Month: September 2019

Note: This is the last installment to the 4-part series on the Truly Rich Club Wealth Conference 2019. Here are the links to the first 3 parts of the series:

• Part 1 – Bo Sanchez’ How to Increase Your Psychological Wallet
• Part 2 – Dean Pax Lapid’s Building Your House of Entrepreneur
• Part 3 – Edward Lee’s How Your Psychological Trauma Dictate Your Stocks Investing Decisions

 

Rex Mendoza’s How To Become Rich While Being An Employee

The last speaker was Rex Mendoza. He made his money in the insurance industry and later moved on to other industries. He talked about becoming rich while being an employee.

Are there employees who are rich? Yes, definitely.

While I agree with this, I certainly had reservations simply because I know for most of employees they cannot imagine becoming rich. I’ve worked in the corporate world for 9 years. I know that there’s a limit to the scalability of your income when you are an employee.

You will have to build a different skillset if you want to climb up the corporate ladder. You have to learn to play the game of office politics and all. You have to learn how to work with a team and become a leader. You have to sacrifice your time for a lot of family occassions. You go through a lot of stress, but the most critical is in having little control on how you want your career to go. Often, you are left with the option to quit your job or stay and suck up even if you don’t like it.

But one thing that struck me about what Rex Mendoza talked was about the MINDSET shift that needs to happen if you ever want to become rich as an employee. He asked the critical question that you need to ask yourself, if you are working as an employee right now. The question is…

…are you getting paid for your TIME?
or are you getting paid for the RESULTS you create?

That’s one of the most classic distinction of an entrepreneur from those working only as an employee. You see, most people are content getting paid on their time. You wake up in the morning. You go to the office. Sit on your desk. Work your way until the office hour ends. You brave the rush hour traffic going back home. And tomorrow, you repeat the same routine again. In return, the company pays you based on how many hours you put in. Nothing more, nothing less.

In the beginning this is all fine and good, until you realize that it is never going to be enough for the long term. We only have 24 hours in a day. So if you are paid based on your hours, your income will always be capped to a certain level no matter what the rate you are getting paid for is.

Until you decide to break this chain where your income is dependent on how much time you have, you will always run out of money and run out of time.

What Rex Mendoza was trying to emphasize was that even if you are working as an employee, it doesn’t prevent you from thinking like an ENTREPRENEUR. Thinking like an entrepreneur allows you to see the bigger picture. It allows you to see that the only limits to your income potential is your own imagination and willingness to be responsible for RESULTS that you create.

But getting paid for RESULTS is HARDER. Why? Because you are now accountable for both the good and bad. That’s why CEO’s are paid more. Not because they work longer hours but because they take responsibility of getting the results for their companies.

If you’re the CEO and you increase your company’s income by P1 Billion. Would giving you an additional monthly income of P1M be justified? Maybe for some it is too high. But If I am the owner of the company, that is cheap! I’d even double that if you can double the company’s income even more. I’ll gladly pay you every cent if you can make that happen.

You see, without you, the CEO, making the right decisions, I would lose the P1Billion in earnings. I would rather pay you P1M/month to get P1Billion income, than not pay you P1M/month and lose the P1Billion.

This happens on a smaller scale in many small businesses. Even the little details like having to hire a household help can create a big impact into your business results.

Do you pay your household help the pay she deserves? Or do you decide to just do it on your own to save? You think you are saving P7K a month by doing it yourself, but if you have the ability to earn P100K in a month, you are actually losing money. You let “saving” P7K rob you off earning the P100K that you would have earned.

Looking at the numbers it’s easy to brush it as common sense. But if I learned anything about money in my years of teaching personal finance to my business associates, it is that money is 80% psychological and 20% technical. When it comes to money, our decisions are often dictated by our emotions rather than our technical know how. This is precisely the reason why I could not agree more on what Mr Edward Lee said in our last article about psychological traumas.

You see it is easy to see the numbers work out. But in reality, we all have our own doubts if we really can make it happen.

What if you fail? What if you can’t earn more than P7K a month?
What if your household help doesn’t do her job well just like how you can do it?

Do you feel the need to be secure? Are you afraid to let go of your fears?

For some people, it is easier said than done. But for the successful people that I know, this is an easy decision to make.

If you are not prepared to take responsibility for the RESULTS, whether it will be good or bad, then you will feel stuck in the moment of indecision. Most people would rather stay where they are, rather than risk the possibility of becoming successful. They are too fearful of what others might say about them. Creating and taking responsibility for your RESULTS, inspite of what others might say takes a little more than numbers. It takes boldness, courage, and willingness to fail.

