draconian theknow to have you'd guess I understandtheir ticketing practices. Parking violations in

this town are no longer about any measurea own I .grab revenue blatant a than morenothing become now It's .wrong or right of



home and business in White Plains and ampainfully familiar with receiving violationsparticular this guess I and me of better the gotfrustration The .sense no make just thatviolation was the proverbial straw which brokethe camel's back.A Plum In The SyrupPage 49It's usually best to just hold your nose and pay

the fine. However, lucid thought is,full take I that say me let ,record the For.emotion by overshadowed sometimesunconditional responsibility for having spent anight in jail. It was my own actions whicha as freedom own my relinquished who alone

me and me was It .there me landedconsequence of how I'd reacted.All I can tell you is to please always consider thepotential consequences of your

just I'd incident this to prior work at day fineperfectly a having be to happened I .actions

told you about. My actions that afternoon werein no way premeditated or planned. Like.reaction jerk knee ,dumb a for price dear a paidwho being human fallible a I'm said I



What I will now never understand is how peoplecan do things which are premeditatedothers and Madoff Bernard mentioned I'd.freedom their relinquish to potential the withearlier who willfully steal from people for theirown personal gain. In court when hewas doing was he what knew he that judge thetold Madoff ,plea guilty his enteredwrong and he knew his day of reckoning would

come.Why would he do it? Is money that important tohim that he would wreck thousands of your of price the worth money of amount any Is?freedom his jeopardize and livespersonal freedom?

The reason why many believe time is your mostprecious asset is because what youmany What .become you'll successful howdetermine directly will it with do to choosepeople take for granted is your freedom enablesyou to choose how you'll use your time.

.you for decision important that made effectivelyhas else somebody ,freedom WithoutA Plum In The SyrupPage 50



8 – It's Better To Receive Then To Give…how are you going tohelp somebody else if youhaven't first helpedyourself? You have tofirst help yourself whichputs you in a position toprovide others withassistance.

We've all heard the saying "It's better to givethan towho it heard you've up growing sure I'm."receiveknows how many times from your mom orvaluable the taught were you as teacher

kindergartenlesson of sharing. After all, sharing is caring,right?Altruism is one the greatest gestures we canperformat another out help to ability the that think do I

.life inhis or her time of need is a cornerstone of whatfor win a is Philanthropy .beings human as usdefines



everybody involved.When you're able to give a helping hand to yourunlike inside feeling warm a you gives it ,manfellowany other. There's a definite satisfaction and"fuzzy"out helping with associated experience good feelsomebody in need – there's a win for you. Andthe

is assistance your of end receiving the on personhappy to have the help – there's a win for them..another to gives one when wins EverybodyBut, there's a major flaw in the notion of it beingbetterto nothing have you if What .receive to than give

togive? If you're struggling just to maintain yourown?receive to than give to better still it is ,survivalLet's suppose you regularly frequent your localhouse

the of purposes the for religion your) worship of following example is insignificant).A Plum In The SyrupPage 51



At some point during the services, donations arerequested to help support the church.a is bills monthly your paying just and momentthe at you for tight very is Moneystruggle. But, be that as it may, you donate yourlast dollar to the church. By doing so,worship of house your love you ,all After .thinggood really a doing are you that feel youand you're happy to provide the support.

But really, what is your last dollar going to dofor your church?I know, I know, you're saying "but it's not justmy dollar, mine is only one of the manysingle many ,many ,True ."up adds all It .goingchurch the keep help to donated dollars

dollar bills certainly can add up to a sizable sumof money. But, we're not talking aboutdonation dollar one the about talking we'reexample this in ,many the from donations thefrom you.Before I go any further, lest you think I'm in

some way bad mouthing church collections,do to happy I'm And .charities religious to andchurch my to money of plenty given I've



so. I think it is extremely important to helpsupport your church and its causes. But by allthe ,yourself help to able you're more The .firstyourself help to you telling I'm meansbetter you'll be able to help others.Thus the title of this chapter: it's better to receiveTHEN to give.Think of it this way – you're on an airplane, allpassengers are seated and the pilot is

pre the through going are attendants flight The.gate the from away pull to preparingflight safety procedures. Have you ever paid anyattention to these procedures? I knowan of case in that noticed would've you had youif But .do actually us of few very

emergency you're instructed to first put on yourown oxygen mask before helping othersa – child a helping before even mask own youron put to instructed You're .theirs withchild for crying out loud! Who needs more helpin an emergency situation than a small

your put to instructed you're ,help your needmay who of regardless ,still But ???childmask on first.



Do you know why? Because how are you goingto help somebody else if you haven'tto position a in you puts which yourself helpfirst to have You ?yourself helped firstA Plum In The SyrupPage 52provide others with assistance. So take that pre-flight procedure and use the same.first yourself Help .donations charitable your in

conceptLook, there is nothing noble or pious aboutbeing broke. Being broke only means youothers help to able be to want you Do .elsesomebody alone let yourself help barely canor your church or whatever or whoever in a

really big way? Then it's your duty to.be can you as successful as becomeMy son was born on the evening of January 15,2006 at White Plains Hospital in White& Neonatal Silberstein Sylvia & William The"in born was he ,specific be To .NY ,Plains

Maternity Center" wing of the hospital. As soonas you step off the elevator and enter;benefactors wing's the of portrait large a seeyou center birthing art the of state this



William & Sylvia Silberstein. Now why do yousuppose this wing of the hospital wasthe in hanging them of portrait large a there waswhy and Silberstein's the after namedlobby?Could it be that they donated a little moneytowards the construction and outfitting of thegetting to donors major were they the thatobvious It's .so say would I ?center birthing

wing built thus the wing bears their name. Seewhat happens when you first helpa touch to able be you'll better the ,life inyourself help you more the And ?life in yourself lot of lives in a really great way.My example of donating millions to build a

hospital wing is a bit extreme I'll admit. Butfirst you've when scale smaller a on others of lives the impact can you how of think justhelped yourself. Think about the toys, clothingand shoes you could donate to an.center youth local your to provide to able be

you'd equipment sports the Or .orphanageYou're reading this book which is proof that youhave the desire to be more and to do



more The .more give to desire the have also youthat means that hopefully ,And .moreyou got the more you can give.Remember in the prologue I made a point of saying that money will make you more of .mind in chapter this with prologue the intostatement that wrote I ?are already you whatFor me, the most significant aspect of becomingwealthy in life is the ability to give back.

A Plum In The SyrupPage 53more become to obligation an have you ,beforeever than today so more ,now Andsuccessful and wealthier than you are. Yourfavorite charity or charities are counting on

.so do to youA Plum In The SyrupPage 549 – Believe In Yourself Having a firm, committedbelief in yourself is the

foundation of achievingeverything you aspire toin life. Think about it,when you have a can-do



attitude you’re givingyourself the power andenergy to accomplishanything.Are you a news junky? Do you make a habit of perhaps or television on news evening thewatchingreading newspapers on a daily basis? I'll admitthat

Then .junky news a was I ago years few a untilupone day I just quit cold turkey; I cancelled bothof myoff sworn have and subscriptions newspaperwatching TV news coverage.

I just couldn’t take all of the negativity anymore.If thewas it crime senseless some about wasn’t storymajorabout how our economy and banking system isin

is Enough .day after day after day ;day Every.ruinsenough already – repeated bad news will donothing



.anchor boat a like down you weigh butAnd let's face it, the main stream media thriveson.news bad reportingBefore you might even realize it, exposingyourself tobad pretty some do can out day and in day newsbaddamage to the psyche. Everything you hear and

mind subconscious your in away stored isexperienceand I mean everything. I'm no scholar on thissubjectsources credible many from enough read have Ibut

to know that it's true.So it stands to reason that the more you exposeand crimes senseless about stories to yourself violence, the souring economy and generaldoomA Plum In The Syrup

Page 55you’ll is happen eventually could What .hurt of world a yourself doing you're gloom and



start to fall victim to the negativity without evenrealizing it.And if that ever does happen; look out. You see,victimhood is a very, very dangeroussuch) influences outside of victim the be tothemselves allows who Anybody .be to placeas bad news) is on a slippery slope to a lot of disappointment – don’t let this happen to.you

Here’s the deal – all you've ever needed and willever need to succeed is already insideand yourself in believe is greatness your outbring to do to need you’d What .you of NOT let outside influences get in the way. Thismay sound simplistic but it is the

achieving of foundation the is yourself in belief committed ,firm a Having .truth absoluteeverything you aspire to in life. Think about it,when you have a can-do attitude you’realways will "to how" The .anything accomplishto energy and power the yourself giving

appear to the person who believes that “they cando”.One of the greatest challenges you'll everconfront in life is yourself. How you see



brain Your .subconscious your from comesyourself about believe you what and yourself is extraordinarily powerful. Like a computer, itcan be easily programmed. Your mind willdoesn't it positive or negative ,bad or good;receives it instruction the on based performcare. Therefore, you have to give top priority towhat you let your mind absorb.world the and yourself about beliefs your where

is mind your into let you Whateveraround you will come from.It really makes no difference what beliefs youmay’ve formed for yourself. Your beliefsyou’re ,abilities your doubt you If .false or trueare they whether on act will you what are

defeating yourself before you’ve even begun.When you doubt your abilities your mind.fail will you ,eventually and beliefs yoursupport to circumstances attract willNext thing you know you'll be telling yourself,"you see, I knew this was gonna happen. I

powerful how is really ,friend my ,That ."thisattempting even for foolish was I that knewyour beliefs are.A Plum In The Syrup



