Why are some people more successful than others?

A lot of people who claim to be rich and successful—and I say "claim" because we don't know for a fact that they are—act as if it's all them...and that luck had nothing to do with it.

But the fact is, there are 6 specific factors that contribute to anyone's success or lack thereof—and luck is clearly one of them:

#1 - Intelligence.

Some people are just smarter than others.

Intelligence is a result of genetics and environment—your upbringing.

Since heredity and the home you are born into are determined purely by chance, intelligence is largely a matter of luck.

By the way, by "smart" I don't mean "book smart".

I mean smart at anything that can make money—whether it's business, art, computers, or whatever.

#2 - Knowledge.

Successful people are students for life.

They are constantly acquiring specific knowledge in their business or field—as well as a large storehouse of knowledge on all sorts of other topics.

As a rule, the more you learn, the more you earn.

#3 - Effort.

The cliché about working smarter, not harder, is B.S.

Successful people work both smarter—and harder—than others.

#4 - Attitude.

Successful people have an attitude. But it's not an attitude of ripping people off...or making as much money as they can any way they can.

It's an attitude of service: of giving their customers (and others) more value than they have any right to expect.

Many successful people are also goal-oriented, and it is important to them to become successful. So they focus their efforts on achievement of that goal.

#5 - Aptitude.

We tend to be good at things we like and have an aptitude for.

Financially successful people just happen to have an aptitude and talent for things that make money.

Warren Buffett has said that the reason for his great wealth is that he was born with aptitudes and talents for which our society offers huge financial rewards.

Some of us are good at stuff, but not stuff that pays well. And if we pursue those interests exclusively, our incomes can be limited as a result.

#6 - Luck.

As you can see, the key success factors of intelligence (#1) and aptitudes (#5) are determined mainly by chance—and are largely beyond our control.

Yes, Warren Buffett studied finance, worked hard, and had the right attitude.

But he was also lucky, as is virtually every person who has achieved significant wealth, success, or accomplishment in life.

The honest ones admit this and are thankful.

Any rich or successful person who said luck had no part in his achievement is either in denial or unwilling to come clean.

Therefore, if you are successful, you should be humble, not arrogant and boastful.

After all, you were lucky. Right?

The History Of Money

Money

Money is a medium that can be exchanged for goods and services and is used as a measure of their values on the market, including among its many forms as commodities such as gold, an officially issued coin or note, or a deposit in a checking account or other readily liquefiable account.

In the modern world we take money for granted.

However, pause for a moment and imagine what life would be like without money. Suppose that you want to consume a particular good or service, such as a Macbook. If money didn't exist, you would need to barter with the retailer for the Macbook that you want.

Barter

Barter is the process of directly exchanging one good or service for another. In order to purchase the Macbook, you would need to have something to trade for the Macbook. If you specialized in growing orange, you would need to bring enough boxes of oranges to the retailer's shop to purchase the Macbook. If the retailer wanted your oranges and you wanted his Macbook, then a double coincidence of wants would exist and trade could take place.

But what if the retailer didn't want your oranges? In that case you would have to find out what he did want, for example, chicken. Then you would have to trade your oranges for chicken and the chicken for Macbook.
But what if the person selling chicken had no desire for oranges, but instead wants a cooker? Then you would have to trade your oranges for a cooker and it would take a lot of oranges to buy a cooker. Then you would have to trade your cooker for chicken and the chicken for Macbook.

But what if...??

It would become easier to make the Macbook yourself or to just do without.

The Evolution Of Money

Somehow at some point money became the universal commodity that has no other uses other than for value exchange.

Money evolved as a way of avoiding the complexities and difficulties of barter. Money is any asset that is recognized by an economic community as having value. Historically, such assets have included, among other things, shells, stone disks (which can be somewhat difficult to carry around), gold, and bank notes.

The modern monetary system has its roots in the gold of medieval Europe. In the Middle Ages, gold and gold coins were the common currency. However, the wealthy found that carrying large quantities of gold around was difficult and made them the target of thieves. To avoid carrying gold coins, people began depositing them for safekeeping with goldsmiths, who often had heavily guarded vaults in which to store their valuable inventories of gold. The goldsmiths charged a fee for their services and issued receipts, or gold notes, in the amount of the deposits. Exchanging these receipts was much simpler and safer than carrying around gold coins. In addition, the depositors could retrieve their gold on demand.

Goldsmiths during this time became aware that few people actually wanted their gold coins back when the gold notes were so easy to use for exchange. They therefore began lending some of the gold on deposit to borrowers who paid a fee, called interest. These goldsmiths were the precursors to our modern fractional reserve banking system.

