Securing The Future For Street Children To The Power Of 10: Fill & Download for Free

Everybody wants to succeed in life.Ask a drunkard or drug addict and they’ll both tell you that the reason they took to drinking or drugs was perhaps because they failed at something.Why does everyone desire success?Because we are afraid to be left behind. We’re afraid to be laughed at. We’re afraid of dying poor. That’s why.But what is success, really?Success means different things to different people. However, for most people, success only means one thing—having lots of money. The reason for this is simple. With money, you can get almost anything you want in life. Without money you’re nobody.Most people define success as something to be achieved sometime in the future. This definition seems to be emanating from the belief that success is some kind of goal, achievement, or target to be hit sometime in the future.Well, let me shock you.SUCCESS IS SOMETHING YOU ACHIEVE NOW! THE FUTURE IS THE RESULT!The future is something that you MUST become now. If you do not become what you wish to be in the future, the future you desire will not happen.However, that futuristic way of thinking has a negative effect on your present life. It tends to defer everything from the present to the future. It tends to postpone the action you should take now. It tends to focus on the outcome instead of the present action, which draws in procrastination. Most people will think this as an absurd way of thinking, but this is actually the way the brain is programmed to work.The brain is programmed to react to present situations and circumstances. It is not designed to plan for the future. Planning for the future is something that you MUST train your brain.For example, the desire of most people is to be financially successful sometime in the future. However, the actions of most people today, tend to go contrary to their future aspirations. This defeats their ability to plan for the future.One of the most touted definitions of success is financial success. As a result, most people are denying themselves the happiness they need now in order to obtain something they don’t see now. Therefore most people would rather defer their happiness for something they don’t have.Success is not an end to a means, but a means to an end. In fact, without happiness, you cannot consider yourself successful.If this is hard for you to understand, try this:The process is more important than the result, for the process is where the fun is at. It is what keeps you going and makes you happy. It is the most intriguing, adventurous and happiest moment of your life. The end result is NOT important. It’s like reaching the peak of Mount Everest, where there are only snow and fierce winds—And no fun.Here are a few ways to become successful:Train yourself to wake up when you don’t feel like, go to the bathroom when you don’t feel like, brush your teeth when you don’t feel like, go to work when you don’t feel like and do something when you don’t feel like until this routine becomes second nature.Transform your body, mind, and spirit into a powerful machine that can take you to the next bend. The body is the weakest part in the link and also the laziest. Your body, therefore, requires the most training. There are so many bends, some pleasant, some unpleasant. When you turn a pleasant bend, don’t dwell there, but keep pushing until you reach an unpleasant bend. Success is waiting for you just around the unpleasant bend.Do something that creates value for other people and other people will give you the money to live comfortably for the rest of your life. Exponential growth is simply the art and science of creating value for many people.The first step toward success is happiness. Happiness precedes success—not the other way round. Train yourself to be happy, always. Smile even if you don’t feel like it. Laugh even if you don’t feel like it. Smile at random people in the street. People will think you’re crazy, but you will infect them without them even knowing it. This is an old psychological hack that tricks the brain into thinking that you’re happy. It even goes further by commanding you to do things that you won’t otherwise have done if you were sad.Affirm what you want to become. Start like this: "I am happy and I enjoy life", "I have a good career", "I am secure", "I love myself", "I am loved", “ I am rich”, “I love people”, “People love me”, “I have a good life”, “There’s abundance in my life”, etc... Say these affirmations daily each morning and before you go to sleep. Do it like the way you take pills. Be serious about it. I can't recommend it if I knew it doesn't work.Afformations work faster than affirmations, but what are afformations? The English dictionary complains when I write the word and even declares that my spelling is wrong. Most of us let our minds go adrift wherever a situation pops up and grabs our attention. That is because we’re not trained to ask the right questions wherever situations arise. If human thought is really the process of asking and searching for answers to questions, then why are we still going around making statements we don’t believe in? Instead of asking questions like, “How can I be more successful in my life and business?”, or “Why can’t I find what I’m looking for?”, or “Why can’t I meet the person of my dreams?” or “Why can’t I find a well-paying job?”, or “Why can’t I find happiness?”, ask questions like: “Why I’m I more successful in my life and business?”, or “Why do I always find what I’m looking for?”, or “Why did I meet the person of my dreams?” or “Why do I always find a well-paying job?”, or “Why I’m I always happy?” SEE THE DIFFERENCE?Do not strive to become successful. Strive to become a valuable