Tough People, with Character… Win

Tough Times Naturally Cause Division and Character Shifts Among People

Ever wonder where character…personal toughness wrapped with goodness comes from? Sometimes humans are remarkably “strong,” good and wise.

Ever wonder how the world accomplished getting itself into the big mess of October 2008? How about the next downturn? Wonder why perhaps most people are incredibly foolish and ill intended?

Will you insulate you and those you love from the next serious family and friends drama as well as the coming large economic mess or wait for the tsunami to take your quality of life away again?

You have the capacity to move toward greatness while things fall apart all around. Tough times are “the great divider” in personal character.

People of character plan and prepare for challenging times, which makes riding out the good times a lot easier and a lot more fun. When tough times arrive they are challenged like everyone else, but they are not shocked or terrified by the loss of job, hurricane, tornado, divorce, illness in the family. But their stress level is dramatically less. And in everyday life everyone faces real stresses. The prepared already knew they were coming and sidestep a lot of the challenges others are paralyzed by.

Psychologically, intellectually, financially. Some people live in daily dramas for these three things. Some people are affected to be sure but not taken over by them.

….and what do people do on a Friday afternoon?

They go visiting, have a barbecue. They take that long deserved break from their 40-hour per week job. They kick back…and *do* nothing.

One article I read today, “God will take care of me.” Another woman interviewed simply said, “things will get better when we get a new President.”

People do nothing. They want all kinds of things, protest or put up Facebook about what they want someone to give them and then magically believe like the 16 year old, that it will come because they want it.

It concerns me…that people are yielding their character to inertia…more than I’ve ever experienced in life.

What is it People Are Doing? What WILL they do when life slams them in the head in 2021 when things are very tough?

Page 2

They do nothing…and assume they will be “bailed out” too, if something overwhelmingly dramatic happens to them.

That builds character?

And they abhor the fact that there are about 10-20% of people in town that are moving forward and doing just fine. Phone dwellers now resent those who grow… and you can feel the resentment from those who live inside their phone. It’s directed toward those who make more valuable lives.

This is a sharp and NEW dividing line in character.

Meanwhile, they hang out, go to the party… and never misunderstand, a bit of partying is a very good thing!

But people, in droves, are indeed yielding their character to the party before they’ve built their character. And that is a guaranteed crisis waiting to happen.

It’s not just human nature to be flat out inert (lazy). It’s most, but not all, living things’ nature to be inert.

The only time most animals move is when there is a physical threat, when they are curious, when they are hungry, or they need to seek shelter.

Same with about 80% of people. But there IS a division of character in the human race that is particularly interesting…

Group A: They see the coming mess. (At the personal and the societal level. They somehow feel it won’t happen to them.

They do …nothing.

They might even lose a job.

Now, for years we’ve talked in Coffee with Kevin Hogan about how these kinds of things are big houses of cards that come tumbling down. It’s like having 1% battery when you have been injured and need help desperately.

Fault in dramas both large and small scale, is irrelevant. Responsibility is very relevant. Bills will come due. Those with character will find a way to answer the call and be the next round of successes.

Because in every disaster, heroes emerge and win while everyone else loses.

We know that not only do we have to insulate ourselves from the foolishness all around, but also from the economy in general and, of course, the tax men.

Ah, the taxman…Mr. Wilson…(George Harrison)…

Let’s do the quick math problem that explains a piece of the societal pressure on those who prepare and plan.

People who work two jobs don’t pay twice the taxes in the United States.

Nope.

You work two jobs and you pay 300% more in taxes than the guy next door who works 40 hours a week and “strives for balance” in his life.

Don’t believe it?

I’m writing this from Europe in October 2019, but…

Here’s how it works in the U.S.:

Work Job A, earn $30,000, 12% goes to the government. That’s $3,600.

The guy who realizes that the only balance is to protect himself and his family?

He works two jobs, Job A like the neighbor but also Job B.

Job B he earns another $30,000. That income is taxed at 30%. That’s over $9,000 for a total of almost $12,600 on $60,000 earned.

So a guy goes and busts his butt for his family or even his own security. But there is a price to pay. A big one.

There are MASSIVE societal penalties to working hard and smart. There are massive penalties to building character…

“Earn more, pay a lot more, it’s just fair,” shouts the yoga dude down the block. (Nothing wrong with the yoga dude who took responsibility for his family and those he loves this week.)

Being inert is so ingrained into human behavior that people demand that politicians tax the guy who works two jobs, 3 times the money, so the inert can have “balance.”

It is the price that people who want to actually live a meaningful and complete life have to pay.

Is it worth having character? Is there even an upside to being a good person, helping others, loving your family and friends?

