Market and income

In my last post, I mentioned the issue of market. The market will always pay you what you deserve. However, you are the one who shows what you deserve. This means that what you make is proportional to the value you create. In other words, you are the one who decides on the level of value that you create. In compensation, the market pays you accordingly. For example, many companies make smart phone, but iphone is the most expensive of all. Iphone is the most beautiful of the smart phones. However, the quality of iphone is superior to others. Consequently, the market pays more for iphone. This principle is not restricted to entrepreneurship.  
     The same principle is applied to workers. A worker is the one who determines how much he or she should earn. Many people give the excuse that what they are making is what the market pays. This is not true. What you receive is what the market pays you. It is not what the market pays others in the same area as you are. Take the case of a college professor. There are two professors teaching the same course. If one writes a reference book on the subject or has a patent, the market will pay him or her more than the other who did not produce anything, but only teaching. 
     Therefore, you should learn how to create value in whatever you do!      

How to increase your income – what you need to know!

I have written some posts on how you can increase your income. However, there is a basic concept you need to know in order to guide you make the right decision. This basic concept, if understood, will help you sharpen your objective in everything you do so you can participate effectively in the market. The first thing you should understand is the meaning of market under a capitalist economy.   

     What is market? What is capitalism? Market simply means people who can buy the products or services you provide or you are going to provide. Capitalism is an economic system in which individuals or organizations provide goods and services with the objective of making profit. Economic system means how the economy is organized. Therefore, you must always consider the market and profit making in everything you are going to be involved in. Therefore, for every profession you want to be in, you must check the employability of it and the income you will make out of it. The same principle is used by entrepreneurs in every business they do. Even if you may not  be an entrepreneur, the same principle must be applied if you want to participate in a capitalist economy.  

     Many educated people don’t participate in the economy because they miss this basic concept. Since market means people, the second thing should be how to provide something which people need. You can only make money, whether as an entrepreneur or as an employee, if there is need for your product, service, or your skill. However, an individual or organization can make much more profit if it can provide a product or service that solves people’s problems or that meets their needs excellently well. This is called value creation. No organization can hire you unless they see the potential in you that you will add value to what they are doing. This the reason why you should not go to college just to study anything that comes your way because it is easier or because of passion. You should consider college education as an investment which must have a return. The return will be your financial independence and freedom of your parents in sponsoring you.      

     Understanding of this concept ensures your success as an entrepreneur or as an employee in any organization, and, as a result, your income will increase. The question now is: how do I create value to my products, services, or to an organization? 
     In my next posts, I will give you some tips on how to create or add value to everything you do.

People with successful career

Do you know people with successful career? What qualities do they have? What can you learn from them? How dedicated and committed are they? Think about something you can do now that will change your life for better. What prevents you from doing it? You need to summon courage and start taking steps in implementing it. The difference between dreamers and achievers lies in execution phase or taking action. Take one action at a time to acquire those skills you admire in people with successful career and you will be surprised what you can achieve in a short period of time.
     Think about it!    

Buy that brand new car later, invest in your career first!

One of the factors which hurt career progression and which consequently affect income of employees is the wrong decision of financing brand new car instead of investing in their careers. It is very important to state that no company can hire you or promote you because of the type of car you have. Companies hire people because of their potential in adding value to the organization. In order to add value to an organization, you need a good academic training. In this sense, a candidate needs an educational level higher than undergraduate degree. A graduate degree makes a difference. Examples of graduate degree are MBA, M.S., or even a Professional certificate. Other important skill that can leverage someone is to speak a second language. A second language gives one the opportunity to work abroad. A second language is also important for someone living in his native country, but oversees operations in other countries. It is true that English is the language of business. However, others cannot truly follow your leadership IF you do not speak their language. Speaking another person’s language has an emotional connection.

