By: Stefan Aarnio
Freedomway.ca
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The great Zig Ziglar said it best “Money isn’t everything, but it ranks up there with oxygen.”

We live in a world that is ruled by money. Almost everything we do on a daily basis is tied to money in some way. We live in homes that are purchased with money, we drive cars purchased by money, we wear clothes purchased by money and we eat food that is purchased by money. More money can mean a better life, more money can mean fewer problems. Typically when we are asked how much money we want, the answer deep inside of ourselves is always “more”.

Many people struggle and work hard each day to earn more money. The sad thing is, many of these people do not understand what money is. How can you earn more of something that you do not understand? How can you master something if you don’t know what you are trying to master? Sun Tzu the great military strategist said:

“If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle.”

The translation of this famous quote from war to money would be: 1) If you know yourself, and understand money, you will never have to worry about money and will always have it. 2) If you know yourself, but do not understand money, you will suffer a loss for every gain you make with money. You will never get ahead. 3) If you do not know yourself and do not understand money, you will lose money whenever you encounter it and will be broke and constantly in debt.

Most people think that money is a from of exchange, or a currency, or a lubricant for life (why scrape through life when you can slide on by?) All of the above definitions are true, but the best definition for money that I have ever seen is:

“Money is an idea backed by confidence” -Ron Hubbard.

The man who works hard for money, works hard for another man’s idea that has become confidently supported by others. Companies become real when investors gain confidence and invest in them. The dreams of great visionaries like Apple by Steve Jobs or Disney by Walt Disney have become concrete once their visions and ideas gained the confidence of others.

Today, brands like apple and Disney have supreme confidence and are worth billions of dollars in stock and revenue. Apple has gained so much momentum it is now the most valuable company in history.

Money only has value, because enough people are confident in the idea of the money itself. In history, sea shells have been used as money, gold, silver, fur, salt, pepper, paper and digital numbers have all been money at one point in time. All of these systems are flawed and none of them have any real intrinsic value. The confidence that backs the ideas is much more important than the actual money itself.

Con men (short for confidence men), throughout history, have been successful at swindling fortunes by exploiting the human weaknesses of others through dishonesty, honesty, vanity, compassion, credulity, irresponsibility, naiveté or greed.

Con men present an idea, create confidence and once those two elements are in place, the victims fall prey to their weaknesses and will transfer their money to the con man who will promptly disappear with a fortune.

There is very little difference between an illegitimate Con Man and a real deal entrepreneur like Steve Jobs or Walt Disney in that they 1) create a clear idea and vision and 2) sell the idea with confidence.

The primary difference between a Con and a legitimate businessperson is that the Con has no real business, asset or investment, while the real businessperson has a tangible business asset or investment. Regardless of the validity of the scheme, the sales process for getting the money is the same.

But how does this affect you?

We all want more money, and since money is an idea backed by confidence, to create money, you must first create confidence. The amount of money you have will directly correlate to the amount of confidence you create.

Self confidence and trusting your decisions is the base of all wealth and is a pre-requisite for attracting money either through sales or through investor capital. Break a man’s confidence and you will also break his bank account. Raise his confidence and you can make him into a god.

Here are 12 Quick ways to raise your confidence:

1)   Get a makeover and create a professional appearance

2)   Keep a physically fit body

3)   Learn to speak well and have a wide vocabulary

4)   Keep well groomed

5)   Show up on time

6)   Have an assertive and firm hand shake

7)   Start small in your business and grow fast

8)   Take on projects that are easy to complete and slowly increase the complexity over time.

9)   Become the expert on your subject; know everything there is to know.

10) Get a coach or mentor to guide you through your studies

11) Share your successes with others, analyze and study your defeats

12) Teach others to sharpen your skills

Thanks for reading,

Stefan Aarnio

By: Stefan Aarnio
Freedomway.ca
facebook.com/stefanaarnio
https://twitter.com/stefanaarnio
http://ca.linkedin.com/in/stefanaarnio

Get Stefan Aarnio's book "Money People Deal: The Fastest Way to Real Estate Wealth" at MoneyPeopleDeal.com!

Remember: Please share this article if you found it enjoyable!
In North America, for the past 100 years, we’ve had an astounding progression of wealth. Every generation from 1900 has enjoyed a better life with more opportunity and more amenities than the last. Our grandparents (the war generation) who lived on the farm gave their children a better life by moving to the city. The children (the baby boomers) grew up and got manufacturing jobs, then the next generation grew up, went to university and got middle management or intellectual careers (Generation X) and today we are at the next step in the progression: Generation Y.

Unfortunately, where other generations had an “easier” time claiming a better life than their parents, I can see that Generation Y will be the first generation to be poorer than their parents.

The poorest person today in North America has far more amenities than a wealthy man 200 years ago ie: flushing toilets, heated water, refrigerators etc. Even in the poorest households in Canada, first world amenities are available. We live in a very wealthy time, but unfortunately, like musical chairs – the music cannot go on forever and eventually someone is left without a chair. In the game of inter-generational musical chairs, generation Y will be the generation “without a chair”.

I know first hand how difficult it is for Generation Y to fit into the ever-changing economy. I’m born in 1986, graduated from high school in 2004, university in 2008 and hit the job market later in the same year. I did everything conventionally ie: go to school, get good grades, get a degree, get a good job and instead of landing a promising career, I wound up with post grad depression and lay on the couch for months while trying to find something that matched my talents, skills and useless degree.

The sad part is, in 2004 after high school, I took a summer job painting houses for $10 per hour and I worked that summer job every year until I graduated university in 2008. In 2004, minimum wage was $6.50 per hour, so $10 per hour was a great deal. By the time I finished school in 2008, minimum wage had inflated to almost $10 per hour. My first job out of school was a dead end, telephone sales, straight commission, middle of the night job that earned $10 per hour even after hitting my sales targets and ranking in the top 5 sales people. I felt like I had sold out and was sold a fraud. I was better off skipping school and opening up a house painting business. I remember seeing that skilled painters could make around $30 per hour and I was now making $10.

