My book, iSucceed, and this site are devoted to doing one thing – sharing ideas that make a difference in people’s lives.
I tend to focus my posts around success principles and business ideas because I find that they are the most practical and easy to implement.
In many ways they are one and the same.
Any idea that makes us stronger either at home or at work is pushing us towards a better future.
We all hear good ideas from a variety of sources such as friends or the Internet, but that’s usually as far as it goes.
No idea is of any value if it simply stays an idea.
It is when ideas are put into action that they begin to take on a life of their own.
Yesterday a friend sent me an email and let me know that my post reminded him to do something that he should have been doing – that’s music to my ears. Fingers crossed he actually did.
Many of the ideas I share on this site aren’t anything new.
Some we already know and we either forget them or aren’t using them to their full potential.
The key is that the ideas are fundamentals. They work anywhere, with anyone, and in pretty much any situation.
That said, as I have continued to write and study I have found that there is one difference today – the gameboard itself has change.
And by the gameboard, I’m referring to the world.
Growing up life was full of promise. Today much of that promise has disappeared for so many people in the so-called modern nations.
Just yesterday I read that Spain’s unemployment number has risen to 23%. That’s not good.
If the problem was limited to Spain then that’s one thing, but Spain is not the only country running into trouble.
Italy has their own problems as do Greece, Portugal, Ireland, Belgium and France.
Add the world’s third largest economy, Japan, which is suffering greatly from the rise of their currency. The UK, which is now officially the most indebted nation in the world (who knew?). And America, which refuses to not only not take any action whatsoever in reducing its debt but continues to add to it at an alarming rate and you have one big problem. And I do mean BIG.
What is that problem? It’s a combination of many things, but simply put – we’re broke.
And we’re all broke at the same time.
In years past economic problems were limited to certain countries; Germany in the 1920s, Hungary in the 1940s, Israel in the 1970s and Brazil in the 1990s.
Never before in history have so many countries been so interconnected as they are today.
If one goes down, so do all the others.
That is why I encourage all my clients, friends and family members to study money.
Economics can be a very dry subject. The same can be said when it comes to understanding stocks and P/E ratios, but monetary history it is surprisingly quite interesting.
It comes off as somewhat of a Agatha Christie novel, only the events actually happened.
The other day a client was telling me about Zimbabwe and how Mugape rose to power and then caused one of the greatest collapses of any economies in recent memory. I was enthralled so I went and placed an order for a book on the subject so I could read up on it myself.
It is a harrowing tale of idealism and corruption, but one that has replayed itself time and time again throughout history.
All nations rise, and all nations fall.
It’s much like the seasons. It’s not a question of whether they happen, but when.
I do my best to paint a picture of our financial future for those that are interested, but have found that many people tend to dismiss my ideas as fiction.
But that’s nothing new. Whether I talk about business ideas, success ideas or financial ideas I run into the same issue.
Many people choose to simply ignore all that is going on around them and believe that everything will be ok.
Me? I’m of the belief that we should prepare for the worst. In doing so, we protect ourselves for what could happen…if it never comes to be then we can all breathe a sigh of relief.
I wish I had more faith in our governments to protect us from what is coming but I just don’t.
If they had any solutions they would have already used them. But, like all politicians, the best they can do is kick the can down the road in hopes that someone will come up with a solution someday. The only problem in doing so is they amplify the problem.
Last year I believe we were given a glimpse into what is ahead with the rioting in the UK, the collapse of governments in the Middle East and the Occupy Wall Street movement.
Many people get a sense that something’s wrong, but they just can’t put their finger on what.
I believe that the next few years will be ones for the history books, and many people won’t know what hit them.
Later this year I will be putting on my first financial, educational seminar open to the public because I am afraid of what is on the horizon.
Will many people come? That remains to be seen.
I just want to do my part to help, whether that’s helping a few or a few thousand.
I’m a believer that it’s better to be prepared and not need it, than not to be prepared at all.
2012 is shaping up to be an exciting year what with me starting individual, coaching and offering seminars, all the while running my business and working on this blog.
I thank you for letting me share my ideas with you.
Adrian Shepherd