     Returning to the title of this publication, many people ask how they can increase their income. There is no miracle to that. Everything you desire in life will come to you only when you make it a priority and be committed to it. Making your career a priority implies that you should invest in it before any other thing. Many people, instead of investing in their career first, they make buying brand new car their number one priority. They finance the cars and eventually enter into a rat race. They cannot make more because they did not have enough training and they cannot have adequate training because they don’t have sufficient income. Let us look at it the other way round. How much is the monthly payment and insurance on a car like Toyota Corolla or its equivalente? How much is the monthly payment for obtaining a graduate degree or MBA and a second language paid over a spread of 5 years? The cost of having a higher degree today is cheaper because one can study online. Only go to Google and search for online courses.

Now, think about the change that will occur in your life when you have advanced degrees or specialized training and the ones that will occur with a brand new car. While the first option increases your earnings for life including your retirement, the second option sends you on an unending spending road that you can never recover from. The worst part is that you are spending from the little you make and you don’t have the possiblity of increasing your income. Having an expensive car when you don’t have a solid source of income takes you to a path of no recovery. Investing in your career first gives you the possibility of even paying cash on your preferred brand new car in the future.

     Think about this when you are taking your decision!                       

Deixe carro zero para mais tarde, primeiramente invista em sua carreira!

Um dos fatores que prejudica a progressão da carreira, e, portanto, aumento de renda dos empregados é fazer uma opção errada de financiar a compra do carro novo em detrimento de investimento em suas carreiras. É muito importante salientar que o tipo de carro que uma pessoa possuir não influir em nada sobre a sua contratação ou promoção numa empresa. O que importa numa organização é o valor que você agrega ou pode agregar nela. Para agregar maior valor possível, você necessita de uma boa formação acadêmica. Nesse sentido, o candidato precisa ter o nível educacional maior que a graduação. Educação em nível de pós-graduação é muito recomendado por representar o diferencial. Alguns exemplos de títulos de pós-graduação valorizados no mercado são MBA, Mestrado, ou certificação Profissional. 

     Outro investimento que melhora carreira de uma pessoa é o idioma Inglês. As maiores multinacionais são americanas e como tal, reportam suas atividades para os Estados Unidos da América. Os empregados dessas empresas geralmente comuniquem com sede através de vídeo conferência, telefone, ou fisicamente. De qualquer forma que for a comunicação, eles precisam falar Inglês. A fluência em idioma Inglês é um dos fatores que determinam a promoção de empregados nessas empresas para cargo executivo e cargos de presidência de filiais em outros países. A importância do idioma Inglês não se limita às multinacionais. Empresas nacionais que querem expandir fora do país também requerem empregados que falam Inglês. Eu conheço executivos de empresas nacionais que não foram promovidos para trabalhar no exterior por falta de Inglês. A razão pela exigência do Inglês é simples. 

     O idioma Inglês é a língua oficial de negócio no mundo, além de representar 80% de publicações mundiais. No entanto, para tem bom proveito do seu investimento nessa área, é muito importante que o candidato obtenha fluência em Inglês para negócios, e que esta seja comprovada pela certificação internacional. Alguns exemplos de certificações internacionais são Cambridge Business English Certificate, Business Language Testing Service, English For Busness, Test of English for International Communication, etc.

     Para que o empregado tem aumento de renda, ele precisa investir em sua carreira em primeiro lugar. Entretanto, minha experiência tem mostrada que muitas pessoas não fazem isso. A primeira coisa que estes fazem após conseguir emprego com título de graduação é entrar em financiamento de carro novo ou morar em apartamento onde só o valor de condomínio é maior que R$1.500. Logo em seguida, entra em dívida e sem dinheiro para investir em sua carreira. Alguns podem até fazer pós-graduação se a empresa oferecer-se bolsa de estudo. Investir em Inglês é geralmente colocado em ultimo lugar. 

     Quem quiser progredir na carreira não pode fica esperando para empresa financiar seus estudos porque o conhecimento que ele vai adquirir pertence a ele, e ele pode mudar de emprego no caso de emprego atual não paga a ele adequadamente. 

