Financial Freedom Archives - Page 17 of 18

Posted on April 16, 2010 - 5:19 am by 11

I wanted to follow up on a couple of points I made in my last blog about negotiating, in particular being honest while waiting for the other person to state their offer first.

It may seem a little counter intuitive to be honest, to not be the one to put the cards on the table first, yet still get what you want. Some people believe being successful in a negotiation means being ruthless, dishonest, or otherwise not very nice. It also seems more intuitive to state upfront what it is you want instead of letting that opportunity develop (or the opposite—some people are deathly afraid to say what they want); and we have all had times where we trusted someone with our honesty and were taken advantage of.

So a lot of people become cynical or untrusting of themselves and others, and not get what they really want—all while staying in a place of frustration.

In business, in love, and in life, there are rules that govern how people respond to us, hence the kind of connections, relationships, resources, happiness, success, and wealth you can attract and build upon. Here are the rules:

(1) Create Affinity. Affinity generates closeness and likeability. People will usually give much more leeway to someone they like, therefore creating room for possibilities of getting what you want from them. You create affinity by focusing on what you have in common. Directly or indirectly, saying “I’m like you” is another way of saying “I like you.”

(2) Use affirming statements. When negotiating, use affirming statements like “I understand,” “I see your point,” or “I agree with that.” That doesn’t mean you have to agree with every single thing the person is saying. If you do disagree, though, saying “but” negates everything the other person just said, even if your point is 100% true. Saying, “I see your point of view, and I was thinking …” lets the other person know that they were heard and understood, and opens a door for you to say your piece at the same time (Sounds like it makes sense, yes? You’d be amazed, though, how easy it is to “but” another person to death!).

(3) Respect Yourself. When you show need for approval or you want something too badly, you forfeit your strength and lose all power of negotiation. That’s why it’s crucial to know what you want and not have any fear about expressing it at the appropriate time. The less fear you have, the less anxious you’ll come off, the more confident you become, and the other person is almost forced to reckon with your interests out of respect that you show for yourself.

You’re not only creating more affinity by giving them the opportunity to express themselves first, but you’re also strategically setting yourself up in a position of power, more able to counter their counters until the two of you can reach an amicable solution.

That’s why it’s true that not respecting yourself means not fully respecting others either. The best way is to connect your truth with their truth courageously yet thoughtfully. You give yourself that much more of an opportunity to get what you want while being honest with yourself and others.

Using these basics, there’s little reason to feel bad about getting what you want in any situation. Awareness of what makes relationships tick just makes good, honest, nicer people that much more exposed to love, wealth, success and fulfillment.

A Closed Mouth Never Gets Fed

Posted on April 9, 2010 - 9:34 am by 23

I don’t watch a lot of television, but this one commercial sticks out to me about a kid who was born with seemingly ultimate confidence: asking girls out for dates even though he’s clearly shorter and younger; graduating college when most graduate high school; performing open-heart surgery in a crowded concert hall with a ballpoint pen. But when it comes to negotiating a fair price for a new car, he’s frozen in his tracks.

One of the reasons I think that commercial works so well is because it taps into a common fear that a lot of people have; how to negotiate. No one wants to feel like they just got conned.

If you think about it, though, we’re using negotiations all the time: reaching agreements with our loved ones, friends, or employees. “Where do you want to eat? What movie do you want to see? I think I deserve a raise of …”

If you settle for Italian food rather than the Chinese you really wanted, it isn’t that big of a deal, is it? In business, though, you potentially have so much more at stake while negotiating. Whether you’re a buyer or a seller, you want to get better pricing and more favorable terms. As the old saying goes, “In business you don’t get what you deserve; you get what you negotiate.”

For a lot of people that’s disheartening because they either think the strategies of negotiating are beyond them, or because there may even be a little guilt factor; if they win, the other person is losing.

First of all, both parties can win, and if anything you want to avoid win/lose or lose/lose situations altogether. Secondly, even if you have the best intentions, you can’t make choices for your fellow negotiator, but you can always help yourself by doing this one simple thing: ask for a better deal.

People are so afraid of hearing “No” that they often don’t even try. You have nothing to lose by just asking! A good friend of mine once told me, “Harv, a closed mouth won’t get fed.” Open your mouth! Say something if negotiations aren’t going the way you’d like.

There is one thing you do want to hold back on: never come out with a number first. Why? Because they now have flexibility to make countering statements and reasons why not to go with what you want instead of affirming statements (For example, “That’s not in the budget”). You want to say things and be in a position to force them to admit, “Yes, that does make sense.”

The best negotiating tool is to tell the truth. Know what you wanted going in and the absolute least/most you can go that makes sense to your bottom line. Then communicate that to them. The idea of good negotiations is to work together so you both get what you want, you both feel good and the deal is fair. Win-win scenarios are not always going to work out, but better to aim for that—or choose not to enter into a deal that will leave either party resentful.

Ask for what you really want, be truthful and fair, don’t get attached to hard feelings if things don’t work out, and you might just find that negotiating is a helluva lot easier and actually more fun than people might think.

So now it’s your turn! What are your feelings on negotiating? Have you overcome obstacles in this area? Do you still struggle when closing the deal? Share your thoughts here.

