enterpriseforkids.com

Inspiring kids to be entrepreneurial.

Our Money Mastery Mentoring Program Reviewed

February 15th, 2013

Have you ever had that deep inner desire to want to change the world, or to be a person of significance who has made a real difference to others; yet frustrated, at times, that all your time and energy is channeled into your nine to five job… the job that you need in order to earn the dollars to simply exist and meet the costs of living and raising a family?

Have you wondered what you could do if you had the resources of time, knowledge and money to be that difference?

Children grow up full of potential and excited about their new life and what they wish to accomplish with it. Ideally, we as their parents, want to be their inspiration and show by example that they too can achieve whatever they put their minds to.

Do you ever wonder what worldly achievements and contributions your children will end up doing/being?

Cath and I have huge dreams! We are aiming for the stars! We aspire to achieve, experience and contribute in a grand way. We plan to lead our own children to ‘Think Big’, to experience, and to make a significant difference to the lives of others whilst here on Earth.

This is our “Why” and it is why we began the journey seeking an understanding and the mindset shifts required to achieve Financial Freedom.

This past year has been, by far, the biggest year for us in terms of shift in a mindset around success. Last year, in March, we embarked on a year long Money Mastery Mentoring Program, lead by Dr Paul Counsel.

Paul certainly opened our eyes to possibility, has given us the tools to make the inner shifts required to achieve financial freedom; and he has opened our subconscious minds, making the adjustments necessary, that have now put us on the path to achieving our goals.

Our year has literally been like a roller-coaster ride. Many ups and downs and bumps along the way… and it has absolutely been full on with the logistics of sorting kids and maintaining momentum whilst running very busy lives. Without our beautiful friends and family supporting us throughout the year, I’m certain we would not have made it this far.

The Money Mastery program is largely about achieving Financial Freedom; however, it has also been a self discovery mentoring program where we’ve revealed so much about our selves; our deep rooted values; our subconscious thinking and conditioning; and our future realities.

Sadly tomorrow we head up to Perth for our final weekend with Paul and our Money Mastery group of friends from 2012. We haven’t decided if we’ll continue as a new program starts in March 2013. There are many things to weigh up, but one thing for sure is our future is opening up wide before us.

Below is a link that will take visitors to our Full Review of our Money Mastery Mentoring Program. We have reviewed our year with Paul Counsel, shared in depth why we chose to take on such a mentoring program and some of the massive distinctions that have changed our lives forever!

We invite you to read about our journey and experiences (and pass it on to interested friends).

We’re hopeful when you read it, that you gain inspiration and perhaps some real insight into your own lives. We have reflected on some of the reasons why things happen the way they do… and why they don’t!

So go make yourself a cuppa, sit down in a comfy chair and take the time to have a read of our Money Mastery Mentoring Program Review… Oh! …and leave us a comment please!

Here is the link…. Money Mastery Mentoring Program Reviewed

Enterprising Kids Succeed at the Burekup Fair!

January 29th, 2013

The day started with a mad rush!

Seven enterprising kids needed to be ready and set up down at the Burekup Country Club grounds by 8.30am. It required four trips with a trailer carrying tables, pram, signs, eskies, TV, banners and all the products that we planned on selling.

Amber and her succulents.

… and making a sale.

On arriving we discovered that someone else had set up in our designated spot. We milled around waiting until the problem was sorted and then once a new space was allocated we busied ourselves with setting up. A very strong easterly wind challenged us with erecting banners and keeping the table clothes on the tables. It obviously was going to be a hot day. Thankfully the Red Gum Trees overhead would keep us in shade all day.

Bargain hunters were quick to do the rounds of the stalls… well before we were ready! Trying to set things up, they would be there asking questions and making purchases (we’ll have to be better prepared for this next time round!)

All set ready for the customers!

The kids’ anticipation and the joyful growing crowd created an air of excitement. It was a real country fair without all the commercial jazz that you see at many fairs today.

Firstly visitors and locals joined in with the Australia Day BBQ breakfast. Following the brekky the crowd moved onto all the stalls and activities. There were old machinery displays, free bouncy castle and water slide, a dunk tank, fairy floss, pat the animals, thong throwing contests (flip flops for all you USA readers!), face painting, as well as people selling their wares from home made fudge, plants and toys to live pigs, chickens and crafts. Other enterprising kids were also selling their toys, bikes, clothes and things that they had made.

