At least, that is what happened to me yesterday.

To be honest, I feel the economic pressure.  Too many of my shortterm insurance clients lost the financial battle and I battle to replace the lost income.  I feel depressed for my clients and I feel very despondent about myself working very hard just to keep my position.  In fact, yesterday morning I felt very sorry for myself.  Not a good place to be.

And then I got an email that reminded me that Bill Gates and Warren Buffett and Richard Branson (the last two definitely on my hero list) did not start out with a lot of money.  In fact, almost no billionaire did.  So I did not really relate to those guys, they are too far removed from me.

But I can relate to a couple of other guys that I know.  In fact, I know one or two who had to start fresh on the wrong side of zero.  I am far from that.  But once again, I also had to start from scratch, or almost scratch, before, and look where I am now.  And I am working on it.  I am learning. Tomorrow I attend a wealth seminar.  There are positives!

And that is when I told myself I should not allow the negative news and negativity surrounding me get to me.  I must just keep on doing what I am doing.  I get impatient, because I have not achieved my goals for 2011.  But I am still doing a lot better than the clients who lost their businesses!  I feel depressed, because I will not be financially free when I planned to be.  But, what the hell, I enjoy what I am doing!  I enjoy servicing my shortterm insurance clients.  And they appreciate it.  I love teaching people about property investments (I hope they appreciate it, too).  Why would I get depressed if I have to wait a year or two longer to be able to say:  I have reached my goal!  Its not as if I planned to stop working!

And, although I will not expand my property portfolio this year, I still have it and it is still working.

And I share this with you, in the hope that, if you also feel despondent and like throwing in the towel, like I did yesterday morning, this post will have the same effect on you as the reminder:  almost all billionaires started with nothing.  And the road to the top is never level or downhill.

Focus on the big picture and the positives! Have a very good day.

 That is why the saying says: if you want things to change, you have to change! For things to change, you have to do it differently. To do it differently, you have to think differently!

 I hope you agree with that! And that was the introduction!

 When we look at financial freedom and retirement, we normally get only one swing! There is not a repeat. So finding out if the swing we are using is working or not is not so easy. It is make or break. So how do you know that the plan you have for retirement is working or not? Rather important question, this! Do you even HAVE a retirement plan?

 Anyway, how do you know you will be able to retire?

 First step, look at the results from the time you started to the present moment. What have you put in and what is it worth. What can you do with what you currently have? If I can get back to the golf swing, it is not only the moment of impact that determines the flight of the ball, it is the back swing, the down swing and the follow through. Or as somebody told me a long time ago when I took up position behind the ball, you will slice it, I can see from the way you STAND. In other words, the end result is always determined by the sum of all our small actions! And that is why you need to look at your plan and benchmark it as you go along.

 Answer this: I am satisfied with my retirement plan, because …

 You will not get a second swing, but you can look at other people who went before you! What happened to other people who followed the same plan that you are following? Who was successful? What did they do and how does it compare to what you are doing? Are you doing exactly the same? Will it work for you?

 What about people who failed? What did they do? How does your plan differ from what they did?

 Why do I write this post? Because I think too many of us are too optimistic! We think we have the PLAN, when in fact, we are heading over the cliff like a bunch of lemmings! We read and hear about 95% of the population not being able to retire, and we think we are part of the 5%, but there are no facts to substantiate the optimism! When we investigate, we find we are repeating everything that the people who failed did. But we just keep on with the same old thing, and another lemming goes over the cliff, but we just follow in good faith!  We don’t ask what happened to the lemming before us, we just assume he knew the way.  And there goes another lemming, and you are next …

 Insanity is repeating the same action, expecting a different result! How many sane people are there?