In an Instagram and Tik Tok world, how can one begin to even explain how success really happens?

Today I’m going to show you.

We will begin by seeing what is different now than 14 years ago…and why achieving financial independence is far more important than ever.

And who is to say what “success” is anyway?

Can you have success when many parts of the world are on the brink of or in a current war?

The answer of course is you have no choice but to excel during seriously difficult times. Will it be like 2008 again? will the stock market crash again?

Today the world faces much greater issues than banks failing or real estate prices collapsing.

Half of Americans expect the U.S. will enter a civil war.

Meanwhile Americans are offering more substantive weaponry to the Ukraine to fight oncoming Russian military assaults. This situation is critical to the world as you may have guessed.

If Russia ends up occupying Ukraine, then of course Poland is next. Ironically my work is published in all three countries and I hear from fans in all three countries with their concerns. That of course means there will be an all out world war.

Now, think for just a second. Where are YOU and YOUR KIDS the safest when wars expand or come right to your city or town?

In some ways, business must go on, though not as usual.  We are in the most disturbing times since Vietnam and World War II.

Politics in America becomes very relevant as the two sides of the aisle (I swear I will run for Libertarian or Independent if the right people ask). The Senate has a shade better than 50/50 chance of being red. The house isn’t even close. It will be red, with significant certainty. And President in 2024?

In the light of startling video and audio footage of January 6, you’d think the former President Trump would have no chance to win a Presidency again. But you miscalculate how the electoral college works if you believe that. Trump will whine like a baby when 2+2 still = 4, but if he wins, the system will be deigned safe for all. And if you think Joe Biden has no chance because his approval ratings are terrible, you miscalculate how people vote for a President.

Joe Biden (or any democratic candidate) will trounce ANY Republican candidate in the next election…in the popular vote. It won’t be close. But of course the United States made the electoral college for good reasons and THAT will be a different story. The oh so close races of 2020 will be replicated again in 2024. Both parties will be very aggressive. Trump won’t be stupid enough to tell people to not vote by mail. That was the most mind blowing screw up in history. If you have vote by mail you make it EASY to get votes. If Trump encouraged mail voting he would win the electoral college and it wouldn’t be close.

But people don’t do the logical thing. They think and feel in large part of their past decisions.

All of this is critical for you to understand WHY these next two years are so important in YOUR LIFE.

When bad stuff is all but certain to happen you must shoot the black swan before he rains on your parade.

This is real life while numerous American’s b*tch about social issues that don’t matter and fly past the one’s that are critical to solve.

It’s taken energy out of the world’s hardest working people and given that title to China. That’s a few years sooner than I expected but it is what it is.

So how are millions of Americans planning and living?

The United States is experiencing a “Minimalist Movement.” (Why do I need xyz when I can live with Mom.)

There is certainly nothing wrong with reducing expenditures but there’s a lot wrong with the other sides…of the multi-sided coin.

The minimalists often don’t challenge themselves to see just what life they can live.

More challenging of course is that the preparation for the day when they have no resources is coming. Right now there is a socialist safety net in a lot of countries.

Sadly, at some point, the net will be experienced for what it really is becoming… a little bit of net and a lot of big holes.

Where will the net break first, second, third? I can’t tell you. I don’t know.

When will the nets begin breaking? I don’t know.

How will the nets break? That’s easy. They are already broken. They can’t be fixed without a massive and seriously painful restructuring. The restructuring will happen and that means the currencies will be worth a fraction of what they are today, meaning the money saved will be “worth” a lot less than it is day.

The prepared people will have the best chance to survive and thrive in difficult times. You can look on Twitter and see that right as Twitter was coming on the scene as a social media force, I said there was going to be a big stock market crash. It’s on Twitter so you can go scroll down and find the posts. This was when everyone was high on life and markets were at historic highs. And then they weren’t. But that was then and this is now and things will be roughly the same in 6 – 30 months. Exactly what date do more bubbles start to pop? I really can’t tell you. I can tell you that by 2023 we will have more remarkable stories similar to 2008…except more profound.

The psychology of the online connected world is a real mess today. People see “success” and the accoutrements of success all around. Some of it is real and some a big illusion/delusion.

The problem is a “feel good problem,” where 1/3 of the people on the planet can post the very best moment of their day on Facebook. Sounds like a nice thing but the challenge is that you’re seeing everyone at their photo-shopped “best” and not seeing what reality is.

People with an accurate view of reality have always been those who are more likely to succeed in life. Why? As you see people put their best moments on life, it causes more people to be more and more socially anxious, less likely to reach out and communicate and unfortunately convinces you that everyone else is better off and better looking, than you are.

The notion of Facebook News is bothersome but the reality of Facebook Bullsh… is another thing altogether. You apparently see everyone succeeding at something remarkable and you feel worse about yourself; which is why people who use Social Media more than average are more likely to suffer from depression and a host of other psychological challenges. All that for another day.

Today I want to point out that what you see on Facebook and similar is really an illusion. You’re observing what appears to be people succeeding, achieving and living the “good life” when you are not.