Are there employees who become successful? Of course, there are.

But usually, these are people who have taken responsibility not only of their own results, but the results of the people they lead. They rise to leadership positions. They have specific skills they were able to develop.

According to Mr. Rex Mendoza, here are the 3 skills you need to develop if you want to become rich as an employee:

• Harness the talent of your people
• Extract the experience of the people you lead
• Steer the whole team in a single direction

As you develop yourself, it is critical to develop your INFLUENCE or POWER in order to better lead your group. When you do this, your team will have the resources to do their best and overcome obstacles. The 3 levels of influence are: 1) Authority, 2) Expertise, and 3) Relationships. You can leverage all these 3 to enhance your ability to lead your team effectively.

At the end of it all, the buck stops with you as the LEADER. You can delegate responsibility, but you can never delegate ACCOUNTABILITY. You are accountable for the RESULTS no matter what.

In a recent video about the state of STARTUPs in the Philippines, it came to my attention that one of the reasons why our country lags compared to other countries in the region like Indonesia, Singapore, Vietnam, etc. is the lacking entrepreneurial culture in the Philippines. Most people still see themselves as that of an employee. Very few have the courage to venture out on their own, and become entrepreneurs. Yes, there’s the lack of government support, etc. but culturally we are a nation of people who simply wants to earn and willing to work. We understand the value of hardwork. We hardly complain. We are very resilient.

Perhaps in the future, this will change. We have a lot of problems in our country that need solving. However, this might takes some time. As the change is not a simple case of simply flooding the country with more money, but a shift in CULTURE and MINDSET. Succeeding as an employee requires a different skillset than that of an entrepreneur. In the end though, what matters is that you are making a difference in the world.

Becoming rich is not the end goal, it’s only a means to an end. What matters will be what you did with what you have. Did you bless the world with your work? Did your riches blessed more people? Did your story inspire people to make this world a better place? Did you fulfill your divine purpose in this world? Because in the end THIS is what matters. We are all the same after all, both rich and poor, employee or entrepreneur. As they say, “at the end of the game, the king and the pawn go into the same box.”

P.S. I hope you enjoyed this 4-part series we had about the first ever Truly Rich Club Wealth Conference. If you want to get updated on the next events, get wealth strategies, inspirational talks and stocks investment guides, and more, you can join the Truly Rich Club. Simply CLICK HERE to join.

P.P.S. Recently, I was on a 3-day business trip to Tacloban City, the home of the happiest and most resilient people. My day was full-packed with meetings, trainings and coaching on personal finance, building a sustainable business, and more. On the side, I was able to visit the San Juanico bridge, the longest bridge in the Philippines (and 2nd most in Asia?), MacArthur’s famous “I shall return” landing, Sto Nino Shrine, the former president’s grand mansion in Leyte, and more. The food was delicious. The people are very warm and welcoming. I super enjoyed my stay. CLICK HERE to watch my 32nd youtube video to see a glimpse of what I do. If you have not done so, I encourage you to watch the other videos on my channel as well, talking about different topics as millionaire mindset and habits. Please subscribe to my YOUTUBE channel as well while you are at it. Thank you in advance. 🙂

P.P.S. I’m curious to know your story. Feel free to hit reply and message me. I read ALL of your emails to me and respond to each one of them personally. Who knows? I might even feature you here in this blog in the future.

Note: This is the 3rd installment to the 4-part series on the Truly Rich Club Wealth Conference 2019. If you missed the 1st and 2nd parts you can read them here and here, accordingly.

Have you asked yourself why is it that you do what you do, inspite of what you know?

Have you experienced situations where you felt guilty for buying stuffs, or wonder how come you cannot seem to make enough money, even though your working so hard?

Have you ever wondered what differentiates successful stocks investors from those who fail and lost a lot of money in the stock market?

These are hard questions to answer. Most people would simply dismiss the answer as luck. Or tsamba. Or what have you.

Good thing I was able to attend the 3rd session of the Truly Rich Club Wealth Conference because the talk gave me the answer to all these questions.

The speaker is no other than the Chairman of COL Financial, the largest online stocks brokerage firm in the Philippines, Mr. Edward Lee. He is a Billionaire businessman, one of the business mentors of Bo Sanchez.

