Perspective from Robert Kiyosaki

Alarming Stats from the 4 Hour Work Week!!!

These are interesting (and alarming) statistics which could be helpful for your presentations. They are taken directly from, "The Four Hour Workweek". Excellent book! The stats have been verified, and the sources are listed at the bottom of the email.

*The Top 10 Stats To Know: You Are Not Alone

63% of all employees want to work less, up from 46% in 1992 [1].

26% of adult Americans report being on the verge of a serious nervous breakdown [2].

40% of workers describe their office environment as “most like a real-life survivor program [3].”

Only 14% of Americans take two weeks or more at a time for vacation [4]. The average American therefore spends more time in the bathroom than on vacation.

61% of Americans check email while on vacation [5].

53% of employees would opt for a personal assistant rather than personal trainer [6].

62% of workers routinely end the day with work-related neck pain, 44% report strained eyes, 38% complain of hand pain, and 34% report difficulty in sleeping due to work-related stress [7].



88% of employees say they have a hard time juggling work and life [8].



70% of working fathers and working mothers report they don’t have enough time for their children [9].

In 2005, a psychiatrist at King’s College in London administered IQ tests to three groups: the first did nothing but perform the IQ test, the second was distracted by e-mail and ringing phones, and the third was stoned on marijuana. Not surprisingly, the first group did better than the other two by an average of 10 points. The e-mailers, on the other hands, did worse than the stoners by an average of 6 points [10].

*Unending Workweek Growth and Burnout

Compared to 1970, American managers are working an additional month per year [11].

Americans are working more hours than any time since the 1920s. 63% of Americans log more than 40 hours per week at the office, and 40% log more than 50 hours per week [12].

Turnover rates among mid-level associates in New York City law firms is 36%. The entire system is predicated on burnout [13].

62% of workers routinely end the day with work-related neck pain, 44% report strained eyes, 38% complain of hand pain, and 34% report difficulty in sleeping due to work-related stress [14].

In total hours, the average middle-income family works four months more than in 1979 [15].

People work approximately 8 weeks longer per year than in 1969—in the space of a single generation—but for roughly the same income (after adjusting for inflation) [16]



40% of employees work overtime or bring work home with them at least once a week [17].

*E-mail Addiction and Information Overload

66% of people read email seven days a week and expect to receive a response the same day [18].

61% continue to check email while on vacation [19].

56% have anxiety if they can't access email [20].

“Crackberry” was the official winner of the 2006 Word-of-the-Year as selected by the editorial staff of Webster's New World College Dictionary. Blackberry addiction has been labeled “similar to drugs” in a study performed by Rutgers University; millions of users are now able unable to go more than five minutes without checking e-mail.

According to online surveys of more than 4,000 people, conducted jointly by AOL and the Opinion Research Corporation and reported in 2005:

41% of Americans check e-mail first thing in the morning


18% check e-mail right after dinner

14% check e-mail right when they get home from work

14% check e-mail right before they go to bed

40% have checked their e-mail in the middle of the night

More than one in four (26%) say they can't go more than two to three days without checking email, and they check it everywhere:

In bed - 23%

In class - 12%

In business meetings - 8%

At the beach or pool - 6%

In the bathroom - 4%

While driving - 4%

In church - 1%

Being “e-mailed” (like blackmailed) worse than being stoned?

In 2005, a psychiatrist at King’s College in London administered IQ tests to three groups: the first did nothing but perform the IQ test, the second was distracted by e-mail and ringing phones, and the third was stoned on marijuana. Not surprisingly, the first group did better than the other two by an average of 10 points. The e-mailers, on the other hands, did worse than the stoners by an average of 6 points [21].



*The USA vs. the World



Average Annual Vacation Days



Italy 42

France 37

Germany 35

Brazil 34

Britain 28

Canada 26

Japan 25

USA 13

Is it any wonder that US Bureau of Labor Statistics tracks just about everything but worker satisfaction?

Americans work 137 more hours per year than Japanese workers, 260 more hours per year than British workers, and 499 more hours per year than French workers [22].


The Japanese document approximately 10,000 cases per year of "death by overwork," or karoosh [23]. Considering the above stats, what must the undocumented US numbers be??
The US is the only nation in the industrialized world with no minimum paid-leave laws. European law provides each worker with 4-5 weeks per year of paid-leave.

Nonetheless, Europe has had a higher productivity rate than the U.S. for 14 out of the 19 years between 1981 and 2000 24]. More just isn’t better.

*The Coming Extinction of Vacation

26% of Americans take no vacations at all [25].

Only 14% of Americans take two weeks or more at a time for vacation [26]. The average American therefore spends more time in the bathroom than on vacation.

American workers get an average of 8.1 days of vacation after one year on the job, and 10.2 days after three years [27]. At that rate of growth (25.9%), you won’t even break three weeks after 12 years on the job.

Employees hand their companies more than $21 billion in unused vacation days each year [28].

*Work-Life Imbalance and the Disappearing Family

57% of the class of 1999 graduating business students in 11 countries said that attaining work-life balance is their top career goal [29].

32% percent of workers cited work-life balance as the top priority in their careers, followed by job security at 22% and competitive salary at 18% [30].

How are they actually doing?

88% of employees say they have a hard time juggling work and life [31].

70% of working fathers and working mothers report they don’t have enough time for their children [32].

64% of Americans report that time pressures on working families are getting worse, not better [33]..

*What Happens When Employees Work Whenever and Wherever They Want?

By the end of 2007, all 4,000 staffers at Best Buy headquarters will be on ROWE (Results-Only Work Environment), which permits them to work whenever and wherever they want. So, what happens when smart companies realize that work isn't a place where you go, but something that you do? That performance should be based on output and not hours?

