Sean Rasmussen

The steps we talked about in the last post require very little in terms of prerequisite preparation; like wealth creation, these steps really only require the willingness to see them through. They are for all people, from all walks of life.

What You Don’t Need

“The steps do not call for any “hard labor.” They do not call for sacrifice. They do not require a person to be naïve or gullible. A person does not have to have extensive education in order to apply them successfully. But applying these six steps successfully does call for a sufficient capacity for imagination to enable a person to see, and to understand, that the accumulation of money cannot be left to chance, good fortune, and luck. It is essential to realize that every person who has accumulated great wealth first did a certain amount of dreaming, hoping, wishing, desiring, and planning before they acquired money.

Face Facts: What You Do Need

You may as well face the fact now, that you can never have money in substantial amounts, unless you can work yourself into a white heat of desire for money, and actually believe you will possess it.

You may as well face the fact, too, that every great leader, from the dawn of civilization to now, was a dreamer. Julius Caesar and the Romans dreamt of building an empire; George Washington dreamt of a free America; the Wright brothers dreamt of flying; and Nelson Mandela dreamt of delivering his country from racial divisiveness and oppression into a free and democratic society. And, lofty as these goals must have seemed in the beginning, every one of these dreamers achieved what they set out to do and realized, within their own time, their dreams in physical reality. These men, great leaders of all-time, had the vision and imagination abundant enough to see the realities in their visions before they ever took their physical forms.

If you do not see abundant wealth in your imagination, you will never see it in your bank account.”

The Way Of The Wealthy

As so many wealth experts will tell you, wealth starts in the mind, not the wallet. It is that garden you have to cultivate first, otherwise real wealth will never materialize.

Sean Rasmussen
Success Communicator
SeanRasmussen.com © 2004 - 2008

This entry was posted on Friday, October 31st, 2008 at 5:33 am and is filed under Mindset Mastery. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

Napoleon Hill’s 6 steps are an excellent start to developing the kind of burning desire you need in order to attract wealth. But there are a few key points you should take note of as you put this plan into action, as described by Hill below.

Follow Instructions Closely

“It’s important that you follow the instructions laid out in these six steps. It is especially important that you follow the instructions in number six. You might complain that it is impossible for you to “see yourself in possession of money” before you actually have it. This is where that burning desire will come to your aid. If you truly desire money so much so that your desire becomes an obsession, you will have no difficulty convincing yourself that you will acquire it. The object is to want money, and to become so determined to have it that you convince yourself you will have it.

Developing Financial Consciousness

Only those who become “money conscious” ever accumulate great wealth. “Money consciousness” means that the mind has become so thoroughly saturated with the desire for money, that that person can already see their self in possession of it.

To the uninitiated, those who are not very familiar with the working principles of the human mind, these instructions may appear impractical, maybe even a bit silly. It may be helpful, for anyone who fails to see the soundness of the six steps, to know that the information used to formulate them was passed to the author by the famous steel magnate and philanthropist Andrew Carnegie, one of the most well known “Captains of Industry”; Carnegie began as an ordinary laborer in the steel mills, but managed, despite his humble beginnings, to use these principles to yield him a fortune of well over one hundred million dollars (much of which, incidentally, he gifted across the world to fund libraries, schools, and Universities).

Scrutinizing The Deal

Furthermore, it may be helpful to know that the six steps recommended here were carefully scrutinized by the late Thomas A. Edison, who placed his stamp of approval on them as being, not only the essential steps for accumulating money, but necessary in order to attain any definite goal.”

If you are one who is in doubt of the 6 steps you should take this to heart—this is a plan that has the support of two of the wealthiest men of Hill’s time, of history in fact; it is also a plan that embraces some of the tenets (money consciousness in particular) of the most successful wealth programs out there today.

Sean Rasmussen
Success Communicator
SeanRasmussen.com © 2004 - 2008

This entry was posted on Monday, October 27th, 2008 at 5:27 am and is filed under Mindset Mastery. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

There was a distinct difference between Marshall Field and his peers. There was also a distinct difference between Edwin Barnes and his peers. And there was a distinct similarity shared between Field and Barnes. Ultimately that similarity was wealth and success; in the beginning it was pure, simple, desire for it. Hill explains this, and then he takes us further to lay out a concrete plan for developing an unbending on desire.

Mark The Difference

“Pay close attention and mark this difference between Marshall Field and his peers; it is the same difference which distinguishes Edwin C. Barnes from thousands of other young men who worked in the Edison organization. It is the same difference which distinguishes practically all persons who succeed from those who fail.

Every human being who is old enough to understand the purpose of money, wishes he or she had plenty of it. Wishing will not bring wealth. But desiring wealth, in a state of mind that becomes an obsession, then planning definite ways and means to acquire wealth, and backing up those plans with persistence which does not recognize failure, will bring wealth.

