What lies behind us

What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us. 

HENRY S. HASKINS 2 QUOTE Challenge yourself with something you know you could never do, and what you’ll find is that you can overcome anything. 

ANONYMOUS 3 QUOTE It is never too late to be what you might have been. 

GEORGE ELIOT 4 QUOTE All our dreams can come true, if we have the courage to pursue them. WALT DISNEY 5 QUOTE The best way to predict the future is to invent it. ALAN KAY 6 QUOTE Life is 10% what happens to me and 90% how I react to it. CHARLES R. SWINDOLL 7 QUOTE If you cannot do great things, do small things in a great way. 

NAPOLEON HILL 8 QUOTE You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take. 

WAYNE GRETZKY 9 QUOTE If opportunity doesn’t knock, build a door. 

MILTON BERLE 10 QUOTE An obstacle is often a stepping stone. 

WILLIAM PRESCOTT 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9... 10 

YOSHIRO MORI 1937 - 

WOODY GUTHRIE 1912 - 1967 

TOMMY MOTTOLA 1949 - 

SUSANA MARTINEZ 1959 - 

KURT VONNEGUT When I write, I feel like an armless, legless man with a crayon in his mouth. WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE Cowards die many times before their deaths; The valiant never taste of death but once. Of all the wonders that I yet have heard, It seems to me most strange that men should fear; Seeing that death, a necessary end, Will come when it will come. 

JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE True leadership is when you are willing to risk your power and voice so that all of ours can be heard. 

EDWARD SANDFORD MARTIN Thanksgiving Day comes, by statute, once a year; to the honest man it comes as frequently as the heart of gratitude will allow. 

JOHN UPDIKE A leader is one who, out of madness or goodness, volunteers to take upon himself the woe of the people. There are few men so foolish, hence the erratic quality of leadership. ISAAC ASIMOV Anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that ‘my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge.’ JAY LENO In Berlin, a laundromat was raided because it was a front for a brothel. You know what tipped police off? Men doing laundry. JOHN F. KENNEDY Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe to assure the survival and the success of liberty. OPRAH WINFREY Doing the best at this moment puts you in the best place for the next moment. CARL SAGAN For small creatures such as we, the vastness is bearable only through love. RITA RUDNER When a woman tries on clothing from her closet that feels tight, she will assume she has gained weight. When a man tries on clothing from his closet that feels tight, he will assume the clothing has shrunk. LIZ CARPENTER What a lot we lost when we stopped writing letters. You can’t reread a phone call. THOMAS PAINE I love the man that can smile in trouble, that can gather strength from distress, and grow brave by reflection. ‘Tis the

business of little minds to shrink, but he whose heart is firm, and whose conscience approves his conduct, will pursue his principles unto death. ANDY WARHOL People should fall in love with their eyes closed. OPRAH WINFREY Biology is the least of what makes someone a mother. WILLIAM BUTLER YEATS There are no strangers here; Only friends you haven’t yet met. OSCAR WILDE He has no enemies, but is intensely disliked by his friends. CHANAKYA A person becomes great not by sitting on some high seat, but through higher qualities. A crow does not become an eagle by simply sitting on the top of a palatial building. JACQUES MARITAIN We don’t love qualities, we love persons; sometimes by reason of their defects as well as of their qualities. MARGARET THATCHER In politics, if you want anything said, ask a man. If you want anything done, ask a woman

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Will Your Child be Rich or Poor?

Will Your Child be Rich or Poor? 15 Poverty Habits Parents Teach Their Children

 when I travel the country speaking to high school and college students about exactly what they need to do to become financially successful in life I always begin my presentation by asking three questions:

“How many want to be financially successful in life?”

“How many think they will be financially successful in life?”

Almost every time I ask the first two questions every hand rises in the air. Then I ask the magic third question:

“How many have taken a course in school on how to be financially successful in life?”

Not one hand rises in the air, ever. Clearly every student wants to be successful and thinks they will be successful but none have been taught by their parents or their school system how to be financially successful in life. Not only are there no courses on basic financial success principles but there are no structured courses teaching basic financial literacy. We are raising our children to be financially illiterate and to fail in life. Is it any wonder that most Americans live paycheck to paycheck? That most Americans accumulate more debt than assets?  That many Americans lose their homes when they lose their job? Is it any wonder that most Americans cannot afford college for their children and that student loan debt is now the largest type of consumer debt?

