In today’s materialistic society most of us have been conditioned to make snap judgments about a person’s level of success based on the ’status badges’ that they own and display.

These status badges include the sunglasses they own, the watch on their arm, the car they drive, the handbag they carry and the shoes they wear.

The big problem with this ‘Status Badge Game’ is that in an attempt to look successful to others, many people fall into the trap of purchasing status badges instead of managing their money wisely in order to achieve true financial independence.

One of the best decisions you can ever make for yourself and your family is to elect not to play the Status Badge Game.

Let’s take a look at an example that illustrates what this means in the real world.

Cameron was looking to purchase a new pair of sunglasses. After looking around the local shopping center he identified three options:

Cameron began his decision making process by excluding the cheap sunglasses because they did not have a UV Rating and he was not prepared to compromise his health to save a few dollars.

The Oceangear glasses were sturdy, had the highest UV Protection Rating possible and came with a 1 year guarantee. To Cameron’s way of thinking these glasses represented good value for money.

The Monage glasses were also well made and had the highest UR Protection Rating. However, they were also $210.05 more expensive than the Oceangear glasses. Cameron realized that this difference in price was the cost of the ’status badge’ associated with wearing the Monage brand.

Since Cameron and his wife had decided not to play the Status Badge Game, he bought the Oceangear glasses and kept the $210.05 cost of the status badge in his bank account.

It’s important to note that deciding not to play the Status Badge Game is not about becoming a cheap miser who refuses to spend a cent.

Instead, it is about identifying items that represent good value for money without paying the large overheads necessary to accumulate high status badges. Always remember to:

“Shop For Value Not Status”
- Dr. Anthony Fernando

By applying this simple financial philosophy to your personal items, your clothes, your car and your home you can save many thousands of dollars over your lifetime. You can then redirect this money into acquiring income producing assets and enjoying meaningful life experiences with the people you love.

So today I’d like to encourage you to see the Status Badge Game for what it really is – An elaborate conditioning process devised by savvy marketers attempting to maximize company profits.

As soon as you understand this and make the decision not to play the Status Badge Game, your whole perspective will shift. You will find yourself free of the burden of ‘keeping up with the Joneses’ and will soon be on the path to achieving true financial freedom.

Until next time,
Dare To Dream
Anthony

Persistence is often described as the ultimate key to success, but what most people don’t realise is that there are three different types of persistence.

The three types of persistence are:

(1) Blind Persistence

(2) Random Persistence

(3) Planned Persistence

Imagine for a moment that you are standing in front of a safe containing 10 million dollars. The safe has a 4 digit combination lock and if you can find the right combination within 24 hours, you can claim the 10 million dollars as your own.

Blind Persistence

The blind persistence approach is to decide that you know for a fact that the combination is ‘7318′ and to spend the next 24 hours entering this same combination and trying to open the door.

Random Persistence

The random persistence approach is to try different combinations at random and hope that you get lucky. The problem with this approach is that after a few attempts, you won’t remember which combinations you’ve tried and which you haven’t.

Planned Persistence

The planned persistence approach is to start with ‘0000′ and then try ‘0001′, ‘0002′, ‘0003′…until you reach the right combination. If you enter one combination every 8 seconds, it will take you just over 22 hours to try every combination possible. This approach therefore guarantees you success.

As you can see, blind persistence and random persistence rarely lead to success. The key to achieving your most important life goals is to learn to use planned persistence.

Here’s a real world example to show you what I mean.

Rob is trying to attract more customers to his automotive repair business.

Blind Persistence

He decides to put an ‘A’ frame sign in front of his shop and waits for the customers to come through the door. Nothing happens… He waits for three long weeks before realising that his approach isn’t working.

Random Persistence

His next approach is to try as many random marketing techniques as he can think of. He drops flyers into mail boxes, puts an ad in the newspaper and has a glossy brochure printed. He gets a few more customers but doesn’t know where they’re coming from.

Planned Persistence

Finally, Rob decides to sit down and think things through. He decides to run another ad in the newspaper and to monitor his results by asking every new customer how they found him. After three weeks, his results show that only one customer came from his newspaper ad while 12 customers came in as a result of his mail box flyers. He therefore decides not to advertise in the newspaper and puts the money he saves into expanding his mail box flyer campaign.

