How to Become a Millionaire by Age 30 (aka soon if you’re older than 30)

To read the excellent full article by Grant Cardone, click here!

Getting rich and becoming a millionaire is a taboo topic. Saying it can be done by the age of 30 seems like a fantasy.

It shouldn’t be taboo and it is possible. At the age of 21, I got out of college, broke and in debt, and by the time I was 30, I was a millionaire.

Related: I Had Been Fired and Evicted, and Still Retired at 27

Here are the 10 steps that will guarantee you will become a millionaire by 30.

1. Follow the money. In today’s economic environment you cannot save your way to millionaire status. The first step is to focus on increasing your income in increments and repeating that. My income was $3,000 a month and nine years later it was $20,000 a month. Start following the money and it will force you to control revenue and see opportunities.

2. Don’t show off — show up! I didn’t buy my first luxury watch or car until my businesses and investments were producing multiple secure flows of income. I was still driving a Toyota Camry when I had become a millionaire. Be known for your work ethic, not the trinkets that you buy.

3. Save to invest, don’t save to save. The only reason to save money is to invest it.  Put your saved money into secured, sacred (untouchable) accounts. Never use these accounts for anything, not even an emergency. This will force you to continue to follow step one (increase income). To this day, at least twice a year, I am broke because I always invest my surpluses into ventures I cannot access.

4. Avoid debt that doesn’t pay you. Make it a rule that you never use debt that won’t make you money. I borrowed money for a car only because I knew it could increase my income. Rich people use debt to leverage investments and grow cash flows. Poor people use debt to buy things that make rich people richer.

5. Treat money like a jealous lover. Millions wish for financial freedom, but only those that make it a priority have millions. To get rich and stay rich you will have to make it a priority. Money is like a jealous lover. Ignore it and it will ignore you, or worse, it will leave you for someone who makes it a priority.

Related: LISTEN: How to Make a Million Dollars Online

6. Money doesn’t sleep. Money doesn’t know about clocks, schedules or holidays, and you shouldn’t either. Money loves people that have a great work ethic. When I was 26 years old, I was in retail and the store I worked at closed at 7 p.m. Most times you could find me there at 11 p.m. making an extra sale. Never try to be the smartest or luckiest person — just make sure you outwork everyone.

7. Poor makes no sense. I have been poor, and it sucks. I have had just enough and that sucks almost as bad. Eliminate any and all ideas that being poor is somehow OK. Bill Gates has said, “If you’re born poor, it’s not your mistake. But if you die poor, it is your mistake.”

8. Get a millionaire mentor. Most of us were brought up middle class or poor and then hold ourselves to the limits and ideas of that group. I have been studying millionaires to duplicate what they did. Get your own personal millionaire mentor and study them. Most rich people are extremely generous with their knowledge and their resources.

9. Get your money to do the heavy lifting. Investing is the Holy Grail in becoming a millionaire and you should make more money off your investments than your work. If you don’t have surplus money you won’t make investments. The second company I started required a $50,000 investment. That company has paid me back that $50,000 every month for the last 10 years. My third investment was in real estate, where I started with $350,000, a large part of my net worth at the time. I still own that property today and it continues to provide me with income. Investing is the only reason to do the other steps, and your money must work for you and do your heavy lifting.

10. Shoot for $10 million, not $1 million. The single biggest financial mistake I’ve made was not thinking big enough. I encourage you to go for more than a million. There is no shortage of money on this planet, only a shortage of people thinking big enough.

Apply these 10 steps and they will make you rich. Steer clear of people that suggest your financial dreams are born of greed. Avoid get-rich-quick schemes, be ethical, never give up, and once you make it, be willing to help others get there too.

Top Five Regrets of the Dying

 

And on that somber note, HAPPY THURSDAY!!

Why Successful Habits Are About Structure, Not Effort

Full article from Fast Company can be found HERE

START WITH A SMALL GOAL
The number one driver of whether a habit change is a success or not  is how big the initial goal is. Because everyone, if they’re consistent, will eventually achieve something massive. But the people that end up failing are the people trying to achieve overnight success.

CONSISTENCY TRUMPS EVERYTHING
The idea is to start with something really, really small and let it grow into a bigger habit or routine. You could write your goal as “go the the gym.” Not “stay at the gym for an hour,” but just “get to the gym.” Put on your workout clothes. It’s not that you have to run five miles; what matters is that you just get your running shoes on three times a week. In a month or two months, you’ll be running as far as you want to run. That consistency ends up trumping everything else that you can do with goal setting.

SCHEDULE IT AND CREATE AN AUTOMATIC REMINDER
You can be motivated, you can be able, but if you forget to do it, you’re not going to make any progress. Having a trigger in your life is a big part of that structure.

