There's a reason I have a very limited number of people in my personal "inner circle" in my life. I have very little in common with most people and those who are most "like" minded like me are usually so focused on succeeding in their goals that they don't have time for "fraternizing" with others. It's too bad, if you think about it.
One thing I have noticed about a significant amount of people I've been observing lately. They are dead set against helping themselves and they are turning a blatant blind eye to their opportunities to freedom that are clearly in front of them.
My dad is one of these people. My brother is another one. That's just the start of a very long list.
I could almost blame it on laziness. Perhaps that's part of it. But I'd like to believe that the concept of "being lazy" really isn't a true concept. I believe everyone is fully capable of having the things they want in life. But, for some, the carrot stick that dangles in front of them should be changed/altered in order to give someone the right level of motivation needed to get them off their asses. It is the level of motivation that makes or breaks whether someone pursues what their dreams are.
What is your required carrot stick to give you the motivation you need to get off your ass?
For some people, it's the notion of having a life of freedom and knowing that it's right around the corner once they decide to take the bull by the horns and go for it. For others it's being able to support their family without the stress of wondering how to put food on the table. For somebody else it may be to buy a Lamborghini.
What do you want? Have you figured it out yet?
I talked to my dad yesterday and he's the first one in line to bitch about his life and how it's not working out. And over the last couple of months I've asked him some pretty important questions.
"When do you plan on doing something about it?"
Or...
"When are you going to choose to do something different?"
And with each rather significant question I seem to get a complete lack of response. This means that answer is quite simple. "I plan on doing absolutely nothing about my current circumstances except to continue bitching and moaning to any sap-sucker who will listen to me."
Even worse, my dad could receive full assistance from me in any capacity to help him create whatever type of financial freedom vehicle he wants. (The same applies to my brother.) But he finds some sort of validation and comfort in complaining instead.
I love my students because they've at least taken the first step in helping themselves along. Many of my students have devoured my courses and have attended my seminar events. That puts them so much further ahead of the "sheep" because they are taking the effort to get off their asses and to do something about their situation.
But where do you stand in all this? Have you gotten off your ass yet? If not, maybe now it's time. And if now isn't the time, when will the excuses stop?!
I'm in the same boat with you guys and gals out there. Yes, I've been massively successful when it comes to business and investing. But unfortunately, I've allowed some other dreams to fall between the cracks. One of those dreams is creative writing.
So, guess what I did, folks?
I registered for a couple of 2-day seminar events that are coming up between next weekend and the end of March. That's the first step in getting the ball rolling: education. The next step after that is also equally critical: execution. And the final equally important step: endurance.
All 3 are needed to succeed at anything. Your problem in attaining your goals has to do with missing the mark in one or more of the above "Es."
As you can tell, it starts with the educational portion. But, as you can also tell, it doesn't stop there either. You can't show up to a seminar event and that, in and of itself, will be responsible for your success without doing anything else. And, of course, you can educate and execute your plan and yet drop out of the game after a few weeks because you didn't feel you got the results you were looking for (i.e. becoming a multi-millionaire inside of 33 days).
So, rather than picking you apart in what you are and aren't doing correctly, let's start with the educational portion.
As you know, I'm doing a 2-day Underground Secret Event on Aggressive Income Strategies in Los Angeles on March 7th and 8th. It'll be my first and last event of its kind where I'll be uncovering step-by-step strategies on how you can grow a very simple shoestring small business into a six- to seven-figure annual income with super easy-to-do business strategies.
Sometimes it all starts with just signing up. That's the first step. Sign up and get educated. It's the part that gets the ball rolling.
Because I will tell you that you cannot bitch or complain about the circumstances in your life anymore since you are 100% responsible for the life you've created to this point. Instead, start asking yourself, "What do I plan on doing about it then?"
I was reading this Yahoo! article this morning about a guy who decided that he needed to make $7 million before he could retire. So, he built a company, sold it, and made his net $7 million.
Then retired.
His name is Brenton Hayden.
What bothered me wasn't the poorly written Yahoo! article (since that's what to be expected with them) with holes in the story of how he had made the money. What was even worse was that they start out the article making the assumption that he's "lazy."
Lazy? You can't be freaking lazy to built a company to $20 million and then to sell a company, netting $7 million. Lazy? No. Not by a long shot.
What further bothered me was the slew of negative comments about the guy underneath the article, written by a bunch of losers hiding behind their keyboards, destined to accomplishexactly nothing before they finally sink to their pitiful deaths between now and the next handful of decades. They either assumed that he had made money in a "negative way" because he "profited from the loss of people who lost their homes" to "he must've had a lot of money to start his business and nobody revealed that part."
Typical loser thinking.
I can't believe how stupid the American population has gotten. They talk about the "dumbing down of America" and those of us who have even a "normal" IQ wonder from which mental hospital all of this idiots suddenly escaped from to quickly figure out how to procreate and thus creating even more dummies among us over the years.
Including, unfortunately, a lot of people in political positions with some very "unique" opinions on a lot of things concerning our direct future.
What bothered me most about the comments is how a lot of these dopes assumed that you had to have a lot of money to make the $7 million he made.
I built a $4.3 million per year company inside of 24 months starting with less than $1,000.
I was about his age, too.
Since then I've built many companies from the ground up, using nothing more than a few grand to start each enterprise.
Here's how it works, folks!
You start with a little money, let the business generate some sales, use that additional money to build up the company, and you keep doing this until one day you wake up and you're a millionaire.
The more you do this, the better you get at it, and the quicker you can build a company from the ground up with next to nothing to start with.
Meanwhile, you have a Paycheck Charlie who will borrow $300,000 out of his house equity to start a company and will lose every cent of it plus some and will have to file bankruptcy inside of a year because of his very poor investment decision.
Ask the former owner of my house, Jim, because he'll tell you all about how this works!
Just because you have money to start with doesn't mean you will make money with it.
In fact, quite the opposite.