Rob is now using planned persistence and is on his way to achieving his goal of building a profitable business.

This Week’s Action Steps

(1) Decide on your goal and stick with it.

(2) Understand that to achieve your goal you need to use ‘planned persistence’ which involves carefully planned experimentation.

(3) Create a written plan of action of things to try.

(4) Try different techniques and monitor your results carefully.

(5) Discard what doesn’t work and move on to your next experiment until you find the combination that unlocks your dreams.

Until next time,

Dare To Dream!

Anthony

I’m sure you’ve heard the saying that, "When one door closes, another opens"

This saying is true, but it comes with a hidden catch …

The person in the picture above is faced with a closed door, but because he refuses to let go of the door in front of him, he cannot see that a new door has opened behind him. Alexander Graham Bell summed this idea up well when he said:

What this means in the real world is that when we dwell on things that did not work out, we can often miss out on new opportunities that are waiting for us.

For example, imagine that you worked hard on a business deal only to find that things didn’t work out the way you anticipated. If you continue to focus on the situation instead of letting it go, you may miss new business opportunities that are waiting for you.

Similarly, when a relationship ends, we can get so caught up in analysing what went wrong that we can miss the opportunity to develop new relationships.

Of course letting go is easier said than done. When a door closes on part of our life it is natural to feel upset and disappointed.

As you overcome these feelings it is important to find the courage to let go of the closed door in order to find the new door that is waiting for you.

This Week’s Action Steps:

The next time you are faced with a closed door:

(1) Give yourself time to recover and find your feet.

(2) Make the decision to let go of the closed door.

(3) Begin to look for the new door that will lead to the future that is waiting for you.

Until Next Time,

Dare To Dream!

Anthony

There is a big difference between solving a problem and eliminating a problem. This week I’d like to share with you a powerful strategy that will help you eliminate your problems for good.

Let me explain using a real world example.

Last week I visited my parents and found that my mum was looking for a phone bill that she needed to pay. She was frustrated because she couldn’t find the bill anywhere. My dad and I joined in and soon we were all busy looking in drawers, cupboards, and old telephone books. Eventually, Mum found the bill in her handbag! – Problem solved right?

Well sort of…

It was true that the immediate problem had been solved, but I knew from experience that this was likely to happen again so I tried to think of a way to eliminate the problem for good.

In the case of lost bills, the system I set up for my parents was simple but effective. It consisted of a red folder, a green folder and a hole punch.

System To Eliminate The Problem Of Searching For Lost Bills

(1) When a new bill arrives in the post, it immediately gets placed in the red ‘Unpaid Bills’ folder.

(2) When a bill gets paid it gets transferred to the green ‘Paid Bills’ folder

(3) At the end of the month, all the bills in the green folder get archived to a cupboard.

Now, I know this is a very simple example but it illustrates an extremely powerful concept.

Whenever you encounter a problem, instead of focusing on just solving the problem try and put in place a system that will eliminate the problem in the future.

Every time you put in place a new system to eliminate a problem you make yourself more efficient and more productive.

Now you may be thinking, "I don’t really like having systems", but the reality is we all have systems in place whether we recognise them as systems or not.

For example, my old ‘car key system’  was:

(1) Come home

(2) Drop car keys in a random spot

(3) Waste five or ten minutes looking for keys before leaving home in the morning

We have systems for every aspect of our lives. The key to improving your efficiency is to replace systems that don’t work with systems that do work (for example, having a regular spot to put my car keys when I get home!)

This Week’s Action Steps

Identify areas in your life that are inefficient. A good way to do this is to take note of any situation in which you feel frustrated. Instead of just solving your problems, take action to eliminate them forever by improving your systems.

Until next time,

Dare To Dream!

Anthony

With Christmas fast approaching, it’s time to start thinking about what to buy for family and friends.

This year, in addition to the standard toys and books, I’ve decided to buy my nephews a goat.

Now this may sound a little strange but I think it will be a great present for them!

Let me explain…

The other day I discovered the ‘Alternative Gift Catalogue’ at

http://www.GreatGifts.org

This is a website run by World Vision that allows you to buy alternative gifts that are passed on to those in need.