Amber and Flynn with their “Fish in a Bottle”

Products waiting to be sold.

Having a novelty product is the key to drawing interest… and we had the perfect product that really did create a lot of interest! Flynn and Amber’s “Fish in a Bottle” were an absolute hit! Kids came from everywhere dragging their parents to look at the fish. Once at our stall we were able to market our other items to them.

Chayse soon got the hang of it. Whenever a customer wandered past he would hold up a lolly bag and ask people if they would like to buy one. Many people would buy lollies from him simply because he had asked (how can you refuse a little five year old eh!). There was another little boy walking around selling his Mum’s home made fudge. He too wasn’t shy in coming forward asking customers if they would like to make a purchase. Talking to his Dad later in the day, he said that his son had sold more fudge walking around than they did at their stall! I guess there is a lesson in that!

Kaitlin’s EYE heART on display.

…customers admiring her work!

It wasn’t long before we had customers coming in their droves. Talking with customers, handling money and recording on a pad what was sold, all kept the kids on their toes!

Taking it in turns to man the stall allowed each of us time to catch up with friends and also spend some of the takings at the fair.

Our enterprising kids were very happy with their result! Each was able to sell their products and make a profit. Flynn’s “Howitt Honey” was very popular and sold very well. Kit and Chayse sold about half their lolly bags and due to the hot day, Jai’s Icy-poles also sold well. Jai made a profitable sale with his exercise equipment, Amber sold some succulents, Kaitlin received some commissions for her “Eye heART”… and of course the “Fish in a Bottle” sold well!

Jai manning the stall with his exercise equipment.

Flynn selling his unpasteurized honey.

Cath and I also had a terrific result! There was lots of interest in Isagenix with a number of people requesting a follow-up to learn more about how Isagenix can help them. This was the first time we had put ourselves out there with our new business and running an Isagenix stall allowed us to develop our own self efficacy, as well as build our Isagenix profile in this community. We spoke with many very interesting people and learned a lot about their lives and interests.

By the end of the day we were exhausted!

Akaisha enjoying one of Jai’s Icy-poles (mittens to stop her hands from getting cold!).

Cathy explaining the health benefits of Isagenix.

It was important to celebrate our success as this is vital in fostering self efficacy around being entrepreneurial kids. The kids counted the takings and divided it up. They then paid any debts to realize their profits. Each received a congratulations and a hug for being successful enterprising kids!

Many great lessons around getting a “Financial Education” were learnt on this day. It is our hope that our kids continue to develop their self efficacy around being entrepreneurial, as we believe this will give them greater opportunities when they become adults.

Cathy talking with an interested customer.

Kit and Chayse selling lolly bags>

Finally we would like to thank the Burekup Country Club, and in particular Sally and Jason Barnden and their team, for co-ordinating the fair.

Our next blog will be a lesson in Money Mastery as we review our year with mentor/teacher Paul Counsel. Once again we appreciate subscribers encouragements, views and comments.

Chayse selling lolly bags to a customer.

Just as an added note… the day after the fair five more “Fish in a Bottle” sold!!

Burekup Country Club Heats up! … a Lesson in Marketing!

January 23rd, 2013

Last week there was fear and excitement in the small township of Burekup! The Burekup Country Club was on FIRE!!… and the Burekup Australia Day Fair may be cancelled!

Once a year for “Australia Day” Burekup hosts a fun family fare. Everyone in town usually comes along, together with people from the surrounding areas.

Burekup Country Club Hall.

This year it has had a little more publicity than normal. The local Burekup Country Club, who are the organisers of the event, had a fire that threatened to burn down the old wooden club house and town hall.

Thankfully the fire crew were able to put it out before it caused too much damage or anyone was hurt!

The newspaper heard about the near disaster and ran a story in the local rag on the fire that almost sabotaged the Burekup Australia Day Fair! The story stimulated fear and interest, which in turn was excellent publicity for the Burekup Fair!