Average Rise In Worker Productivity Since 2005: 35%

Average Change in Voluntary Turnover (Quitting) Across Divisions: -72.3% [34]

Sun Microsystems Inc. calculates that it saves $300 million per year in real estate costs by allowing nearly 50% of employees to work anywhere they want.

If your company won’t wake up, you’ll just have to speed the process by firing their asses or outsmarting them.



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[1] “Feeling Overworked: When Work Becomes Too Much,” The Families and Work Institute, 2001

[2] American Psychologist, 2000

[3] USAToday.com, Jan. 1, 2004

[4] The Families and Work Institute

[5] eRoi Email Addiction Survey, Oct. 17, 2006

[6] Circles, 2001

[7] Integra Survey, 2000

[8] Aon Consulting, 2000

[9] Family Matters Survey; The National Partnership for Women & Families, 1998



[10] “Can’t Get No Satisfaction,” New York Magazine, Dec. 4, 2006

[11] "Why Are We Eager To Work Longer Hours?" 2000, In JAP; Loyola University Chicago

[12] Expedia.com Customer Poll

[13] “Can’t Get No Satisfaction,” New York Magazine, Dec. 4, 2006

[14] Integra Survey, 2000

[15] “Washington to Nation: Drop Dead on the Job,” Alternet, June 20, 2003

[16] “Work, Stress, and Health,” National Institute for Occupational Safety & Health Conference, 1999

[17] “Shifts in Work and Home Life Boundaries,” Xylo Report, 2000

[18] eRoi Email Addiction Survey, Oct. 17, 2006

[19] eRoi Email Addiction Survey, Oct. 17, 2006

[20] eRoi Email Addiction Survey, Oct. 17, 2006

[21] “Can’t Get No Satisfaction,” New York Magazine, Dec. 4, 2006

[22] ILO Report

[23] “Washington to Nation: Drop Dead on the Job,” Alternet, June 20, 2003

[24] U.S. Federal Reserve Board

[25] Boston College Survey

[26] The Families and Work Institute

[27] The Bureau of Labor Statistics

[28] Expedia.com Survey Calculations

[29] Price Waterhouse Coopers Survey, 2000

[30] Office Team Specialized Administrative Staffing Survey, 2002

[31] AON Consulting, 2000

[32] Family Matters Survey; The National Partnership for Women & Families, 1998

[33] The National Partnership for Women & Families Family Matters Survey, 1998

[34] "Smashing The Clock,” BusinessWeek, December 11, 2006

Overwork FAQ and Factsheet Read report

Flexible Work Schedules FAQ and Factsheet Read report

Telework FAQ and Factsheet Read report

Gen-X and Gen-Y FAQ and Factsheet Read report

Workplace Flexibility and Health FAQ and Factsheet Read report

Phased Retirement FAQ and Factsheet Read report

Making Work “Work” – New Ideas from the Winners of the Alfred P. Sloan Awards Read report

Families and Work Institute

Feeling Overworked—When Work Becomes Too Much Read report

Overwork in America Annual Report Read report

Dual-Centric – A New Concept of Work-Life Read report

Workplace Flexibility for Entry-Level Employees Read report

Businss Meeting Etiquette

* BRIEFING SET-UP
o Chose a nice location for the Briefing – must be easy to access
o Briefing Etiquette
+ Be early
+ Dress to impress
+ Bring positive energy & a smile
+ Help set up
+ Check the chairs
+ Make guests comfortable
+ Fill the front rows
+ Sit in with the guests
+ Stay seated
+ Be attentive/take notes
+ Participate/give energy
+ Don’t ask questions or interrupt the speaker during presentation no matter what

o Have sign-in table that everyone signs in on
o Everyone should get a Name tag
+ Blue name tags for the Guests
+ Red for the World Ventures Rep's

o Play upbeat Music before and after the briefing
o Use an LCD projector with the Newest WorldVentures Approved Presentation
o Have a Whiteboard available in the front of the room
o Have a nicely arranged display table showcasing Your Business at Home Magazines and a photo album of Vacations and Acceleration Training
o Make sure the lighting in the room is adequate
o Keep the room cool
o Make sure there are no bright lights on the presentation screen

* AFTER THE BRIEFING
o Help Guests with their decision
o All Red Tags should be talking to all Blue Tags - Not just their own guests!
o Remove negative Guests from the Room
o Bring the completed paperwork to the speaker – announce the new Rep’s name to everyone in the room and give them a hand!
o Encourage guests to stay for quick start training
o Help clean up
* HELP YOUR PRESENTER (Local Rep's)
o Don’t bring them challenges before the briefing
o Show them Honor/Edification with a well planned introduction of their accomplishments
o Carry their bags
o Don’t let them set up
o Bring guests to them AFTER the presentation
o Make sure they have everything they need
+ Water
+ Books/Magazines
* THE MEETING AFTER THE MEETING
o Network with successful reps from other teams
o Bring your journal
o Business dinner etiquette applies
o Pay your tab & tip generousl

Secret to Success: Find winners who are looking for something new...

As we all try to reach out to others to share the WorldVentures business opportunity what most of us do is fail to identify our ideal prospect. I know we all have a different perspective of the ideal prospect but as someone who is real serious about growing as large of an organization as fast as I can I have identified my ideal prospect as a sharp business minded individual who has had significant success in the past but due to conditions outside their control there income opportunities are not as fruitful as they have been historically. As we look in the news we read about mortgage reps being laid off by the tens of thousands, and new home starts are at a 12 year low. To me this means mortgage reps, as well as real estate agents and new home reps could be real open minded to looking at something like World Ventures. This creates enormous opportunity for us to expand our business because it takes just one of these individuals that will lead us to more people who are also used to making a nice income, and are hungry and open minded to getting back there. We know this first hand because mortgage reps have been some of our top producers to date.