     Tudo investimento em carreira (pós-graduação e Inglês) custeado durante um período de 6 anos não ultrapassa o valor mensal de R$ 1.500. Ironicamente, muitas pessoas se justifiquem que não podem pagar R$ 1.500 por mês. No entanto, os mesmos financiam carros novos por 6 anos, pagando mensalidade de R$1.500 acrescentados de IPVA, seguro, aluguel de garagem para estacionar, e manutenção periódica de carro, além de pagar outro R$1.500 de condomínio.

     Ideal será primeiramente, investir em sua carreira para depois, aumentar sua renda de forma que pode comprar o que quiser no futuro. Deixe de comprar carro novo agora para poder comprá-lo amanhã sem se endividar e sem estagnação na carreira.
     Pense nisso! 

Vitima de capitalismo

Não deixe que suas decisões e ações lhe transforma em autoproclamado vitima de capitalismo!

victims of capitalism

Don't let your decisions and actions turn you into a self-made victim of capitalism!

Quer aumentar sua renda?

Muitas pessoas me perguntam como elas podem aumentar suas fontes de renda. Uma das dicas é de utilizar as fins de semana. Para aqueles que ganham pouco e que quiserem melhorar suas vidas, não podem trabalhar 5 dias e descansar 2 dias. 2 dias representam 28,5% do seu tempo gasto em outras atividades que não sejam direcionadas à sua renda. Portanto, esse tempo livre (28,5%) tem que ser bem aproveitado para aumentar sua renda. 
Pense nisso!

Carreira 1

Pare de reclamar sobre sua carreira, toma coragem e faça a mudança necessária. Existem 2 maneiras de fazer as mudanças. A mudança pode ser feita pela atualização do nível atual de conhecimento sobre assunto. A outra forma é de iniciar estudo em outra área com maior rendimento. Sem mudança de comportamento, não haverá nenhuma mudança no resultado.

     Boa sorte!  

Aumento de renda

“Você precisa aumentar sua renda antes de começar a gastar e não aumentando gastança antes de começar aumentar a renda”

Increasing your income

“How do you use your weekends? How you use your weekends differentiates you from the others” There is no way you can limit yourself to Monday to Friday work and have a significant success. Working on weekends is one of the ways to raise your income. Find out something that you can do on weekends. It can be done at home or outside home. In order to increase your income, you must be out of comfort zone.    

Potential

"Unleash the potential hidden in you and don't live the life of a mediocre!. Don't let your potential or talent die with you"

Time stealers

What are the things that steal most part of our time? They are watching television, playing video games, being all day on cell phones, tablets, etc. Do you earn your living through all these things? They are the addictions of modern times. Many people say they do not have time to study, to work, or to do something meaningful. But, the bottom line is that they are involved with one of the above mentioned addictions. They cannot miss their daily favorite sports, games, comentary, reality television programs, soap opera, the latest gossip on social media, gossiping with their friends on mobile phone, and playing the latest video games. If you waste most part of your time doing something that do not contribute to improving your life, then the time is being wasted. In other words, you are unproductive. Productivity means doing something that brings earnings to you in an efficient way. Continuing on this path will always affect your result. Your result can only change when you change your behavior.
     Therefore, I would like you to make a change today if you have any of these time stealers.            

Time Management

"How can you be successful by spending all your time on entertainment?" What percentage of your time do you spend on work and what percentage do you spend on entertainment? I would like to hear your comments.

"You should concentrate all your efforts on doing things that will change your life for better rather than doing things that make you comfortable, but don't change your life"

“Channel all your forces to increasing your income rather than increasing your spending”

Personal Spending

Financial planning is based on the simple basic principle of spending less than you receive. Although it seems logical, a lot of people are not able to meet this requirement. They always spend more than their income. The reason is the same. My income is not enough to cover my bills. If your income is small, the solution is not to spend more than what you make. The solution should be to increase your income. You should have a plan on how to increase your income. I know you should ask me the question: how can I increase my income? In my next postings, I will give some tips on how one can increase his or her income.
     Watch out for the postings!
 