Marketing a product, service or brand can be very challenging, especially if you are not savvy with marketing (like me!). Having very good marketing will sell even a poor product, yet having a very good product won’t sell easily unless you have it well marketed.

Our enterprising kids have all been challenged with marketing their products and brands. Cathy and I have also been challenged with marketing when promoting events or selling our products.

Only last weekend during our Money Mastery Program, our mentor Paul Counsel, shared some excellent insights into how the human brain works and how to target marketing. Some of his suggestions are outlined a little later in this article.

But firstly I’ll share with you the lead up to the Burekup Australia Day Fair and how our family have been crazily preparing for it. We see it as a terrific opportunity to market our brand, as well as the products and services that we have for offer.

Flynn showing his honey pots.

All bottled awaiting labels!

The Howitt Family booked two stalls. One for all our enterprising kids to display and sell their products, and one for ourselves to provide people information about the awesome benefits of nutritional cleansing using the Isagenix system (our home business). Promoting our Enterprise For Kids brand and our Enterprise for Kids blog is also one of our aims!

Kit and Chayse sorting lollies.

Lolly bags all set to be sold!

Putting ourselves “out there” in our small community for the first time is a little confronting. Some people know what we’ve been up to, but for many it will be a surprise. Despite the challenge, we do see this as a chance to practice in readiness for bigger and better things to come!

So what products and services will our kids be promoting and selling?

Kit and Chayse will be running their Lolly Bag business. They have bought, sorted and bagged lollies to sell. Chayse also has a small fish tank to sell. He has bred colourful guppies which he will sell with the tank.

Amber watering her succulents ready to be sold.

Amber showing her product.

Amber has been busy all year collecting succulents (cacti like plants) from people’s gardens. She has artistically potted these up into all kinds of unusual pots such as large sea shells, kettles and ceramic plant pots.

She and Flynn also plan to sell aquarium fish that they have bred. They have salvaged and cleaned large glass wine flagons which make terrific fish bowls. They will market their brand “Fish in a Bottle”.

Fish in a Bottle.

Can you see the fish?

Amber will also sell selected items from her “New from Old” business and she is putting together a Lucky Dip!

Flynn will be selling raw unprocessed honey. His brand is “Howitt’s Honey” and he has a brand new fresh batch to sell! Flynn also bought an excellent set of golf clubs for a very good price, which he intends to sell at the fair.

Jai showing his Icey poles.

Jai will be promoting his “Hire a Teenager” service. He already has clients in Burekup who hire him to do work on their properties such as mowing and window cleaning. Jai has also prepared a batch of frozen juice ice-cups on a stick. He has come up with some creative ideas to add value to his product. Jai is also considering promoting “Rent Exercise Equipment”. This business idea is in its infancy and may not quite be ready to run.

Kaitlin's Eye heART.

Lastly Kaitlin (Akaisha is a little young to have an enterprise!) will be promoting her new brand “Eye heART”. Being the creative one in the family, she will sell her skills by painting the eye of clients from a photograph. Around the eye she will also paint three things dear to them.

This opportunity for us all to market our brands, services and products will help the Howitt Clan develop self efficacy around being entrepreneurial.

So what does our mentor, Paul Counsel, have to say about marketing?

Well he has a lot more to say than the few little suggestions I have outlined below!

Firstly, you need to show your prospective customer how he/she will go from “Pain Island” to “Pleasure Island” if they buy your product or service. That is, you need to stimulate pain and promise pleasure. The best way to do this is with a before and after picture that is in black and white contrast. For example showing a before and after photo of someone using a product for weight-loss, or a before and after picture of someone receiving treatment for hair loss.

Just need the right ship to get them there!

Paul explains that a woman’s brain differs from a man’s brain and what stimulates pain for a man is different to that for a woman. The pre cognitive driver for women is “fear of abandonment” whilst the pre-cognitive driver for men is “fear of servitude” (that is being lower on the totem pole where women won’t choose them).

95% of decisions are made pre-cognitively using the Primal Brain. As a marketer you need to stimulate it into paying attention and speak to it in its own language. Some other ways to stimulate the Primal Brain are…

Targeting the emotions of fear, pleasure and pain and then offer a solution that is real and tangible. Or offer a visual novelty such as Kaitlin’s “Eye heART”, Jai’s fancy icy-poles or Flynn and Amber’s “Fish in a Bottle”.