Another area that comes to mind is medical and pharmaceutical sales reps. These people have been some of the highest paid reps in the sales profession but recently companies are cutting territories, and doctors are giving these sales professionals less face time which is starting to impact their sales. With drug companies starting to control the incomes of their sales staff, as well as requiring more scientific backgrounds these road warriors are also going to be more open to what we are doing.

But a word of caution some of these people will think they can do this without much training and by themselves. That is a big mistake. Many of their skill sets from their profession will carry over, most of these sales reps think like hunters and a hunters role is to kill. To succeed with WorldVentures you need think like a farmer and think like someone who grows stuff. So although some of your skill sets will carry over others need to be developed. Make sure they listen to the getting started call, go through at least the getting started section of WorldVentures VT as well as complete the "Passport to Success" during your game plan session with your new rep. Also introduce them to your Upline to get them involved with their training process.

Is Network Marketing a Scam

There's a huge difference between network marketing and pyramid schemes. Learn the truth here.

Is Network Marketing Just a Scam?

There's a huge difference between network marketing and pyramid schemes. Learn the truth here.

Q: Some friends continue to try to recruit me into network marketing deals that seem like some type of money game or pyramid. Other friends tell me they're illegal and I'll get into trouble. How do I know what's legal and legitimate?

A: To help you understand what network marketing is, I must first explain what it isn't. First, network marketing isn't a pyramid scheme. Pyramids are programs similar to chain letters where people just invest money based on the promise that other people will put in money that will filtrate back to them and somehow, they'll get rich. A pyramid is strictly a money game and has no basis in real commerce. Normally, there's no product involved at all, just money changing hands. Modern-day pyramids may have a product, but it's clearly there just to disguise the money game.

Network marketing is a legitimate business. First, it's based on providing people with real, legitimate products they need and want at a fair price. While some people do make a lot of money through network marketing, their financial benefit is always the result of their own dedicated efforts in building an organization that sells real products and services.

Pyramids are illegal and are based on taking advantage of people. For a person to actually make money in a pyramid scheme, someone else has to lose money. But in network marketing, each person can multiply his or her efforts, skills and talents by helping others be successful. Network marketing has proved itself as part of the new economy and a preferred way to do business here and around the world.

Network marketing isn't about taking advantage of your friends and relatives. Only a few years ago, network marketing meant retailing to, and sponsoring people from, your "warm list" of prospects. Although sharing the products or services and the opportunity with people you know is still the basic foundation of the business, today we see more people using sophisticated marketing techniques such as the Internet, conference calling and other long-distance sponsoring techniques to extend their network across the country.

Network marketing isn't a get-rich-quick scheme. Of course some people do make large amounts of money very quickly. Many would say those people are lucky. But success in networking isn't based on luck. (Unfortunately, money won't sprout wings and fly into your bank account no matter what someone has promised you.) Success in network marketing is based on following some very basic yet dynamic principles.

Now let's discuss what network marketing is. Network marketing is a serious business for serious people. It's a proven system where the design, creation and expense the corporate team has gone through becomes a road map for your own success. Just follow the simple, proven and duplicable system that the good companies provide.

The real key is this: Network marketing is all about leverage. You can leverage your time and increase the number of hours of work effort on which you can be paid by sponsoring other people and earning a small income on their efforts. J. Paul Getty, who created one of the world's greatest fortunes, said "I would rather make 1 percent on the efforts of 100 people than 100 percent on my own efforts." This very basic concept is the cornerstone of network marketing.

For example, most successful people building a network marketing business do so in an organized method. They work a few dedicated hours each week, with each hour of effort serving as a building block for their long-term business growth. Then they sponsor other people and teach those people how to sell the company product and sponsor others who duplicate the process.

By helping the people you personally sponsor to sponsor others, you duplicate yourself. As this process continues, you create compound growth that can lead to hundreds or even thousands of people coming into your business. You leverage your time by helping others be successful and earn an income from all their efforts.

With network marketing, there are no big capital requirements, no geographical limitations, no minimum quotas required and no special education or skills needed. Network marketing is a low-overhead, homebased business that can actually offer many of the tax advantages associated with owning your own business. Network marketing is a people-to-people business that can significantly expand your circle of friends. It's a business that enables you to travel and have fun as well as enjoy the lifestyle that extra income can provide.

By Michael L. Sheffield

Sharpen your AX?

An experienced lumberjack walked past one of the new
recruits. The new recruit viciously chopped away at the large
tree but only managed to bruise the bark. Seeing the hard work
and wasted effort, the experienced lumberjack said, “Hey, why
don’t you sharpen your ax? It will make you much more
efficient.”

The new recruit answered, “No. I can’t take the time to
sharpen my ax. I’m busy trying to cut down this tree.”
Many new MLM distributors suffer from the “dull ax”
syndrome. They set goals, work hard, but never reach the
success they desire. Why? Because they never took the time to
sharpen their “ax” by learning new, effective skills. These
distributors waste effort, waste resources, and waste their
careers. If only they would take a little time away from their
frenzied futility to learn the skills that would serve them for a
lifetime.

"You need training even
if you get a job at McDonald’s flipping hamburgers. So why not
expect to invest some time and effort in learning new skills for a
career in multilevel marketing?”

Do you own a business or do you own a job?

Do you own a business or do you own a job? It’s an important question every small business owner must answer. The vast majority of small business owners THINK they own their own business, but just the opposite is true.

Here’s how to tell if you REALLY own your own business.

1. Do all business decisions need to be made by you because you tried letting other people make their own decisions and things just got messed up?

2. When people call your business, do they ask for you by name and are immediately connected to you?

3. If you walked away from your business today, would it start to unravel within a matter of weeks?

If you answered yes to ANY of these questions, you don’t own a business, your business owns you.

When you own a businesses and not just a job, it has people in it who are just as serious about its success as you are. And it has systems that are self-sustaining, delivering high-quality work every time, whether you are there or not.

Sound too good to be true? It’s not. This kind of business is the real American Dream!

