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Wealth Matters: noun, intr.v.: (welth māt’erz) - the importance of an abundance or profusion of anything

I have come that they may have life, and have it more abundantly. JOHN 10:10

CHRIS J. SNOOK & Muzafer Najfi

Dedication Chris J. Snook: To my wife, Brianne, and our son, Beckett, who have made me feel WEALTHIER every day you have been in my life; to my mother, father and sister Corrie, whom I hold in the highest regard for the love they have nurtured in each other and our family; and to every employee, partner, mentor and coach who helped me become a man who lives the life of his wildest and most cherished dreams, I dedicate this book.

Chet Snook: To Ginny Snook who expanded my world beyond my wildest dreams!

Muzafer Najfi: First and foremost I want to THANK GOD for the all the blessings that he continues to shower us with. To my bride, best friend and soul twin, Fozia. Thank you for always believing in me and making me better! I work this hard so you, Naseera and Malaika will see all your dreams come true! The three of you have continued to motivate, excite and complete my life on a daily basis and for that I want to THANK and DEDICATE this book to you. Love, Muzafer/Abu

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Table of Contents Foreword

9

Original Preface

19

Chapter #1

The Power of Words

23

Chapter #2

Understanding the Mind

35

Chapter #3 The Terror Barrier

55

Chapter #4

The Universal Laws

67

Chapter #5

The Seven Levels of Awareness

77

Chapter #6 Spiritual Wealth

85

Chapter #7

Intellectual Wealth



115

Chapter #8

Relational Wealth

127

Chapter #9 Physical Wealth

163

Chapter #10 Vocational Wealth

177

Chapter #11 Financial Wealth

189

Chapter #12

Your Circle of Influence

211

Chapter #13

Four Decisions to Fuel Your Fortune

223

Chapter #14

You at Work-Your Money at Work

249

Chapter #15

Your 90-Day Blueprint

265

Bonus Material

Get in the Loop

271

AFTERWORD

275

Appendix A

285

Recommended Reading List

CHRIS J. SNOOK & Muzafer Najfi

Foreword “It’s not how hard you get hit, but how hard you can get hit and still get back up.” Rocky Balboa

June 26, 2011 (11:34 p.m. PST) I just hung up the phone with my co-author of this new edition of Wealth Matters (Muzafer Najfi) and can’t sleep because I am facing an onslaught of ideas, logistics, excitement, anticipation, responsibility, and a flood of gratitude. The usual techniques I use to shut off my brain and rest until morning are failing me at this moment. Who am I kidding? I am not the slightest bit interested in going to bed just yet. The time to re-release an updated version of this work has never been more important. The partnership and complimentary knowledge base that Muzafer brings to those in desperate need of strategies to rebuild their lives, has never been more relevant. This edition is something I have felt compelled to do for the past two and half years and now it finally has the right publisher and writing partner to manifest itself in a meaningful and beneficial way. Our collective alignment on purpose and mission and the power that our partnership will have in positively impacting your life has got me riddled with goose bumps. In this edition you will be introduced to over 60 new pages of pragmatic and densely packed content from us and we have leveraged mobile technology and QR codes to bury rewarding video lessons, expanded teachings, and critical updates throughout the chapters that you will access and uncover using either an Apple or Android smartphone. If you worried or wondered

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Wealth matters about your financial future in the recent years then this edition will put you in an unrivaled state of empowerment. What a difference four years can make in the world. In August 2007 when my father Chet and I released the first edition of this, book series Wealth Matters…Abundance is your birthright, with over 5,000 copies presold prior to the publication date, it was still an age of prosperity and conspicuous spending for most of the world despite well over 12 months of warnings that the good times were soon to end. Major financial and lending institution failures from New Century Mortgage (R.I.P. April 2007) to Bear Stearns (June 2007) and dozens more had already taken shape to create the worst financial and economic meltdown of the last 80 years. At that time, my wife and I were the proud owners of a profitable consulting company that operated with clients in as many as 13 countries. In addition we were super excited about our recent investment into a brick and mortar concept we called define: a Lifestyle Enhancement Club, which had just opened its first location in downtown San Diego to much local fanfare and publicity. As the year 2007 progressed, we saw continued expansion in the consulting business even though the impact of a downward real estate market, high fixed overhead, slow revenue ramp and bad business partnership in the club was threatening the trust, safety, and fiber of our marriage and financial net worth. Starting in early 2006 and through February 11, 2008 we had literally sunk every dime of profit from the consulting business into the other company to keep payroll and operations going in hopes that the business and its partnership would find its way back to health. But a fateful opportunity for me to be on a CBS reality show pilot featuring successful business people searching for their inner child would create a buffer of perspective, changing our trajectory at just the right time. The show was never meant to air since it was a pilot, but the $10,000 prize at stake for the winner, was sadly my best opportunity that month to earn back some urgently needed liquidity. I knew it was a long shot, but armed with the tools of Understanding the Mind (Chapter 2) I convinced my subconscious and apparently the collective minds of all involved that winning was the only acceptable outcome. As I drove my (now harder to afford and even harder to justify) 2008 BMW 550i from LA after the final day of taping with my crisp $10,000 victory check in hand, I was talking to my wife on the phone for the first

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CHRIS J. SNOOK & Muzafer Najfi time in over a week (we were sequestered in solitude during the taping). I had decided it was time for us to cut our losses with this unprofitable business and be bought out, when I received a call from our business partner in define on the other line. I clicked over and the call was brief. He informed me that effective the following morning he was resigning as an officer and director of the company and would be moving on. I was partly relieved and partly pissed beyond words. There went the potential buyout exit for me and Brianne, but more importantly what he failed to mention was that he would be filing for personal Chapter 7 Bankruptcy protection a few days later. This would have a devastating impact on our ability to turn the company around (more on that in a few paragraphs). Brianne and I spent the next 90 days digging through the stack of operational issues, overdue bills, disgruntled vendor messages, and communicating with our handful of team members about downsizing or transitioning them into new careers. We focused on restructuring several turnaround plans that might allow us to cut overhead, stabilize cashflow, achieve breakeven and continue operating define with 100% ownership. It was during the meeting to re-negotiate the $2.7-million lease obligation the club had with our billion-dollar landlord that we became aware of our partner’s bankruptcy filing. Having structured this entity as a Sub Chapter S-Corporation in California, the net effect of this meant that with his liquidation, all debts, liabilities, and potential future liabilities of the enterprise would float right up to yours truly. I was naked…I was pissed…I was scared…I was ashamed. Here I was the author of Wealth Matters…Abundance is your birthright, an international best seller, and a business coach and mentor to over 227 consultants in 13 countries through our other business, and I was bankrupt. I had just failed in a major way for the second time in my then eight-year entrepreneurial career. I went through my list of “shoulds” like most people would after receiving news like this. I should’ve listened to my gut and my wife’s intuition about partnering with this person. I should not have delegated so much operational control to an unproven entrepreneur/partner. I should have made cuts deeper and sooner when we failed to get revenue lift. I should have known better. I should have structured the legal in a proper way to shield our other assets from this type of thing and paid the extra money to hire proper counsel. And the list went on and on.... I failed to the tune of close to $1.8 million in sunk

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Wealth matters cost, close to $750,000 in write-downs, and broken promises to lenders, vendors, employees, landlords, and worst of all, my wife. I spent 90 days on the phone with dozens of people preparing and working on plans to take care of them or apologizing for failing to meet my planned obligations to them. It was a cleansing but embarrassing experience. A few of them offered words of support and encouragement and appreciation for the direct call. However, as to be expected some had no sympathy, including Wells Fargo whose lawyer beat me down hard in the deposition and for a few weeks afterward (I think to rack up extra legal fees more than anything else) during the allowable 90 days before the official discharge. It wasn’t a fun time, but like everything else in life, it wasn’t permanent! Have you ever screwed up really badly? Are you dwelling on it? If you have failed in the past or even gone bankrupt recently you have the potential to join the class of other famous successful entrepreneurs like Walt Disney, Donald Trump, or Thomas Edison who failed and even went bankrupt multiple times, but never let it stop them from achieving tremendous levels of success. If you have been looking for a spark or a life raft, this book is for you and will serve as both guidebook and inspiration to how you can come back stronger than ever. But first, you have to stop dwelling on your mistakes and get moving in a forward direction with speed! The months following April 2008 through September 9, 2008 are a blur to me. It seems like another lifetime to me. We did all the things you would expect an honorable (albeit temporarily defeated) people and business couple to do. This included personally contacting all 32 of our vendors, contractors, etc. and telling them that we were not going to be continuing the business, and that faced with close to $3 million of liabilities with no shield I would be filing for Chapter 7 on my accountant and new attorney’s stern and pragmatic advice (despite my philosophical and emotional resistance to the idea). It was tough medicine but I had to take it if we were to move forward. Brianne was a soldier for me during this time and making her feel safe again was my driving motivation to not stay down for any longer than necessary. I will never forget the feeling of walking out of my discharge meeting after all potential lawsuits and future liabilities had been discharged on