Now there is so much more that could be said about marketing. Paul will be running a weekend marketing course in Perth on the 23rd and 24th of February if you are interested in really delving into the world of marketing. What he teaches will certainly benefit anyone with something to market..

Luckily the Fire didn’t burn down the Club and spoil the Burekup Australia Day Fair. But boy was it an excellent way to wake up the Primal Brain by stimulating it with the pain of the fare being cancelled due to fire. This excellent marketing has created plenty of publicity for the event!

In our next blog we will likely have some photos and share our Burekup Australia Day Fair experiences. Hope to see some of you there!

We would love to hear from our readers, so please share your thoughts in the comment box below and if you like our Enterprise For Kids blog we would love for you to pass it around to your friends.

Kit and Chayse and a Lesson on Self Efficacy!

November 1st, 2012

Kit has decided to form a partnership with Chayse with his Lolly Bag Enterprise for Kids Business! He figured that his Dog Walking business was moving too slowly, and he saw how easily Chayse was making an excellent profit. So they joined forces and together visited the local supermarket to spend their capital on buying large bags of confectionary. This time they were very serious and bought $230 worth of lollies!

The Production Line

Once again the family pitched in around the dining table to sort and bag all the lollies. Before long Kit and Chayse, in partnership, were ready to go out to the sporting grounds and sell their product. Click here to view a video of Kit and Chayse’s production line!

This time round was a little different though! Our kids had been taught and now understood the value of gifting (An Entrepreneur’s Conscience). Taking a small portion of their profits and giving it towards a worthy cause, teaches the kids about generosity and about appreciating their own good fortune. We also believe that by giving, the universe in turn will give back in some way or form. Flynn, for example, is putting money to one side to give to our African sponsor child Cheroko. Amber has chosen to give to the Cerebral Palsy Association because she has a school friend with this disability. Kit and Chayse have chosen The Flying Doctor Service as their charity because the Flying Doctor really helped us out when Kaitlin was born in a very remote Kimberley town. (Kalumburu).

Designing the For Sale Sign with RFDS as the beneficiary....

All the soccer lads checking out their lollies.

Watching Jai in action at the soccer fields!.........

.....whilst the boys sold their wares

So armed with renewed confidence, the two boys did the rounds of the sporting grounds and sold box after box of lollies. They were magnetic – attracting people from all over the place. Just like the Mr Whippy Van!

The boys were very good at counting money and giving the correct change. They did at first need prompting to approach groups, and to say thank you. However, after a while their confidence grew and they happily spoke with customers. There were lots of questions about what they were doing and why they were selling lollies. Kit and Chayse would tell people that it was their business and that they were also giving a little money towards the Flying Doctor’s Service. People were all very happy to support their business and some even bought lollies just to have a chat with them!

On a later trip to the sporting fields I was super surprised to find that young Chayse had taken it upon himself to gather up his heavy box of lollies and head off down the lines of spectators. I had no idea that he had gone as I had been focused on watching Flynn playing his soccer game. I was suddenly alarmed to notice that the lolly box had gone from under my feet and that Chayse was no where to be seen! Looking around I could see some commotion about fifty metres away. It was Chayse with a crowd of people buying his lollies.

I was very proud of the little “fella” as he had proven that he was developing his self efficacy with being an entrepreneur. Through many weeks of shyly putting himself out there with his customers selling lollies, he had finally built the confidence to go it alone!

If he keeps this up he will be an awesome young entrepreneur when he grows up!

Cathy and I have been learning the importance of self efficacy at our Money Mastery Course from our mentor Paul Counsel. He explains that it is very difficult to just switch and be an entrepreneur. What we need to do is to build up to being one by pushing our upper limit continuously. That is done by doing things that take us out of our comfort zone. Take on new challenges and then celebrate the success, then repeat it over and over again. Eventually you become comfortable with being uncomfortable, which in turn open up new possibilities and attracts opportunities. This is exactly what has been happening with our four year old son Chayse… in fact it has been happening to all of us!