person. This line of thought was advanced by Albert Einstein decades ago and is still as relevant today as it was in the 1950s. Success follows a valuable person. Goes without saying—doesn’t it?Success is not about deferring your happiness. It is about living your dream. It is about expressing appreciation and living your dream now instead of complaining. Complaining has the effect of deferring what you want to become, and inviting trouble. It is evidence that you don’t believe in yourself and you don’t believe in God. If you defer happiness you will also defer success. Many times we don’t appreciate the little milestones we have made, but are quick to complain and blame the situation about what we don’t have. Most of us do not appreciate small beginnings but chase away our big dreams because we complain too much instead of appreciating what life has to offer.Things don’t just happen on their own. They happen because they’re moved. Nothing on earth is static. Everything is on the move—even dead things. For example, if you travel from your city and come back after 20 years, you will be shocked. You will not be able to remember where your home was. The buildings that you left will have been demolished and replaced with modern skyscrapers. If dead things can change, then it is inevitable that you must also move. Success follows proactive action. PERIOD. Change to embrace new things. Change to advance. Change to remain relevant.Work on yourself every day in order to make an impact around your circumstances and surroundings. Read continually and consistently to exercise and grow your brain. Read continually and consistently to learn new ways of doing things. Read continually and consistently to train others. Remember, you are always a few steps behind someone and millions of people don’t know what you know.Your body and mind are not independent of your spirit. People who are spiritually conscious are also much happier, more satisfied with life, and more life-fulfilled. You must realize that the key to success is contentment. And contentment comes as a result of the fulfillment of your inner self through spiritual enlightenment, which comes as a result of continuous and consistent spiritual exercise such as meditation and prayer.Share the love. Share whatever little you have. Remember, whatever little bread you have there’s someone with nothing; whatever few clothes you have, there’s someone with no clothes; whatever little knowledge you have, there’s someone out there with no knowledge.Image Credit: PNR PhotographyIf you like my post, then give it a vote. And consider checking out my other posts and FREE resources at my Quora profile. There are tons of them.

It’s been completely hijacked, possibly fatally.Conservatism was a means to apply the brakes to aggressive change. Now it’s used as a front to “own the Libs”. How is that a philosophy?It used to be about Fiscal Responsibility and Debt management. Huge deficits were supposed to be the enemy. Now it’s all about state-sponsored cash grabs from the Middle Class to the Rich with unfunded tax breaks.It used to be about using both our State Department and our Military to foster America’s interests worldwide… but with the goal of promoting peace and freedom (and trade). Now it’s about walling off terrified fugitives and alienating Brown people while staffing the State Dept at 50% levels.As the main remaining superpower, we were the policemen of the world. Not everyone loved us, but they were glad to have a “good guy” watching their back. Now we turn a blind eye (at best!) to dictators’ actions and pretend to have summits that have any progress, while discussions are happening behind closed doors with no translator, witness or transcript.The Party has become pro-Gun, while children are being shot.The Party has become anti-woman, in ways too innumerable to mention, but the latest attempts to demonize those who choose to have an abortion in a reasonable timeframe has started to remind me of al qaeda.The Party has given up on the rule of law, as long as near-term Party successes can be gained. This is a bad strategy, as the worst of us will scream “Foul!” when the Democrats act similarly in the future. Mitch McConnell’s theft of Merrick Garland’s nomination was a travesty. If the Democrats ever tried to do that with a Republican nomination, the Party would be rioting in the streets.We’ve become the party of Hypocrisy. Unabashedly so. We’ve become the party of Racism, even if it’s only in being passive when others are aggressive.We used to be heroes, praising Veterans for their service… and meaning it. We used to take pride in helping our neighbor, in saving lives. Now we throw paper towels at brown people suffering from catastrophe and give ourselves an “A+” for our efforts, then claim that the sufferers are stealing our money.The Republican Party has no center. The last moderate was Olympia Snowe and she walked out the door in 2013. Even John McCain, who showed moments of statesmanship, still balked at truly opposing the wrongs he saw.The Party has become rancid. It’s mean-spirited, it cheats whenever possible (gerrymandering, closing/moving of polling stations, disenfranchisement efforts) and it doesn’t care about Americans - only its own grip on power. We only need to look at the non-response to the weekly mass shootings to see this.Yes, there will be responses to this post that shout that the Democrats lie, cheat, etc. But in your heart of hearts… you know that this is a false equivalency.The best example I can give comes from a recent discussion I was having with another Republican who is more Right Wing than I am… I said,“I can’t name 10 currently-serving Republicans that I truly respect. But I can probably name dozens of Democrats who I can, regardless of opinion on issues. On the other side, I can name dozens of Republicans that I think are examples of the worst that politics has to offer, but I’d be hard-pressed to make a similar list for the Democrats.”