The more money you have to start, the more you squander it on useless stuff like logo t-shirts, 4-color brochures, hiring a web designer for $5,000 and a variety of other useless non-profit driven activities.
When you have barely any money to start a company, every cent is well accounted for, stretched to the max, and put to the best possible use.
Every company I've started where I've had money to work with, I've ended up not making any money.
Every company I've started on a shoestring has made me a fortune ranging from a "paltry" high five-figures to seven figures.
But the dummies reading the Yahoo! article and even having the balls to make a comment about something they clearly don't know anything about have no clue about how all this works.
Instead of putting a couple grand aside from their burger flipping job over the course of a year and investing that slowly into a small home-based business, giving up their daily dose of mindless TV shows ranging from American Idol to CSI to work on their business, they'd instead prefer to waste their time reading poorly written Yahoo! articles and putting in their two-cents.
Because after all, a burger flipper living in his mom's basement knows everything about becoming a multi-millionaire.
Let's listen to him everybody!
My first business was a mail order business that I started at home. I was a teenager, about 19 I think. I printed up small amounts of mailers at a local printer and spent every evening stuffing envelopes, licking stamps, and affixing mailing labels to thousands of mailers per week.
I did 100% of the work myself. I spent 12 hours a day, sometimes longer, to build my business.
And each time I started with a small amount of money.
And each time I ended up making an untold fortune because I wasn't afraid of the process, I wasn't afraid to do all the work, and I was willing to take the risk.
Most people are afraid of risk.
Instead, they'd rather fill up comment boards on Yahoo! with their useless derogatory comments while recessing into an even deeper useless and pitiful life.
Meanwhile, they could be starting a profitable home-based business with this valuable time they're wasting. They could be building a simple website that could eventually be responsible for millions of dollars in revenue for them.
But they won't.
And that's great!
Why? More money for you and me! That's why!!
Changing your financial future starts with only one thing: a decision to change it. That's it. Until you get sick of your life the way it is and you want something else, maybe you're simply not ready. When you get sick of the way things are and you want something else, it's time to get out of the rut and do something.
The other day I sent you a long "rambling" post when I originally just intended to tell you one important thing that I discovered about making money online.
And I was super excited about it.
I still am excited!
So, what is this groundbreaking online money-making method that I "started" to tell you about but never quite got around to it this past Friday?
As you recall, I started cluing you in on how/why you couldn't make money online with online marketing methods including PPC, banners, blogs, social media, etc. Well, maybe I didn't tell you the how/why except for the debacle with PPC (especially Google).
But that goes for the rest of it, too.
No, social media isn't "slapping" people who are marketing like Google (and now Yahoo!) has but, well...hopefully you were never dumb enough to actually believe that being on Facebook and having a Twitter account could make you money.
And if you did believe that myth, by now you realize that it was bull****.
Nobody is making money with social media except social media sites who are extracting advertising dollars from the fools who think they can strike it rich from social media.
For once, before selling anything or marketing any product, you have to think like everyone else. Think like yourself, the consumer and not yourself, the Internet marketer.
When you're on Facebook and somebody sends you an email trying to suck you to some sales website, do you happily click on the link and buy what they're offering or do you delete their disgusting email and do everything you can to block them from that point further? (I'll vote that you do the latter.)
So, why is everything suddenly "different" when you sell a product online? Why do people respond differently (in your mind) than how you (a real life consumer) would respond?
All powerful money-making starts with you being honest with yourself and the product. "If I were a prospective customer, would I respond? Would I buy this? What would I do?"
The Internet has progressed just like television had years ago. People have learned to "mute" the messages that are commercial-like annoyances.
People become immune to most Internet messages. People stop paying attention to the flashy banners off to the side and they quickly delete that annoying "thing" that pops up on the screen when you're trying to get into your email which ranges from a car zooming by to other such nonsense. You don't even remember what the other nonsense is because you stopped paying attention a long time ago as you quickly reach for your mouse and exercise your ability to find and click on the X to shut the annoyance down.
When doing a Google search, have you found yourself looking at the organic search part of the screen and completely ignoring the paid ads off to the right and at the very top? I know I have.
Start realizing that you are like everyone else out there and pay attention to how you respond to things.
Enter 2014.
Offline meets online.
(I just got a vision of Ms. Pacman meeting Pacman on a grainy TV screen from the old Atari game...remember that? Sorry, I'm majorly dating myself here.)
You can have an online presence. In fact, it's not only recommended but it's required if you're going to make a lot of money with New Wealth Ninja Aggressive Income Strategies! No prospective customer is interested in dialing the phone to get more information or waiting a week or two to get a brochure in the mail. (That's how the "old days" of marketing worked. It was called "mail order marketing.")
So, you have an online presence (or a website) and you drive traffic to that website using offline methods including print ads, mailers, etc.
Simple stuff, folks.
Except here's where it gets a little more complicated.
You have to choose the right types of offline media to drive your Internet traffic. (And if you think for a second you'll be simply using online methods to drive traffic, those days are over, Bucko! Get on board with the realities of the situation so you can make some money here!)
It's too costly to do a mailing for most products, unless you do it right.
And you can't just have a website sitting in the middle of "Cyberland" like a floating island. You have to have other stuff in there like video, audio, presentations, brochures to download, etc.
When I was writing to you the other day about how excited I was about this new massive cash flow money-making project I'm doing, I've just outlined the basic mechanics of what I'm doing above.
What I didn't tell you was what I was selling and why it's so freakin' hot!
I'll also be going over actual student case studies of my most successful NWN students, what they are doing to pull in anywhere from $10,000 to upwards of $80,000! You'll know exactly how they got there and what you can do to copy their success!
Over the past couple of days I've been extremely excited, partly because I'm in my "padding" phase right now and partly because I just uncovered something amazingly incredible that I'm a little discombobulated right now. (Say that word 15 times in a row.)
No clue what all that means?
Let me explain.
First, the "padding" thing...