Page 56Believe in yourself, have no doubts about yourabilities and DO NOT let outside.you control influencesUnfortunately, many people go through lifebeing envious of other people’s successrealize even don’t they how is part sad reallyThe .them for reach of out it’s that thinkingthat they’re sabotaging themselves with such an

attitude. A big part of this self-defeating.past your from comes behaviorSo what if you were cut from the high schoolteam that you really wanted to be a partthat Did .team basketball school high his fromcut – literally – was Jordan Michael ?of

stop him from becoming one of the NBA’s alltime greats?Robert Kiyosaki, America’s rich dad, has statedthat he’d always struggled with thefrom him stop that let never has he ,But.schooling his throughout literature of subject

becoming one of today’s most widely readauthors. His Rich Dad franchise is one of thea is he that jokes Kiyosaki ,Today .publishing of history the in series book popular most



bestselling author, not a best writing author.As a matter of fact, the deficiencies that mayhave prevented you from achieving certainbest the yourself make to today use can you thattools very the are past the in thingsyou’re capable of today. Both Michael Jordanand Robert Kiyosaki used early rejection.heights great to themselves propel to fuel asinfluences outside from

The desire to prove people wrong, to shut themup when they tell you that you won't be.motivator powerful very a is ,time your wastingstop to and "it" do to ableObviously, believing in yourself that you canaccomplish whatever it is you put your

still you'll yourself in have you belief a greathow of Regardless .step first the is to mindbe confronted with many struggles along theway. But, through persistence and a.nuisances than more nothing become willstruggles those yourself in belief committed

Starting today, do yourself a huge favor by notallowing your past to dictate your presentyour in believe and are you individual uniquethe as yourself Appreciate .future or



capabilities to accomplish anything you dare todream of.A Plum In The SyrupPage 57And here’s the really fun part – you can adoptwhatever beliefs you choose. Only youcircumstances your about and yourself aboutbeliefs specific adopt can alone you andand surroundings. Once you realize this, it will

become very empowering for you.Finally, change is rarely easy. Changing alifetime of beliefs you hold of yourself is notin but discipline and work of deal great a takewill it times at ,Yes .undertaking easy anthe end it is always, always worth it.

I’d like to conclude with this killer thought: youcan spend your time and spend your lifewaste NOT DO .once only both them spend canyou ,however ,choose you anywayyour time mired in the past. Rather, spend itlearning from your past and use that

!it worth are you and yourself to it owe You.tomorrow better a build to learningA Plum In The SyrupPage 58



10 – Caustic Brain FartsWe know so much moretoday about the humanpsyche and the way inwhich the subconsciousmind works than we didonly a few decades ago.We now know that whatwe pick up from the day

we're born – either goodor bad – will stay with usfor life.My son Daniel is 3 years old. Ever since he wasaof topic the about him with talk would I

newbornmoney. I don't think I'm unique there. I wouldthink with money of topic the discuss parents manythattheir children. Maybe where I am a bit unique is

I'dhe day the from him with conversations thesestartedwas born.



I tell my son that the accumulation of wealth is athat ,no ,OK it's that know to him want I .pursuitnobleit's more than OK, it's great in fact, to bewealthy. I domindset a with up grow to him want notcounterproductive to being successful andwealthy.generation my with problem the of part big a

think Iand generations before mine are that we'vegrown upto counterproductive and statements phraseshearingsuccess. These statements are what I like to refer

to.farts brain caustic asAs an example, have you ever heard thestatementa is That ?"honest we're least at but poor be maywe"

classic caustic brain fart. If you've grown uphearingyou telling is subconscious your then stuff of kind that



wealth equals dishonesty. If you have that kindof got it's then subconscious your in around lurkingcrapto be identified and purged if you ever hope towill money ,earlier said I Like .successfulbecomeonly make you more of what you already are. If you're

A Plum In The SyrupPage 59,Remember .dishonest more be to you help willmoney having ,nature by dishonestmoney is neutral – it doesn't care who you areand what you do with it. But, make no

no by and dishonest person a makeautomatically not will alone money ,it aboutmistakemeans is dishonesty a prerequisite to becomingwealthy.We know so much more today about the human

psyche and the way in which thewhat that know now We .ago decades few a onlydid we than works mind subconscious



we pick up from the day we're born – eithergood or bad – will stay with us for life.the from receive we messages the to receptivemost are we that suggests Researchages of 0 – 5.Frequently, becoming successful in adulthoodrequires us to reconcile.past the from messages counterproductiveIn a nutshell, when we're born and as we grow,

we look at our parents, teachers andgrowing a As .us to say they everything believeWe .figures trusted as general in adultschild your parents can tell you that the color of abanana is red and you'd believe it.other and teachers ,parents your Whatever

.better any know don't you ;to have You'dadults say to you as a very young child is gospel.You simply do not know enough to.life of years earlier your in receive youmessages the challengeSo, whatever messages you may have received

as a child on the topics of wealth,you with stay will messages those And .believeto have would you money and success



as you grow. The effects of these messages arequite profound.A big part of your becoming successful today isto identify, and let go of, whateverbeneficial any in you serve not do They .to onholding be may you farts brain causticway and you need to get them out of yourspeech and out of your system.A big part of the problem in getting rid of these

evil statements is they're frequentlystill can they ,yet there they're that know evendon't You .subconscious your in buriedwield a great deal of power over you.You and you alone are the one to make surethese caustic brain farts are not holding

.process step three a is them of rid Getting .afteryou're success the from back youA Plum In The SyrupPage 60Identifying any of these statements which maybe stuck inside your head is the first

the is life your into back them letting never andsecond the is them of rid getting ;stepthird.



So, what I'd like to do is talk about a number of them that you can probably identify with.say can you guessing I'm and hearing up grownI'd statements are following the know Ithe same. Most importantly, I'm hoping to jaryour memory to help you identify some of .ears your between around lurking be still maythat farts brain caustic personal own yourRemember: identify them, get rid of them, don't

let them back in.Here are the ones I've identified for myself –“You can’t have your cake and eat it too” – youknow what this statement is telling you?a ,all After .harmful so is statement This .happybe to allowed not you're that saying It's

big part of living a fulfilled and successful life isthe pursuit of happiness. What good is?it eat to allowed not you're if cake of piece aearning or havingI say that you should strive to get your cake.And not any cake, I want you to go after

put and ,ala mode cake your have ,prefer you if And .all of best love you which cake thewhipped cream and cherries on it if you wish.And of course, I want you to eat that cake



about go to you want I ,importantly Most .sodoing for apologies no make and gusto withgetting your cake and eating it again and againand again.“Good things come to those who wait”. What?Are you kidding me? No they don’t; goodcome do really things good If !happen thingsmake and out go who those to come thingsto those who wait then why do so many people

die lonely and broke? They’ve “waited”?them to came never things good come How?they haven't ,lives their allThe creators of YouTube sold their creation toGoogle for $1.65 billion – that's Billionfor “wait” to have they Did .launching after half

a and year a only – "B" capital a withtheir “good things”? Hell no! And why? Becausethey went out and made something.happenA Plum In The SyrupPage 61

Oh, here's a doozy: “Money can’t buyhappiness”. What utter nonsense this one is.the ,have you money more the ,And .happinessof plenty buying of capable is Money



more happiness you can buy. Wouldn’t a fatbank account enable you to travel thethe Procure ?things beautiful with yourself Surround ?restaurants fine at Dine ?worldbest medical attention? Wouldn’t all of thosethings make you happy?Wouldn’t money enable you to donate more toThe Make A Wish Foundation? And,ill terminally a of life the in happiness some buy

would donations those think you don’tchild?Don’t be fooled – money can buy plenty of happiness. Strive to accumulate great richesapologies NO make ,again And .choose you ashappy as yourself make and life your in

for doing so!"It takes money to make money". Oh, does it? If it takes money to make money thanpoint some at miserable and broke themselvesfind winners lottery many so do whyafter winning a jackpot? I personally know of

many people who have inheritedthe into business the drive subsequently to onlybusinesses flowing cash substantiallyground.



It takes a combination of many different thingsto make money and believe me, moneythan money without money make to able notyou're if :this Understand .list the on not isyou'll never be able to make money with money.If you're feeling stuck in life and telling yourself that you're in that position because youI all then it make to it need you think you If .mode victim in living you're then money lack

can tell you is to hunker down because your lifewill not be getting better anytime soon.It DOES NOT take money to make money soyou better strike this one out today!"Money doesn’t grow on trees". OK, maybemoney doesn't literally grow on trees but

lack a from comes statement a of kind thisMaking .bit little a one this into dig let'smentality which believes there is a limitedsupply of money out there. If there's any oneit of amount unlimited an is there that it's moneyabout understand need you thing single

out there in circulation. Literally, an unlimitedamount.A Plum In The SyrupPage 62



There are trillions upon trillions of dollars incirculation just floating around looking for a,week per not) DAY PER dollars million onespend to were you if ;this Consider .homenot per month, but PER DAY) since the birth of Jesus Christ up to today, you would not?this getting you Are .dollars trillion one spenthaveA lack mentality will accept the statement of

"money doesn't grow on trees". Anentire an perhaps or …tree money a plant to howout figure will mentality abundanceorchard of them."The customer is always right". No way! It'sespecially important for business owners to

matter a As .right always customer the is wayNo .heads their of out statement this getfact, all successful business owners fire theirpain in the ass customers.Hanging on to a difficult customer or client forfear that it would cause a financial hit to

seek people business successful All .mentalitylack a having from comes business youronly to work with customers and clients whomthey choose to work with. Successful



.one better ,new a for room making means clientdifficult the dumping that know peopleIt's always in your best interest as a businessowner to serve your customers and clientson deliver to backwards over bending means thistimes At .ability your of best the towhat you promise. But, there's a tremendousdifference between going above and.happy client ass the in pain incessant an make

to trying and expectations beyond"Patience is a virtue". I have mixed feelingsabout this. I'm afraid a lot of the time thethe behind hide will "wait who those to comethings good" believes who personstatement "patients is a virtue".

