A month in the life of a Wealth Coach…

The last month included Christmas and New Year. Routinely these are times for family and celebration, times accompanied by their own joys and stresses. In the Collins household there were plenty of both!

Christmas was a pleasure. Once I’d got used to the fact that my partner had invited everyone for Christmas dinner… well maybe not absolutely everyone but we did cook dinner for 12 which is the most I’ve ever had to cope with! Actually it did go pretty well, even if I say so myself. Food was on the table only 20 minutes later than predicted and the worst thing to happen was splitting a bag of frozen peas and throwing them all over the cooker with 5 minutes to go! (We’re still finding stray peas in the most surprising of places!).

My greatest professional activity over this time was project managing a property refurbishment. We bought a house before Christmas. It badly needed a rewire so we figured it was better to do the job properly before we moved in. There was also the possibility of significantly upgrading a bathroom and kitchen so we got together a team…

Dave the builder is great and masterminded most things really efficiently. He’s a real “can do” builder and so refreshing to work with. Bill the plumber was also a real asset to the team, turning his hand to wallpaper stripping in the quieter moments between plumbing jobs. The only slight problem with our choice of plumber was that he lived in Ystrad Mynach and drove a Ford Focus. Now don’t get me wrong. There’s normally nothing wrong with those choices, but given that South Wales, along with the rest of the country has experienced the heaviest snowfall for 20 years, there were times I wished we’d picked a plumber who lived in Roath and drove a 4 x 4! Still to his credit, Bill has been there when we needed him and his ability to “lend a hand” has been a great asset.

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What Does A Money Gym Coach Do When She Is Off Duty?

More specifically, what did this Money Gym coach do when she was off duty over December and the beginning of January?

The first thing she did was to contribute quite creditably to the micro-economy of Venice.  Still, her Money Gym hat travelled with her to Venice and fought to get back onto her head when she learned that Venice has cancelled the New Year’s Eve fireworks, and the Carnival celebrations!  The Powers That Be in Venice have, apparently, decided that in these tight times cutting back on the things that draw tourists to Venice is an astute move.  Hmm!

After that, she said a fond farewell to The Luddite Foundation, invested in an MP3 (finally) and began listening to the backlog of CDs she had, including some from T Hark Eker.  On one, T Harv was interviewing another delightfully forthright ‘multi, multi, multi, multi, multi, multi, multi-millionaire’.  This gentleman observed, in the most unashamedly sexist way, that you should treat money the way you – a woman – should treat a man, flattering and stroking its ego etc.  Equally, he noted, you should treat money the way you treat a woman, cosseting, caressing etc. etc.  But how many of us do?  (And are the Venetian Powers That Be treating tourists’ money in a loving, encouraging fashion??)

Together with her new exciting technology, she then spent a fair few days enjoying the delights of Taginistan.  Now, in case you hadn’t heard of Taginistan yet, this is not because it is some strangely tranquil ex-Soviet republic.  Rather, it is a mythical kingdom that is blossoming from my own modest culinary endeavours.  You see, a few weeks ago, I discovered the delights of the tagine.  What could be better than bunging a number of reasonably well chosen ingredients into a pan (or tagine) and creating something that has an extraordinary subtlety of flavour.

So excited was I that tagines are all that the denizens of the Kaszina ménage have lived on since.  This is why the house is being rechristened Taginistan.  Possibly, I have become slightly carried away with my vision for this little known republic.  But then it is a uniquely charming place.  Unlike other “-istans”, Taginistan has, and seeks, no nuclear missiles.  The preferred weapon for conflict is a small, finely wrought version of the Gatling gun that fires… coriander seeds…

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A Note From Marion

As we haven’t quite hit February yet, I think it’s not too late to start by wishing all readers a peaceful and prosperous new year.  Prosperity is of course about much more than mere money.  It means good fortune, abundance and riches and while we hear so many tragic news stories each day, I wish for all of us the good sense this year to notice and appreciate what we already have in our lives.

As the old year breathed its last, I had already decided that 2010 would be a well-fed, wide-girthed purring pussycat, yet it seems I’ve manifested a rather skinny spitting feline to transform into that vision of furry loveliness I had.  Good job I’ve a sense of humour, a strong will and a brilliant idea or two for 2010.

