Thats just something the TRULY poor say… those whose SOULS are poor, not just that, they stink too. They’re worthless pieces of shit themselves and are only envious of other’s success and the fact that they can’t succeed themselves coz they’re too busy bitching about others and burning at their success. No two ways about it.

Neither being poor nor being rich are honorable in and of themselves.

What is honorable is (in that order):

1) BEING CONTENT AND THANKFUL in one’s lot, (example – the people you mentioned Yanik who don’t take a liking to excessive material goodies)

1b) if one really is in a rut, competing against ONE’s OWN SELF to win against HIS/HER situation. (example – what Ryne Landers says about her parents)

1 and 1b are closely related and I dont equate 1b to point 2 below.

2) In some other cases competing against your own self just for the satisfaction of breaking your own personal record. It IS thrilling to some people to outperform themselves. (example – the owner of this blog, YS, or so I think). This is the BEST and most rewarding form of competition.

3) Competing (ethically) against others if the situation really demands it. (example – Pepsi and Coca cola)

This is what I believe is the formula for successful and happy living, as I understand it as taught by my religion.

I don’t see anything honorable in wanting to be someone else or competing against someone else in their material goodies just to put them down or to be able to say to oneself “YS has a Merc, and I got one too now!”. So what if person X has car B? I should only be concerned about what makes ME happy (ethically and morally). There is NO happiness in doing what one doesn’t like. Its dishonorable to compete with someone and do something one doesn’t like just to stroke one’s ego.

Competing with yourself, you’d do what you DO like and are happy with, so there’s a difference.

Its even more dishonorable to be envious of someone more “successful” than you and talk trash about their accomplishments just coz you dont have them.

Throughout school, I had a disability in my leg that forced me to ware a corrective brace. As you can imagine, kids were not kind. Now, I’m not ugly or fat. I’m a healthy, tall (6’4”) young man, who is attractive. But this is many years later. My point in this is that I’m not some case study for pity. But the other point is that, because of the difficulties in my early life, I was determined to be better than anyone else. I consistently outperformed 90% of my classmates in everything scholastic. I played sports too. I was not the best, but I was involved.

Recently, I made the move to Dallas. I have been here now nearly 2 years. Working for a major telecom in sales, I was in a very competitive environment. I was able to provide for myself very comfortably. Being a single guy of just 21, and working in retail, I was making over $65,000 a year. I consider this pretty good, all things considered. While working there, I had a goal to get a new car. I had an “arch competitor”, someone who constantly goaded me and competed to be better than me. His goal was to get an Infiniti G35. I made that my goal too. I am happy to announce that last year, I was able to go out and qualify for the Infiniti G35 I wanted! It was a midnight blue sedan, with a 300hp V6, navigation (a rare find), leather, powered seats, wood paneling (another, very rare find) and the sun roof. It had so much more luxury than any car I have ever had. I was instantly in love. More over, I got the car before my competitor! Unfortunately, I have terrible credit stemming from a couple of mistakes on my part, and some things I had co-signed for other people. My payments were to be over $500/ month. I could afford it, but that is just too ridiculous. I had to return my coveted G35. It was a very emotional time for me, as the thing that I wanted the most, was in my grasp, and I was forced to let it go. It was one of the most difficult things I have ever done. The temptation to sign the final paper work, and seal my fate was very, very tempting.

Today, I have set my sights higher. I am looking forward to the M35, which is quickly becoming affordable to me. I cannot wait to get it. I feel that since I was able to achieve one goal last year, I should set my sights higher this year. I very much believe that material, tangible things are motivators for us. I know that the motivation to own something different and unique from other people in my demographic has pushed me many times over the years. But material things, or things for myself are not my only motivation. I have also spent a lot of my money on friends and family, and I give very generously when I have the ability.

Unfortunately, I have become recently unemployed, after being on-track to clear more than $120k this year. However, this means that now, I have the time and clarity of mind to pursue some new ideas. There are so many. I just need to figure out where to start.

But where ever I start, it is the pursuit of the things, both tangible, and intangible, that will provide the drive that I need.

A last quote: “I’ll make it to the Moon if I have to crawl”- Red Hot Chili Peppers.

