Living Life on Purpose

D. Scott Elder’s section has been moved to his blog that can be accessed from Stock Investor’s home page or by clicking on this link: The Pursuit of Happiness.

“Time and health are two precious assets that we don’t
recognize and appreciate until they have been depleted.”
- Denis Waitley, Author and Motivational Speaker

I believe that at some level, either consciously or subconsciously, most people know how important time and health are. How we’re going to use our time and goals related to our health are the most common themes in New Year’s resolutions.

Much of what I’ve written in this segment has been about using our time more productively to do those things that will improve our lives. I’ve also addressed the topic of health a few times.

I turned 50 this year and have been thinking about both of these topics quite a bit lately. I have a wonderful life and have achieved much. Considering my circumstances growing up, some would say I’ve achieved beyond anyone’s expectations. But it has not been beyond my expectations. In fact, I’ve fallen short. And so, from my perspective there is still much that I want to do before time runs out.

The older I get, the more precious time becomes to me; and the more precious health becomes too. As good health is the secret to squeezing more time out of life. And so with still much left to do, the older I get, the more I also appreciate good health. About eighteen years ago stopped eating meat. This year I gave up refined and simple sugars.

I invite you to consider what new commitments you can make with the use of your time that will help you achieve the desires of your heart. Perhaps it’s spending more time with your family, financial independence… or both. (You can have both and becoming a successful stock and options investor can help you achieve both.)

Whatever it is you want to accomplish in life, good health can give you more time and energy to help you achieve it. Time and health truly are two precious assets. You don’t have to wait until they’re depleted to recognize and appreciate them. Do so now and put them to work for you to help you achieve the things you hope to accomplish in this life.

Your Friend,

D. Scott Elder

“You want to look at your purpose in life. You want to
find that meaning within. Once you find that meaning
within, and you start to express your purpose, that’s when
the money starts coming. That’s when you attract it.”
— Andy Fuehl: Author and wealth trainer

A young child sits at the table eating breakfast. She hears her mother come into the kitchen and turns to greet her. Her arm hits a glass of juice that she set down near the edge of the table. Juice flies all over the kitchen. The child sees her mother’s reaction, tenses up and blurts out, “Sorry mommy, it was an accident.”

And so it was. But was it an accident that could have easily been prevented by simply placing the glass away from the edge of the table, away from where swinging arms could knock it over? As children, so-called accidents give us the opportunity to learn how to prevent the same accidents, and others, from happening again. When we act with purpose, such as consciously setting the glass down away from the table’s edge; paying attention to the road and other cars while driving; or thinking before we speak or act, then we’re taking deliberate and “on-purposes” actions that reduce accidents from happening.

How to live life on purpose is the theme of this section of the newsletter. It’s been my observation that most “accidents” happen due to a lack of awareness and focus. A lack of awareness and focus in little things manifests itself in life in general. A person who tends to be “accident prone” also tends to live their life as a series of accidents, with no real purpose other than to just get through the day… day after day after day… until there are no more days left.

Australian Matthew Kelly, author of “The Rhythm of Life,” said:

“The essential meaning and purpose of life is to become the best-version-of-yourself.”

To do this you must first have the desire to “become the best-version-of-yourself.” And with that desire you must be willing to let down your guard — to subordinate your ego and strip yourself of pride — and be open to identifying and overcoming your weaknesses. One of my favorite passages of scriptures says:

“And if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness. I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them.”

When I was much younger and had dreams of becoming a rock star, I wrote a song that contained this line in the lyrics:

“The person that I’d like to be, is each day more becoming me.”

I don’t remember anything else about the song, but these words have stuck with me and have served as a constant reminder to continually work on becoming the person I want to be. If you haven’t yet done so, I invite you to begin your journey of becoming the best-version-of-yourself… the person you want to be.

There are six areas in our lives that each of us can continually improve upon throughout our lives. These are:

Spiritual
Emotional
Intellectual
Relational
Physical
Financial

Continual and constant improvement in these six areas is living your life on purpose… to be the best-version-of-yourself.