Today in 2013, in Winnipeg, Manitoba where I live, minimum wage is now $10.45 and it will be increasing again next year – along with the price of every single commodity in the economy.

But forget my first hand experience, why is it that Generation Y will be poorer and have a more difficult life than their parents, the baby boomers?

Here are 15 reasons why:

1)    Faster changing job market

a.     Generation Y will statistically change jobs every 4 years. It is no longer feasible to get into a career or company and stay for life – the world is changing too rapidly and labor is always in flux. There is a high probability for Generation Y to learn and relearn skills many times throughout their lives and they will not be able to stay in one place very long.

2)    Highly skilled knowledge workers are needed and formal education does not offer young people what is required.

a.     We live in a primarily knowledge based economy today where the skills to survive are not readily available. For myself, I am an entrepreneur and the knowledge and skills required are unavailable from traditional education institutions like universities and colleges. Apprenticeships and internships are coming back so that young people can actually learn practical skills needed for a successful career. For the last 10,000 years, humanity has acquired skills through apprenticeships. Universities, as trade schools are a relatively new idea, and an idea that fails to deliver what it promises.

3)    Too many options

a.     Having no options can be a luxury, in today’s world, too many options is certainly a burden. Making a choice to commit to a career is more difficult nowadays because young people are bombarded with hundreds of options. In reality, we only need one path to become successful, but the illusion of too many options creates doubt and inaction.

4)    No mentors/parents

a.     Where the baby boomers enjoyed a nuclear family ie: Mom, Dad and a collection of brothers and sisters. Most of the Echo boomers or Gen-Y families are divorced. Many young people don’t have access to the guidance or mentorship that other generations had access too. In the old days, if your father was a blacksmith, you were a blacksmith and he mentored you. Today, you barely know your father, hardly see him and when you do see him, he has nothing valuable to say.

5)    Increasing inflation ie food/clothing/shelter

a.     The economy is inflating at a rapid pace. Items like food, clothing and shelter get increasingly expensive every year while wages stay the same. A rising minimum wage doesn’t help because when the bottom rises, so does everything else in relation to the bottom. Buying a house was once a necessity for the baby boomers and for the echo boomers it may become a luxury or impossibility.

6)    Increasing education costs and education fraud/deception

a.     Education is increasingly expensive year after year in both Canada and the United States. In Canada, we have a much easier time financing education, but sadly, many students leave school with a mortgage of student debt (minus the house). In contrast, our parents could finance education with a few months of work at a summer job at the end of the school year.

7)    Fewer workers are required

a.     Businesses require fewer and fewer workers to do the same tasks. Between my laptop and cell phone, I do not need to hire a secretary because the technology can handle the work of many people. Other technologies wipe out entire classes of workers like 1) ATM’s replacing bank tellers and 2) automated factories have mostly replaced human assembly lines ie: the decline of Detroit in the last 60 years.

8)    Manufacturing has moved overseas – global competition, not local

a.     Generation Y not only has to compete with the local boys and girls for jobs, they also have to compete with their peers in India, China and around the world. I can hire a graphic designer for $300 in Toronto, or get a similar product for $30 from Pakistan. Sadly, $30 goes a long way in Pakistan and the designer in Toronto can’t even make the rent on $300.

9)    Increasing household debt

a.     Not only does Generation Y have more debt through student loans, the entire household that they come from has more debt than ever. Low interest rates has made debt affordable and not only is Generation Y loaded with credit card debt, The boomers (their parents) have remortgaged their home with a Home Equity Line of credit, have multiple auto loans, and maxed out credit cards.

10) Parents who cannot retire and will become a burden

a.     We are sold a fantasy of retirement in North America that at age 55 (or 65) you will get to golf and lie on a beach all day. The reality is that the vast majority of baby boomers will never retire and shortly after the “kids” move out (generation Y), the “parents” (baby boomers) will be moving back in with the kids (to their small home or apartment that is unaffordable). However, this isn’t too terrible, around the world in Europe, Japan, China, India, and even North America 100 years ago, it was normal for inter generational families to live together. Unfortunately, the dream of the retirement that the “war” generation had is smashed forever for the sweeping majority.

11) The deception that 30 is the new 20, lost time

a.     Somehow, generation Y is one of the most “babied” generations in history. Adulthood is now pushed towards 30 because of overbearing parents and over sheltered kids. It also takes more resources and more time to do things that were once normal like 1) Moving out of Mom and Dad’s basement and 2) Starting a career that can provide a living. Losing an extra decade to school or “finding yourself” will severely affect your long-term wealth and ability to invest for your future. An extra 10 years for your money to grow can in theory allow you to have twice as much principle in the future.

12)  Less work ethic

a.     Along with an over sheltered generation Y is a poor work ethic. Generation Y is more interested in Facebook and Twitter than they are with putting in the time and getting ahead. Bill gates used to say “Your grandparents had a word for flipping burgers, they called it opportunity”. It amazes me to see how little interest there is in “getting your hands dirty” or “starting from the bottom”. Gen Y wants to be handed the corner office on a silver platter.

13)  More materialistic

a.     Because Mom and Dad were “keeping up with the Jonses”, their children, Generation Y, are much more materialistic than their parents were. Their parents had to slave away and save for years to afford the house in the suburbs and two brand new cars (purchased on credit). Without ever working to earn, young people want to keep up with the illusion of success and have financed their glamorous lifestyles on 1) student loans 2) credit cards or 3) hand outs from mom and dad. Sadly, all of the resources above will eventually run out and when they do, the over spending youngers will be hit harder than a heroin addict going cold turkey.

