This book, written in 1902, is pretty much responsible for the creation of the entire personal development industry. It’s based on the biblical verse from the Book of Proverbs chapter 23 verse 7, “As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he”.

Most personal development books out there today are at least in part based on this classic, but little known work. It’s all about the power of our thinking to shape our lives. The concept that thoughts are things and we become what we think about.

I recorded an audio version of this book (it’s in the public domain) to make it more accessible to more people. You can listen to it right now by clicking on the playbar below or download it by clicking the link on the left. Enjoy!

I’m giving this away so as many people as possible can benefit from it so go ahead and post a link to this page wherever you want online. And make sure you check out all the other free personal development and business improvement resources at joshuaseth.com/free

Of course, nothing is really free. I’ve read that somewhere around 40 million dollars were spent just sending out those notification statements. Of course, they could’ve just notified us at the time we received the check but that would’ve been far too efficient.

And who knows how much interest we’ll all have to pay on this “stimulus package” over time. Oh yes, we’ll have to pay interest on our debt and it will eventually come in the form of higher taxes. Our government has financed it’s activities through the creation of debt ever since Nixon took us off the gold standard back in 1971. That debt will continue to drag down the value of the dollar. The lower the value of the dollar becomes the higher the relative cost of imports (like oil). This introduces inflation into our economy and eventually higher taxes will be levied in order to pare down debt and restore value to the currency. Either that or someday it’ll take a wheelbarrow full of cash to buy a loaf of bead.

What does this mean for you?

While it’s fun to think about buying toys and TVs with that nice juicy check, perhaps a better plan would be gird yourself against a further economic downturn by playing defense.

Think about it, we’re borrowing the money to finance the “stimulus package” from overseas lenders so we can spend it on imported goods that will primarily stimulate economies other than our own. Is that going to lift us out of a recession? Turn around the housing market? Create jobs or reeducate our workforce for the changing demands of this new world economy? Didn’t think so.

Here are four ways to reinvest your tax rebate in your own household and help insure that your personal financial picture doesn’t reflect that of our nation as a whole.

Idea Number One: Pay Down Credit Card Debt

If you carry credit card debt, pay that down first. The interest you pay on revolving credit card debt is typically not tax deductible and it is not an asset that appreciates over time, therefore it is what is known as “bad debt”. Get rid of it. Our government can’t at this point but you can. You are not truly free when you live in debt.

Idea Number Two: Start An Emergency Fund

Do you have one? If not this is an easy way to fund it. Stash something aside for a rainy day. People used to have savings accounts but those days have long passed. This is the next best thing. 2005 marked the first time since the Great Depression that American’s had a negative rate of savings (more debt than assets). You can turn that trend around in your own household by using this check to start an account that you can build up until it’ll cover six months worth of bills.

Idea Number Three: Pre-Pay Your Taxes

Simply put that check toward the prepayment of your estimated tax bill. That way, as the cost of living continues to rise and the value of the dollar continues to go down, at least you’ll have a bit of a buffer against it. You know that big bill is coming anyway, this will take some of the sting out of it without cutting into your monthly budget.

Idea Number Four: Invest In Yourself

The more you educate and improve yourself, the better positioned you are to deal with whatever life throws at you. It’s always more productive to take responsibility for improving our own lives than it is to blame or complain. Pick an area of your life that you would like to improve and invest that money in educating yourself.

History Repeats: Different Times, Different Places, Same Stories

Remember your history. More money can be made in down markets than up and many fortunes have been made in the troughs of economic downturns, but only if you play smart until those opportunities present themselves.

This isn’t government largess you’re getting, it’s a pacifier stuck in your mouth so you won’t ask too many questions about why gas is $4 a gallon.

I wonder what they’ll give us when it’s at $5?

NOTE: Comments are now closed. Here is what was posted…

Natalie

great advice… i thought of travelling with that check, but now i will pay off the credit card. too bad things are changing fast to worse.

Barbara

Excellent advice.
Extremely well written.
The “gift” of money can be intoxicating. And no one can make a wise decision when intoxicated.
Thanks for the sobering guidance!

