How I Turned $100 Into Millions Using The M.O.R.E. Method – Forbes
Posted: October 15, 2019 at 11:48 pm
$100. It doesnt seem like much, but it was all I needed to motivate myself to ultimately make millions as an entrepreneur.
Does that sound like an exaggeration? Its not, absolutely. The reality is millions of would-be entrepreneurs never make as much is $100. For me, making that first $100 represented crossing a threshold.
LightRocket via Getty Images
A small one, yes, but a necessary one on the way toward reaching progressively larger goals. After all, you have to start somewhere, and $100 did it for me.
Youve Already Made $100 and It Didnt Do Anything For You Now What?
I completely get it. $100 doesnt buy a lot these days, and it certainly isnt life-changing. It doesnt mean youre rich, and it wont come close to guaranteeing you a comfortable retirement.
If you have a job, youve already made $100 many times over. You probably earn several times that amount in a single week. You already know it doesnt amount to the equivalent of a car payment or even a weeks worth of groceries. Mostly, its just pocket change.
So why is $100 so important to me?
My journey toward building wealth started when I read Robert Kyosakis eye-opening book, Rich Dad, Poor Dad. If youre not familiar with the book and I consider it to be recommended reading Kyosaki chronicles the differences between his real dad, and another man he informally adopted as a dad.
His real dad spent most of his life doing little more than paying bills. He never accumulated a substantial amount of money, and struggled throughout his life. His real dad was his poor dad in the book.
But his adopted dad his rich dad figured out how to make money work for him early in life, and became a truly wealthy man.
Kyosaki used the comparison between the two dads to show how the average person follows the path of his real dad. That is, theyre trained to go to college, get a job, and begin acquiring the trappings of middle-class life. Unlike his rich dad, they dont learn the secrets of money, particularly how to leverage it to work for them.
Rich Dad, Poor Dad challenges us to change our mindset when it comes to money. It teaches us we can learn to master money and grow it by following the example of Kyosakis rich dad. But its a choice, and one we have to consciously embrace making.
Rich Dad, Poor Dad Was Just the Beginning
Rich Dad, Poor Dad is a classic book when it comes to creating the motivation to build wealth. However, it stopped short of giving you a specific roadmap to show you how to get from where you are to where you want to be.
But all journeys begin with proper motivation, and the book certainly gave that to me. It stimulated a desire to experiment with different businesses and money-making ideas. Ultimately, you have to find what it is that works for you. This takes a healthy dose of trial and error, as well as a willingness to fail, then get back up and try again.
Success consists of going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm. Winston Churchill
The problem for most people, as it was for me as well, is you dont know where to start. That can lead to paralysis by analysis, where you get trapped inside your own head, and fail to take action.
Fear is another obstacle. Theres no doubt when you step out and try something new, the risk of failure is a constant traveling companion. It can lead to loss of time, money, credibility with your peers, and even self-esteem.
Put another way, the emotional aspects of taking the chances necessary to create wealth leads most people to not even try.
The only way to overcome the paralysis and fear factors is by moving forward, one step at a time.
The M.O.R.E. Method to Building Wealth
As I began my journey into wealth building, I began to notice there were certain things I did that produced positive results. Whats more, I saw the same pattern with others who were either already wealthy, or well on their way.
It was from those patterns I hatched the M.O.R.E. concept. Its made up of the following components (Im sure youll excuse me for the fact that some letters in M.O.R.E. have more than one category!):
M #1: Mentor
This is about finding people who are already at the place you want to be. The goal is to find such people, get to know them, and find out what it is they do that leads them to success. Its a way of finding proven strategies from people who have actually done them. The alternative is to waste a lot of time, effort, and money trying to reinvent the wheel on your own. A mentor eliminates that long and painful process.
Mentoring is a great opportunity to deliver a rewarding and potentially life-changing experience for both the mentor and the mentee, reports Forbes Contributor, Mary Abbajay. It is one of the most important things a person can do to enhance their career and professional life. It takes time and commitment, but it is well worth the effort. Whether you are the mentor or the mentee, its a win-win for your career.
