After passing my test and getting into my career as a Doctor of Physical Therapy, I would often come back to my blog and think "what should I write today"? The same answer kept coming to me. "Vance, this blog was a means of helping you achieve your goals, and it's time to move on".
However, I felt sad leaving the blog that had been such a crucial part of me achieving my goals, so I added a post here and there, but I never felt like I had closure, and I didn't know if I wanted to ever have complete closure on this crucial pool of learning that had become a valuable tool for me.
So after much deliberation I decided to post occasional updates on how my goals have trickled into existence and what I am learning...which is what this post is for today!
First of all, I have to make mention that I have continued all the things that helped me be successful in passing The TEST! I continue to read and listen to self development books nearly every day. I have learned to study the material and apply it better, but am still working on the process. I have developed relationships and a mastermind group to discuss and build upon ideas. I attempted to buy a business, which became a failure, or in other words a wonderful learning opportunity. I then progressed from a stagnant job that had little potential for growth to one that is open to opportunity and learning with exciting and progressive minds to work with! I have had ups and downs on my dedication to my goals and self improvement habits, but ultimately I feel like every day I am growing and learning and progressing...which ultimately is my overall goal, the umbrella, for all other goals to fall under.
I am not where I want to be by any means, but I am so happy, and grateful, for where I am and the opportunities that keep rolling into my life. I have a website that I will launch this year,videos that I am making, and a book that I am co-writing! I am experiencing and trying things at a whole new level and am learning at an incredible rate, because the more I TRY the more I FAIL and the more I LEARN, which will eventually lead to ACHIEVING more of my GOALS!
The beginning of 2015, when I created this blog, I was trying to pass my boards exam, had no idea if I would ever be a Physical Therapist, and didn't know where my life would be. I set a list of goals that were BIG and SCARY at the time. One of those goals was to build a home by the end of MARCH of 2017. As you can see by the picture, that goal will be achieved...okay, not by March, but by May and I'm okay with that! I have increased my income to where I wanted to be in 2 years, which is more than I thought would be possible, and I am going on the vacations I wanted to be going on by this point.
I AM REACHING EVERY GOAL THAT I SET!
I am so excited to continue on this path of breaking down my self limiting barriers and continued growth and progression EVERY DAY!!!
YOU CAN DO IT TOO!!!
I am accomplishing my goals because I dedicated myself to learning how. You can do the same. You can accomplish whatever it is that you desire the most. It has taken work...HARD WORK...and there has been frustrating days with highs and lows in emotions. I am not saying this has been any easy process by any means, but if a person has passion about a dream, is willing to learn correct principles and abide by them in Faith, and then put every ounce of effort he has into obtaining that goal...then he will obtain it!
I will continue to try every day to DO BETTER, and in return I will continue to have the growth and achieve the goals that I want...AND YOU CAN TOO!
Good luck to you and your dreams!!!
Tuesday, September 6, 2016
Starting a Business: Writing a Business Plan
I wrote up a business plan this year! I had never done anything like this...It was intimidating and even after research I still wasn't sure where to start. I finally came across this website and found it to be extremely helpful and cost effective! Not only was I able to write an effective business plan, but I was able to do it in a reasonable amount of time.
Thanks Liveplan!!!
www.liveplan.com
Monday, February 1, 2016
WHY 2016
will be the best year of my life!
I love the beginning of the new year! It is a man made break that allows us the opportunity to start fresh and start again. It is the time to sit back and reflect on where we are and where we are going! it is a time to see what we have done wrong as well as where we did it right! We can leave the mistakes behind us and take the lessons with us, applying them to the next year, making it a better and brighter future.
I started my career as a Physical Therapist and now am working on an exciting business venture that is again pushing me to learn and grow at an incredible rate. I have been studying on how to become an entrepreneur and have learned how to start a business (watch for more posts on the steps I took to do this, coming soon).
I learned to appreciate and embrace my challenges and short comings and use them as learning tools. I was also able to develop good habits to include daily reading/study and affirmation statements. I feel like my confidence and energy for success grows every day!
As great as 2015 was with all that I learned and accomplished, 2016 will be even better! Why will it be better? Because no matter what struggles or difficulties come along I refuse to accept defeat and will make every mountain a stepping stone towards greater achievement and learning.