A few years ago, I learnt – does it always have to be the hard way, God? – to live within my means and therefore I get through the run-up to Christmas without loading up my credit cards with extravagant shopping lists.  The new year started then for me without a financial hangover, nor even an alcoholic one now I think of it

Instead, I sat down and reviewed and wrote out all my accomplishments from last year.  I listed over 30 without too much trouble and I strongly recommend this exercise as a starting point when planning what you want to do next, not only to give yourself due acknowledgement for your successes but also to get you thinking creatively about how very much you could achieve in the next few months. Second step was to list everything I wanted to leave behind – bad habits, limiting beliefs and people, followed by some ’stream of consciousness’ writing (ie without judging or editing my thoughts) about what I wanted in the future, leading finally to a list of 10 goals for 2010.

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Wealth Coach Diaries | A Note From Judith

2010 crept in under a blanket of snow, rather than coming in with the more customary bang.   After my month off in the Caribbean sunshine, sub-zero temperatures came as quite a shock delaying my return to full productivity still further in a way I rather enjoyed as it gave me at least three weeks to be acclimatising, thinking, planning and working on my financial intentions for the year.

There will be changes, of course.   There always are.   And no matter how distressing while we come to terms with them, in our heart of hearts we all know that change is good for us and that it all works out for the best in the end.   Whatever you have planned for your own new year, I hope it’s a good one.

Now, what has this Wealth Coach been up to in the last couple of weeks?

Weekly Wealth Webinars, Wednesdays at 11 a.m.

The Money Gym saw the beginning of term on Wednesday last week with our weekly wealth webinar at 11 a.m.   We run these now in three terms of 12 weeks and we rotate the topics between general wealth creation in the first week, followed by Mainly About Property, Mainly About Business and Mainly About the Internet on each of the following three weeks, then repeating the pattern three times in each term.   The general wealth creation call is open to all our clients including Silver and then all the other calls are for current and past Gold, Platinum and Boardroom clients.   They are generally all recorded so if you are entitled to attend but unable to do so, you can listen again later.   You can call in live or listen live on the web too.

How do you join?   Log into the Money Gym website and go to the home page of your level of membership and hit on the Webinar Access button which takes you to a further page with two buttons which lead to the schedule on one and the access details on another.

If you are a Silver member, note the dates for your diary of 10th February and 10th March and then the next two terms start (with Silvers again) on 21st April and 8th September.   If you don’t know whether or not you are entitled to attend, or you have forgotten how to log into the website or can’t find the information you need, then do please let us know.   We send weekly reminders to all current clients and usually one annual reminder to all alumni who are welcome to join or re-join us at any time then want another boost with their wealth creation activities.   Wednesdays at 11, come on down.

Money Gym Google Groups

Similarly we have been reconnecting with our community via all our Google Groups where topics of interest over the last twenty days have included investing in Champagne, rent2own, Facebook fan pages, buying and selling businesses, membership club sites, Cashflow, article marketing, Twitter, 2010 goal-setting, estate agents, time management tools, sales training, proof-reading, saving money, thriftiness, recipes, making videos, manifestation, debt, credit ratings, Warren Buffet, rooms to rent and sharing resources.   Phew!

I notice that one of our groups has 260 members and Google describes its activity as “low”.  Everything’s relative, Google! Plenty are overwhelmed by their membership of any single one of our Google groups let alone all of them.   There are ways to cope with this.   You never need to keep a single email because they are all archived on each group’s website and keyword searchable. You can set your membership to send you a daily digest instead of an email each time anyone posts and you can operate my favoured Scan/Delete policy which means I have deleted all those I receive before bedtime every day, having replied to any where I have something to offer.   Simple.

Out and About

Nicola and I had lunch with uber successful Neil Asher last week and we both went for the recession-beating £8.25 menu at Carluccio’s and Neil paid.   Boy did he get a bargain!   The two of us for that price.   Neil describes himself in an email to me today as a “self-made multi millionaire with seven businesses in five countries”, just the sort of chap you want to have buy you lunch on a bleak Thursday in snowy January.   He looks like Davie Bowie which was a bit of a surprise and he wasn’t in the least bit phased by Nicola and I chatting, laughing and coming up with ideas and stories at top speed on the hoof.

He’s very abundant, and wrote later to ask after my Top 10 Wish List for 2010 in case he could help me achieve any of them and offering his hopes that we would develop a great friendship in time.

I must confess to having to ask Nicola and Neil himself “were you truly wafted here from Paradise?” – you just don’t often see such giving and abundance.   What a role model.

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Business Success | Doing It Right & Doing It Wrong

When I started my first ever business at the age of 8 years old, I accidentally did something totally wrong and something totally right.