Patience is a very good quality to have in someinstances and a terrible one to have inI patients the all takes it ,complaining and whinyis son my when ,example For .otherscan possibly muster up to not let it get to me. Inthis instance, patients is a huge virtue.

There are other times where exercising patientsand waiting around can be veryto slow is who client a have you say Let's.success your of being well the to detrimental



pay their invoices. You give them some slack but they always seem to come up with.killer a is patients ,instance this In .other theafter excuse new oneA Plum In The SyrupPage 63"It’s better to give than to receive". We'vealready looked at this one in quite a bit of be it would Why ?why is ask to like I'd question

the But .chapter earlier an in depthbetter to give than to receive? Who's to say thatgiving is better than receiving?Work on becoming a good receiver. Openyourself up to receiving on every level; I'myour on compliment a you gives somebody

When .here money about talking just notappearance, what is your reaction? Do youaccept the compliment graciously or do you?untrue as off statement the fluff to way somefindMost importantly, feel worthy of receiving, feel

as though you richly deserve it. Acceptof deserving and worthy are you because lifeyour into fortune good all and complimentssuch things.



In life you will always get what you feel youdeserve. Most people are stuck livingthat Understand .better deserve they though asfeel don't they because lives sub-paryou do deserve better. Whether good thingsshow up for you in the form of compliments.graciously things those receive and accept,whatever or money orWell, there you have it. I've just given you my

personal list of caustic brain farts. I'm sureis remember to thing important The .own your of more many of think to able be you'llthese statements that you may've grown up withserve you no valuable purpose today.And here's a quick disclaimer: some people may

think my labeling thesethose To .taste poor in or crude is "farts braincaustic" as statements counterproductivepeople I would say that what is actually crudeand in poor taste are the statementshead your from farts brain caustic these expel to

interest best your in is It .themselves just as you would the real thing from the otherend.A Plum In The Syrup



Page 6411 – Stay Tuned In To Life's LessonsYou'll be faced with anumber of challenges inbuilding a successful life.If you try to blindlynavigate those challengesby trying to figure outeverything on your own,

you'll be setting yourself up for a long, painfulstruggle.It is important to keep yourself tuned in to life’sthe as such experiences Daily .times all atlessons

activities we enjoy, interactions with others, andwhatteacher primary a become can witness and hearwein your success in business.Life is constantly providing valuable lessons.

It’s up tothose absorbing and receiving to open remain toyoulessons. All you need to do is keep your internal



.everything about curious remain and up antennaWith that as a starting point you’ll be amazed atwhat.you teach can life everydayOne of the purposes of this book is to provideyouone Step .business in succeed to how on insightwithis accepting life’s lessons and applying what

you'vesimple one this With .business own your tolearnedtask, I promise you’ll be giving yourself an edgein.success desired your achieving

Don’t be discouraged if you’re not able to fullygraspyou're that lessons The .away right lessons life’slooking out for are frequently referred to as“life’sa as life leveraging of part big A ."lessons

hiddenteacher is through reflection.You won’t always recognize every experience asa



.occurrence its of time the at lesson valuableA Plum In The SyrupPage 65Sometimes it will be years later before you’lldraw the lesson from a particular situation.your as life everyday of experience the to openyourself keeping ,worry to not Butclassroom, the lessons you’ll need to incorporateinto your business-life will remain with

.process this facilitate will experiences your inConfidence .youAllow me to provide you with a personalexample of exactly what I’m talking about:About two years ago I took a vacation. Well, itwasn't exactly a vacation. As you'll see in

a with me provided trip this not or it Believe.trip a as described be better can it minute aseries of terrific business lessons. At the time of the excursion the lessons I would takethrough months few past the over been only It’s.me to apparent not were it from

reflecting on the experiences from my trip have Ibeen able to assimilate the lessons.business home own my in them use and learned



This entire process of recognizing everyday lifeas a teacher is fun and exhilarating. Theis it disguise in lessons life’s of one asexperience an to up wake you momentenlightening.The trip I’d like to tell you about was to BajaCalifornia – ah yes, the famed Mexican.peninsula BajaThough the Baja is commonly acclaimed for its

beautiful beachfront resort destinations,,raw of miles square its With .excursionmotorcycle off-road an was trip my of focus thenaturally lush beauty the peninsula was an idealdestination for this trip. We rode in theunderdeveloped ,deserts ,forests pine

mountainous ,trails through countrysideMexicanbeachfronts, and farmlands.Over the course of a three day trip, the agendascheduled over 600 miles of riding. Inhard on was I hour an of span the In .changing

always was terrain the miles 600 thosepacked soil, deep, loose sand and rugged, craggyterrain. The skills required to



.adaptation and flexibility for called terrainsvarying the navigate successfullyIt was a trip I'd taken with 13 guys. We left thewives and children home for this one. It.temperate and pleasant was peninsula the intemperature the and December early wasA Plum In The SyrupPage 66The trip started off at Ensenada, a great, little

beach front city right on the Pacific coast.Before .destination boat cruise popular very aand city bustling a is Ensenadaembarking on the off-road part of the journey wetraveled roughly 15 miles on paved.pueblos surrounding its and city the of out way

our making roadHaving just gotten used to the safety andsecurity of a tame, paved road I entered thea as and loose and deep is desert the in sand The.security of sense false a with desertrider you feel the challenge instantly. The front

wheel of the bike becomes virtually.sand the by "around pushed" literally beingfloats and drifts it as uncontrollable



Regardless of upper body strength it is virtuallyimpossible to maintain steady control.sand deep through riding when bike the overCare and caution are no solution to tackling thedesert. This is a situation where youthrough circumnavigate successfully to way onlyThe .control zero have you if as feelthe sand is to do it quickly. The faster yourspeed the more stability and control you’ll

.gainI realized I had to nail the throttle, get the bikeinto higher gear and just go all out. Iwas thinking ,told be Truth .doing was I whatabout think to chance the have even didn'tnot a requirement. What is a requirement?

Speed. The faster you’re willing to go, thea through blasting about talking not I’m ,recordthe For .becomes navigation easiersmall sand pit. On the contrary, conquering theBaja desert requires making your way.time a at sand deep of miles 30 – 20 through

The desert is not entirely soft, deep sand. Thereare also many sections of relativelyimportant is it but ,thrilling always is trails of types these along Riding .trail packed hard



to be aware that danger can present itself at amoment’s notice during this section of .trip theWhen you’re flying along a trail at a high rate of speed, unforeseen turns and obstaclesyourself find certainly almost will you fast tooturn one hit you If .dangerous becomeskidding and possibly crashing. Unfortunately,as I threw caution to the wind and

.me to happened what exactly is that moment thewith taken fully be to myself allowedA Plum In The SyrupPage 67Luckily, skidding and crashing a motorcycle inthe Baja desert is not equivalent to

.road paved a on crashingRemember how I told you that successfullymaking your way through the deep sand of the just require trip the of legs other at Success?speed requires desert Baja theopposite.

We’d hit a trail that was very badly damaged byrecent, heavy rains. I remember gazingout washed had fall rain the from run-off The.hard pretty hit was that hill steep a down



entire chunks of the trail and left unstable soiland a lot of exposed, large and sharp.behind crags out washed deep and rocksSlow and steady with intense concentration wasrequired to make it through this sectionyour let you If .it do to way other no was simplyThere .successfully trail the of concentration go for one second the bike couldeasily slip into one of the many deep,

a and crash certain a mean would washout a inup caught Getting .washouts craggybad one at that.Another stretch was a trip down the coast at theshore of the Pacific Ocean. This stretchwas kind any of concentration No .experience

reflective and calm a for providedrequired during this section of the trip. Theterrain was nice and flat with no imminentsteady nice a keeping than more Nothing .aheadup seen be to kind any of dangerspace was required. Riding along the coast

afforded the opportunity to look around to.surroundings beautiful naturally the appreciateand enjoy just



It amazed me at how adeptly our tour guide wasable to lead us through all parts of thisto guide our of experience the Without .desertBaja the in signs road no are There .triplead us from one trail system to the next,completing the 600 mile trip would have been.task impossible near aSo, to get back to the point of this story – whichis not to tell you how thrilling off-road

I’ve thrills best the of one is it although) desertBaja the through is riding motorcycleever experienced) – the point is the invaluablebusiness lessons I was able to draw from.experience theA Plum In The Syrup

Page 68Getting through the deep, loose sand requiredspeed and limited thought; the trick wasbased home your in times many be will There.possible as quickly as through it make tobusiness where conquering a situation will call

for the same approach. Sometimesyour trusting and Promptness .make can youmistake worst the be can overanalyzing



instincts to make it through as quickly aspossible is the answer.There are other times when navigating certainbusiness obstacles will require a slowtrails out washed the traveling as just ,thoughtcognizant and concentration with pacehad required. Trying to rush your way throughsometimes will only mean disaster; an.will you if crash inevitable

Of course, as in my example of tearing throughtrails at full throttle, you must avoidif good any yourself doing be won’t You.activities business your in reckless beingyou’re moving too rapidly causing obstacles tospring up quicker than the time you've

.adjustments necessary make to allottedThere are times in your business where youshould allow yourself to coast. By openingto able been you’ve what enjoy can yousurroundings your appreciating and eyes yourdo for yourself. And you owe it to yourself to

occasionally take time to appreciatemy to parallel runs self-appreciation This .back the on pat a yourself give and yourself experience of riding along the ocean shore.