MAKE SURE YOU HAVE THE TOOLS TO DO IT

If you go to a gym, a lot of time it’s hard because you don’t know what exactly to do, you’re shy or uncomfortable around some of the machines. That’s why a lot of people get a coach at the gym, it makes it easier for them to get started. Then on the trigger part, you can link your goal to a pre-existing behavior.

SET YOUR PRIORITIES FIRST THING IN THE MORNING
For me, my number one productivity practice is to set priorities at the beginning of the day, before I get lost in the chaos that goes on around me. When I sit down at my desk, I set priorities. I’ve trained myself that that’s the trigger for this other goal that’s not as natural, but is actually really important to me. It was a major a-ha moment when I realized that productivity is about how important the things that I get done are. I used to count how many things I crossed off my to-do list. Now, much more importantly, I actually work in the prioritized order.

PICK A REPLACEMENT HABIT
A common tactic applicable to any type of behavior change is picking a replacement habit. If you have a bad habit, the way to break it is not to just will yourself, which is a ton of effort, but to give yourself an alternative.

 

Study of Rich Habits vs. Poor Habits

I can’t verify the study, but more information can be found on this website

81% of the rich have a to-do-list; 9% of the poor do.

44% of the rich wake up 3 hours before work; 3% of the poor do.

88% of the rich read 30 minutes or more each day; 2% of the poor do.

76% of the rich exercise aerobically 4 days a week; 23% of the poor do.

70% make their children volunteer for 10 or more hours every month; 3% of the poor do

65% of the rich watch 1 hour or less of TV a day; 24% of the poor do

10% of the rich watch reality TV; 77% of the poor do

80% of the rich focus on accomplishing a specific goal; 12% of the poor do

79% of the rich network 5 hours or more each month; 16% of the poor do

6% of the rich say what’s on their mind; 69% of the poor do

74% of the rich teach good daily success habits to their children; 1% of the poor do

84% of the rich believe good habits create opportunity luck; 4% of the poor do

76% of the rich believe bad habits create detrimental luck; 9% of the poor do

How to Create a Social Media Brand Voice

Whether you want to create a full-fledged brand or simply learn to be a more effective communicator, here are four key elements you need to understand:

This infographic and an in-depth explanation can be found here

What you wish you’d known before your job interview!

Work Inspiration: Jimmy overcomes one of life’s many obstacles

 

Happy Monday, everyone! Hang in there!

19 Hard Things You Need To Do To Be Successful

19 Hard Things You Need To Do To Be Successful

DAN WALDSCHMIDT, EDGY CONVERSATIONS

REUTERS/Luke MacGregor

A woman jogs past snow covered beach huts in Brighton, southern England January 7, 2010.

You have to do the hard things.

1. You have to make the call you’re afraid to make.
2. You have to get up earlier than you want to get up.
3. You have to give more than you get in return right away.
4. You have to care more about others than they care about you.
5. You have to fight when you are already injured, bloody, and sore.
6. You have to feel unsure and insecure when playing it safe seems smarter.
7. You have to lead when no one else is following you yet.
8. You have to invest in yourself even though no one else is.
9. You have to look like a fool while you’re looking for answers you don’t have.
10. You have to grind out the details when it’s easier to shrug them off.
11. You have to deliver results when making excuses is an option.
12. You have to search for your own explanations even when you’re told to accept the “facts.”
13. You have to make mistakes and look like an idiot.
14. You have to try and fail and try again.
15. You have to run faster even though you’re out of breath.
16. You have to be kind to people who have been cruel to you.
17. You have to meet deadlines that are unreasonable and deliver results that are unparalleled.
18. You have to be accountable for your actions even when things go wrong.
19. You have to keep moving towards where you want to be no matter what’s in front of you.

You have to do the hard things. The things that no one else is doing. The things that scare you.

The things that make you wonder how much longer you can hold on.

Those are the things that define you. Those are the things that make the difference

between living a life of mediocrity or outrageous success.

The hard things are the easiest things to avoid. To excuse away.

To pretend like they don’t apply to you.

The simple truth about how ordinary people accomplish outrageous feats of success

is that they do the hard things that smarter, wealthier, more qualified people

don’t have the courage — or desperation — to do.

Do the hard things. You might be surprised at how amazing you really are.

 

Read more: http://danwaldschmidt.com/2014/01/attitude/hard-things#ixzz2wGHSQgZG

 

Funny Photo: The Youngest Hustler in the World

Role Model of the Week: 81 Year Old Runs a Marathon Every Month

Many of us have excuses for our struggles, your pal Jimmy included. You can’t find a job because of the economy. You don’t have time to exercise. You can’t find love in your city. You’re getting too old. Your body can’t do the things it used to. Usually it helps to find a role model that can prove that you can. Case and point, this man:

Doctor’s Prescription for Beating Cancer: Running More Than 200 Marathons (article from yahoo!)