Your Friend,

D. Scott Elder

The purpose of our lives is to add value to the
people of this generation and those that follow.
– Buckminster Fuller, inventor and philosopher

Ross is often asked the question: “If your investing system is so good why are trying to get other people to use it? Why don’t you just trade stocks full time?”

I’ve always found that question interesting, as it comes from a scarcity mentality. It presupposes that the investing system must not be that good or else you would be keeping it yourself to make money and you would not want to share it with others.

Consider this: have you ever solved a problem and got excited about sharing your solution with others? I know I have. In fact, when Ross taught me how to make money trading stocks and options I was very excited about sharing what I’d learned with others.

I am an entrepreneur. One definition of an entrepreneur is “a person who solves problems for people at a profit.” At the time that Ross taught me how to make money trading stocks and options I owned a company that developed training programs. In this business I made a profit developing training programs that helped to solve problems for people.

When Ross taught me how to make money trading stocks and options, he solved a problem for me. My problem was that I was not putting enough money into my retirement account to one day enjoy the type of lifestyle I wanted to live when I retired. It was my dream to retire early with no debt and enough money to what I wanted to do when I wanted to do it.

Ross has the skill of an expert trader, and he is a gifted teacher. There are a lot of people who know how to make money trading stocks and options, but very few of them are good teachers. And because Ross is an expert trader and gifted teacher — and I was an entrepreneur who developed training programs to solve problems for people — it was a perfect match.

I believe that everyone came to this earth with natural talents, things we’re just naturally good at. These gifts were given to you for a reason: to use and share with others. Research shows that the happiest people are those who use their natural talents to the utmost.

Ross is a gifted teacher and he enjoys teaching others how to make money trading stocks and options. Through seminars, workshops, video-based home study programs and online courses, he has taught tens of thousands of people throughout the world how to make money in the stock market. It is very rewarding for Ross when he receives emails and letters from people telling him how he has changed their lives and given them hope and an optimistic outlook on their lives.

One of Zig Ziglar’s famous quotes is: “If you help enough people get what they want, you will get what you want.”

Yes, in addition to making money trading stocks and options both Ross and I have made money teaching others how to do the same. If you have a problem with this, then you’re living in the wrong country. It’s how the free enterprise systems works. You get paid in proportion to the value that you provide to others. Our stock and option trading systems and training have provide a lot of value to a lot of people throughout the world.

And what’s cool about this is that it doesn’t matter how many people we share our trading system and training with… we can still use it ourselves to make money in the stock market. It doesn’t take anything away from our ability to make money in the stock market by sharing it with others. So why not share it. That’s having an abundance mentality rather than a scarcity mentality.

I celebrated my 50th birthday in April. My birthday was on a Monday. On the Friday previous to that Monday I officially retired from the day-to-day management and operational activities of our company. When I turned 40 I had set a goal to retire at 50. Now because Stock Investor is still an on-going business, I didn’t completely retire. I still work closely with Ross to update the training courses and write this section of the newsletter. I still have a passion for helping others learn this very valuable skill of making money trading stocks and options.

I can still do this while enjoying more time with my wife and children. We plan on spending a lot of time at our cabin and traveling this first summer of retirement. Before I turned my skills towards producing training videos, I was trying to break into the movie business. I made a promise to myself more than 20 years ago that I would come back to this business. I’ve been working on a script that I want to complete and get produced.

My idea of retirement wasn’t that I’d quit working all together, but rather to do what I wanted to do when I wanted to do it. I still want to help people learn how to make money trading stocks and options and will continue doing that. I can do that while trading my own portfolio, spending time with my family and working on my movie script.

Anyone who learns how to make money trading stocks and options can look forward to this same lifestyle. That’s why this is such a valuable skill to have… and why Ross and I are passionate about sharing it with others.