Don’t know? Then how will you achieve it?
If you don’t target a specific goal then how will you ever be able to hit it?

Take a minute right now and figure it out. What do you want to earn this year? And here’s a little secret… that number is almost entirely based on your self-esteem. It’s not the economy. It’s not the industry you’re in. It’s you. The higher your self-esteem the more you’ll think you deserve to make and the higher goals you’ll set. As soon as you decide to accept total and complete responsibility for everything in your life you will be well on your way to success.

Whenever you define a goal and write it down you program it into your subconscious mind. You start a process that will set you on your way to the acquisition of that goal. As soon as you stop making excuses for not having, being, or doing everything you want in this life you will break right out of the prevailing zeitgeist of self-limiting beliefs and low expectations and you will create all the success you want. All that you feel you deserve.

Write Down Your Goal

The first step is to write down a number, a realistic income goal that you believe you can hit this year. There’s no point in writing down “a million dollars” if you don’t really believe that you can make that much this year. Write down a realistic income goal right now.

Do The Math

Good. Now divide that number by 12 and write that down underneath the larger number. That’s what you’ll need to make each and every month in order to hit your yearly income goal.

Now take that first, larger number and divide it by 50. Put that number last on your list. That’s what you’ll need to earn each and every week this year in order to make your stated income goal. So if you put down $100,000 and divided it by 50 you ended up with just $2,000 staring you in the face.

Kick It Up A Notch

Seem realistic? Doable right now? Good. Then add 10% to that number. Just 10%. Now write it down.

See a lot of people set themselves up for failure by trying to hit goals that their mind hasn’t grown into yet. They look around for that million dollar idea that will double or triple their income and end up chasing one pipe dream after another. This is a real shame when there are much easier ways to boost your income incrementally which will result in the same objective.

Imagine This…

What if, instead of seeking to double or triple your income this year you just resolved to increase your closing ratio by 10%. Just sold 10% more of the people you came into contact with. And what if you sold them 10% more of what they intended to buy? That’s just one more small step that’s actually pretty easy once you understand a few psychological techniques that will help you do that consistently.

Oh, and what if the total value of each sale rose by just 10% and you started asking for and getting just 10% more referrals than you do right now? Are you starting to see how all these small improvements act as multipliers that can easily result in doubling or tripling your income without seeming unrealistic or overwhelming?

Now, take a look at your income goal that you wrote down a few moments ago. Would you like to increase it? Then cross it out. Just draw a big, bold like right through that number and write down your new accelerated income goal for the year. Circle it with a flourish and take it in.

Project Yourself Into The Future

Now take a moment and imagine that it’s now the end of the year and see yourself having hit that goal with confidence and ease. How does it feel? What does that scene look like in your mind? WHo to you tell and how do they respond to your good news?

Guess what…

You’ve already done far more than most people with their vague, unspecified resolutions to “make more money this year”. You’ve identified a realistic goal and visualized multiple ways of actually achieving it. You’ve written it down, emotionally committed to it, and made it real. Now go one step further and post your new elevated income goal somewhere you can see it each and every morning so you can keep your eye on the prize as you progress toward achieving it.

Comments are now closed. Here is what was submitted:

Comments

7 Responses to “How To Make More Money This Year”

• Gloria Carmichael on January 21st, 2009 9:44 pm (Edit) Joshua, You are the best!
• Carnival of Money Stories No. 94 on January 27th, 2009 10:23 am (Edit) [...] Seth presents How To Make More Money This Year posted at Joshua Seth [...]
• Making REAL Money Blog :: 28th Carnival of Making REAL Money – January 31st, 2009 on January 30th, 2009 12:38 pm (Edit) [...] Seth presents How To Make More Money This Year posted at Joshua Seth Blog, saying, “What is your income goal for this year? Don’t know? [...]
• amazing vision – February 4, 2009 on February 4th, 2009 8:01 pm (Edit) [...] Seth presents How To Make More Money This Year posted at Joshua Seth Blog, saying, “What is your income goal for this [...]
• Carnival of Economics – February « Economics 101 on February 9th, 2009 4:35 pm (Edit) [...] Seth presents How To Make More Money This Year posted at Joshua Seth Blog, saying, “What is your income goal for this year? Don’t know? [...]
• Making Money In this Recession « Aspire to Grace on February 16th, 2009 7:46 am (Edit) [...] Here, Joshua Seth talks about setting a specific but realistic income goal this year and then [...]
• Law Of Attraction Success Carnival- May 2009 at The Secret Testimonials on May 14th, 2009 3:27 pm (Edit) [...] Seth presents How To Make More Money This Year posted at Joshua Seth Blog, saying, “What is your income goal for this year? Don’t know? [...]