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CHRIS J. SNOOK & Muzafer Najfi September 9, 2008! I was finally allowed to go out and earn real money again, and get back to business without worry or fear that it would put me at risk for attack from former creditors or our disgruntled partner! I felt like a bullet train on new rails. Ironically I was blessed to be coming out of hell when the rest of the world was about to head into it full speed ahead. Two days before my discharge, Fannie and Freddie Mac had been put under government conservatorship. On September 15, 2008, six days into my new life, Bank of America was forced to acquire Merrill Lynch and Lehman Brothers was forced to file for Bankruptcy, sending the entire world market system into cardiac arrest. I remember sending out an email to my entire LinkedIn and email database the following day when it was announced that AIG would receive an emergency $85 billion in bailout money to keep them from collapsing. I announced that I would hold an ‘opportunity vigil’ for any who wanted to attend and bring their key reports at the University Club in San Diego. The purpose was to use this emergency mastermind to help any local businesses impacted or scared by the recent news, to craft a doomsday strategy that would allow them to navigate out of the storm ahead with as few casualties or losses as possible. Nobody showed. I think the SHOCK was still too fresh in most people’s minds to even notice the invitation in their inbox. I was so grateful at that I had gone through my loss over the preceding six months because of the timing as well as the strength and perspective I now had as the majority of the market was entering hell and I was coming out of it with a tremendous amount of focus and speed. I was truly in an empowered state, and it served me well. In just under 33 months from that week, we have built back our business portfolio to a total private enterprise value estimated at just under 10-figures and without incurring a dime worth of debt or long-term liabilities. Our rebuilt and restructured holding company TLEC Ventures has successfully exited two small turnaround deals and currently has a controlling interest in a publishing company, a Hollywood production studio, and a mobile technology and social media agency. Our original business development consultancy is still alive and well. I also have the extremely rich news and anticipation of watching my first child come into this world in September 2011!

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Wealth matters Make no mistake my friends, Wealth Matters today more than ever for you and your family. After riding triumphantly through a tough storm in my life a few years ago, I am committed to helping you get wealthy in all areas of your life. As I stated earlier, I am proud to introduce my newest business partner and co-author Muzafer Najfi whom I have known and watched now from afar for 10 years. The name Muzafer in the Arabic language means Victory, and throughout the course of this enhanced 2nd Edition you will be learning the laws of Rebuilding and Restoring your Life, Victorious, from him in the chapter segments appropriately titled Muzafer’s Law as well as on video through several QR code bonuses that you can access right on your Apple or Android smartphone. I have also refreshed and included the wisdom of my father (Chet’s Wisdom) from the original text, and added three new chapters with updated data and tactics to keep the book relevant in the new normal we all now live in following the recent crisis. You will benefit from the teachings, experience, and shared mission Muzafer and I have to MAKEOVER your financial future and life with his proven methods, coaching, and 90-day blueprint system to build start building multiple streams of residual income and passive investments! A WORD OF WARNING: The worst is not yet behind us in America or the world as it relates to this crisis. If you study economics, history, and the current lack of sustainable recovery, you quickly realize that another recession is imminent in the coming months or year, and that we will not likely see a return to real growth in this economy before 2018-2020! That doesn’t mean that billions and trillions of dollars won’t change hands; however, it does mean that you will need to acquire new skills, new thinking, take new action and be extremely accountable to be a beneficiary of it. If you don’t choose massive action, I have to warn you that you will be left way behind as the gap between rich and poor widens and middle class becomes an extinct category. In my opinion, millionaire (a net worth below $5 million liquid assets) will unfortunately be the new middle class in the decades to come as individual buying power erodes, real estate stagnates, inflation and deflation do their tango, state and federal taxes are raised, and food commodities and energy costs increase.

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CHRIS J. SNOOK & Muzafer Najfi Far too few families have the tools, skills, or knowledge of how to win the financial game in a sustainable way. Through my own stubbornness and perseverance and the support of my family and a wife who has an amazing ability to ride shotgun on this life journey, I personally can save you time and over $3 million dollars worth of lessons if you pay attention and listen. Your primary Victory Coach, Muzafer, has been in the people building business for over 16 years and learned several tough lessons himself on his way to being a self-made multi-millionaire. He has personally and directly helped dozens of people in the last 24 months earn strong six figure residual incomes in their own businesses. Muzafer and I also enlisted some of the best coaches we know in major business and financial disciplines to actively support you on your journey towards true abundance as you enter the Wealth Matters Makeover social network and community. Together with them, we will take you on a mind and money-altering journey through the course of this book and we are glad you joined us. Let’s begin! Sincerely, Chris J. Snook

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CHRIS J. SNOOK & Muzafer Najfi

RAVE REVIEWS “As the Founder of Extreme Leadership, I can happily say that this is an EXTREMELY valuable text for anyone seeking wealth across multiple domains!” STEVE FARBER, Wall Street Journal Bestselling Author of Greater Than Yourself and Radical Leap Re-Energized “This book will touch your heart in one moment and have it thumping in anticipation the next, as you move towards achieving your loftiest goals in life” Ty Tribble Author and Internet Entrepreneur and founder of mlmblog.net–www.TyTribble.com “Wealth Matters is doing more for the economy than our own Government! With this guide you will get and stay financially independent just when you need it most! RICHARD LAERMER, CEO, RLM PR and bestselling Author of 2011: Trendspotting, Full Frontal PR, and Punk Marketing

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Wealth matters

“Wealth Matters is a must read!” BOB PROCTOR, Author of best-selling book, You Were Born Rich “The landscape of consumer values has shifted and opened up immense opportunity for those ready to capitalize. This book will help you!” ANDY HINES, Author of ConsumerShift, Thinking About the Future and 2025. Executive-in-Residence at University of Houston Graduate School of Futures Studies “While sales provide financial depth to an organization, books provide depth to the leaders of the organization. Wealth Matters Makeover Edition will provide you with the opportunity to lead your organization to new heights. Read it and win.” Bo Short, Chairman, The Pinnacle Group

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CHRIS J. SNOOK & Muzafer Najfi

Original Preface As I am sitting on a red-eye flight heading over the Midwest at 600 miles per hour at 37,000 feet, I am roused from my sleep once again by the idea that “wealth matters.” Brianne and I are making our second crosscountry journey in two days as we head from our home in sunny San Diego, California, to Newark, New Jersey. We are on our way to see my father, Chet Snook get inducted into the 2007 class of the Ewing High School Hall of Fame for his contributions to the school district and suburb of Trenton, New Jersey. For over 31 years he served as a teacher, coach, and athletic director. Financial wealth enabled us to purchase the airline tickets, and Vocational wealth allowed us to take the time and make our own schedules with work. Relational wealth creates the “reason why” it is so important that we be there for our family, and Emotional/Intellectual wealth allows us to shake off the jet lag and arrive with energy and joy! Physical wealth allows us to enjoy the family workout and impromptu tennis match we have scheduled for Sunday before we head back to San Diego, and Spiritual wealth gives us the strength and courage to create the life of our dreams and recognize our gratitude for the abundance we feel inside. These are the thoughts that have awakened me in mid-flight and reminded me of the concept that “results matter.” I am restless with excitement and anticipation, because when we deplane in a few short hours I will be able to see and hug one of my all-time heroes. I am overwhelmed with gratitude because a man whom thousands have called coach, mentor, teacher, “Snooky,” and boss over the years is the man I get to call “Dad.” Chet Snook’s results matter. His work ethic during his tenure mattered. His work ethic now in retirement around the community matters. His commitment to his wife and my mother, Ginny Snook, matters. Their 33 (going on 34 years) of loving and committed marriage matter. Their commitment to personal growth and personal wealth creation (that didn’t