Your Friend in Investing,

D. Scott Elder

“It has been my observation that most people
get ahead during the time that others waste.”
- Henry Ford: Founder, Ford Motor Company

I believe that most people believe this. There is enough evidence all around us to validate this observation by Henry Ford. What’s amazing to me is that if most people believe this, then why do so many people waste much of their time when they could be using that time to better their lives – and the lives of their family?

I have a wonderful life. But it hasn’t always been wonderful. As the saying goes, “I’ve been poor and I’ve been rich; and I prefer rich.” Because of my personal experience, I can attest to the fact that you can start with nothing and become wealthy… over time. You don’t have to be gifted, above average intelligence, tall, handsome, charismatic or charming. You don’t even have to be aggressive, competitive or greedy.

To live the lifestyle of your dreams, you just need the desire and the willingness to trade time-wasting activities for activities that will move you ahead… little-by-little, step-by-step. You’ve probably heard another saying, “Success is not a destination, it’s a journey.” From my personal experience I’ve also found this to be a true statement. I still have not arrived. I am still on my journey and enjoying trip.

As I’m writing this it’s early evening and I’m looking out the window of my home office. My office is in the basement of my home. But when I built the home I excavated around my office and put in a rock water feature so that it looks like a stream coming down a mountain. The landscape lights are illuminating the boulders around the water feature. It’s a beautiful sight. With this view I don’t mind working late. I’ve had a productive day and when I’m finished writing my wife and I are going to watch a movie in our home theater.

So why do I share this with you? It’s not to boast?; it’s to make the point that if I, an average person in every way can achieve the lifestyle of my dreams, any average person can. I want to give hope to all people striving for a better life that they can achieve it. It does take time and work. But relatively speaking it doesn’t take too much time and the work is not that hard. It just requires patience and persistence while putting in the time and the effort.

I left home when I was 18. When I got married at 25 my wife and I lived in a 3-room basement apartment – kitchen, bedroom and bathroom. It was so bad that when my father-in-law saw it he thought his daughter had married a real loser and that she was in for a lifetime of poverty. He almost insisted that I come to work for him. But when I told him I had the dream of owning my own business and I was willing to make some sacrifices to achieve it. As a business owner he respected that, and recalled the sacrifices he made in his early years to achieve his success.

I was frugal. To me, money represented time; and time represented freedom. My plan was to spend less than I made; save as much money as I could; and use my free time to read and study principles of success and wealth-building. And yes, I missed out on some recreational activities and various forms of mindless entertainment. I’ve even been accused of being boring… by my wife and kids! But I always had a sense that I knew what I was doing and that one day it would all pay off.

Well it has paid off. And now I do participate in recreational activities. And with a home theater, I also enjoy the entertainment of a good movie now and then. And my wife and kids no longer think I’m boring. In fact, they truly appreciate the sacrifices I’ve made so that they can enjoy a very nice lifestyle. But I’m also still reading and studying principles of success and wealth-building. I still prefer using my extra time to review what I’ve learned and continue learning new concepts and ideas than watching time-wasting and life-sucking television.

Do you want 2008 to be more prosperous than 2007… and then each year after that to be more prosperous than the previous? Then identify the time-wasting activities in your life and use that time instead to learn and apply the principles of wealth-building. You can start with investing more time in becoming a successful stock and options trader.

I’m looking forward to an exciting and prosperous 2008 and I hope you are too.

Your Friend in Investing,

D. Scott Elder

“The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot readand write,
but those who cannot learn, unlearn and relearn”
–Alvin Toffler

When I was in my early twenties (in the early ‘80s) the home videotape players (both beta and VHS formats) were new developments. I had just graduated from college with a degree in TV and film production. My original intention was to work in the television industry. But after months of rejection trying to get a job in that industry I came up with another idea.

