#success #FleetingSuccess #TemporarySuccess #fortune #failure
Today’s success is tomorrow’s failure.
Or, so it seems that way.
We can all recall some person, entity, corporation etc. that was a huge success, but now is failing.
Ken Fisher, founder of Fisher Investments, took on this topic in a column for USA Today. It was also published Feb. 4, 2019, in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
The most recent example Fisher cites is Sears, America’s biggest retailer 50 years ago that is now all but dissolved.
He also talks about lottery winners upon whom the “curse” hits, and they are broke and miserable years later. That seems less like a curse, and more like a lack of personal wisdom or common sense.
In today’s world, success is indeed fleeting. The world is changing at such a rapid pace that the latest “big thing” is pushed out almost immediately by “the next big thing.”
American companies, as an example, in many cases can’t see the next big thing coming. Or, if they can, cannot gear up fast enough to latch onto it. Or, if they are fortunate enough to foresee it, latch onto it too soon, and suffer a period of stagnation awaiting the growth that is to come.
And, as fortune would have it, that “thing” the company foresaw and geared up for is soon displaced by something else.
Decades ago, when Sears reigned supreme in retail, progress didn’t move as quickly. Online shopping was not even a twinkle in some inventor’s eye. The Big 3 automakers churned out big, gas-guzzling cars until, well, foreign economy cars began to displace them. Who knew at the time that electric and self-driving vehicles were just down the road?
Yes, success is fleeting. But personal success doesn’t have to be. Instead of waiting to be part of “the next big thing,” work hard, save some of what you earn every week, sock it away, invest properly as your nest egg builds and move into your elder years without worry.
Easier said than done? Perhaps. But it may hinge on the life decisions you make, large and small, every day.
Think before you spend. What you don’t spend you can save.
Also, don’t presume the situation you may have now will stay the same, or improve. Remember, your employer may be looking for the next big thing and may or may not find it. Or, they may find it too late. Or, they may not change fast enough.
In any case, you, as the employee, will be affected, and usually not for your betterment.
Therefore, you must create your own success. How? There are many ways out there for a person to spend a few, off-work, part-time hours a week creating a potential stream of income that will enable him or her to roll with the punches at work with much more ease. You just have to be willing to look at new ideas that may be presented to you.
If you are willing to check out one of the best such vehicles, message me.
Fisher talks about making yourself indispensible to your employer. Even the most indispensible people get reorganized, laid off or their job changes to an untenable degree.
It may be better to work at your job, and look for other ways to ensure your own success and, perhaps, the success of those willing to join you.
Peter
Tag Archives: lottery winners
WHICH SIDE OF THE QUADRANT DO YOU WANT TO BE ON?
#CashFlowQuadrant #RobertKiyosaki #employee #BusinessOwner #investor
The Cash Flow Quadrant.
The concept was created by Robert Kiyosaki, author of the “Rich Dad, Poor Dad” series, among other works.
Basically, Kiyosaki divides all of us, financially, of course, into one of four squares, forming a quadrant. In the two squares on the left side are the people who work hard for their money. In the two squares on the right side are the people who have systems or money that work hard for them.
Let’s look at the left side. The top quadrant is labeled E, for employee. Here are the people who have jobs in which they work hard to make someone else rich. These folks basically trade their time and effort for dollars. The amount of money they get depends on what someone else is willing to give them.
The second quadrant on the left side is labeled S, for solo practitioner, or self-employed, depending on how you look at it. These folks, too, trade their time and effort for dollars, but the amount they get paid can depend on how much time they want to put in, and how much in demand their service is. Though they pay themselves, largely, few of these folks get rich. Hopefully, they are able to set aside some money for insurance, retirement etc.
Moving to the right side of the quadrant, the top square is labeled B, for business owner. Kiyosaki said his “rich dad” called this quadrant B for big business or Bill Gates. Kiyosaki defines a big business as having 500 employees or more.
“Unlike the S, they don’t want to run the company by themselves. They want smart people to run the company for them,” Kiyosaki writes.
The B folks also could have large networks that can help them put gobs of money in their pockets. They may not own a large, bricks-and-mortar business, but they have big organizations that they’ve cultivated, and not only get rich themselves, but do so by helping others get rich in the process.
The fourth square in the quadrant is I, for investor. These are the folks who’ve accumulated lots of money, and are watching it grow exponentially through investing. Think of the “Sharks” on the TV show, “Shark Tank,” as a good example of people who are I’s.
Obviously, the object of the economy, as we in the U.S. know it, is to move more people from the left side of the quadrant to the right side.
Easier said than done, you might ask? Obviously, one can’t move freely from the left to the right. Certain things have to happen – or, better yet, YOU have to make certain things happen.
First and foremost, a person must WANT to move from the left to the right. That desire must be powerful enough to make him do whatever it takes to move – and take however long it takes to move.
Wealth accumulation requires discipline and sacrifice. You might have to give up some of life’s pleasures to get where you want to be. Take your lumps now, and take your pleasure later, as it were. It also, often, requires patience. Sure, there are some folks who inherit a lot of money and become instant investors. Big lottery winners can become instant investors, but often don’t have the discipline to do so. Therefore, many just spend their winnings until they run out of money.
You can also spend years toiling on the left side of the quadrant, putting away a little at a time and never touching it. That requires a good deal of patience.
So, how do you get from the left to the right side of the quadrant in your current situation? You may not need 500 employees, but if you have a big enough desire to move, there are many vehicles that can potentially get you there. To learn about one of the best, message me.
Meanwhile, if you are among those who criticize those who have more money than you, and you continue to toil on the left side of the quadrant, you may need an attitude adjustment, f you want to go to the other side. You may also need a big-enough desire to join, rather than beat, those you now criticize.
A move to the right side of the quadrant could be possible if you BELIEVE you can get there.
Peter