You dont need to know a successful person to make him or her your mentor. Robert Kyosaki was my first mentor, and Ive never met him. But by reading his books and following his work, he became an unknowing mentor to me.
You can do the same with other successful people. With the Internet, its easier to do than ever. Most popular wealth building people also have websites. There you can get access to additional information and resources. You may even have an opportunity for direct contact through email. Think of it as a start until youre able to connect with successful entrepreneurs on a face-to-face basis.
M #2: Mastermind Group
This is nothing more complicated than hooking up with a group of people who have similar interests and goals, and meeting with them regularly. Apart from sharing goals, it also works as an accountability group. That is, you hold each other accountable for the goals each of you sets.
Having people around to call on when you need it is one of the soundest investments you can make, Forbes Contributor Sarah Kathleen Peck says of mastermind groups. These are people you can call on to help you talk through tough decisions, and people whose businesses and lives you become a part of.
If youve never been part of a mastermind group, the accountability piece can seem a bit scary. But thats really the point whenever youre embarking on a new course in life you need to surround yourself with people who will help you work around obstacles and keep you from quitting.
But mastermind groups arent just about compelling you move forward. Theyre also an opportunity for you to share your successes with the group. Just as the successes of others will help you, your own victories will help the other members of the group.
When I joined a mastermind group early in my career, it led to exponential growth of my business and my income. Its the natural outcome of surrounding yourself with other successful, high achieving entrepreneurs. I was able to go to these people with my problems, and get insights and strategies on how to overcome them. Thats an advantage you cant put a price on.
O #1: Open an Investment Account
You can build wealth through your business or your career, but the accumulation really kicks into high gear only when you begin investing. Once you do, you begin earning money on your money, while youre busy with your primary occupation. Ultimately, it provides you with income from two sources your career and your portfolio.
You may already have an investment account, so Im addressing the O in M.O.R.E. to those who dont. And many dont, for all kinds of reasons. They may be waiting until they make more money, have more money, get out of debt, or for some other event.
A very common obstacle to investing is a lack of knowledge. But dont let that stop you either. Like everything else you do in life, investing is something you learn as you go. And with the many investment options there are today, particularly mutual funds and robo-advisors, you dont need to know anything at all about investing to get started.
When it comes to investing, youll need to pull the trigger sooner or later, and sooner is always better. You always learn more by taking action than researching the action you need to take!
Dont underestimate this step. Once you get started, investing is just a matter of scaling up your activity. This means adding money to your portfolio, and spreading it across the most productive asset classes, if only gradually. The sooner you start, the more time youll have the build wealth and gain experience.
No matter what your financial situation is right now, or what obstacles you face, open an investment account and get started.
O #1: Opening Your Personal Equity Fund
You may already have a savings account, like an emergency fund or a rainy day fund, but this is something completely different.
A personal equity fund is a savings account youre going to funnel money into on a regular basis for the sole purpose of investing in yourself.
Investing in yourself could be buying a course that will help you improve your career or business. It can also be hiring a business or career coach, or even joining a coaching program. It can also be something as simple as buying more how-to books or subscribing to a membership community that will help you either build your business or your investment portfolio.
The purpose of a personal equity fund is to remove the cost factor from the equation. If you need any information to grow your business or improve your investment performance, youll already have the money available. In this way, youll change your mindset and stop thinking of investing in yourself as being some sort of expense.
When it comes to investing in yourself, its important to get past the cost factor, and focus more on the much greater financial benefit youll gain. Its part of embracing a mentality of abundance, rather than scarcity.
When starting a business, you can either commit money or time to your project, explains Benjamin Brandt, CFP at Capital City Wealth Management, Inc, in Bismarck, ND, and host of the popular retirement podcast, Retirement Starts Today. If youre like most aspiring business owners, you dont have unlimited funds and youll need to bootstrap all aspects of your budding business. Fortunately for you, YouTube, blogs, and podcasts are available to teach anyone any topic from the comfort of your own home and generally for no cost.
R: Research
Whatever direction youre going to take your business or your investments, youll need to do plenty of research to help you get there. No one is born knowing exactly what to do its always a learning process.
