Archive for August, 2008

Productivity

Thursday, August 28th, 2008

And here’s a curious bit of data for both Buffett and Greenspan, champions of the “American productivity” school of euphorinomics:

Between 2000-2007, U.S. worker productivity increased 18%, but salaries declined, on average, $2,000.

Despite producing an average of 2.5% more geegaws each year, the median inflation-adjusted family has fallen over the past seven years, from $58,000 to $56,000. “It’s a compelling example of a large disconnect,” says Jared Bernstein of the Economic Policy Institute. “Americans aren’t being rewarded for their productivity.”

Really.

5 Min. Forecast

Circumstances

Monday, August 4th, 2008

Dear Reader,

The greatest stumbling block to achieving anything of importance in your life is circumstances. We let circumstances get us off the hook when we should be giving it everything we’ve got. More dreams are shattered and goals lost because of circumstances than any other single factor.
How often have you caught yourself saying, “I would like to do or have this but I can’t because…?” Whatever follows “because” is the circumstance.

Successful people use circumstances to catapult them on toward their goal, while the masses use them as road blocks. A circumstance may cause a detour in your life but you should never permit it to stop you.

George Bernard Shaw is quoted as saying, “People are always blaming circumstance for what they are. I do not believe in circumstance. The people who get on in this world are the people who get up and look for the circumstance they want and if they can’t find them they make them.”

Napoleon said, “Circumstances hell, I make them.”

The next time you hear someone say they would like to vacation in Paris, or purchase a particular automobile but they can’t because they have no money. Tell them they don’t need any money, your reward will probably be a blank stare followed with, “What do you mean I don’t need any money?”

Explain they don’t need the money until they make a decision to go to Paris or purchase the car. When the decision is made, they will figure out a way to get the amount needed. They always do.

The circumstance they are using is one of the most common: a lack of money. The real cause of their problem is lack of decision. You always attract what you need when you decide it must be done. Try this yourself today. You know the task you have been putting off “because…” Make a decision, forget the circumstance or adopt Shaw’s theory, but get it done!

Bob Proctor