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success principles: there is always a price to pay for success

Apr 012013

Reading time: 5 – 8 minutes

Helping people isn’t easy…

I’m amazed at how often people ignore good advice. Movies, gadgets, restaurants, relationship advice, or investments…people seem to have a built-in force field that prevents them from listening to good suggestions.

Just the other day as I jumped on the train, I happened to notice the young lady next to me studying English.

As is common here in Japan, she was using a word book so I asked her what she was studying. She replied she was studying for TOEIC which is a business English test.

I wished her good luck and then took a seat.

I started reading my own book when I remembered I had some flyers of my school in my bag.

I quickly jotted down my email in case she might want to contact me directly, then went back up to her and gave her the flyer.

Now, in all the years I have given out my card on the train, less then 10% of people ever bothered to contact me.

It doesn’t make a difference whether we talk about English, success or investing (my three main areas of expertise), 10%.

When I have gotten an email from someone, I am rather taken back.

This was one such time.

I got an email from her later that evening thanking me for the information.

I asked her why she wanted to learn English and she told me that her reasons were two-fold:

Improve her job opportunities
Make friends with people all over the world

She then asked me how she could improve. It was obvious from her writing that she was very much a beginner so I told her that the most realistic option was to find a good teacher.

I told her that word books and grammar study, although it being the de facto choice here in Japan, aren’t effective for most people for one simple reason — they are BORING.

Despite what we may have been taught to believe about studying, I’m here to tell you it can be fun.

A good teacher can make a difficult subject seem easy. A good teacher can make a dry subject interesting. A good teacher will keep challenging you to be better. And a great teacher can do all of that and more.

But as I’m used to hearing, I got an email from her saying…”But a good teacher isn’t cheap.”

I chuckled…because I have learned that in life, for whatever we want, we must be willing to pay the price for success.

The price can only be paid in three ways:

Money
Effort
Time

And you must pay in two ways. Let me explain.

If you spend money (access to quality education) and put in effort then your investment of time can be shortened.

If you spend money and time, you don’t have to invest that much effort.

If you put in a lot of effort and time, you can save money.

Many people try to get away with just paying one…no can do. Simply spending money on expensive courses won’t help if you don’t invest time or effort. Simply working hard for a short period of time without investing in quality training won’t get you very far. And simply investing time but not effort or money will result in slow progress, if any.

As one might expect, the fastest way to success is to pay with all three. Quality education, hard work and a lot of time invested in any task will pretty much guarantee your success.

Unfortunately, as we have other responsibilities and things to attend to, most of us can’t pay all three. It’s just too high a cost.

So what’s the best option?

The answer really depends on where you find yourself at this very moment.

You could be one of those unfortunate people who was downsized so you might be concerned about money; effort and time might be the right choice for you.

On the other hand, you might be a student and your parents are footing the bill. In this case, you might not be willing to work that hard. Thankfully, time is on your side.

Only you know which is the best option for you but if you’ll allow me, I’ll share mine with you.

Of these three though, only time is irreplaceable.

You can always make more money and you can control how much effort you put in, but time is what it is.

Therefore, to me, by choosing to pay success with money and effort will get you to where you want to go the fastest giving you plenty of time to enjoy it.

Don’t be cheap when it comes to success; in both money and effort.

Seek advice from the best out there…then go to work on the ideas you discover.

Success may come with a steep price tag, but it’s all worth it.

I only hope the lady on the train figures that out.

Adrian Shepherd

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success principles: just what is a good friend worth?

Expert Perspective

Mar 252013

Reading time: 4 – 7 minutes

Friends…

Those wonderful people who know everything about us…and still like us.

Friends are those people we call when we need a shoulder to cry on. Friends are there to help us out of a jam. They pick us up when we are down and the people we share our victories with.

Friends may not be perfect, but neither are we.

However, all friends aren’t created equal.

We all have friends, “good” friends and true friends.

