“In times of change, learners inherit the earth, while the learned find themselves beautifully equipped to deal with a world that no longer exists.”  Eric Hoffer

Dear Reader,

Contrary to popular belief, there is no such thing as an educated person. You are either learning or you are not. In today’s world, it is vitally important that you see the truth in Eric Hoffer’s statement. The win or loss, which is waiting in the wings for every person, is enormous. You get to choose which you will experience.

Examine what Mr. Hoffer said. There are two obvious parts to his statement. The first part is very clear; how well it is understood is another subject.

“The learners will inherit the earth.”

That’s pretty straightforward. I want to come back and elaborate on that statement because it is exciting, full of promise and possibility. However it would probably be wise to look at the second part of his advice first. Then, if you happen to fall into the category Eric Hoffer referred to, you can change your situation and win.

“The learned find themselves beautifully equipped to deal with a world that no longer exists.”

In virtually every country of the world you can find individuals, thousands of them, walking the streets with degrees in their hands…degrees from prestigious universities. They cannot find work. Why? These individuals view the conditions and circumstances that surround them as very frightening. They are the people who Eric Hoffer referred to who “are beautifully equipped to deal with a world that no longer exists.”

Look around, the world is definitely changing, and it will never be the same again. Power is slipping away, disappearing from some circles, and reappearing in others. Countries, companies and individuals who have held the power in the past are quickly losing it, if in fact, they have not already watched it melt in their hands. Their often smug, sometimes selfish, domineering, complacent attitude has cost them dearly. They are confused and this confusion is frequently fueled by their own ignorance. When that happens it ultimately leads to anger or resentment - sometimes both. This negative energy is then quite frequently misdirected, possibly at their loved ones, which then causes an entirely new set of problems.

These people are clutched by an unseen enemy and their frustration is endless because they are not sure what has happened or what is happening. Their world seems to be turning upside down.

The entire world is in the midst of a paradigm shift, which is unprecedented. There have been transitions in the past but nothing to equal what we are presently experiencing. The world is moving from an intellectual to a spiritual vibration. The rules for winning have changed dramatically and the majority of the populations are still living with the old rules. There are an enormous number of people in every community who have worked hard and disciplined themselves to follow the only rules they know…still they are losing. They are bewildered, confused and in many cases, angry and most feel their anger is justified, whether it is or not matters little. They are doing what they were taught by their parents, teachers, and employers. Unfortunately they too, were working with the old rules.

In the past, individuals were recognized and rewarded for what they knew. Corporations waited on the sidelines dangling monetary rewards attempting to attract the graduates from the big name universities of the world. There were the multi-million dollar MBA management development programs that corporations placed their hope in for years. Most everyone was conditioned to deify the intellect. Individuals were not properly recognized and rewarded for what they did.

Rather than focusing on what is or was wrong, we should let it go. Let the dead bury the dead. The world I grew up in is gone, forever. The world has changed. We live in the new era. This is a spiritual world governed by exact laws. Everyone who studies these laws and incorporates them into every aspect of their life will be richly rewarded. I believe we would be wise to go back to the promise Eric Hoffer shared, “In times of change, the learners inherit the earth.”

The learners are continually preparing themselves to adapt to the changes. Rather than reacting they are responding to these changes and they are responding in an appropriate manner. The learners are excited with the prospects of what this paradigm shift is bringing.

Bob Proctor

As a basic step of self-esteem, learn to treat as the mark of a cannibal any man’s demand for your help. To demand it is to claim that your life is his property - and loathsome as such claim might be, there’s something still more loathsome: your agreement.

Ayn Rand
Atlas Shrugged

“I hear all this bickering,” writes our last reader, “from readers about the Fannie/Freddie bailout and our current state of financial affairs. Sure, you can blame the Fed, the Congress, the president (and you’re right — it enabled this to happen for decades), but the fault lies with you all!!

