The 800-pound gorilla -- aka The connection we're not making...

But it doesn't say much...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/science/humanbody/tv/millionaire/

[Dien Rice]

Originally Posted by -TW

But it doesn't say much...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/science/humanbody/tv/millionaire/

Hi TW,

Thanks for the link!

I found an article which might shed some light on how millionaires can be like criminals, according to that show you referred to, "Mind of a Millionaire"...

The article is "Moneyed words" - http://arts.guardian.co.uk/critic/fe...160323,00.html

To quote from the article...

This enthralling series seems to prove that there is a type. Successful entrepreneurs are maniacally energetic, self-confident, self-centred gamblers. A striking 73 per cent don't notice or care what other people think of them. It is a positive asset to be poor and poorly educated. They have, essentially, all the characteristics of the criminal. As Ivan Massow (one O-level in metalwork and £30m) said to the young prisoners he was trying to motivate: "The skills you need to get into trouble are very similar to the skills you need to be businessmen." They were all, he said, entrepreneurs. "Failed, obviously."

I thought this quote near the start of the article was interesting too...

Much the most entertaining [millionaire] was 18-year-old Dominic McVey. He was the essence of Kevin. He responded to conversational gambits with grunts. He flopped in a corner looking filleted. One long, bleached strand of hair suggested the stuffing was coming out of his head. His mouth hung open. He has been a multimillionaire since he was 15, when America gave him the European distribution rights to that scooter that used to get under your feet everywhere. His headmaster noticed he was playing truant again when he saw him on TV in Tokyo, exploring the possibility of importing Japanese lavatories. "I don't think Dominic feels he needs a safety net," said this much-tried man. "He believed in himself to a degree that most people find quite irritating." Dominic agreed. "You have to be so confident in yourself it can make you cringe. But if you're not, you ain't gonna do it."

It's an interesting article...

Dien

Risk taking, paying no attention to the 'rules,' super confidence, the ability to persuade others, charm, pushing the envelope, creativity, taking advantage on untapped resources (!), competitiveness, pioneer spirit, occasional genius, seeing the whole picture, zigging when others are zagging, lone wolf syndrome, unemployable, etc.

When you're faced with a difficulty, focus on the solution rather than on the problem.

Solutions are positive, problems are negative.

Action may not always bring happiness, but there is no happiness without action.

[Ankesh]

Has any one seen this 2 and a half minute video: Music & Life by Alan Watts?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ERbvKrH-GC4

Yes, Ankesh, I do understand life is a journey -- and one must enjoy it ALONG THE WAY.

In fact, I recently wrote, in another forum, this (two posts)...

The Happiness Trail...

A series of events and reflective thoughts have led me to this idea...

"The Happiness Trail" (if there is one) is not a 'trail' one tries to
put oneself ON.

Let me clarify that -- during my previous 48 years, I had assumed
that, if I took a left here, and a right there, I could strive to get
myself ON "The Happiness Trail." Like some yellow brick road.

In fact, it is impossible to put oneself 'on' the happiness trail,
because the happiness trail doesn't even exist as a trail that is *in
front of* oneself.

No.

The real "Happiness Trail" is a trail one leaves *behind* oneself.

That is, it is a trail one *creates* and leaves behind, just as a boat
leaves a 'wake.'

It is created in the form of one's legacy -- even if one's 'legacy' is
minute, or unremarkable.

It is the 'trail' of happiness one leaves behind, that is created via
the living of one's life. Minute by minute, day by day, year by year.

You can do it by accident, or you can do it on purpose -- doesn't matter.

The point remains -- the goal is not to ATTAIN happiness (as in
'reaching' for it). The best goal, as one travels through time, is to
CREATE happiness -- for the purposes of increasing the happiness RATIO
of *the 'trail' one leaves behind* -- one's 'wake.'

I came upon this idea on my own -- but I'm sure it must have
connections to already-existing philosophies out there.

I think being a father has a lot to do with it. But there are other
things that have happened to me recently (plus I'm getting older) that
have turned this light on in my mind.

In any case, this light becomes brighter every day for me -- and I'm
glad about it!

Can anyone else in the group relate?

______________________________________

Basically I was saying my eureka (which is a 180 degree 'phase shift'
to what I used to think)...

Happiness should not be looked for in the 'incoming' box. It can be
found in the 'outgoing' box.

It is not something that is *in front* of you (to be reached), it is
something that is *behind* you -- something that is *produced* by you,
to be left for you and others to realize.

It is not something you 'ingest' or 'absorb' (from without) -- it is
something that emanates *from* you.

It is thinking about death + mortality (among other things) that has
led me to this 'new' philosophy.

How much 'happiness' will each of *produce* during the 30 or so years
we have left?

When you realize happiness is something we each can PRODUCE (as seen
in this philosophy), then we must ask ourselves how much + when will
we produce, in the time we have left (and none of us knows how much
time that will really be).

We must also realize, the answer to the question of how much happiness
we will PRODUCE (each day or even hour), is entirely up to us!

______________________________________

However, that "Life's a Journey" idea doesn't EXCUSE us if we become WANDERING GENERALITIES, either.

We still must have GOALS -- and the means by which to measure those goals -- benchmarks.

"Life's a Journey" is NOT the same as "Que Sera Sera!!!"

Great video clip though -- thanks!

-- TW

In my mind, there is a difference between a lifestyle business and a scalable business that not many entrepreneurs truly get right off the bat, especially if they're exposed to IM first.