Could this be framed another way?

Page 3

Roots in Poverty

I grew up in a lower income class neighborhood. That sounds politically correct.  Poverty is defined by income levels that are really tiny…yep…for quite awhile…it’s an interesting place to be…and one worth leaving permanently after 7 1/2  years.

(And know that I know that many had even greater challenges than being on the bottom. Many had no access to something as simple as drinkable water.)

Character…toughness…resilience….spirit aren’t necessarily born in poverty. I can think of a lot of people who just gave up. They were nearby and “had more.” But, near nothing does provide one of the bigger challenges in life…it’s a first class testing ground.

Now, you decide to leave this style of life and move up to the middle class, say the 5th decile instead of the 1st (poverty) decile. In the U.S., the U.K., Australia and most of Europe, for most people, this is a choice.

Ponder…
If someone was smart enough to drive to the bank, convince someone to give them a loan then go home and work 40 hours a week and strive for balance, then lose the home…the person was short-term inert and long-term foolish.

“Oh, but he lost his job and then couldn’t pay the mortgage.”

Uh huh….

Losing a job is not a crisis…it’s an irritation. Losing your hands or eyes is a crisis.  The average job change in the U.S. is 7 years. It will be more or less from country to country. It’s one of those things that one knows is coming at some point (or they’ll discover it when it actually happens).

Did the guy who lost his job end up in the hospital for multiple years? If yes, I hope we let THAT person get a pass, to be sure. That was what my family  experienced…twice… there are worse scenarios, some people didn’t make it to the hospital. Those who have had worse ongoing scenarios are the kinds of people we like to help out here at kevinhogan.com. They’ve experienced the grit of life and continue to move through the forest in front of them. Gotta respect and appreciate that.

Can I Relate?

Page 4

A lot of people have never lived below that middle line. And that is the math of life. If that’s you, that is what a lot of parents (plural) were able to do for their kids, which is pretty damn cool. But having been in all 10 at one time or another in life, it’s very to say “been there and done most of it.”

When you lose a job, you just realize that you weren’t worth to the company what they were paying you. I learned that a bunch of times and I’m sure you have too. It’s a tough and humbling lesson of course, but that’s all it is, is a lesson. It’s not even a judgement of character. Most people have been fired in their lives including almost everyone I know with integrity and character.

It’s a point from where resilience and mental toughness can be triggered.

From my personal age of 6 to age 12 years, our home housed six and sometimes eight people. It was roughly 24′ x 24′ maybe a bit smaller.

There were 15-20 kids on the block.

My second Dad was only able to work for two years when he got congestive heart failure, basically living in the hospital and then in a hospital bed in his bedroom at home later. While all that’s going on, you wished that he had just lost a job. Crisis vs. irritation.

In a sense it’s a challenging story, but it built a lot of character in a lot of people. In an odd sense perhaps I’m retrospectively thankful.

My personal “system” was simple. I’m 11 years old. I wake up in the morning. I deliver the Waukegan News Sun. I go to school. I come home and take care of the 4 kids usually with Tami until Mom gets home from work. I do chores, then homework, then I could go play for a couple of hours or go sell greeting cards in season, or shovel snow or cut someone’s lawn with a grass clipper. (We didn’t own a “real” lawn mower until I was 13.) Always wondered how people took care of a yard 100 years ago.

Saturdays and Sundays were great because I could put in several hours of work after delivering the paper. I didn’t have to take care of the kids because Mom was home. AND, I might get to go play baseball in season. (We grew up on the north side of Chicago, starting with Highwood…baseball is VERY important in Chicago!) Sunday was best, because I could work for Mr. Sokolies working on his pretty new invention called a “sokolarium.” (google it)  The sokolariums were at a greenhouse. Sundays he paid me $1 an hour to pull weeds. (He felt sorry for me. I was not worth the money when I was 11.)

Pretty much all the Dads worked on the street. Those who would “lose their jobs” would go get OTHER jobs. You rarely saw the Dad’s around, but they were doing there jobs. So were the Moms.

The common thread was unless you were dying, you worked…quite a bit.

2019: “Oh, so you really do understand?”

Absolutely.

The point, of course, is that the story illustrates the beginning of one path…

Page 5

I look at some of the people I grew up around, outside of my little house on the train tracks and I notice that a modest number of others took similar paths. They fought, overcame, refused to let life take them down and then they busted it until they succeeded.

I more than understand people who chronically “wish” the world would be ideal for them…and I appreciate those who play cards with the cards they are dealt.

We grew up with a very simple fact which translates into 2021 and like this: If someone can make it to the unemployment office, they absolutely can develop RESILIENCE and can make themselves a job…

I get what it’s like to be one step from walking in the orphanage with my two brothers.