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Wealth matters start until they were in their mid-forties) matters. Their contributions to St. James Church as an usher and cantor of the choir for over 30 years matters. Their contributions as confidants and mentors to my marriage matter. Their love for my sister, Corrie, and for my aunts, uncles, and baby cousins for whom they have created unique and personal adventures each summer matters. Why? For the very same reason that your results and your wealth matter to this world. The Seventh Universal Law of Cause and Effect clearly states that for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction that ripples through the universe. In a day and age where our whims and desires can be satisfied with the click of a mouse, the snap of a finger, and the swipe of a card, the quality and satisfaction of life is directly proportional to the quality of the questions we ask, the communication we provide, the relationships we foster, and the service we render. Just doing our job is not good enough! Feeling and acting “entitled” to a good and prosperous life just because we were born within the borders of the most wonderfully free country in the world is wrong, and I believe such thinking threatens our country’s status as a world power. Blaming and passing responsibility to anyone or anything (the government, the media, anybody and everybody else) but ourselves is an exercise in ignorance and futility that will only create a larger disparity between the haves and have-nots, the rich and the poor, the fulfilled and unfulfilled. Relying on antiquated educational systems to provide us with all we need to thrive in this global economy and not taking personal accountability for our own increased awareness is a fool’s game that nobody wins. Falling under the false paradigms that there is such a thing as “enough” or that goodness, wealth, ideas, and opportunities are scarce is to misunderstand how this wonderful universe was designed. You bet your bottom-dollar that today, more than ever, our thoughts matter, our beliefs matter, our actions matter, our results matter, and our wealth matters. In the entire history of the world there has never been a better time to be alive. Each day more barriers and more paradigms fall by the wayside, creating an overflow of opportunities to increase awareness, increase wealth, increase prosperity globally, and triumph over ignorance; but the problem that exists is that power resides in the hands of a few. Will you be one of them? Will you help others rise to your station and beyond once you are? I hope so…

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CHRIS J. SNOOK & Muzafer Najfi

“People with an MBA(Masters in Business Administration) with no MBE (Masters in Business Experience) will sooner or later be SOL (Sure Out of Luck)!” Muzafer Najfi

A WORD FROM CHRIS AND MUZAFER AS YOU BEGIN The obligation of every individual who reads this book is to be accountable to themselves and their fellow human beings; to stop pretending that results and wealth don’t matter and that it’s okay to continue down the path of least resistance. If the latter is a conscious decision an individual takes then he (or she) is foregoing the right and the ability to make a difference. This is a choice that comes with an equal and opposite consequence: that you will continue to be a pawn in the great game of life, used by everyone who needs you to accomplish a purpose that is not your own or that you may not even agree with. If you are willing to invest in yourself, however, and take action on the steps and recommendations laid out in this book then you can begin to change the areas of your life that are important. Along the way you should discover your purpose for existing here and live that purpose as an example for others to follow. Each and every one of us is an extension of infinite intelligence. The creator has made us all in his image to be a co-creator of the world we live in. Nothing is created by infinite intelligence for us; it is only created through us. Because of this reality we have a duty and a responsibility to step up and go after the abundance that is our birthright and spread it to others at the same time. As you read through the pages and chapters of this book we ask that you take everything you read and apply it to your personal life. Study the stories and examples and information within and relate them to your

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Wealth matters dreams, desires, and purpose. Don’t let your paradigms determine whether you agree or disagree with a statement or suggestion, but rather hold the image of your ideal life in the forefront of your mind and ask yourself if considering the ideas and thoughts in this book will move you closer to your desired outcomes or further away. This book is full of time-tested lessons and proven philosophies that we have put to work to fill our lives with abundance, joy, love and satisfaction. Whether it’s Chris’ teaching or Muzafer’s Laws, know that it is with great humility, honor, and gratitude that we share them with you. It is with great excitement that we also bless you with the wisdom of Chris’ father Chet in many of the chapters. Pay special attention to Chet’s lesson on “Swinging from Your Sweet Spot” at the end of Chapter 4, “Spiritual Wealth.” Our intention is to arm you with the very ideas and action plans that have proven priceless to us and our life and businesses thus far, and to humbly submit that we live each day the same way we will be encouraging you to start living, with a mission to increase our own awareness, shake off our faulty paradigms and old conditioning, and to step through the “Terror Barrier” into Freedom! May God bless you all the days of your life with the abundance he has promised each and every one of us. Enjoy the book. Enjoy the journey!

For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Jeremiah 29:11

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CHRIS J. SNOOK & MuzafeR NaJfI

CHAPTER ONE The Power of Words as long as I have life within me, the breath of God in my nostrils, my lips will not speak wickedness, and my tongue will utter no deceit. THE BOOk OF JOB 27:3-4

“Sticks and stones May break your bones but words WIll build or shatter your self-esteem!” MuzaFER NaJFI

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CHRIS J. SNOOK & Muzafer Najfi

P

ermit me to suggest that the quality of our lives can be directly related to the quality of our communication with ourselves and others and the quality of questions that we ask. Words have tremendous POWER to create or destroy. The words we use literally define and shape our lives because they are the tools we use to express the pictures and thought sequences that we see across the screen of our mind. You could predict with reasonable accuracy the level of intelligence, fulfillment, self-confidence, self-respect, and power of a total stranger if you were to spend thirty minutes listening to him talk. Have you ever noticed that certain people tend to always compliment others whether that other person is present or not, while some always seem to put others down to elevate their own stature? Have you noticed the gossiper at work? Is it you? Be careful, because even if you are not the root cause of gossip in your circle of influence, the mere act of exposing yourself to it on a continual basis is just as deadly as living with a smoker and inhaling second-hand smoke. Our dominating thought patterns are shaped by the extent to which we get emotionally involved with certain phrases, words, and ideas on a continual basis. To think the contrary is a fool’s game and one that will lead to disappointment, stress, and frustration. Words bind, clarify, distinguish, and crystallize what we commonly refer to as our reality but what is, in fact, our integrity. Reality is based on an intellectual faculty that all human beings possess called perception. Perception is our innate “meaning-making” mechanism of the universe which “is.” Everything that enters our consciousness just “is” until we invoke the Law of Relativity and compare it against something else. For instance, murder “is.” Murder is only “bad” when it is compared to the Ten

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Wealth matters Commandments, which dictates the moral law that says, “Thou shalt not murder.” Integrity could easily be defined as the level to which we do what we say we will do when we say we will do it (i.e., our word). Integrity is what dictates how we show up in reality through other people’s perception. For instance, if we use the words “I will meet you at 8 pm,” and we consistently arrive at 8:30 pm then there is a disconnection between the words we say and the results we deliver. Our circle of influence will naturally perceive us as someone who is always late, and our word will lose power. Likewise, when we honor our word with supporting and consistent action then the power of our word increases, and thus our ability to create and mold a life we love increases as well. You may be asking, “What do words have to do with wealth?” Well, I suggest that they have EVERYTHING to do with wealth, and across all six areas of human potential! Put my theory to the test right now before you read another paragraph in this book. Stop and think about the areas of your life that you feel wealthy and abundant in right now, and then look at how well you honor your word and commitments (both small and large) in that area. Once you have done that, look at the areas of your life where you feel “lacking” right now and again be honest with how well you honor your word in those areas on a consistent basis. I would be willing to bet that if you are financially successful and abundant then you would probably be able to tell me that you consistently honor your work commitments by meeting them on a consistent basis and without making excuses when you do not. Likewise, if you are struggling financially then let me take a wild guess that you tend to do impulsive things with your money that you know you shouldn’t do but that you justify in some way by saying that “I will pay down the balance on my credit card next month.” If your relationships are “wealthy” right now then I am willing to bet that when you promise to be at your spouse or significant other’s special event by leaving work early, you are there. If your relationships are lacking or non-existent then I would imagine that “something came up at the last minute” and that “you will make it up to them next time.” Abundance is your birthright, and you were meant to have it in all six areas of your life. We will get into detail throughout this book on the secrets to keeping a fluid balance in your Spiritual, Intellectual, Relational, Physical, Vocational, and Financial potential by developing awareness of the six human needs (Certainty, Uncertainty, Significance, Love, Growth,