The Six-Step Plan

The method through which desire for wealth is turned into its financial equivalent, is comprised of six definite, practical steps, including–

1. Fix your mind on the exact amount of money you desire. It is not enough to simply say “I want lots of money.” Be definite in regards to the amount. (There is a psychological reason for definiteness which will be described in a subsequent chapter).
2. Determine exactly what you intend to give in return for the money you desire. (There is no such thing as “something for nothing.)
3. Set a definite date when you intend to possess the amount of money you desire.
4. Create a definite plan for carrying out your desire, and begin immediately; whether you are ready or not, to put this plan into action.
5. Put it in writing. Write a clear, concise statement including each of these tenets–the amount of money you intend to acquire, the time limit for its acquisition, what you intend to give in return for the money, and a clear description of the plan you intend to use to accumulate it.
6. Read your written statement aloud, twice every day; read it once just before you go to bed at night, and once when you wake up in the morning. As you read—see and feel and believe you already possess the money.

Wishes Vs. Desire

I think by now you are starting to see the difference between the people who just wish for money and the people who really, truly desire to have it. The people who do not find wealth through the Law of Attraction are often those who try to wish their wealth their way. Those are the people who do not get that there is more to it, and that a fleeting wish now and then does not have the substance behind it to attract wealth.

Sean Rasmussen
Success Communicator
SeanRasmussen.com © 2004 - 2008

This entry was posted on Friday, October 24th, 2008 at 5:03 am and is filed under Mindset Mastery. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

To illustrate how a burning desire can make the difference between raging success or miserable failure, Hill gives the example of Marshall Field, founder of his namesake department stores, now part of Macy*s, Inc. (the new name of the former Federated Department Stores).

Decision Time

“The morning after the great Chicago fire, a group of business owners stood on State Street, looking at the smoking remains of what had been their stores. They met to decide if they would try to rebuild, or leave Chicago and start over in a more promising part of the country. They reached a decision–all except one–to leave Chicago.

The businessman who decided to stay and rebuild pointed a finger at the remains of his store, and said, “Gentlemen, on that very spot I will build the world’s greatest store, no matter how many times it may burn down.”

Proof In Perseverance

That was before the turn of the twentieth century. The store, the flagship of the famous Marshall Field’s Department Stores, was built. It stands there today, though recently acquired by Federated Department Stores and renamed Macy*s; a towering monument to the power of that state of mind known as burning desire. The easy thing for Marshall Field to have done would have been exactly what his fellow merchants did. When the going was hard, and the future looked dismal, they pulled up and went where the going seemed easier. Thankfully, Fields did not, and went on to be the father of many innovations in retail sales which have become basic tenets of the retail business today. Concepts such as unconditional return policies, the customer ‘always’ being right, consistency in pricing, and international importing are hallmarks of Fields’.”

Persevering Desire

When others gave up Field persevered because of his burning desire to succeed. And because he did that, the retail world will forever bear his mark. Had he not had that burning desire to succeed, he, too, would be just a nameless face in retail history, as the remaining three became.

Sean Rasmussen
Success Communicator
SeanRasmussen.com © 2004 - 2008

This entry was posted on Monday, October 20th, 2008 at 5:07 am and is filed under Mindset Mastery. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

A few days ago a reader of this blog questioned my authority on the law of attraction. There was a statement about me “building a financial empire”. Wow! Thanks for the Manifestation! All help is appreciated. Seriously, I’m an Aussie and laugh more than I frown. That’s a quality in the part of the world I’m from. I expect that the rest of the world is the same.

My motto is:
If you beleive you will think back and laugh at it 1 year from now - You Might As Well Laugh Now !

After watching a great video on my friend Ange’s blog, I thought about this post. So, I have decided to share a part of my precious childhood with you and the influence the 2 greatest people in my life had on me. This is what I have attracted in my life so far:

Pay extra attention to the word “Expect”

When I was in my late childhood and early-mid teens, I didn’t have a lot of the “stuff” that other kids had. I’m talking materialisticly. I had a great childhood and I wouldn’t swap for the world. My parents gave me the best possible upbringing I could possibly ask for. They grew their own veggies and only bought spices, sugar, milk, soft drink, flour and (very occasionally) some mince. Dad made his own red wine and port from our own cherries and berries. I bred rabbits and that was our primary meat source. Minced rabbit, rabbit stew, roast rabbit, you name it.

OK guys! Get off the floor. Stop rolling around from laughter and start reading the post. I’m getting to a point…

When I was a teenager, my dad started to get ill. The activities and exposures a man endures working in many industries are outright criminal. His lungs were giving in and exposure to lead, heavy metals, chemicals etc took their toll. My decision to get out of the workforce was very influenced by watching the man I loved, admired and called my father slowly die over 20 years from emphysemia. I was not going to go through that.

You Want - You Earn It

My mum worked about 2 months a year and my dad stayed at home doing the other work such as the gardening, being mainly vegetables. We lived on mum’s income. We had a lifestyle that required very little money. We didn’t go without, or at least it didn’t seem that way to me. I didn’t expect any more than what I had. Most of the other kids had the toys, bikes and gadgets that I ended up getting (some of) when I had earned the money. My dad installed a work ethic in me that meant: you want something, you work for it.