14)  The attitude that “we should have it better” than our parents, when in fact, we will have it worse.

a.     Many young people do not even try to enter the job market or start at the bottom and work their way up. They remain underemployed working at Starbucks while trying to become an actress, artist, musician, writer or some other esoteric dream without facing reality. The truth is, generation Y will have a much more difficult time growing up and raising a family than the boomers did and we will have to work much harder than our parents ever did to achieve the same lifestyle.

15) Technology changes the game every 5 years or less

a.     The last threat to Generation Y is that technology is changing every 5 years (or less). New jobs are being created and old jobs are being deleted just as fast. We can never predict which technologies are coming next and which industries will be forever changed or wiped out. Think of Blockbuster getting annihilated by Netflix or the traditional record labels becoming wiped out by Napster and online music. There are always young and hungry entrepreneurs looking to wipe out the dinosaur businesses of the past.

I don’t want to appear to be overly pessimistic in light of all of the facts above. There is more opportunity in the world than ever; new jobs, new markets, new technologies and new businesses can be created in record speed and magnitude. However, it will take a smarter, harder working, and more creative generation to capture such opportunities and that is what Generation Y must focus on becoming.

Thanks for reading,
Stefan Aarnio
Freedomway.ca
facebook.com/stefanaarnio
https://twitter.com/stefanaarnio
http://ca.linkedin.com/in/stefanaarnio

Get Stefan Aarnio's book "Money People Deal: The Fastest Way to Real Estate Wealth" at MoneyPeopleDeal.com!

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By: Stefan Aarnio
Freedomway.ca
facebook.com/stefanaarnio
https://twitter.com/stefanaarnio
http://ca.linkedin.com/in/stefanaarnio

Get Stefan Aarnio's book "Money People Deal: The Fastest Way to Real Estate Wealth" at MoneyPeopleDeal.com!

Remember: Please share this article if you found it enjoyable!

"Loyalty is the fabric that holds relationships together." - Stefan Aarnio

Loyalty is one of the rarest commodities to be found these days. In a world where everyone seems to have their own agenda, where can one find loyalty and how can we measure it?

I have always found it easy to do joint ventures with other business people and investors because I understand one key fundamental. To work together, two parties must share one common goal, or mission. If two people have the same mission, working together on a venture is simple. Loyalty happens when two parties can keep their missions aligned over time.

As my business grows, I have to bring on more and more team members. I have been burned in the past with bad team members, but have slowly built an outstanding team. Entrepreneurs and self employed business people are always apprehensive to add more team members because we want to have full control at all times. However, the larger we get, the more team members we must add.

How do I choose my team members?

I have always believed the mantra of the American billionaire Bill Bartmann "Hire slow and fire fast" and "hire for aptitude, fire for attitude":

1) Hire slow and fire fast: When considering bringing on a new team member, take your time and make the "courting" process long. Have the new team member jump through many hoops before offering them a position. I used to belong to an organization that thrived on having all potential employees work for free before becoming full time staff. The organization had stellar people working for it because the bar was set high. On the flip side, when the disease of negativity is spreading through your ranks - fire fast! As soon as you sense a team member becoming jaded, negative or poisoning the minds of your other team mates, then fire them as fast as possible. Negative energy and negative attitudes are a cancer that must be dealt with quickly if your business is going to survive.

2) HIre for aptitude, fire for attitude: When I am bringing new people onto my team, I do not care if they have paper "qualifications". I am more interested in their passion and personal ambition. I want to know if this team member finds their work exciting and enjoyable and if it fits into the larger vision in their life. Happy people are infectious and they attract success. In contrast, a poor attitude of a single team member can destroy an entire team. I was recently going to hire a realtor to sell a house I had just finished renovating; she had all of the qualifications and was recommended by one of my colleagues - she had the aptitude. However, her attitude was so negative that after listening to her talk for 5 minutes, I changed my mind and fired her on the spot. Attitude is everything, especially in selling and business, the right attitude can bring your organization to the stars and the wrong attitude will smash it on the rocks.

Recently, I have been looking for an apprentice to become my successor and take over the daily operations of my real estate business. There are many qualified individuals and many people who would like the have the position. With so many qualified prospects, decision making can be hard, how will I make a choice?

The #1 attribute that I am looking for in an operations manager is loyalty. Loyalty these days seems to be a forgotten virtue of ages past, but I can still find a few loyal people if I look hard enough.

But what does it mean to be loyal?

Loyal people stay faithful in their primary relationships, stay with their employer without "shopping around" for other jobs, and can manage to create relationships for life through exclusivity.

There are far too many business people who will chop of the heads and hands of their partners to get one step ahead. Unfortunately, the world does not need more of these people.

So how do you find the best and most loyal people for your team?

Divide the people you know into three categories:

1) The loyal and trusted - These people are proven, they are loyal and have the same mission as you - they have no reason to change course! When you have someone in this category, do everything you can to keep them happy and keep them on your team. Billion dollar businesses are built by assembling teams of these people. The loyal and the trusted are gold, especially in today's economy.

2) The "watch carefully list" - as soon as I see someone on my team show signs of disloyalty somewhere in their personal life or business, they go on the "watch carefully list". Does this mean I will not do business with these people? No. It just means that I must handle these people with extreme care and know that they will not  be around for the long term. They are short sighted and can't see the big picture. If these people get too greedy or ambitious, they may become traitors.

3) The blacklist - These people are proven traitors. When I am betrayed by a team member and trust is broken, I may forgive, but I will keep proven traitors on the blacklist and they will receive no further business from me. The quickest way to stop bleeding is to cauterize the wound and seal it with fire. As soon as I can sense betrayal, I will quickly move the offending team member to the blacklist from which they shall never return. "Fool me once, shame on you… fool me twice, shame on me".