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CHRIS J. SNOOK & Muzafer Najfi and Contribution), but understanding the theory of abundance is critical to getting the most value out of each chapter. Abundance is the polar opposite of scarcity and lack. Therefore, abundance cannot exist where lack or scarcity does, much the same as dark cannot co-exist with light. Abundance is ever-present and everlasting. In an abundant world or mindset you could never take more than your share. As it is so beautifully stated in the ancient Hindu scriptures of the Upanishads, which are part of the Vedic texts dating to circa 80 B.C.E, “From abundance he took abundance, and still abundance remained.” For example, if you inhale right now and take in as much (an abundance of ) air into your lungs as you can, then an abundance of air will still remain; and, as you exhale, you add back to the abundance from which you took and will again consume. It will be natural and human for you to read certain ideas and quickly “agree” or ACCEPT them as true. Likewise, it will also be natural and easy at times for you to read certain ideas or statements and “disagree” or REJECT them. Lastly, it will also be likely that you may have a natural tendency to “ignore” or NEGLECT concepts that you intuitively know are true but that by accepting will make you temporarily uncomfortable. You are operating and reasoning deductively through your five senses and current conditioning. Paradigms are best defined as a set of assumptions, concepts, values, and practices that constitutes a way of viewing reality for the community that shares them, especially in an intellectual discipline. Another definition of paradigms would be: a multitude of habits. Since some of these paradigms/habits are known and others are “blind spots” that you are unaware of, I suggest that as you read this material you agree to not immediately ACCEPT, REJECT, or NEGLECT any of it. Instead, offer it for play to your conscious mind and exercise your inductive reasoning faculties to “think.” As Henry Ford once said, “Thinking is the hardest work a man can do, and that is why so few men do it.” The quality of questions you ask have a definite correlation to the quality of your life, so here are some questions I would ask you to use in analyzing the concepts I will present later: 1. If I embrace this concept or idea will it move me closer to my goals or my ideal life, or will it move me further away?

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Wealth matters 2. Is this concept or idea in harmony with the Laws of the Universe? 3. Will this concept or idea move me in the direction of my dreams without violating the rights of others? Wallace D. Wattles wrote The Science of Getting Rich in 1903 and said, “People don’t get rich doing certain things, and they get rich doing things in a certain way.” As you read this book you will gain a complete understanding of the seven major laws governing this universe and everything in it, and you will learn how to do things and live life in a certain way; and by doing so you will understand not only that wealth matters but also how to insure that it comes to you on a consistent basis. These three questions will help you gain the ability to entertain any new idea or concept with power and control; and if, after you entertain an idea, you find yourself with three “Yes” answers then despite your current paradigm you must ACCEPT the new idea and begin to operate accordingly if you truly expect to gain more wealth in that area of your life. If you get a “No” answer then you can reasonably REJECT or IGNORE the concept without getting emotionally involved with it any further, and free your conscious mind for the next idea. Throughout this book you will be exposed to many new words and concepts that are key ingredients to your success in creating new levels of wealth in every area of your life. For the past 6,000 years there has been one concept that all the great thinkers, theologians, philosophers, scientists, etc. have agreed upon. They have disagreed about everything else, but they have all agreed that “thoughts are things.” This concept has been covered extensively by Napoleon Hill, Charles Haanel, Wallace D. Wattles, Dr. Maxwell Maltz, James Allen, Earl Nightingale, and Bob Proctor. Many of the books that we will reference material and concepts from were written by those individuals. However, I close my portion of this chapter with the following idea. If the power of all results and creation resides in our thoughts and feelings, then consider that our “words” and “actions” tell the story of our thoughts. If you ACCEPT that idea, then you will quickly realize that gaining power over our thoughts will be assisted by our ability to choose the words we use on ourselves and others on a consistent basis. 28

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“If words hurt me, it is only because I have not yet clearly defined myself.” cEcIl STEPPE

CHET’S WISDOM “Sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me!” We all heard that saying when we were children, and, like so many other childlike chants, it was a great myth. Words do have power, immense power, and they can cause much pain, because when they are repeated in negative fashion, people, especially children, may end up believing them. “You’re a bad boy,” “You’ll never amount to anything,” “You’re a loser,” “Does your face hurt? It’s killing me.” These are only slight examples of the negative language we often hear. We have all heard them, and unfortunately have been guilty of dishing them out as well. During the 1980s there was a big push for building self-esteem, and workshops were available everywhere teaching teachers how to make people ‘feel good about themselves.’ This 180-degree turn seemed valid in theory, but in many cases positive feedback became the new mantra, and therefore the actual impact of this positive feedback didn’t always achieve the desired results. Why? Because recipients only benefited from the praise if they believed it was genuine. This brings us to an important point. Self-talk and self-belief are the keys. No one can ruin our day without our permission, and always feeling good about ourselves is impossible. I hold this to be true – that self-esteem and selfworth are not synonymous. Self-esteem is having pride in oneself and generally feeling good about who we are. I don’t know about you, but I certainly have had moments in my life when I wasn’t too proud of my actions, and without question I have had times when I didn’t feel good

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WealtH MatteRS about me. This moment of “lack of self-esteem” would indicate that something is terribly wrong. Contrary to the education of self-esteem, nothing is wrong – we are simply human. Self-worth, on the other hand, is acceptance of who we are-all of our strengths and weaknesses, all of our abilities (or lack thereof ), all of our joyful moments as well as those times of sorrow, our contributions and our refusals, etc. See a pattern? We are worthy simply because we are His creation, and we are loved for every part of us. Whether we are in a good place or a bad one, whether we are contributing or contaminating, whether we have done something to be proud of or something to be embarrassed or ashamed of, nothing diminishes our worthiness. The negative actions and the ensuing consequences may affect our self-esteem, but it has no impact on our self-worth! Nowhere is it more vital for the acceptance of our self-worth than how we talk to ourselves. The following is a list of adjectives. Pick out those that you use most often to describe your personhood: attractive, abundant thinker, appealing, cool, spiritual, wise, friendly, loyal, ethical, humble, principled, welcoming, compassionate, passionate, creative, optimistic, self-reliant, attentive, nurturing, poised, adept, energized, autonomous, arrogant, disarming, stupid, co-dependent, poor in spirit, complacent, diffident, belligerent, domineering, ugly, inefficient, uptight, jealous, lackluster, unskilled, warlike, un-accepting, unreliable, scarcity thinker These are just a few, but you get the idea. Words have power! How do you talk with yourself? If you use negative stimulation most of the time, change it. Stand in front of the mirror, and say something positive, and BELIEVE it, even if you start with simply saying, “I am worthy!” You are worthy, and no human being can give that to you or take it away; only God has that ability, and here’s the best news – He already has!

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Introducing Muzafer “Victorious”

“Muzafer is a rare and gifted individual who has not only achieved amazing success in his life, but who also has the unique ability to teach and inspire others with both humor and passion. Pay special attention to Muzafer’s Laws throughout this book. He will touch your heart in one moment and have it thumping with excitement in the next as you anticipate moving towards your loftiest goals in life!” Ty Tribble, Author and Internet Entrepreneur and founder of mlmblog.net - TyTribble.com

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Muzafer’s 1st Law Words are Weapons Words are all around us in the form of Other People’s Opinions or as I like to call it “O.P.O.” The one simple law that I live by is to decide what you want, then find someone who has the results you are after—do what they do and you’ll get what they’ve got. Back in school it was called cheating when you worked with other people (whether they were aware of it or not) to get the desired or correct result. The rules of school did not allow it, but the rules of life and business require it. Your desire and goal was to WIN, your instinct of the most efficient way to win (as a team) was correct but the method and context in school was not approved. The habit of doing it all yourself was created but does not serve us in real life. Teachers and parents told you and I not to copy off someone else’s paper or test, but then we went out into the real world and people told us to network and work in groups and we heard about the concept of leverage and we got conflicted. In the real world it’s called masterminding and considered good practice to learn from people who can help you shorten your learning curve to get your desired result. How many of you have been copying a broke or middle-class person’s habits and actions when your real desire is to get wealthy and live above the status quo? Why would you take information, ideas, thoughts or advice from people that don’t have what you want? The truth is most people don’t THINK, they just react based upon a pre-existing belief that fits their current world view, results, or understanding. The problem is that all of us have been conditioned to raise our hand and ask for permission, stand in line and wait, follow instructions, and answer questions even if we don’t know what we are talking about. If you look out into the world and wonder how and “what” people are thinking, you will quickly realize that most people unfortunately AREN’T!!! Their reactive and conditioned thoughts have built their current life through repetitive actions that support or match the ideas they were taught to accept or believe. It’s like they have programmed their own computer system (in