What’s worse is what our children are being taught by their parents, the school system, politicians and the media. They are teaching our children that the wealthy are corrupt, greedy, have too much wealth and that this wealth needs to be redistributed. What kind of a message do you think that sends to America’s future generation? It is teaching them that seeking financial success by pursuing the American Dreams is a bad thing. The Occupy Wall Street movement was a manifestation of this “wealth is bad and needs to be redistributed “mindset. .

Here are some statistics from my five-year study on the daily habits that separate the wealthy from the poor?

    72% of the wealthy know their credit score vs. 5% of the poor

    6% of the wealthy play the lottery vs. 77% of the poor

    80% of the wealthy are focused on at least one goal vs. 12% of the poor

    62% of the wealthy floss their teeth every day vs. 16% of the poor

    21% of the wealthy are overweight by 30 pounds or more vs. 66% of the poor

    63% of the wealthy spend less than 1 hour per day on recreational Internet use vs. 26% of the poor

    83% of the wealthy attend/attended back to school night for their kids vs. 13% of the poor

    29% of the wealthy had one or more children who made the honor roll vs. 4% of the poor

    63% of wealthy listen to audio books during their commute vs. 5% of the poor

    67% of the wealthy watch 1 hour or less of T.V. per day vs 23% of the poor

    9% of the wealthy watch reality T.V. shows vs. 78% of the poor

    73% of the wealthy were taught the 80/20 rule vs. 5% of the poor (live off 80% save 20%)

    79% of the wealthy network 5 hours or more per month vs. 16% of the poor

    8% of the wealthy believe wealth comes from random good luck vs. 79% of the poor

    79% of the wealthy believe they are responsible for their financial condition vs. 18% of the poor

The fact is the poor are poor because they have too many Poverty Habits and too few Rich Habits. Poor parents teach their children the Poverty Habits and wealthy parents teach their children the Rich Habits. We don’t have a wealth gap in this country we have a parent gap. We don’t have income inequality, we have parent inequality.

Parents and our schools need to work together to instill good daily success habits as follows:

    Limit T.V., social media and cell phone use to no more than one hour a day.

    Require that children to read one to two educational books a month.

    Require children to aerobically exercise 20 – 30 minutes a day.

    Limit junk food to no more than 300 calories a day.

    Require that children set monthly, annual and 5-year goals.

    Require working age children to work or volunteer at least ten hours a week.

    Require that children save at least 25% of their earnings or gifts they receive.

    Teach children the importance of relationship building by requiring them to call friends, family, teachers, coaches etc. on their birthdays and to send thank you cards for gifts or help they received from anyone.

    Reassure children that mistakes are good not bad. Children need to understand that the very foundation of success in life is built on learning from our mistakes.

    Punish children when they lose their tempers so they understand the importance of controlling this very costly emotion.

    Teach children that seeking financial success in life is good and is a worthwhile goal. Children need to learn what the American Dream is and that it is something to be pursued in life.

    Children need to learn how to manage money. Open up a checking account or savings account for children and force them to use their savings to buy the things they want. They need to learn that they are not entitled to things like cell phones, computers, fashionable clothes, flat screen T.V.s etc.

    Require children to participate in at least two non-sports-related extracurricular activities at school or outside of school.

    Parents and children need to set aside at least an hour a day to talk to one another. Not on Facebook, or on the cell phone, but face to face. The only quality time is quantity time

    Teach children how to manage their time. They should be required to create daily “to do” lists and these lists need to be monitored by parents. The goal should be to accomplish at least 70% of their tasks on their daily “to do” list.

Wealthy people do certain things every single day that sets them apart from everyone else in life. Wealthy people have good daily success habits that they learned from their parents. These daily habits are the real reason for the wealth gap in our country and the real reason why the rich get richer. Unless we teach our children good daily success habits, and level the playing field, the rich will continue to get richer and the poor will continue to get poorer.

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