My Mom told me more than once, “we’ll try and keep you kids together.”

No, I positively understand that we want things to be “easier” and that is human nature…and when people yield to that…they fail as people.

…inertia…

This one desire…has screwed up…so much…the desire to do nothing…

Today you and I pay for the goofiest things.

There’s forever food stamps for those who can walk or think, there’s a wall from those who are phobic of the evil Mexican population to the south. Politicians ask me to cover these costs. I’m not thrilled.

There’s a million (millions) of people that believe they “deserve” …something. (Entitlement schema’s are the only maladaptive emotional patterns in a person I can’t tolerate, if you haven’t figured it out. Yes it’s mental illness so I avoid practicing in that world of challenges.

Think of who gets a check from you that didn’t earn it…as you did. There’s a bunch of people in numerous deciles that are given when they have done nothing to receive. And the number of people that think that’s OK continues to grow. Disturbing.

You know…there’s a lot of people who simply and literally can’t move from their chair…their wheel chair…and of course… most of them have jobs.

But you never hear these people or the families of these disabled people grumble.  That’s part of the wonderful feeling of helping the families of those with incredible disabilities.

You only hear about people who have a standard of living expectation that they “deserve”.  It’s cute to watch grown adults say it’s a right to have health care . Not really. It’s a fantasy.

There’s a lot of people around you that are inert and will remain inert.

It’s an important consideration. Prior to the United States enforcing the payment of other people’s bills, (something that could have come from the goodness of millions) this was a heck of a place… where spirit and resilience were forged. Then politicians finally caught on to people’s weaknesses and helped exploit them. Now the people just demand what 50 years ago would have been outrageous.

So now we are back at a point where the blade is on the anvil.

Most people WILL be dramatically and negatively affected by the next “downturn”, and what will happen for the next 5-10 years…it’s going to be interesting and they will do nothing…

or

They will develop a conscience…character…resilience… They will move forward except when the winds from the wings of black swans hold them back a bit.

And when people MOVE stuff happens. Personal toughness and resilience develop…

Page 6

When people are foolish they do indeed need to PAY a PRICE, not GET PAID A PRICE.

Every time you hear of any able bodied or brained human… or any company, being “bailed out,” just think about that. See if it truly makes sense in your own mind for you to be writing them another check from your personal bank account.

But, regardless of the circumstances you can’t control, YOU CAN live a real life in 2019, if “PLAY” is pushed on the Character Panel….

And it is choice. If you can MOVE you can CHOOSE.

How?

And there is no denying it…and there is no denying that you, me and a whole lot of people will work through the challenges that are here and coming soon to the proverbial theater near us….

But the challenges are going to be great….
People who pay taxes will be asked to pay ALL the bills of companies that continue to go bankrupt.

The rules of the game are becoming… foolish as dust.

History DOES repeat itself. Someone at the White House thinks this is going to change?

Giving able body and brained PEOPLE free money is foolish enough.

Reality check:
Classical Conditioning…Psych 101…Day 1…
People only develop personal self-responsibility, community discipline and potentially successful work ethic when they direct deposit the CHECKS THEY EARNED.

Cutting people checks to not work simply can’t ever happen. INERT behavior that is rewarded will be replicated. It stops growth in the world and forces a “borrow” mentality that is certainly a stop gap concept here and there, but not a wise way of life for long.

And Then There is YOUR Character…

Don’t allow your SELF to be rewarded for INERT behavior. It’s like getting high fives for tanking a gallon of ice cream on a diet.

Here’s the great thing.

In tough times, most people complain, blame…turn their fear into inertia or they turn around and turn fear into power.

Here’s a secret. I complained when I was a kid. “Mom I don’t like this.”  It could have been food, a job I preferred not to have. In those days working at 10 or 12 years old was pretty much necessary, expected and one of the things I’m grateful I did.

You do it while you complain. And that’s OK.

But, it’s when people choose the other path that their future goes awry because these people become paralyzed by the fear of damn near everything.

Is it OK to be scared?

Page 7

Fear

Listen, it’s OK to be scared. Nothing wrong with that. People SHOULD be fearful about a lot of stuff in life. It’ simply a logical response to a situation.

Shoot, Warren Buffet is nervous in 2019! Did you see that more than half of his portfolio is in cash equivalents? (2019)

In fact, truly foolish people are NOT nervous about the next downturn and THEY SHOULD BE. When the wealthiest people on the planet move out of the markets, and they are today in October 2019,  it is often wise to observe and replicate or play the NEW and coming game a bit differently.

Complain! It’s really OK, simply make massive progress while the mouth is uttering the words of frustration, anger and resentment.