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CHRIS J. SNOOK & Muzafer Najfi their head) which only computes or reads the software (thoughts) that they have pre-loaded by others who may have meant well but weren’t consulted. Words containing any emotional connection that we speak to ourselves and/ or listen to from others are a spark or catalyst to our conscious thoughts. Those thoughts lead to our default Subconscious Feelings and direct our decisions which lead to our level of success or failure. That is why the majority of the population is broke today and living paycheck to paycheck. By the way it is possible to live paycheck to paycheck on any level of income, so remember that more money doesn’t solve your problems if the way YOU THINK is still stuck in your previous way of life. Your past habits will create your future mistakes if you haven’t adjusted your line of thinking. It’s natural to think that what “EVERYONE” is doing must be the right course of action. As the saying goes “the majority rules” but the majority is not doing well in most of the six areas of wealth you will learn throughout this book. So why would you follow the majority, use their language, or follow their line of thinking when they don’t have the results that you want? Have you noticed that the herd typically gets slaughtered? Many people who have goals and dreams and aspirations and want to live their fullest life find that they are hindered or stopped by O.P.O. or their old thoughts of lack and scarcity. I once worked with a guy that made great money in network marketing but because his mindset never grew along with his wealth he continued to revert back to his broke habits. More money became a disease for him and greed led him to a tragic failure and his family will suffer for years because he refused to grow as an individual. We all get into bad situations from time to time because of poor decisions but unsuccessful people often stay there because they’re worried about what people think, which prevents them from making new and better decisions. There are so many people out there that have potential, but sadly enough potential is a fancy word for I haven’t done anything yet. Let me fill you in on something I recommend you remember as it relates to O.P.O.: “PEOPLE THINK THE WAY THEY THINK ABOUT YOU ALREADY.” So why would you stop your success from exponential increase because of people around you who are casting you to play a role

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Wealth matters that they have predetermined for you, trapped within the boundaries of their comfort zone? I’ve read it somewhere, (and these numbers may be inaccurate in some cases), that the average child hears the word “no” 10,000 times before the age of five. Now, imagine what this does to that child as they grow up. O.P.O. is the biggest roadblock to success for most people who set a goal and set out to achieve it. I’ve met hundreds of thousands of people over my career thus far and so many of them, after they get involved setting a new goal for their life and begin to take action towards it, fall backward because they listen to the advice of someone they know who isn’t even on the same path as them. True friends and loved ones just want you to be happy even when they don’t understand your choices. Please remember that. Those who throw stones or stumbling blocks in your way are just trying to maintain their own comfort zone around you, and many times don’t consciously realize the negative impact their opinion is having on you. Ignore it all and focus on what you want! Words are the most powerful weapons on earth, in my opinion. They are weapons that can be used to hurt, kill, demolish, defend, avoid, or create, build, and empower. Your opportunities are far too valuable to let other peoples’ words dictate the success of them. Words must be used with and accepted into your subconscious mind with caution.

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CHAPTER TWO Understanding the Mind Mind—noun: (mahynd)- the totality of conscious and unconscious mental processes and activities.

“The Good life is expensive. There is another way to live that doesn’t cost as much, but it isn’t any good.” SPaNISH DISTIllERS

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Mind is the master power, that molds and makes; And evermore he takes; The tool of THOUGHT, and shaping with it what he will; Brings forth a thousand joys, a thousand ills; He thinks in secret and it comes to pass; Environment is but his looking-glass. James Allen, As a Man Thinketh

CHRIS J. SNOOK & Muzafer Najfi

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he first five chapters of this edition focus on building wealth from the inside out. You must understand how to unleash the power of your thoughts in order to build, maintain, and protect your wealth. It all begins with elevating your awareness. Mind is the activity and movement of the spirit. Our brain is the system/ organ that organizes and distributes the activity called “mind.” We are all spiritual beings, blessed and empowered with an intellect, and living in a physical body. Spirit is not to be confused with religion. Religion studies spirit. Mind is the master power that can transmute the spiritual desires given to us from the divine into their physical equivalent. Mind is the master sculptor and craftsman of all the substance in this universe that is already here and has the ability to create anything from nothing, by using its powers in accordance with the laws of the universe. Let’s travel back to a time when you didn’t have an e-mail address. Remember or imagine with me when you didn’t own a cell phone. Most of you reading this book will remember when that was true, but most of you will also have a hard time recollecting how you made it through your day without those two technological breakthroughs. Less than twenty years prior to the printing of this book, there was no such thing as the world wide web/Internet. Bottled water was a new concept that some critics touted as silly and said, “Why would I pay for bottled water when I have a faucet in my house?” If you have stayed in a hotel room lately you will agree that those convenient bottles of water on your nightstand for only $4.50 per liter are a blessing if you wake up with dry mouth. How did these “necessities” of today, become our reality when they didn’t even exist less than twenty years ago? The amazing thing is that when the Internet went up as we exited the 1980s and entered the 1990s;

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Wealth matters the Google founders were barely in high school. Yet, in the year 2007 the IDEA that Sergey Brin and Larry Page dreamt up for a company built around a “search engine” for this new thing called the world wide web boasted over 11,000 employees with revenues of just under one million per employee and was ranked 17th on the Fortune 500 with market value at $143.6 billion! Substance is all around us. The way to fly the plane was here long before the Wright brothers tuned in their awareness to the discovery. The way to build the incandescent light bulb and all the materials were already here, but it was Edison’s persistence and mind power that made it physical reality. What is the point? Every desire in your heart, every dream, every IDEA starts in the mind, and the understanding and development of your mind and its interdependence with the Universal Mind will allow you to quickly realize that the creative genius in those mentioned above resides equally in you for your desires. This book is about wealth creation, but you cannot create wealth repeatedly without a proper understanding of your mind. It has been said that a picture is worth a thousand words. We think in pictures, and if I said “think of a car,” you would agree that you instantly saw a picture of a car you want or your current car. You would be able to describe in detail the color of the exterior and interior, the level of cleanliness, etc. If I said “your house” you would not see the letters H-OU-S-E, you would see a picture of your house flash across the screen of your mind, and it would replace the car. If I asked you to think of a picture of your “MIND” what do you see? If you are like the majority of people, you may have seen a picture of the brain. However, we mentioned previously that your brain is not your mind any more than your fingernail or pancreas is your mind. Brain is the system/organ that organizes the movement of MIND. Mind is flowing in every cell of your body. If you have ever been startled by something, you have felt the “fight or flight” response of your sympathetic nervous system kick in instantaneously, because the activity of MIND activated your adrenal gland and shot adrenaline through every fiber of your being to prepare your body for a quick and efficient exit from perceived danger! Without a picture of our mind we are left with unordered chaos of our knowledge and thoughts. If thoughts become things but we lack the ability to give order to our thought patterns and knowledge because we lack a picture to work with then it is no secret why many people are frustrated by the acquisition of more knowledge without seeing an increase in RESULTS.

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CHRIS J. SNOOK & Muzafer Najfi Fortunately, Dr. Thurman Fleet gave us a picture to work with in 1934 when he started the Concept Therapy® movement in San Antonio, Texas. I will share his magical graphic with you and explain it in the coming paragraphs. Dr. Fleet was a chiropractor who was intrigued and frustrated by the practice of treating symptoms and not the root cause of people’s ailments. He was committed to a holistic healing regimen with his patients while paying close attention and providing treatment to their acute symptoms and complaints. He found that without a picture of their MIND, his patients could not invoke the laws of the universe effectively to begin healing the root cause in their thinking that was continuously bringing back the symptoms of their disorders. He gave them a picture called “The Stickperson” that transformed their results dramatically in record-breaking time, and this same concept of “The Stickperson” has become the foundation of all our seminar programs. When Bob Proctor first shared it with me, it took my results and wealth to unprecedented levels of growth and satisfaction in less than six months. I am excited to share its basic explanation and diagram with you below and encourage you to study it thoroughly from now until you leave this planet as I am committed to do.