…simply talking about them as human beings who are supposed to represent us, and the Country.I don’t agree with many things Elizabeth Warren has to say, but her passion to try to protect people from (her perceived) financial ills is admirable. Have to say the same about Bernie Sanders.I watched Darryl Issa repeatedly try to release part of a report so his point of view was supported… only to see Elijah Cummings insist over and over again to release the whole report.I watched Mitch McConnell and Donald Trump… there’s just too much there.I understand Politics. I get that you need to get dirty to win. But that kind of dirt needs to be washable, like a kid playing hard on the football field. It can’t be the kind of dirt that sinks into your soul. The Party is poisoned. And I don’t see anyone willing to step up and revive it.It might be too late.UPDATEWow! Almost 6000 upvotes, and I just received a notification from Quora that this post apparently made me one of the top 10 “Most Viewed Writers in Democratic Party (US Politics)” category, which is a little ironic, as I’m not a registered Democrat… but I’ll take the honor!Thanks everyone, especially for the comments/discussions!UPDATE 210,000 upvotes and over 112,000 views??I’d like to think I’m above such things, but… holy cow!!I’ve enjoyed the discourse, even those who have disagreed with me. Thankfully, there have been very few “trolls” in response, and the compliments have made me blush more than a few times. I try to respond to almost all of the comments. If you feel like engaging, I’m (usually) happy to discuss. :)As to content, I’d just like to take a moment to pay respects to Elijah Cummings’ family. I referenced him, and he’s no longer with us. The man fought the good fight for many years and now I hope he can rest.Thanks again, All!UPDATE 3There seems to be a small percentage of commenters who seem hell-bent on insisting that I’m lying about being a Republican.I’m always willing to have a debate, but belligerence regarding my honesty or the representation of my beliefs will simply result in the deletion of your comment.…and no one wants that.POST-ELECTION UPDATE (12/9/20)A little stream-of-consciousness posting here…While it should be clear that I’m a Never Trumper, and I’m incredibly relieved that Biden managed the win… this discussion is more about the Republican Party, so I’ll try to keep my focus there.Cowards. It’s the only term that continually comes to mind. The incredible lack of American leadership by the Republicans in the Senate, almost to unanimity (and not too few Governors as well) to continue to embarrass the United States with this fallacious and fictitious support of Trump’s failed campaign is terrifying. And not only that, it’s literally dangerous.The cornerstone of America’s freedom is based upon the People’s right to choose their leaders, followed by the peaceful transfer of power. No matter how diametrically opposite the next administration may be to your beliefs, the overriding sense of capital D Democracy and it’s best friend Patriotism has always been paramount.And, at this awful time of pandemic and strife, the delays in certification along with the Senate’s permissiveness about the exclusion of Biden’s team in COVID planning and National Security efforts is far too risky to play political games with.If there was a hint of legitimacy to the complaint, I could understand… even though there’s no downside to supporting “both sides” to be aware of all the status, so we have a prepared administration either way.But this is support for a Madman. I refuse to believe that 50+ Senators and untold numbers of Congresspeople are also insane… so the only explanation is a widespread philosophy of Party over Country in the Republican party.If we accept the Trump’s egotism is uncontrollable… and we also allow for McConnell to be a true Machiavellian - as individual outliers - where does that leave the rest of the Party?Again, I say “Cowards”. Willing to baa like sheep when journalists query them about the latest atrocity with bleats of, “I didn’t see that tweet” or “we’re still assessing the information”. Or even worse, full-throated approvals of what can only be seen as self serving anti-intellectual falsehoods to try to share a beam or two of the poisonous spotlight for an extra moment in the dark sun.As an aside, thank goodness for the Lincoln Project. A beacon of sanity that might - just might - be able to plant a seed for the future of the Party. But that’s years away, as a best case scenario. But listening to them and seeing their ads was a refreshing bath in the midst of a thunderstorm of refuse.And while it goes against the grain for many Republicans to vote on the other side of the ticket, the poison will go undrained until Mitch McConnell loses his primacy. I’m praying for Georgia to save us from that and vote Blue - twice - in the upcoming Senate runoff elections. It’ll take a loss of power to revamp and retool for the future.POST-INAUGURATION UPDATE (1/22/21)Woo!UPDATE (2/3/21)A comment on Marjorie Taylor Greene and the Party.Once again, never letting an opportunity go by to fail to do what is right, the House Minority Leader just “condemned” her comments, but failed to even remove her from committees.So, a crazy and hateful conspiracy theorist who believes in JEWISH SPACE LASERS can’t even be kept from positions of authority and honor by the Republican Party.The poison runs deep. I just didn’t realize that one of the symptoms was abject cowardice.