“You, the American voter, continue time and again to re-elect these corrupt malcontents into office! Nancy Pelosi, Barney Frank, Ted Kennedy, Harry Reid, Charles Schumer, John McCain, etc., are all career politicians! George W. has served two terms! You, the people, keep re-electing career criminals to rob you of your life’s savings and destroy all hope of prosperity for your grandchildren. You, the people, in your apathy and ignorance shoulder ALL the blame for this mess.

“Why should career politicians change their ways? They have a great racket going. They are lining their pockets to the tune of millions. Until the people send a message by voting out at least 85% of the incumbents in Congress, NOTHING WILL CHANGE!”

From the 5Min. Forecast

- Breaking News -

INSIGHT BROADBAND DENIES ACCESS TO WEBSITES

September 8, 2008 9:10 PM (Cincinnati, Ohio) Insight Communications, a relatively small cable company that services parts of Kentucky, Southern Indiana, and Ohio, has unilaterally decided to deny its Internet cable service customers access to certain websites.

Our investigation has determined that Milktoast.info is one such website. This website specializes in educating credit card holders in the legal art of dealing with credit card banks, collection agencies, and collection attorneys. It teaches the ultimate defense: how to beat the banks in court.

Our conversation with an Insight customer service representative provided no reason for this draconian measure by Insight Broadband. Just a lot of evasive responses.

Based on the lack of response by the customer service representative to certain questions it does appear that outside pressure has been brought against the executives of the corporation to initiate this ban. By whom? We weren’t able to get a definitive answer.

However, based on the content of the website and its obvious success in teaching people how to eliminate their credit card debt, it is conceivable that the pressure was brought by an organized band of collection attorneys and their clients, the banks. This same group of profiteers has already lobbied Congress to change the credit card agreement laws to their benefit. The bill is currently before the House.

Evidently these profiteers aren’t willing to wait for Congress to act. They’ve found a quicker way to defeat their opponents. It may be cowardly; but, it is effective without bringing attention to them or their goals.

What happens next? Only time will tell.

We’ll keep you posted as the story unfolds.

- Update -

September 9, 2008 9:10 AM (Cincinnati, Ohio) A miracle or a coincidence?

But first, a little background. According to the owner of Milktoast.info his website is hosted in Malaysia to keep the website safe from the Gestapo tactics of the U.S. banking industry. These financial thugs have a tendency to use intimidation against U.S. hosting companies when they find a website they don’t like. The threat of withdrawing credit and calling loans is much quicker and more effective than having to prove your case in a court of law. Especially when your arguments have no basis in law.

So, before we wrote our original article we checked dozens of websites hosted in Malaysia to see if we could find any non-bank related websites in Malaysia that were banned. We couldn’t.

This morning we revisited Milktoast.info. It was accessible.

According to the owner, within two hours of his posting our original article to his website Milktoast.info became accessible. Just as quietly and suddenly as it was banned.

A miracle of a free press or a coincidence?

We don’t know. But, if you need this kind of help with your credit card debt we would strongly suggest you take advantage of this website while you still have the opportunity. It seems that information designed to help people has had a strange way of suddenly disappearing over the past several years.

Go figure.

“I don’t know the key to success, but the key to failure is trying to please everybody.”Bill Cosby
Actor and Comedian

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

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

‘Walking Eagle’ Senator BARACK OBAMA was invited to address a major gathering of the American Indian Nation two weeks ago in upstate New York.  HE spoke for almost an hour on HIS future plans for increasing every Native American’s present standard of living, should HE one day become the President. HE referred to his career as a Senator, how he had signed ‘YES’ for every Indian issue that came to his desk for approval.

Although the Senator was vague on the details of his plan, he seemed most enthusiastic about his future ideas for helping his ‘red sisters and brothers’.

At the conclusion of his speech, the Tribes presented the Senator with a plaque inscribed with his new Indian name - Walking Eagle. The proud Senator then departed in his motorcade, waving to the crowds.

A news reporter later inquired to the group of chiefs of how they came to select the new name had given to the Senator. They explain ed that Walking Eagle is the name given to a bird so full of shit it can no longer fly.

I just hope the other American people are as smart as the Indians.

 Dear Reader,

The very worst use of time is to stay at a job for months and years for which you are completely unsuited.