Finally, there was the lesson of working smarter,not harder. The 600 mile trip through,guide tour a following By .success complete a,part most the for ,was desert Baja thethe challenges of navigating the desert wereminimized; not eliminated but minimized.Yes, there were some bumps and bruises andbroken motorcycle parts. But, in the end,.success huge a be to out turned trip the and

piece one in through it made everybodyJust as we had followed the guidance of somebody experienced in navigating the Bajato nothing was There .success of challenges thenavigating in you should so ,desertstop us from riding through Baja California

without a tour guide. However, I'm willing tofailed would've probably most we chance good athere's that have I everything betmiserably if we tried.A Plum In The SyrupPage 69

Maybe we could've eventually completed theentire 600 mile trip on our own. But not incould've things poorly how knows Who .sure forthat's piece one in not and days three



turned out had we not invested the moneyupfront in somebody else's experience.You'll be faced with a number of challenges inbuilding a successful life. If you try toyou'll ,own your on everything out figure totrying by challenges those navigate blindlybe setting yourself up for a long, painfulstruggle.If your goal is to succeed in life and in business

then you must work smarter, not harder.means It .education business your and yourself in investing means smarter Workingfollowing the proven path of somebody who hasalready succeeded at what it is you'rean making meant miles Baja grueling 600 riding

successfully as Just .do to attemptinginvestment in somebody else's experience, sowill succeeding in life.All successful people invest in themselves – theyhave to. There are no shortcuts torequired they're what on up hung get never

success their about serious Those .successto pay up front to learn something valuable fromsomebody more experienced. Rather



And .run long the in them provide willexperience that value more much how at look theythat, my friend, is the definition of workingsmarter, not harder.There was a point where we took a rest stop inthe desert. The temperature was aour continue to motorcycles the on back get topreparing were we As .70s mid pleasant

journey, our tour guide pointed to the cloudcovered mountains that we were about to.precipitation some encounter would we thatcomment a made and traverseNaturally I assumed he meant rain. After all, wewere in the Baja – what other kind of

,that way hard the out found we surprise our toMuch ?be possibly it could precipitationyes, snow does fall in the mountains of the Bajapeninsula.By the time we had made it to the mountain topwe found ourselves smack in the middle

weren’t it if enjoyable been have would It.experience wild a was It .blizzard out full a of for the frigid temperatures and our feet sloshingaround inside of our newly rain-filled



physically most the of one was trip the of stretchthat ,aside kidding All .boots ridingstrenuous activities I’ve ever experienced. Myclothes were soaked and I was chilled toA Plum In The SyrupPage 70a as felt that shower hot a having ever rememberdon't I .leaf like shaking bone thegood as the one I took back at the hotel.

I am aware that pounding through the Bajadesert on a 450cc dirt bike is an activity thatam I point the on you lose to not is intention My.demographic select a to only appealstrying to make.Find an appealing activity that gives you the

opportunity to push your physical limits.you limitations physical predefined your pastfurther much how at amazed be will Youare able to go.Getting caught in the snow storm may havetaught me one of the most important

It .today it about laugh and experience thatthrough get to able was I .all of lessonsreinforced my ability to recognize that I can getthrough anything. There is no obstacle



climb ,around go ,through get to how out figurewon’t I where me at throw can life thatover or burrow under thanks to riding that dirtbike through the mountain blizzard.I’ve been to events where participants partake in“breakthrough” activities. Thesethe or ,barefooted embers hot red across walking,walk fire the include may activitiesbreaking of a solid board with your bare hands.

The purpose of these activities is findingAs .impossible seem may first at that tasksaccomplishing of capability own your outlong as you put your mind to it, you can do it.Don't mistake me here, there is absolutelynothing wrong with the type of trip that has

can I .vacation type resort a loves who guy firstthe I’m .agenda the on self-indulgencehave a great time lounging with my wife in thesand with an umbrella drink in hand or.son my with pool wave the in around splashingWhat I am suggesting though is that you do

make it a point to send yourself on a tripsky- a be could This .limitations self-imposedyour test to chance the you gives which



diving excursion, big game fishing in the Gulf of Mexico or running with the bulls in.Spain ,PamplonaA Plum In The SyrupPage 71It is very important to your success that youprove to yourself that any limitations younature this of trip a taking ,And .self-imposedpurely are yourself about have might

grants you the opportunity to crush these pre-conceived limitations.One final thought on learning life's manylessons. Life does not give us all the lessonsthe through lessons learn and recognize to needwe ,Frequently .directly need we

experiences of others.Here's an example – it's a sad example and onethat I hope everyone takes seriouslypopular and beautiful very a – RichardsonNatasha 2009 ,18 March On .from learns andstage and screen actress – died from a fall while

taking skiing lessons. Her death was.spill harmless pretty a be to seemed what bycaused definitely was it but immediate not



I will not try to recreate what transpired in themoments and hours following her spill butmedical immediate and proper with spared beencould've life her that us tell accountsattention. Said medical attention would've beencompletely unrequired had Natasha.helmet ski a wearing been RichardsonThe untimely and tragic death of Ms Richardsonought to serve as a valuable lesson to

ride son me let I will again Never .granted forsafety personal our take never to us of allhis tricycle without a helmet. How fast can athree year old go on a tricycle? And howto about not I'm and know don't I ?off topple towere he if into get he can trouble much

find out the hard way.I've accepted the death of Natasha Richardson asa wakeup call – a valuable lessonNatasha if that me tells Something .elsesomebody through taught has life thatRichardson knew that her untimely passing had

resulted in the saving of somebody.that about smile would she ,helmet a wear toreminder a as served it because life else's



She would be pleased that her death was not invain.Tune in and pay attention. Life is constantlyteaching you lessons directly or through.waste to go lessons those let Don't .othersA Plum In The SyrupPage 7212 – Focus On The Needs Of OthersIt's been said that you can

get everything you wantin life if you help enoughother people to get what itis that they want in life.This statement is a basictruth which virtually all

entrepreneurs live by intheir pursuit of success.It's been said that you can get everything youwant inis it what get to people other enough help you if life

that they want in life. This statement is a basictruthpursuit their in by live entrepreneurs all virtuallywhich



of success.There are basically only two things whichmotivateattain either to do they things the do People.peoplepleasure or to avoid pain. The decisions peoplemakeall are live to how or buy to what ,go to whereon

driven by these two essential issues; avoid painorgreater a is pain of avoidance the ,And .pleasuregainmotivator than gaining pleasure.Everybody goes through life with their own set

of people's some Although .with contend to issuesissues are unique, you'll find that many peoplehaveto on go who Those .common in issues same thegreat entrepreneurial successes focus on helping

theattain or (problems solve) pain avoid to massespleasure (improve quality of life).



Great ideas to do one or the other – attainpleasure orlook just ,nose your under right are – pain avoidaround.Let's take a look at a simple product that seemsto beattain to people helps which today rage the allpleasure.A Plum In The Syrup

Page 73Essentially this product is a blanket with sleevesnamed a Snuggy. A very simple yetone only in comes it ;product forward straight,simple very a It's .idea popular apparentlysize and there are a few different colors to

choose from. How hard was it to create a?sleeves with blanketHere's another that comes to mind; a hangingplanter which enables you to grow aadvertised Topsy-Turvy a called item this seenmay've You .down upside plant tomato

on TV.Growing up I saw my dad every day in thespring and summer working his vegetable



a of kind what saw I ,though time same the At.love of labor a was it ,him For .gardenhassle it was to grow tomatoes. Dad wouldgerminate the seeds in his greenhouse into grew they as plants the tie and garden his inout seedlings the replant ,spring earlytall stakes. Half the time the deer and other wildanimals would get to the ripened fruit.did he before

There's nothing quite as tasty as a homegrown,garden fresh tomato but there areurban an in live you if what And .them growingwith involved challenges definiteenvironment or on the 12th floor of a high rise?If you don't have access to a plot of soil

?tomatoes own your grow to going you are howthen ,garden vegetable a start toSomebody saw these challenges and created anitem which enables you to grow yourvery a It's .problems associated the all obviatingthereby down upside plants tomato

simple yet very effective solution to a problemtomato lovers everywhere were faced.tomatoes growing of out hassle the take to how;with



Do either of these aforementioned productsseem obvious to you now that they've been;planter tomato down upside an and sleeves withblanket A ?market the to introducedtwo very simple products. One of them deliverspleasure – a blanket with sleeves to;freely hands your use to you enables but monthscold the during warmer you keep helpand the other helps to avoid pain – an upside

down tomato planter which takes the.tomatoes fresh garden enjoying of out hassleA Plum In The SyrupPage 74Sometimes great idea comes from nature. Areyou familiar with the story of how the

the in out was man a when created was It?created was fastener loop and hook Velcrowoods with his dog. Upon returning from hiswalk in the woods, he took a close look at,noticed He .fur dog's his and clothes his to stuck were which (basically ,seeds) burs the

under a microscope, that these burs hadhundreds of hooks on them that would grabmanmade a into idea the adopted He .themagainst brushed which anything of hold



equivalent and thus Velcro was born.The Post-It note is a great example of aserendipitous invention. An engineer at the 3Mreally was one no ,first At .adhesive reusable,tack low a invented "accidently" Companysure what to do with this "invention" untilsomebody used the stuff to make himself aoffice is rest The .realized was notes Post-It forpotential the ,moment that At .bookmark

supply history.In an earlier chapter I'd urged you to remaincurious about everything. Here's anothersee to you enable will curious Remaining .that

just do to want you'd why reason greatthings which others may be missing.

The funny thing about so many of history'sgreatest creations is that they seemed sothink you that something see you if is herelesson important the So .along all obviousothers may be missing, act on it. How manypeople do you think may've thought of a

were there sure I'm ?out came Snuggy Thebefore sleeves with blanket all fits size onea lot of them.