I saw an opportunity where video could be used to create “video brochures” for marketing and video training programs for businesses. Reading this now seems obvious because video for marketing and training is now common place. But it wasn’t in the early eighties. I would meet with very successful business people who just couldn’t catch the vision of sending out videotapes with their marketing message or capturing their best trainers on videotape to be shown anytime without having to schedule a live training session.

I remember a meeting I had with an “older” (probably about the age I am now) marketing manager of a large corporation. The frustration I felt after this meeting had a tremendous impact on my life. He couldn’t see how “this new fangled videotape thing” was going to catch on. He was convinced that not enough people were going to purchase video players to make it worth the investment to put a marketing message on videotape. He thought it was a fad that wasn’t going to catch on.

My meeting with this man reminds me of a famous quote:

“There is no reason for any individual to have a computer in his home.”

This was said by Ken Olsen in 1977. At the time he was President of Digital Equipment Company, a very large manufacturer of mainframe computers for large companies.

The man I met with was basically out of touch with the advancements in technology that were taking place; and he seemed quite alright with that. I guess he felt he’d made it. He had climbed the corporate ladder and was making a good living. So why trouble himself with keeping up with “new fangled” stuff.

The impact this man had on my life is that I vowed that no matter how old I got, I would stay up on the “new fangled” stuff. I promised myself that someday when I was this man’s age and someone in their twenties came into my office to talk about the latest technology and how it could be used in my business… I would know what he was talking about and understand its potential use in the marketplace.

I kept this vow when I was newly married and could least afford to when I bought a personal computer. I took out a $2,000 loan to buy it. My wife couldn’t believe it. I promised her that it would pay for itself. And it did. Within the second month of purchasing it I wrote a script for a retail sales training video and sold it to True Value Hardware for $5,000.

I was among the first to get a cell phone when they became available in my area. I thought it would be a good business tool, and it was. I was an early adopter of the Internet; and using it to trade stocks online. And today I continue learning, unlearning and relearning. Fortunately I have a 19 year old son who helps me keep up on the latest advancements in technology.

When I was younger I was a “Kennedy” Democrat. I later became a “Reagan” Republican. Now I’m a “Republicrat.” I see the good and the not-so-good in both parties. Actually it’s politics in general that’s becoming more and more not-so-good. Learn, unlearn and relearn.

I’ve heard Ross many times say that learning how to invest in the stock market is a skill that everyone should have. It should be right up there with learning how to use a word processor and emailing. It’s a skill that can change your life. Learning how to invest in stocks and options can build wealth; giving you financial freedom and enabling you to retire early and retire rich.

Keep on learning, unlearning and relearning throughout your life and your life will be full of adventure, abundance and amazement. You will be living life on purpose.

Your Friend in Investing,

D. Scott Elder

“Regret for the things we did can be tempered by time:
It is regret for the things we did not do that is inconsolable.”
- Sidney Smith

On the Stock Investor web site I have another blog, “The Pursuit of Happiness” where I have a three-part series about how and why Stock Investor came to be. Part I covered how and why Online Investors Advantage (OIA) started. What I left out was how close it came to have never started in the first place.

My business before OIA was developing self-study and instructor led training programs. I had developed a program for Zane Publishing that was being sold at Amway events. I owned the rights to the video and would sell them to Zane Publishing at wholesale and they sold them at retail at large Amway events.

Unbeknownst to me Zane Publishing, was not doing well and it got three events behind in payments to me. I was asked to extend their credit for one more event because the sales would be big enough to get me completely caught up. So I trusted them and sent out another large order.

The promise was that after the weekend event, they would process their credit cards and send me a check within the following week. I waited until Friday and asked when I could expect a check. They told me a Fed Ex envelope was on its way… but that it didn’t have a check in it; it had a bankruptcy notice.

As it turned out, they didn’t need the last order I had sent them. They did what is called “inventory loading” prior to filling bankruptcy. They already had plenty of unsold videos in stock, which is why they hadn’t been paying me. They just needed one more big order to give them enough videos to sell at the remaining Amway events scheduled that year.