Here’s the Real Reason Why One Millionaire Gave Away His Fortune

Posted on April 2, 2010 - 8:38 am by 50

One of my blog readers recently posted an article about a wealthy Austrian businessman who is in the process of giving away his amassed fortune and retreating “to a small wooden hut in the mountains or a simple bedsit [in Austria].”

“Money is counterproductive—it prevents happiness to come,” said Mr. Rabeder, who sold interior furnishings and accessories. “For a long time I believed that more wealth and luxury automatically meant more happiness.”

Most people understand this concept, yes? The idea that “money isn’t everything?” Unfortunately, most people aren’t in the position to know for themselves because they aren’t rich. It’s unfair for a wealthy person to advise someone who is struggling financially that “money isn’t everything.” That line doesn’t work when mortgage is due.

Mr. Rabeder, much to his credit though, says at the end of the article that he does not judge those who choose to keep their riches, and that he was following the advice of his own heart and soul. He also confesses in the article that he came from a poor family “where the rules were to work more to achieve more material things, and I applied this for many years.”

Quick, what’s the magic “B” word? Blueprint!

His blueprint said that he had to toil his life away in order to get more. But shouldn’t it be the opposite; you get rich so that you don’t have to work hard? And didn’t he accomplish just that?
Whether people choose to “be comfortable” or be rich, there’s always room for regrets, regardless if you made a lot of money or not. So it’s not about the money; it’s about us. It’s about our money blueprint.

Does building wealth mean you have to be miserable? Of course not!

Becoming rich does involve making changes, which can sometimes seem like work. Changes in your thoughts, habits, and actions bring measurable results. You can measure happiness as surely as you can measure your idea of wealth. Are you enjoying life? Are you becoming more of the person you want to be? Do you feel like you’re wasting time, spending time, or rather taking time, and having time?

These things matter, but neither side of life has to suffer in the process. If your money blueprint involves misery, what else will the outcome be? From a happy millionaire’s point of view, I can only offer that it does not have to be this way.

Quite frankly, how happy can anyone be when they’re constantly anxious about finances? There’s no way to be worry-free about money without being financially free: getting out of debt and staying out of debt with income that out-paces living expenses and materials wants.

Happy rich people build money machines that require less personal investment of time and energy, making money while they do what they want to do, give who they want to give to, and enjoy whatever comforts they choose.

Building wealth does not have to turn into greed, selfishness, or out-of-control materialism. These are choices people make based on their individual blueprints. Money does not have to rule our lives, but it doesn’t have to fall by the wayside either. We can grow emotionally, spiritually and financially while defining our ideas of happiness.

As I’ve said from the beginning, don’t believe a word I say.

Find out for yourself.

Thoughts? Share them here.

Be Fruitful and Multiply Yourself

Posted on March 26, 2010 - 10:58 am by 21

You can’t be in more than one place at a time. Physically speaking, it’s impossible, yes? Now let’s think outside the box a little bit and prove that we can and must find ways to multiply ourselves in order to have real financial impact on our lives.

I’m talking about the use of leveraging. A lot of you are familiar with it, yet I often find that many people out there don’t fully appreciate its importance. It’s one of those terms that get bandied about in the business world so often that people take it for granted, one of those “Here we go again” terms. Yet, a huge part of financial success building is leveraging.

It simply means doing more with less. The idea is to work smarter not harder, getting more done and delivering more value with less of your time and energy. You know you’re leveraging to maximum advantage when you’re away from the things you don’t enjoy and are doing what you really love to do. That means you’ve changed your blueprint about what’s available for you in your life, where you can be and how you play the game.

How does this apply to the average person? It means knowing that you can start a business with little or none of your own money. It means delegating as many tasks as possible to others. It means using other people’s talents, skills, contacts, abilities and resources for mutual advantage. You’re good at whatever you do, but other people are better than you in other areas.

Do what you’re good at and let others do what you’re not good at.

After you’ve gotten over the blueprint barrier, the next step is coming up with what will maximize your ability to leverage a talent, product, or idea. Can you create a book, program or a technology, and license it for royalties? That’s one of the easiest ways to generate easy, lucrative, passive income.

When it comes to leveraging, though, you’re not just maximizing other people’s skills and resources. You also want to get more out of yourself. That means enhancing your business knowledge and developing yourself personally. Be a constant learner. The best form of leveraging is self-education. When you know certain things and develop yourself, you put that into action. If you’re not doing something with it, your knowledge becomes useless, it stagnates, and you start to feel bad about yourself. Who needs any more of that?

If you really want to take it to the next level, leverage yourself by increasing your health, stamina and energy in addition to anything business related. Be in shape. “I don’t have time” can be too easy of an out from taking care of you. However, a person can think that they don’t have time to work out—implying that they don’t want to ‘waste’ time—but think about how much more they can get out of their time instead of feeling fatigued and drained, tempted to “vegge out” (i.e. waste time) when they really could have more energy to keep going.

In general, leveraging means managing your time effectively so you do the right things instead of just doing things right. Less turns into more; more you, more money, and more of what you really want out of life.

Exercise:

Think of just ONE THING right this minute that you could leverage. What’s that one thing that you know you should not be doing because it is not a good fit for your skills and time? Give it to someone else that is better suited to take it on. Act now to get your “leverage momentum” moving forward!