What Most People Do and What You Should Do With Money

If you feel totally lost and drained about money, don’t beat yourself up. We’ve all been there, done that.

In fact, at one time or another everybody in life feels as though they don’t know what they’re doing with their money.

Why is that?

Because the secret to success with money is having a short term memory, yet not making the same mistake.

It’s hard to imagine big things happening from just one tiny move.

But a tiny seed is first needed to begin growth.

The sooner you plant the seed, the sooner you’ll start to see growth.

Start Underneath the Basket.

Most of you are familiar with basketball.

If you’re not, I’ll try to make this as clear as possible.

The objective in basketball is basically to put the ball through the net. 

There’s more involved to the game but for our purposes that’s as simple as it gets.

Now the level of difficulty varies as you move away from the basket.

The crazy thing you will notice is that what almost everyone does is to start shooting far far away from the basket.

Why?

Most people don’t take to heart the basic principles.They become enthralled by the story of turning zero to a multi-million overnight.

That really has nothing to do with us.

It doesn’t mean it’s a high probability, so why would you bet on it.

Move closer to the basket.

If you’re only making $100 a month. Learn how to manage that and build off it.

Everything is Earned

At some point in life, most people are struck with the entrepreneurial vision.

To be free from work.

To set our own schedule.

And to have tons of money.

First thoughts are probably "I want to become a millionaire," or even “I have a million dollar” idea.

However, many forget it takes time, work and patience.

You have to show you earned the right. Do you have a $1000 idea?

Have you ever made $250,000? $100,000? $50,000? $1,000?

People don’t like this train of thought. 

Sometimes you have to sit back and ask if you're putting the hours in consistently or are you just talking about what you might do.

Reality is, if you want to make a million, show that you can make money in a lesser degree.

Earn it.

Show it.

Conclusion

If you feel frustrated with money, it’s fine.

There’s a lot to learn from money. Even if life is constantly changing. The main thing is to start and learn the basics.

By taking the initial steps seriously, you’ll find yourself inching away from the basket with confidence like a pro.

What mistakes have you made with money this week?

My name is Romario Villanueva.  Entrepreneur & blogger. I'm a graduate from Rutgers University with several certifications from top schools through Coursera. I love all things business, psychology, and basketball. Feel free to reach out to me on Twitter or LinkedIn

3 Levels of Competitors: Discover where you stand.

Kobe Byrant, Michael Jordan, and John D. Rockefeller all did a lot of great things, including shocking the world with not only their skill, but with their will.

Yes, there is some controversy to these names, but that is beside the point. 

You can’t achieve success by nit-picking and micro analyzing everyone’s life. 

So don’t start now. 

One thing these three all have in common is: They're Cleaners.

Here are the 3 Levels of Competitors by Tim S. Grover in his book Relentless.

  

1. The Cooler

To be a Cooler means to be Good.

Whether you’re looking at this from a sports or business perspective, it means that you stick to your role and won’t step out of your comfort zone. You worry about the competition and how you measure up. You want the spotlight, but crumble when the pressure is on. Slowly, you avoid it all together.

2. The Closer

To be a Closer means to be Great.

Instead of just worrying, you now study and plan against the competition based on fear. You only step up when you know the odds are in your favor. When the pressure is high and a lot is at stake, you step up only when asked. After the job is completed, you feel successful.  You love the credit and being congratulated for getting the job done.

3. The Cleaner

To be a Cleaner means to be Unstoppable.

Unlike the Cooler and Closer, you neither worry nor spend hours studying who you face. As a Cleaner you reach a status where the competition studies you. Whether it’s the last shot of the game or closing a multi-million dollar deal, you step up without being asked. You don’t have to think about it, you just do it. Cleaners don’t need your congratulations and rarely do they congratulate you for doing your job. It’s just expected from you. Everyone already knows who the Cleaner is, they don’t have to show who’s in charge.

A true Cleaner is never satisfied. Why? There’s always more to do.

Conclusion

There is no such thing as being a Cleaner in every aspect of your life. 

It’s just not possible.
 

Nonetheless, you can learn from these 3 Levels of Competitors and apply it when you come across pressure in your daily life.

Don’t react from fear. React from strategy. Be cool as ice under pressure. 

Fear is a great tool, but only if you harness it. 

Have a cool head under pressure so that you can see what other people don’t see. 

Most people fear the wrong things in life. 

Have fear of the correct things such as living a shitty life which includes poor health, wealth, social life, and mental happiness. 

How do you react to bad news? And why is that? 

Everyone participate and leave your feedback. 

Be a Cleaner.

My name is Romario Villanueva.  Entrepreneur & blogger. I'm a graduate from Rutgers University with several certifications from top schools through Coursera. I love all things business, psychology, and basketball. Feel free to reach out to me on Twitter or LinkedIn

The Yes Train: How to get more people to say yes

In order to influence someone you have to get someone to say yes to you. 

When someone says yes once, it’s hard for them to say no afterwards.

And if someone says no to you, it’s hard for them to switch to a yes. 

Get them to say yes first.

This is one of the principles of persuasion used in Robert Cialdini’s book Influence. The Commitment and Consistency principle.

So how do we use Commitment and Consistency? 

To create a Yes chain, you have to make the questions you’re asking geared towards agreeing to the idea of rather than a specific answer.  

For example, “I’d love to see you again, would you like to meet up for coffee sometime?” or “Listen, do you want to make more money or are you happy with where you’re at?” 

And there’s your first yes.

Then, follow up with “What’s your schedule like next week?” After he or she’s given you their schedule and you know your schedule, you can finally ask a specific question: How’s Thursday at 4pm by the café near your place sound? 

This transition is smooth. 

It’s extremely difficult to make someone commit to something that involves a huge leap. This process creates small steps to that lead to the answer you want. 

Once the first step is taken, it creates a commitment to continue to take that next step. 

By now, you should be able to see how this can be applied to various areas in your life.

You have to get them to agree to the idea of what you want to persuade them to.

Then, continue to positively reaffirm them.

Lastly, close the deal.  

My name is Romario Villanueva.  Entrepreneur & blogger. I'm a graduate from Rutgers University with several certifications from top schools through Coursera. I love all things business, psychology, and basketball. Feel free to reach out to me on Twitter or LinkedIn