Here’s how it works:

Step 1: You Select A Gift

There are lots of different gifts to choose from including:

• A mosquito net
• A blanket for a family
• School books and pens
• A goat
• and many others

I decided on a goat for my three nephews

Step 2: You Choose A Card

The site has a great selection of cards. Here’s the card I chose for my nephews, mainly because I’m a Winnie The Pooh fan!

Step 3: Personalize Your Card

You then get to personalize your card. I added my nephew’s names to the front of the card. Then inside I added a quote that read,

"Never worry about numbers. Help one person at a time,
and always start with the person nearest you." – Mother Teresa

And finally I added a personal message to my nephews. My finished card looked like this:

Step 4: Address Your Card

The next step is to address your card. You can choose to get it sent to you or directly to the recipient. I chose to have the card delivered to me so that I can give it to my nephews personally.

Step 5: Pay For Your Gift

The final step is to go through a standard online ordering process using your credit card.

And that’s all there is to it!

I think this present will be a great opportunity to sit down with my nephews and talk about how lucky we are to be living in Australia and to explain the joy of giving to others.

This Week’s Action Steps:

This Christmas consider buying someone close to you a gift from the Alternative Gift Catalogue . It’s an ideal gift for those who ‘have it all’ and also a great thing to share with children.

Until next time,  

Dare To Dream!

Anthony

What can you buy for a dollar these days?

Here in Australia, the answer to this question is, "Not much!"

It is therefore easy to think of a dollar as a trivial amount of money. After all, it’s only a
dollar right?

Wrong!

A much better way to think of a dollar is to see it as a seed.

Most people pass these seeds around in exchange for various items and services, but smart people realise the true nature of these seeds and instead of passing them around, they plant them.

And when planted, a ‘dollar seed’ takes root and over time grows to become…you guessed it…

A money tree.

It’s an undeniable fact that a dollar saved and invested will grow over time to produce more and more money.

Now the important point about this analogy is that when you spend a dollar, you are not just giving away a seed – you are giving away the tree!

Each time you spend a dollar, you are not only losing that dollar but also all the dollars it could have produced for you in the future if you had invested it.

When you adopt this view of money, you begin to appreciate its true value, which in turn makes you think twice about how and where you part with your hard earned ’seeds of wealth’

This Week’s Action Steps:

As you go about your activities this week be aware that each dollar you spend is the seed of a money tree. There is no need to become a tight fisted miser though, instead, just use this analogy to think twice about your purchases and make sure they are really necessary.

Until next time,

Dare To Dream!

Anthony

In today’s pressure-filled society, it is easy to feel as though you are trapped inside ‘The System’. Many people feel trapped by their job and their financial circumstances and find themselves yearning for freedom.

This freedom involves not only financial freedom, but also the freedom to do what you want, when you want, with who you want. Perhaps you can relate to the following picture?

In an effort to break free from ‘The System’, many people investigate different options for creating passive income such as share trading, property investing, network marketing or starting a business.

Each of these options is like starting to dig an escape tunnel that can lead you to freedom from the system as shown below.

But here is the biggest mistake mistake that people make…

They begin to dig their escape tunnel and initially make some progress, but then things start to get tough, so they give up on their tunnel and decide to start digging a different tunnel.

For example, you buy an investment property and then have a bad experience with a tenant. At the same time you hear about a ‘revolutionary’ new share trading system that is guaranteed to work, so you stop digging your property investing tunnel and start digging a share trading tunnel.

This situation is sometimes known as ‘opportunity hopping’

The problem with opportunity hopping is that the end result is usually this:

You end up doing a lot of digging but remain trapped in ‘The System’ with multiple escape tunnels that lead nowhere.

So what’s the answer?

The answer is FOCUS.

To achieve the freedom you desire, you must carefully review your options and then commit yourself to focusing on the tunnel that you believe will give you the best chance of success.

This opportunity you choose is up to you and depends on your personality, your skills, and most importantly – what you enjoy.

By committing to one tunnel and focusing all your energies on consistent digging, you will maximize your chances of achieving the freedom you and your family deserve.

Action Steps:

This week, take time to really sit down and review all the ‘projects’ and ‘ideas’ you have been working on and ask yourself these two important questions.

(1) Which opportunity am I most passionate about?

(2) Which opportunity do I believe offers me the greatest chance of success?

When you can answer these two questions, commit to your escape tunnel and keep digging!

Until next time,

Dare To Dream!

Anthony