I first came to know him during one of the Financial Coaching seminars of Bo Sanchez back in 2009. I have since invested in stocks as well. I even shared some of the basic tips in a video shot by my wife in one of my talks in UP Diliman back in the day. From what I remember, he’s a humorous speaker with lots of stories to tell and I can still remember some of the stories he shared back then.

This time though, I felt he was a bit more serious. I don’t know if it’s because his talk was done in pure english, or perhaps his topic was indeed quite serious.

One of my main take aways I got was his talk on PSYCHOLOGICAL TRAUMA. He told stories growing up in a family who supported him emotionally inspite of him having problems in school. He grew up thinking that money is easy to make, and he has the confidence to make money anytime and anywhere.

He said that what most people lack is the FINANCIAL CONFIDENCE to make it.

He shared a quote from Dan Lok which said that defines FINANCIAL CONFIDENCE as “having the confidence that you have the skills and ability to make money anytime, anywhere.”

He said people are driven by 4 main emotions: Hope, Fear, Greed and Desperation. These emotions dictate the markets. All crashes and boom are driven by these emotions.

His advise is, in whatever you do, Be the Best. When you do that, people will find you.

What’s your psychological roadblock?
1) Trauma
2) Parental Pressure
3) High Standards
4) Broken Family
5) Absentee Parent

Over the years of working in my business and dealing with different kinds of people, I can say this is certainly true. Some people have absentee parents or deep issues with their fathers. Growing up, they were looking for validation in everything that they do. They lack the emotional assurance that they badly need. That’s why their decisions financial or otherwise, seems to be beyond logic.

As you know, your decisions are driven mainly by your emotions. Only when you come to know how these deep emotions have built up over the years in someone’s life will you understand why they do what they do. It’s hard sometimes to watch someone with lots of potential, making wrong decisions over and over again, simply because he was programmed at an early age to seek for validation, rather than focus on doing the right thing.

So what can you do?

The first step according to Mr. Edward Lee is ACCEPTANCE. Accept that life is not fair. Surrender all your traumas to God.

Realize that we have built internal programs over the years. It will take more than an overnight or single day of training to unlearn all those things. The good news is that it can be done. Constant exposure to more empowering beliefs will allow you to replace the dark programming of the past. Your habits can change when you change your environment and the people you spend time with. You can change your life. But it’s going to take daily discipline in building your mind into a new you.

Mr. Edward Lee also shared the 3 basic laws of money:
1) Save 10-20% of your income
2) Invest it
3) Re-invest to benefit from the power of compounding

He recommends starting your investing program and believing in the Philippine growth story.
Above all, find your purpose. Be grateful for all the opportunities and experiences. Be compassionate. Be generous.

 

P.S. Be part of our business community of professionals and entrepreneurs. Let’s connect on Instagram @allaninocente.

P.P.S. Do you want to be part of the Truly Rich Club? CLICK HERE.

P.P.S. I am curious to know your story. How’s your financial journey so far? What have you tried and what are the #1 challenge you have in building money habits to make you rich? Simply hit reply and email me back. I read all the messages you are sending me. Cheers! 🙂

This is the 2nd installment to the 4-part series on the Truly Rich Club Wealth Conference 2019. If you missed the 1st part, you can read it here.

Dean Pax Lapid’s Building Your House of Entrepreneur

The second speaker during the Truly Wealth Conference was Dean Pax Lapid. I first came to know him when I attended the Truly Rich Entrepreneur’s Workshop back in 2009. He has started and grown a lot of businesses in different industries and he teaches entrepreneurship in one of the biggest business schools in the country, the Asian Instute of Management. He also wrote books on entrepreneurship including the book “Go Negosyo: 21 Steps on How to Start Your Own Business.”

Dean Pax is a lively speaker. He is a teacher by heart and you can really see it on his slide presentations. They are full of details, almost like that of a textbook.

During his talk, Dean Pax told some personal stories that really caught my attention. One story he shared is about the time when he was deeply in debt. He was so depressed he was about to end his life. But God had better plans for him. He was saved from that situation and he never looked back. Imagine the number of people who would not have learned from Dean Pax and got inspired from his stories if he decided to end it right there and then.

Another story he shared was when he wanted to pass down his business to his son, but his son didn’t want it. His son wanted to work as a corporate employee. He knows fully well that the income from a job offer his son can get will pale in comparison to running their own business, but he had to accept his son’s decision amidst his own frustrations and emotional pain.