Career puzzle

Career professionals and counselors always give us the advice that people should follow their passion. Although this advice seems to solve the problem, we should ask ourselves another question. The question is: can my passion sustain me when I finish college? In other words, there should be an intersection between passion and financial sustainability. Otherwise, your passion becomes hobby. The neglect of the financial aspect of it in the equation is a complete mistake. We have to remember that we go to the grocery store, no one wants to know what you do. The only language the cashier understands is the payment. Therefore, the financial compensation of education cannot be neglected the way it is done by career advisors. That one goes to college and gets a degree is not enough to succeed in the market.
     The first condition for career success is to have the skill the market needs. The second condition is to add value to the skill so that you become indispensable to any organization. So, when coosing a profession, you should look for information about the compensation and the trend of the profession. Through your committment to the profession, you can develop passion over it. Information about professions and careers are readily available and free at the Bureau of Labor Statistics in the USA and its equivalent in other countries. For example, this can be found through IBGE in Brazil. You can also get the information from career magazines. The website addresses of these bodies are http://www.bls.gov/ooh/ and http://www.ibge.gov.br/home/, respectively.
     Do not make the mistake many people make. They think asking for the information about compensation is a sin. It is not. It makes a lot of sense to know about what you will be making in the future. How can you spend more than 4 years without knowing what will be the end game. Think about it. I hope this information will be useful to those trying to start their career or those who want to change their career.
     I would like to know your opinion.          

Life Style

"The main killer or barrier to financial independence is your lifestyle"

Financial Independence

"Your road to your financial independence starts by creating awareness"

Factors leading to success - How to create awareness

As defined in my second posting, awareness is the ability of a person to perceive the situations surrounding him or her. In the stated posting, I described how awareness leads to success and I promised to write about how awareness can be created.

The objective of creating awareness is to neutralize the forces holding our subconscious mind back. Awareness can be created by reading books, attending seminars about motivation and success, by associating yourself with successful people, by watching good television programs, visiting better places and neighborhoods than where you are currently living, and by having the capacity to observe situations, things and people.

Reading books about success is a good way to create awareness because of the level of personal involvement. When you start reading, you discover a different world out there. The reason for this discovery is that the textbooks we are accustomed to reading in schools are meant to teach us specific skills. No college textbooks teach how to create business, how to create jobs, or even how to thrive in a competitive job market. Talking about success or being rich in a college classroom is considered a taboo. So, you have to read good books if you desire to be successful. Reading books is the cheapest way to create awareness and obtain valuable information.     

Another way to acquire awareness is by attending seminars about inspiration and motivation. Since success is not taught in formal education, seminars are good ways to hear experienced people speak so you can start questioning certain concepts and paradigms. This will change your way of thinking. If seminars are good for training and coaching company executives, why shouldn’t they be good for you?        

You can also increase your awareness by associating yourself with successful people. By doing this, you will have the opportunity to study how they organize themselves and the level of focus they have. Many people make the mistake of surrounding themselves with people like them. You should always surround yourself with those better than you so they can push you up instead of pulling you down. Learning from people better than you is a good way to change your way of thinking.

 You can also increase your awareness by watching good television programs like interview of successful people, visiting better places and neighborhoods than where you were born, and by having the ability to observe situations, things and people. Other ways of achieving the same goal is by asking yourself the following questions:

·         why are others successful while you are not?;

·         successful people are created by the same God who created you, so don’t blame your religion;

·         successful people also have culture just as you have, so don’t put blame on your culture;

·         compare your parents background with successful people’s background;

·         in the case of highly educated people, why should other ones with similar qualification be more successful than you do?;

·         how often have you gone to public libraries to look for information?

·         think about how you can transform unorganized knowledge into an organized one;

·         some successful people also came from poor neighborhoods and unfavorable environment as you do. Find out how they did it;

·         remember that if you don’t produce, you need to buy from those who produce and make them rich while you are getting poorer;

·         remember that whether you participate or not, those who have awareness will continue making progress;

·         if you do not occupy your space, others will occupy it for you;

After meditating over the highlighted points above, you will start thinking differently. Human beings are given the power of making choices and everything you need to make that happen is readily available to you. Only act and create awareness today!

 Tell me what is holding you back from acting now.   

"What can you contribute to the world to make it a better place?"