The Stickperson Explained

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Wealth matters Human beings are the only living thing that can choose their thoughts, and by doing so have the creative power of the universe in their hands to discover, make, and mold the life of their dreams. Moses said, “I bring you both a blessing and a curse,” and that is the best way to describe this wonderful power of FREE WILL that the Creator has bestowed upon us. When you and I can grasp that our reality is ALWAYS the result of our dominant thoughts (which create) our feelings (thoughts we give focus to), and our behavior and actions (the result of our vibration), then we can truly begin to live a life of peace and enjoyment. W. Clement Stone said “If you can see it, and believe it, you can achieve it.” We have already agreed that WE THINK IN PICTURES. For instance, when I asked you before to think of a car, you will notice that a car flashed across the screen of your mind. Now if you saw your current car or your dream car, with all the details of the exterior color and interior design, that is because of your EMOTIONAL INVOLVEMENT with that idea. In other words, we THINK IN PICTURES, but only of things with which we are EMOTIONALLY INVOLVED. We could have either a positive or negative emotional involvement with any idea, but that doesn’t matter. Whether we have positive or negative feelings about an idea is irrelevant to what we say we want. The IDEA will begin to unfold from thought form into its physical equivalent the minute that we attach emotion (positive or negative), feeling, and meaning to the IDEA! This is critical to understand because many of the people living today focus on WHAT THEY DON’T WANT instead of giving thought and energy to WHAT THEY DO WANT. The Law of Polarity tells us that everything in the universe has an opposite that exists simultaneously. Therefore, the high you seek in your business or relationship, etc., is present at the same time as the low you may be currently experiencing and giving more energy to. Whatever thoughts we give emotion and feeling to will expand and begin immediately to move into their physical form (reality), and they do this by the Law of Perpetual Transmutation. When most people are asked to think of a house or a car, or any other material thing including their body, they instantly get a clear picture on the screen of their mind; however, when you ask them what their MIND looks like they draw a blank. It is the most powerful creative resource in the universe, and we have never been given a clear picture to work with. No wonder many people feel confused and frustrated about having knowledge of how to do what they want, but aren’t able to organize it into a meaningful course of action and a definite purpose that moves the

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CHRIS J. SNOOK & Muzafer Najfi thought into its physical form with speed and accuracy! There is nothing out there in the world to GET. Everything we want to experience in our life is already within us on a spiritual plane that we can unfold using the power of our intellect to experience in our physical reality. Charles Haanel explains his researched understanding of the mind beautifully in his book, The Master Key System: All possession is based on consciousness. All gain is the result of accumulative consciousness. All loss is the result of a scattering consciousness…We are related to the world within by the Subconscious Mind… It is through the Subconscious Mind that we are connected to the Universal Mind and brought in to relation with the Infinite constructive forces of the Universe… Each individual is but the individualization of the Universal, the Cosmic Mind… The Universal Mind is static, or potential, energy. It simply “is.” It can only manifest through the individual, and the individual can manifest only through the Universal. They are one… Thought is therefore the vibratory force formed by converting static mind into dynamic mind.

Understanding the Mind using the Stickperson graphic

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Conscious Mind Let the top half of the circle represent your “thinking mind” or conscious mind. This is where you have the ability to ACCEPT or REJECT any idea you choose. When thoughts come to you from the world around you this is your FILTER to choose only those that you want to get emotionally involved with. This is where you can create the thoughts and dreams that you want for your life as well. When you create a thought or dream that you want, you can repeat it over and over until you get the feeling of joy, abundance, etc. that you desire, and then the thought will move across the line into the subconscious or “feeling mind” where the order will be carried out. It is estimated that today you and I are bombarded through multiple forms of media and experience with upwards of 60,000 images per day. This is up from 10,000 images per day less than a decade ago. Of these images we can effectively capture or process 1,000 on a conscious level. The information age has magnified the complexity of our lives while simultaneously (Law of Polarity) making our lives more efficient and easy through technology. Without the understanding of the difference between deductive and inductive reasoning, it is very possible to relate to our reality primarily through the use of our five senses. When we do this, we can consciously ACCEPT thoughts or ideas that we do not want to “think” on the subconscious level where they must and will be followed as “orders” to our being. Ask yourself if you have ever noticed that you have gotten emotionally involved with a disturbing idea you listened to or saw on the news and have found yourself feeling down, or upset, or fearful the rest of the day. When we watch the news before bed or first thing in the morning, or get overly involved with the gossip at work, we are deductively (using our visual and hearing senses) ACCEPTING those thought patterns into our subconscious. This will setup our vibration and dictate what we ACT on and how we feel. If we want to think, feel, and act more positively, we must guard our subconscious with our conscious mind by being watchful of what ideas we get emotionally involved with and what images we are repeatedly viewing. The greatest gift our Creator bestowed upon us was “Free Will” to choose what we want, and we need to exercise that tool in our favor with the understanding that if we don’t monitor our thoughts we are pawns in the game for people who will be more than willing to inundate us with theirs.

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Subconscious Mind This is the “emotional mind” or “feeling mind.” The ancient Greeks called it “The heart of hearts.” The Subconscious Mind only has one answer to all commands it receives from the Conscious Mind, and that answer is “YES!” It has no ability to accept or reject the thoughts that we get emotionally involved with; it can and will carry them out by sending orders to The Body below as fast as possible. The universe loves speed! This is why it is important to monitor the thoughts and ideas we are getting emotionally involved with. If we worry or doubt about some negative idea happening then the subconscious will begin to move us in the direction of having that negative thing happen. Likewise, if we create a positive idea of how we want things to go, or how we want to handle the unfortunate things that happen, then the Subconscious Mind can and will move us into that positive vibration and begin to manifest that result! Remember that if the Conscious Mind is “the general” then the Subconscious Mind is the “troops” and will always carry out the orders that come down from the general. It makes no difference if these orders will help us or hurt us. The beautiful thing is that

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Wealth matters we can monitor our Conscious Mind and, more importantly, use autosuggestion as Napoleon Hill describes in Think and Grow Rich to CREATE THE THOUGHTS THAT YOU WANT and through repetition can make those thoughts the orders that the general gives to the troops! Maxwell Maltz, M.D. F.I.C.S. penned the health and success classic Psycho-Cybernetics in 1960 and had this to say: “A human being always acts and feels and performs in accordance with what he imagines to be true about himself and his environment. This is a basic and fundamental law of the mind. It is the way we were built.” Why not IMAGINE YOURSELF WEALTHY? Maltz wrote extensively about how scientists discovered that our Subconscious Mind operates as what is referred to as a negative-feedback servo-mechanism. Imagine you are in your house and it is summertime. It is 90 degrees outside, and you decide to set the thermostat to 70 degrees. Someone in the house leaves and doesn’t shut the front door. Some of you may flashback to your childhood when your father or mother yelled to you: “Why am I paying to air condition the whole neighborhood!?” Regardless of the flashback moment, your thermostat senses the differential between the outside temperature and the internal setting and immediately the fan kicks on, and it begins to work overtime to maintain 70 degrees inside the house. This is a negative-feedback cybernetic mechanism. The GOAL is set and known, and therefore only negative feedback is necessary for the goal to be achieved. You and I have a Subconscious Mind that operates the same way. The engineers that built things like thermostats, auto-pilots, and heat-seeking missiles knew HOW to build them because of their understanding of how our own subconscious mind works. When you and I get emotionally involved with a dream or goal and it enters the Subconscious, the mind “locks in” on the desired outcome. Then, all future negative feedback is processed as guidance to make a conscious correction and take actions to get back on course to reach our chosen and subconsciously embedded destination successfully. This is comforting because the minute that you have your goal on the subconscious level you possess its spiritual equivalent and cannot miss your target-if you stay in action and don’t change your setting. The Law of Gender is what predicates and determines the gestation period of that specific goal’s transmutation

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CHRIS J. SNOOK & Muzafer Najfi from its Spiritual form to its Physical equivalent. The Law of Gender does not allow us to know when we will “reap,” but it does guarantee that “as we sow, so shall we reap.” In his masterpiece The Power of Your Subconscious Mind, Joseph Murphy tells us to “quiet the mind and still the body. Tell the body to relax; it has to obey you. It has no volition, initiative, or self-conscious intelligence. Your body is an emotional disk that RECORDS your BELIEFS and IMPRESSIONS.”

The Body This is the physical form and machine that is created and recreated daily by our dominant thoughts and actions. The Body is energy in a massive and constant state of vibration. The Body is always changing or staying the same based upon our thoughts and feelings. It releases 50,000 cells per second back out to the universe, which means that some parts of our body are regenerated every day and that roughly every seven years we have a completely new body. The results we are looking at in our physical environment are produced by the same thoughts and feelings that set up the vibration of our body. So in order for us to change our current results

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Wealth matters we must first change the thoughts and ideas that we get EMOTIONALLY INVOLVED WITH. When we change the thoughts we give the most focus and energy to, we set up a new feeling/ vibration in the Subconscious Mind, which changes what is acted upon and attracted to The Body. This is how we bring any and all ideas from the Spiritual plane down to their material equivalent in the Physical plane that you and I call REALITY.

The Five Senses Normal human beings are born with five senses: sight, taste, touch, hearing, and smell. By the age of five most children have a complete understanding of their ability to use their five senses to understand the world and environment around them. These are our Deductive Reasoning Faculties. The five senses are limited to telling us and showing us what already “is.” They have NO power to create, and therefore we cannot consider ourselves to be “thinking” when we are looking at our world and results with our five senses and trying to figure out how to get what we want.