The lessons I have learned about loyalty, traitors and relationships have been hard fought from the school of life. No business school in the world can teach you how to spot a traitor or how to deal with them. Business schools also cannot teach you about cherishing loyal partners for life. Sometimes the hardest lessons in life must be learned first hand, but once you have weeded out all of the bad apples, you will be left with nothing but the sweetest fruit on the tree.

Thanks for reading,
Stefan Aarnio
Freedomway.ca
facebook.com/stefanaarnio
https://twitter.com/stefanaarnio
http://ca.linkedin.com/in/stefanaarnio

Get Stefan Aarnio's book "Money People Deal: The Fastest Way to Real Estate Wealth" at MoneyPeopleDeal.com!

Remember: Please share this article if you found it enjoyable!

By: Stefan Aarnio
Freedomway.ca
facebook.com/stefanaarnio
https://twitter.com/stefanaarnio
http://ca.linkedin.com/in/stefanaarnio

Get Stefan Aarnio's book "Money People Deal: The Fastest Way to Real Estate Wealth" at MoneyPeopleDeal.com!

Remember: Please share this article if you found it enjoyable!

When I was younger, I used to think that I had to move away to be successful. All of the successful people I could think of (mostly musicians and actors) had moved to a major city like Toronto, Los Angeles, or New York to become the best in their fields. Now that I am a little older and wiser, I can see how flawed my old thinking was.

One of my mentors told me to read a book years ago called "acres of diamonds" by Russel H Conwell. The book is a classic and the story is unforgettable:

1) There is a wealthy man with a successful farm
2) The man is wealthy because he is content with his success and his farm
3) The man hears about diamonds in a far away land and the riches they can bring. He begins to feel discontented with his successful farm. Through his discontent, becomes a poor man.
4) The man sells his farm to chase diamonds in a faraway land
5) The man becomes impoverished, starves and commits suicide. His resources were wasted and he found no diamonds.
6) A second man buys the first man's farm and by chance finds a shining object in the ground
7) The buyer of the farm discovers the largest diamond mine in the world under the ground of the farm and becomes wealthy.
8) Had the first man tried digging on his own farm, he would have become very wealthy and would have had everything he desired.

I absolutely love this story because it perfectly illustrates my old thinking and my new thinking side by side.

I used to be the man who believed that wealth was out in a far away land. I used to believe that wealth was external and that money had to be chased. I used to have a deep feeling of want and discontent with my situation and this led to misery. Through experience I have learned to stop looking for treasure outside of myself and have begun to mine the diamonds inside my mind and my heart.

Instead of looking for wealth outside of myself I have created wealth out of my talents, skills and experiences. Through focus, persistence and careful planning, I have created my own diamond mine through my business and my brand. The most amazing part of my transformation is that all of my wealth and success has been created by "mining" deep inside of myself to find my passion, my love and my essence.

By extracting these powerful inner forces, I have been able to create massive results in the external world. I didn't have to chase riches in the oil fields of Alberta or chase the dream of being a rock star in Los Angeles. Instead, everything I needed was right here, in Winnipeg, the unglamorous, geographical centre of Canada, and one of the least desirable and lowest earning capital cities in western Canada.

What doesn't matter is where you are physically located, or what your personal circumstances are, everything external is irrelevant. What is most important is that we understand that there is treasure buried deep inside of ourselves in our passion, desire and genius. If we can dig deep enough to find the treasure, the potential for wealth is unlimited.

"Wealth is of the heart and mind and not of the pocket." - Pharrell

Thanks for reading!
Stefan Aarnio
Freedomway.ca
facebook.com/stefanaarnio
https://twitter.com/stefanaarnio
http://ca.linkedin.com/in/stefanaarnio

Get Stefan Aarnio's book "Money People Deal: The Fastest Way to Real Estate Wealth" at MoneyPeopleDeal.com!

Remember: Please share this article if you found it enjoyable!

By: Stefan Aarnio
Freedomway.ca
facebook.com/stefanaarnio
https://twitter.com/stefanaarnio
http://ca.linkedin.com/in/stefanaarnio

Get Stefan Aarnio's book "Money People Deal: The Fastest Way to Real Estate Wealth" at MoneyPeopleDeal.com!

Remember: Please share this article if you found it enjoyable!

A wise man once said: " Entrepreneurship is living a few years of your life like most people won’t, so that you can spend the rest of your life like most people can’t." -Unknown

Everyone dreams of having the rewards of a successful entrepreneur. We all want more free time, less work, less stress, more money, more vacations, the best spouse possible, a great family, more satisfaction at work, a creative outlet, independence and more cheques in the mailbox than bills. However, everything in life has a price and usually in life, the higher the benefit, the higher the cost.

The truth is that entrepreneurship can provide all of the above benefits that we all want, but it can also become a burden that is far too costly for most to bear. Most employees have dreams and fantasies of quitting their job, firing their boss and living on a beach with lots of passive income. Many employees who have this kind of dream will join a network marketing company, start dabbling in investment real estate or start a traditional business. Some of these employees will dabble with entrepreneurship through all of the above methods and may eventually decide to make the leap and quit their job. However, very few survive.

Entrepreneurship has one of the highest failure rates out of any career path. There is no traditional school that teaches entrepreneurship correctly, and in reality, it is something that cannot be taught or learned from one source. It takes many years, many experiences, many sources of knowledge, coaches, mentors, seminars, books, tapes, mistakes, failures and relationships combined with consistency and a commitment to success at all costs to become victorious in entrepreneurship. The process takes at least 10 years, likely more, and it can never be mastered.

So why do most people fail?

In my opinion, most WANTrepreneurs (aka entrepreneurs who still have day jobs and practice business on the side) are generally crippled by one under-developed skill set.

What is more amazing is that this skill set is not even considered a skill by most educators and it is rarely taught (or poorly) taught in schools and business schools of the world.

The secret sauce that most entrepreneurs are missing is the ability to sell.

When an employee attempts to make the leap into entrepreneurship and then is forced back into his job because he cannot survive, it means that he cannot sell.