I read in a book once that a teacher told his students that if they had one real friend in their life they should consider themselves lucky.

In my youth I would have disagreed…but life has taught me otherwise.

People drift into, and out of, our lives for reasons too numerous to name. Some stay, some leave.

We’ve all had girlfriends or boyfriends that just didn’t work out and some we stay friends with, others we never hear from again. The same can be said for friends.

But of the three types of friends I mentioned above, true friends are hard to come by.

One thing that can destroy friendships, even the strongest ones, is money.

I have seen more than a few people choose money over friendship and paid a much bigger price than they realize.

One of my mentors told me a few years back that deals between friends often end badly; especially when there’s nothing in writing. He was right.

Sadly, today someone’s word just isn’t what it used to be.

My mentor went on to tell me that people when they are starting out in business, with very little profit and sales to their name, are often willing to part with more equity in their company than they should. And in the end, things go badly.

That’s what happened to a friend of mine.

In return for a sizable contribution (in the form of services) to his friend’s business (who we’ll call Steve), my friend was to receive 20%.

Now 20% of a business that made $10,000 a year wasn’t much so Steve readily accepted as he didn’t have the time or money to invest upfront.

But when success came Steve’s way, and his profits skyrocketed, suddenly that 20% seemed an awfully high price to pay. Especially considering Steve was doing all the work.

Next thing you knew Steve wanted to “renegotiate” the deal.

Instead of 20%, Steve offered 7%, which was rejected.

Then Steve asked to buy him out for pittance.

In the end, my friend decided that it just wasn’t worth doing business with someone like that and simply walked away, leaving his 20% on the table. He never said anything to his “friend” but he realized that he didn’t want to waste any more time trying to salvage the relationship.

The sad fact is Steve chose money over friendship. He chose to go back on his word so my friend chalked it up to a life lesson and moved on with his life.

Will Steve ever understand what happened? I doubt it.

I know the type and they always seem to see things differently. Like their friend was being unreasonable. That he didn’t realize the deal he made upfront was going to cost him more than he knew and felt it was unfair.

I wish I could say that these things are rare but I’ve seen them happened to so many people, myself included.

I’ve found myself in similar situations more than one. I made big promises to friends not knowing exactly what I was getting myself into and found myself stuck. I could either go back on my word or pay the price.

But when it comes to friends, I pay the price.

To me, a good friend is worth more than a stack of paper.

I can always make more money, but friends, especially true friends, don’t come along very often.

In life, it’s not about how much money we make but rather how much we do for the people around us; our family, our community and yes, our friends.

Money is simply a by-product of doing good.

There are those who make money by lying, cheating and deceiving others…but they never last.

In the end, who you are is much more important than what you earn.

Value your friends, because there will come a time when money won’t solve your problems and it’s precisely then when you’ll need a friend the most.

Adrian Shepherd

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success principles: the 5 big issues of life and why you shouldn’t listen to me

Expert Perspective

Nov 082011

Reading time: 5 – 8 minutes

We could all use a little help. That’s why from time to time we find ourselves asking others for advice on a variety of different things.

How to please our spouses, what movies to watch, what computers to buy, what restaurants to check out, and well, pretty much anything and everything.

If you’re like most people you turn to friends or family for help.

And most of the time they come through for us.

Those closest to us have no trouble dishing out advice on whatever issue we bring to them. But they are not always the right people for the job.

When it comes to the serious issues of life we need to be careful who we listen to.

A while back one friend of mine was interested in getting some financial advice so she turned to the only people she really trusted – her parents.

They told her to join a mutual fund. Why? Because that is what they did.

Mutual funds are considered safe because they are diversified.

Speaking from experience I worry when people tell me an investment is safe because I have seen firsthand just how “safe” some funds can be.