Research will help you in developing and launching a product, an online course, an e-commerce store, or any income generating venture you come up with.
Research can involve using some of your personal equity fund to buy resources, like courses and programs that will help you with your venture. But it may also be something as simple as joining a Facebook group with people who are already on the same track. Youll need to do extensive research if youre looking to improve on an already existing product or service, and even more so if youre looking to launch something totally new.
But it has to be research with boundaries. I say this because its very possible to research too much.
One of the revelations that hit me in my business career is I dont have to know everything I just have to know enough to get started now.
This process is sometimes referred to as just in time learning.
For example, lets say you want to create a course on how to learn swimming. You dont need to first learn how to market on Facebook. You first need to create your course, then youll learn how to market on Facebook later. Put another way, youll learn what you need when you need it. If you try to learn everything before you even get started, youll probably never start.
Which is an excellent segue into the last part of my M.O.R.E. strategy
E: Execute and Enjoy
This can be the scariest part of the whole process, but you need to be ready to take whatever your plans are and put them out there into the real world. And you need to do it even if you dont think youre completely ready.
Youll never know if a business idea will be successful until you actually put it in motion. That will help you to know if you need to modify the idea, or even scrap it completely.
That was my experience when I launched my blog, Good Financial Cents. I hardly knew what blogging was, but I had a financial story to tell, and I wanted to get it out there. Without a doubt, I didnt know nearly what I needed to in order to make the blog a success. But by getting started by executing I put myself out there, and gradually learned what I needed to know. That idea alone has earned me several million dollars.
That brings me back to the seemingly insignificant $100. It took nine months for the blog to finally earn as much as $100. In fact, the actual payment received from Google Adsense was $152.91.
To many, that doesnt seem like enough compensation for nine months of work. But for me, I knew if I could earn that much, I would eventually turn it into so much more. And I did, and all because I earned that first $100+.
Final Thoughts
Dont underestimate the power of earning your first $100. If you plan to launch a business venture, this will be a pivotal moment. Remember once again most people who launch business ventures never make that much. They then give up, never to try again.
Launch a side hustle, with the goal of making your first $100. I promise you, youll be surprised at how empowering that achievement will be. Youll have created an income source that previously didnt exist. And youll know if you can make that much, you can make a lot more.
Creating wealth is really about getting started, making a little bit of money, then multiplying your success. Once you master the concept, you can take it as far as you want. And thats the whole purpose of the M.O.R.E. strategy.
Use it, and I promise youll get there faster than you ever dreamed.
See the original post:
How I Turned $100 Into Millions Using The M.O.R.E. Method - Forbes
- Personal Branding: The Key to Success in the Digital Age - Entrepreneur - December 26th, 2020
- Duckworth on Education: Teach With Your Hands Behind Your Back - EMSWorld - December 26th, 2020
- Robert Rodriguez: Why the Sharkboy and Lavagirl movies are so personal - Polygon - December 26th, 2020
- The 10 Launch Experts to Watch in 2021 - GlobeNewswire - December 26th, 2020
- Cal Thomas: Gifts that keep on giving - Winston-Salem Journal - December 26th, 2020
- Gifts that keep on giving | Columns | times-news.com - Cumberland Times-News - December 26th, 2020
- Got 10 Minutes? Here's How 3 Stock Investors Suggest Getting Started in 2021 - The Daily Progress - December 26th, 2020
