Investing in You- Your Greatest Asset

Hi again!

It's been a few days, but life has been busy, busy, busy...

I'm still playing a little catch up from the 4th of July show that my hard drive put on last weekend- so that's kept my hands full.

Anyway, I've been spending a lot of time investing in myself lately because- if you weren't aware- I'm in the process of switching my business focus. It's partially a chosen switch, and partially forced upon me- both of which has it's advantages.

As a quick summary, I've been doing Real Estate Investing full time for the last 6 ish years. Single family Rentals, Buy-Fix-Sell, Lease Options, etc. were my main focus, and life was good.

However, in my search for what would really make me happy and fullfilled (as well as pay the bills), I realized that Real Estate was not in line with my Soul Purpose.

The problem with this was that I looked down, and I was wearing some very stylish 'Golden Handcuffs'. This meant that although I was ready to look at expanding my future in a different direction, the 6 figure income that I was enjoying would take time and efforts to replace...

This might have been something for me to drag on indefinitely, except that the real estate equivalent of "Hurrican Katrina" hit the real estate market about 12-18 months ago. This quickly allowed me to shed the illusion of the Golden Handcuffs and seek my next path to fortune and adventure.

This meant a new line of work, new skills, new adventures, and new challenges.

I was going to have to invest some time, energy, and resources to get my train rolling on a different track and in the direction of my next destination...

Which leads me to investing in yourself. Ask yourself... Do you invest in yourself? If so, do you do it often enough? If not, why?

To give you an idea, I've probably averaged spending between $10-20,000 per year investing in myself over the past 5 years. Does that stun you? It proabaly sounds crazy, right? If so, let me explain why I do it, and what it has meant in my life...

First of all, I love learning about things that interest or benefit me or my loved ones. I learned a long time ago that anything that I invest in myself- be it books, tapes, seminars, trainers, or other professionals or mentors- I get to keep for the REST OF MY LIFE.

I learned this concept from a friend and mentor of mine Eric Lofholm (http:www.ericlofholm.com)- he calls it the 'Baseline Stragety'. Basically he says that if you take your current skills, talents, and experience (everything that you bring to the table) that is your 'Baseline'. Now if you invest in yourself and get even 1% better at any of your existing attributes, you are now that 1% better than your original baseline allowed.

This might seem elementary, but what most people fail to realize is that the 1% isn't just 1% better. It might end up being 10%, 100% or even 1000% better over the course of your lifetime.

This is because that 1% might get you an extra relationship, or an extra sale, or anything- but what does that relationship or sale lead to over time? Do you get referalls- which lead to more referrals- which lead to more... You get the picture.

Or perhaps the commisson from that 1 sale. If you used it to do more advertising, or buy a book that leads to increased sales- which in turn lead to more sales, commissions, advertising, books, etc.

So what is that 1% really worth? And why aren't you adding more 1% skills into your life? The results are incredible!

In my life, just growing from these 1%, 5%, or even 10% increments (due to investing in myself) has lead to massive results. Those tens of thousands of dollars invested have yielded several million dollars in profits already... and I get to keep those skills for many more years! I can't even imagine what they'll be worth in dollars or quality of life...

This is all because someone once taught me that YOU are your greatest asset. Everything that you invest into yourself is with you for the rest of your life:

• Eat better- you'll have better health from here on out. llllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll


• Communicate better- You'll have better business and personal relationships. llllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll


• Educate yourself- you will be able to apply those concepts in EVERY situation for the rest of your life!

So what are you doing to increase the value of your #1 Asset? If nothing yet- let me make a suggestion or two...

-Try reading at least 2 books per year that would help you in areas that are important and interesting to you- Books on health, finances, and mindset are all excellent choices.

-Commit to attending 1 new seminar or class that will help you improve one of the skills or weaknesses that would prove valuable in your life... learn better computer or communcation skills. Try something to open up your awareness in areas that interest you! It's amazing how much is available to us, if we only learn to see it!

-Pick one skill per year and focus on mastering it. Learn to speak another language, how to cook or throw dinner parties, or even how to dance! (If Jerry Rice can do it, so can you!) These skills will exponentially contribute to the abundance and enjoyment of your life.

So think about it- make your list and check it twice. Be realistic about what you undertake and be sure to realize that it's tough in the beginning, but once you start seeing the fruits of your labors- it is a great addiction!

Here are a few books that have helped me- check them out:

Younger Next Year by Chris Crowley and M.D., Henry S. Lodge (Health)
Multiple Streams of Income by Robert Allen (Investing)
The Prosperity Paradigm by Steve D'Annunzio (Spiritual Prosperity)
Killing Sacred Cows by Garrett Gunderson (Finances and Wealth Creation)

Until Next Time!

Derick Van Ness

Moving Forward Through Discontent...

Hi again!

You may have noticed that I've been absent that last few days, and that's very nice of you to be paying such close attention. It kinda makes me feel 'special' in a non-'Special Olympics' sorta way...