Some of you may recall that a couple of years ago when I was doing my whole spiel on how to completely change your life, I showed my students how to get the ball rolling. It starts with creating an "I quit!" date and, to demonstrate what I was talking about, I had made my "I quit!" date as December 31, 2013 with a 6-month "padding" on the back end to tie up loose ends until right after my 40th birthday.
And I'm in that "padding" phase now because, well...you probably figured out that December 31st has already come and gone.
I have already quit doing a lot of things for Global Success that you guys and gals haven't quite seen yet. I've terminated my monthly newsletter. I stopped doing Apprenticeship groups. I created my mentorship schedule to conveniently end...guess when? That's right. At the end of my "padding" period. (You guys and gals are smart!)
I feel like I hit the lottery. I don't know why. When you know your entire life is changing and you're about to embark upon some pretty awesome new things, it's pretty exciting.
So, what happens to me on June 14th? Well, I turn 40. (My mom always said that "life begins at 40," so I'll let you how that turns out for me.) My padding period is supposed to end by June 30th, give or take a few. (Not sure if that's a few days, weeks or...months. I hope it's notmonths. That's not the goal, anyway.)
I haven't quite decided what I want to do with my students but I have a strong inkling of what will happen (and it's pretty freakin' exciting which will be revealed later...probably in June). By that time, I believe I'll have taught every element of Aggressive Income Strategies. Or at least that's the plan.
Maybe I'll trot off into the sunset. Maybe I'll completely close down my office and take a break. Maybe I'll finish that script I've been writing for Kevin Costner. Maybe I'll take that trip to Costa Rica that I've been talking about.
Who knows?
Isn't exciting just not knowing anything??
Okay, second...what was that thing I discovered that is so amazing that I threw out a 50-cent word that you had to look up in the dictionary (what is that, right?)...discombobulated?!
This is the really exciting part because it can affect you. (Is it "affect" or "effect"? I never get that one right. If anyone has a trick to remembering which is which, let me know.)
I came across something in the last week -- literally it's been only a week -- that has really thrown me a loop. In a really good way, of course.
And this "loop" I'm talking about is not only going to be worth millions to me but it could very well be worth millions to you too if you want to know what it is and how to do it.
I uncovered (or rather "resurrected") something called direct response marketing that I thought I had buried deep in the holes of the desert years ago.
With all the excitement of the Internet whipping around our ears for the past handful of years, I think some of us (me included) "forgot" (or rather "chose to ignore") something called direct response marketing, notably using "offline" marketing methods.
A lot changed for me with Internet marketing in the summer of 2010 when Google "slapped" the hell out of me like a badman in a dark alleyway. This is when the "reality" of Internet marketing started to sink in for me...and how short lived the fallacy really became. I suspected at the time that it would be but a matter of a couple of years before all of my Internet marketing would come to a grinding halt.
And I was right. It has.
But aren't you glad that Monica Main is as smart as she is?
Since I knew it was coming to an end, I adequately prepared myself. I only "dabbled" in online marketing including banners, PPC with Bing (MSN/Yahoo!), and online postings with no serious intent that it would produce any profits any longer.
When Google started slapping the crap out of every online marketer (I was part of the "first wave" of several slappings to come), I moved over to Yahoo! knowing all full well that they would eventually pull the same lame nonsense that Google had.
And they did, starting sometime early last year, I believe. Maybe it was the fall before. Who knows? Who cares?! (When you don't take something seriously, you stop paying attention to the details including dates.)
How did they "start" the slapping? Well, they really never slapped me the way Google did because I never gave them the chance. They started shutting down certain keywords and determined that certain ads had to be changed. So they would disable my ads until I made the changes. Then they started telling me I had to change my website content. So...basically Google all over again.
And I refused to give another conglomerate Internet company the satisfaction of kicking me to the curb. So I left Yahoo! just under a year ago.
I no longer believe in Internet marketing. The gravy train has finally derailed. And for the suckers out there who haven't figured it out yet, I feel really bad for you because you're about to find yourself laying on the proverbial Internet sidewalk, completely bleeding out with no one to save your life. And no one to care when you finally die either.
So, what does all this mean?
A few things are happening here in what I like to call the "Perfect Storm:"
1) Economy is taking off like gangbusters. And if you don't believe me, pull your head out of the horse trough in your two-horse town and take a look at what's going on in the state leader of economic trends in the United States -- California. Things are taking off here like you wouldn't believe and has been for the past couple of years. And, believe it or not, things are starting to even "take off" in crap-holes like Detroit where, during my last visit last month, I noticed there was actually a waiting list (and a lengthy one at that) at an Olive Garden on a Thursday night. And that has never happened anytime I've been to the Detroit area since I started frequently visiting in late 2010. So, it's happening, folks! Strap on that seat belt because you're about to go on an economic boost that will thrill the hell out of you if you...but only if you know what to do to rake in some of that massive windfall of cash that's already starting to rain down!
2) The "new" old is arising from the ash. Don't you just love how I come up with my own terms as I go along? So, what the hell is the "new" old? Glad you asked. As you know, we're in a New Economy. Old school though processes like getting a job, climbing the corporate ladder, and retiring on a lofty pension are no longer. (We knew that for awhile now.) But...some of the older business ideas and marketing concepts are starting to come back around full circle. Remember back in the day when you had tons of small business owners who ran, say, their own plumbing business or were a handyman or sold hot dogs on a cart on a street corner? Some of those concepts are coming back. People are becoming their own entrepreneurs in a small but powerful way bringing back some of the old school businesses and marketing opportunities. This means you'll see more smaller mom-and-pop stores as "super stores" like Walmart start to falter (and hopefully die a miserable death).
