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Getting Rich Your Own Way Achieve All Your Financial Goals Faster than You Ever Thought Possible
by Brian Tracy In the year 2000, there were more than seven million Americans with a net worth of more than one million dollars and more than 300 billionaires most of them, self made. Brian Tracy believes that anyone can become rich like these wealthy, self-made Americans. He has reviewed countless studies and interviews, and developed strategies, techniques and methods that can be learned and used by anyone to achieve financial success. In his book, Getting Rich Your Own Way, Tracy teaches you how to:

Acquire more money; Save more of it; and Put it to work for you to achieve your financial goals faster than you ever thought possible.

Tracy, a self-made multi-millionaire, is presently Chairman and CEO of Brian Tracy International, a consulting and training organization based in Solana Beach, California. Tracy addresses more than 250,000 people each year on subjects such as personal success and effectiveness as well as sales and sales management. He is also the author of numerous top-selling books including Create Your Own Future and Change Your Thinking, Change Your Life. Becoming Rich In a longitudinal study conducted in the 1950s and published in 1964 as The Unheavenly City, Dr. Edward Banfield of Harvard University studied the reasons for upward socioeconomic mobility in the United States. The reasons were not education, intelligence or being born into the right family. Surprisingly, success was a result of "time perspective" which he defines as "the amount of time that you take into consideration when planning your day-to-day activities and when making important decisions in your life." It refers to how far you project into the future when you decide what you are going to do or not do in the present. Saving and planning for the future is long time perspective in action. A person who is willing to put aside income into savings is sacrificing some spending in the short term to assure better results and outcomes in the long term. People with long time perspectives almost invariably move up economically in the course of their lifetimes. According to Tracy, you begin the process of getting rich by thinking ahead 10 or 20 years. As you do, you become capable of setting bigger, longer-term goals and making long-term plans for their attainment. Setting Your Financial Goals
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In order to achieve your financial goals you must figure out where you are now, where you want to get to, and develop the qualities that ensure you will follow through and take action. Begin by analyzing your current financial situation: Draw up a personal balance sheet listing all your assets and liabilities. Get a loan application from your bank and use its categories as a guide and determine exactly how much you are worth today, just as if you were going to convert all of your assets into cash. Then, write down your financial goals, ensuring that they are some years in the future and that they are specific. Divide your long-term goals into separate years, and then into three-month periods for each year. With these numbers, you will have a clear picture of how much you are worth and how much you intend to be worth year by year into the future and an idea of how much you will have to save and accumulate quarter by quarter and year over year. Once you know what you want to achieve, make a detailed plan of the actions that you must take to attain those goals. The more detailed, specific, and clear your plan, the more rapidly your goal will be realized. Your plan should consist of concrete, "bite-sized bits," that are easy to do and when you actually do these tasks, as small as they might be, you will feel better about yourself and your daily successes. According to Tracy, wealth is an accumulation of thousands of tiny efforts and sacrifices. Financial success begins with an intense desire for wealth not a lukewarm desire, but a burning, all-consuming desire. The only way that you are going to achieve your financial goals is when you quit making excuses and get really serious. Financial success is not something that you achieve someday, when everything is right. The situation will never be just right. There will always be reasons to procrastinate, but the stakes are too high. You must get serious today because everything counts. Nothing is neutral; if what you are doing is not moving you towards your goals, then it is probably moving you away from your goals. Keep in mind that "reasons are the fuel in the furnace of motivation." The more reasons that you have for wanting to become wealthy and the clearer that you can visualize them, the more intensely you will desire financial success, and the more determined you will become to achieve it. If you have two reasons for becoming wealthy, you will have little motivation, and will give up easily when you meet the inevitable obstacles along the way. But if you have 100 reasons for becoming wealthy, you will become a runaway locomotive on a downgrade nothing will stop you. Once you are motivated to achieve your financial goals, look at how you can acquire more money. Acquiring More Money

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Fully 99% of self-made millionaires in America come from four categories:

74% from self-owned businesses; 10% have made their riches from senior executive positions; 10% are professionals (e.g. doctors, lawyers, engineers, etc.); and 5% are salespeople and sales consultants.

