"You are the average of 5 people you hang out with" – Jim Rohn
This cannot be closer to the truth – the power of association and averaging out is very, very powerful. Please note, I certainly do not choose to hang out with specific people because of the amount of money they have in their banks, nor the size of their paychecks or their financial statements. How much they earn, how much they have – all these do not fazzle me.
I have friends who are happy where they are, and do not wish to get rich or richer. Some who prefer to stay average or poor. I have friends who make 6 to 7 figures per year. It doesn't really matter – we are friends, and we learn from each other, and I try my best to learn from them their best and unique strengths.
Where I came from, we all didn't have money. All my friends and family then were all middle class (then again, when we were younger, I didn't think much about money, except I know that my parents fought much over the lack of money). I only have a couple of friends who I know were rich; his father was a doctor and we used to hang out more in their house until their mum felt that I was a bad influence on him; another his father was very rich, but I don't know what they do.
Today, my circle and network of friends have grown and there are some differences between poor, middle class and rich families – those with money, often speaks about money – at the dining table, in the car, over a cuppa joe, it doesn't matter when. It's not that they're talking about money for the sake of talking about money – they're seriously interesting in money, be it making more or investing more. So I endeavored to learn from them how they think, feel and do, and we learn together.
The poor and middle class often dismiss the topic of money. Maybe they think it's rude to talk about money, or embarrassing, or something along those lines which I don't know. It's interesting to me. With my circle of friends who have generated 6 figure incomes from their businesses, they note an interesting event: most of their friends who weren't as well to do, almost never goes to them to ask them how they made it. But if they do come asking for help, it's either to ask for a loan, or ask for a job.
Friendly Warning: Don't Listen To Fearful People or Not Well To Do People
Really.
I do have such friends, and I appreciate them for who they are and love them, but their money fears do limit them a lot. When it comes to being more savvy with their incomes and money, making more money or investing, it's always
"The stock/real estate/world/everything market is going to crash"
I always hear many, many, well thought out reasons why things wouldn't work. Why things will fail. Why they (and us too) shouldn't do anything today, and wait for market correction, market to improve etc.
I'm not saying that you should ignore the naysayers entirely – but also, seek out contrasting information from investors and business owners, who may say an entirely different thing when others are waiting for a fall or correction.
"Look for investments now, it's a good time when everyone is fearful"
When I first started my Passive Income Physical Business, I have many loved ones and friends who screamed at my stupidity for leaving an "iron rice bowl" salaried career (the Chinese terms very stable jobs especially jobs in large corporations and government as "iron rice bowl") – I know that their intentions were good and they love me, God bless them, but if I had heeded their well-intentioned advice, I would still be stuck in a job where I hated going to work everyday, had to play politics to gain advantage in promotions and pay increments, and still hate the job.
Don't get me wrong – venturing into entrepreneurship can be very, very, very tricky and dangerous – 9 out of 10 businesses fail in the first year; and those that survive the first year, 9 of 10 of those who survived the first year, fail in the second year. That's why today I recommend people to start their Passive Income Internet Businesses (PIIB) on the side, whilst holding onto their main job for stable income - it's safer this way. If and only if your side income business makes as much as your main income for 6 months, OR your desire to go fully into business with at least 12 months of reserves, should you consider take the plunge.
I think the hardest thing about building and living the Passive Income Lifestyle is about the ability to be brutally honest with ourselves and to not be wanting to make everyone else happy. Over years of observing, I believe that following the crowd isn't the best thing to do, as it's usually the crowd that pays retail, works for income and complain about the lack of income or opportunity.
Most of the time, what is difficult is going into something that isn't popular or well accepted…yet. Most people like going with a crowd, because there is safety in number, and frankly, this is true most of the time…for retail items. It's like looking for the restaurant with the longest queue of people waiting to eat, or going to see the doctor/consultant with the longest waiting list – psychology says that "if there is so many people going there, it must be good".
Most of the time, this is true. But mainly for retail. So if you're comfortable with paying retail price, then ok.
As Passive Income Lifestylers, you want to position yourself to be the early/earlier adopters – positioning is key. I know for a fact that by being in a good and strategic position, I am ready to reap profits. It's like being the first drink provider in a budding high-human-traffic place. But I also know that if I miss this one opportunity, others like it will still coming along again, I don't have to rush or regret missing one opportunity.
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Take action TODAY: One year from today, you'll be one year older. What would you have done by then?