Some of the emails I’ve been getting recently accuse me of making people feel worse by pointing out that we’re in an economic recession instead of doing what all the motivational gurus are espousing, which is just to “not participate in the recession”.

Give me a break. It’s real. It affects us. Deal with it.

It need not affect us negatively though:

• Many fortunes are made in recessions.

• Many families are brought together during tough times.

• Many faiths are renewed.

The recession is real. How you respond to it is up to you.

Many people are responding by becoming reactive instead of proactive and letting negative emotions limit their thinking and rule their behaviors. All I have to do is look through my email to see that happening. I’ve been receiving a lot of negative emails this past week or so. I just opened one that started with “Joshua you pompous ass!”

The woman who wrote it took me to task because I mentioned in one of my weekly tip of the week emails that I’d just came back from a cruise in Italy. I even had the gaul to post a review of the various ports of call for the benefit of people who may travel there one day or who would like to start manifesting that into their lives now. Anyway, this woman was pissed off because she thinks she can’t afford to go on a cruise and doesn’t want to hear that I just came back from yet another one.

Well guess what… I decided I wanted to go on cruises for free (and get paid for them too), so I went out and found the people and information that would show me how to do it and then I made it happen. Simple as that. 

That’s how I became a voice over celebrity in Hollywood right out of college. That’s how I wrote and published a book. That’s how I’ve launched all of my business and creative endeavors. That’s how life works.

Don’t begrudge people their success, seek to emulate it. 

Notice that the woman who wrote that nasty email didn’t ask me how she can go on cruises for free too. She probably didn’t even think in those terms. The truth is, lots of people cruise for free and there are many different ways to do it. But you have to be open to that reality or you will never even see it pass you by.

Look for opportunities and you will find them, yes even in a recession.  Trust me, they are there. If you see someone being, having, or doing something you’d like to have in your life then recognize that you can be, have, or do that too. 

In my weight loss book I talk about “skinny chick syndrome”. This is when people whisper snarky things about the skinny chick who eats whatever she wants without gaining weight rather than observing her behaviors and attitudes about food so as to model her success.

There are things that skinny people do and think which fat people don’t. Just like there are things that financially independant people do and think which poor people don’t. And things that people who live lives full of fun and adventure think and do which people who are stuck in a rut don’t.

Opportunities to improve your life exist all around you, whether you see them or not depends on your mindset, focus, and expectations. I could’ve shown this woman several ways to take free cruises if she had asked, but instead of seeking to model success she allowed negative emotions to control her thoughts and limit her possibilities.

Ask and you shall receive…

Bitch and whine and you’ll just annoy people and remain exactly where you are. Or to put it a bit more eloquently: stop reacting to every little thing around you that comprises your presumed “reality” and start proactively influencing your own thoughts and emotional responses so you can live your dreams. 

Whatever you want in life, there is someone out there you can help you get it. But before you can sell anyone else on your ideas, your cause, your dreams, your desires, or your products and services, you’ve first got to sell yourself. Use the power of your mind to look for opportunity and move toward success in every area of your life and you will live in a state of abundance and possibility.

Use this time of economic recession to circle the wagons, focus on what is really important to you, sharpen your saw, and look for ways to give back to society. You will be richer for it and when we rebound (as we surely will) you will have the strength of character that can only be forged in the fire of adversity.