We didn’t have a bathroom. The bathtub was a “tub”. Our WC was a long drop. To get hot water we had to fire up the stove and run water through copper coils in the stove (that dad built). Our heating was firewood which dad and I spent weeks on end every year collecting and chopping. We got water out of a well in the back yard. When the pump eventually died, we did it with a bucket and a rope until we had money to fix the pump. 90% of my clothes were hand-me-downs from my cousins. School excursions were normally not something I could do. Even in high school. If it had a cost attached to it, I didn’t even tell mum & dad about it. I knew they would spend the money but I knew it was needed elsewhere. The things that people take for granted as living essentials were not things that we expected.

100% Matter Of Perception

I don’t even recall other kids giving me a hard time for these things. I had some very good friends and they took me for who I was. I suppose (actually, now I know), it is 100% a matter of perception. I didn’t perceive it as something bad. Therefore no one gave me a hard time about it. If they did, I certainly didn’t notice.

As a matter of fact, it was good. Very Good! My success today very much related to what my Mum and Dad gave me: Integrity and Ethics

I never recall mum or dad ever complaining about (lack of) money or going without anything. They were very happy with their lifestyle. One of the happiest (material) moments I recall is when my dad brought home a new TV. The old black & white model had lost its picture and only had sound. All the other kids would talk about last nights TV programs on the school bus and for the 40 minute ride to school, it was the big event; talking about the TV from last night. The going joke was to ask me if I had “listened” to TV last night. It seemed like 6 – 9 months until we finally got the new TV. I knew mum & dad were getting the old one fixed. They took it away and I waited at home until they got back. Dad took it into the lounge and switched it on. I sat for about ½ an hour watching it, glued to the screen (literally).

That’s when dad turned on the colour. He had deliberately turned it down to black and white to tease me. He turned the colour on and that was definitely a Kodak Moment for my parents. My jaw dropped and I was the happiest kid in the universe at that time!

My Dad literally had to peel me off the TV that night.

It was such a happy moment for me I have tears in my eyes from thinking about it. The thing is that I didn’t expect a colour TV. All the other kids had one and still I didn’t even contemplate getting one. That would have been a big chunk of their savings at that time. And the look on my face would have made that a worthwhile investment for them. Having kids myself, I know what a parent feels like on occasions like that.

Don’t Talk About Money

Money was something we didn’t talk about in public. Mum and Dad bought a house and paid it off in about 6 - 7 years. They were never totally comfortable until the bank had no hold over house. They both grew up during the 2nd world war in occupied territory. They had seen some pretty bad stuff (from both sides). There were good and bad guys on both sides. They had seen the government reset mortgages and people dying from malnutrition. They grew up with recent history of entire families of children wiped out from disease such as the flu. (My great grandmother was the sole survivor of 5 kids when the flu hit Copenhagen. She was sent to the country being the youngest and weakest of 5 kids. She returned home later that year an only child)

Mind you. I only know these stories because they have been told once or twice. The bad things are rarely told in public. Money was definitely kept quiet.

Don’t Expect? - Don’t Get!

Many of us are brought up to be modest about any success we have. Money is (perceived as) bad. “Keep your financial situation to your self” – people say. “Don’t tell anyone you’ve got money, else they might take it away” – seems to be the story. These stories originate from several generations of our forefathers (and foremothers) that experienced these things in the past and have passed on their beliefs to us.

I had to break that mould. I know, in life you only get what you expect. Don’t expect – don’t get. It’s as simple as that.

I went totally against everything my upbringing (school and society) had taught me when I posted my personal success story in a public forum in 2005 and made it publicly available online. It scared the **** out of me. I still did it. Now I get emails almost every week from someone that was inspired by those few words.

Success stories are important. My story wasn’t a great deal. It was simply the words of someone inspired at the time. That was the day I changed my Expectations of Life. The story means more to me than anyone possibly can expect. I now know what is possible and what I deserve out of life. The same as everyone else. I hope to make as many people realise this as possible.

If you don’t expect (i.e. you don’t believe) then surely you won’t be getting it because you won’t be actively chasing it or making any effort to achieve it.

That’s why I expect to live a much longer life that anyone that expects to live a normal lifespan. I know I have to expect it to truly get it. I’m not planning to switch off my Life-Clock at 70 - 80 or 90. No way! I expect to go to 100 and beyond! I owe it to the world to give as much as I can and that can only be done in MANY years!

Expect and you shall receive

1000 quiet achievers won’t inspire anyone. 1 public one will. Imagine what would happen if 10% share their spiritual success, the growth of their confidence, their renewed outlook on life…. The list of success stories is endless. Money is just one success and it’s also only a tool to achieve success with.

So, The Law Of Attraction does work. But don’t expect it to do the work for you. You use it like a tool - a tool that is used through Taking Action and loving life!

I was brought into this life by 2 beautiful people. I’m sure I would have expected that. My parents are everything to me and without them I would’ve been nothing…

Appreciate the people around you and most of all: Tell Your Parents You Love Them

It’s (almost) Biblical: Expect and you shall receive

Have a most outstanding day!

Sean Rasmussen
Success Communicator
SeanRasmussen.com © 2004 - 2008

Niels Rasmussen 1930 - 2001 R.I.P.  I love you Dad

This entry was posted on Saturday, October 18th, 2008 at 4:01 pm and is filed under Growth. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.