I can go on but I'm sure you get the point. Whatproblems do you see around you? Whatto ideas with up Coming ?them solve to with upcome you can solution simple a of kindhelp people avoid pain or gain pleasure does nothave to be a complicated process..possible it's proven already have you beforepeople of thousands ,it do can YouA Plum In The Syrup

Page 7513 – Do Not Make Other People's ProblemsYour Problem…work at keeping thingsin their proper perspectiveand listen to your gut.

Your gut feelings willalways tell you whether ornot you're putting yourself in peril by taking onproblems which aren'tyour own.

Solving other people's problems can put you onamaking ,add to hasten I ,But .success certain topath



other people's problems your problem is a surepathpeople Helping .two the confuse not Do .failuretosolve their problems versus taking on thoseproblemsmatters different completely two are own yourasentirely.

Not too long ago I'd carved out a niche formyself inMy .investor foreclosure a as market estate realthespecialty was negotiating short sale settlementsfor

mortgage their on default in were who peoplepayments and had little or no equity in their.propertiesIn business, time is money so it was important towas I not or whether ,phone the over right,determine

able to assist a distressed homeowner whenthey'dhomeowner a because Just .office my contactinitially



is in foreclosure does not necessarily mean ashort.situation their for right is saleWorking with foreclosed properties is gratifyingin thatthe At .need of time their at people help to nobleit'ssame time, however, it was a business and Icould

and sense made they felt I if projects after goonlythat I had a good shot at closing the transaction.A Plum In The SyrupPage 76Without question, the hardest part of working

the foreclosed real estate market for me.through going was homeowner distressed thethat pain the from myself separating wasThe sad stories I'd heard of what had causedpeople to go into foreclosure in the first.bear could I than more become had place

As a side note, in my experience it takes a reallystrong stomach and something of afor desperate are who people are These.homeowners foreclosed with work to skin thick



a solution to their problems. They want answersand they seek some certainty aboutethical in make can you mistake one number the,However .future term near theirforeclosure investing is to guarantee ahomeowner any kind of a successful outcome.I'd had people literally crying, asking me formoney in lieu of a successful short salea being from far is situation foreclosure any in

outcome successful a ,However .outcomecertainty. As much as my heart went out to thepeople I've dealt with, it would've been.money of amount any front to standpointbusiness a from imprudent veryHad I done so, had I provided a distressed

homeowner any amount of money up front, Ithe is really that And .problem my problemstheir made ,moment that at ,have wouldnumber one rule in foreclosure investing; do notassume somebody else's problems. In.general in business in rule one number the

considered be also can this ,actuality allThere's another important example I'd like tooffer you on this topic. Throughout my



Marketing Network various with involved beenI've ,entrepreneurship of yearscompanies. Success in Network Marketingmeans building an organization. You want totheir of organization an build to them help andbusiness the into people new sponsorown. The more people you help to buildsuccessful organizations, the more successful.business own your in become you'll

When a person decides to get started in Network Marketing they're typically required toto company one from varies cost startup The.kind some of investment upfront an makethe next but there's always some initialinvestment required. Frequently, somebody new

a of behalf the on investment initial the makeactually will Marketing Network toprospect; a person they wish to get into theirorganization.A Plum In The SyrupPage 77

On the surface, doing something like this seemsto make sense. After all, the personthe and business their grow to eager is elsesomebody for investment initial the making



person on the receiving end of this gesture needsthe helping hand. This looks like a.involved sides both for win-winAll I can tell you is doing something like this isa big mistake. If a person is really eagerthe Making .it do to way a find they'll,notwithstanding money ,business own their starttoinitial investment for somebody else is actually a

lose-lose for you both. Although yourelse's somebody make to was done essentiallyyou've all ,placed well be may intentionsproblems your problem. The person on thereceiving end of this scenario will see zeroto approach serious a take to anybody For .made

you've investment the in valuebusiness they've got to have some skin in thegame; they've got to lay their own money.line the onFrequently, creating a business around helpingothers to solve their problems will

,But .course of literally not ,figuratively – shoestheir into yourself put to you requireprojecting yourself into a problem in order tocome up with viable solutions is a heck of a



.own your problems those making than differentlotThere are some entrepreneurs who have builtvery successful businesses out of takinga make to able are who those that is say will IWhat .problems people's other onsuccess of this type of business model have agreat deal of experience in what they do.their upon rely and carefully very risks their

calculate who women and men are Thesevast, very focused, and frequently hard earned,experience.The assumption I'm making in this chapter isthat the reader is a new, buddingpeople's other Solving .words my heed please

then you describes that If .entrepreneurproblems can be the foundation for a winningbusiness model. Making other people'swhat of detail little every knowing really withoutor unnecessarily problem your problemsyou're doing can be disastrous.

Look at the following as an example of a type of business which takes on other people'sNumerous .turmoil in is industry banking globalthe writing this of time the At .problems



A Plum In The SyrupPage 78banks are being taken over by other, largerbanks. Acquisitions take place in all areas of .industry banking the to exclusive not is it;businessWhen one business acquires another, thatbusiness is taking on all the existingafter made only are acquisitions these But .be

may they whatever ,issues and problemsvery careful analysis. Some people even havemade a substantial business of buying.around them turning or rescuing and companiestroubledI realize that most people reading this book are

not and will not be engaged in returningit felt I ,discussion the of sides both to fair be to,But .profitability to businesses brokenwas important to mention this.When I say to avoid making somebody else'sproblems your problem, I'm speaking

not does rule this saying without goes it think I.perspective business a from strictlyapply on a personal level when it comes tohelping a loved one. If your spouse has a



.too problem your it's default by then problemFinally, work at keeping things in their properperspective and listen to your gut. Yourtaking by peril in yourself putting you're not orwhether you tell always will feelings guton problems which aren't your own.A Plum In The SyrupPage 7914 –Do Not Subjugate Yourself To Failure

With failure being asprolific as it is – it's farmore likely that you'll failat something than succeedat it – why even bothertaking a chance? If failure

hurts and you're mostlikely to fail, what's thepoint?Wouldn't life be grand if whatever we attemptedwerea being there of Instead ?favorably out work

always to95% failure rate amongst all new businesses,every



owner its make and successful be would them of onerich. If things were to always work out well,anybodywould've market stock the in invested ever haswhogotten wealthy doing so, the public would'veKnievel Evil and Coke New embracedenthusiastically

would've made that jump over the fountain infront of .Palace Caesar'sBut, alas, 95% of all new businesses fail, manyan,Street Wall on beating financial a taken has

investorNew Coke is recognized as one of businessesout came finally Evil and blunders historicalgreatestof his coma after 29 days.Failure is never easy. With failure invariably

comes aeven person a would why ,hurts failure If .painof lot



entertain the prospect of enduring it? There aremucha over yourself fling to than live to ways easierfountain in front of a huge audience or to stakeyour.restaurant new a opening on savings life'sAnd nobody is keeping the facts of failurehidden. I'llwell is business new a opens who everybody bet

aware that he or she has only a 5% chance of makingthe into money their place who those sure I'm.work itA Plum In The SyrupPage 80

stock market have some idea of the risksinvolved. And I know that Evil Knievel knew hehe when that say interview an in him saw I.jump that make to able be wouldn'tsurveyed the jump from the top of the takeoff ramp prior to making his attempt he told

.anyway it did he but…crash to going was hehimself With failure being as prolific as it is – it's farmore likely that you'll fail at something than



likely most you're and hurts failure If ?chance ataking bother even why – it at succeedto fail, what's the point?I think ultimately how you answer this questionwill come down to how you defineis success of definition your that you told I book this of prologue the In .successcompletely unique to you. So ask yourself, howdo you define success?

Success, however you define it for yourself, willrequire some degree of risk to attain it.therefore and ,risk keep can You .failure invitingyou're ,risk a take you whenever Andthe possibility of failure, to a minimum byplaying it safe. But again, it will all come down

.success define you how toFor example, if your definition of success is it tolive conservatively, put in a 40 hour.risk personal minimizing you're then ,return inpaycheck a receive and week work You're not eliminating it entirely but you won't

be taking on any risks with potentially.consequences painfulHowever, if you define success as beingindependently wealthy, traveling the world in



you'll then home ostentatious an in living andcars sports exotic driving ,style class firstbe taking some pretty high risks in life to getthose things.It then stands to reason that how much potentialpain of failure you're willing to endure.yourself for success define you how on dependultimately willI'd mentioned in a previous chapter that,

essentially, everybody wants more out of life.world This .it get to required what's do actuallyto willing are people few very ,Howeveris filled with worker bees who unhappily goabout their daily business. They risk veryare they where stuck masses the keeps What .life

of out little very get therefore and littleis their own inability to take on risk because of the fear of failure.A Plum In The SyrupPage 81This is what I mean when I say do not subjugate

yourself to failure. If you want more outyou if And .simple that just it's ,it get tonecessary risks the take to got you've then life of



have an inability to take on risk because you'reafraid of the potential of failure then.life of out much too get to expect don'tFailure is a very misunderstood concept. Thosewho achieve great things understandan as failure embrace They .experience learninga than more nothing is failure thatimportant part of achievement and learn toleverage their failures as stepping stones

.goals their reaching towardsOur lives would not be filled with the wonderfulinnovations we have today if the peoplesuccess more begets Success .failing of afraidwere innovations those for responsiblethat's true. But you know what? Failure does not

necessarily beget more failure. Failurerather but success of born not is success ,wayanother it put To .success begets alwayssuccess is born of failure. Look at it that wayand you'll realize that failure is literally.desire you life the achieve to necessary

Personally, I've always looked at it as aprerequisite to success; a kind of rite of a It's .life of part a it's ;Failure .it at fail firstmust you ,something at succeed To .passage



part of life as an entrepreneur anyway. Withonly the slightest exception, every.failure with dealt has reading through know togotten have or know I person successfulIt's an integral part of becoming successful.Look, there are very few guarantees in life.Achievement of your goals is certainly noto come will accomplish to out set you things thethat guarantee no is There .exception

pass. You may not reach a goal on your firstattempt. And maybe not on your second,you attempt every with ,certainty with you tellcan I this But .either attempt fourth or thirdmake, your chances of reaching your goal aregreatly increased.