3) Revitalization in the belief of America. Especially "Made in America." People think in "flocks," if you haven't noticed. At one point, all of our most cutting-edge progresses in recent years including legalizing marijuana (yes!!) were not even a remote possibility by the mass populous decades before. How do you have the majority of people dead set against something and then as the decades wear away everyone is suddenly on board with the very thing they were so dead against before? It's weird how people work. So, back in the 70s, you'll notice that the trend of Asia really started to gain momentum, probably because Americans suddenly had the option of buying a Toyota or Honda and getting many more miles and durability out of their vehicles rather than settling for the buy-every-2-years "disposable" American car models that were available back then. Now we come back full circle. American car manufacturers had to compete, started making much better sh** to drive, and meanwhile Toyota decided to cheapen their product, causing people to die. In 1995 I was a full advocate for Toyota. Today I wouldn't buy a Toyota if you had a loaded gun pointed at my head. I think a lot of people have the same beliefs I've come to have about Asian-made products and are really rooting for America to start making stuff here. New trend that you can make a killing with.
It's time for you to line yourself up to take advantage of every opportunity that is coming your direction at whiplash speed right now. If you don't line yourself up correctly even down to getting your "money net" out there to start collecting on this easy cash then you'll find yourself in that miserable rut you've probably been in for awhile of beating your head against a brick wall with an empty wallet and wondering what you're doing wrong.
Since I was rambling on and on, I haven't yet filled you in on what money-making strategy has me so discombobulated!
I'll talk about that in a couple of days...in my next post.
I'm kind of embarrassed -- even though it's technically not my "fault," if you will.
You see, like many other people, I was thrown into the public school system. And it wasn't a very good one either.
It wasn't until recently (a few weeks back, actually) that I had come to understand the history of Martin Luther King, Jr. which started with me looking at this bus (see pic below) which is at the Henry Ford Museum in Detroit.
This bus is the original bus that Rosa Parks was on...and refused to move from her seat, resulting in her arrest and the subsequent civil rights revolution that quickly followed.
Standing next to this bus gave me goose bumps. To know that this bus is the "site" that kicked off such a huge revolutionary piece of history put me in an instant state of awe.
But on the flip side of that moment, it saddened me that even though rights for many people have been forced to become "equal," it's not really all that "equal" still to this day. A lot of people still carry racial prejudice, especially in certain areas of the country. Women still aren't paid as much as men in the same work positions or career fields. And too many people still focus on hatred when they should be focusing on bettering themselves and their lives.
One thing I appreciate about Martin Luther King, Jr. was his ability to make all of his demonstrations and marches peaceful. If you're going encourage others to follow suit with what you want, you can't do it in a destructive and disrespectful manner otherwise you get the opposite effect. Using peace as a way for others to follow is quite profound.
Way to go!
Now I'd like to stick my 2-cents in. (You knew that was coming, right?)
The biggest claim to fame for Martin Luther King, Jr. was his "I have a dream" speech which revolved around the concept of true freedom. But what I'm noticing is that most people aren't free nor will they ever be despite their race, religion or creed. Even though you can free yourself from physical captivity, does anyone really free themselves from psychological "captivity"?
How many times have you stopped yourself from achieving a dream, drive, or desire because you talked yourself out of it for one reason or another. Or you didn't make the time to pursue it. Or you told yourself you'd never make it so...why bother?!
Each one of us can empower ourselves by immediately refusing to see any exterior obstacles and quickly beginning to destroy our inner blocks that we have burdened ourselves with.
And that includes me, too.
For many years, I told myself that the reason I had such a hard time in commercial real estate was because it's a male dominated career field and these men running this business would never take me seriously.
And guess what?
They didn't take me seriously, they mistreated me, they minimized my experience and assumed I knew nothing about the business, and they blew me off time and time again.
Then one day, I got pissed off. I saw red. And I blew up at a commercial real estate agent starting with calling him a varied spectrum of curse words within a matter of seconds and then following that up by demanding exactly what I wanted. And I didn't ask him what I wanted. I told him what he was going to do for me.
And he did it.
The "prejudice" that I had built up in my mind all of those years instantly disappeared and I opened up a whole new world for myself.
I never turned back. I didn't buy back into my old belief system anymore which was, in short, that I would be mistreated or not taken seriously by the men in the commercial real estate world. Once I stopped buying into that lie, the mistreatment disappeared overnight.
It's amazing what we bring onto ourselves when we're not paying attention, isn't it?
Now, I'm not saying that the prejudices stop existing when you refuse to pay any mind to it. I'm saying that the prejudices will stop existing to you when you stop paying it any mind.
And that's all that matters.
I know certain men in the industry have blown me off because of me being a woman but...guess what? I don't pay attention anymore and I quickly say,"Next!" And I find a seller or broker or someone who wants to work with me that wants to get paid! I quickly discovered that there are a lot of people who want to get paid and could care less who is buying a property.
But how many situations did I find myself in after my epiphany where those same men who would have harassed me didn't because they saw a strong woman who means business instead? (If I continued to carry that negative belief about myself then they would have seen the weak woman I was and therefore treated me as such.)
I can't change the prejudices and the "wrongs" in the world.
I can help change what's going on inside of you. That's my only job. You can't control other people and you never will be able to. You can only control you and what's going on inside of you.
I have a very friend of mine. His name is Carthel. I met him a couple of years ago at a seminar event of mine...that someone else dragged him to (and he really didn't want to be there). He's an African American gentleman who had a pretty tough upbringing and I have discovered that he is still struggling with much of the old "tribal" affirmations that he was taught as truth when he was growing up.
One day we had a very powerful heart-to-heart talk about certain attitudes people have, especially in specific racial cultures. One of the reasons why he chose to move up into a neighborhood near me was to ensure that his children didn't grow up the same way he had. He wanted them to live a better life but I think, mostly, he didn't want them to see the color lines that he had come to learn so well.
But Carthel is still having a hard time breaking away from those cultural beliefs. He'll tell me how he notices people staring at him in a grocery store or some other place. Because he's black, he'll tell me. And because it's Valencia, California where it's mostly white upper class.
What Carthel doesn't know is that people aren't staring at him because he's black. (Or maybe because he is so well dressed...wouldn't people staring be a compliment? I stare at well-dressed men all the time.) People are staring at him because he expects they'll stare at him. Once he loses that belief that people will stare at him in public because he's a black man in a white dominated area, people will stop staring at him.
Or he'll stop noticing.