Functions Of Money

Regardless of what asset is recognized by an economic community as money, in general it serves three functions:

* Money is a medium of exchange.
* Money is a measure of value.
* Money is a store of value.

Money as a medium of exchange: Used as a medium of exchange, money means that parties to a transaction no longer need to barter one good for another. Because money is accepted as a medium of exchange, you can sell your lemons for money and purchase the desired Macbook with the proceeds of the sale. You no longer need to trade lots of lemons for a cooker and then the cooker for chicken and then the chicken for the Macbook. As a medium of exchange, money tends to encourage specialization and division of labour, promoting economic efficiency.

Money is a measure of value: As a measure of value, money makes transactions significantly simpler. Instead of markets determining the price of oranges relative to cookers and to chicken and to Macbook, as well as the price of cookers relative to chicken and to Macbook, as well as the price of chicken relative to Macbooks (i.e. a total of six prices for only four goods), the markets only need to determine the price of each of the four goods in terms of money. If we were to add a fifth good to our simple economy, then we would add four more prices to the number of good-for-good prices that the markets must determine. As the number of goods in our economy grew, the number of good-for-good prices would grow rapidly. In an economy with ten goods, there would be forty-five good-for-good prices but only ten money prices. In an economy with twenty goods there would be one hundred and ninety good-for-good prices but only twenty money prices. Imagine all of the good-for-good prices in a more realistic economy with thousands of goods and services available.

Using money as a measure of value reduces the number of prices determined in markets and vastly reduces the cost of collecting price information for market participants. Instead of focusing on such information, market participants can focus their effort on producing the good or service in which they specialize.

Money as a store of value: Money can also serve as a store of value, since it can quickly be exchanged for desired goods and services. Many assets can be used as a store of value, including stocks, bonds, and real estate. However, there are transaction costs associated with converting these assets into money in order to purchase a desired good or service. These transaction costs could include monetary fees as well as time delays involved in the liquidation process.

In contrast, money is a poor store of value during periods of inflation, while the value of real estate tends to appreciate during such periods. Thus, the benefits of holding money must by balanced against the risks of holding money.

Summary

Money simplifies the exchange of goods and services and facilitates specialization and division of labour. It does this by serving as a medium of exchange, as a measure of value, and as a store of value.

How would you like to have your very own "Saturday Business?"

What's that you ask?

Here's a video from Sam Crowley, founder of Every Day Is Saturday, explaining exactly what it means.

With a Saturday Business, you're able to monetize your passion and get paid to do what you love.

Everyone has a Saturday Business in them...but only a few people figure out how to make it happen!

Sam has opened up the doors on a very limited (30 people) 'live' workshop, where he'll pull back the curtains on Every Day Is Saturday and how to go after your entrepreneurial dream.

Here's just a sampling of what makes this weekend so special...

- Sam's daughter Madeline asked him "Is tomorrow Saturday, Daddy?", and he decided to make EVERY day Saturday by quitting his job and starting his own business

- He quickly became an international motivational speaker, and generated over 30,000 subscribers to his regular podcast

- He now has a community of 1,000 Champions learning to pursue their dreams, and he has put together a special workshop for 30 people only...

Are you up for the challenge of creating the kind of business you can be TRULY passionate about?

Join Sam at The Every Day Is Saturday 'Live' Workshop and you'll find out.

Venue: Orlando Crowne Plaza, just minutes from the Orlando International Airport
Date: June 13th and 14th

Ode To Love

How will this pure white blossom grow,
How will it bloom through storm and snow;
Through wind and hail and falling rain,
Will it survive, remain the same?

Born in the early days of Spring,
It woke to hear a robin sing;
And lifting up its eyes did sign,
To see a rainbow in the sky.

Through all of life's trials - that come and go,
Its roots go down deep - of this we know;
And, like our love, it shall not die,
But bloom forever beneath God's sky.

Aimee Love © November 15, 1954

The Banker And The Fisherman

An investment banker was at the pier of a small coastal village when a small boat with just one fisherman docked.

Inside the small boat were several large yellow fin tuna.

The banker complimented the fisherman on the quality of his fish and asked how long it took to catch them.

The fisherman replied, "Only a little while."

The banker then asked, "Why didn't you stay out longer and catch more fish?"

The fisherman said, "With this I have more than enough to support my family's needs."

The banker then asked, "But what do you do with the rest of your time?"

The fisherman said, "I sleep late, fish a little, play with my children, go for walks with my wife, stroll into the village each evening where I sip wine and play guitar with my friends. As you can see, I have a full and busy life."