Kit also demonstrated his growing confidence only a few days ago. He said that he wanted to take his Enterprise for Kids lolly business down to the local skate park all by himself. We agreed to his request and let him go. His big brother Flynn was instructed to follow behind at a distance to make sure he was OK.

Self Efficacy!

Well Kit sold a bunch of lolly bags and on returning he announced, “A Granny gave me a big cuddle and kiss!” Not sure what he was going on about we asked him to explain. Kit said, “She was really happy to see me doing my business. She bought some lollies and then gave me a cuddle.”

Two young Entrepreneurs....

....share their rewards.....

......with the RFDS.

You can donate directly to: www.flyingdoctor.net

We believe that our enterprising children are experiencing mindset shifts to think more and more like entrepreneurs. It will be interesting to see how this changing mind set effects the way they approach their enterprise for kids ventures. It all takes a lot of practice and confidence. In later blogs we will talk more about self efficacy and how our other children are moving along with it and we we also share our own enterprising endeavours!

David Wood – The Master Trainer!

October 16th, 2012

David Wood is the Master of all trainers!!

David Wood

We were spellbound by David Wood and energy, inspiration and mastery when he presented his Break Through Training Program to us last weekend. Everything is possible for anyone despite circumstance. All we have to do is step out and go get what we want without allowing fear to pull us back. We must take 100% responsibility for what we have and what we don’t have, without laying blame or excuse. We are the only ones who can make the shift in mindset and create success for ourselves!

During the three day program we gained tremendous insights about ourselves and how we are with people and how we approach life. David emphasises the importance of connecting with people. His tip is very simple, say “hello” and do it as often as you can, with energy!

This testimonial by Allan Kerr was spot on…

“The content is heavy hitting and invaluable, the delivery by David is strong, sometimes confronting and punchy, but mostly fun. Many of us know what we should be doing, but David has a remarkable gift of being able to make every attendee realize their shortcomings and realize what they need to do if they truly want to achieve their goals and dream with this business model, in fact with life in general. So,…. face the fear, and do it anyway! Just have a go …have a who cares, so what attitude, have fun, and get out there and talk to people, make new friends, and you will be rewarded with whatever it is you seek!!”

Break Through Training Perth 2012

One of the things that stood out for us was that “No doesn’t always mean no forever.” David Wood reminded us in a fun game how to act when you do get a “no” – do the Happy Dance! And do it like you mean it.

Don’t let yourself go down that path of “I didn’t present well enough, or I didn’t know my stuff well enough, or I’m not qualified enough…. Whenever you hear a no… instead, think of it that you’re only one step closer to your next “yes” and then celebrate the no.

Many of the distinctions and lessons that David taught us were very much in line with what we’ve been learning with our Money Mastery course with mentor Paul Counsel. One of those is in respect to the importance of a reference group.

“I become the sum of the five people I spend the most time with.”

If we want amazing results in our lives we must aspire to associate and become connected with other people who are getting those results. One way to do that is to attend events and form mentor groups with people with similar aspirations. This allows new friendships with energetic, motivated and successful people.

We also recognise that this is just as important for our kids. That is why we encourage them to mix with positive peer groups and get them involved with sporting teams and enterprise. As David put it…

“Environment is stronger than will power!”

So rather than deal with your will power, just change your environment and reference group.

We learnt also that “success is not convenient”. It requires getting out of routine and comfort. During the training program David pushed all our boundaries to get us to practice being uncomfortable. He did this by having us talk to strangers on the street, miss our coffee breaks, hug each other, hold hands with people we didn’t know, stay on late way past the planned program times, speak publicly, become vulnerable, and dance and dance and dance! We love his favourite saying…

“Get so uncomfortable about being uncomfortable that you get comfortable!”

David Wood the Master trainer and Us!

This is something we definitely need to encourage in schools!

Here is a great little exercise that David says works… don’t blame, justify, complain for ninety days and your life will completely change.

David truly believes that no dreamer is ever too small, no dream is ever too big! He says that if you don’t know where you’re going, every road will get you there. All we have to do is make a start and follow a road. He also points out that…

“We will miss 100% of the shots we never take!”

So just believe in yourself and have-a-go.