The Slight Edge by Jeff Olson

When you were a tiny, little child, you made your way around the world on your hands and knees crawling. Everyone around you was walking and one day you got it into your head to give that a try.

So, little by little, you worked on developing the skills you needed to walk. You grabbed on to something above you and pulled yourself upright. You stood up, holding on to a table or chair or big stuffed animal. Wobbly and unsure, you let go, fell down, and tried again and again, until you stood up all by yourself. Then, you took a step.

The older people you watched took one step after another: right foot, left foot, right foot, left ...but you managed only one step-and you crashed.

After days of side-stepping around the coffee table, awkwardly bringing one little foot out from behind the other while you held on to Mom's or Dad's fingers, you eventually took your first couple of steps... all alone...all by yourself...and (hopefully) to the cheers and applause of your family.

Baby steps. One at a time. And you were WALKING!

IN THE PROCESS OF LEARNING HOW TO WALK, you probably spent more time failing than you did succeeding. But did you ever have the thought of quitting? Did you ever tell yourself, "I'm not cut out for walking-guess I'll crawl for the rest of my life?" No, of course you didn't. So, why do you do that now?

What's different today with any goal you want and desire you have for accomplishing anything? When did you lose the ability to make a goal, go for it, and get it? How come you don't do what you did when you were one or two years old?

The answer is alarming, yet simple:

Somewhere along the way in your life, you became unwilling to take baby steps. You lost faith in the universal truth that the simple little disciplines done again and again over time would move the mightiest mountains.

Shakespeare said "to climb steep hills requires slow pace at first," but now you put your trust in achieving breakthroughs...making quantum leaps ...instant this, instant that...hitting the lottery. You began a habit of settling for less, just because more was so far out of your reach. You forgot about the most proven, powerful success philosophy on Earth - "The Slight Edge."

WINNING IS ALWAYS A MATTER OF SLIGHT EDGE. Who can forget that moving moment of triumph in the '94 Olympics when American speed-skater Dan Jansen at last overcame years of discouragement, disappointment, and frustration to finally win the gold medal in the 1000 meters, setting a world record of one minute, 12.43 seconds?

Do you know by how much of a margin Jansen won? Do you know what the difference was between the winning world record gold medal and the virtual oblivion of second place?

Twenty-nine hundredths of a second! That's a very Slight Edge!

No matter where you look, no matter in what area of accomplishment, life, work, or play-the difference between winning and losing, between going down in the record books as first and best...or not at all-the gap that separates success and failure is always measured as ... THE SLIGHT EDGE.

And the best news of all is that it's not just the winning goal that's THE SLIGHT EDGE. The Slight Edge is the process itself that all winners use to achieve their goals.

A PENNY A DAY, DOUBLED FOR A MONTH... If you were offered $1,000,000 (one million dollars) right now, or a penny a day, doubled each day, for one month, which would you choose? Unless you've read this illustration before, like most people, you'll probably choose the right-now million. But you'd be making the wrong choice. One penny, doubled every day for a month adds up to $10,737,418...and 24cents. Compound interest. Leverage. Doubling. Geometric growth. It all adds up-and that's YOUR SLIGHT EDGE.

With THE SLIGHT EDGE, time is on your side. What if you gave yourself five years to become twice the person you are today: to earn twice the income, have twice the personal relationships and contacts, make twice the impact on the world, enjoy twice the quality of life? Could you do it? How would you do it?! Ask yourself honestly, "If I doubled my efforts ...if I had twice as much time...if I became twice as smart.. if I worked twice as hard as I do today ...could I really become twice as productive as I am right now? No, you couldn't, and you know it. But wait! There is a way to become two, three, four, and more times as productive as you are today. THE SLIGHT EDGE.

IF YOU WERE TO IMPROVE just .003 each day- that's only 3/10 of one percent, a very Slight Edge-and you kept that up for the next five years, here's what would happen to you:

The first year, you would improve 100 percent (you would already be twice what you are today The second, you would improve 200 percent. The third year, 400 percent. And the fourth, 800 percent. And by the end of year five-by simply improving 3/10 of one percent each day-you will have magnified your value, your skills, and the results you accomplished 1,600 percent. That's 22 times more than you are today.

Just 3/10 of one percent per day-and that's NOT compounded. That's just adding on 3/10 of one percent each day. That's the awesome power of The Slight Edge. If all of this is so, then why isn't everybody using The Slight Edge? We are. All the time. Everyone. The Slight Edge is always operating. It never stops. It's either working FOR you or AGAINST you. And that's up to you. It's your choice.

THE SLIGHT EDGE IS EASY TO DO-and it is easy not to do. Now, I'm defining EASY here as simply "something you can do." The Slight Edge philosophy is based on doing things that are easy-little disciplines, which, done consistently over time, add up to the biggest accomplishments. The problem is that all those things that are easy to do are just as easy not to do. Why is something easy not to do? Because if you don't do it, it won't kill you today. But, that simple, seemingly insignificant error in judgment, compounded over time, will kill you, destroy you, ruin your chances for success, and demolish your dreams. You can count on it.

Take, for example, the health issue of fat and cholesterol in your diet. Would you say that it's a good idea to eat at least a pound and a half of butter each day? How about drinking a quart of saturated oil? "Hey, my cholesterol's way down to 200-got to get it up above 300." Crazy, right? Sure it is-but millions and millions of people are doing it every day. Why? We know what's good for us: fresh fruit and vegetables, complex carbohydrates like whole grains, unsaturated fats and oils, fish and chicken instead of beef. So why do we keep digging our graves with our teeth? It's easy to eat well-right? It's easy not to-right? And when you eat that hamburger, you won't die, will you? No, of course not. But that simple error in judgment compounded over time will ruin the quality of your life and eventually take you out of your life forever!

