By Robert Estupinian
In all areas of life, world-class performers always have coaches. Even Michael Jordan needs a coach. In business, too, you will find that every top-ranking performer has a coach and a mentor.
Well it’s one thing to get personal, customized advice from one expert. It’s even more powerful to have a mastermind alliance where a handful of people gather together, form vital friendships and calibrate their skills once each month throughout the year.
We’re half way into 2008 now. In the Rest of This Decade and Beyond, Will You Suffer, or Prosper?
Right now we live in, for the most part, a fantastic economy. Sure the media is talking about all the problems around us like the Sub-prime debacle. But the truth is that money is flowing faster than ever before in history. People who haven’t got the foggiest clue about anything are becoming millionaires (geez!) just because they bought a house in the right neighborhood five or ten years ago. The business environment has never been better for making huge amounts of money. And I know you’ve made huge strides yourself. But there’s never any guarantee things will stay the way they are now. The Wall Street journal reported that there are more millionaires today (3.2 million as of 2007) and the numbers are expected to continue to grow to not only here in the United States but globally for several years to come.
Today, knowing what I know, knowing what you know, there’s no reason whatsoever for you or I to go hungry, or ever experience any kind of difficult circumstances. The tools and know-how are available to all of us, such that we can prosper regardless of the outside conditions.
Nevertheless, things can change. The other day somebody was on the radio talking about how the savings rate in the USA has dipped to Below ZERO percent. Yes, below Zero. And this commentator had the audacity to say this was good because it meant American consumers have confidence in the economy.
Excuse me, but when people have less than zero in reserves, it means that they are borrowing beyond their means . Imagine what happens when the slightest tremor occurs, they can’t borrow anymore on their house and then go into sheer panic. With no reserve, ‘consumer confidence’ is an illusion. When people panic, things can get ugly, real easy. I wanted to scream, There is nothing good about Zero percent savings!
I’m an optimistic guy and I don’t worry too much that the sky might be falling. But you and I should always be asking the question: What if things do change? What if the economy takes a nose dive? What if money gets tighter? What if competition in your market doubles in the next year? What if the upward trend, that has increased so many peoples’ net worth, heads the other way?
If the next 10-15 years brings a crushing baby-boomer burden to the Social Security system and the health care system, where will you be? What if politicians, driven by greed and desperation, slap us with tons of new taxes?
(It would be naive to think they wouldn’t, or won’t.)
Will you have sufficient funds to ignore the chaos, dismemberment and despair that’s going on outside? More importantly, do you right now have a reserve of intelligence, strategy, eyes and ears and brainpower that will power you through the low spots?
I Invite you to take a look at the power of the Mastermind by going to www.BayAreaMastermind.com
Bay Area Mastermind 