LIVING ONE PAYCHECK AWAY FROM BANKRUPTCY
(Jeffrey Mayer – http://www.SucceedingInBusiness.com)
Almost six of every ten American families, with children
under the age of 18, live from paycheck to paycheck.
And one in every three Americans, who are earning $75,000 or
more, annually are relying on their latest paychecks to get by,
according to the just released “2003 Employee Benefits Study”
by MetLife.
This literally puts millions of American families
one paycheck away from bankruptcy.
Why is this?
I think it has to do with a failure to plan for the future.
The MetLife study said:
* Almost seven of every ten American workers are very
concerned about making ends meet. For women,
the percentage rises to 74 percent.
* Such short-term financial planning leaves little room
for college savings or planning for retirement.
* Only 25 percent seek expert financial planning and
investing advice, and only 30 percent are interested
in receiving planning advice as a workplace benefit.
* Sixty-three percent of employees spend less than an hour
considering their household’s financial needs during their
company’s open enrollment for employee benefits.
C. Robert Henrikson, president of MetLife’s U.S. insurance
and financial services businesses, said,
“Employees spend hundreds of hours every year shopping
for clothes, electronics and personal grooming products, but
on average spend only 30 minutes each year making important
benefits decisions that impact their financial security.”
Remember the old sayings:
* If you fail to plan, you plan to fail
and
* If you don’t know where you’re going,
any road will take you there.
As you go through life, you’ve got two choices:
1. You can take charge and take control. or,
2. You can abdicate your responsibilities
and hope for the best.
Live Your Dreams
It’s my wish that you become hugely successful and live your
dreams. But to do that you need a Master Vision and a Master Plan.
Look at where you are today. Dream of where
you want to be tomorrow and then create your
Master Plan of ACTion to take you there.
Think of Tiger Woods. His focus is two inches wide and
five miles long. Then there’s you, me, and everybody else.
Our focus is five miles wide and two inches long.
And we wonder why we aren’t going any place?
If you want help setting your goals, my “Setting and
Achieving Your Goals” walks you through the process
of looking where you are now, identifying where you
want to be tomorrow and helping you create a Master
Plan to take you there.
Here’s the link to order your copy:
http://www.1shoppingcart.com/app/adtrack.asp?AdID=8022
Here are two visualization examples:
If you want to buy/build your dream house, cut out pictures of what
you want the house, and the rooms inside to look like. Put them up
on your wall so you can look at them every day. Think about the
furniture. The paint colors. The texture of the flooring and carpeting.
Dream about owning your house and your mind
will create a plan for you to buy it.
If you want a new job, write down – in minute detail – what that ideal
job looks like. Who is the employer. What do they sell? Where are
they located? What is your position within the company? Where
is your office located? What view do you have when you
look out the window?
What are your daily responsibilities? Who do you work with?
What do these people look like? How much money will you
be making? Write down that number and pin it on the wall.
Once you know what your ‘ideal’ job looks like, than
you’ll know exactly what you’re looking for.
Increasing Sales
To be successful in sales you must have an active
– day-in, day-out – Master Plan for your success.
What is your annual goal? Quarterly goal? Monthly goal? Weekly
goal? Daily Goal? Morning and afternoon goal? Hourly goal?
Break down your big goals into smaller ones.
The smaller they are the easier they are to achieve.
How many people do you need to call – speak to – each day to
hit your targets? The most effective tool for growing your
business is the telephone. How much time do you spend
on the phone looking for new customers?
How much more successful would you be if you looked
for more customers each and every day?
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