By Ellen’s Good News | The Good News – Fri, Mar 7, 2014 10:50 AM EST

Not age, not weather, not even cancer can keep Dr. Moses Christian from running.

photo courtesy of Dr. Moses ChristianThe 81-year-old physician battling prostate cancer will run his 19th L.A. marathon on Sunday, one of more than 200 marathons he’s run over 18 years. Christian was diagnosed with an advanced stage of the disease in 1994, and it has since metastasized and spread to his spine. Nevertheless, the man on a mission continues to work full time as a general surgeon and practitioner in Beaumont, California, and runs a marathon every month.

Furthermore, he’s skipped chemotherapy in favor of a vegetarian diet, alternative medicine, and, most importantly, running.

“One thing that’s going through my mind when I run is the health benefit, and then the challenge of it, the determination,” Christian tells the Good News Blog. “Especially when you do one a month. There are times when you think you can’t do it because of the pain and all, but I tell myself, no I have to finish it. How can I go back after travelling and going this distance and tell the people at home that I quit?”

Dr. Moses ChristianWhile Christian only began running only at age 61, he has conquered more than many who’ve been hitting the trails their entire lives. For 14 years, the doctor has run a marathon every single month. He got into it when his cousin dared him and quickly became hooked.

Christian initially believed running great distances was bad for the knees, but he changed his mind once he took up the sport.

“It is a good addiction,” Christian remarks. “One of the secrets I have lived this long with the cancer is my exercise. A good diet and a stress-free life, it’s a holistic approach.”

Christian opted out of radiation years ago, as he felt the treatment did more harm than good. He was told surgery wasn’t an option, which actually made him happy because he didn’t want to quit running.

As a substitute, the doctor visited an alternative medicine clinic and started taking all-natural vaccines. Keeping his health in check, he adopted a mostly vegetarian and vegan diet, with the occasional serving of fish and ice cream.

Otherwise, it’s all about marathons. Christian even ran the Boston Marathon in 2013, which was disrupted by two fatal bombings. He was on mile 20 when officials halted the competition.

“They told me to stop. They said I couldn’t go any further,” he recalls. “They said to come rest in the tent. I said no. I had planned whatever happens, I’m going to finish. I took my own road, my own route. I’m a very stubborn man.”

Dr. Moses ChristianChristian finished the 26.2 miles his own way and would later learn what had transpired.

In addition to running, the spry senior participates in biathlons and is a thrill seeker. He climbed Mount Kilimanjaro in 1997 and went bungee jumping in New Zealand in 2007.

“Running a marathon is much harder than jumping. You just close your eyes and jump and trust the rope,” Christian says.

It’s his ability to look beyond cancer that makes him such a winner. He hangs his medals in his office as a means of motivating patients, and he pushes everyone to test their limits.

His motto is to lead by example.

“Whatever you do, do it for the glory of God,” Christian remarks. “Be an inspiration to others.”

The Day-to-Day Activities of Music Mogul Pharrell Williams

A DAY IN THE LIFE (from Fast Company)

Time He Gets Up: “Generally, around 9 a.m.” (He never uses an alarm clock.)

First Thing He Does Each morning: “First thing I do is thank the master. I thank God every day. Then I lie there for a few minutes and just sort of . . . be. Then I shower, and that’s where a lot of my concepts come from. I write songs in there sometimes. If you don’t interrupt [your subconscious] with the ego, or are like, No, it’s gotta be like this, then a lot of ideas will come. Once you start judging it and editing it, then you’re no longer tapped in. You’ve moved it over to your mind before you even realize it. So I spend a lot of that time just standing there in the water with a blank stare. It is often the reason why I’m tardy.” To potential collaborators, he adds, “When you hear me say ‘traffic,’ and I wink, you’ll know what that means.”

Apps and Other Assists: Apple’s Logic Pro. “I’m a creature of habit. Now that I’m on it, it’s hard to get me off.”

Typical Schedule: “I do phone calls from somewhere between 10:30 a.m. and noon. I’m usually entering the studio between 12 and 1. I work from 1 or 2-ish to maybe 9 or 11 every day. Somewhere between 4 and 6, I may have to get on one or two conference calls about things outside of music.”

Last Thing He Does each night: “When I get back to my room late at night, I first watch MSNBC, then some Discovery Channel stuff. Then I’ve gotta go to TiVo and look at all my esoteric aliens stuff, like Ancient Aliens. I have to spend at least 30 minutes on that a night.”

Time He Goes to Bed: “Sometime between midnight and 2 a.m.”