Comments are now closed. Here is what was submitted:

First of all, stop watching the news so much. There is nothing you can do to change the times we now live in. They are here. We will be in a recession for the next few years. The news of the day is irrelevant. The more you watch the news the worse you will feel. The worse you feel the less likely you will be to take proactive steps to secure your own future.

So the first thing you must do is turn off the TV. Stop filling your mind with doom and gloom. I’m not saying to ignore what is happening. I’m say that you already know we’re in a recession and you don’t need the nightly news to tell you so.

The first and last 20 minutes of your day are called “your golden 20 minutes” because that is when you are most receptive to suggestion. You are in a naturally hypnotic state during those periods. If you spend that time dwelling on bad news then you will influence your day and your dreams negatively.

This is so very important that I will say it again – stop dwelling on all the bad news. You’re just disempowering yourself.

OK. Now that that is out of the way, let me give you some ways that you can empower yourself to deal with the present economic crisis as it pertains to your own finances and family.

Five Steps To Prosper In Hard Economic Times

1. Take excellent care of yourself.

In psychology there is a theory called Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. It states that people need 6 things in order to survive.

• Breathing
• Drinking
• Eating
• Excretion
• Sleep
• Shelter

These are the basic human needs required for your survival. Do not cut back in any of these areas. When these needs go unmet all of your energy will turn toward finding a way to acquire them. Attend to these needs daily in order to nurture your own well being and provide a strong base from which to grow and prosper.

Breathe slowly and deeply for at least 20 minutes a day. If you have any of my self hypnosis CDs that is an excellent way to systemize this process.

Eat good, nutritious foods. Give your body the proper fuel it needs maintain health and well being. If you get sick then all of your energy will get diverted to becoming well and your other goals fall by the wayside. Read my book for lots more info on this subject.

Drink plenty of water. It will clear your mind, increase your energy, and help you achieve your ideal weight. See this article for more info on this subject.

Exert your body daily. Stretching, aerobic exercise, and some light weight lifting will do wonders for your mood, outlook, and energy. In my weight loss book I lay out an exercise plan that relies primarily on walking, but the best method when it comes to the subject at hand is actually sex.

If you have a sexual partner give that person lots of love and attention and have more sex. Many people have less sex when they are depressed. Having more will stimulate your serotonin levels which will put you in a more positive frame of mind. It’s also good for your relationship, fun, and free!

Sleep peacefully. Clear your mind before you go to sleep and truly rest during the night (that means no news before bedtime!) Also, let go of any unfinished business and planning by using my super simple “must do list”. See the video here.

Shelter. Is your home your own or does it belong to your bank? The best thing you can do to reduce your stress and attain peace of mind in regards to this need is to…

2. Pay off your debt.

In the past few years it has been very fashionable to carry a lot of debt and tell yourself it’s leverage. It is not. It is slavery.

Debt = Slavery.

You will never be mentally or emotionally free to pursue your ideal future while you are still saddled with the burden of debts owed to other people. So make a plan to pay off your debt in the following order:

• credit cards

• car loan

• mortgage

• student loans

Once you are debt free, economic gyrations will have less of an effect on you and you will be able to see the hidden opportunities that they present.

3. Look for the silver lining.

More fortunes are made during economic downturns than during times of robust growth. Less people are looking for opportunity during times of economic hardship because their basic human needs are not being met.

With less competition comes greater opportunity

Instead of reacting emotionally to the news of the day and basing your actions on negativity, endeavor to create a positive, proactive mindset that  perceives hidden treasures all around you. You can’t find then if you don’t look for them and you will only look for them if you believe they are there.

4. Invest for the future.

When things look their worst that’s when they are the best… for savvy investors. I bought my first house during the last economic downturn and got a great deal on it. It was a foreclosure and the bank was practically giving it away. We are entering such a climate again. If you can acquire a valuable asset when it is on sale and hold it until it is priced at a premium then you can change your life in a major way. I sold that house a couple of years ago during the last month that real estate values were increasing in California and realized a substantial profit. I then moved to the Midwest, where I grew up and where property values had never increased in the first place. Sort of like personal real estate arbitrage!