Once they had the inventory on hand and filed bankruptcy, they no longer had any obligation to pay me. They could sell the videos and keep all of the money. I considered the founder of Zane Publishing a close friend and never expected that he would allow something like this to happen.

Their bankruptcy put me in a very tough financial position. I still owed the company that duplicated the videos for me and I had drained my savings to cover other business expenses in anticipation of payment from then. Thankfully the video duplication company was understanding of the situation and didn’t pressure me for payment. They told me that they believed I would eventually pay them and extended my terms on this account indefinitely. I did eventually pay it off.

A close friend who knew of my situation was starting a new business that was being funded by the owners of another very large and very successful business. He offered me an executive level position with an executive level compensation and benefits package. On the surface it was a quick and easy way out of my dismal financial situation at the time.

The challenge was, is that I had recently been taught how to invest in the stock market by Ross Jardine. I didn’t have any money to open a trading account so I had converted my IRA account into a self-directed IRA. With what Ross had taught me, I had made more money in three weeks trading my own IRA than the professional money managers had made in the previous ten years.

I felt a sense of mission that what Ross and taught me needed to be taught to others. With all of the training programs I had developed, I truly believed that people needed this one more than any other I had done. It had changed my life. Although things weren’t real good for me financially at the time, I knew that this skill could change that. I also knew that it was going to provide me with a way to enjoy a much richer retirement than I had previously thought possible.

As I considered the job offer, I couldn’t get the thought out of my head that creating a business that taught people how to invest in the stock market is what I should do. And if I took this job, would I forever REGRET NOT DOING this. This feeling was so strong, that I decided that living with my financial challenges would be easier than living with this regret. As Sydney Smith’s quote states, the regret of not doing this could have been “inconsolable.”

Although the decision to not take the job and pursue this idea put my family under tremendous financial stress and caused us to make many sacrifices for a time, it turned out to be the right decision. And especially knowing how it turned out now, it could have been an “inconsolable” regret.

Are there any things you have not done or put aside for the time that may cause you inconsolable regret for not doing? How about trading some TV time for learning how to make money in the stock market? Let me make a prediction. If you come to the age of retirement and you do not have enough money to enjoy a financially secure retirement that affords you the ability to travel and spend time with your children and grandchildren because you would not take the time now to learn how to be a successful stock trader… you will have an inconsolable regret.

That being the case, what are you going to do about it? You have all of the tools and training you need at your fingertips to achieve financial freedom and security, now and when you retire. Big doors swing on little hinges. The big door in this case is your financial future. The little hinges are time. It only takes a few minutes a day to have a huge impact on the quality of life you can enjoy when you retire… and even before you retire. The choice is yours. I invite you to make the choice that doesn’t cause you inconsolable regret later.

Your Friend in Investing,

D. Scott Elder

“Price is what you pay, value is what you get.”
– Benjamin Graham (Investing Mentor to Warren Buffet)

Every time you spend money you should look at it as either an expense or an investment. An expense is for the purchase of goods and services that depreciate or are consumed. An investment is for something that can increase in value or be used to bring in more money than the price of the investment, or a return on investment (ROI).

I’m a big fan of systems, so a few years ago I studied the franchise operating system designed by Ray Kroc, the founder of McDonalds. At the time the average McDonald’s franchise was $1 million. But why would anyone in their right mind pay $1 million for a McDonald’s franchise when you could open a hamburger stand for around $10 thousand dollars?

That’s probably the question three budding entrepreneurs asked themselves who kept re-opening the hamburger joint a few blocks down the street from McDonalds in the town where I live. This location went through three owners under three names in three years before a different type of business took over the building. I was told that the hamburgers, fries and milkshakes at all three of these short-lived hamburger joints were vastly better than the burgers, fries and shakes at McDonalds. (I’m a vegetarian so I have to take the word of my carnivorous friends.)