David points out that everyone was once a disaster, including him! David’s life certainly didn’t start out on the right track. His Dad left the family when he was seven and he grew up angry with his mother. He dropped out of school and was in all kinds of trouble as a teenager living on the streets. David spent ten years travelling around the world, broke and living day to day. He worked as a chimney sweeper, window cleaner and barman. He discovered for himself that “who you were can completely change!” This realization led to a different thinking which brought him massive wealth, success and happiness way beyond all his expectations. His success is a direct result of a change in thinking and attitude.

Paul Counsel also supports the view that we are a product of our thinking. What we think and believe will become our reality.

David points out that your results are telling you what’s going on in your life. If you are unhappy and poor, then you need to consider that what you’ve been doing up until now doesn’t work. And if you don’t find a new way and make changes, then your results will only continue to be the same. His advice is to stop taking advice from broke, unhappy people, and seek out successful mentors and friends who can move you along in the right direction.

Lastly a couple of testimonials from friends who attended the break Through Training with us…

An amazing weekend with David in Perth along with an awesome group of people…all willing to feel the fear and do it anyway! Life is not a dress rehearsal…just do it! Stop justifying, blaming and complaining… Grab happiness with both hands…Thankyou so much!
If you ever have the opportunity to spend time with David – take it! Tracey

Thanks David for an awesome weekend! If someone had told me I could sit through 3 massive days of training and never once feel like I was falling asleep I would have said impossible. The way you share the information and teach is inspirational. So many laughs and take away lessons – none more so than how to connect and change the warmth in a room. Inspired to say “HELLO” more often. Melissa

David, this weekend in Perth has left a permanent imprint in my heart and mind. I will take 100% responsibility for what I have and what I don’t have! Your seminar was so well presented and motivational that I have already started applying the strategies to every aspect of my life and have been dancing my “no boogie” quite regularly!! Denise

To Listen to Jack Canfield interviewing David Wood CLICK this image

One of our favourite podcasts I’ve listened to recently from David Wood’s “The Kickass Life” series was his interview with Andrea Owen, Hellraiser (as she calls herself). She talks about becoming your own biggest fan and becoming a legend in your own mind. We love that. Get rid of disempowering thoughts. And if the thoughts won’t go away, learn to manage them. Take the power away from the gremlins inside your head! Take advantage of the tremendous inspiration David provides for free on “The Kickass Life” series. CLICK HERE to listen in.

David Wood gave excellent teachings about daily life, relationships and business, (especially about the network marketing or referral business). In this day and age, that is how most businesses operate (whether they think they are or not. Referrals are the number one way that businesses keep loyal customers). There are exciting times ahead for Generation Y as they are fantastic at networking and do so in every day life with all forms of multimedia!

In our next blog article we will talk about the tremendous opportunities for everyday people using this awesome wealth creation vehicle to create residual income and financial freedom. So if you’re curious about this opportunity for yourself or for your entrepreneurial kids, then don’t miss this article!

We will also revisit Chayse and Kit and see how they achieved their financial goal and managed to give some of their money to a worthwhile Charity, the Royal Flying Doctors Service.

How Bad Do You Want It?

September 14th, 2012

We were going to write about Kit and Chayse’s enterprise and how they have gone with working on their goal, but have decided to share an interim and thought-provoking blog designed to make you think about how much do you really want success (in any chosen field)!

Our daughter Kaitlin saw this video on You Tube and sent us the link. We thought it was awesome. So, take the time to watch the clip (it doesn’t go for very long), then read on.

How Bad Do You Want It? Video Clip

How Bad Do You Want It? Click image to view clip.

For those who want to digest the words again, I have taken what I could decipher from the You Tube and written the transcript here.

There was a young man who wanted to make a lot of money, so he went to his Guru and said,

“I want to be on the same level you’re on.” And the Guru said, “If you want to be on the same level I’m on, I will meet you tomorrow at the beach.”

So the young man got there at 4am. He wore a suit, but should have worn shorts. The old man grabs his hand, leads him to the water and says,

“How bad do you want to be successful?” The young guy said, “Really successful”.

The old man says, “Walk on out in the water. “ He goes waist deep.