I have "quit my job" 3 times in my life. The first two times, I didn't know how to sell and foolishly quit without the adequate skills, credit or cash to survive. The third time I quit and never looked back.

What made me different on the third time? When I was ready to quit the third time, I had worked for a direct sales company and had learned how to become a top performer on the team. I knew how to hire, how to fire, how to train, sell, present, cold call, farm a database, build a database, put on events, sell from stage, fill events and watched my mentor build one of the fastest growing companies in Canada.

The experience was scary at times, it was stressful, uncomfortable and I wanted to quit, but I became successful at my vocation and earned the right to become a full time entrepreneur and never need my resumé again.

When you consider Robert Kiyosaki's cashflow quadrant (as it's displayed in the photo above), there are 4 quadrants. 2 of them actively work for money on the left, (the E for employee and S for self-employed), while the quadrants on the right (the B for large business owner and I for investor) do not work for money.

So many E's and S's dream of being on the right side of the quadrant and they wish they had residual "passive income" to fund their ultimate lifestyle, but they try to "make the leap" to the right side of the quadrant without knowing how to sell.

Selling is the difference between the left and the right. The right side of the quadrant must sell to survive and grow, the left mostly trades time for money.

Too often, people on the left try to go from the E quadrant and make the leap to the B or I without becoming an S or self employed. This, in my opinion, is one of the most dangerous moves a person can make.

The S quadrant is a great training ground for becoming an entrepreneur and it is the place that most professional salespeople live in. Robert Kiyosaki explains in his book that the most natural progression towards financial freedom is to start as an E (or employee), become a salesperson (self employed), then become a B or (Business owner) then finally end up as an I (or investor).

This progression is very natural and the skills learned in each quadrant compound on one another. For myself, I had been in the S quadrant for most of my life and my progression looks like this so far: S E S I

1) My first S - I was a self employed guitar teacher running an all cash business out of my mother's home in university

2) My first E - I was a phone sales employee taking inbound calls in the middle of the night.

I quit this job and tried to become a "B" (or business owner) and failed.

I then became a merchandiser "E" (or employee) stocking chips on shelves for one of the largest chips companies in the world.

I then quit my job and tried to become an "I" (or professional investor) (I failed and had to get a job)

3) After failing again on my own, I became an "S" again, worked for a direct sales company, got the skills I needed and built my own "I" (investor) company.

Today I am out of the rat race and run my own successful business. I work when I want to on projects that I am excited about and have the honour and privilege of growing the business of my dreams. My life is better in every way because I know how to sell. Selling is the #1 skill in my business and I continue to study it meticulously to become a superstar. As my sales skills improve, so does my income, and I love being in control of how much I earn.

Ever since I learned to sell, I have earned the right to operate in the "B" and "I" quadrants on the right side of the diagram and survival is no longer a concern for me. Instead of trying to "scrape by", I use my energy towards thriving, building a legacy of value and anything I set my sights on is possible!

Action Step: Can you survive on your sales skills alone? Have you become a student of selling? How can you benefit from improving your sales skills? Please share your comments below!

By: Stefan Aarnio
Freedomway.ca
facebook.com/stefanaarnio
https://twitter.com/stefanaarnio
http://ca.linkedin.com/in/stefanaarnio

Get Stefan Aarnio's book "Money People Deal: The Fastest Way to Real Estate Wealth" at MoneyPeopleDeal.com!

P.S: Please share this article if you found it enjoyable!

By: Stefan Aarnio
Freedomway.ca
facebook.com/stefanaarnio
https://twitter.com/stefanaarnio
http://ca.linkedin.com/in/stefanaarnio

Get Stefan Aarnio's book "Money People Deal: The Fastest Way to Real Estate Wealth" at MoneyPeopleDeal.com!

Remember: Please share this article if you found it enjoyable!

I was having a conversation with a friend of mine and I asked her for her opinion on the local Asper school of business.

Her answer surprised me "needed for some, not for others."

Formal education usually has mixed reviews in the business world. Some people love it and swear by it, others think that it is an outdated dinosaur of the industrial age.

Although I did attend the University of Manitoba, and did take classes at the Asper school of business, I am a business school drop-out. My ambitions for taking classes at the school were quickly quenched when I learned that they were grooming me to become an employee and not an entrepreneur. No matter how much education is received from an institution like Asper, the teachers are employees and they train people to think like employees.

Many of the world's greatest entrepreneurs were drop outs: Steve Jobs of Apple, Bill Gates of Microsoft, Mark Zuckerburg of Facebook, Henry Ford and others. These men build their businesses on passion, experience, and practical hands-on-study in their fields. 

"Formal education will make you a living, Self education will make you a fortune." - Jim Rohn

With enough hands on study and experience, these great entrepreneurs build the most valuable asset of all - sound business acumen. The greatest difference between most WANTrepreneurs who have day jobs and real entrepreneurs who derive their livelihood directly from their businesses is:

1) Entrepreneurs live off of their business acumen
2) WANTreprenerus trade time for money

Where entrepreneurs can turn their ideas and passions into assets that create strong enough income to reach their dreams, many WANTrepreneurs are stuck trading time for money building someone else's dream.

In Robert Kiyosaki's game CashFlow, there are two circuits:

1) The Rat Race, a wheel that the players circulate around in collecting pay checks. In the Rat Race, these players have jobs and trade time for money. It doesn't matter if the player has a low paying job like a Janitor or a high paying job like a Doctor. All of the players in the Rat Race trade time for money, have a limited earning potential, are susceptible to the pitfalls of relying on a fixed income i.e.: players may become downsized and lose 100% of their income for a short period.