It was my idea to rent out, or even sell, the many many paperback story books I had already accumulated from older relatives, second hand shops and jumble sales.

I started well, planning out how to keep track of who had borrowed which book (modelled on the already successful methods employed by my local library – why re-invent the wheel?) and I’d gathered all the necessary equipment, including a John Bull’s Printing Kit to date stamp the books, albeit a touch on the slow side, due to having to manually change the numbers each day!

We even had premises, the under the stairs cupboard was requisitioned, in spite of my fear of the feather duster, but this was not my main concern because I had already decided I wasn’t going to man the shop, my trusty assistant Heather was!

O yes! One of my more clever moves was that I recruited my 6-year old sister, Heather (now an international opera singer and still dining out on the story!) on a payment-by-results basis and the plan was that I was going to go out around the local playgrounds marketing my new book-lending business, while Heather waited patiently under the stairs, reading the merchandise in order to better demonstrate the pleasure to be gained from any loan or purchase.

One of my LEAST clever moves was not doing any market research, particularly NOT finding out whether there was a ravening hungry horde of kids looking for my solution to their problem or challenge….

Because there wasn’t.

I was the only asthmatic, fairy tale crazy, reading-mad child locally – the rest were very busy having fun outdoors and they wanted to read LESS not more!

O dear.  Duh!

I sorry to say that this was only the first of many, many businesses that I started on a whim, on the back of a good idea, that I got going BEFORE I tested the market or found out if there was a demand.

At the Money Gym, we firmly believe that setting up a part time business (NOT a part time job, note!) can be one of the easiest, quickest first steps you can take in increasing your income.

But we want you to do it right, so that you can answer the most important five questions any business owner must know off by heart.

Do you remember those questions from yesterday’s video?

Well the good news is that today’s video will reveal a secret weapon in the armoury of any aspiring business owner or consultant….

Would you like to find out what that secret weapon is?

Well either hit this link and put your name and email in (even if you have done it before, it will take you to the right page)

http://www.themoneygym.com/silverelite

OR

Visit the Money Gym video page if you have bookmarked it before!

And don’t forget to tell us what you think of Money Gym “Video 5 – Footsteps In the Fog” by commenting at the bottom of the page.

Warm regards

Nicola, Judith, Steve & The Money Gym Team

p.s. Every comment could be a link back to your website, remember, and that’s a GOOD THING!

Watch the videos, comment and get your link by putting your name and email in here http://www.themoneygym.com/silverelite

How Can The “Fight Club” Movie Get YOU Moving?

I was going to write and tell you a little story about Video 4 in the Money Gym wealth creation series – because it’s up and ready for you to view.

(It’s called “Signposts In The Fog” and it gets even more specific about how YOU can start to change your financial future in 2010 using Money Gym techniques)

BUT WOW!

One of our subscribers, Matt, joined in the comments at the bottom, under the videos, specifically he joined in a conversation between me and Ray, who is also watching the videos and who is a self-confessed sufferer from procrastination.

I suggested that Ray might just be worried about making the wrong choices and the fear of that was holding him back from getting started.

I asked him, if you had a gun to your head, Ray, right now, if I was standing over you and making you choose, which Lane of the Wealth Highway would you pick to work on first?

(I cover the Four Lanes of The Wealth Highway in today’s Video 4, if you are not familiar with the concept…)

Matt then added his thoughts and put up a link to the most AMAZINGLY powerful video clip from the film “Fight Club” which I had never seen before and which just virtually BLEW ME AWAY!

You just have to go watch it right now!

http://www.TheMoneyGym.com/silverelite – to get immediate access to the page.

(or if you have bookmarked the video page, just go there right now, watch “Signposts In The Fog” and then read the comments and watch the video….like I say, WOW!)

And I want you to think about this…..

If someone was standing over you right now, saying, do something to improve things in your life right now or ……..

What would you do?

What would be the first thing, the best, most effective action, you could take to make things better for yourself, right now?

We all know deep inside, don’t we?

But we don’t do it because it’s easier to carry on as we are!  Old habits, bad habits, die hard.

Because nobody’s standing over us, giving us a stark choice.  Nobody’s doing like the guy in the Fight Club clip.

Just think about it.

http://www.TheMoneyGym.com/silverelite

Go watch the videos.   It’s Sunday – a great day to take some time for you.

Then make that choice.

To your success!