In looking for investors for a current project, I'm looking for people or groups that can put in a bare minimum of $1-2m. I had a realization about true building block wealth when comparing people supposedly at the top of the IM game who would be stretched to have a liquid $1m to sanely invest (taking diversification into account and the fact they should have a lot of their investments and assets in other less high risk activities) to those who have built companies/empires/mastered 'systems' and capitalized on it in a big way.

I appreciate your post, TW. I think it can be eye opening if looked at in the right light...

Success,
Erik


P.S. I would urge you not to think of there only being 3 channels/wormholes for 'escaping' what you see as the 'low' ranks... there are thousands of paths, only limited by your imagination. Hint: all you need to do is get one eccentric game changer on your side who wants to make your success 'their' success and you'll be off to the races! Hint #2: never admit to the real world that you aren't already well versed in their 'level' and what it takes to make it a success (but also acknowledge you know the plan will have to be rewritten daily as you redirect based on its reception in the 'market')

I find this discussion to be one of the most interesting, insightful and inspiring that I've read in a long time..Thanks TM for kicking it off..I for one appreciate it..

all the best,
Doc

[GordonJ]

Originally Posted by Doc Jakson

I find this discussion to be one of the most interesting,
Doc

Doc,

I find it interesting too in that it is thought provoking. But as TW continues his quest for the "wormhole" that will take him to the upper level, I keep wondering what it is.

His premise is (as I understand it) "there is a lower level and an upper level and never the twain shall meet". They are separated, not connected and what works in the lower level does not work in the higher one. There are different "processes" perhaps occuring in both levels?

I think that is the premise.

You can't get the answers from the lower level on how to get to the upper level...you have to get the answers from the upper level.

I think I can shed some light.

Most of us have heard of Napoleon Hill and Think And Grow Rich. He spent 20 years interviewing the success of his day. Here is ONE important point that doesn't get discussed.

Not ONE. Not a single name listed in the book. NOT ONE, used the 13 principles in TAGR...they either signed off on some of them, or agreed, or confirmed AFTER THE FACT of their success...but NONE of them used the Napoleon Hill information.

They were at the TOP LEVEL when he interviewed them (otherwise, why bother?).

They took a look and said something like "Oh sure, that's what I did." or "Yes, I agree with your research and premises."

The HUNDREDS of people that Napoleon Hill talked to all had different methods, different approaches, different personalities, and yet he tried his best to SUMMARIZE the common elements. And he came up with the 13 in the book...without a single one of the people he interviewed saying they followed those exact steps.

Think And Grow Rich was a compilation of success. Now, I'm going to sum it all up for you in 7 words. What follows is not only the "wormhole" that TW (and many of us) are seeking...it is also the other side of the sword that explains WHY we aren't at the top level and why TW is right in the premise; you can't take some secret stairway up.

Before you have a knee jerk reaction, give it a few moments to sink in. At least contemplate what you are about to read. Every single one of the successes that Napoleon Hill interviewed would agree (by the fact they reached the top level) and everyone that is at the top level (assuming you don't count inherited wealth {Paris Hilton}) today, will confirm the truth of this.

Here it is. The ELEVATOR to the top level is: Mindset. Mindset that makes focused activity automatic.

In just 7 words you have the answer, the solution and the "wormhole" and every book ever written like Think And Grow Rich and how to get to the top level is in someway, somehow, someONE's methodology of mindset. But it isn't universal or transferrable, you can't use Trump's, you can't borrow Harvey's, you can't instill it or upload it. You either have it or you don't.

And when you have it, you don't need anything else.

Your every waking moment works automatically and you DO the things you MUST do to realize the dream... and the people at the top level may concur, but they can't pass it down to the lower level, because they are indeed separated...at the top, the people have the mindset that put them there...at the bottom level lives the mindset that keeps them there.

It is, indeed, an interesting concept. And those at the lower level may never get it and those at the top don't need to.

The upper level mindset can be worked on, caused by tragedy, history, experience, come on you in a flash, burn slowly within you for decades or never be discovered. Mindset. Mindset that makes focused activity automatic.

And at the lower level, we aren't in the AUTOMATIC MODE, we're still in the stick shift and clutch "changing gears" mode.

Gordon Jay Alexander

PS. It is like the difference between using GPS to reach your destination or a 25 year old map that wasn't all that accurate to begin with.

Thanks Gordon -- Yes, the right mindset can be part of the answer.

Part of that 'correct' mindset must be the ability to immediately DECIDE/DETERMINE whether an 'opportunity' is from Low-Level Land, or the REAL WORLD "big-time."

Part of that element is the ability to immediately give any Low-Level Land opportunities the DISrespect it deserves.

So, here's the new acronym I came up with...

O-F-D-S

Which stands for "Oh 'F' Dat S**t"

I think adopting that attitude when encountering Low-Level Land 'opportunities' will go a long way at protecting oneself from the TRAP(S) that Low-Level Land 'opportunities' really are.

Analogy: Predatory lenders who are SEEMINGLY trying to help you. For one's financial health, one should RUN, not walk, away from them. In the long run, they are EVIL!

They are WOLVES in sheep's clothing.

Same goes for Low-Level Land opportunities.

When they try to entice you, just say NO! -- or "OFDS!!"

...and continue the quest for opportunities that are (or will/could TRULY LEAD TO) the real world BI TIME.

Cheers!

-- TW