Only 1% of self-made millionaires are people who have made their money in the stock market, with inventions, through authorships of songs and books, as lottery winners, and all other sources. Tracy believes that the key to becoming rich is "leverage." Leverage is what enables the top doctors, mechanics, lawyers, and leaders in every field to earn vastly more than the average performer. Examples of leverage that you can develop and use to achieve financial independence are: specialized knowledge, the people you know, creativity, a positive mental attitude, luck, and ability to sell. In order to become an expert in your chosen field, you must read the best books in your field, take every course and seminar you can find that will help you and listen to audio programs related to your job whenever you can. Concentrate on high-value activities, that is, areas that are of greatest importance to your company or customers. Know your product in and out and aim to be recognized as the industry expert in your field. Creativity is important in building your fortune because it helps you solve problems more effectively and efficiently. As much as 50 to 60 percent of your time in business life is spent solving problems of some kind. The better you become at thinking up creative ways to solve the inevitable problems of daily life and work, the more successful you will be. Figuring out how to make more money and doing things faster, better, or cheaper and being more productive are ways that you can move to the top. In order to enhance your creative abilities, think positive (in terms of "I can" rather than "I can't"), think on paper (as the palest ink is stronger than the finest memory), develop an inquisitive attitude toward everything (increase your level of insight so you can find new answers to problems you encounter), experiment (most new ideas do not work, at least not in their original form, but a solution may be the result of combining two or three ideas), and most importantly, develop a burning desire to find solutions (as ambition is the driving force that causes you to find solutions). Luck is another factor that is repeatedly mentioned in stories of how wealthy people created their wealth. Tracy believes that you actually create your own luck through the activities that you do (or do not do) and your level of activity. In almost every case, you can increase or decrease the likelihood of something happening or not happening. For example, there is a certain probability that you will be killed in a traffic accident. But you can reduce this probability by staying sober, driving carefully, and wearing a seatbelt. Some people drive all of their lives and never have an accident.
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In terms of activity, the more things you try and the faster you try them, the more likely it is that you will try the right thing at the right time that will bring you success. Most things will not work the first time, and often do not work the next 10 times. Nonetheless, if you keep trying new things and learning from every setback, you will inevitably develop the skills and experience that you need to succeed. Having good work habits is another powerful form of leverage. In every study, it appears that good work habits will open more doors for you faster than almost any other quality that you can develop. If you commit yourself to doing more than you are paid for, you will always end up being paid more than you are getting today so come in to work one hour earlier, work through lunch or stay one hour more each night. Knowing the right people, and being known by them, can open doors for you. The quality and quantity of your contacts and your relationships will have more to do with your success than perhaps any other factor. Make a list of the best 25 people that you feel it would be most useful for you to get to know and over the next 12 months, meet with each one of them. Also, join your business or trade associations, attend their meetings, and get involved. The more people there are who like you, the more doors they will open for you. And make the most of these opportunities. Your ability to get along with others, to communicate effectively, to be a positive and cheerful person, will cause people to want to help you wherever you go. All successful businesspeople are good salespeople. They reach the top by developing their ability to communicate, persuade, and sell people on their ideas. Consider that the top 20 percent of sales people earn as much as 15 times the average earnings of the bottom 80 percent. So the better you are at selling, the more money you will make. Mastering The Art Of Selling Tracy believes that there are five cardinal rules to selling anything, anywhere, at any time. Any violation of any of the rules can lead to failure of your sales efforts, and often does: 1. Your product or service must be ideally suited to the current market. 2. People buy benefits, not products. They buy solutions to their problems. It must be clear to them what problem your product can solve, what benefits it can offer, or what goal it can help them achieve. 3. The product or service must satisfy an existing want or need of the customer. 4. Credibility is everything. Customers must believe the salesperson, trust the company and be convinced that the product or service is the best one for them. 5. The customer must be able and willing to pay for the product or service and have a sincere desire to enjoy the benefits that you are offering.

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There are five questions that you must be prepared to answer before you can make a sale. These questions lurk in the back of the mind of each customer and are seldom spoken aloud. Nonetheless, failure to answer any of these questions can cost you the sale. They are: 1. Why should I listen to you? Are you credible? If you don't answer this question right from the start, you seldom get a chance to sell your product. 2. What is it and what does it do? 3. Who says so (e.g. independent research)? 4. Who else has used it? 5. What's in it for me? The rule for effective selling is that a 10-year old child should be able to read, understand, and then be able to explain to another 10-year old what it is you are selling and why he or she would be interested in buying it. If it is more complicated than that, you will probably not succeed. In order to increase sales, you need to learn to recognize and maximize sales opportunities and you can do so by answering the following questions:

What other methods of distribution could I use to sell my product? What additional products can I sell through my existing distribution and marketing channels? What new products do my customers need? Who else can I sell my product to?