So why did they fail with better food than McDonalds? The McDonald’s name and their franchise operating system is so good that it can easily overcome the competition of better tasting food. So what’s the better value: A no-name hamburger stand with a lower start-up price or a McDonalds franchise with name recognition and a proven operating system? It’s my understanding that virtually every McDonalds franchise makes back the cost of the franchise and produces a nice ROI. Time after time it’s been shown that in most instances the McDonalds franchise at $1 million is a better value than starting your own no-name burger joint for a fraction of the cost.

Here’s another example. Televisions, DVD players, surround sound systems and cable or satellite TV services are expenses. The television, DVD player and surround sound system start depreciating in value the moment you transact the sale at the store. The cable or satellite TV service is consumed every month.

What’s interesting is that for most people, these things have become perceived as “necessities” something everyone just has to have. I have two homes and both have satellite TV dishes. Because we only get to our mountain home a few times a month, we have the basic satellite service. Even then, it’s still about $50 month. To me it’s a big waste of money. It’s a luxury just for convenience so my two younger daughters can enjoy their favorite Disney shows when we’re there.

But here’s what blows my mind! For many of these same people, learning how to invest in the stock market and paying for a subscription for the financial data from the market exchanges is considered an unnecessary expense. But it’s not an expense, it’s an investment. Unlike cable or satellite TV services, you can money each and every month using these financial services… more money than they cost each month. You can’t do that with cable and satellite service fees.

I have invested tens of thousands of dollars in seminars, workshops, home study courses, coaching and newsletters and financial service subscriptions. Each time I make an investment in training or services for my business or investing, I expect a return on my investment. And because I expect it… I get it. These investments have been of far greater value than the far lower expenses of electronic equipment and cable and satellite services for entertainment.

I invite you to take a look at what your spending money on and what you’re not investing in. You may find that you need to re-evaluate your priorities.

Your Friend in Investing,

D. Scott Elder

“There are no such thing as a really rich victim!”
– Harv Eker, author of “Secrets of the Millionaire Mind”

This is something I wrote last year when the Stock Investor Edge newsletter was emailed. I thought it was important enough to pull it from the archives and post here.

A friend at work shared with me a few pages about “victims” from Harv Eker’s book, “The Secret of the Millionaire Mind.” I was so impressed I want to share some of what I’ve since read from this book with you.

I’ve written about what I call “victimitis” in the past. In his book, Eker helps you to recognize the systems of this disease and gives you a prescription to help cure it. One of the symptoms of a victim is complaining.

Here’s some excerpts from these few pages of Eker’s book:

“When you are complaining, you become a living breathing ‘crap magnet.’ Have you ever noticed that complainers usually have a tough life? It seems that everything that could go wrong does go wrong for them. They say, ‘Of course I complain – look how crappy my life is.’ And now that you know better you can explain to them, ‘No, it’s because you complain that your life is so crappy.

“Blame, justification, and complaining are like pills. They are nothing more than stress reducers. They alleviate the stress of failure. Think about it. If a person weren’t failing in some way, shape, or form, would he or she need to blame, justify, or complain? The obvious answer is no.

“It’s time to decide. You can be a victim or you can be rich, but you can’t be both. Listen up! Every time, and I mean every time, you blame, justify, or complain, you are slitting your financial throat. Sure, it would be nice to use a kinder and gentler metaphor, but forget it. I’m not interested in kind or gentle right now. I’m interested in helping you see exactly what the heck you’re doing to yourself! Later, once you get rich, we can be kinder and gentler, how’s that?

“It’s time to take back your power and acknowledge that you create everything that is in your life and everything that is not in it. Realize that you create your wealth, your non-wealth, and every level in between.”

Here’s why this resonates with me so much. I was raised by a single mother doing her best to provide for her two sons. But even with her best, we teetered on the edge of poverty. In fact, we were on California State Welfare for a time when she got pneumonia and was unable to work. So the people I associated with weren’t the rich and the affluent. But they liked to complain about the rich. I learned that poor people do not like rich people and they enjoy bashing rich people.