Fear is PROGRAMMED into your BRAIN TO KEEP YOU ALIVE.

You’ve got a bunch of crazy people taking your money (money for humans is what they are supposed to get in exchange for applied effort in an organized and desired fashion) and giving it to corporation and OTHER GOVERNMENT BODIES that have GONE BROKE.

That’s a GOOD REASON to feel the anxiety in your stomach.

But your RESPONSE to fear is what will determine YOUR fate.

While scared, do you pay the price of tripling your taxes….to build a secure and safe life perhaps a life with abundance?

or

Do you curl up and hide in the corner waiting for the tsunami? It’s not really a black swan because you know the next tsunami is close.

Do  you develop character, resilience and personal toughness…or…not…?

MOVE today.

Set your life in motion TODAY.

When you feel like grumbling…get UP and MOVE.

Character is being constructed while you move…

It feels good…very good!

Need help dealing with self-sabotage in the wealth and success area of life?

A lot of people could choose to delay the Wealth Accumulation System E-Course. I can understand the price involved is a true investment. But anyone can afford The Millionaire Mind. This program is big by itself and deals with content that is rather necessary as a precursor to the Wealth Accumulation System.

The Millionaire Mind: Complete Wealth Package

The Psychology of Wealth: How the Unconscious Mind keeps you from money.

Whether you want to help others build wealth or do it for yourself, you’re going to need the information in this new and exciting program. The answer is NOT out there. It is not some metaphysical concept. It is real. The unconscious mind (the part of you that most often determines what you do in life) is not wired to accumulate wealth. This Psychology of Wealth Accumulation will show you how to change that…to re-structure your thinking for a lifetime of abundance.

Fact: The same part of the brain the keeps people from losing weight keeps people from great wealth!

I’m going to take you through your unconscious mind and and make sure every change you need to make, takes place. I’m going to take you through a process whereby any doubts you have about wealth accumulation are either restructured to be used as leverage to accumulate wealth or as a tool to prepare for future challenges related to money.

Accumulating wealth is going to become a mind game that you win every time.

How you think at the conscious and unconscious level will determine how much you will accumulate. My job is to get you to instantly respond to money and how it is directed… in very specific ways. Once you can do this, it is remarkably easy to accumulate it.

Wealth is an elusive thing for most people. People start on programs to make money, and, much like losing weight, they fail within weeks. Here is a fact: There are critical factors involved and you will discover them all.

When you think about it…there are probably more get-rich programs available than just about any “self development” theme. This is NOT one of them. I’ve seen very few ways to get “rich” quickly that were legal…or even ethical.

I think one of the most important turning points of my life was when I discovered that I had (at the unconscious level) self-sabotaged myself. I had used and heard that term many times. Never did it really sink in that with some powerful processing, I could isolate those causes and “unhook them.” Once I was able to do this, accumulating wealth was just about as basic as accumulating dust. BUT none of it would have ever happened had I not ventured deep inside to discover just what was holding me back. This is what you are going to be able to do, by yourself in the privacy of your own home.

This program is unique in approach and more importantly, it works. This is NOT a get-rich-quick scheme nor is it a savings program. It is about changing subconscious conditioning in less than one month and literally accumulating wealth.

Learn the golden key to the thinking process that makes wealth accumulation possible.

Discover the 12 fears that run your life decisions and behaviors as they relate to wealth accumulation. You’re going to learn how to see these fears and begin to unplug them. Without uprooting the causes of making the wrong decisions at the right moments…people are going to continue making them … forever.

Kevin Hogan shows you how to go back, deep into your past, and find the critical sensitizing experiences that have dramatically shaped your life as far as making and accumulating money. (There is an enormous distinction between making money and accumulating it. It is quite easy to make money. It is substantially more difficult to accumulate it…a critical distinction that we make in the Psychology of Wealth Accumulation!)

This program will literally show you how to build a bridge from self-sabotage to prosperity!

Discover counter intentions and how to change them to parallel systems of achievement. Less than 4% of people are been equipped to deal with all six of the psychological paradoxes that cause people to fail in growing wealth. The reason is simple. Most of these paradoxes are “new.” For the most part, they didn’t exist when you were a child. They do now. The roots of some of these paradoxes lie within the evolution of how you “experience work,” how you have built the beliefs about your life and your work and how deeply your programming about change has been ingrained into the depths of your mind. Now you will discover how to defeat all six paradoxes that are operating in your mind and finally move forward on your quest to accumulate wealth.

You will have the complete formula to accomplish re-framing and begin adding the dollars to your treasure chests. And I’m going to walk you through the entire process.

More on Eliminating Self-Sabotage in the Area of Wealth Accumulation