If you ate that hamburger and you had a heart attack-would you ever eat another one? No way! Eating a hamburger won't kill you today, but compound all those greasy, dead-animal patties over 10 or 20 years-as many as 5,000 of them!-and one day your clogged-up, stressed- out, overworked ol' heart just quits! It's not the one hamburger, it's the thousands! That one hamburger is just a simple, little error in judgment. But compounded over time, it can and will destroy you. It's easy to do! It's easy not to do! Either way, The Slight Edge is at work and at play. You've got to choose which way to go with The Slight Edge. And here is what makes doing the right thing such a hard choice for most people-

THE ODDS ARE NOT IN YOUR FAVOR!

DID YOU KNOW that only five percent of people succeed and 95 percent of the people fail, no matter what realm of life or work you're looking at. It's true. Just one out of 20 people will ever achieve their goals in life. That's how the numbers crunch out; it's just the way it is. Back in the early 1950s, the Hartford Insurance Company did a survey of 100 brand new college graduates-all approximately 25 years old. They asked them this question:

"Will you achieve your financial goals within your working lives-within 40 years?" Every single one of them answered, "Yes!" Forty years later, in the early 1990s, the Hartford went back and checked out what had happened to all those now-65-years-old people. Here's what they found:

One was wealthy, Four were financially secure, Six were still working, 35 were dead, and 54 were "dead broke," having $200 or less left to spend each month after paying off their bills.

Five out of 100 had become successful. That's only one out of 20. Why? What was missing for those 95 others? The answer has to do with GRAVITY-and the downward pull of life. REMEMBER WHEN YOU WERE in the fourth grade? It was expected that you'd graduate and go on to fifth grade, wasn't it? Your teachers, your parents, and all your classmates expected you to graduate. The whole system was geared to you moving from fourth, to fifth, to sixth grade and so on.

But what if nobody cared whether or not you graduated? What if the entire educational system, our society, and culture had absolutely no interest or expectation that kids would ever graduate to fifth grade? Would you have done it? If the structure were not in place for children to learn all the fourth grade stuff and pass the test, graduating and moving up to the new challenges of fifth grade, only five percent of us would ever do it! Ask yourself this question: Where is the expectation and the structure to support me in being a success in my life and work? The alarming fact is that outside of our formal system of education, which most experts believe to be fatally flawed anyway, there is no expectation and no structure for your success-none. We get what we expect-and only five percent of us ever expects to win and keep on expecting that. Plus, we have no structure, no system to support us succeeding in life. Isn't that heavy? Well, life is heavy. And it's heavy because the predominant force in life is gravity and it's always pulling us DOWN. It pulls 19 out of 20 people DOWN.

The Slight Edge is a success system ANYONE can use to break free of the downward pull of life and become the best you can be. Here's how you can make it work for you- FIRST, DON'T GO "WHERE THE ACTION IS!" Here's a chart you've probably seen before:

ACTIONS > RESULTS> QUALITY OF LIFE

Your ACTIONS create your RESULTS, which in turn create the QUALITY OF LIFE you live and enjoy. Simple, powerful, and true. The problem is, your actions are not the source of your problem. That's why diets don't work. You see, there's another side to the equation, and that's the place where your actions come from.

Take a look at this:

ATTITUDE > Actions > Results > Quality of Life

Your actions are created by your attitudes-but attitudes aren't the heart of the matter, either. There is one thing more fundamental and essential ...Your Philosophy. Your philosophy is your paradigm of the way life is, how life works (or doesn't), and what's the best way to live your life. Simply put, there's nothing more fundamental than your philosophy. Frank Lloyd Wright said this:

No stream rises higher than its source. Whatever man might build could never express or reflect more than he was... He could record neither more nor less than he had learned of life when the buildings were built... His philosophy, true or false, is there.

Human beings are builders by nature. Your philosophy is the foundation upon which you build your life. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus Christ spoke of The Two Foundations. The Master spoke of a wise man who built his house upon the rock:

And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew and burst against that house; and yet it did not fall, for it had been founded upon the rock.

And Christ told of another man-a "foolish man"-who built his house on sand:

And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew and burst against that house; and it fell and great was its fall.

Your philosophy is the source of your failure or success. And the philosophy I recommend you adopt is The Slight Edge.

PHILOSOPHY > Attitude > Actions > Results > Quality of Life

WHAT DO YOU THINK is the key that unlocks The Slight Edge?

When I ask this question in seminars and training, here's the answer I get back most often: "The key is knowledge." To a point, that's correct. But there's more. Educating yourself is the critical ingredient in The Slight Edge philosophy. You must acquire the knowledge you need to master any subject, and pursuit that will contribute to your personal and professional growth and development.

There are three ways for you to get this knowledge:

1) Studied Knowledge
2) Activity Knowledge
3) Modeled Knowledge

STUDIED KNOWLEDGE. Books, tapes, seminars, training; read, listen, and attend everything you can; then, read, listen, and attend some more...study. READ 20 PAGES OF AN INSPIRING, INFORMATION - RICH BOOK EVERY DAY. Pick books that make a contribution to your goals. You're either building someone else's dream or building your own. When you read romance, mystery, or detective novels, whose dream are you building-yours, or the author's and publisher's? When you read Napoleon Hill's Think and Grow Rich-a book that took 20 years to write, that interviews the richest and most successful men and women in the world and reveals their 13 success secrets-whose dream are you building? Read 20 pages per day of an empowering book. Is that easy to do? Sure. And that simple discipline compounded over time, like a penny doubled daily for a month, will send you to the top! Is it easy not to do? SURE. And if you don't do it, will you destroy your life and work today? No way. But that simple error in judgment, compounded over time, will pull you down and take you out of your life!