Or he'll stop caring.
When his kids get older, provided that he doesn't feed their belief system the same way his was built, not only will his children never notice anyone staring at them because they're black but they'll more than likely never get stared at because that energy has never been forced within them as a false belief.
I don't stare at anyone with an odd look unless they give me a sideways glance, shoot me a "mad dog" look, or make me feel uncomfortable in some way. Or maybe I glance up at people as I'm walking through a store because I don't want to knock them over with my cart, sending them flying into the table full of discounted donuts.
Being in Southern California, we are very well and evenly racially blended. My neighbors are South Korean, Indian, and Hispanic...all bordering my property. That's very normal in So Cali. So, having been in So Cali for 26 years, I'm not "staring strangely" at anyone unless they give me the "vibe" that makes me want to stare at them.
And I think that's what Carthel is doing.
What types of "vibes" are you throwing out there? Notice it. Embrace it Take responsibility for it.. And most importantly, change it! What you throw out there is dictating how people are treating you.
Yes, people will still come around and "abuse" you in some way sometimes. That's because a lot of people are ugly inside, they hate themselves and who they are, and they'll take it out on someone for any reason in an effort to make themselves feel a fraction better before recessing back into the black hole they call their soul. Stop feeding into it otherwise you will never have that "freedom" that Martin Luther King, Jr. was talking about. That "freedom" comes from inside of you and not through how others treat you.
When you feel spectacular about yourself, other people will automatically respond to that by treating you the way you feel. The sloths, deadbeats, and losers who thrive on mistreating others will simply pass you and find another victim who clearly doesn't feel that good about himself. And they'll pick on him instead of you. They'll stare at him instead of you. They'll call him names instead of you. But it least it won't be you.
Oprah is the woman of success I've always looked up to the most. She had a quote which I've just recently have come to understand: "I was raised to believe that excellence is the best deterrent to racism and sexism."
Notice she said that she was raised to believe this. That went a long way with her...coming to know that from a young age. This was ultimately what was responsible for her success because she was able to knock down every possible obstacle due to this simple yet powerful belief.
This is something I was able to use in my own life. When I do the best I can and I've risen to excellence, it really has obliterated the sexism I experienced. But I think it was the excellence I've come to know within myself that was ultimately responsible for men treating me better in the field of commercial real estate investing. And in other areas of my life as well.
Breaking News!
Monica Main in a Midlife Crisis?
Still?? Maybe...
But She's About to Reveal Some Interesting Money-Making Secrets to You in the Process!!
Since When Does Being Better Mean a "Crisis"?
Okay, so I lied. A little.
I think I'm just an addict. Sort of like being on a diet yet waking up in the wee hours of the morning to sneak a cookie out of the cookie jar, just to smack yourself in the head for being such a "loser." Especially after the 15th cookie when it was supposed to be "only one cookie" you were going to eat.
Yeah...something like that.
Yet this applies to me when it comes to the "bling," especially with cars.
Last month I was talking about how shallow all my neighbors are with their "one-ing up each other" with their toys and nonsense.
And I always thought I was a cut above them...being more "spiritual" and all. Yet, I guess I'm really not when you think about it.
Because here I am with my latest purchase as of this past Saturday...but at least I cut back a little. This car isn't $105,000 like the last one was. This one isonly $85,000 so...I guess I'm getting a little more "conservative" in my old age, right?
Then I thought about it yesterday.
There's nothing more awesome than being able to celebrate financial freedom. When I drive these "ultimate driving machines" like this, in addition to not wanting to age (since I'll be 40 this June), I'm actually celebrating how awesome it is to be a single mother, newly divorced (not quite yet but you get the point), and being able to financially sustain myself. Very well, I might add!
That is something to celebrate, don't you think?
I had some old man try to race me in his black Mercedes SL63 yesterday at the stop light. And I let him go. He was trying to prove that he had a bigger d*** than me. And he's right. He does. Good for him and his 3-year old Mercedes than does have a bigger engine than my car but...at least I'm still in my 30s and...well, he's not. He just has a bigger d*** and older engine, in more ways than one.
Loser.
And I have my financial independence, a lovely daughter, a beautiful home, and a life that's only about to begin. (My mom always told me, "Life begins at 40." So, we'll see very soon! I'm excited!!)
Plus, I don't need a man to make my life work, especially from the financial perspective. That makes me extremely proud of myself.
Why am I going on and on with this egotistical email?
Because, I want to help you get to where I'm at as quickly as possible with my vast knowledge on the subject of making money. Believe it or not, Grasshopper, it'sunbelievably freaking easy to get the financial freedom you want in life if you're willing to focus a little and put a tiny bit of work into it.
I can't tell you how to make a marriage work because my track record says otherwise.
I can't tell you how to have an awesome family because mine sucks ass.
And I can't tell you how to make friends because I don't have any.
But I can tell you how to make money. And lots of it.
Because it's the only thing I'm good at.
Now that I think about it, if I had to choose between being broke yet with family and friends vs. making tons of money yet having no one around then I guess I have the best of either available option. And it's the one I'd choose time and time again.
If you're a woman and you're not coming up to par on where you'd like to be financially, start taking immediate responsibility and take the bull by the horns. Right now. Today!
If you're a guy, same applies. There's no reason to let your life pass by while your psychological manhood diminishes because you can't make the grade financially. Because I'm here to help you, too. You just have to be willing to set aside everything you know (or think you know) and start doing something fruitful in your life. Right now. Today!
I got an email from a student of mine last week who was going on and on about how he scours the Internet for different business opportunities yet he has nothing to show for the thousands of dollars he's purchased in courses, videos, trainings, etc. And he continues each day looking at different opportunities, just to find himself in the same boat. Getting nowhere, and fast!
And that's his problem, folks.
He's buying opportunities. He's not participating in opportunities. If you know what I mean.
You can't just buy a bunch of stuff and think the stuff will do something for you while you're watching CSI and Dancing with the Stars.
You have to put the stuff you learn into action and actually do something with it.