* Ryne, looking forward to seeing you next week. I can tell you’ve got the ambition and drive to take the info from the event and create a real breakthrough. -Y.S. *

i have grabbed alot of your products and have learned a ton.

I know that all my wants have only been the tracks to getting where I am so far.
I still want more and my train is steadily moving forward.

I want to do a few more things that I have yet to set up and start moving in those directions but they are my wants and are closer than ever before.

Keep it up yanik and I know I will be part of your maverick insider for a long time to come and hopefully become part of the maverick adventures as well.

Jeff jowers

Just a quick note about this post.

I think the reason the ‘things’ are a big motivator in the beginning is because they are REAL and tangible. It’s a lot easier to picture yourself driving a car or having a cooler watch – because you have reference points for that. Then you can build on the steps you took to get those things, to accomplish bigger, more impactful goals. But it started with something ‘real’ to latch on to.

Even though you claimed to be ‘high’ on pain killers…this is one of your best posts yet. I’ve heard you speak about success, wealth, biz, life, etc…but the clarity in the end of your post is a new high for you (no pun intended). This is good stuff dude – especially the amplification part.

Keep it coming…see you next week!

Chris

Thanks for the post.

You’re link to your instantsalesletter is missing a “t” and thus broken.

Headsup.

~Hoo

I can sympathize with the way you grew up. We were a little bit better off, but my dad http://www.for-the-troops.com/2008/09/28/my-life-in-the-us-army/ came over her from Germany in search of a better life.

He is a “simple” man, never wanting for much. He engrained that philosophy in us. Mind you, it’s not bad, just realistic. Not optimistic.

But, as a high schooler, I started to dream the big dreams, just like you.

However, I kept throwing up excuses: young parent (a child at 19), lack of experience, lack of knowledge, etc.

Fast forward seventeen years…

Now, finally, it’s all coming together. It all started when I met my key mentor, Ken McArthur, as well as meeting you at his JV Alert live event back in June (I was a volunteer there). That changed my life. In my way of thinking, and more importantly, in my way of acting.

So, I now study SEO, traffic & copywriting. BTW, speaking of copywriting, Clayton Makepeace (another GREAT direct response copywwriter) is giving away some goodies for the holidays. You can get them here: http://www.makepeacetotalpackage.com/bonus/holiday-referral-signup.html

And, because of my continual learning, things have started to come together. We launched our first, original website eleven weeks ago to honor the men & women of our Armed Forces. Our Alexa rank is now just a touch over one million, having jumped up in rank over 16 million spots!

Now, I can really materialize my dreams!

Best,

-K
http://www.for-the-troops.com/shop/
10% of after-tax preoceeds goes to military charities!

* Kevin, keep it up! You’re taking the steps you need to get you going where you want to be. Congratulations and Happy Holidays! – Y.S. *

Think of the things you learn as you go through the experience of wanting something like a Mercedes. You set goals. You focus on an end result. You learn to work hard, take chances and risks. You overcome obstacles, learn to fail forward, and also succeed.

And while some may say that working hard for a nice car, a big house, or that case of $100 a bottle wine is selfish or not as worthy as working hard to give the money away to charity or some other philanthropic resource, I disagree. I believe it’s all part of the process…the evolution…and maturation of someone who is successful.

Within all of us is the desire to have “things.” Actually being able to get them and experience them validates our hard work and perseverance. It’s accomplishing the dreams. The journey and the experience is every bit as important as the end result.

The thing is, once you’ve succeeded and you now have many of the material items that you dreamed of, it’s on to the next phase of the journey…and that’s the phase where giving back becomes as exciting as the astin martin, the mansion, or anything else material.

I also think that you don’t have to choose one or the other. That is, you don’t have to choose buying really cool expensive stuff over giving…and you don’t have to choose giving exclusively either. You can do both…and should do both.

Life is about balance. It’s about being successful enough to do both…enjoy the finer things in life AND give back. If you have that balance in life then there should never be anything to feel guilty about.

I hope that helps.

Your posts really inspire me. I study all your sales letters a lot, and your blog posts really charge me to think positively. I just wanted to thank the time to thank you for all the incredible value you’ve been giving to your audience.

–Verniel Cutar