When Lehman Brothers crashed in 2008 a close person friend lost 75% of his investment in one mutual fund because it was closely tied to the value of real estate which came crashing down. To make matters worse, the 25% that is left cannot be withdrawn unless they request the money 6 months in advance. The advice doled out by my friend’s financial adviser - hold, things will come back.

While there are some good financial advisers out there some are little more than salespeople. They can create nice graphs and they sound good but they don’t walk the talk.

Each of us can only give advice on what we know.

And most people I know don’t take the time to study what I consider the big 5 issues of life.

Relationships
Money
Investing
Education
Business

I call these the big issues because they can make or break you.

Many people think they are informed because they read the newspaper or have a financial adviser but that, in my book, does not qualify as informed.

Being informed to me means they have invested a serious amount of time, energy and money into understanding these topics. They read books by experts, attend seminars, are keeping up with the latest trends and finally, taking action.

Though it’s not enough to simply study, they must be actively participating.

Here on this site I address quite a few different issues but in essence they boil down to five key elements: success, happiness, time management, investing and education.

A close friend of mine who just happens to be a multimillionaire summed up why people shouldn’t listen to me nicely when we talked over coffee.

He said he had an issue with me writing a success book (iSucceed: secrets for the average joe and jane) when I can’t consider myself a complete success just yet.

He told me this because he knows my financial standing and knows I should be further along than I am.

I wholeheartedly agree – you SHOULDN’T listen to any financial advice I offer.

Thankfully, most of what I pass along to you is NOT my own personal advice. It is the advice of millionaires who have made their fortunes in the realm of sales, business systems, books, coaching, real estate, stocks and gold.

A few of my closest friends are millionaires. And when they speak, even if they don’t realize it, I listen.

On my way home after having drinks with them I whip out my trusty iPhone 4S and click open Evernote to jot down some notes for future reference.

I learnt a long time ago that it pays big to listen to those who have made fortunes.

Now I know what you’re thinking – “I don’t have any millionaire friends.” No sweat.

Go out and buy Donald Trump’s new book – congrats, now you are getting a front row seat to a billionaire.

Pick up an audio lecture by Brian Tracy and you can “turn your car into a mobile classroom.” As my mentor once said.

Attend a lecture by a famous investor.

The key I’ve found is to get your mind on the same wavelength as these people.

I may make my own analogies, or add my own personal experience but when it comes to success I’m saying pretty much what people have said for thousands of years – it’s WHAT you know and WHO you know that make the difference in your future.

I am also a big believer in warning anyone who listens to my advice on the 5 big issues.

There are no guarantees in life and all I can do is pass along what I’ve learned and what I’ve found out. After that the choice is always firmly in your hands.

In the end don’t rely on someone else to make the big decisions for you. Take charge of your own investing, relationships and business by taking the time to study.

It has paid off big for me in more ways than one.

And if I can do it, you can, too.

Adrian Shepherd

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success principles: what is a millionaire?

Expert Perspective

Jan 092011

Reading time: 2 – 3 minutes

One word that has a nice ring to it is the word MILLIONAIRE.

Many of us have grown up believing that if we could just join this elite group our lives would take on a whole new meaning. Life would be easier, more fun and…

Yes, yes…that’s what we all think. But the truth is a different matter entirely.

So just what is a millionaire?

Well, first off, they’re very much like everyone you’ve ever met. They put their pants on one leg at a time just like you do. They go to work (yes, most do still work) and they enjoy life (although with a very different view).

What they aren’t is problem-free.

When you don’t have much money your #1 problem is often MONEY.

When you do, your #1 problem could be any number of things, one being – how to hold on to your money.

But here’s something that I read a while back that really made me rethink just how valuable I was. The questions posed were

Would you sell your legs for a cool million?
What about your sight?
Your brain?

Assuming you said no to the questions above then that makes you worth over $3 million dollars and that’s not including the rest of you.

Money may be a powerful tool but our body is priceless.

So…we are all already millionaires. The only question that remains is what are we going to do with our new found wealth?

Adrian Shepherd

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