WHERE DO YOU LIVE?

So you have been working hard for years, climbing the ladder. May be you're still near the bottom of the ladder or maybe you even got near the top. Where you are on the ladder doesn't really matter, what matters is the question that you may have forgotten to stop and ask before putting in all that time and effort climbing: where is this ladder planted? It doesn't matter how fast or high you climb on the ladder if it's leaning against the wrong wall.

The purpose of the this write up is for you to stop climbing for a minute and see where your ladder is planted. And if you're happy where it is, to find out where you might want to move it. Many people assume that their financial standing is defined by how much they earn, how much they're worth or some combination of both.

Your financial status determines the type of world you live in on four different planets:

E - Employee

S - Self-employed

B - Business Owner/Builder

I - Investor

These are four different world man lives and it determines how far ma will be successful in life. Let us quickly examine these four worlds in simple context

E - Employee: Rendering a service or services to be paid for. Busy building another man's empire and killing yourself for what does not belong to you, or even carry your surname. The operating philosophy for this world is: Go to school, study hard, get good grades and get a good job with benefits at a great. Do you really have the good job after the good grade?

S - Self-employed: Driven by the urge for more freedom and self-determination, You are the boss, accountant, Manager, Cleaner, and so on. You don't have time for yourself in other words, you don't own the business but the business actually owns you because you never take time off. How can you? If you do, you lose ground which means the business doesn't earn money. In a very real way The S stand for slavery. Funny! ha ha ha ha.

B - Business Owner/Builder: Building a business that last long and stand the test of time. Let me quickly tell you a story here. There were two friends who lived together in a small village Pablo and Bruno. They were energetic and passionate about how to make money legally in life. A time came where there was no water in the village and the villagers were in need of water. Pablo and Bruno decided to fetch water from a nearby village and sell it in their village to make money. Both of them were carrying two buckets each and went on six rounds a day. They were actually exchanging their time for money instead of making money. A time came when their strength was failing them as they carry buckets of water day in day out.

Pablo thought of a wonderful way of building a pipeline that will carry water from the nearby village to their own village where people can actually fetch and pay money. He discussed the idea with his friend Bruno but he did not see the vision. Pablo started building the pipeline while Bruno was still carrying buckets of water (exchanging his time and energy for money)

Pablo completed the pipeline building and water flows into the village. This fetched him financial freedom while Bruno on the other hand became old and could no longer carry buckets, so the money stops. Don't get me wrong! Both of them actually invested the money they got each from their different world. Bruno invested his money in buying cars and building bars and restaurant which at his old age he could not manage it properly and the business collapse.

Pablo through his pipeline also programmed it in a way that with or without him people fetch water and pay, you simply pay in the bank or via internet, input your pin like ATM and the tap produce water according to the amount you paid. Ha! Is this interesting? I guess it is. Knowing what works in your generation will give you huge success, financial freedom and an edge over others. Let us examine the last planet.

I - The Investors: What people in this world love and value most is financial freedom. The investors love the idea of their money working instead of them. Investors invest in gold coin, real estate, big business etc.

If you income comes from company or government retirement plans, rather than your own personal investing knowledge, then that is income from the E and S world. In other words, Your boss or the business is paying its bill for your years of service. Hun! i want to drop my pen here. Can you answer these questions in your mind?