The banker scoffed, "I am a Harvard MBA and could help you. You should spend more time fishing; and with the proceeds, buy a bigger boat! With the proceeds from the bigger boat you could buy several boats. Eventually you would have a fleet of fishing boats. Instead of selling your catch to a middleman you would sell directly to the processor, eventually opening your own cannery. You would control the product, processing and distribution. You would need to leave this small coastal fishing village and move to the capital city. After that, who knows, maybe you could take on the world!"

The fisherman asked, "But, how long will this all take?"

To which the banker replied, "I'd say about 15 to 20 years."

"But what then?" asked the fisherman.

The Banker laughed and said, "That's the best part! When the time is right, you would announce an IPO and sell your company stock to the public and become very rich, you would make millions."

"Millions?…Then what?" the fisherman continued prodding.

The banker said, "Then you would retire, move to a small coastal fishing village where you would sleep late, fish a little, play with your kids, go for romantic walks with your wife, and in the evenings you could sip wine, play guitar and sing songs with your friends!"

To which the fisherman mused, "Now isn't that strange? Isn’t that what I'm doing now?"

Achieving Fame, Wealth And Beauty Are Psychological Dead Ends, Study Says

ScienceDaily (May 19, 2009) — If you think having loads of money, fetching looks, or the admiration of many will improve your life—think again. A new study by 3 University of Rochester researchers demonstrates that progress on these fronts can actually make a person less happy.

"People understand that it's important to pursue goals in their lives and they believe that attaining these goals will have positive consequences. This study shows that this is not true for all goals," says author Edward Deci, professor of psychology and the Gowen Professor in the Social Sciences at the University. "Even though our culture puts a strong emphasis on attaining wealth and fame, pursuing these goals does not contribute to having a satisfying life. The things that make your life happy are growing as an individual, having loving relationships, and contributing to your community," Deci says.

The research paper, to be published in the June issue of the Journal of Research in Personality, tracked 147 alumni from 2 universities during their 2nd year after graduation. Using in-depth psychological surveys, the researchers assessed participants in key areas, including satisfaction with life, self-esteem, anxiety, physical signs of stress, and the experience of positive and negative emotions.

Aspirations were identified as either "intrinsic" or "extrinsic" by asking participants how much they valued having "deep, enduring relationships" and helping "others improve their lives" (intrinsic goals) versus being "a wealthy person" and achieving "the look I've been after" (extrinsic goals). Respondents also reported the degree to which they had attained these goals. To track progress, the survey was administered twice, once a year after graduation and again 12 months later.

This post-graduation period was selected because it is typically a critical developmental juncture for young adults, explains lead author Christopher Niemiec, a doctoral candidate in psychology at the University. "During this formative period, graduates are no longer in the home or at the university. For the first time, they are in a position to determine for themselves how they want their lives to proceed."

As with earlier research, the study confirmed that the more committed an individual is to a goal, the greater the likelihood of success. But unlike previous findings, this analysis showed that getting what one wants is not always salubrious. "There is a strong tradition in psychology that says if you value goals and attain them, wellness will follow," says Niemiec. "But these earlier studies did not consider the content of the goals."

What's "striking and paradoxical" about this research, he says, is that it shows that reaching materialistic and image-related milestones actually contributes to ill-being; despite their accomplishments, individuals experience more negative emotions like shame and anger and more physical symptoms of anxiety such as headaches, stomachaches, and loss of energy. By contrast, individuals who value personal growth, close relationships, community involvement, and physical health are more satisfied as they meet success in those areas. They experience a deeper sense of well-being, more positive feelings toward themselves, richer connections with others, and fewer physical signs of stress.

The findings in this study support Self-Determination Theory, a well-established theory of human motivation developed by two of the paper's authors, Deci and fellow University psychologist Richard Ryan. The theory holds that well-being depends in large part on meeting one's basic psychological needs for autonomy, competence, and relatedness.

Intrinsic aspirations make people happy because they fulfill these foundational needs, conclude the authors. "Intrinsic aspirations seem to be more closely related to the self, to what's inside the self, rather than to what's outside the self," Niemiec explains.

Striving for wealth and adulation, on the other hand, does little to satisfy these deep human requirements, at least within this early career stage of life. In addition, this was a well-educated sample, and the authors stress the need for research in other demographics and age ranges. Yet for this young adult group, the authors suggest that time devoted to extrinsic pursuits, like working long hours, often crowds out opportunities for psychologically nourishing experiences, such as relaxing with friends and family or pursuing a personal passion. Craving money and adoration also can lead to a preoccupation with "keeping up with the Joneses"—upward social comparisons that breed feelings of inadequacy and jealousy. And unlike the lasting benefits of caring relationships and hard-earned skills, the thrill of extrinsic accomplishments fade quickly; all too soon, the salary raise is a distant memory and the rave review forgotten.