One Athlete’s Video Uncovers Life’s Key Lessons

This isn’t a story about a sport. It’s not a story about an athlete. It’s a universal story about an individual, about adversity, about resilience, about overcoming discouraging statistics and succeeding despite it all. I hope you all enjoy this.

Video obtained from the Fox Sports Live youtube channel

Harvard Study: An Actual Formula for Happiness and Success

This isn’t just another feel-good chart or quote. Research shows that completing the simple tasks on this chart daily for 21 days trains your brain to retain a pattern of scanning the world for the positive, not for the negative. Dopamine has two functions: it makes you happier, AND it turns on all of the learning centers in your brain which, for those of you who don’t know, is pretty awesome.

At this point, if there is any reader who still doesn’t see the benefit of this, feel free to watch this TedX presentation, which elaborates on it (and makes you giggle in the process, which is always fun).

Cause of Death: Sitting at a Desk for Long Hours??

Yes, sitting long hours can kill you, and yes, at first I thought it sounded a tad overly dramatic, but two minutes and a few smiles later I was convinced. Want to know why sitting long hours for a long period of your life can be life-threatening and what simple solutions can prevent it? Check out this awesome animation!

This Video Will Instantly Pump You Up (note: most effective to watch when you wake up)

WARNING: This video contains a heavy dose of macho manliness, but it’s message is universal!

Jimmy’s New Year’s E-Card For You

Happy New Year from Jimmy to you!

Quote of the Week: How to Cure Hopelessness

Works every time I’ve been stuck in a rut. I hope it helps you all too!

Happy Monday!: Best Monday Meme Ever!

I found this and many other photo gems on the the Steymo FB fan page. I strongly encourage you guys to check it out!

Tip Tuesday: Simple Desk Exercises That Help Prevent Long-Term Pains

Here are a few easy exercises you can do to help prevent long-term pains caused by sitting at a desk for long hours. I just did them!

JvW Episode 3: Jimmy vs Interviewer!

Jimmy lands an interview! Watch how it goes…

Thanks for watching! Share if you or someone you know can relate!

Episode 4: Jimmy vs Job?? coming soon…

Is This Not The Craziest Job Ever?!

I used to think I’ve held some crazy jobs in my day!… until I saw these two co-workers:

 

Wow. Just. Wow.

Online Job interview body language

Online job interview body language

A List of Random Jobs Celebrities Had Before Fame!

 

Brad Pitt – danced in a chicken suit for a fast food restaurant!

Johnny Depp – sold pens by phone.

Christopher Walken – lion tamer at a circus. No joke.

Alec Baldwin – bouncer.

Orlando Bloom – clay trapper at a pigeon shooting range.

Ray Romano – bank teller.

Rod Stewart – grave digger.

Cory Monteith – greeter at Wal-Mart.

Sean Connery – milkman.

Jon Hamm – set designer…. for porn sets! And high school drama teacher

Whoopie Goldberg – put makeup on corpses at a mortuary…

Hugh Jackman – A CLOWN!

Ozzy Osbourne – worked at a slaughterhouse.

Patrick Dempsey – a (successful) juggler.

Harrison Ford – a carpenter.

Danny Devito – cut hair!

Eva Mendes – sold hot dogs at a mall.

Sylvester Stallone – lion tamer. Looks like Christopher Walken’s competition is Rambo…

Amy Adams – hooters girl!

Rick Ross – a corrections officer!

Robin Williams – street mime.

Madonna – a dunkin’ donuts employee!!!!!! WHAT?!

Kanye West – Gap employee!

Matthew McConaughey – cleaned out chicken coops.

Chris Rock – Red Lobster employee!

MORAL OF THE STORY: Where you are now does NOT have to define where you’ll end up. We’re all capable of more!

This is How You Quit Your Job When You Hate Everything About it!

I hope none of you have a horrible job with a horrible boss and a horribly bleak future. BUT, if you do, why not quit? And if you’re going to quit, why not make a spectacle of it?! Case and point, this guy (the real fun begins 1:50 into the video):

And to all the other Joeys out there with horrible jobs, may you too quit passion!

Fun Foto Friday!

Happy Friday, everyone!

Today’s Hiring Process According to HR (hint: Social Media is key!)

Moral of the story: Those of you on Facebook who thought mom and dad raiding your profile page was the most of your worries might want to think again!

 

 

 

Daily Dose of Inspiration: Your Journey

Welcome Back, Friday!

Have a fantastic weekend, folks!

How IKEA Conducts Job Interviews!

Well this would certainly make for an interesting interview! So if the first interview requires installing a chair to sit on, I’m assuming a second interview would require your chair to make it through all questions without falling apart!

JvW Episode 2: Jimmy vs Application!

Watch Jimmy as he takes on an online application!

Episode 3: Jimmy vs Interviewer! coming soon…