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CHRIS J. SNOOK & Muzafer Najfi The Six Intellectual Faculties: 1. Reasoning (both Deductive and Inductive) 2. Intuition 3. Perception 4. Will 5. Imagination 6. Memory These are our creative faculties and our “thinking muscles.” In order for us to utilize our mind in its intended way to provide each of us with the life of our dreams, we must develop these mental muscles. It is also imperative to understand that these Six Intellectual Faculties are always “on” and “perfect” in design. However, they may be weak or strong depending on how much we exercise them. It may be helpful to your understanding to compare these mental muscles to the physical muscles in your body. For instance, you have a bicep muscle in your arm. Some people have 20-inch guns and other people have tiny little arms, but in both cases the bicep is there and will provide the body with flexion at the elbow joint. The amount of weight you can lift with your bicep, and the aesthetic appeal of it, is directly proportional to how often and consistently you exercise it specifically. If you exercise it consistently, provide it with proper nutrition and rest, it will grow and expand. However, if you stop and begin to ignore the consistent exercise of it then it will atrophy. Your six intellectual faculties operate by the same laws. Your ability to have the life of your dreams starts with your “thinking power.” Your “thinking power” is proportional to the development, integration, and strength of these six faculties, so start exercising them consistently and your life will improve incrementally!

Reasoning It is our God-given ability to think. We discussed that Deductive Reasoning is not thinking with our own mind, but is instead a default way of thinking that insures that we are going to continually be a product of our

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Wealth matters environment. Deductive Reasoning relies on your current understanding and conditioning at the subconscious level for guidance. This is harmful if you lack the results you desire, because we showed you with Stickperson that your results are merely the outflow of your previous thought patterns and “truths.” When you are deductively reasoning, you will quickly reject anything that doesn’t match your current understanding or paradigms. This guarantees that you will continue to act on ideas that keep that paradigm in place, which means you are likely to reject an idea that would move your life or wealth forward. This means that you will also likely stay in your comfort zone when you are being deductive and will be created by your surrounding environment versus creating the environment that surrounds you. That is why you could be in a good mood one second, watch the news, and then be depressed, sad, or worried the next minute. You are purely deductive when your environment creates you, and you are being inductive when you create your environment’s vibration. Inductive Reasoning (True Thinking) occurs when we use our intuition, perception, will, imagination, and memory to analyze new ideas and then create and support the picture of what we want to see manifest with new thought patterns.

Intuition Often referred to as our “sixth sense,” intuition is our ability to recognize someone else’s vibration without even knowing them or speaking to them. When we meet someone who immediately makes us feel good or positive, that person is in a positive vibration. When we meet someone who makes us feel negative or scared, they are in a lower or more negative vibration. Napoleon Hill’s Think and Grow Rich explained that when you demand a definite plan from your subconscious for the acquisition of riches, be on ALERT because it will and must answer you; but it will do so through inspired thought, or the sixth sense. When the still small voice answers, you must ACT immediately, and failure to do so will be fatal to success. The bottom line is—TRUST YOUR GUT, and develop your intuition to tune in at the highest level of those around you to see through all the noise coming out of their mouth, and get right to the essence of who they are and what they are saying. Malcolm Gladwell is the best-selling author of The Tipping Point, Outliers, and Blink: The Power of Thinking without Thinking. In the latter he discusses a term he calls “thin-slicing,” which is the phenomenon of taking the smallest amount of information possible and using it to make

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CHRIS J. SNOOK & Muzafer Najfi a judgment or decision. He illustrates, through numerous real-world examples and scientific research, that when you properly learn to “thin slice” in the area of your business, personal, or financial life your quick judgments and analyses are often more insightful and better than those made with more information. He refers to the “adaptive unconscious” as a giant computer that quickly and quietly processes a lot of the data we need to keep functioning as human beings in forward direction. Thin-slicing relies heavily on the intuition and can work for you or against you depending on which paradigms are ruling your subconscious. If properly developed, however, Gladwell quotes volumes of scientific data that support the accuracy of decision-making when relying on the intuitive “gut” reaction.

Perception This is what we use to make “meaning” of events or experiences in our life. This is where our existing conditioning (truths that we hold dear) will creep up and give us an interpretation. Everything in the world just “is” until we put something next to it and compare it. For example: What is $20,000 per month? Some may say that $20,000 per month is a lot of money, and some may think that $20,000 would be a terrible pay cut. The point is that $20,000 per month just “is.” It only has meaning when we use our perception and invoke the Law of Relativity to compare the thing that “is” with something else. For example: Murder “is.” Murder is “BAD” only after we compare it to “Thou shalt not murder” in the Ten Commandments.

Will This is our ability to hold an image/idea/thought that we want in our conscious mind with focus until it has the chance to embed itself into our subconscious so that the idea can begin to move into its physical form. The sun has an outer visible layer called the photosphere, and its temperature is 6,000 degrees centigrade. The sun is 93 million miles from the Earth, and that is why you and I can go outside and over the course of a few hours of being in the sun’s energy get a golden tan (or, in my case, a BAD sunburn). However, most of you will remember grade school science when you took a magnifying glass and placed it between a piece of gum on the ground and the sun and watched that same energy burn the gum into a ball of fire in less

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Wealth matters than 60 seconds. The magnifying glass is the instrument that harnessed all that energy (6,000 degrees C) into a single focus. The will is the magnifying glass for our mind.

Imagination: This is our creative power. We have the ability to create airplanes, fax machines, the Internet, the automobile, and the light bulb against all doubt and odds because of the power of imagination when combined with the other five Intellectual Faculties. Your imagination is either imagining how you can do something or why you can’t. Start to use it for what you want, and put the brakes on using it to come up with reasons why you can’t have the life you dream of and deserve! Napoleon Hill tells us that we have 1) Creative Imagination and 2) Synthetic Imagination. Creative Imagination is what works with the infinite intelligence to bring forth a new plan previously unaware to us at the conscious level, whereas Synthetic Imagination is where we take our current pool of knowledge and resources to create. Hill also called our imagination the “workshop of the mind.” Inside this workshop we need to be using and developing our skill for both our Creative and Synthetic Imaginations if we are to produce the RESULTS WE DESIRE.

Memory This is our ability to recall previous events and experiences. Many of us tend to remember only our failures, but our memory can also produce images of success. We want to use our memory to bolster our confidence and self-esteem as we try something new because at one point everything was new to us, so if we can walk, talk, or ride a bike we need to exercise our memory to work in our favor and remind us that we can do anything we set our mind to! Everybody reading this book has succeeded at multiple things in life to get to this point. Those WINS are yours! Remember them every time you set your course for a new journey. You are already a SUCCESS, and you can do it again!

“You are not here to live in a hovel, to dress in rags, or to go hungry. You are here to lead a life more abundant.” Joseph Murphy, The Power of the Subconscious Mind 50

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Muzafer’s 2nd Law Success is Psychology The psychology of success rests powerfully in the subconscious mind. There is something called cognitive dissonance and what it states is that you cannot have two inconsistent thoughts. For example, you cannot be dry and wet at the same time. So therefore when people get involved in business or any goal oriented endeavor they must choose and focus on being Victorious to the exclusion of everything else. If they’re looking to become successful, if they’re looking to have results they cannot say to themselves “I’m gonna become successful…but what if I don’t?” The self-talk that you need to have is that you are going to have success, you will have success, and that you are having success right now in each and every moment. Your self-talk is so important. The first thing I want you to do is make a list of 10 things that you love about yourself before you read the next chapter! Do it NOW.