Sure you post your best moments to Instagram too, but really you know the truth of YOUR life. Compared to all those other people, you are a “loser.”

Here’s the truth. You aren’t. And they aren’t winning.

In fact fewer people per capita are living the “good life” now than ever before. To be sure wealth is still increasing among the top 10% (who now own 90% of the wealth on the planet) and in particular the top 1% who own half of everything on the planet.

The rest of the 90% aren’t doing so well. Maybe their household does $100,000 per year.

It doesn’t really matter because almost all of that money is absorbed by taxes and indebtedness.

There are people who wisely saved and stashed their incomes away for a rainy day.

That has made some people’s lives a lot better and a lot less likely to succumb to disaster today. And as the world stock markets flatten out and soon begin to return from outer space to the atmosphere, a lot of wealth will just vanish into thin air, proving once again that success is not about “easy money” but “careful and consistent thinking, planning, and completion.”

It’s so important that people understand that much of what they see happening around them is simply not real.

I was recently in Europe as well as South America. I had some fun, some very special moments,
and some of that I posted on  Facebook I imagine. We’ll see.

But I also had 4 days of food poisoning in Europe and follow up bonus challenges which turned a pleasant Kevin into an irritable person. You’ll never see (thank god) this on Facebook. I tell you this only to remind you that a lot of what glitters is gold but there is a lot of dirt to dig that surrounds the gold. Today I want to give you 7 short reality checks that will move your toward success while most people will continue to pretend and move toward the back of the global bus.

If you’re going to have a life that you are in control of then you’ll have to succeed.

You’ll need to be part of the 10% or you’ll be rolling dice against math that can’t be beaten. You define success how you wish. I’m going to say it is having the resources to care for yourself and others you love without promised safety nets, be they health, education, welfare, social security, etc.

Success is absolutely attainable and achievable by most people reading this. It is largely a choice that is propelled by fuel that really works.

It begins with expectation.

Expectation is not a belief. It is not generated through “affirmations.” Expectation is the cause of your behavioral change and that of those around you. It is your absolute certainty that some action will happen. Expectation is generated by always completing tasks, accomplishing projects, and you doing what you say.

Soon when you say something, people trust you, know you are acting in their best interest and that you are the person who makes magic in people’s lives.

Expectation comes from certainty of yourself and those around you. Surround yourself with “magical thinking,” like “I believe in myself” and you’ll end up right next to the other magical thinkers. Not just broke, but deep in debt.

Expectation comes with the successful completion of tasks and the brain seeing and living the patterns of finishing what you start.

These behaviors change attitudes and attitudes must change.

Attitude Change occurs when you have completed behaviors and develop a Success State of Mind. There is no “positive” or “negative” mental attitude that can be measured. Instead you measure your successes and failures and develop a “Real World Success Mindset.” It happens because you have THE right attitude that comes from Expectation. The attitude is not “feel good” it is feel COMPETENT and CONFIDENT.

Confidence is a MUST for success in your business and life. Confidence comes directly from competence. Competence is the self certainty that is the result of being good at something. Confidence can also come from your experience of being good at similar tasks, actions, projects, and knowing you will be effective at a similar set of tasks or projects.

Delusional Self Confidence is a dream. It’s based on a feeling or a hope. It’s not real and it is crushed and crashed with ease. You can’t look in the mirror and say “I can do it.” You are able to do it, when you do it and other things like “it” every day and achieve certainty which triggers confidence.

Choice Reduction helps you assure success. Trying to be excellent at everything is very difficult. Grow your key skills for success in your business. (Strategic thinking, communication & influence, recognizing obstacles to your outcomes before they happen and overcoming them.) As you master a few things, you can then work on three more important skills or behaviors, accomplish mastery and then choose three more until you master all aspects of communication, selling and personal branding
that will cause your success.

No one can master everything. Everyone can master a few things. These few things must be connected to your desired outcomes of life. If you do this you will likely be in the successful 10%.

Competition is mostly unimportant in business. People buy excellent products from PEOPLE who they PREFER to do business with. Your competition is really your Self. Other people selling similar products do not posses your identity, uniqueness, personality or what makes you special as a person.

You are unique.

Competition forces people to have competitive advantages or fail. Be sure to look at competition for what it is. Others are doing what you are doing (or something similar).

You stay ahead by being the best or among the best.

Change the Behavior of Other People – Your actions which are grown in gentleness and experienced as being strong and wise will cause others to change who they are and what they do as they invest more time and energy around you.

Change can also happen in a moment, in an instant!

Influence is critical to success. You need help and others need your help. These crucial connections make or break success and failure.

Self Certainty. Do not allow the influence of negative (unkind, unsupportive) people interfere with YOUR life and YOUR plans.

Surround yourself with AMAZING people and YOU will BE AMAZING.

Is there more? Reams.

For today? Write these aspects of success on post it notes and put them up around the house and the office.

DO this and you’ll have accomplished step one and THIS will give you confidence because you will have completed something important!