I have been trained and taught throughout my life that if I make mistakes that I am failing, that I'm not good and that I can't achieve. THIS ISN'T SO! I should be trying, taking leaps, landing on my head every once in a while, otherwise I am not going to be growing. Don't get me wrong, we shouldn't be aimlessly and foolishly making blind decisions, but if I am not challenging myself every single day then I won't reach my defined success! This is the year I learn and grow more than I ever have, because I choose this day to learn and grow and not feel sorry for myself or afraid of failure!
2016 will also be great because I will achieve more of my goals. In 2015 I achieved my goal of passing my exam. That was the entire reason I began this website. As for my other goals, I have a cruise planned but not scheduled in February of next year, I plan on increasing the revenue of the business I am acquiring to help me earn my desired income, and besides starting some retirement mutual funds I am working on 2 other residual income resources which will take flight this year. I am so excited to accomplish even more this year!
I wanted my blog to look a little more legit. I am working on changing up the format, but I really wanted to have the blogspot become a dot com. So I started digging and these are the steps I took to make it happen!
1. Create a Domain name:
There are quite a few hosting services out there, each one claiming it has the better deal. Some of the major companies are
How do you decide which company to go with? I talked to a couple computer guys and from what I was told you will find similar prices and a small variety of features, which you can read some reviews on here! I decided to go with a company that was well known and known for good customer support!
I chose 1and1 for this website, and for my business I just started I set it up through Godaddy.com. So far I have been more impressed with the usability and set up of Go Daddy. 1 and 1 hasn't been bad by any means, I just prefer the Go Daddy. I purchased a website creator through Go Daddy and that has been very user friendly as well, the total cost between the domain and website creator being only $23 annually. I have very little knowledge about websites, but with the website designer package I bought with Go Daddy I have very pleased on how easy it is to make it look nice.
Once you decide on a company to go through you need to sign up as a new customer.
During this process you will need to create a unique website name and decide if you want a .com, .net, or any other. The difference really is the price. The . com seemed to be the most expensive, but only ran $8-10 annually!
2. Set up the Domain for Your blog
Go to your blog and click on Basics under the Settings tab. In the "Publishing" section, click the link to add a custom domain.
Type the url of the domain you've purchased, keeping in mind that it must begin with www in order to work.
Click Save.
You should see an error, and two CNAMEs listed below. Each CNAME is composed of two parts - Name, Labelor Host and Destination, Target or Points to. The first CNAME is the same for everyone, Name being "www" and Destination "ghs.google.com." The second CNAME is particular to your blog and your Google Account, and is therefore different for each person.
You can check out more steps and the website I used to further clarify the processHERE
3. Create a C-Name Record for your Custom Domain
I found this website through blogger that was the resource that helped me get through the seemingly difficult process. Although it appeared to be intimidating, I found that if I carefully followed the each step I was able to finally get it done. Follow the link HERE
After following these 3 steps I went back to my blog, back to Settings > Basics, then I typed in my dot com website under Blog Address, in my case www.howimadeamillion.com, and clicked Save! The 3rd step is the step of confirming you are the owner of the domain name. So when i went back to my blog I could save it as a re-directed address through my domain name that was confirmed to belong to me.
The key was to be careful to follow each step. The steps weren't perfectly written, but It was close enough that even I could get through it and make it happen!
Don't forget to Subscribe to my blog for more posts and updates on how to progress, achieve goals, and business tips and ideas as I learn them
Sunday, December 27, 2015
Resources for the budding Entrepreneur!
My life has recently been consumed by the process of starting a business and becoming an entrepreneur. I will be writing a series of posts on the process of how to go about starting a business so as to help anyone wanting to step into this world.
Before I reveal those posts here are some videos and books that I strongly recommend!
This is a fantastic book that I highly recommend. Although I haven't finished reading it yet, it has inspired me and is very easy and entertaining to read. I love the material from Darren Hardy
This book by John C. Maxwell is a quick and concise read that should be in every successful persons must read pile! I just finished this one and will be providing a book report on it. Amazing and fantastic insights.