2) The second circuit in Cash Flow is called the Fast Track and on the Fast Track players move much faster. The Fast Track is reserved for players who have strong enough business acumen to create enough passive income to exceed his expenses. In other words, these players have become smart enough to not need their jobs  and live off of their ability to invest and create income. Players on the fast track make disproportionately more money, have larger deals, cannot be downsized, and are unaffected by many other disadvantages of the rat race.

One circuit relies on trading time for money, the other relies on business acumen.

Many new investors and WANTrepreneurs want to make the transition from the Rat Race onto the Fast Track, but the sad thing is, many of these WANTrepreneurs refuse to invest in their financial education - the most important asset of all.

Your education and business acumen is the greatest asset, far more valuable than Gold, silver, cash, stocks, real estate, companies. All of these "real" assets mean nothing if there is not a strong base of skill and education backing these symbols of wealth.

But if formal business school teaches most people to be employees, then where can one get an entrepreneur's education.

There are many places to get an entrepreneur's education:

1) Books written by real entrepreneurs
2) Seminars for teaching business put on by real entrepreneurs
3) One on one coaching from real entrepreneurs
4) Mentorship or apprenticing under a real entrepreneur

The key word with all of the above is REAL entrepreneurs. When choosing to learn about entrepreneurship or business from someone, it is counterproductive to learn from a good employee. Employees are trained to think differently from entrepreneurs and they collect pay checks instead of build companies.

ACTION STEP:

In your life, ask yourself; "are you living off of your business acumen?" Or are you trading time for money?

What do you need to get to where you want to go?

Who do you need to help you get there?

Thanks for reading,
By: Stefan Aarnio
Freedomway.ca
facebook.com/stefanaarnio
https://twitter.com/stefanaarnio
http://ca.linkedin.com/in/stefanaarnio

Get Stefan Aarnio's book "Money People Deal: The Fastest Way to Real Estate Wealth" at MoneyPeopleDeal.com!

Remember: Please share this article if you found it enjoyable!

By: Stefan Aarnio
Freedomway.ca
facebook.com/stefanaarnio
https://twitter.com/stefanaarnio
http://ca.linkedin.com/in/stefanaarnio

Get Stefan Aarnio's book "Money People Deal: The Fastest Way to Real Estate Wealth" at MoneyPeopleDeal.com!

Remember: Please share this article if you found it enjoyable!

Jim Rohn, an american entrepreneur, once said "If you don't design your own life plan, chances are you'll fall into someone else's plan. And guess what they have planned for you? Not much."

I always struggled with the idea of getting a job. Some people call their job a J-O-B which stands for Just, Over, Broke.

From age 17 to 24 I struggled every year with employment. When I was in university, every summer, I had to go out and "get a job" to pay for next year's tuition. Every year I would procrastinate, the idea of a job bored me, and I felt in my heart that I didn't want to work for someone else. Every summer was different, I worked at Tim Hortons, local restaurants, odd painting jobs, and even had a short taste of direct sales. Nothing felt good and every year as the summer would approach I felt myself feeling depressed.

In 2008 when I graduated from university with an Arts degree, the game was over. My parents and society both agreed that it was time to leave the fantasy world of school and join the "real world" and get a "real job".

I had made most of my money in university by teaching guitar lessons out of my mother's living room and had made a good little cash business out of it. I also played numerous music gigs throughout the city and had experienced the life of being self-employed. Now that I was done school it was time to "wake up", shut down my little business and join the real work force.

I followed the advice of my parents, society and the status quo and got a real job in telephone sales. I worked in the middle of the night, on straight commission and although I was one of the top performers in the office, I only made about $10 an hour selling on the phone. My life was completely upside down, I was making less money at my "real job" than I was making it my guitar teaching business, my quality of life was the lowest it had ever been, and I was isolated by working the graveyard shift.

After a few weeks of working my real job, I fell into a depression. Everything I had done was "right". I went to school, got a degree, and got a job, but I was living a miserable life and was making less money than I made in school doing things I enjoyed less.

What was wrong with me?

Looking back, I realize that I was living a life of convenience, not a life of choice. Everything that was in my life came to me by way of convenience. Nothing was consciously chosen by me and this was the source of my unhappiness.

They say there are only two sources of unhappiness in the world:

#1 is not getting what you want
#2 is getting it (not what you want)

When we get something we do not want, unhappiness ensues.

The downward spiral of unhappiness and dissatisfaction continued for years until I learned to take control of my own mind and use it towards endeavours of my choice.

As the great Napoleon Hill writes in his book "Think and Grow Rich":

Everyone comes to this world with the privilege of controlling the power of his mind and directing it to whatever ends he may choose.

At birth, everyone carries the equivalent of two sealed envelopes:

1. The RICHES You May Enjoy If You Take Possession Of Your Mind & Direct It To The Ends Of Your Own Choice.
2. The PENALTIES You Must Pay If You Neglect To Take Possession Of Your Mind & Direct It

In the contents of the first envelope named RICHES are the following blessings:

• Health
• Peace Of Mind
• A Labor Of Love Of Your Own Choice
• Freedom From Fear And Worry
• Positive Mental Attitude
• Material Riches Of Your Own Choice & Quantity

In the envelope labeled PENALTIES are the prices one must pay for neglecting to take control his/her own mind:

• Ill Health
• Fear & Worry
• Indecision & Doubt
• Frustration & Discouragement Throughout Life
• Poverty & Want
• The Evils of Envy, Greed, Jealousy, Anger, Hatred and Superstition

For many years I allowed others to take control of my mind and I drifted through life living a life of convenience with very few elements being of my own choosing. After I hit "the bottom" through depression, poor health, fear, doubt, worry and debt, I began to design the life that I wanted.

Today, I have made drastic changes and every aspect of my life has been chosen by me. Perhaps there are parts that are not 100% of my choosing, but every single aspect is improving steadily towards my vision and my ideals.

All of the improvements in my life came from having a concrete vision of what I desired. I began to write down my goals, my wants, and my vision. I began to reverse engineer and design the life that I wanted. I am very happy to enjoy the blessings that Napoleon Hill names above and be free of the penalties he warns against.