Now, to be 100% fair, I will admit that 99.99% of the stuff out there that you'll buy on the topic of making money is completely bogus.
It's just designed for them to make money while putting you in a state of confusion.
And that's why I decided to stay in the picture for a short while longer while pressing forward with my highly effective and massively profitable Aggressive Income Strategies for my students.
It's 100% about Aggressive Income Strategies.
And stuff you've probably never been introduced to before.
Now, my students should know what I'm about by now and you should also know that I don't talk about stuff I don't believe in including MLM (network marketing), affiliate Internet marketing, or anything that's either too hard, too confusing, or doesn't work.
Here's what it's all about:
How to make an untold fortune from information publishing, a topic I've never discussed with my students before! And this secret can be worth millions each year to you!!
How to make a killing with simple little Amazon Kindle books...an easy $20,000 per month Kindle publishing formula that will blow your mind!
How to set up a stand-alone website in lightning speed that can sell anything from health supplements to downloadable ebooks that can earn you $50,000 per month -- and this is a type of website you've probably never considered before!
How to set up a basic home-based distribution/wholesale business from scratch requiring no employees or overhead that can potentially net you $35,000 a month!
How to build a "mail order" business from your kitchen table that can make you $20,000 to $80,000 per month and this ain't your typical "mail order" that you've ever seen before!
How several of my students are cashing in big on both eBay and Amazon...and I'll reveal exactly what each of them are doing so that you can "copy and paste" their success to explode your bank account!
Some of you know about this new kitten I have by the name of Pineapple. It's a boy. I'm not used to boy kitties. And he's a kitten.
Not used to that either. And quite frankly, I think I'm getting a bit too old for the kitten bit.
Although Pineapple is a sweetheart, he's just out of control. I thought by getting him snipped (if you know what I mean) that would control him a bit but...I was wrong. It just put a damper on him a tiny bit but he's still wildly out of control. However, he is only about 6 months old so what else could I expect?!
About 11 years ago, I ended up with 2 kittens by the name of Scooby and Bobo. They will be 11 in May of this year. I took it upon myself to make them "house cats" because I was tired of being heartbroken by cats disappearing, being eaten by coyotes, being stolen by neighbors, or just never coming home again. So, I decided from the get-go that these 2 kittens would never go outside or know the big bad dangerous world known as the "outdoors."
Now that I'm a decade older and wiser, I realize that maybe I've deprived them of some type of life. Don't get me wrong. My 2 fat ass cats have no interest in going outside. But that's because it's too late for them to want an adventure in their senior lives.
With Pineapple, I can't keep him detained if I wanted to. You see, he tries darting out the door -- any door -- any chance he gets. A few times he's escaped. I've had to quickly run after the little dude, scoop him up, and toss him back inside.
Right before my trip to Michigan a couple of weeks ago, I was taking out the trash and the little guy escaped out my side door. It was nighttime and he ran off into my backyard, into the complete darkness. So, after mouthing some swear words, I ventured off into the darkness after him.
Suddenly the sprinklers went on with a loud hiss. It scared him so bad that he jumped back...into the swimming pool. I heard all of the watery thrashing about and turned on the pool lights to see the little guy struggling to swim in the deep end. "F***!" I'm thinking. Here the water was 46 degrees and I was preparing to jump in after the little dude when he actually swam (or thrashed) to the edge and leaped out on his own. (It was only the day before when my daughter was asking if domestic cats can swim...I guess some of them can as I've recently come to discover.)
I had to shut off the sprinklers, grab a flashlight, and run back out there where I found the drowned-rat looking cat cowering in the bushes. I swooped him up, took a chest clawing from hell, and brought him back into the house where I used one of my daughter's prized blankets to dry him off.
As I was warming his little body up, I realizes something significant.
Little Pineapple is an adventurer and who am I to keep him detained inside for the rest of his life just because I don't want to be heartbroken by a possible loss?
What is life without going out to experience things, even if it means getting hurt (or dying) in the process?
Pineapple isn't meant to be detained inside. And I can't possibly keep him housebound for a decade or longer (like I have with my girls)...until he passes away. He's not built for that type of lifestyle.
And neither is anyone else.
Neither are you.
So, I decided that I'll get him chipped, get an ID tag, and slowly introduce him to the outdoors. Then one day, I'll let him out until he finds his way back home. Or not.
He may never find his way back home one day. If that's the case, I know that he lived the life he wanted to with all the exciting experiences his short life span would have given him.
Have you chosen "safe" over "adventure"?
Have you given up your life for fear of loss, danger, or excessive risk?
Have you stopped living altogether?
When it comes to your children, do you find yourself "protecting" them when maybe you should let them go onto a life of experiences and adventure?
We all aim for comfort and a life of least resistance, if you've noticed. We get disappointed or upset when things aren't "perfect."
But did you know that you're here on this earthly plane to push through difficulty and adversity to freaking learn something? And how do you learn anything if everything is cozy and perfect?
I've gotten so many emails from people who think they should be "farther along" in life and yet they feel like they're slipping backwards.
And if you're one of those people, you're only slipping backwards if you're standing still (i.e. doing nothing with your life). If you're plugging away and moving forward in any positive direction, even if you're not sure it's the right direction, you're not slipping backwards and you're certainly not wasting any time.
Like Pineapple, maybe it's time to make a dash for the door to ultimately open up a whole new world for yourself. After all, how will you ever know about anything else that can be out there for your life unless goactually get out there and experience something?
Sure, you'll probably fall on your ass a few times. So what? I think we always fear much more than what will actually happen to us in reality. And sometimes what we perceive as failure is pretty damn fun. If you've ever slipped in a mud puddle, you'd know that making mud pies or having a mud fight is pretty damn fun while you're down there.
When a student emails me and says, "I'm afraid to try. I'm afraid to get started. What if I fail?"
Well, if you don't get off your dead ass to do something, you've already failed.
And, one more thing...
If you are in a situation (as most American's are) where you need to "transition" from your job to the New Economy opportunities then you are in a situation where you must make the economic change over...or you'll financially perish in the next couple of years.