No, it is precisely the opposite.Americans today want a welfare state like Belgium but at the taxation levels of Bulgaria.And that is plainly not tenable, it defies the laws not even of economics but of simple arithmetic.It is just a scandal how half of all households in America pay zero federal income taxes. Do you seriously expect us to believe that half of the people in the richest nation in all of history somehow cannot afford to pay a cent in federal income taxes?!! Really? Even as they go buying that second car, third ultra HD flatscreen and the latest iPhone? Now one can give a pass to the lowest income decile for not being able to pay anything, maybe even the two lowest deciles, but as much as half of the citizenry?As George Will put it, “Americans today are getting a dollar of service for every fifty cents they pay.”That quote by the way is not about the state being super efficient. It is an indictment of how Americans are funding the rest through debt.Americans currently are stealing from their future generations.People generally sacrifice luxuries in the present to prepare for the future of their children. But these ones are doing the precise opposite by borrowing from the future of their children to fund their benefits in the present. It is fiscally profligate and morally deplorable.There is a proper discussion to be had about the role of government and how much should be provided in services. But the fact of the matter is that like it or not, current levels of spending are simply not sustainable.American politicians like Bernie Sanders are unforgivably disingenuous by promising its citizens that they can have even more benefits without any significant increase in tax rates for anyone but the top 1% or 5% or 10%. This is such a bald lie as to rival the barrenness of his head. This soon-to-be octogenarian idiot.People like him love to point at nations like Denmark for its lavish welfare state but will not tell the other half of the story - that the Danes are responsible enough to pay for it at all income levels. Middle-class Danes don’t go around screaming “Tax only the top income households and give us even more!”Criticize the Scandinavians and Germans all you like, but they have the sense and courage of conviction to put their money where their mouths are.Lord knows how I’ve critiqued these nations sharply, even acerbically… but the one thing I deeply admire about them is how they are thoroughly pragmatic and don’t go around having fantasies of not paying for the benefits they want. How everyone at every level in their societies pulls together whether they be a waiter or an investment banker.The only thing worse than such lying politicians as Sanders is that the youngest Americans right now… you know, the ones on whom all of this debt burden is going to fall…. want even more free stuff!The greatest joke is that Sanders is most popular among young Americans. It’s like lambs cheering for a wolf.And I expect (but hardly hope) that these naive kids in two to three decades from now will remember their support for this old charlatan Sanders. when the former shall be paying through their bloody noses with getting pennies on the dollar in terms of Social Security and Medicare … while Grandpa Bernie will have long gone into his grave.Then these foolish children don’t realize what’s in store for them.How the bill for all of the spending by their parents and grandparents right now is going to fall on their heads and those of their children!I keep reading people here say that debt levels don’t matter, that the U.S. government can just keep revolving its debt as it takes on more and more of it.This. is. utter. fucking. nonsense.And a point of view which is espoused by those who know as much about finance and economics as I do about Peruvian cuisine or Japanese kabuki.The American state is not exempt by some divine right you know, from the rules of finance, borrowing and repayments.What the hell do these spouting idiots think the American state is? Almighty God?!And the rate at which its debt right now is spiraling out of control is untenable. It will soon have to start borrowing to just even service its own debt. Its like having to go to the bank and apply for a loan to even make the minimum payments on your credit cards.Here is a sequence of five numbers for you. Try and guess what they are.263 - 325 - 393 - 479 - 548No that’s not a puzzle from some IQ test.Those are the annual payments from the federal budget on just interest on U.S. debt from 2017–2021. In billions of dollars each year.Can you see how just interest payments will have doubled in just half a decade?What hope is there of ever paying down the principal to manageable levels if you cannot even pay the interest?Oh, and by the way, the next number in that sequence above - the projected interest payment in 2022 - is $610 billion. Where the hell is all that money going to come from? All the crap load of debt is not at 0% interest, you know.You still at least have to pay the interest on your loan, no? You think that just because it’s a government and not an individual or a company, common