In your own life, ask yourself: Are you living a life of convenience or a life of choice? If you are living a life of convenience, begin to write a vision plan detailing every aspect of your ideal life. When your vision is put into words and written down, the subconscious brain will begin working towards the life of your dreams.

Thanks for reading,
By: Stefan Aarnio
Freedomway.ca
facebook.com/stefanaarnio
https://twitter.com/stefanaarnio
http://ca.linkedin.com/in/stefanaarnio

Get Stefan Aarnio's book "Money People Deal: The Fastest Way to Real Estate Wealth" at MoneyPeopleDeal.com!

Remember: Please share this article if you found it enjoyable!

By: Stefan Aarnio
Freedomway.ca
facebook.com/stefanaarnio
https://twitter.com/stefanaarnio
http://ca.linkedin.com/in/stefanaarnio

Get Stefan Aarnio's book "Money People Deal: The Fastest Way to Real Estate Wealth" at MoneyPeopleDeal.com!

Remember: Please share this article if you found it enjoyable!

This last week I have been officially closing a previous chapter of my life. I have been selling off all of my music gear; guitars, basses, amps, speakers, cords, mixing boards, cases, microphones – everything! I used to be very heavily involved in writing music, performing music and teaching music. I used to derive 100% of my income from music and was a professional in the field. Today, I am selling off all of my music gear and I did receive some backlash from my girlfriend and my mother.

“Why?” they protested.

“Won't you be sad?” they wanted to know.

The answer, is “no, I will not be sad.” and the reasons are simple.

Years ago, when I quit basketball in high school, my coach, whom I will never forget said to me “there is nothing wrong with quitting, as long as you take all of the energy you put into basketball and put it into music.” Music was my passion at that point in my life, not basketball, and it was what I wished to do professionally.

Today, I am officially quitting the music chapter of my life and I'm using the energy to pursue my path as an entrepreneur. Selling all of my music gear is a way of clearing my mind, my space and my path.

But what happens to the years of my life, and all the money that I spent accumulating knowledge and equipment in the music business?

In physics, energy is never lost, the same holds true in real life. The skills, the experience and the wisdom I gained in the music industry carries over to my real estate career and the best part about skills and experience is that they can never be lost.

True value does not lie in the musical equipment. True value lies in the skills I learned from the equipment. I will always know how to sing, how to play instruments and perform. These skills can get rusty, but they never go away.

But how does this apply to real estate?

In real estate, so many investors cling to their buildings and are terrified of losing material wealth. Most of us think that our buildings are assets, when in fact, they are just lifeless bricks and mortar. Real value, even in real estate lies in the experience and the knowledge of building and operating the business.

Years ago, Henry Ford, the founder of Ford automobiles was asked by a reporter “Mr. Ford, you're a billionaire – so what? What would happen if you lost it all tomorrow?”

Mr. Ford smiled and replied “I would have it all back and more in 5 years!”

I truly understand what Mr. Ford meant by these words and I feel the same about the music business or even my real estate business. The knowledge I have gained by building the business from scratch will never leave my mind and the wisdom is the true asset – not the equipment or the buildings.

In the classic book “The Richest Man in Babylon”, the characters in the book are given a choice between a large sack of gold and a clay tablet with wisdom inscribed in it.

The book explains that the man who chooses the gold will quickly lose it, whereas the man with the knowledge will eventually get the gold.

Henry Ford and the Richest Man in Babylon both agree, true value is in the knowledge not the gold, the money, the buildings, or the companies.

Early in my real estate career, I made of point of investing in my education through seminars, coaching, training, mentoring, books, audio files etc. To build my education as fast as possible. Education, knowledge and experience form the backbone of business and entrepreneurship. Where most people rely on their job, their salaries and the government to survive, entrepreneurs rely on business acumen thrive.

It always startles me to see young investors and entrepreneurs forgo business and real estate education and jump into the field with both feet. I have made this mistake in the past and it is extremely costly to experiment with real world dollars.

If you are in business, real estate investing or entrepreneurship, please ensure that you allocate a portion of your earnings to ongoing education. For myself, my education has made all the difference and has allowed me to grow my real estate business from a one time investment of $1200 to a multi million dollar portfolio.

Thanks for reading,
Stefan Aarnio

Freedomway.ca
facebook.com/stefanaarnio
https://twitter.com/stefanaarnio
http://ca.linkedin.com/in/stefanaarnio

Get Stefan Aarnio's book "Money People Deal: The Fastest Way to Real Estate Wealth" at MoneyPeopleDeal.com!

P.S: Please share this article if you found it enjoyable!

By: Stefan Aarnio
Freedomway.ca
facebook.com/stefanaarnio
https://twitter.com/stefanaarnio
http://ca.linkedin.com/in/stefanaarnio

Remember: Please share this article if you found it enjoyable!

Everyone loves perfection.

We demand perfection when we go out to a restaurant for dinner. We demand perfection when we go the dentist to get a tooth drilled. We demand perfection when a relative goes into the hospital for surgery.

Of course, perfection has a cost - perfection is not cheap!

For our perfect dinner, we need 5-10 people working in the restaurant dedicating their lives to our dining experience plus all of the suppliers of food, contractors who built the restaurant, interior designers who designed the restaurant and everyone else who indirectly created our experience.

When we see the dentist, he usually has a team of 5+ people working in the office plus nearly a decade of post secondary education to earn the right to work on your teeth.

The surgeon is has a similar team and education to the dentist.

Perfection is something we all want, but is it something we need?

Studies show that Top Achievers, the world's most successful entrepreneurs, actors, sales people, sports stars etc. strive for perfection but choose improvisation over perfection.

Top achievers improvise.