I have to first say that I have an awesome bunch of students and I mostly enjoy reading all the emails I get throughout the week. I have some strong "warriors" out there as I like to call them. And I believe that many of you listen to me via email because I'm no-nonsense, I tell it like it is, and I don't hold back. (Life is way too short to worry about being so "politically correct" all the time.)
Of course, there's always the "bad apple" emails that I receive here and there. The good news is that, as the years roll on and the unsavory folk opt out of my email lists (or forget how to read), I find that the cream of the crop is floating to the top when it comes to my student base.
But, here we have a situation (which I suspected would happen) where somebody got all butt-hurt over a comment I made about Detroit and actually had the audacity to demand that I "apologize" to Detroit about what I said.
Here's what Kenneth W. emailed me exactly 6 times in a row:
"My God tell me how you really feel about Detroit, Mi ....... if the negative Image of a city is what you want to focus on then go on and continue to do so ....... I guess it's easy for you to come and express your feeling about a city that you only want to see what you want to see and hear what you want to here about Detroit that cool doe ....... Detroit is a great city with great people in it maybe if you spend a little more time to fine that out you wouldn't spoke so harshly about the city ....... I sure there's areas in your city that's not all roses ....... that don't mean the city and the people are bad ....... you got me not at all wanting to do business with you or buy any more of your products ....... because of your comments and oh yeah if the Politicians say in there Campaign that you gonna do something than get done ....... instead of pocketing the money ....... you no you owe the city of Detroit an Apology for this email that you had send out ....... You Reap what You Sow ....... ; \"
Apologize to a destitute city? How the hell does that work? Would this be the time I stand on a soap box in Detroit with a megaphone saying, "Detroit, I'm so sorry!" Would I get to eek out these words before or after I get mugged or beaten down for my purse and jewelry by this "great city" full of so many "great people"?
Okay, Kenneth. I guess that says it all about both you and Detroit. And no, I won't apologize to a broken down city and I certainly won't apologize to you about something I said about something that doesn't really apply to you directly.
As I said in my email before, it's typical that people of Detroit (as I'm assuming Kenneth is from there) that they blame other people (notably the politicians) for how horrible things are. Okay, so move out then if it sucks so bad. Last time I checked, nobody had a gun to your head (including the politicians) to make you stay there.
The other thing I find interesting is that he claims I said that all the people are bad. I never said all the people were bad in Detroit.
(Would this guy be one of those students who I'm talking about...who is on the verge of forgetting how to read?) What I did say is that people of certain areas of the country think a certain way...because they know nothing else. And the only way to expand your mind to discover something else is to leave.
Here are some other emails from a couple of awesome students to corroborate what I'm referring to:
This is from Lori H...
"My husband is from Detroit Michigan. He was in Detroit for business in July 2013 and visited the home where his Grandmother lived when he was a child. The home has been condemned and is in a shambles. His Aunt was in tears seeing the photos.
It's hard to see a place that you remembered so fondly in complete disarray. I guess it's true what they say, you can't go back home."
Not that you can't go back home but that maybe you simply shouldn't.
Here's an email from Jason P...
"I am from Detroit and have lived here all my life. I started to feel slightly offended until I caught myself. To be honest, the Heidelberg Project IS a junk heap! Furthermore, the attitude you spoke of is pervasive in the Midwest. I'm not giving people passes but I understand where the mentality comes from. Our region is based on 'go to school and get a 'good job'' or 'work for the factories, get health benefits and a 401 k.' mantra. It has always been the worst possible advice that was given to unsuspecting kids who subsequently had their dreams killed. When I considered that and having traveled to other places, I could not help but agree with you. Honesty helps everyone while denial kills it's user.
Long story short...I believe in all that you said. I am a true 'capitalist pig' and have no plans to change. I'd rather be who I am, an entrepreneur, than a person seeking a job and familiar limiting relationships. Give me all the unfamiliar I can handle in all the varied places of the world with more experiences and ideas than ever imagined! It sucks being one of a small crowd that many think are wrong and only driven by money. A few people believe in what you say and are here for you too. Don't change a thing about what you do."
Don't worry, I don't plan on changing anything about what I do. And yes, you are correct. This is the mentality of certain areas of the country, especially the Midwest. That's why I had the lengthy discussion with my step-son about leaving, even for a short time.
Because when he comes back, the area will be the same but he will be a completely different person. I just hope he takes me up on my offer because it will probably save his life.
And maybe Kenneth needs to leave too. Otherwise he'll always think that a city that resembles a 4th world war zone will be "great."
(Kenneth should at least watch a documentary about other places to see what he's missing out on.)
When I throw something out there, I'm not doing it to piss people off. I'm doing it to be honest about what's going on with me so that maybe you can get something from it to benefit yourself.
Unfortunately, if you're one of those people who gets offended by the truth or can't see anything usable in my personal experiences then perhaps it's time we part ways. (I'll live.)
However, what I need to drive home, yet again, is that things are not what they used to be, folks. And you've probably figured that out years ago.
If you're going to make the changes you want in all the areas of your life that you know need to change -- or if you're going to be forced into change because your job is gone or the path you thought was your "life path" has been terminated -- then you need to put your sensitivities aside and start focusing like a warrior on what you can do to come up to speed with the New Economy.
Or you'll perish on every level. Simple as that!
Our recent society has taught us that we need to "apologize" when one person out of millions is sitting in a corner crying because he's butt-hurt that somebody said something that "offended" him personally...even though it wasn't directed to him personally.
And this has made us a weak sissy population of people.
Sorry but if somebody calls somebody else a bitch, I simply don't give a rat's ass because I have better sh** to think about. And if somebody calls me a bitch directly, I especially don't give a rat's ass. (I have been called a bitch and I actually take it as a compliment. Demented, I know.)
A true warrior doesn't demand apologies over nonsense because this type of crap doesn't bother a warrior. Instead, the warrior just moves on in his (or her) very focused plight to get the life that he (or she) wants. And that's all everyone should be focused on. Why waste your precious thoughts and energy on anything else?