Listen to a self-improvement cassette tape for 15 minutes every day. You can listen to music on the radio in your car, building Michael Jackson's dream or Barbara Streisand's. Why not choose instead to build your own dreams? Listen to Jim Rohn's tapes. He's a master-and he'll help you build YOUR dreams. Is listening to a tape for 15 minutes a day easy to do? Of course. Is it easy not to do?...And if you don't do it, will that ruin your life right now?...

Do a self-improvement seminar or training every few months.

Better yet, do one every month. Take a course. Take two. If you don't have the time to do that, because you're playing softball every Tuesday and Thursday night, you just don't get it! If your bowling average is over 180-you're losing your Edge, right now! Skip the bowling league. Take a class instead. Is that easy to do?... Is it easy not to do?...And if you don't do it, what will happen today?... But that simple error in judgment, compounded over time WILL kill you! You'll end up a willing participant in the "conspiracy of mediocrity" that 's destroying 95 percent of the people in this country!

ACTIVITY KNOWLEDGE. Life is not a spectator sport-fish or cut bait. Lead, follow, or get out of the way. And life is not a result, either. Life is not the goal-it's the PROCESS. The road to success is always under construction. Marx was wrong: Life is both the ends and the means. Emerson said, "Do the thing and you'll have the power." You can't just go get the power and then do the thing. The only way to have the power is to do it, just do it. People constantly ask me for the key to success. "What's the one thing I can do to guarantee my success?" My answer is always the same: Be here- actively immersed in the process-one year from now. That's the right answer-don't you agree? It's The Slight Edge answer. Commit to the process. The process is THE SLIGHT EDGE. Is it easy to do?... Is it easy not to do?

MODELED KNOWLEDGE. Did you know that your income will tend to be the average of your ten best friends' incomes? (If having more income is a goal of yours, either get new friends or raise the income of the friends you have now!) If you want to raise the quality of your life, hang out with people who have been there and done that. If you want to be a great public speaker, hang out with great speakers. If you want to be a success in business, hang around successful business people. If you want to be a terrific parent, spend lots of time with men and women who have mastered parenting. Do you know why birds of a feather flock together? Because they're all going in the same direction. They share a common vision. If you're after a goal-any goal-go find the people who have achieved that goal, or who are well along the path to attaining that goal, and be with them, hang out with them, camp on their doorstep. It's called the Law of Association. It's a Law because it always works. The first commandment of The Slight Edge:

Thou shalt educate thyself.

Is it easy to do? Is it easy not to do? And if you don't do it, will you fail today? But that simple error in judgment, compounded over time, will ABSOLUTELY, POSITIVELY, GUARANTEE YOUR FAILURE! LEARNING TO LEARN is committing to the process. The Slight Edge is the process.

"The only person who is educated is the one who has learned how to learn." -Carl Rogers Freedom

To make The Slight Edge work for you, you must learn how to learn.

Alvin Toffler, author of Future Shock, wrote:

"Learning is an approach, both to knowledge and to life, that emphasizes human initiative. It encompasses the acquisition and practice of new methodologies, new skills, new attitudes, and new values necessary to live in a world of change. Learning is a process of preparing to deal with new situations."

Clearly, we live in a world of change. Constant change. Rapid change. Today, we accomplish in five years what our grandparents and parents took 50 years to do. And everything is getting faster! Learning to learn is a mandatory for success today-and especially for tomorrow. Learning to learn is committing to the process. The Slight Edge is the process. Learning to learn is a choice. You make that choice moment to moment-not just once and then you're done with it for the rest of your life. Each new moment will present you with a new choice. Choose to read 20 pages a day-and you'll have to make that choice every day. Choose to model and associate with winners-and you'll have to make that choice every day as well. You have to choose to make The Slight Edge work for you-moment to moment.

IS IT EASY TO DO?

IS IT EASY NOT TO DO?

"The Four Hour Workweek" Stats

The Top 10 Stats To Know: You Are Not Alone

63% of all employees want to work less, up from 46% in 1992 [1].

26% of adult Americans report being on the verge of a serious nervous breakdown [2].

40% of workers describe their office environment as “most like a real-life survivor program [3].”

Only 14% of Americans take two weeks or more at a time for vacation [4]. The average American therefore spends more time in the bathroom than on vacation.

61% of Americans check email while on vacation [5].

53% of employees would opt for a personal assistant rather than personal trainer [6].

62% of workers routinely end the day with work-related neck pain, 44% report strained eyes, 38% complain of hand pain, and 34% report difficulty in sleeping due to work-related stress [7].

88% of employees say they have a hard time juggling work and life [8].

70% of working fathers and working mothers report they don’t have enough time for their children [9].

In 2005, a psychiatrist at King’s College in London administered IQ tests to three groups: the first did nothing but perform the IQ test, the second was distracted by e-mail and ringing phones, and the third was stoned on marijuana. Not surprisingly, the first group did better than the other two by an average of 10 points. The e-mailers, on the other hands, did worse than the stoners by an average of 6 points [10].

*Unending Workweek Growth and Burnout

Compared to 1970, American managers are working an additional month per year [11].

Americans are working more hours than any time since the 1920s. 63% of Americans log more than 40 hours per week at the office, and 40% log more than 50 hours per week [12].

Turnover rates among mid-level associates in New York City law firms is 36%. The entire system is predicated on burnout [13].

62% of workers routinely end the day with work-related neck pain, 44% report strained eyes, 38% complain of hand pain, and 34% report difficulty in sleeping due to work-related stress [14].

In total hours, the average middle-income family works four months more than in 1979 [15].

People work approximately 8 weeks longer per year than in 1969—in the space of a single generation—but for roughly the same income (after adjusting for inflation) [16]

40% of employees work overtime or bring work home with them at least once a week [17].

*E-mail Addiction and Information Overload

66% of people read email seven days a week and expect to receive a response the same day [18].

61% continue to check email while on vacation [19].

56% have anxiety if they can't access email [20].