In times of rapid change, you must continually ask and answer these questions, because your competitors are asking them, every single day. Saving Your Money Making money is only part of the equation. You must save regularly, get out of debt, and build a cash reserve. Begin a systematic savings plan, putting away at least 10 percent of your gross income each month. Furthermore, put away 50 percent of any added income such as bonuses, pay increases, tax returns, etc. Resolve to build a cash reserve so that you are ready when opportunities arise. Affluent Americans, including self-made millionaires, have most of their money in the following five places: their own business, income producing real estate, land held for development, liquid investments, and stocks and bonds. Putting Your Money to Work For You In a survey conducted in New York recently, a cross section of businesspeople, professionals, and executives stated that the very best place to invest $100,000 that that person had accumulated from his or her business or work was "back in yourself or your business." If you have earned the money in your business, the best place to invest it is probably back into the business where you already have high levels of familiarity and experience.
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The simplest way to dabble in real estate is the "buy 'em, fix 'em" method. If you decide to do so, make sure to: (a) do your research; (b) keep the down payment low; (c) move in and renovate; and (d) sell, rent, or refinance it. As you increase your assets, your cash flow, and your experience, you can repeat the process on a larger scale. The rules are largely the same; only the size and number of rental units are greater. In Tracy's view, buying and fixing up homes is just another way of starting a business. Many affluent Americans store their money in raw land held for development. They buy on the outskirts of growing cities and as the city grows and expands, so does the value of the land. It can jump several times. In order to pick such land effectively, you should ensure that there is an adequate water supply, access to major roads, and nearby population centers with population pressures. Tracy believes that a good part of your capital should be kept in a cash reserve because serious money is not speculative money. It is money that has been earned slowly over time and invested with the aim of wealth preservation. There are three types of liquid investments that Tracy believes are perfect places for you to invest your three to six months worth of savings: money market accounts, certificates of deposit, and government savings bonds. When you begin to save money in excess of your short-term expenses and insurance needs, the next place to explore is the stock market. Investing Intelligently Many thousands of successful investors have been interviewed over the years in an attempt to discover their so-called secrets of success in investing. Tracy outlines their recommendations. When deciding how much you should invest, Tracy believes that if you are not a bit worried about your investments, then you are not risking enough. You should have enough money invested so that it is a real concern to you. This way you are far more likely to watch your investments carefully and make prudent decisions. Disregard the majority opinion, distrust anyone who claims to predict the future, and beware of anyone bringing gifts of "inside" information or "tips.' Instead, do your own homework and take the time to investigate thoroughly. Before you buy a security, find out everything you can about the company, its management and competitors, its earnings as well as possibilities for growth. Examine the real assets (e.g. the cash in excess of the indebtedness, the value of the physical properties), ensure that the company makes or performs a service that people "want" or "must have," and determine if management is good (as the right people will find a way to make the company successful). Take the time and think through every decision for yourself. Do not buy too many different securities. It is better to have only a few investments so you can give them the attention they deserve. Furthermore, do not
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try to be the master of all types of investments; stick to the field you know best. Usually the most successful investors are those that pick one industry and concentrate on becoming knowledgeable about the companies in that industry. Never fall in love with an investment. Never become emotionally involved with anything that you purchase with the intention of making a profit. Optimism comes from hoping for the best but confidence comes from knowing that you can handle the worst; objectively assess the worst possible outcome of any investment deal before going into it, and then doing everything possible to protect yourself should it occur. For example, put a stop-loss order on every investment that you make. Make a periodic reappraisal of all your investments to see whether changing developments have altered their prospects. Always ask yourself, "If I had not purchased this stock, knowing what I now know, would I purchase it again today?" If the answer is no, that is your cue to sell. Don't try to buy at the bottom and sell at the top; this can't be done consistently except by liars. When you buy a stock, decide at what price you will sell it, and when it hits that price, do not be greedy sell it. Furthermore, always take your profit too soon bulls make money and bears make money, but pigs never do. Study your tax position to know when you can sell to the greatest advantage. Finally, accept the small losses cheerfully as a fact of investing life. At the very best, 50 percent of investments will go wrong. Success in investing comes from minimizing your losses on the downside and maximizing profits on the upside. Conclusion To become wealthy, you must create a plan for acquiring more money, saving more of it, and putting it to work for you. With this book, Tracy's goal is to offer all of us who aspire to greater wealth a complete and comprehensive approach to wealth building. Getting Rich Your Own Way shows you how to reach your financial goals through practical and proven processes and principles that have been used by men and women throughout America and across the world to move from financial frustration to success and affluence.

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