You Can Keep the “F”, and I’ll Keep My Dream

"Your vision is the promise of what you shall one day be; your ideal is the prophecy of what you shall at last unveil." – As A Man Thinketh

In the original Chicken Soup for the Soul, Jack Canfield tells the story of Monty, who was the son of an itinerant horse trainer of little means. During his senior year he was assigned a writing project to describe what he wanted to be when he grew up. His seven-page essay minutely detailed the 200-acre ranch he wanted to own. It included a diagram of the ranch and a detailed floor plan of his 4,000 square foot home.

Despite the passion and effort Monty put into his paper, he received it back with a large “F” written on it and a note to see the teacher after class. The teacher told Monty that the reason he had given him that grade was because his paper was unrealistic. He went on to cite all of the reasons why, and told Monty that if he would rewrite the paper with a more realistic goal, he would reconsider the grade. After considering it for a week, the young man turned in the same paper with no changes, along with the remark, “You can keep the 'F', and I’ll keep my dream.”

The conclusion of the true story has the teacher bringing 30 students for a summer campout at the 200-acre ranch of the now grown (and successful) Monty who lives in his 4,000 square foot dream home.

If it worked for the son of an itinerant horse trainer it will work for you. The principle is simple: (1) create a dream that is so big that it will keep you excited, (2) define the dream in minute detail, (3) live in the dream so that it becomes real to you on the inside, (4) and then hold on to it so tightly that no one can take it away from you.

James Allen goes on to offer this great wisdom, “Cherish your visions; cherish your ideals...For out of them will grow all delightful conditions, all heavenly environment; of these, if you but remain true to them, your world will at last be built.”

But Monty, perhaps, offered the greatest wisdom, “You can keep the 'F', and I’ll keep my dream.”

And that’s worth thinking about.

Copyright (C) 2003-2005 Vic Johnson. All rights reserved worldwide. Change your thoughts, change your life. Free eBook - As A Man Thinketh - James Allen's timeless classic

The 7 Principles of Financial Security

Principle #1: The only security we have comes from God and ourselves.

Our rewards are entirely up to us. This includes the money we have for retirement.

Most people desperately seek security, and try to change their lives in a way that makes them think they have it.

The truth is, they have an illusion of security… for which they usually sacrifice freedom of choice.

They may get their illusion in a job — where the only real security is for the people who own the business— or in a franchise — where they basically buy themselves a job (that’s even how the franchise industry promotes it!)

What they really buy is a manager’s position, with NO GUARANTEE of regular income. They’re still responsible for their own rewards.

Ultimately, in a job or franchise, your freedom of choice boils down to a single decision… stay, or quit. If you stay, you get the illusion of security, and your boss (or the franchiser) calls all the shots.

If you’re serious about financial security and freedom, you must accept the responsibility for creating your own.

Principle #2: We create financial security by doing what we know.

Ignorance is the biggest killer of small business worldwide. People don’t know what they need to succeed. This includes creating financial security.

Guessing is no substitute. You either know what to do, or you don’t.

Doing what others do isn’t the answer, since 95% of them end up broke. Doing what they do is a recipe for failure.

What do you do when you’re not an expert?

Either GET the knowledge and skills you need, or use someone else’s. The SMART way is to do BOTH. Learn what you need so you can make intelligent decisions.

Most importantly, get in a business that’s designed to help you do what you already know how to do...

how to be a consumer, spending money to buy things
how to work on a regular schedule
how to tell others about a good deal they can share in

This means there's no financial risk for you. You need no expert knowledge or skills — just swap suppliers for products and services that are already available, share the savings and income you get as a result, and let others know how good it is to have more time and money.

Principle #3: Financial security is created by the USE of resources, not the ownership of resources.

The family home is a perfect example. Owning your home doesn’t create wealth or financial security. Over time the value of your home will increase, but so will inflation and costs. If you sell it, you can be taxed heavily on the capital gains. Besides, it's the value of the LAND that increases... homes depreciate in value.

On the other hand, if you own an investment property, you can use other peoples’ money to finance the purchase, your tenants’ money (in rent) to repay the loan, and tax breaks to make up most of the difference.

However, if you buy the property and don’t rent it, it consumes income instead of creating it.

It’s the same with any resource – just owning it doesn’t create wealth. Using it is what makes money. And resources aren’t limited to capital. Any useful resource has value as long as you put it to work.

Intelligent wealth-builders use other peoples’ resources to create income and security. All of the lending institutions and middlemen on the money-go-round use YOUR money to make it for themselves. They pay you enough to keep letting them use your money, but they keep the lion's share.

In business, your most productive resources are other peoples’ time, energy, knowledge, skills, gifts, abilities, and talents.

Principle #4: To create financial security, you must exchange reciprocal income for residual income.

Reciprocal income is what you get when you trade something of fixed value for something else of fixed value. In a job, it’s your time, skill, experience, knowledge, gifts, talents and abilities. But mostly it’s time. You agree to exchange a fixed amount of time for a fixed amount of money.In some professions, people rely on reciprocal income by charging hourly or daily rates, which remove most of the available leverage. This is another example of the sabotage of ignorance and imitation.

Residual income happens when you do something once and continue to earn income on an ongoing basis. Authors, artists, singers and other creative people do this all the time (those that know what they're doing, anyway.)

Finding opportunities to create residual income gives us secure, long-term income.

Principle #5: To create financial security, you need income-producing assets rather than income-consuming assets.

We’re rewarded for creating wealth and punished for accumulating assets. The wealthy understand this principle and use it.

The truth is that most people spend a lifetime paying for income-consuming assets with reciprocal income that robs them of the time needed to enjoy the assets!

Examples of income-consuming assets are your home, car, boat, RV and other unproductive items. They add enjoyment to your life – but only if you have the time, the money, health, and relationships to enjoy them.

The most effective productive asset for making income is a business. But the wise wealth builder will have a portfolio of assets to create multiple, profitable, and secure income streams.

The real secret of financial security is to create multiple, profitable, secure streams of income.

Principle #6: With our tax system, we’re penalized for saving and rewarded for getting in debt.

Our system encourages creation of wealth — not accumulation of wealth. When we save money or accumulate assets, we’re taxed.

When we go in debt to buy assets that consume money instead of creating it, we get no tax relief.
But if we incur debt to acquire assets that create income — such as businesses, or investment properties — we get outstanding tax advantages.

The difference is:
1. Assets that consume income don’t add to the nation’s wealth. They just transfer it from one owner to another. So capital gains received by the seller are heavily taxed.
2. Assets that create income add to the nation’s wealth, so the cost of creating it is either taxed lightly or not at all.

Principle #7: It is the duty of every American citizen to pay the least amount of tax possible in order to keep the government honest and to protect democracy and freedom.

The government has been very clever, telling us that we need to carry “our fair share” of the tax burden. But they have a self-serving interest in promoting that viewpoint.

Tax rates are staggering. And between taxes and interest charges, you lose more than HALF of your monthly income.

Every tax revolt in history was fought over taxes that were LOWER than we pay right now!

The tax increases caused by “inflation” are a perfect example of the government’s “getting too much for a dime”.

It’s because of that type of practice that every citizen has a legal duty to pay the least amount of tax possible so the government will be kept honest and protect our democratic rights. It’s too easy for politics to get in our pockets to fund their favorite hobbyhorses or indulge their fancies.

The BEST thing you can do for the country is to be in business for yourself AND create opportunity for others.

*** I learned these principles from John Counsel of Australia, an expert in network marketing. ***