Consider the 80/20 rule, 80% of our results come from 20% of our actions. If we want to achieve the last 20% the "law of diminishing returns" comes into effect. After a certain point, the same actions will yield no further results and the last 20% becomes nearly impossible to reach.

Perfection is an ideal, something that we all strive for, but something that we cannot achieve without an irrational amount of effort. Therefore, top achievers will reach their point of satisfaction, improvise and will move onto the next task. 

You are better to grab the first 20 cents of every dollar than to try to grab 100 cents of every dollar because the last 80 cents are so hard to achieve that the return on time yields no measurable result.

Improvisation is a key skill for success. In his book Lynchpin, Seth Godin talks about the concept of "shipping". When creative, influential people are working on a project, they set a deadline and on that day they "ship" the product whether it is ready or not. The deadline benefits the author twofold:

1) It gets the product out the door in it's first revision, the product is imperfect, but it exists and is ready to go.
2) The product no longer has the risk of never becoming completed

Instead of perfection, we have a shipped product that is ready for use and is ready for improvement.

Microsoft (love them or hate them) has a very practical business model. They always "ship" their software - ready or not, bugs and all. The software that they ship is not always ready, but with patches and revisions, it eventually becomes functional and the company is able to earn revenue and serve it's customers. Bill Gates became the richest man in the world by "shipping" his software like this and improvising rather than seeking perfection.

If software companies would hold onto their software until it's perfect, they would all go out of business before the software is ready. The fact of the matter is that perfection should be reached for, but we cannot wait for the "perfect" product to ship because perfect does not exist.

What is much more practical is to produce a good product and slowly adjust it towards perfection.

Even companies like Blizzard Entertainment, the creators of World of Warcraft, the most profitable video game of all time are known for "taking their time" to produce their product. They will develop a title over 10 years and reach the closest they can to perfection without achieving it. After 10 years of development, they will release the imperfect software and continue to patch it to bring it closer to perfection over a 5-10 year period on the back end.

Are you addicted to perfection? Is your addiction holding you back from achieving your dreams?

For myself, I have renamed my company and brand nearly 6 times this year, I have gone through 6 runs of business cards, I have created and re-created 6+ websites to get the exact message I want. My motto is to "ship" whether or not it's perfect and adjust as necessary. The benefits of shipping when it's functional instead of perfect vastly outweigh the drawbacks. For example, I won the Canadian Real Estate Wealth Magazine's Joint Venture Partner of the Year award for 2012 because I had started blogging on an imperfect blog and gained some visibility.

My business was exactly the same with or without the visibility, I still did 12 deals, however, because I had an imperfect blog with imperfect articles distributed in an imperfect way, I was visible and nominated for the award.

Had I not "shipped" my blog until it was perfect, I would not have won the award. The deals still would have been done, but I would have lost out on $30,000 of press and exposure.

Perfection is a fickle mistress, chase her as an ideal, but do not succumb to her allure. Favour the maiden of improvisation and all will be well.

Thanks for reading,
Stefan Aarnio
Freedomway.ca
facebook.com/stefanaarnio
https://twitter.com/stefanaarnio
http://ca.linkedin.com/in/stefanaarnio

P.S: Please share this article if you found it enjoyable!

By: Stefan Aarnio
Freedomway.ca
facebook.com/stefanaarnio
https://twitter.com/stefanaarnio
http://ca.linkedin.com/in/stefanaarnio

Remember: Please share this article if you found it enjoyable!

What would you do if you had all of the money in the world? What is money anyways?

One of my favourite quotes about money/success/business is by Donald Trump:

“I wasn’t satisfied earning a good living. I wanted to make a statement”

What I love about this quote is that the money doesn't matter, the deals don't matter, the success doesn't matter, the lifestyle doesn't matter... What matters is the statement that is made by the work. 

Great Artists make statements, for that is the purpose of Art. An artist produces art to make a statement, Donald Trump builds buildings to make a statement, in many ways Donald Trump is an artist.

Donald Trump certainly does not have to get out of bed in the morning and go to work to pay his mortgage or put food on the table. Necessities like food were never a concern for Trump. Life would be empty if he could not create through his work. A starving Artist is the same, he has no material possessions, money doesn't matter and his life is empty without creating through his work.

When you make a commitment to excellence and stand for something, others will be attracted to your message. In a roundabout way, making a statement is what branding is all about.

Today I was sitting in Starbucks with a couple potential Joint Venture Partners and we were interviewing potential contractors to flip houses with. After one candidate left I made the statement to my partners that the contractor was an old "has-been". After a few minutes of discussing the contractor's flaws, a man sitting at an adjacent who had been listening to us talk said to me "you have to have your own crews!"

I replied "I do have my own crew"

We started talking to the man and he said "you were really arrogant with that last contractor". We continued to talk to him and he said "you remind me of me when I was your age".

It turns out that the man who had been listening in on our interviews owns over 5500 rental units in Winnipeg and is one of the most successful investors in the city. We continued to chat for 30 minutes about the business of real estate and he invited myself and my partners to spend some time with him in the new year.

What is amazing about the experience was that if I had not made such a bold statement, we would not have been approached by the very successful investor at the adjacent table. The connection with one of the biggest investors in the city could be very important in the future and I would have never made the connection if I did not make a statement. If I had cold called this successful investor, he would not take my call. However, since he had observed me and saw what I stood for, he reached out to make the connection with me.

Like attracts like and birds of a feather flock together. Put up a flag, show people who you are and what you stand for and you will attract those who think like you do. People are magnets and we attract other people who are charged like us; this is why branding is so important.

Make a statement, make it strong, make it bold and stand by it.

If you don't stand for something, you'll fall for anything.

Thanks for reading,
By: Stefan Aarnio
Freedomway.ca
facebook.com/stefanaarnio
https://twitter.com/stefanaarnio
http://ca.linkedin.com/in/stefanaarnio

P.S: Please share this article if you found it enjoyable!