There are a great number of people who spend their whole lives doing something they don’t enjoy during the week, always looking forward to the weekends. They refer to Monday as “Blue Monday” and to Wednesday as “Hump Day.” At the end of the week, they say “Thank God It’s Friday!”

These are men and women with very little in the way of a future. They look upon their jobs as a form of drudgery, a penance they have to pay in order to enjoy their free time. And because of this attitude, they will seldom advance or be promoted.

They will stay pretty much where they are, moving from job to job, and always wondering why other people seem to be living the good life while they feel like they are living a life of quiet desperation.

At my seminars, I am frequently asked by people what they can do to be more successful. In almost every case, they are working in jobs they don’t like, for bosses they don’t particularly respect, producing or selling products or services for customers they don’t care about. And many of them think that if they just hang in there long enough, the clouds will part and everything will get better for them.

But the fact is that you are where you are and what you are because that’s what you have chosen. You can do amazing things with your life, but nobody else can change your situation for you. It’s entirely up to you.

The economic function of your company is to hire people at the very lowest cost so that they can serve customers at the very lowest cost in a competitive market. For this reason, no one has any obligation to pay you any more than you are getting. If possible, they would like to pay you less.

One thing I tell people over and over again is that they must become very good at doing what they are doing if they want to move up in their company. And if they don’t have the inner desire to be very good at their job, it means they are probably in the wrong one.

Excellence is like a ladder, and excellent performance at your current job is like the rungs on the ladder. In order for you to progress, you must become extremely good at what you are doing right now. Once you have mastered your current job, you will automatically move up to more difficult, more interesting, and higher-paid jobs.

Too many people do their jobs in an average or mediocre fashion, with the idea that, when the right job comes along, then they will really do a good job. But for some reason, the right job never comes along. They are always passed over for promotions and advancement. They are always the last ones hired and the first ones laid off.

So be perfectly honest with yourself. Look deep inside and decide what it is you would like to do if you only had six months left to live. What would you choose to do if you won a million dollars in the lottery tomorrow? What sort of work would you do if you were absolutely guaranteed of success in any one field? If you had no limits on your abilities and opportunities - no debts, no problems, no commitments - what would be your ideal job or career?

Research shows that the things people liked to do best between the ages of 7 and 14 were a very good indicator of what they would be most successful at as adults.

A man at one of my seminars told me that when he was between the ages of 7 and 14 he loved to build model airplanes. He built more and more complicated planes, and then built them with engines and flew them in contests.

Today, he is 35 years old. He has a degree in aeronautical engineering. He designs small aircraft. In addition, he owns an aircraft maintenance company and an air charter firm. He is a multi-millionaire, and he feels like he has never worked a day in his life. He has always done what he loved to do and most enjoyed from the time he was a little boy.

If you’re not sure about your true calling, ask the people closest to you. Ask them, “What do you think I would be the very best at doing with my life?” It is amazing how people around you - including your spouse, your best friends, and your parents - can see clearly what you should be doing when often you cannot see it yourself.

Project yourself forward five years, and imagine that your entire life is perfect in every respect. Imagine that you are doing exactly the right job for you, in exactly the right place, with exactly the right people, and earning exactly the amount you want to earn.

What would that look like? Where would you be, and what would you be doing? Who would you be with, and how would you have changed?

When you have that picture in your head, think about the steps you would have to take to get from where you are today to where you want to be in five years. What skills would you have to develop? What information would you have to acquire? What obstacles would you have to overcome?

Success comes from being excellent at what you do. The market pays excellent rewards only for excellent performance. It pays average rewards for average performance, and below-average rewards for below-average performance.

But excellence is a journey, not a destination. You never quite get there. You can never relax. The market is always changing, so what constitutes excellence today will be different tomorrow and very different next year and every year thereafter.

All really successful and happy people know in their hearts that they are very good at what they do. And if you are doing what you really love and enjoy, if you are following your true calling, you will know it too.

By Brian Tracy

“The most splendid achievement of all is the constant striving to surpass yourself and to be worthy of your own approval.”

- Denis Waitley