sense goes out of the god-damned window?Niall Ferguson. This brilliant Scotsman below is unarguably the most eminent economic historian on the face of the planet today. This former professor at both Oxford and then at Harvard has been warning about this for years. How this man has to have grown plainly tired of it by now.Ferguson, the most prominent adversary of Paul Krugman in the domain of economics.Much Bigger Than The Shutdown: Niall Ferguson's Public Flogging Of Paul KrugmanAnd here he is, ripping Krugman in the presence of none other than Peter Orsazg, the director of the Office of Management and Budget under Obama, and Joseph Stiglitz, both seated to his immediate right. Spare just a couple of minutes of this video to watch this brutal takedown.You’d think that this guy above who for the last three decades has done nothing but study the history of economics and debt of great empires, would know a thing or two about this subject, no?And then you have these armchair fellows saying “Oh we can keep borrowing like there’s no tomorrow!”Most of you reading this right now have no education or careers having anything to do with finance. But you still are grounded enough to understand that nobody can live beyond their means for too long, don’t you?Then take it from a man of finance like me here, how that experience and intuition of yours is correct. There is nothing as contemptible in my eyes as when people with advanced degrees in a subject use sophisticated arguments that run contrary to just the plain common sense of the person on the street.Would you respect a doctor even if they had graduated from Harvard Med School, if they said that jumping off a skyscraper will not break even a single bone in your body and then added “Shut up, I have an MD!!”, would you?Tell me, how many Americans even know that the fastest growing expense for the federal government is interest on debt?Tell me, how many Americans even know that the Congressional Budget Office (C.B.O.) estimates that the federal budget will not be balanced for any year until 2083? Go son, wrap your head around that shocking fact.Most interestingly of all, Ferguson mentions how the tipping point for each great nation/empire of the past came when the interest payments on servicing their debt exceeded their defense spending. That point was game over for their position as a hegemonic power.Think about that. Because as gargantuan as you think the American defense budget is, by 2025 it will have reached that point. And all of this big talk about “We have this Nimitz/Ford-class carrier group and that awesome fighter jet blah blah..” will get smoked faster than a joint at a fraternity party.All of this great hubris will crash and burn.Because know this much - Great nations and empires in history more often than not, prosper and then perish, dominate and then decline, by their finances.In all historical eras. Right from the Roman Empire to the Ottomans to the Mughals to the British to the Soviets. Every one of those once bestrode as masters of their domains. But once they screwed up their finances, all of that military and naval super-power declined precipitously, nothing but a memory of the past.And you think that America is somehow going to be an exception in all of history? Really huh?“If something cannot go on forever, it must stop.”That aphorism may sound mundane, but it is deceptively meaningful. Ask yourself whether a nation can take on a debt of say $50 trillion or a $100 trillion? No?Then this addiction has to stop at some point? That is what it means.It is not merely the magnitude of those numbers up there, it is the stunning trajectory.And generations in the future are going to pay the price, they will experience a lot of pain. And the medicine will be very bitter.The deficit will have to be closed by a combination of three methods -Higher levels of taxation - primarily for the middle class. Oh how it will hurt, how they will scream. But the laws of finance don’t give a shit. It’s like screaming at the rain, it will drench your furious face anyway. It’s like the King Canute trying to will the waves from wetting his feet.Cutting benefits sharply - primarily for senior citizens via Social Security and Medicare. Best of luck with that. If you have no money, you become helpless even in indignation.Printing a crapload of more money. Euphemistically also called “quant easing” to give it a flimsy veneer of exotic respectability.4 Ways to Reduce the Interest on the DebtBut no politician will dare touch #1 and #2 above. Know why? Because you are doomed to lose any election if the middle-class and seniors don’t like what you propose. It is political suicide.And printing money to pay down its debt will just create inflation. Which is effectively stealing from people who have been fiscally responsible in their personal habits by devaluing their savings.All of those will have to be done. And the longer they are postponed, the worse the pain will be when the hour of reckoning finally arrives.“We can dodge our responsibilities. But we cannot dodge the consequences of dodging our responsibilities.” - George Will