- 'Enable the Success of the Business:' How SOSi's General Counsel Gregory Hayken Helps Grow the Company - WashingtonExec - December 26th, 2020
- Dallas has a new top cop, and now its up to us to help him succeed - The Dallas Morning News - December 26th, 2020
- Business With The Partner: How To Reach Success And Not To Lose Everything - Corporate/Commercial Law - Ukraine - Mondaq News Alerts - December 26th, 2020
- Introduce Investing to Teenagers With This Perfect Stock Sampler - Kearney Hub - December 26th, 2020
- Corcoran Global Living Welcomes Better Choice Real Estate Team in Ongoing Southern California Growth - GlobeNewswire - December 22nd, 2020
- Mozzaz and Giupedi, LLC Sign Strategic Partnership for Workers Compensation and Personal Injury Clinical Care Coordination - The Wellsboro Gazette - December 22nd, 2020
- Twitters POTUS account will reportedly be reset to zero followers when Biden takes over - TechCrunch - December 22nd, 2020
- Apex: Focused on the Personal Trainer | ClubIndustry - Club Industry - December 22nd, 2020
- Scholarships from the SPSCC Foundation Help to Ensure Student Success - ThurstonTalk - December 22nd, 2020
- The Best Books Of 2020, According To Moira Forbes - Forbes - December 22nd, 2020
- It Took Disney's Bob Iger Only 1 Sentence to Give the Best Advice You'll Hear Today - Inc. - December 22nd, 2020
- Opinion: A 'strong mayor' is not the answer to Austin's challenges - Austin American-Statesman - December 22nd, 2020
- Taylor Swift Scores Second No. 1 Album Of 2020 With Evermore - Deadline - December 22nd, 2020
- Remembering the startups we lost in 2020 - TechCrunch - December 22nd, 2020
- Texas A&M Team Competes In Final Phase Of GoFly Challenge - Texas A&M University Today - December 22nd, 2020
- Retirement And Investing Lessons From My Grandfather - Forbes - December 22nd, 2020
- Stimulus Update: The Good And The Bad Of The $900 Billion Plan - Forbes - December 22nd, 2020
- CNET's 2020 Innovation Award winners made things better during a difficult year - CNET - December 22nd, 2020
- Firstrade investing review: Pros, cons, and who should open an account - Business Insider - December 22nd, 2020
- Our building is tipping staff 25% extra due to COVID-19. My husband wants to maintain this in 2021. I disagree. What should we do? - MarketWatch - December 22nd, 2020
- Bar Talk with Eric Bartosz: Are You the Best Version of Yourself? - Saucon Source - November 22nd, 2020
- Curry says job fair for homeless received higher turnout than expected - The Owensboro Times - November 22nd, 2020
- Grit and grace: Cindy McCain winner of 2020 Arizona Heritage Award - Chamber Business News - November 22nd, 2020
- Nominees and Finalist for School Counselor of the Year Hail From Coral Springs and Parkland - Parkland Talk - Parkland Talk - November 22nd, 2020
- Twitter will give @POTUS account to Joe Biden on Inauguration Day - WNEP Scranton/Wilkes-Barre - November 22nd, 2020
- A year after 'Voice' success, Ricky Duran is ready to start with new single, 'She Closed Her Eyes' - Worcester Telegram - November 22nd, 2020
- The secret to Tiger Woods success was revealed in these 2 remarkable... - Golf.com - November 22nd, 2020
- Tech 24 - Jolimoi: The success story of a French beauty startup - FRANCE 24 - November 22nd, 2020
- The Legend of Billy Hayes Lives on through Hemp, Inc.'s CBG Pre-Rolls - GlobeNewswire - November 22nd, 2020
- Spartanburg groups tackle raising money during the COVID-19 pandemic - Spartanburg Herald Journal - November 22nd, 2020
- Elizabeth Holmes wants to block jurors from hearing about her luxurious lifestyle as Theranos CEO - MSN Money - November 22nd, 2020
- Lakewoods Georgetown finds success with heated igloos; owners adding more outdoor amenities to Around The Co - cleveland.com - November 22nd, 2020
- Mark Wagoner to step down as executive chairman of Lucas County Republican Party at end of year - WTOL - November 22nd, 2020
- Portland woman receives national attention for weight loss - The Portland Sun - August 29th, 2020
- Live updates: Jacob Blake shooting and the March on Washington - CNN - August 29th, 2020
- RNC 2020 final night winners and losers: Trump, Black Republicans, the NBA, and riots - Vox.com - August 29th, 2020
- Here's the secret to getting 'It' done - Highlands Ranch Herald - August 29th, 2020