I noticed that rich-people-bashing did seem to bring some comfort to those participating. But I also noticed that it never changed anything or made life better for those doing the bashing. I was also astute enough to notice that rich people enjoyed a better quality of life than poor people, and that it didn’t bother them that poor people bashed them. They seemed to know something that the poor people didn’t.

At an early age in life I saw a choice in front of me… either remain poor and become part of the rich people bashing group or become rich and enjoy the lifestyle of the rich. The lifestyle of the rich seemed more appealing to me than bashing the rich so I decided to find out what the rich people knew that the poor people didn’t.

This choice put me on the path of an exciting journey in my life. I’ve met many extremely wealthy people who are good people. I discovered that, contrary to what some think, rich people pay more taxes than poor people; rich people contribute more to charities than poor people; and rich people help out more poor and needy people than poor people do.

Even with all of the rich people bashing I heard growing up, I saw no downside to being rich. “But aren’t rich people greedy, evil and immoral?” Rich people bashers would like to believe that. But being rich or poor isn’t the determining factor of whether a person is greedy, evil or immoral. There are good, honest and moral poor and rich people and there are greedy, evil and immoral poor and rich people. You can be good, honest and moral and rich… despite what the rich people bashers say.

So now when I hear people bash the rich and talk as if being poor is more noble, I don’t take it personal. It doesn’t bother me. Because I have learned what the rich people know… and that is that anyone who wants to be rich can be rich. The only thing holding the rich-bashing poor people back is that they’ve chosen to be victims and blame, justify and complain to alleviate the pain of failure. Because deep down inside they know they too can be rich, but don’t want to pay the price. They choose not to pay the price and to blame, justify and complain instead. Those who have paid the price know it’s worth it.

Here’s something that I wrote in my journal many years ago:

“Victim or victor? You can be a victim or a victor. Victims find an excuse for why things happen to them and victors find a way to make things happen for them. You can choose to be a victim and always find an excuse or you can choose to be a victor and always find a way. It’s your choice.”

Your Friend in Investing,

D. Scott Elder

“Those people blessed with the most talent don’t necessarily outperform
everyone else. It’s the people with follow-through who excel.”
— Mary Kay Ash: Founder of Mary Kay Cosmetics and philanthropist

The ability to follow through is what I call the “advantage of the average person.” I consider myself an average person of average intelligence with average talents. I never excelled at anything. I was an average student, an average athlete, an average drummer. But my dreams for the type of lifestyle I want to live has been anything but average. So what’s an average person to do when they’re big dreamers.

The answer is follow-through. Growing up, as I observed naturally talented and gifted people I noticed that most of them were lazy. They could get by on minimal effort, and therefore most talented people put forth minimal effort. (A good example of this is Will Hunting, in the movie Good Will Hunting.) I found that through putting out my maximum effort, I could outperform a talented person putting forth minimal effort.

There is a lot of power in Nike’s slogan “Just do it.” Life, literature and movies are full of stories of ordinary people who achieve extraordinary accomplishments in life. If you want to build wealth trading stocks and options you have what you need with the Stock Investor software and 3-Step Investing Process. Here are the steps to success:

1. Open an account with a broker.
2. Load the Stock Investor software
3. Watch Ross on the DVDs
4. Follow along in the Quick Start Guide
5. Follow along with the software and do what is being demonstrated
6. Practice by paper trading
7. Trade real money when you’re ready

This is follow through. If you haven’t done this yet… why not? If not now, when? If you’re not taking control of your financial future and building your retirement… then who is? When will it change in your life that you won’t need to worry about such things? If you’re not planning on winning the lottery, hitting the jack pot in Las Vegas, or inheriting a fortune, then it’s up to you. The longer you put it off, the less time you have to build the wealth you will need when you can no longer work.

So now ask yourself this question… and be honest with your answer: If not now, when?

Your Friend in Investing,

D. Scott Elder