“Crackberry” was the official winner of the 2006 Word-of-the-Year as selected by the editorial staff of Webster's New World College Dictionary. Blackberry addiction has been labeled “similar to drugs” in a study performed by Rutgers University; millions of users are now able unable to go more than five minutes without checking e-mail.

According to online surveys of more than 4,000 people, conducted jointly by AOL and the Opinion Research Corporation and reported in 2005:

41% of Americans check e-mail first thing in the morning

18% check e-mail right after dinner

14% check e-mail right when they get home from work

14% check e-mail right before they go to bed

40% have checked their e-mail in the middle of the night

More than one in four (26%) say they can't go more than two to three days without checking email, and they check it everywhere:

In bed - 23%

In class - 12%

In business meetings - 8%

At the beach or pool - 6%

In the bathroom - 4%

While driving - 4%

In church - 1%

Being “e-mailed” (like blackmailed) worse than being stoned?

In 2005, a psychiatrist at King’s College in London administered IQ tests to three groups: the first did nothing but perform the IQ test, the second was distracted by e-mail and ringing phones, and the third was stoned on marijuana. Not surprisingly, the first group did better than the other two by an average of 10 points. The e-mailers, on the other hands, did worse than the stoners by an average of 6 points [21].

*The USA vs. the World

Average Annual Vacation Days

Italy 42

France 37

Germany 35

Brazil 34

Britain 28

Canada 26

Japan 25

USA 13

Is it any wonder that US Bureau of Labor Statistics tracks just about everything but worker satisfaction?

Americans work 137 more hours per year than Japanese workers, 260 more hours per year than British workers, and 499 more hours per year than French workers [22].

The Japanese document approximately 10,000 cases per year of "death by overwork," or karoosh [23]. Considering the above stats, what must the undocumented US numbers be??

The US is the only nation in the industrialized world with no minimum paid-leave laws. European law provides each worker with 4-5 weeks per year of paid-leave.

Nonetheless, Europe has had a higher productivity rate than the U.S. for 14 out of the 19 years between 1981 and 2000 [24]. More just isn’t better.

*The Coming Extinction of Vacation

26% of Americans take no vacations at all [25].

Only 14% of Americans take two weeks or more at a time for vacation [26]. The average American therefore spends more time in the bathroom than on vacation.

American workers get an average of 8.1 days of vacation after one year on the job, and 10.2 days after three years [27]. At that rate of growth (25.9%), you won’t even break three weeks after 12 years on the job.

Employees hand their companies more than $21 billion in unused vacation days each year [28].

*Work-Life Imbalance and the Disappearing Family

57% of the class of 1999 graduating business students in 11 countries said that attaining work-life balance is their top career goal [29].

32% percent of workers cited work-life balance as the top priority in their careers, followed by job security at 22% and competitive salary at 18% [30].

How are they actually doing?

88% of employees say they have a hard time juggling work and life [31].

70% of working fathers and working mothers report they don’t have enough time for their children [32].

64% of Americans report that time pressures on working families are getting worse, not better [33]..

*What Happens When Employees Work Whenever and Wherever They Want?

By the end of 2007, all 4,000 staffers at Best Buy headquarters will be on ROWE (Results-Only Work Environment), which permits them to work whenever and wherever they want. So, what happens when smart companies realize that work isn't a place where you go, but something that you do? That performance should be based on output and not hours?

Average Rise In Worker Productivity Since 2005: 35%

Average Change in Voluntary Turnover (Quitting) Across Divisions: -72.3% [34]

Sun Microsystems Inc. calculates that it saves $300 million per year in real estate costs by allowing nearly 50% of employees to work anywhere they want.

If your company won’t wake up, you’ll just have to speed the process by firing their asses or outsmarting them.

Back to top

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[1] “Feeling Overworked: When Work Becomes Too Much,” The Families and Work Institute, 2001

[2] American Psychologist, 2000

[3] USAToday.com, Jan. 1, 2004

[4] The Families and Work Institute

[5] eRoi Email Addiction Survey, Oct. 17, 2006

[6] Circles, 2001

[7] Integra Survey, 2000

[8] Aon Consulting, 2000

[9] Family Matters Survey; The National Partnership for Women & Families, 1998

[10] “Can’t Get No Satisfaction,” New York Magazine, Dec. 4, 2006

[11] "Why Are We Eager To Work Longer Hours?" 2000, In JAP; Loyola University Chicago

[12] Expedia.com Customer Poll

[13] “Can’t Get No Satisfaction,” New York Magazine, Dec. 4, 2006

[14] Integra Survey, 2000

[15] “Washington to Nation: Drop Dead on the Job,” Alternet, June 20, 2003

[16] “Work, Stress, and Health,” National Institute for Occupational Safety & Health Conference, 1999

[17] “Shifts in Work and Home Life Boundaries,” Xylo Report, 2000

[18] eRoi Email Addiction Survey, Oct. 17, 2006

[19] eRoi Email Addiction Survey, Oct. 17, 2006

[20] eRoi Email Addiction Survey, Oct. 17, 2006

[21] “Can’t Get No Satisfaction,” New York Magazine, Dec. 4, 2006

[22] ILO Report

[23] “Washington to Nation: Drop Dead on the Job,” Alternet, June 20, 2003

[24] U.S. Federal Reserve Board

[25] Boston College Survey

[26] The Families and Work Institute

[27] The Bureau of Labor Statistics

[28] Expedia.com Survey Calculations

[29] Price Waterhouse Coopers Survey, 2000

[30] Office Team Specialized Administrative Staffing Survey, 2002

[31] Aon Consulting, 2000

[32] Family Matters Survey; The National Partnership for Women & Families, 1998

[33] The National Partnership for Women & Families Family Matters Survey, 1998

[34] "Smashing The Clock,” BusinessWeek, December 11, 2006

Overwork FAQ and Factsheet Read report

Flexible Work Schedules FAQ and Factsheet Read report

Telework FAQ and Factsheet Read report

Gen-X and Gen-Y FAQ and Factsheet Read report

Workplace Flexibility and Health FAQ and Factsheet Read report

Phased Retirement FAQ and Factsheet Read report

Making Work “Work” – New Ideas from the Winners of the Alfred P. Sloan Awards Read report

Families and Work Institute

Feeling Overworked—When Work Becomes Too Much Read report

Overwork in America Annual Report Read report

Dual-Centric – A New Concept of Work-Life Read report

Workplace Flexibility for Entry-Level Employees Read report

Reasons for failure

The truth is, anyone can make a fortune in network marketing if they really want to. Yes the industry has a failure rate of 90% or more, and almost everyone knows someone who was in NM but didnt make any money.

