Monthly Archives: November 2020

Understanding the divide

blogs, Bootstrap, Business, concepts, Entrepreneurship, Government, Inspiration, The World

The natural drive of people is different but can generally put into two categories.  There are some people who are driven to survive and others who are driven to succeed.  When it comes to life there are two vastly different attitudes that exist.  It is based on what you want out of life.  Do you want to be someone who wants to reach for the stars, make your dreams happen and take risks to do it, or are you the second type the ones that want to survive, have a happy life that you can enjoy.  This fundamental difference in attitude creates our great debate of how society should be structured.   Countless movies and books have been made about this subject.

In most of the world the survive mentality has taken hold.  People work to just earn enough so that they can live.  People want to be taken care of, they want to have a “fair” society, they work, and give a large amount of their earnings to the government, in exchange the system gives them guaranteed housing, food, health care, and leisure.   For people who lack ambition this is the dream society.  And of course, billions of people on this planet love the idea.  But then there are other people.  Men and women of who have a dream to be better than the norm, to make an impact on the world.  They want to build an empire and make it or fail on their own merit.  They want the government to stay out of their way. 

America was created by the dreamers and the ambitious, the people who came to America did so because of the promise that it offered.  Even though the ambitious are in the minority of the world population, they were the vast majority in the USA.  That is how we became exceptional, that is how we became the most successful nation in the history of the world.  This is how we became great.  The idea of a great America was not the idea it was great for everyone, but the idea that it is great for the ambitious, the dreamers, the empire builders.   And that has been taken away from us, little by little over the last 100 or so years.   But the seed that was sown into our great nation is being strangled.  American attracted the best, the boldest of the world.  Our nation was built on the idea that anyone here could rise above where they were born and build their Empire.  This is why New York is called the Empire state, it was the place to go to have the ultimate freedom and connections to be successful, and if anywhere has fallen the most it must be New York. 

The idea of empire is in jeopardy from the other group.  The millions who came here, not due to ambition, but by the desire to survive.  Some were forced to come long ago, others came from the poverty of the world not looking to build something but just because anything was better than where they were from.  The largest part of those who don’t go after ambition are the children who grew up in this prosperity, who had everything handed to them, who were told that everything they did was great.  They want a country that takes care of them.  It is sad now that for most ambition and the dreams of empire no longer exist.  They simply want to live a life where everything is given to them.  Then at the same time they see the rich, and the successful and they form tons of envy, they want that handed to them also, they talk of wealth inequality or injustice of every type.  They think life should be fair, but for them they are already well better off than the average human on this planet.  They have no idea how it is to live in India, or Africa, and how most people on the earth fight every day to survive, and yet we have a generation that is unhappy they can’t earn $15 an hour for almost no contribution to society, they are unhappy that they can’t have a nice car, a nice phone and still live in a nice house without working a decent job. 

Then we have an election, it is a very stark difference, on one side we have the people who believe in American exceptionalism and the idea that America should be a great place to build your empire.  Many people believe in this even they are personally too timid to ever do it for themselves, but they want the option to be there, for them or their kids.  On the other side we have the people who think that America should be a place that gives everyone what they need, no matter their contribution to society, that we need to be a fair and just society, where the rich pay for those who just want to live a life of leisure, they want a living wage enforced by the government and they want all of their creature comforts paid for and guaranteed no matter what they contribute to society.    It is a stark difference, and the way things are going we need to pray for the future of our nation. 

Life is so unfair….

blogs, Business, Inspiration

Life is so unfair……and I am glad it is. We are so lucky to be in the position we are in this world. We have enough freedom to conduct business, we can use our mind to focus on higher things than survival, most in the world can not do so, 2 Billion people don’t even have clean water to drink. Half of the world does not even have a bed to sleep in, they sleep on a mat on the floor or something like that. We need to thank God every day for what we have, and remember to help others out.

I am so blessed to be here, in the US, and have the chances I have to be successful. It was work, but mostly mental work, something that 80% of the people on this planet never even get the chance to do because their situation is hard. It does not matter how smart you are, or how creative, in most of this world the system will eat you alive. But in America is it only your perception of the system that exists that holds you back, everyone, who has the mental skills, can learn the system that makes success happen, and with mental and physical work get that success. The problem is that many people are taught the wrong things, and many are too busy making a living to make a life. Some may call it white privilege, but really is it American privilege, and anyone here can take advantage of it. No one know this more than the smart person who comes from another country, where they don’t have the ability to use their mind and be successful. This is why many business people who come from other countries are very successful here. It does not matter the color of your skin.

For many years I was VERY frugal, most of my friends would joke about it, but I wanted to spend way less than I made, I wanted to take that money and put it into my business. Yes I took calculated risks and almost every one worked out. Looking back I wish I took more risks, God was always there to protect me. I spent hours every night for years, reading books and changing my mindset. But more importantly I spent time talking with and being around other successful people. Finally now in 2020, everything is finally coming together, I can be less frugal, and some of the risks are paying off well.

If you are in America, and you want success, it is within your grasp…read the right book, take the risks, be your own boss….never trade your time for a wage. Buy other people’s time at wholesale prices and sell it at retail prices. Buy stuff at wholesale prices and sell it at retail prices. Market inefficiency is your friend. But everyone has time to be better, most people have at least 5 hours a day that is yours to decide what you do with it. How you spend this time is what shapes your future. Do you spend it watching TV? Do you spend it playing video games? Or do you spend it learning how the world works, how to be a better human, how to make the world a better place.