There is one major caveat of making repeatedattempts to accomplish a goal and it'sleverage To .from learn to you for lessonvaluable a holds attempt failed every ;thisfailure to your advantage then you've got tolearn from it. There is nothing wrong with

from valuable something learning not and failingwith wrong everything is There .failingthe experience. From failure is born experienceand from experience is born success.



A Plum In The SyrupPage 82Very few people will achieve anythingnoteworthy with the life they've been blessedwith;types all needs world this ,But .failure of feartheir to down comes all it part large in andit needs great achievers, it needs the proletariatand it needs all classes in between. Not

1980 the in Noonan Danny to said Smails JudgeAs .things great do will everybodymovie "Caddyshack" – "Well, the world needsditch diggers too."Who do you aspire to be? Are you one of theworld's proverbial "ditch diggers" or are

you're risks the to down come will question thatanswer you How ?that than more youwilling to take and how you look at failure.I'll wrap up this chapter by offering a quote fromthe immortal Michael Jordan. Infrom quotes of number countless a across come

I'd chapter this for notes my gatheringfamous people throughout history who talkedabout the important role failure had played



so that one the is Jordan Michael from quote this,However .success ultimate their ineloquently summed up the importance of failing.Here's how Michael Jordan had put his failingsinto perspective: "I've missed more thantake to trusted been I've times 26 .games 300almost lost I've .career my in shots 9,000the game winning shot and missed. I've failedover and over and over again in my life

".succeed I why is that andFailure; don't expect it but accept it.A Plum In The SyrupPage 8315 – Keep It RealIt is crucially important

for you to keep things intheir proper perspective.Keeping things real in thisday and age is a challengein and of itself. The intentof this chapter is to help

you keep things in theirproper perspective.I remember being a kid back in the 1970'swatching



black ,fuzzy the on "Family The In All" of episode anand white console TV parked in the living room.Thisscheduled regularly a was show the when back issitcom. The scene was where Meathead andGloriathey that Edith and Archie to news the breaking

arewould not be having any children. Archie andEdithlooking were they because disappointed visiblyareforward to being grandparents.

Archie pressed them on why they weren'tplanning tothat was response Meathead's and children anyhave"they didn't want to bring any children into thisplanet this that was reasoning His ".world

crummywas already too over crowded, polluted and nota.grow to child a for place pleasant



That episode originally aired over 30 years ago.If world the that then back thought Gloria andMeatheadwas too polluted, overcrowded and too crummyathink they would what ,up child a bring to placetoday?The funny thing is this; every generation could

findthey which in world the about complain toreasonslive.A Plum In The SyrupPage 84

My younger brother Mark frequently commentsabout how much easier times must'veand taxes and cheaper were gasoline and carsthat argues He .1950's the in back beengeneral prices of things were a lot lower. Heactually has a whole list of reasons why life

was there that him to appears just It .today lifethan easier been must've past years fromsomehow not as much pressure to live back thenas there is today. Mark wasn't even



he's Maybe .true even is this not or whether ideano has course of he so 1972 until bornright, maybe not; I don't know.Here's the thing though; the world in which welive is what it is. Stressing over what'sabundant an living for purpose good no youserves you around world the in place takinglife. I don't think any generation necessarilythinks they have it any better than the

in living you're that thoughts with out yourself psyche you before ,So .before generationtrying times, just remember that most everyonefrom previous generations probably.thing same the thoughtAs I'm reviewing my notes, I realize this chapter

could easily be the longest one in thistoday there out around swirling hyperbole andhype much so be to seems There .book that it becomes difficult to separate myth fromreality. We live in a time known as theis today disposal convenient our at information

of crush utter The .age informationpandemic.It is therefore crucially important for you to keepthings in their proper perspective.



this of intent The .itself of and in challenge a isage and day this in real things Keepingchapter is to help you keep things in their properperspective.For example, take a look at the law of attraction;a subject we'd discussed in chapter 3.main become has (attraction of law the ,aka)energy vibrational ,internal of topic Thestream today. Was that the case yester decade or

before? Probably not; I'd imagineof cadre flung far a by discussed secretly ,best atunderground was topic a suchsociologists.Thanks to the blockbuster success of books like"The Secret", the law of attraction

books or "Secret The" read you Have .topicstream main ,discussed openly an is todaylike it? If so, are you now magically attractingthe things into your life that you deeplyA Plum In The SyrupPage 85

it keep you as long as…work does reallyattraction of law the ;can you Because ?desirereal.



One of the exercises "The Secret" suggests is touse visualization to attract the things.tools visualization recommended the are boardsvision and Meditation .life in want weIf you're meditating about the things you want inlife and making vision boards in orderunderstand ,But .start good a to off you're ;greatreality your into things those attract tothis, it doesn't end there. Just because you deeply

desire something does not mean that.life your in appear magically somehow to goingit'sFor example, let’s say you have a vision board.On your board you have a picture of aevery boat that of picture the at stare You

.owning of dream you that boat speed sexyday. You meditate about owning the boat. Inyour meditation you see yourself in theyou what on Based .day sunny ,gorgeous a onblue ocean the cruising seat captain’sknow about the law of attraction – through your

vision board and meditation – you arethe make to do to need you All .reality your intoboat dream that drawing magnetically



boat your possession is to visualize having it andit will be so. Right? Wrong!The reality is that nothing on your vision boardwill materialize unless you take someof law the thinks who anyone ,see You .itacquiring actually towards action of sortattraction alone will bring them everything theywant in life is sorely mistaken. The law of action Taking .worthless is ,action meaningful

with combined not when ,alone attractionalso means keeping it real.Here's another example; home based business isa very hot topic today. In response tobased home to attention their turning are peopleof thousands ,market job souring a

entrepreneurialism. If this describes you thenplease, PLEASE make sure you keep it.realHave you ever searched out the topic of homebased business on Google? Holylesson on a need up come which sites web these

of some behind people the do smokeskeeping things real. Go onto Google and searchthat keyword. You'll find tons of webA Plum In The Syrup



Page 86wealthy become can anyone which of ease theabout claims outrageous making sitesfrom a home office just by latching ontowhatever it is that particular site is offering.I've seen sites that say such things as, "Ourrobots make you money while you sleep".reality a need somebody does man oh Man?sleep I while money me Making ?Robots

check. Now I'm not scoffing at automation andstreamlining a work process. In fact, themake I money of amount the on limits no havingis me for success word the of meaningand also having all the free time I need to enjoyit. What good is having money if you're

this to crucial is process flow work automated anup Setting ?it for silly yourself workinggoal.But to think that all you need to do is buy andplug in some robot that will automaticallyan up setting in involved work of lot a is There

.preposterous is rich you making startautomated system to assist you with your work flow and it's not going to happen.overnight



What I find very frustrating are the claims of easy home based riches made by too manybased home regarding misinformation and hypeThe .there out sites webentrepreneurialism online is rampant. You'llalways only see the rosy side of makingtears and sweat ,blood prerequisite the abouthear really never you but home at moneywhich go into building a home business.

Work harder not smarter is the mantra. And adamn good mantra it is. All successfulword the used I notice you Did .harder thanrather smarter work to learned have people"learned" in the previous sentence? What thatmeans is working smarter will come

hard work can You .process learned a is smarterworking ;work hard of result a as aboutwithout working smart but you'll never be ableto work smart without first working hard.Keeping it real means reminding yourself of something your mother used to tell you

In .is it true be to good too sounds something if :kid little a just were you when back terms of money and success, work, and lots of it,has to come first. The only place



.dictionary the in is work before comes successwhereA Plum In The SyrupPage 87All I'm asking you to do is be extremelycautious if you're researching businesswilling ,ready there out charlatans skilled of shortage no certainly is There .opportunitiesand able to pounce on the ill-informed.

Many of the claims being made today wouldlead you to believe that for a minimal startcharlatans skilled These .you to handed businessgenerating cash a have you'll cost upI talk about know how to appeal to a person'ssense of greed. Things are made to

.easy like they ;like people what that's and easyso soundStarting off at a point of easy riches is a fallacy.I'm not saying such a thing isto seem who there out people successful of plenty are There .all at not impossible

make money with great ease and you can be oneof them. All I'm saying is getting towill Nobody .point starting a not is it ,earnedhard something is riches easy of point that



hand you a lucrative career or a successfulbusiness; those things must be earned.One of the tactics used by the "easy moneyshysters" (as I like to call them) is to displayin raking they're money big the of evidence assites web their on statements bank theevery month. What they don't show you is theamount of money they spend ona showing statement a see you'll ,example For

.campaigns marketing and advertisingfigure of $20,000 in monthly revenue but youdon't see the $18,000 monthly Google pay.revenue that generating for responsible bill click perSomething else we all need to keep a reasonable

perspective on is the phrasecompletely A .Boyle Susan up brought I chapterearlier an In ."success overnight"unknown singer one day, a global sensation thenext. The proverbial "overnightsaid ,words own her in ,Boyle Susan ,now

Remember ,all at not ,No ?right ,"successshe was singing since age 12; she's now 48.Does that sound like "overnight success"?to you



Ask anybody who's ever been referred to as anovernight success whether or not theyof kind some been always There's .no you tellthey'll sure I'm and title that deservepreparation required – sometimes a whole lot of preparation – before the bigwithout materialize never will breakthrough bigthat And .pass to comes breakthroughthe intense preparation that nobody ever sees.