The research was supported in part by a grant from the National Institute of Mental Health.

How do Mobile Entrepreneurs live and work?

Have you ever dreamed of achieving the proverbial "4-hour work week" lifestyle and traveling, living or working from anywhere you choose? Well, Internet Marketer, consultant and adventurer Bryant Jones certainly had that dream. And for him it's now a reality because he went out and proved it could be done.

For the last 6 months Bryant lived in Thailand, Indonesia, and Mexico. No he's not rich, but he lives a very fulfilling lifestyle because he can work from anywhere and he doesn't have to worry about it.

Plus he sets his business up in a way that he only has to put in around 10-15 hours a week most weeks. If this sounds attractive to you, you need to go check out this site right now.

Bryant just launched a new coaching program to help you live the life you dream of and become a Mobile Entrepreneur. Judging by the feedback on his blog my guess would be his "Exit My Job" program will sell out in no time.

Have you ever drunk water from a river?

Anyone with outdoor survival experience will tell you the same thing—it's better to drink from further upstream.

Why? Because the closer you get to the source, the less chance there is of contamination, and the higher your chances of drinking pure, clean, uncontaminated water.

Similarly, if you're looking for a rock-solid solution to the financial, emotional, and even health-related uncertainties coming from challenges like the global recession, the best material you can find for complete control over your mind (and wallet) comes from the source—an extraordinary man known as Jose Silva.

Does that name ring a bell? Well it should, because it belongs to the man credited with bringing modern meditation to the West, numerous breakthroughs in mind control, and of course the Silva movement, a million person-strong movement that in its time changed the face of spirituality and personal development as we knew it.

And while Jose passed away in 1999, his daughter Laura Silva has picked up the torch (and over $2 million in cutting-edge scientific research) to present an updated, perfected and optimized version of her father's revolutionary teachings—perfect for the modern person with no time but plenty of issues—financial, mental, spiritual and physical—that need fixing.

The result is the Silva Life System—an incredibly powerful home-study course based on principles used by millions to find true success, contentment and happiness.

Whether you're feeling even the slightest bit stressed, stuck, lost, sick, depressed, or even if you just need a little boost from time to time (and who doesn't?)—this is material that I simply cannot recommend enough.

Click here get in on the life-changing powers of the Silva Life System.

The Masters Gathering 'Live' On June 5th And 6th.

Unless you've been hiding under a rock or something, you no doubt have heard about the largest collection of the world's transformation experts called The Masters Gathering.

This was once the most complete, sold-out life-enhancing mentorship program featuring the most etablished names in the self-development and entrepreneurship industries like T. Harv Eker, Jack Canfield, Bob Proctor, Joe Vitale, John Demartini, just to name a few.

It is now coming back as a 'live' event in San Diego on June, 5th and 6th.

This seminar will be hosted by yet more famous people like John Assaraf, Bill Bartmann and Chris and Janet Attwood etc.

Tickets are selling fast and it's pretty cheap for a 2-day event. What's more you can bring one guest for free! Access this page to get all the details.

Attracting Elephants, Karaoke And Chilli Fried Crickets...

That was what my friend Bryant Jones did in Thailand. In the last 6 months he had traveled in Mexico, Thailand and Indonesia leisurely.

In September of last year he was able to walk away from a job most people dream of, and as he told it, it was exactly in line with what he wanted to manifest in his life. Of course I asked why...

His response was a passionate oration about how he was "living a lie" by working a JOB that he hated and letting his passion for life be "strangled to death" by the boss, the morning traffic, his (good-hearted but) incompetent co-workers and what he called "the fishbowl"—the confines of the office. He got so worked up I thought he might lose it for a sec...

He caught his breath and calmed down a bit. Then he started telling a story about how 2 years ago when he lost his business and his wife walked out on him, he sat down to create a document that detailed his perfect day and how focusing on that "dream life" finally had him get in line with what he really wanted...

And here's where you come in...

Bryant told me he is now on a personal crusade to make sure that anyone that has a dream of getting out of the rat race or wants to travel, work and live anywhere has the tools and support to do so.

When I heard this I asked him if he would help you and he gave me a resounding YES...

Go here to ask him any question you have about following your dreams while living, working and traveling anywhere and it will be answered next week on a FREE teleseminar. Go get the details now.

Sign up for his affiliate program here.