Circumstances of life

Circumstances of life will always be present, be them good or bad. The circumstances of life can be created by family, government, bad economy, policy makers, politics, among others. These cannot be eliminated no matter what. What you have to do is to prepare yourself to overcome these barriers. How you can do it depends on your level of awareness. One way of creating awareness is to ask yourself the following question. If those who are successful did it in the same environment as mine, why can't I do the same? 
      
       "Do not circumstances of life determine who are"

Walter Okpala: Be Productive!

Walter Okpala: Be Productive!: "Do not say you don't have time because everybody has got exactly the same 24 hours a day. What makes a difference is what you do ...

Be Productive!

"Do not say you don't have time because everybody has got exactly the same 24 hours a day. What makes a difference is what you do with your 24 hours"

Walter Okpala: The factors leading to success - Awareness

Walter Okpala: The factors leading to success - Awareness: FACTORS LEADING TO SUCCESS - AWARENESS In my first posting, I summarized the most important factors leading to success as awar...

The factors leading to success - Awareness

FACTORS LEADING TO SUCCESS - AWARENESS

In my first posting, I summarized the most important factors leading to success as awareness, strong desire, vision, and change in mindset, full commitment and persistence, and adaptability. In that posting, I also promised that I will show how these factors lead to success or how lack of them hinders success. In this posting, I am going to take up the first item – awareness.
But before going into the topic, let me first define what I mean by success because it can mean different things to different people. To some people, it means abundant financial wealth and possessions. To others, it may mean having happy family, freedom, spirituality, or helping others. However, there is a central need which must be met by anyone in order to be considered successful. The minimum requirement for any type of success is financial independence. Financial independence is a condition in which, although one works, he or she does not need to work in order to live. Other levels of success above financial independence can be achieved, depending on one’s level of desire and commitment. In other words, the success I will be talking about in these postings will be directed at having financial independence. Since the benchmark for success has been defined, I will now return to the discussion about awareness.
The dictionary defines awareness as a condition in which one has knowledge, perception of something, or has ability to notice something. Although the definition seems simple, the greater majority of the world population lacks this important skill. These vary from people without education to those with the highest educational level. Awareness also determines the differences in the levels of development of countries. Awareness is important in every aspect of life and it is even more important for someone or a country looking for success. A candidate for success is expected to have a higher level of awareness than others because the person or the country desires to be above the average. Awareness is a skill which should be mastered. Although formal education leads to some sort of awareness, it does not provide it fully. That is the reason why some people with highest level of education do not fully use their potentials to be successful. Since awareness leads to success, lack of it becomes a strong barrier to both personal success and country success.
As defined before, awareness is the ability to perceive things or situations surrounding someone in order that the person can make a better decision for change. A person who desires success must make a change in the way he or she thinks, and which will reflect in the behavior. The link between awareness and success is the one of recognition of the current condition as a force for change. This is because one can make a change only after he or she recognizes the need for change. Without recognizing the situation, it is almost impossible to make any changes. The level of awareness one has determines the level of desire he or she will have for a change.
It is interesting to note that many people are unsuccessful because they are not aware of the good things success brings. I am sure they will fight for it if they are exposed to the benefits of success. As a result of unawareness, some use their religion and culture as excuses. Others use other explanations to justify their condition. Besides religion and culture, the common excuses people give are lack of opportunity, bad circumstances in life, bad health, death of a family member, poverty, and dysfunctional family and government. It is important to understand that it is not the circumstances of a person that determines what one should be, but how one reacts to them.