This waters freezing. The young man thinks, I just want to make money and he’s making me swim.

I didn’t ask to be a life guard. I wanna make money.

“Come out a little further. “

So he’s thinking. This old man’s crazy. He makes a lot of money, but he’s crazy.

“Come out a little further.” And he did.

This man is crazy.

The old man said, “I thought you wanted to be successful”.

He said, “I do”.

“Then walk a little further”. The old man pulled him, dropped the young man’s head in the water, held his head down, and continued to hold him down, even when the young man struggled. He held him down, but just before the young guy passed out, the old man raised him up.

He told the young guy. “When you want to succeed as bad as you want to breathe, then you’ll be successful!”

After watching this video, it really made us think, How much do we want it? Do we “really” want it or just “kinda” want it? Want what, you may ask?

Well, anything really. How much do we want our fitness levels to be at their optimal levels? How much do we want to be financially free? How much do we want to have a happy and loving family life? How much do we want to enjoy our time with friends and experience unique and exciting experiences?

For us, it’s a little bit of everything. But what we realised as we’ve been completing Paul Counsel’s Money Mastery Course over the year, that splitting our attention between everything (as we have in the past), we get a medium result from everything. There’s nothing wrong with that, it makes life comfortable, and that’s OK for many people.

But for us………we’re ready to challenge ourselves. We’re ready to step up and make a difference in those areas in a big way, not an average way.

So, whilst we may not exist on 3 hours a night (although that’s debatable with our 18 month old at times!), we do put in the long hours. We do stay up until midnight (long after the kids have gone to bed), working on our internet business, studies, trading or Health and Wellbeing business.

We try to focus as much as we can on them. And why do we do it? Because we know that we are already successful in some parts of our lives. We know we have a wonderful family and supportive friends. And we know we’ve achieved that through dedication and focus. Now, we are ready to transfer that focus and skill to other aspects of our lives. We know that when we are financially free, that this will positively affect every other part of our lives.

If we want more time to focus on our kids, we can hire someone to do the mundane things in our lives, thus freeing our time. We can create awesome experiences beyond what we’ve already had. We can take time to enrich our own relationship without worrying about how we are going to pay the next bill.

Now, it may take us a little longer to achieve our goals than it will Giavanni Ruffin (the athlete in the movie). He has MAJOR, unstoppable focus and he WILL achieve, no matter what. It’s not a matter of IF, it’s a matter of WHEN for him.

But even if we used just a tenth of his energy and commitment, it has to be better than no focus at all. Where your attention is held is what will show up in your life. You need to “attend to your intention”. A clear intention with determined focus will set you on the right path to success.

This lesson on focus can be applied by anyone, whether it is teenagers studying at high school, kids with big sporting ambitions or parents developing business. Kaitlin is challenged with maintaining focus with her studies. We are glad she discovered this video, thought about its excellent message, and decided to share it with us.

So, like we said at the beginning of this post, “How Bad Do You Want It?”

If you enjoyed the first video clip, and thought that was all there was, think again………then have a look at this one…

How Bad Do You Want It (part 2)

How Bad Do You Want It? Pt2 Click to view

Youth Enterprise…. Kaitlin and Jai

What “The Secret” Left Out

Anthony “Tony” Robbins is an American self-help author, motivational speaker and Life Coach. He became well known throughout the world through his self-help books. Our Mentor, Paul Counsel, speaks highly of Tony Robbins and his teachings.

What “The Secret” left out!

July 27th, 2012

My Dreams

As a kid I always wanted to be a farmer.

When growing up I had a framed picture of a farm on my bedroom wall and I would look and think about it everyday for years. It featured a big wooden barn sitting on a grassy hill with duck ponds, sheep, a dog, tractor and kids running around.

Our Farm in summer.

The funny thing was that twenty years later Cathy and I found and bought a little farm and it was just about identical to the picture from my bedroom wall. The little farm house sat on a green grassy hill (which is rare in Western Australia with its semi arid countryside), it had a big wooden barn, sheep, ducks, a dog and a tractor. To top it off we raised most of our kids there during their early years. I had no idea until later that the very farm we owned was what I used to dream and think about as a kid.