However, the reasons for the high failure are lack of training and skills, and lack of belief in succeeding. And honestly, some people are just plain lazy. Doesn't everyone know people who would love to be rich if the lottery made them that way, but they are not willing to do what it takes to be successful themselves?

If someone joins a company to "give it a shot" or "see how it works out" they don't have the right mindset and almost certainly will quickly drop out. Another thing is poor people tend to take advice and listen to other poor people. Why would someone ask their Uncle Bob or Aunt Sue what their opinion is of NM when they buy lottery tickets and live pay check to pay check?

Network Marketing - It's an Asset, Not a Job

I am sometimes asked, "Why do so few people make it to the top of their network marketing system?" The truth is, the top of the network marketing system is open to everyone — unlike traditional corporate systems, which allow only one person to reach the top of the company. The reason most people do not reach the top is simply because they quit too soon. So why would someone quit short of the top? Most people join only to make money. If they don't make money in the first few months or years, they become discouraged and quit (and then often bad-mouth the industry!). Others quit and go looking for a company with a better compensation plan, but joining to make a few quick dollars is not the reason to get into the business.

The Two Essential Reasons to Join a Network Marketing Business

Reason number one is to help yourself. Reason number two is to help others. If you join for only one of these two reasons, then the system will not work for you. Reason number one, means that you come to the business primarily to change quadrants — to change from the E (Employee) or the S (Self-employed) quadrant to the B (Business owner) or I (Investor) quadrant.

E (Employee)

Trades Hours for Money

S (Self-Employed)

Trades Time for Money

B (Business Owner)

Builds Assets for Long-Term Return

I (Investor)

Invests in Assets for Long-Term Return

This change is normally very difficult for most people — because of money. The true 'E' or 'S' quadrant person will not work unless it is for money. This is also what causes people to not reach the top of the network marketing system: they want money more than they want to change quadrants. 'B' quadrant or 'I' quadrant person will also work for money, but in a different way. The 'B' quadrant person works to build or create an asset — in this case, a business system. The 'I' quadrant person invests in the asset or the system. As a 'B' or an 'I', sometimes you don't get paid for years; this, a true 'E' quadrant or 'S' quadrant person will not do. It's not part of their core values. Risk and delayed gratification disturb them emotionally.

Delayed Gratification and Emotional Intelligence

One of the beauties of network marketing is that it focuses on developing your emotional intelligence as well as your business skills. Emotional intelligence is an entirely different matter from academic intelligence. In general, someone with high emotional intelligence will often do better than someone
with high academic intelligence but low emotional intelligence. That explains, in part, why some people do well in school but not so well in the real world. The ability to delay gratification is a sign of higher emotional intelligence. In a recent study of emotional intelligence, it was found that people who could delay gratification often led more successful lives than those who could not. This is why the educational system inherent in a good network marketing opportunity is so important. It's the emotional education or emotional intelligence aspect of their programs that I find so valuable for people. Many people write me and tell me they loved my book, Rich Dad, Poor Dad, but I fear that many of them don't get the most important point of the book: Lesson #1, "The rich don't work for money." Once I have built or bought an asset, that asset works hard to make money for me. But I will not work for money — I will work only to build or buy assets. Those assets make me richer and richer, while I work less and less. That is what the rich do. The poor and middle class work hard for money, and then buy liabilities instead of investing in assets.

What Kind of Asset is a Network Marketing Business?

Remember, there are two reasons to be successful in network marketing: to help yourself, and to help others. Reason number one means helping yourself get to the 'B' side of the quadrant. What about reason number two? The beauty of most network marketing systems is that you don't really make much money unless you help others leave the 'E' and 'S' quadrants and succeed in the 'B' and 'I' quadrants. If you focus on helping others make this shift, then you will be successful in the business. If you only want to teach yourself to be a 'B' quadrant and 'I' quadrant person, then
a true network marketing system won't work for you. You may as well go to a traditional business school, which focuses only on your becoming a 'B' quadrant person. The beauty of a network marketing business is that your goal is to create assets, which are other 'B's working under you — and their job is to create other 'B's working under them. In traditional business, the focus is for the 'B' to have only 'E's and 'S's working for them. The type of business I was taught to build is a business with me at the top and 'E's and 'S's at the base. I really don't have room at the top for many other 'B's, which is why in my businesses, I strongly recommend that all my employees look into network marketing as their own part-time business. The traditional corporate system really is a pyramid, because there are a few 'B's and 'I's near the top, and more 'E's and 'S's at the base. Network marketing is a reverse pyramid: its primary focus is to bring more and more 'B's to the top. One type of pyramid, the traditional type, has its base on the ground; the other type has its base in the air. It's a pyramid that pulls you up instead of pushing you down. A network marketing business gives everyone access to what used to be the domain only of the rich.

Robert Kiyosaki is the author of the best sellers Rich Dad, Poor Dad; Rich Dad's CASHFLOW
Quadrant; Rich Dad's Guide to Investing; and Rich Kid, Smart Kid. USA Today called Rich Dad,
Poor Dad "a starting point for anyone looking to gain control of their financial future

By Robert Kiyosaki