A Plum In The SyrupPage 88Keeping things in perspective – keeping thingsreal – is such an important topic; one Ithere but necessary than loquacious more be towant don't I .about on and on go can

are a few additional points which I think areworth mentioning on this subject.I'd read a book a year or two ago entitled "YouCall The Shots" by Cameron Johnson.guy a He's .22of age the at book this written hadwho man young unique very a is Cam

who seems to have the entrepreneurial Midastouch.He'd started his first business at the age of 9 witha home computer and by the age of



every admission own his By .resume his onbusinesses profitable dozen a had he'd 19business he'd started up to that point was asuccess – he lost no money on any of them.He's an admirable young man to be certain butCameron Johnson is certainly the.rule the not exceptionThe path most entrepreneurs take is one linedheavily with failures, losses and

will lead to wish you life the to path your thatsuggesting necessarily not I'm .frustrationbe fraught with failures. But, in the spirit of keeping things real, don't be surprised if it is..you stop that let don't and it accept ,is it if AndI won't go into a dissertation on the topic of

failure but you have to learn to accept it andnot and something at Failing .detrimental not issomething at Failing .it from learnlearning from it is.History is loaded with stories of men andwomen who eventually made their mark in this

failures more overcome to have you Whether.repeatedly defeat overcoming after worldthan somebody else along your road to successmakes no difference. What will make



you times tough whatever through persevere toability your is difference the allencounter. I've already said a lot on the topic of failure in chapter 13 so I'll leave it at.thatLike I said earlier, this topic could easily fill abook; even a complete volume. But of there's If .politics at look a having without thislike chapter a conclude couldn't I course

any group in the USA who needs some seriouslessons on keeping things real, it's our.agencies its and governmentA Plum In The SyrupPage 89News recently broke that lifelong senate

republican Arlen Specter has switched politicalhis of many or one Did ?move this make he didWhy .democrat a now he's ;partiesrepublican colleagues somehow upset him? Didhe wake up one morning and decidehis changed suddenly he'd philosophies and

beliefs conservative of lifetime a after thatmind? No to both questions.Specter switched parties in a move to improvehis chances of staying in office. Polls and



never will himself He .switch party the forreasons primary the are re-elected gettingcome out and admit such a thing but on thispoint numerous political pundits agree.to real it keeping like sound another to partypolitical one from switch sudden this Doesyou?Arlen Specter is just one teeny example that Iuse because his changing parties is

.real things keep to inability their for famous aregeneral in politicians But .news recentAn entire volume of books can easily be writtenon examples of how our elected officials.means "real it keeping" what to as clue no haveKeeping it real also means that you must operate

your business within the boundariesthe within" so do to but "integrity with operate"to say didn't I Note .integrity own your of boundaries of your own integrity". As I'dmentioned earlier, money is neutral paper andlie who People .honesty of level high a with

operate only who those for reserved not isand cheat can achieve their own definition of success as well as the person who.honesty with operates



To be truly successful, you must feel good abouthow you go about attaining yourconducting means yourself for real it keepingthen nature by honest you're If .successyour business in an honest way. If wealth is howyou define success then attainingstaying means Success .well you serve not willtactics unscrupulous using by wealthtrue to yourself.

The decisions you'll make in life come in a widevariety of shapes and sizes. Don'timportant most What's .decisions small the onenergy and time your of much too wasteis that you base your big decisions on principle.As long as you do so, you'll be keeping

.yourself for real itA Plum In The SyrupPage 90Living a life of happiness is synonymous withliving successfully. You will live happily.real it keep always you as long as successfully

live will you andKeeping things real and keeping things in theirproper perspective will help you to forge



are which principles the on living you're thatwell full knowing times tough the through onimportant to you.A Plum In The SyrupPage 9116 – To Be Act As If “To be a great championyou must believe you arethe best. If you’re not,

pretend you are.”In his book "The Art Of The Deal", DonaldTrumpestate real a as days early his about length attalksdeveloper. For those who may not be familiar

with hisdevelopment estate real his started Trump ,storycompany from a couple of small offices inBrooklyn. ItTrump that 27 about of age old ripe the untilwasn't

made his move into Manhattan.Upon his arrival in the big city his first order of .people right the to himself "sell" to wasbusiness



Meaning, he had to forge the relationships andmakea as career his advance to necessary connectionsthereal estate developer.As he began to meet with the people he felt hename formal no had he ,with good in get toneededfor his fledgling development company. So he

beganhe As .Organization Trump the company hiscallingputs it, "Somehow the word "organization"made it."bigger much sound

At the time, Donald Trump had no experience orhe but aspirations his up back toaccomplishmentshad something far more important; he had avision.like act to had he ,reality a vision that make to

Andthe person he dreamt of becoming long beforehe.person that became actually



A Plum In The SyrupPage 92If Trump hadn't first taken himself seriously as abig time New York City real estateasking now I'm .either such as seriously himtaken would've else nobody then developeryou to utilize the same strategy Donald Trumpused to kick start his ascent to success.must you then become to wish you person the as

others by recognized be to want you If first recognize your own self as that person. Inshort, to be, act as if.Here is what Muhammad Ali had to say on thissubject: “To be a great champion you,him hate or him Love ."are you pretend ,not

you’re If .best the are you believe mustnobody knew the power of belief in self betterthan Muhammad Ali.In addition to seeing yourself as, and acting as,the person you wish to become, youTrump Donald ,example previous the in As

.create to wish you life the see also mustsaw himself as a big time New York City realestate developer and he had a vision of



other the never is it ;reality precedes alwaysvision A .pursue to wanted he projects theway around. Never has success been achievedby somebody who hasn't first.reach to wanted they goal the envisionedThere's the story of Walt Disney who saw hiscompleted Disneyland theme park in hisSteven of story the also There's .it build tobroken was ground before long mind

Spielberg who snuck into an empty janitorialcloset on the grounds of Universal Studio,."Director ,Spielberg Steven" ;read which doorthe on sign a hanging HollywoodDisney and Spielberg are not alone. The historyof business is filled with similar stories.

A strategy I've used to help me "act as if" is toread biographies and autobiographies of Donald ,Stewart Martha about and by booksread I've .people business successfulTrump, Lee Iacoca, Bill Gates, J.P. Getty andmany others. Doing so has enabled me to

become to used have others strategies the of elements valuable many up pick successful.



And I never took the approach of doing exactlywhat I'd read about in these books.and personality own my with well fit felt I whichelements the extracted I'd ,Ratherindividuality. Following examples set by othersuccessful people does not mean letting.not you're somebody like act or be to tryingmean doesn't It .identity own your of goA Plum In The Syrup

Page 93What it means is extracting characteristics whichresonate with you; things which you.existence own your into fold canI guess you've noticed a common theme which Istress throughout this book is the

I activity single other any than me for more donehas Reading .reading of importancecan think of. I don't want to veer too far off thesubject of this chapter but please indulge.mind don't you if moment a for meYou can tell a lot about a person based on what

it is they read or don't read. Onenext The .habits reading their is next the toperson successful one from commonality



time you find yourself in the office or home of aperson who you'd consider a success,I what see you'll and that do and ahead Go.bookshelves their lines what of notice takemean.Then, take notice of what a person living a lifeof mediocrity has lining theirdo magazines of types What ?bookshelves haveeven person this Does .bookshelves

they have lying on their coffee table? Do you seemagazines such as "Money",be to magazines gossip celebrity only there areor "Economist The" and "Entrepreneur"found in the living room?Let me add that a person does not have to have

their face constantly buried in acelebrity a through flipping with wrong nothingThere's .magazine or book businessgossip magazine or picking up a trashy novelevery now and again. Hey, we all needyou time the of majority the is suggesting am I

What .reality from break occasional thetake to read should be on beneficial subjectmatter. And yes, you better take the time to.read



OK, I went off on a little bit of a tangent there,let's get back to the subject at hand.Acting like the person you aspire to become isfrequently easier said than done. EachIt's .us at chattering constantly is which headsour inside voice little that has us of onethat little drunken monkey we have between ourears who loves to tell us that we can't.immune is nobody ,one have all We .something

do shouldn't orA Plum In The SyrupPage 94What you've got to do is tame that little beast. Inorder to "act as if" you've got to get thatan be would so do to Trying .him of rid get say

didn't I Note .control under monkeyexercise in futility. Nobody is able to get rid of their little, drunken monkey entirely butown your are You .be need when control underhim keep to able are people successfulworst critic and this is why the monkey never

goes away.Even Tiger Woods, who seems to alwaysproduce when things are on the line, has a



control to ability his from comes greatnessTiger's .head his in living monkey drunkenthe monkey when he needs to.Every successful person, and I really do meanevery single one of them, hasof times those at it's And .success to journeytheir on times at struggle experiencedstruggle when the drunken monkey is at hisworst. Your resolve to become the person

the at especially bay at monkey the keep to useyou'll tool the is becoming of dream youmost difficult times. Always "act as if" andeventually the monkey will have no choice but.itself to criticisms its keep and up sober toHere are a few final thoughts on this topic. We

are all conditioned to take the path of at easy be to going not is zone comfort yourfrom break a Making .resistance leasttimes. Yes, becoming successful isn't alwayseasy but then again, neither is living a life.mediocrity of