One of the first books I read on this topic, this is considered the "Rich Man's Bible" and is again, a must read that no one who wants to be successful should pass up.
On that note I want to leave you with some TED TALKSto help inspire and encourage you in all of your entrepreneurial efforts and dreams! These 5 talks are simply amazing information that will inspire you to accomplish great things even if it's in another avenue of your life!
Many people have brought to my attention their thoughts on how they feel about the acquisition of greater wealth, including:
You don't need more wealth or money, you have everything that is important!
We Should be happy with what we have! I'm comfortable where I am!
It is too difficult to raise kids when you have a lot of money!
YES, all of these statements CAN BE TRUE. I definitely believe that I have everything that is important in my life right now. I have a wonderful wife, beautiful and healthy children, a roof over my head, and a great job. I need to be happy with where I am and what I have in my life, which I wrote about in an article on Being Content, but not Complacent. Raising kids is going to be difficult no matter what you do, so having more wealth doesn't necessarily make it more difficult, but adds another component that you have to be careful and educated about.
However, I wanted to address these thoughts with the thoughts of others and from what I have learned through reading and my own personal experiences.
First of all I want it to be very clear that no one NEEDS WEALTH, but having an abundance of temporal goods provides us with so many opportunities to help others and progress. As said before, With Great Opportunity Comes Great Responsibility!!!
Here are a few reasons why we should all want and work to acquire some degree of wealth:
Get Rid of the Worry!
There is hardly anything more stressful than worrying about money! It is one of the primary reasons for divorce and depression. To have wealth and not worry about bills, debt, or providing the necessities of life is one of my top reasons for acquiring wealth. There is so much good and opportunity in this world that we will miss if we don't have the time or resources to acquire it. Most of our lives are run by money, so why not take back our lives and get rid of the worry and stress.
Education opportunities for ourselves and children.
I have been trying to buy books and go to seminars where I can learn from great people. It takes a fair amount of money to actively participate in such activities. Every cent put towards self investment is well worth it. We grow in value as we increase our knowledge base, and that knowledge base sometimes takes some financial and time investment. Again, it is not necessary to have money to gain knowledge, but there are so many great opportunities that require a financial investment in order to participate.
Often we think of higher education, aka college, when we think of needing money for our children's education. This is one area that yes, we need money for, but what about when our children are younger. Money can provide tutors, classes, and for me I will be traveling to parts of the world for cultural and hands on education. Again, not necessary but the more we can give them now the further ahead and the greater opportunities they will have later.
Opportunities to serve.
With all that is demanded of our time it is often difficult to "give back" to the communities and world we live in. Although it is crucial we serve others, it is often set to the back burner after work and family has gobbled up our time. As more wealth is gained and we learn to have money work for us, instead of us work for money, it allows us the opportunity to walk away from work and serve others. I could be a scout leader and go camping for a week, travel the world in missionary service, work for Habitat for Humanity building a home or providing Physical Therapy to suffering people in under privileged worlds. How would I ever be able to walk away from a job, for any extended period of time, if I lived paycheck to paycheck or I hadn't positioned my financial well being to allow time away from the office.
More time to do good.
We have all seen the movie where the workaholic dad or mom misses their kids recital or game because they were too busy making money. Their values were out of wack and they had to go through some hard knock lesson to change. Well what if you have to work and miss your kids events because you just don't have enough money and you have to be at work. As we accumulate wealth and smarter ways of getting money to work for us we can do more good, not only for our family, but for our community through volunteer work, politics, coaching, and other service opportunities!
More resources to "Feed the Hungry and Clothe the Naked".
There is so much need to help those who are without food or clothes not only in the communities we live, but throughout the world. Here are some interesting facts from FeedingAmerica.org, taken from the U.S. Census Bureau:
Almost half the world — over three billion people — live on less than $2.50 a day. ...\
More than 80 percent of the world's population lives in countries where income differentials are widening. ...
The poorest 40 percent of the world's population accounts for 5 percent of global income.
In the U.S. 46.7 million people (14.8 percent) were in poverty.
In the U.S. 15.5 million (21.1 percent) children under the age of 18 were in poverty.
In the U.S. 4.6 million (10 percent) seniors 65 and older were in poverty.