Nicola, Judith, Steve & The Money Gym Team

Your Compass In The Fog Of Overwhelm

Nicola here from The Money Gym,writing to you on 1st January 2010 with my third very important message….

Think about this for a second………..

In the olden days, humans were able to find their way around the globe, in any kind of weather, even if the fog was so bad they were unable to see a few feet in front of themselves….

How did they do that?

http://www.TheMoneyGym.com/silverelite

They were able to find their way forward because they had some deceptively simple tools…

Tools that were simple to use but were so sophisticated that they delivered exceptional results every time…results you could depend on…

Those tools were….

The Stars and a Compass.

Yep, that’s pretty much all they used to sail ships across the vast oceans, to go somewhere so far away it literally took months, if not years to get there and then to come safely home again.

Would it surprise you to discover that there are some deceptively simple tools you can use too, to navigate your way through all the financial confusion you might be experiencing right now?

Well, no!  I’m not going to tell you about those tools, I’m going to show you….how to create and use them yourself.

http://www.TheMoneyGym.com/silverelite
Warm regards

Nicola, Judith & The Money Gym Team

P.S.      Watch our brand new video to discover some of the simple but effective tools we use to navigate our way around our financial world!

http://www.TheMoneyGym.com/silverelite

Struggling Financially? Blame The Fog!

Nicola Cairncross from The Money Gym here, and I’m writing to you today, on 29th December 2009 in the middle of the worst credit crunch anyone can remember.

Can you remember more difficult financial times?

I certainly can’t.  We never imagined it could get this bad, did we?

All around the world people are worried for their jobs, businesses are going down and banks, while taking money from their governments certainly are NOT lending it out again to consumers.

Even if you pay off your credit cards, the companies are taking your available balances right down or even taking them away and don’t even get me started on the interest rates they’re charging!

People are so confused……….so worried………so stressed about money……….they have NO IDEA what to do, which way to turn…………they are stumbling along in the dark, in the fog, they feel overwhelmed and incapable of taking action..

Even if they knew what action to take!

BUT !!

Would it surprise you to know that there are people out there who are not only NOT hurting, who are not confused, or overwhelmed…….. but who are actually thriving financially?

People who are making more money than ever before, who are starting successful businesses, who are getting online, who are creating multiple streams of income, who have control of their cash, people who know on a week by week basis, what’s coming in and going out, and WHAT TO DO with what’s left over?

People who are not phased by changes in the economy, who just switch their strategy to one that suits the times and just works better?

People who have a whole TOOLKIT of financial strategies to fit the moment, the situation, the need.

Who are these people?

Financially Intelligent People, that’s who!  You could call them FIPS for short!

Now, I just bet FIRSTNAME that you would love to find them, join them and become a Financially Intelligent Person – who wouldn’t?

Well, now you can…..

Because we have created a brand new video that can get you started down the road to becoming one of the Financially Intelligent People – right now.

Come on over, watch this exclusive new video and get some FIP savvy!

http://www.TheMoneyGym.com/silverelite/

Warm regards

Nicola, Judith & The Money Gym Team

P.S.      Watch our video to find out how to beat the credit crunch, throw off that overwhelm and become one of the Financially Intelligent People today!

http://www.TheMoneyGym.com/silverelite/

How tall will you grow?

So is this really the last newsletter of 2009 or the first of 2010?  What an honour to have this place to describe another month in the life of a wealth coach!

I’m sort of in the middle of a house move that’s taking a longer than average time to complete.

We bought a new house two weeks ago and immediately set to, lining up builders (headed by Dave) to put Velux windows in the roof and an electrician (Phil) to re-wire the place, all ready to go as soon as we took possession.

The electrician arrived and as we waited, me expecting Dave to join us, Phil shared “Didn’t Dave tell you he was on holiday this week?”. Builders – they do seem to deserve their reputation!

So we now have two houses, one in a state of some disrepair and being decorated or prepared for decorating as it seems to have last been attended to in the 1970’s. We do hope that, in addition to this becoming a loving family home, a bit of what Gill Fielding calls “buff and fluff” will add value to our new acquisition, almost overnight.

We’ve chosen to take out an insurance policy to cover the mortgage in the event of my death and I’ve discovered that I’ve now reached the age when people will no longer take my word that I’m in good working order but require me to have a medical to prove it! Fortunately this was made easier by the fact that the nurse would come to visit me – and rang the doorbell promptly at exactly 8.30am on Sunday morning. Impressive. The medical was swift, professional and comprehensive. It has been proved beyond doubt that I am a non-smoker and I’ve had my height measured for the first time in over 30 years!