The good news is that this chronic whining and complaining will separate the men from the boys and the women from the girls which is something that needs to desperately happen. And it is happening. The whiners will end up getting exactly nowhere in life. And the rest will end up being the winners that take all.
Fortunately for you, that set of winners will be a very small percentage...less than 10% of the total US population I'd guess (and that's being generous). That means getting what you want in life will be super easy (because of the lack of competition) if you're focused and committed since everyone else will be wasting time posting comments on Yahoo! about the latest Angelina Jolie/Brad Pitt scandal (and demanding a personal apology in the process because they were "offended" by it in some way) or standing in a 4-day line for the iPhone 6.
Time for you to step up...or sit down and die. I already know what I'm doing with my life. Tag, your it! Now it's your turn to figure out which side you choose. And, in case you haven't figured it out yet, you only have 2 choices: Do something or die miserable.
Many of you know that I have a connection to Detroit, Michigan. My husband Ronnie lives there and apparently plans to continue living, breathing, and probably dying there. Last week I took a final trip through the ghettos of Detroit right before the snow came piling in and mostly to check out what they call the Heidelberg Project...but also to say my final good-byes.
Long story short about the Heidelberg Project, a bunch of artists decided to dress up a bunch of abandoned homes on a couple of blocks in one of the most downtrodden residential areas of Detroit...for "artistic expression," I guess. This is where the definition of what "art" is can be left up for debate because I didn't see anything art-worthy about the experience. (It reminded me of being in a Halloween nightmare after ingesting high amounts of acid. See below for a gander of what I'm talking about.)
Long story short about saying my final good-byes, anyone who says a long-distance relationship or marriage can work is lying. And I'll leave it at that. It doesn't take a genius to read between the lines.
I had a conversation with my step-son about the importance of leaving the Midwest, even for a couple of years, just to expand your mind.
You see, I'm from the Midwest. Chicago to be exact. My dad had a long-time desire to leave even if it killed him. So, the day after my 11th birthday, we packed up and moved to Panama City, Florida for a couple of years. He had financial difficulties surviving in a then-smallish town that thrived only on tourism. So, we packed up right after I turned 13 and off to southern California we went. I've been there ever since.
I explained to my step-son that when I had the opportunity to visit friends in Chicago only a handful of years later after I had left, it's like the entire place shrank in size. My friends were still talking about the same things. They never moved on past grade school even though they were in high school at that time. And I immediately realized I had nothing in common with them anymore. I vowed never to see them again and I haven't seen any of them ever since.
Each time I go to Michigan, nothing seems to change. In fact, Ronnie still associates with people he knew in kindergarten! (Un-freaking-believable in my world...not that there's anything wrong with that.) Their broken down buildings seem to get more decrepit. Everyone complains about local government and blames "them" for not doing anything about the problems of Detroit. And everyone has the same "claims to fame" that never change such as..."Oh, Eminem is from Detroit." (Who cares?! And, by the way, he was born in Missouri and not Michigan!)
There you have the Detroiter's claim to fame: Eminem. Since very few people want to get off their asses to do anything on their own, it's much easier to ride on the fame coattails of someone else.
Now, I'm not being a "hater" or anything. Some people need more motivation. Others are born to be "doers." But as motivated of an individual as I am, I find it very difficult to be productive in such a depressed place as Detroit, Michigan where getting out of bed seems like a monumental event much less doing anything else. (I do know that I would really make some financial and business strides in
Detroit if I really sunk my teeth in the area but that would require living there which won't ever happen in my lifetime. The opportunity is everywhere for those who choose to see it. I see it. I'd just rather work somewhere else...you know, where the sun actually shines more than once a week?!)
Maybe that's why I understand how I must keep moving forward and growing as an individual as well as a leader for other people. Being stagnant in anything isn't part of my operatus morandi. Detroit (and everything in it) remains stagnant. And I can't continue like that as a constantly growing individual.
I'm getting on a plane in a few hours, despite the snow storm. If God is willing, I'll escape this dreary abyss and return home tonight in one piece. Each time I return home, I am relieved that I'm back home, stress and all. (I've lived in California for 26 years.) And I won't be venturing back into the direction of Detroit anytime soon.
As we successfully kick off this New Year, I'm happy to report that I'm moving forward with so many incredibly awesome plans that there is simply no room for a "personal recession," if you know what I mean. Don't get me wrong; I only wish that things would have turned out differently and perhaps one day in the future, the tides will change yet again. But for now, moving forward to positive and greater things is the only option, or I'll perish.
So, I survived the Detroit ghetto in more ways than you'll ever know. Do I plan to return? Not for personal reasons but business always marches on (especially since that's what I live for).
If there is anything that's going on with you personally that needs to be "cleared out" then you need to start making that happen right away otherwise the greater good in your life will never come in. This can be as simple as cleaning out your closets and donating clothes you never wear or as difficult as moving to a new area of the country or giving up a long-time marriage.
How do you know what you need to let go of?
It's not always obvious but I've found that when I have this internal "nagging" feeling that something isn't quite right in a certain area of my life then it's worth a closer look to determine what the problem could be. If your relationship with your significant other isn't working, you've probably been unhappy for some time. If you're job or business is unsatisfying, you definitely have been entertaining new things to do for cash.
This is the year to change. First get rid of what isn't working. Then start introducing the things you want. You'll quickly realize that the life you've always desired is much closer than you think when you finally suck it up and move forward through (and to) the change, including both the bad and the good parts of it.
And remember too, I will be with you every step of the way.
For any of you who don't have my direct email address, this is what it is so don't lose it: mm@monicamain.com or monica_main@att.net. You can send me direct questions or tell me your success story. Just be nice because I'm one of those people who won't tolerate being a target to insubordination...or time-wasters for that matter. I think giving you my email address is important because we all need support time and time again. And it makes it much more powerful just to know you have the support there, even if you never end up using it.