Anyway, my brief disappearence into the void has been due to a small, not very percievable explosion within my very unappreciated (until recently) computer hard drive. Apparently my hard drive had made a deal with the devil because as of Saturday afternoon, it became officially 'corrupted'.

Well, as you can imagine, I was stunned and feeling very betrayed. After all... my lovely laptop and I have spend many wonderful, and excitement filled hours together in the last few years. For it to just stop working without even saying 'Goodbye' was disturbing to say the least.

Ok... so I've rambled enough about how suprised and caught off guard I was when my computer decided to stop working. This brings me to the point that I wanted to make tonight.

At the moment of the spontaneous combustion within my beloved companion, I stood at a crossroads... Should I freak out because the last 3 years of my life were locked within a silcone coffin, or should I choose the 'high road' and trust that everything truly happens for the best? I can tell you that my initial, panic stricken reaction was 'When did I last back my data up?'

But once I got past this initial 'Gulp' reaction, I realized that what happend next was up to me and my paradigm. This is where I was able to use one of the most powerful tools that has ever come into my life... the tool is what I call 'Recontextualization'.

Recontextualization means taking anything- good, bad, or ugly- and choosing to see it in it's most useful context. In otherwords, looking for the lesson, or silver lining, in everything that happens.

In my predicatment, I could have jumped ship and started screaming for help when my computer decided to revolt, or I could have looked for an opportunity to learn, grow, or improve from this apparent setback.

As it turns out, I passed the test and chose the latter.

After talking with my computer guy, I saw this as a chance to upgrade my nearly full hard drive, and reinstall my 2 1/2 year old windows operating system.

Granted, this meant a lot of extra work and toil, but it did offer a chance for a clean slate with my operating system, software downloads, and a chance to do some 'spring cleaning' on so many of the random things that had crept into my computer over the years.

So you see... it wasn't exactly the end of the world- Thankfully.

Now... what does this have to do with you and your precious life? Good question...

The answer is- how do you handle things when they don't go your way? Do you A) 'jump ship' immediatly and go into 'I need a straight jacket' mode? B) stick your head in the sand and hide from the issue? Or C) do you assess the situation and look for how you can learn, grow, or improve from this 'illusion' of a step backward?

If you chose 'C' then you're on the right track! Congratulations! (we'll have to throw a party later)

But for now, let's talk about why. You see... Life happens- plain and simple.

Sometimes it's good (see "winning the lottery") and sometimes not so good- but the truth is that 'what happens' is NOT nearly as important as how we view the 'happenings' and then take action.

Everyone has 'Good' and 'Bad' things happen... right? Even the super good looking, in shape, rich guy has 'Bad' stuff happen to him... The major difference is how we choose to view this happenings.

Are they 'The world beating us down?' or do you see them as chances to prove your greatness and an opportunity to improve and grow? Guess which point of view truly successful and wealthy people choose?

That's right. They Recontextualize the 'Bad' things to be necessary lessons that will allow them to grow and achieve even greater results in their life...

It's like a Father who makes his kids learn how to take care of themselves through doing homework, chores, etc. The kids see this as a terrible fate to be suffered in misery- but amazingly, they are greatful for the skills they aquired from these lessons once they are in the real world.

So which is it gonna be for you? Are you going to be the ungrateful, pouting child? Or the wide eyed, eager student?

The choice is yours...

Try recontextualizing the 'Bad' things that happen in your life in the next 30 days. Look for, and learn, the lessons that life is offering you- and see what happens!

Until next time!
Derick Van Ness

"Be the Party"

Hi again.

Today I wanted to talk about something that has made a huge difference in my life during the last few years. This single understanding has - in fact - single handedly delivered every source of joy and success in my life.

I was thinking about this because I was recently read a book by Mike Dillard called Magnetic Sponsoring. This is an absolutely fantastic book written for the Network Marketing industry- but which transcends that field and relates to everything in life.

In the book he talks about how to make yourself "Magnetic" by having value to offer people, and by "Being" a leader 100%- or an "Alpha" as he calls it.

His philosophy is that by "Being" a leader who offers massive value to people- you will magnetically draw people to you like ants to a left over pizza crust.

He outlines how to do this from many different angels in the book, and I'd highly suggest you check it out. You can find it at: http://www.treasuremapmarketing.com/ It also comes with some great videos as a bonus.

Anyway, this book reminded me of how important it is the "Be" something before you can "Have" what you want...

Let me explain: Most of us want things, right? We want to have the dream house, or the ideal mate... We want to have many friends, and have money to travel the world while driving funny looking, neon colored, exotic cars.

This is the "Have" in what is termed "Be, Do, Have..." and I first saw thing in Robert Kiyosaki's book Rich Dad, Poor Dad.

I think you'll agree that most of us focus on the things we want to "Have". The problem lies in the fact that the only way to "Have" these things, is to "Do" the proper things to get them. Right?