All this activity has set me thinking…

Property. Despite the scorch of being burned by the fallout from Passive Investments and the gloom still oozing around the credit crunch and recession, I find I still have faith in property. Yes, although the Passive blow hurts I guess I’m in a position where I can see how I might deal with this. I also know it has taught or maybe reinforced some important lessons for me.

I guess each of us takes different things from life but in my case, recent events have helped me to learn:

• to be happy being a cautious investor.
• what I thought was due diligence wasn’t diligent enough and I’ll do better next time
• if it feels too good to be true, it might well be
• whether “they” are victims or rogues, I still need to deal with my issues, not theirs
• the worst case scenario is worth preparing for, just in case
• when you’ve done the sums and they add up go for it anyway because nothing in life is risk free.

Perhaps this also reminds me that “Good decisions are based upon experience and that experience is gained by making bad decisions.” Another notch up on the experience scale.

During 2010 I will continue to invest in property, to do my sums and follow my chosen strategy. I might even try something new, letting shared accomodation. Any tips for me? I am older and wiser, in different ways richer and in others, poorer.

And as I look at life over 2009 I see how it is easy to blame others when things don’t go well, whether “others” are family, business colleagues, bankers or political leaders. It’s so much easier to be judgemental with the benefit of hindsight! For me, the important thing is to learn lessons, apply them and to move on.

I get slightly scared and certainly disappointed when I see what looks like the “tall poppy syndrome” in action. You know that…. when seeing a poppy that stands taller than the rest, cut it down so it doesn’t show-up the shorter (underachieving?) poppies! It’s also important for me to use or apply my values to personal and business situations and accept that others may have different values. Doesn’t mean I can’t learn from them and apply lessons to my own life!

Guess I also know that it can be lonely being a tall poppy. How many of you have faced the scorn of family or friends when you have decided on financial freedom and maybe the pain of other people doing the “Told you so” routine when you had the courage to take action?

One of my coaching clients has recently invested in developing their wealth awareness with Gill Fielding… I know many of you will know Gill from either the Wealth Creation Conference, The Secret Millionaire or even Stephanie Hale’s Women Millionaire’s Bootcamp.

When my client returned home, a protective partner pointed out that Gill was a scammer of the highest order, only after her money and… I suspect many of you can fill in the blanks having faced similar situations yourself. It takes courage and determination to stand out from the crowd, to commit yourself to taking action, to growing wealthier and wiser. Even though we know that successful, wealthy people have also learned to deal with losing money before making more, it’s still hard when that’s the lesson we are walking through.

My client has responded by immediately working to strengthen her positive beliefs, to completing a daily gratitude journal and finding a positive community of people to support her progress in 2010. Go for it girl. Be that tall poppy!!

This year I’ve also learned that my feet have grown a shoe size and I seem to have gained half an inch in height….

So what have you learned in 2009 and how tall will you grow?

Here’s to a great Christmas and New Year celebration and to a prosperous 2010!

A Week In The Life Of Another Wealth Coach | Annie Kaszina

First off, let’s redefine the title slightly: since I’m only let loose on this column once a month, how about a month in the life?

So what has been going on in this Money Gym coach’s life?

Well, I have, so to speak, said a fond farewell to my lovely MG clients for this year, in terms of actively coaching them anyway; but the relationship remains.  It is always a pleasure and a privilege to work with fabulous people around something as important as their life, and the respect and esteem continue.  So, too, does the repartee, as it has with Sue Trinder (aka the MG choir mistress) over a little known Madonna anthem (“I’m a Virgin!”) and some highly decorative book shelves that she was marketing!

Over the past year my lovely clients have learnt a lot about themselves, what they really want, what they believe they can have, and how they move forward.  Of course, we all want to be multi-millionaires, at least theoretically.  It’s the rare person who would say no to vast amounts of money choosing them.  But the reality is that the more clarity we have about ourselves, the more money we create and accumulate comfortably; that is to say in a way that is consistent with our fundamental beliefs, values and attitudes. (Oh dear, Annie is in philosophical mode! The annual jaunt to Venice, and canal-to-canal culture and frivolity clearly beckon!)

Less frivolously, the thing that has most exercised my mind over the past few weeks has, of course, been the demise of Passive Investments.  (I do tend to ruminate over things.) I’ve expressed my feelings about everyone’s losses, including my own, elsewhere, so no need to go over that ground again.

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