- After reflection, NBA players believe they can turn ideas to end social injustice into demands if they play on - The Boston Globe - August 29th, 2020
- Push Through: Former Mohawk standout penning motivational book - The Pioneer - August 29th, 2020
- J. Alexander Martin a Fashion Mogul Behind One of the Most Successful Urban Brands Releases New Book Building An Empire - GlobeNewswire - August 29th, 2020
- PLYMOUTH 50-for-50: All the stars aligned for Plymouth-Carver boys soccer on its run to state title in 1986 - Milford Daily News - August 29th, 2020
- What Kinds of Jobs Can You Get with a History Degree? - Seaver Blog | Pepperdine Seaver College - Pepperdine University Newsroom - August 29th, 2020
- Black Spartacus by Sudhir Hazareesingh review the epic life of Toussaint Louverture - The Guardian - August 29th, 2020
- Teachers Felt Less Successful During the Spring School Closures, Survey Finds - Education Week - August 27th, 2020
- The Democratic convention went off without hitches. But was it a success? - The Guardian - August 27th, 2020
- PM Modis success owes to his striking a chord with people, not because there isnt anyone to challenge him - The Indian Express - August 27th, 2020
- Four Takeaways From The Masters Fitness Collective Championships - Morning Chalk Up - August 27th, 2020
- Here are the highlights from Night 3 of the Republican National Convention - CNBC - August 27th, 2020
- Continuing the Conversation - Cashmere Valley Record - August 27th, 2020
- Three New Endowments Created Thanks to Henderson's $300000 Gift - University of Arkansas Newswire - August 27th, 2020
- Stanford to bar students on leaves of absence from VSOs despite remote learning - The Stanford Daily - August 27th, 2020
- COVID-19: Pandemic could have a lasting, positive impact on workplace culture - KitchenerToday.com - August 27th, 2020
- The Personal Rule of Success That Warren Buffett Swears By - Inc. - July 2nd, 2020
- Iredell Health System recognized as one of the area's healthiest employers - Statesville Record & Landmark - July 2nd, 2020
- Real and virtual: Garrett Lowe thrives in personal version of The Double - NASCAR - July 2nd, 2020
- Orange Watch: Who could succeed John Swofford as ACC commissioner? - The Juice Online - July 2nd, 2020
- Want to be a successful inventor? Use these ideas to help - AZ Big Media - July 2nd, 2020
- Five advices from Warren Buffett that can help you win and succeed in business and personal life - Times Now - July 2nd, 2020
- New Leadership Series Examines How Female Leaders Are Finding Success & Leading Their Business Now and into the Future - wineindustryadvisor.com - July 2nd, 2020
- Self-made millionaire: To be happy, young people should aspire to make $70,000 a year, not millionshere's why - CNBC - July 2nd, 2020
- Honesty And Transparency The Key To The Overwhelming Success Of Credit And Personal Finance King Umesh Agarwal - Forbes India - July 2nd, 2020
- How Alena Sharp found her voice, success on the LPGA Tour - Sportsnet.ca - July 2nd, 2020
- Ferguson: Selecting the best of the decade is personal - CFL.ca - July 2nd, 2020
- A Personal Protective Equipment Manufacturer Minimized Overall Cost to Serve with Demand Management Solution | Infiniti Research's Success Story on... - July 2nd, 2020
- Jazz Is Built for Protests. Jon Batiste Is Taking It to the Streets. - The New York Times - July 2nd, 2020
- Diversity in the workplace: If you're going to talk the talk, you need to walk the walk - Technical.ly - July 2nd, 2020
- Trump administration ends 'Project Airbridge' effort to get supplies to the US - CNN - July 2nd, 2020
- How to Scale Customer Success Without Losing the Personal Touch - Built In Chicago - June 13th, 2020
- The Personal and Professional Importance of Emotional Intelligence - Morocco World News - June 13th, 2020
- Happy 9th Mavs Champs Anniversary: Oh My God, Theyre Going To Win! - Sports Illustrated - June 13th, 2020
- Cannabis business growing in Big Rapids - The Pioneer - June 13th, 2020
- The Bears' first Regional Championship 'wasn't anything to celebrate' - News-Leader - June 13th, 2020
- In 'Rigged,' A Comprehensive Account Of Decades Of Election Interference - NPR - June 13th, 2020