This wasn’t market timing. It was just common sense. The sale happened to coincide with my desire to move at the time and people were aggressively overbidding on already inflated asking prices. The only time you make a profit is when you sell. The amount in your 401k or your IRA or written on your other investment papers is just a guess of what someone else might be willing to pay for your positions. It is only when you sell that that potential money becomes real and you find out what you really have.

When you buy an asset that is undervalued and sell it when it is overvalued you lock in real tangible gains. People tend to do the opposite. They buy stocks and houses and other “investments” when they have been increasing in value for a while and it looks as though they will always go up. Of course, every asset class moves up and down in cycles. Waves actually. There is something called the Elliot wave theory that may be of interest to the more technically minded of you.

Suffice it to say that what goes up must come down. It tends to come down about half as much as it went up. Two steps forward and one step back as it were. But people buy emotionally and then sell when there is blood in the streets and everyone is panicked that the given asset class will never recover.

Do the opposite.

When everyone gives up on the stock market and is pumping gold, look for stock bargains in strong companies that have become undervalued. I was a proponent of gold when everyone though the good times would never end. Now that everyone is certain we are in for economic troubles for the foreseeable future I will look elsewhere for investment opportunities. When people are convinced that real estate will never recover and that sentiment is on the front page of every newspaper for awhile, head down to your local bank and take a look at the bargains. There will be plenty of them.

In order to position yourself now to take advantage of these opportunities in the future…

5. Acquire the skills necessary to excel in any economic climate.

It’s easy to prosper when money and credit are flowing freely. It’s in times like these that only the strong survive.  The single most important skill that I have used to profit in all of my endeavors throughout the years is the ability to influence and persuade.

Imagine how your life would change if you knew how to communicate what you want in such a way that other people will gladly give it to you. Whatever you want in life, whether it’s to get out of debt, recession proof your job or business, or acquire the extra money you’ll need to take advantage of all the investment opportunities yet to come, you can get it when you learn to approach other people the right way.

You must act with integrity in order for this to work long term though. It’s not manipulation. It’s more subtle than that. It’s applying hypnotic techniques to the communication process to create win-win outcomes for everyone. As Zig Ziglar says “You can get anything you want in life if you help enough other people get what they want”.

I want to help you secure a bright future for you and your family by showing you exactly how to do this. When you learn effective persuasion and influence techniques the sky’s the limit in any economic climate.

 Comments are now closed. Here is what was submitted:

Comments

9 Responses to “5 Steps To Prosper In Hard Economic Times”

• Grace on October 16th, 2008 5:22 pm (Edit) Yay! You’re back! Good to see everything has been sorted out w/your website. I think there was a nasty internet bug going around when your site went down, as we ended up having some serious issues on our end as well.Thank you for the advice in this entry. It is very important for us to stop dwelling on what has already come to pass, and instead, be proactive about making positive changes for our future.
  I will be sure to have my hubby sit with me and watch your “to-do list” video. That is something we could definitely work on.

  Oh…and on the subject of “exercise”….have you been speaking with my husband? I could SWEAR he told you to say that, knowing I’d be reading this
  ~Grace

• Joyce Higgins on October 18th, 2008 8:11 am (Edit) Great to see you back. We tend to think alike. I’ve been telling my children and grandchildren we are already in a recession and may actually be headed for a depression. Hope not. My mother told me about the last one. It was bad unless you lived on a farm and even then it wasn’t that good.So how many people out there know how to plant a garden? My husband told me he may have to do that if it gets worse. Oh how I hate gardening. But a person does what must be done to survive. That and trust in the Lord.

  Your advice is really good and I’m passing it on to my relatives.
  Hope to see you soon on one of your speaking tours. On a cruise, I hope. I saw you in April of 2007 on a Trans-Atlantic cruise and really enjoyed your shows.
  Joyce

• Sherin – Investinternals on October 18th, 2008 8:51 am (Edit) Very good and excellent article. This is very useful as well as the writing style is classic. Appreciated.
  Sherin
   
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