As a parent, I can only imagine how painful that might have felt like. I know I always want to do the best for my two sons. I want to provide for them financially. But Dean Pax’s story reminded me of a fundamental truth that a lot of Billionaires know. Warren Buffet, one of the world’s richest man, is donating most of his wealth to charity. I wondered why he doesn’t want to give it to his children until I realized that doing so will only hinder their children’s growth. It’s like crippling them.

Now, I work hard to provide for my kids. But I understand that ultimately, they are their own individual beings. They have their own journey here on earth and personal decisions to make. I am not about to hinder their character sculpting experiences by putting them in a situation where it becomes a hindrance instead of a blessing.

These two stories made me realize that no one is immune to having challenges in business. When you see Dean Pax with his lively antics and cheerful demeanor you would think everything was smooth sailing for him in his entrepreneurial journey. That’s why it was a surprise to me that even with these huge challenges he had to overcome he still maintains a cheerful spirit.

Perhaps, this is all part of the journey we have to make in life. Otherwise, our stories would all be boring. Nobody gets inspired by a boring story. So if you are going through a challenging situation right now, just imagine the inspiration you will share to people once you are able to overcome it. You will definitely bless many.

LIFE CYCLE OF A BUSINESS

Dean Pax also shared the life cycle of a business. The ups and downs from conceptualization of a business idea to eventually selling the business or having your own exit strategy. He shared about the challenges that a typical business goes through during the startup stages and what he calls the valley of debt. When I learned about this, I could not agree more.

I can certainly relate because I too went through similar stages while putting up my business and getting it off the ground.

It is pure hard work. I experienced having little sleep. You work so hard, you ask yourself if it’s really worth it. Then the next day, you muster enough courage and strength and go through it again…and again…and again. Inspite of all the challenges, you go at it day in and day out. You have to be a little bit insane to endure those kinds of pain.

You cling on to the idea that one day, it will all be worth it. As they say, as an employee you are overpaid in the beginning but underpaid for the rest of your life, but as an entrepreneur you are underpaid in the begininng but overpaid for the rest of your life. Most people are not able to get past through the emotions of being underpaid for a long long time..

You battle with your own self confidence and self-worth. You get frustrated with your dismal results. You go through so many ups and downs you question whether it will ever going to end.

Eventually you will learn to take everything in stride, both the good and bad. The bad times are not meant to make you fall. They are meant to sculpt your character.

Good times do come. But the challenges never end. It’s just evolves into a different one. Each stage brings about a different situation which requires a different skill to solve. You must evolve if you want to survive.

Here is a picture from Dean Pax’s talk about getting from “NOWHERE” to “NOW HERE.” It depicts the different stages you have to go through being the entrepreneur that you are.

 

You start from your COMFORT ZONE. You know you are in your comfort zone when you are feeling bored. Perhaps you are in comfortable situation. But one day you realize that you want something more. It’s normal human instinct to desire for something more. More money. More time. More happiness. Eventually, something within you is stirred up and you can no longer accept the reality of your situation. You decide to take action.

Once you realize this, you start to move into your FEAR ZONE. This is the hardest part for most people to overcome. Everyone has a deep-seated need to feel accepted. That’s why you care so much about what other people say about you. At this stage you have to face those fears upfront. When you are able to overcome your own personal insecurities, and you muster enough courage inspite of your fears, you will soon level up to your COURAGE ZONE. The good book even says that when you have faith as little as a mustard seed, you can move mountains. You are more than what you think you are. Once you start believing in yourself, you will learn new skills, you will develop a new perspective about your business, you become a master of your craft and eventually you will elevate to your GROWTH ZONE, where all your dreams can come true.

Eventually your current growth zone will become your new comfort zone. With the new comfort zone comes boredom. Eventually, you will start to dream again or desire a new level of growth. In order to grow, you once again have to ask yourself what is it that you really want. You decide to take action. You ask yourself what is it that you fear the most. You decide to overcome your deepest fear by facing it head on and taking action. Because you understand that on the other side of fear, is your dreams waiting for you…and the cycle again begins.

P.S. Watch out for the 3rd and 4th installment of this series. We will talk about stocks and investing, as well as maximizing your potential while working for other people as an employee.

P.P.S. Do you want to learn about financial literacy? Want to be part of a community where you can learn to explore the different financial vehicles without the huge risk of doing it on your own? Join the Truly Rich Club. Click here.

P.P.S. Do you want to be mentored personally by me? Visit www.allaninocente.com/work-with-allan/ and follow the instructions listed accordingly. Many of those who worked with me have gone on to earn from $100 in a week part-time up to $8,000 a month full-time. You can read and watch the videos of their success stories here.