When the movie, “The Secret” came out, I was fascinated by the featured stories of people visualizing in their minds what they wanted and then over time, having those same things arrive for them in their physical world. I guess that is exactly what happened to me… though it did take twenty years!

Kit camping on the Cocos Islands... a dream come true!

Our Cocos experience!

This unique “law of the universe” came to play many times in our lives over the years. Our experience living on the Cocos Islands was a visual thought ten years before it became a reality, and traveling Canada and the US in our motor home with the family was another example of a visualization becoming a reality.

Vision Boards

Making a Vision Board is one way to build a visual picture of what you want. Cath and I have created Dream Boards and stowed them away, only to pull them out again some years later to see that several of the dream pictures can be ticked off as having been achieved… kite surfing, large aquarium, more kids, fishing boat… to note a few more examples.

Kite Surfing

My Vision Board from 2005. All these images, bar one, have become a reality.

We believe that Vision Boards help with visualizing what you want and because of that, we encourage our kids to make and display dream boards too. They think it’s all great fun!

The Problem with The Secret!

See, believe and you will conceive is the universal law that The Secret portrayed. It is amazing how your subconscious mind has so much power as to bring about reality from thoughts. The funny thing is that when I read forums with discussions about the laws of the universe I see many people being very frustrated about not being able to bring about in their physical world all the things they are visualizing and believing. They meditate, focus, make vision boards and think about what things they want in their lives, but despite all their efforts they are unable to conceive it to reality.

The Solution…

Our Money Mastery mentor says that there was an important ingredient that “The Secret” left out. He explained that whilst you need to visualize what you want, then emote it into existence, if you don’t have a persistent focus (or clear intention), then it is unlikely that what you want will easily come about in your reality.

He said, “The problem is that people have their focus elsewhere”. Like in our situation… we’re busy all week at work and when we’re home our whole attention is taken up with sorting the kids, doing the household chores and keeping up with our social life.

Our focus is drawn away from the things that we want to achieve, even though we may visualize them.

Often when people hit a rock bottom point in life, it is only then that their minds pinpoint their focus. This may be a near death experience, serious illness, break up with a partner or suddenly becoming financially bankrupt. It is only then that your conscious and subconscious minds align with an inner drive for change.

Our Subconscious Limits

The other thing that Paul (our Money Mindset mentor) explains is the “Belt” concept.

Our subconscious mind has an upper and lower limit to every aspect of our lives, including wealth, happiness, relationships, health etc. This is what we call our Comfort Zone.

Using money as an example, let’s say my subconscious is only comfortable earning $100,000 a year. That is my upper limit and if I ever exceed that by 10%, I will do something to self sabotage and bring that amount of money back to what I am comfortable receiving. Self sabotage may include spending it, losing it on the stock market, giving it away, gambling it away and so on.

So even though consciously I think I would like a million dollars, that will never happen until I have changed the upper limit of my subconscious around money. Subconscious mind is far more powerful than my conscious mind and that is why mentors such as Paul are so valuable because he helps us develop strategies to push our upper limit higher to allow more of what we want into our lives.

The same principle holds true for all areas of our lives. We may have a limit on how much happiness we are allowed to feel, so if a relationship is going along brilliantly, but we don’t think we deserve that much happiness (on a subconscious level), then we will do something to sabotage that happiness – more often than not, it involves picking a fight, creating a drama in our lives or doing something to hurt the other partner.
The same can be applied to health, relationships, weight loss, finances, anything really

The trick to mastering this law of the universe is to gradually work up to the bigger dreams by visualizing and intending for smaller dreams that will lead to the ultimate one. In other words, take smaller steps, then celebrate them once they are reality. The idea is that over time your subconscious mind will raise its upper limit to meet that of your conscious mind. When the two are aligned the physical reality will, in time, materialize.

Vision Boards for Kids

Ambers Vision Board

It took up to twenty years for dreams of mine to come about, so don’t allow a moment more to pass you or your kids by. Encourage your kids to make vision boards, teach them how to visualize and emote what they want. Establish a plan and then, most importantly, help them make it their absolute focus! If you need some help, then have a look at this book written by John Assaraf. He is an expert on the topic as he himself was a major feature in the DVD “The Secret”.