So, to "Have" lots of friends, you probably need to "Do" things like inviting them out, meeting new people, throwing get togethers, etc. Pretty simple stuff, isn't it?

But where most of us are left scratching our heads is that we think, "I can't throw a party... that's not me." or "Meeting new people is scarier than Don King's hair... I can't do that!"

This is where our limitations come in, and we listen to the preconcieved notions we have about who we can "BE".

These ideas about who we can "BE" is the root of all success or failure.

You see, who we are "Being" directly effects what we are "Doing"- and what we "Do" gives us the results of what we "Have". The paradox is that most of us focus on the "Haves", but never get them... Do you see why?

I'll give you a personal example. When I was young and single, I used to go out dancing at bars, clubs, dance studios, etc. I enjoy meeting people and the good music, but I also REALLY wanted to "Have" a girlfriend. So I'd meet girls, go out on dates, etc. - but could never find any that worked out.

After nearly 5 years of being single, I was fed up. I'd had enough, and I was going to focus on me "Being the Party" - which translates into "I'm going to have fun, NO MATTER WHAT!" That way at least I'd "Be" happy- even if I was still a lonesome single.

Guess what happened?

Yep... a line of girls started forming at the door and I had more attention that I know how to handle.

Now I don't say this to brag- because that's not what it's about at all. What I'm saying is that by me "Being" the greatest version of myself at all times... I started "Doing" the things (ie- being the life of the party) that allowed me to "Have" what I had always desired- a girlfriend.

So once I stared "Being" the right kind of person- the rest came together faster than goldfish at feeding time. It was all about ME... Just "Being" the person (my attitude of 'Have fun NO MATTER WHAT') who "Did" the things (Dancing, joking, meeting new people, smiling, etc) that allowed me to "Have" the people that I wanted to date.

Now, I've probably gone so far down this road that I'm in a different state- but it's made ALL of the difference in my life- So I believe it is ULTRA IMPORANT.

To summarize, when I focus on "Who I am bringing to the table" in every situation, and do my very best to be the "Greatest Version of Myself" then the rest just falls into place.

It's not always easy, but it's ALWAYS worked out for the best.

So, today's questions is: "Who are you bringing to the table?" Is it the best "YOU" or not?

Try it for 14 days and watch the difference it makes!

Feel free to let me know how it goes...
~ Derick Van Ness

Where Does Happiness Come From?

Happiness... it means a lot of things to a lot of people.

To some it's having a good job. To others, going on a date with that special someone... But where does happiness really come from?

I have given this a lot of thought during the many years of my life, and what I have come to discover is that happiness comes from a completely different place than I originally thought.

I think back through my childhood in good ole Sandy, Utah when happiness meant buying an ice cream cone at the gas station or riding my bike to go play Super Mario Brothers at the local grocery store.

Then as I grew, happiness meant having money to buy new cassette tapes, or going out on a date with the latest girl that made my tummy do somersaults. On other days it was watching sports with my Dad, or camping in the mountains and fishing some little beaver ponds...

Bottom line is that "Happiness" seemed to come from a lot of places. I didn't really give it much thought until my life stopped being so 'busy', and I had (way too much) time to really consider where happiness came from.

Truth be told, I was forced to figure it out because there came a point after college where I wasn't so happy. I'd moved away from College to 'Live the California Dream' in the SF Bay area during the .COM explosion. But instead of turning out like I had envisioned (Picture me living by the beach with my Mercedes, and owning a cutting edge .COM company) I found myself in a strange new place, with no friends, an old pickup truck, and no idea what I wanted to do with my life.

It was then that I began to learn where happiness truly comes from...

I found that all I really had was 'ME', and if I was going to be 'Happy' then it had to come from somewhere inside. Now that might sound a little idealistic, or like a bunch of 'Hair Brained Non-Sense'; but I've found it to be true over and over during the course of my life.

Simply put, Happiness is a choice.

Each day we wake up and decide if we are going to be grateful for all of the incredible things that we DO have in our lives-- or we can be 'Grouchy Smurf' and look at how terrible things are, or focus on what we WISH we had in our lives.

Let me give you an example: Almost every one of us wishes that we had more money, right? Even the super-duper wealthy guy (you know the one), wishes he had more money. And nearly everyone has at least one person who loves them dearly-- it could be your Mom, Dad, Children, Spouse, etc. And most of us spend time being healthy for portions of our lives but also suffer some sort of major health issue along the journey, right?

The point to all of this is essentially that we are all in the same boat. We all have dreams, we all have fears, we all wish we were more like 'Joe Blow' or 'Jane Doe'. We are all the same... we just vary in degree.

So why are some people so happy and others feel that happiness is only something that happens in movies and fairy tales?

It's the choice you make inside...

Are you acknowleding the amazing life that you are able to live? Or are you focusing on all of the things that you (falsely) believe you need in order to be happy?

In the end, it's all up to you. Think about it and make your choice... It will make all the difference in how you see the world-- and the best part is that you control it-- 100%!

~ Derick Van Ness