I could use a little bit more income, couldn’t we all? When it comes to making more money there are three rules that make all the difference.
Like many kids in the eighties, I was a huge Chicago Bulls fan. Let’s be honest, I was really a Michael Jordan fan. I spent many days/nights dribbling a ball and trying to replicate some of the behind the back and over the shoulder plays Jordan made look easy. At eight I took on my first entrepreneurial adventure, selling greeting cards door-to-door hoping to sell enough to get my very own basketball.
From those early days until now I have always had a drive to increase my income and the opportunities that come along with it. I have learned a lot about sells, marketing, budgeting, goal setting and saving. Through it all I think I have found three rules that, if followed, will increase your money making success. The three rules are:
- Help other people first
- Do what others are unable and unwilling
- Education is worth the investment
Rule #1 is rule #1 for a reason- it makes all of the difference. If you are able to help people achieve their desires there is no limit to reciprocal benefits that will come your way. As my mentor Zig Ziglar used to teach, you can have everything you want in life if you just help enough other people get what they want. Other entrepreneurs would say “find a need and fill it” or “give people what they want and you will never go hungry”. So the first rule of making more money is to focus on helping others, the money will follow.
Rule #2 – Do what others are unable or unwilling to do – This secret is all about getting in and getting the job done. My first job as a teenager came at the young age of 13. For two consecutive summers I would daily ride the bus one hour into town to spend two hours cleaning floors and emptying trash at a popular pizza shop. I made minimum wage, which at the time (age 13) felt like a king’s ransom. I loved the responsibility of getting to work on time and working hard for my pay. I felt so independent.
During that same summer, many of my friends played video games and watched television, unwilling to put in any effort to make a little spending money. The idea of emptying food trash was so “uncool”. But, it was during this time that I realized those who commit to doing a good job in the position they are offered will be offered increased opportunity and increased reward. By the end of my pizza shop days I was behind the counter spinning pizzas and baking the pies, the “cool” job. It was so much fun and an experience I will never forget, all because I was willing to change trash to get started.
Rule #3 – Education is worth the investment. When you visit with a banker or financial planner they focus on your return on investment (ROI). You put in some cash, buy some property or securities and watch the interest compound. What is often overlooked in this process is the FACT that investing in education returns an interest that may be far greater than all your other accounts combined.
According to researchers at the Economic Research Department of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, a 4 year college graduate will make an estimated $800,000 more during their lifetime than a person with a high school diploma only. That amount is mindboggling but it probably underestimates the true value of lifelong learning; and it doesn’t even factor in the effect of continuing education either formally through job training or informally at home or in the car. I have long been a student at Automobile University and calculate that I have read over 350 nonfiction books in the past 10 years. The impact of that learning has skyrocketed my career and opened doors I didn’t even know existed.
Throughout my life I have focused on the three rules of making more money and have found success in their implementation. I would not be where I am at today and could never get to where I am going without a focus on helping other people get what they want, doing the job that needs to be done and continuous learning. Watch out world- as I continue to focus on these three rules I will reach the level of success I am destined for.
Question: I want to hear what you think- How have the rules helped you along your journey? Leave your comments below or by clicking here.