If you ever feel as though you're stagnant andunable to move forward to a higher placere- to you for time it's that sign a as that Accept.bit little a up things mix to time it's then



strategize and try a different approach. As thesaying goes, if you continue to do what.gotten always you've what get to continue you'lldone always you'veA Plum In The SyrupPage 9517 – A Plum In The Syrup…it's not so much thecards you're dealt which

matters but the way youplay the hand that willmake all the difference.By now I'm sure you get it; that your personalyou as unique as is "success" word the of definition

are. And, the journey you take to that placewhich you.unique as equally is success as defineSomething I find fascinating is that everybody –everybest the want all We .success wants – us of one

lastthat life has to offer. Yet only a very smallpercentagethan better anything achieve ever will us of



mediocrity.Everybody wants a greater sense of financialsecurity.their and themselves provide to wantsEverybodyloved ones with a good life. Everybody wantsthemoney that knowing from comes which mind of peace

will never be an issue or concern. Sadly,however, thenever will us of majority overwhelming the isrealityget there. Most of us will spend a lifetimestruggling

.quo status the maintain to justWhat makes this dichotomy more interesting isthathas have-nots and haves the between divide thenothing to do with a person’s race. It has nothingto

with do to nothing has It .sex person’s a with dowhere someone was born, who their parents are,field what ,schooling their finished they not orwhether



of endeavor they choose to pursue or how hightheir.is IQA Plum In The SyrupPage 96Going all the way back to the time of cavemen,there has always been and always willchoose they whatever at successful are whopeople of percentage smaller much that be

to pursue.But why? Why are there so many smart, sincere,hard working, well meaning people inWhat ?lives their of all struggle financial thanmore little experience will who world theare the small number of people amongst us

doing to live in financial abundance that the?not are restAs you contemplate this question you may comeup with dozens of good answers. And,is there ,However ,other any than better isanswer one any that you tell to going not I’m

one good answer to this question which Ipersonally feel is the single common threadof definition individual person's a of Regardless.share people successful all that



success and apart from the unique path taken toget there, this is the one characteristicus amongst successful most the :is it here And.common in have people successful alltake full, unconditional, personal responsibilityfor their own lives.If you fail to take personal responsibility foryour own life you're living in victim mode. If in mired being for reason your as boss dumb

your or job lousy your blame youmediocrity, you’re playing the role of a victim.If you’re blaming the lousy economy foryourself find ever you If .victim a of role theplaying you’re then circumstances yourcomplaining about anything at all, you guessed

it, you’re in victim mode. And, theresomehow to happen did ever victim a If .victimsuccessful a as thing such no is simplystumble upon success, that success wouldcertainly be short lived.Taking responsibility for yourself also

demonstrates that you understand that nobody.yourself for happen “it” make to have You .youfor happen “it” make will else



Now here’s the real kicker – people,subconsciously, want to be in victimhood. Ascrazymay They .victim a of role the playingcomfortable are people most ,sound may this asnot realize it or will disagree vehemently withthis observation. However, if they were tofeel would somehow they that see would theythemselves at look honest ,hard a take

threatened by success because success wouldtake them outside of their comfort zone.A Plum In The SyrupPage 97And that is where the real problem lies – people,by their very nature, want to stay with

.with comfortable most are they whatSo the idea of taking full, unconditional andpersonal responsibility for your own life is.around arms your wrap to need really yousomethingMost importantly, taking responsibility for your

own life means that even though you,complete have do you life in experience youeverything over control little very have



unconditional control over how you react to thatwhich you experience. To put it anotherthe play you way the but matters which dealtyou're cards the much so not it's ,wayhand that will make all the difference.Life is constantly throwing us curve balls. Weare tested every day by the trials andas defined commonly is this terms layman's In.immune is nobody ;life of tribulations

"shit happens". The very essence of beinghuman means confronting and efficiently, .challenges daily life's with dealingAll around you, and every day stuff is happeningand there's nothing you can do to stopof level your determine will it to reaction your

and happens which that confronting And .itsuccess in life. You can play the role of victim inresponse or the role of victor. The.yours entirely is choiceTherefore, the one quality which will determinethe type of life you will lead is how you

have You ,you to deals life cards of hand theplay you how ;circumstances life's handlevirtually zero control over THE circumstancesyou'll have to deal with in life but at the



a In .them with deal you'll HOW over controlcomplete 100% have you time samenutshell: what happens to you in life is notwhat's important, it's how you deal with it.important that'sAnd this is the number one deciding factor inwhat separates the successful amongst.crowd the of rest the fromNobody is perfect so your reactions to life's

circumstances will not always be optimal.it with deal to learn must you and happens Stuff .fallible you're therefore human You'reaccordingly.A Plum In The SyrupPage 98

I'd purposefully saved this chapter for last. If there's any one single concept that I'mpoint this from life your in day every use to putand book this from take you'll hopingforward, it's this one. The concepts discussed inthis chapter are what literally separates

.pack the of rest the from successful truly theIt would be entirely impractical of me to tell younot to get upset, frustrated or angry over



the so emotions have you ;human You're .wayyour throw will life challenges thefeelings associated with the challenges you'llface are natural. What's most importantenable will what is emotions your of controlGaining .emotions your controlling is thenyou to meet life's challenges head on allowingyou to respond to them in a productive.way

Sometimes you'll need help and support indealing with your challenges. At other timesdealing and life own your for responsibility fulltaking But .you to up all be will iteffectively with the challenges you'll face willbe the catalyst of your success.

This concept became crystal clear to me a fewyears back.It was the summer of 2000. I was visiting myfolks at their home in Pennsylvania'sin Pennsylvania in lake a on live They .birdssnow are parents My .Mountains Pocono

the spring and summer then take off for Floridafor the fall and winter.When they're back in the north east, their housein the Poconos provides for a great



.weekends summer enjoy to placeIt was a Saturday morning and we were gatheredat the breakfast table sipping coffeealso was ,time the at three was who ,Olivia nieceMy .talk table general making andseated at the table. In front of her sat a plate of syrup with remnants of the pancakes.breakfast for eaten just had sheAs the adults were talking, Olivia stood up on

her chair and reached to grab a plum fromlittle her ,down back sit to went she As .table theof middle the in sat which bowl fruit the3 year old hand had lost its grip on the plumwhich wound up in the plate of syrup in.her of front

A Plum In The SyrupPage 99We adults were snapped out of the conversationwe were having when Olivia let out a,yummy the when upset very was she out turnedit As .cry to began and scream loud

purple plum she was about to bite into fell intothe syrup.Grandma to the rescue!



My mom, who was standing at the sink hurriedover to the table, grabbed the plum fromthe handed she ,towel a with dry it dabbing After.off it rinsed promptly and plate Olivia'spiece of fruit back over to my niece and the littlegirl sat there beaming with joy. Just like.world little her in again well was all and curedwas angst Olivia's ,thatMy mother then made a comment which I've

personally adopted as a metaphor formy of rest the for me with stick will whichcomment a is It .challenges life's with dealinglife.She said, "Olivia, you'll learn in life that therewill be lots of times when your plum will fall

".happens it when it with deal to how learn tohave just You'll .syrup the intoToday, I will say the same thing to you. Therewill be many times in your life, from thethe into drop will plum metaphorical your where,die you'll day the to born you're day

syrup. You can cry about it and play the role of victim or figure out a way to rinse it off .victor the be and



Victors give themselves permission to succeedin life, victims do not.Sometimes you'll be able to rinse the plum witha gentle stream of water. Other times,be always can plum your ,this remember But.plum your rinse to hose fire a need you'llrinsed. Victors always find a way to rinse theirsyrupy plums.How to do it won't always be obvious. But the

fact remains that they can always be.rinsedObviously, at three years old, my niece did nothave the answer for how to deal with hershe And .on goes life as learn will and now 12She's .syrup the in up wound which plum

will find that learning how to rinse her plums isongoing just as you will learn the same;.process ending never a it'sA Plum In The SyrupPage 100A big part of learning how to rinse off your own

plums will come from taking personala with dealing Sometimes .syrup the in up windthey when times the for responsibility



plum when it falls into the syrup is an individualresponsibility. At others times, you may.plum Olivia's off rinsed mother my when casethe was as others from help needThe major point you need to take away though isthis; if you want to live the life of your.way productive a in circumstances life's withdeal to learn to got you've then ,dreamsYou can do little to control the circumstances

you'll face in life and at the same time you.them to react you'll how about everything docanFolks, your life is in your own hands – make themost of it. Once it’s gone, it’s gone foreither and successes see you’ll day one life your

on back look you When .gooddisappointments or regrets. Disappointmentswill mean that you tried; you gave it your.all at try even didn’t you that mean will Regrets.short up came but allLive your life to fill it with as many successes as

possible and smile about the inevitablesee you hope I ,back look to comes day thatwhen ,importantly Most .disappointmentsfew, if any, regrets.



Here's a final thought I'd like to leave you withwhich should help you fill your life with,born were you When :regrets the minimize anddisappointments your accept ,successyou were crying and those around you weresmiling. Live your life so that when your.crying be will you around those and smiling beyou'll world this from pass to arrives timeA Plum In The Syrup

Page 101Appendix AHow do you handle life's proverbial plum whenit falls into the syrup? As I'd beengathering my notes for this book I had so manypeople offering me their stories of

overcoming life's adversities. I've heard storiesof everything from dealing with terminaldiseases with dignity to being embarrassed inpublic and everything in between. Everystory I've heard of folks who had dealt with theirplums in the syrup were so inspirational

to say the least – very powerful stuff indeed.And now it's your turn. I'm asking you to shareyour story with me. How have you been



able to overcome adversity? How have you beenable to rise above and come out theother side of a difficult situation smelling like arose? Whether it's business or personal Iwant to hear what you have to say.To submit your plum stories, please visit:http://www.apluminthesyrup.com/sharemystory.htmThank you and here's to your tremendous and

a plum in the syrupl

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