“What determines who you are is not your circumstance, but how you react to it”

About 70% of American billionaires started from zero. That is, they did not inherit anything from their parents. The result should be the same in other parts of the world. This is just to show you that using excuses mentioned above should not be the reason why you cannot be what you desire to be. The first step for looking for your way is to create awareness. Since this is very important, the question now is: how can a person have awareness?
There are many ways to create awareness. However, I will discuss them in my next postings. I have said the link between awareness and success. Let me make the point clearer by showing the effect of lack of awareness. That is how unawareness is a strong barrier to success. The first example is the question of poverty.
       Poverty is always treated as a sensitive issue and one resulting from lack of opportunity. As a result, many charitable and philanthropic organizations do good job by donating food and money to help create the lacking opportunities. However, many studies have shown that poverty still remains the number one problem in the world despite all these noble efforts. What went wrong? Why haven’t many people left the poverty zone in spite of the large amount of spent?
       The answer is simple. Charity is a part of the solution. The other part of the solution is creating awareness. Awareness creation is the training of the mind to recognize or perceive one’s circumstances and potentials so he or she can make a better decision. It is only when the poor understands his situation and his possibilities that the real motivation for change begins. It is then the poor understands that there is no barrier and anyone can be rich just by developing any ability to its maximum. Without awareness, the poor thinks others have the obligation to solve his problems. They also think they do not have the ability to make it happen. Awareness creation is generally forgotten as philanthropists and governments are emotionally involved with their mission of providing the basic needs to the poor.

“Poverty does not result from lack of opportunity, but from lack of awareness”

It is important to mention here that creating awareness for the poor is not an easy task. Firstly, they generally have low education. Secondly, their pre-determined concepts and paradigms need to be changed. However, this should be the sustained and long-term solution. However, unawareness is not limited to the uneducated. Let me use the college professors as an example of how unawareness also the educated people.
       College professors are special group of people because they generally have doctorate degree, the highest educational degree one can have. They are specialists in their areas of expertise. The question now is: how successful are they? Isn’t it ironical to see people with the highest level of education living an average life? Only a few of them are successful while the majority has to go on strike in order to receive a raise in their income. What went wrong? Once again, the reason is unawareness. If a college professor is aware of his or her potential and can put it into practice, he becomes successful. If a college professor who has been teaching the same course for more than 20 years, why can’t he add value to it and make success through it?
       To be practical, let me use mathematics teacher as an example. Mathematics is the single subject that is troublesome to almost all kids and adults worldwide. An experienced professor can find ways of making this subject easy and bringing this solution to the market. In this way, he or she can sell the idea and make money from it. Many professors do not do that because the level of awareness they have about their potential is low. The same can be done in other areas like computer sciences, information technology, and engineering, among others.
       I have given the example of the uneducated and the highly educated people. Every other group lies between these extremes. Then, you should find for yourself where you are in this spectrum. You should also verify your level of awareness. Have you used your potential to the maximum capacity? If not, what is holding you back?
Another good example of the effect of unawareness is the behavior of country leaders. By country leaders I mean heads of governments and policy makers. Think about this for a while. Many heads of governments of poor countries generally travel to rich countries for variety of reasons, such as for state visits or for conferences and meetings. Some of these leaders even lived and studied for years in developed countries. Whenever they travel, they appreciate the level of development of rich countries. They utilize excellent infrastructure existing in the rich countries. The question that remains is: why don’t the same leaders copy similar things and bring them to their native countries?
       Although some people might consider these leaders as weak or wicked, or even uneducated, the main reason is unawareness. It is obvious that everybody wants good things, but not everybody has the ability to recognize and copy them for their own use. Some people may argue, but the main difference between developed and developing countries is the level of awareness of their citizens, especially, their leaders. While developed countries have higher level of awareness, developing countries are on a lower end of it. Otherwise, what else makes the difference between the rich and the poor countries?
       In summary, awareness is an important instrument which people should use to reach the success they desire. Be aware of the opportunities surrounding you and go for them. Do not let the circumstances of life determine your life. Everybody has problem. There is no one in the world without a problem. But, in spite of problems, many people still make progress in life because of awareness. What about you?

Factors leading to success

Factors leading to success

In this first posting, I would like to take a look at the factors that lead to success. I have listened to many speakers talk about this issue and have also read books on the same subject. From all these and from my own experience in observation, I have come to conclusion that the following factors as the ones that mostly lead to success. These are:

·         awareness;

·         strong desire;

·         vision;

·         change in mindset;

·         commitment and persistence, and;

·         adaptability.

In the next postings, I will explain how these factors bring about success.