In the U.S. the overall poverty rate according to the Supplemental Poverty Measure is 15.3 percent, as compared with the official poverty rate of 14.8 percent.[ii]
6 percent of households (6.9 million households) experienced very low food security.
Food insecurity exists in every county in America, ranging from a low of 4 percent in Slope County, ND to a high of 33 percent in Humphreys County, MS.[vi]
No matter where you live there is a need and a responsibility reach out to those lacking. Having the financial resources to buy and donate food and clothing as well as teaching financial skills to others is an opportunity for those that can afford it. Hopefully you are seeing the trend that I am trying to point out that having greater wealth means more opportunities to help our family, friends, and the community. More Responsibility but a better You.
The more we have of anything, the more responsibility that we have towards others. In order to get to a point where we have greater wealth we have to change our poor thinking, poor habits, lack of knowledge, and switch it for something better. We have to push ourselves to become a better person and a more valuable person to our families, friends, and the world. As we gain knowledge, wealth, talents, or anything else, if we don't use it to help our family and then others, what good is it. Anyone can fall in Love with money, which is the root of all evil, but if we remember to be grateful and stay close to God then that temporal prosperity could change lives and the world for the good. while preserving our spiritual well being even with riches.
“When this people are prepared to properly use the riches of this world for the building up of the Kingdom of God, He is ready and willing to bestow them upon us. I like to see men get rich by their industry, prudence, management and economy, and then devote it to the building up of the Kingdom of God upon the earth.” (JD, vol. 2, pp. 114–15.) -Brigham Young-
Andrew Carnegie, one of this country’s great philanthropists, stated his attitude toward wealth as follows: “This, then, is held to be the duty of the man of wealth: First, to set an example of modesty, ostentatious living, shunning display or extravagance; to provide moderately for the legitimate wants of those dependent upon him; and after doing so to consider all surplus revenues which come to him simply as trust funds, which he is called upon to administer, and strictly bound as a matter of duty to administer in the manner which, in his judgment, is best calculated to produce the most beneficial results for the community—the man of wealth thus becoming the mere trustee and agent for his poorer brethren, bringing to their service his superior wisdom, experience, and ability to administer, doing for them better than they would or could do for themselves.” (The Gospel of Wealth.)
This is one of the primary reasons for this blog, to figure out how to become wealthy and achieve my goals. As I figure out how to do it I hope I can clearly communicate my process and help you achieve the same thing.
So far I know I have to accomplish these things to become wealthy:
1. Create residual income: You have to get your money to work for you, meaning in order to open up my time and gain more currency with the 24 hours myself and everyone else has in a day, I have to find ways to earn money without having to be present.
2. Multiplying affect: Because we only have 24 hours in a day and there is only one me, if I try and use my skills to earn money I will only be able to so much before I cap out on how much I can do and achieve in a day. Learning to multiply myself is crucial in removing the cap and opening up endless windows of opportunity. This is why the internet has created more millionaires than there ever has been because one person can create a website that can reach the world. Authors and movie makers have done this for years where they write one book or make one movie that can then be distributed to millions of people. A business owner can train his employees to provide the skill set that he has, thus multiplying his abilities through the training of others. Being able to multiply you and your skills to reach a mass audience is key to being successful.
3.Invest in yourself:Take the time to constantly learn and grow as an individual. As you increase your knowledge base and skill set you will become more valuable, and in turn people will want to exchange currency for your abilities.
4. Invest: I don't know a lot about investments and how to do this, but I found, what seems to be a decent article, on this very topic found here
5. Convince yourself that you are worthy of success: so often we are hindered by self limiting beliefs. Through affirmation statements, positive thinking, and gratitude we can convince our subconscious and conscious mind that we are worthy of achieving anything that we desire.
TAKE IT FROM THE EXPERTS
Monday, November 9, 2015
Need a pick me up? Below are some great thoughts and videos
DON'T WISH IT WAS EASIER, JUST WISH YOU WERE BETTER
-Jim Rohn
"Either you have created the outcomes in your life by what you've done or you've caused them by what you haven't done. And even if something has happened to you, you are still responsible for how you respond to what's done to you." -Darren Hardy