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Wealth matters Your self-talk will lead to your success. Because if you don’t love yourself then you will worry or wonder if other people love you and this will inhibit your success, or even worse, make you resent the success you have achieved. Along that same topic- ”Don’t hate, congratulate!” If you’re someone who is jealous or resentful (that’s what I mean by “don’t hate”) of someone else’s success, then you will find that you prevent yourself from reaching high levels of achievement, because secretly you won’t want to be resented by others. To test your jealousy quotient answer a few questions as you read this. • When you see someone driving a nice car, are you jealous? • Do you say things that put the person down, make false and inflammatory judgments (i.e. she must have got that in the divorce, or He is probably an ego-maniac, etc.) Start by congratulating that person in your mind, by accepting the fact that there is enough to go around for everybody and if they got their dream, that you can get yours too. You must commit to developing self-love. Make your list and read it to yourself every morning and every night for at least the next 90 days and longer if you need to. Add more lines when you realize new things that you love about yourself and repeat this process. The other thing that you’ve got to do is write a list of what you want to accomplish with both business and non-business goals. What is it that you want to complete today, this week, this month, and this year. As you begin to change the immediate, your future will write itself in that direction with ease because of your new foundation of mini-successes. Remember success breeds more success so do this NOW! GATEWAY

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CHRIS J. SNOOK & Muzafer Najfi Make a chart that looks like this and hang it on your office wall. (Tip: Dry erase markers are great)



Read it over and over again because the subconscious is so powerful that it will do what it is conditioned to as it does with any other learned habit, without you having to think about doing it. Homework for life-long learners: Read this book multiple times and the books that we’ve read and recommended in the reference section of this book as well. Reading information like this feeds your subconscious with the ingredients for success. Remember that you get to choose what software (ideas) you load into your computer (mind). Whatever programming you choose literally controls where your life is today, tomorrow, and into the future.

“What you were thinking yesterday brought you today... What you THINK today is designing your tomorrow... What YOU CONSISTENTLY THINK of tomorrow WRITES YOUR FUTURE!” Muzafer Najfi

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CHAPTER THREE The Terror Barrier Terror Barrier–noun: (ter-er bar-ee-er)- a limit or boundary causing an instance of intense fear or anxiety.

“To Fear or not to Fear is the question, To alter FEaR into Excitement is the aNSWER!” MuzaFER NaJFI

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here are a couple of dream-killers that plague the universe we live in, and they are not divine. Other People’s Opinions (O.P.O.) are probably the most often planted seeds of destruction to our dream space and mindset because they are catalysts for WORRY and DOUBT in the Conscious Mind which, if emotional involvement proceeds, manifest into FEAR in the Subconscious Mind, thereby setting up a vibration that results in ANXIETY at the body/ physical plane. There is a sneaky, conniving, and fraudulent foe to the very spirit that each of us “is.” That foe is the COMFORT ZONE. The laws of the universe work cohesively and in accordance with one another to create an orderly universe by which effects may be repeatable. One of the outcomes of this body of laws governing all things in the physical plane is that of “create or disintegrate.” This could also be explained by saying “that which is not growing is dying.” The fraud of the “comfort zone” is that it hides behind the Law of Gender and fools us to believing that things stay the same, because we do not see an immediate “death” in the physical plane when we stop our spirit from driving forward or growing in a certain direction. The death of all dreams, aspirations, and things happens slowly over time and could be likened to you or me running through a field of thorny rose bushes and then taking a few years to bleed to death.

NOTHING STAYS THE SAME! EVERYTHING IS ALWAYS IN A STATE OF CONSTANT CHANGE! TO THINK OTHERWISE IS TO ADVERTISE YOUR IGNORANCE OF (OR ABOUT) THE LAWS OF NATURE. 57

Wealth matters The worst thing about comfort zones is that they don’t hurt. They feel comfortable, and in the worst and most paralyzing states they may even feel good! Think about a couple of things for a minute as they relate to the laws of the universe. Have you ever seen water boil at 211 degrees Fahrenheit? NOPE! It always boils at exactly 212 degrees (at sea level). Have you ever wondered how they can predict the exact time of the sunset on any given day, or the timing of the high-tide and low-tides? How in the world did they figure out how to make a wireless device called a cell phone that can simultaneously transmute the sound waves of my voice through a satellite, in to the receiving end of my parents’ phone in their airport terminal in France, while simultaneously allowing me to three-way call my sister on her wireless phone in New Jersey? The exact science that allows brilliant people to engineer such technological feats must be studied and applied to bring forth anything in the “great order” that is our universe. That same order governing water’s boiling point, the high and low tide, and the feats of wireless transmission is what governs your income, your health, your EVERYTHING! However, your current comfort zone contains all the information that you are ever going to have and all the awareness of opportunity that you will currently and continually have. If you do not stretch your comfort zone and gain new awareness through the setting of goals outside of your current understanding, then what you have in all areas of your life today is all that you will ever have and all you’ll ever be! Russell Conwell wrote Acres of Diamonds and spent his entire speaking career talking with people about the tremendous opportunities that lay right in their own backyards but that they lacked the awareness to see. Charles Haanel wrote definitively about “Life as an enfoldment.” The infinite power of energy is always moving into form, through form, and out of form. It is never stagnant! It is equally present in all places at all times. It is just as much in front of you as it is behind you. Just as much to your left as it is to your right. It is just as much in me as it is present in you. BUT IT IS NEVER STAGNANT AND NEVER STILL. Therefore, if you are staying locked into a comfort zone then you are actually moving out of form through the path of least resistance from a higher potential to a lower one. In other words, that business… that relationship… that passion… that dream… that is comfortable where it is, is in effect by the laws of this universe, DYING! Fear is what is holding you back, and the false Terror

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CHRIS J. SNOOK & Muzafer Najfi Barrier is a beast that I will spend the rest of this chapter showing you how to slay on the upward climb to your dreams of wealth and abundant living!

THE MECHANICS OF THE TERROR BARRIER

The picture of the Stickperson above graphically depicts your comfort zone. Let “x” represent an idea/thought that comes into your Conscious Mind. Assuming that you also have x-type conditioning or paradigms, then you will be quick to accept the x-type IDEA, and this will reinforce the x-type conditioning in your subconscious. The Subconscious Mind will setup an xtype vibration in the body which will take action in that accord and manifest into physical reality as an x-type RESULT. At no point in this process will you feel “uncomfortable” because the “x” IDEA that enters your Conscious Mind matches your underlying subconscious conditioning and you will relate to it as “good” using your deductive reasoning. What frustrates many people is that they will ask for advice from somebody on how to get new results, but they are unaware that they are only going to accept an IDEA at the conscious level that matches their current

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Wealth matters conditioning. They will therefore never reason inductively (truly “think”) about the idea’s actual impact on results. They will falsely expect that they will get new results, but this is simply not possible as the drawing above clearly indicates. The drawing below will depict what happens once the person reaches past the Aspiration Level of awareness and begins to take action and “stretch” their comfort zone by “reasoning with a NEW IDEA/GOAL.”

“X”

R

Whenever you set a true goal you will know, because when you set a good goal, achieving it will require you to increase your awareness and stretch your comfort zone of understanding to allow the new “how” to permeate your stream of consciousness. In other words, when you are honest about what you “really want” you will see you have no IDEA how to get it inside your current awareness. When this happens we will let “y” represent a NEW IDEA/GOAL. When you have auto-suggested your new desire consistently enough to your mind, you will be successful at creating a “positive” emotional involvement with the y-type idea and it will cross the border of your mind and enter into your Subconscious

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CHRIS J. SNOOK & Muzafer Najfi Mind. At this point your NEW paradigm (“y”) will be going into a head-to-head battle with your OLD “x” paradigm for precedence in the Subconscious Mind. Your OLD paradigm will begin a sabotage pattern to prevent “y” from dethroning it by sending signal patterns to your Conscious Mind to rely on your five-senses to look for physical evidence in the outer world. Since the “y” idea is in process of moving into “form” from its spiritual state to its physical equivalent, you will not see physical evidence through your five senses. The OLD paradigm knows this, and it will effectively create the notion of worry/doubt in the Conscious Mind. IF you decide to get emotionally involved with worry/ doubt then your OLD paradigm will win the battle, and you will invoke the pattern of FEAR in the Subconscious Mind and the vibration will set up the manifestation of ANXIETY in the body causing you to hit the TERROR BARRIER and retreat back into the “safety” of the Comfort Zone, causing you to continue to get x-type RESULTS. Something critical to remember is that you can never outperform your self-image. Your goals are not wrong. You wouldn’t be given a desire in your heart if you weren’t capable of having it manifest. You must develop a congruent self-image that is in line with that which you want and not let FEAR of the unknown derail you. In his study on the self-image and his work on Psycho-Cybernetics, Dr. Maxwell Maltz noted that human beings are only born with two innate FEARS as a means of survival: Fear of falling and fear of loud noises! Every other fear is “man-made” or, better yet, “paradigm-made.” Robert Kiyosaki, author of the Rich Dad Poor Dad book series, tells us that FEAR stands for False Evidence Appearing Real. My personal favorite acronym for FEAR is Feeling Excited And Ready! What the stickperson is illustrating is that in almost all cases (except falling or loud noise) THE “TERROR BARRIER” IS A MIRAGE that only limits us because we let it. The only way through the Terror Barrier is FAITH! Faith is not something you get from religion. Faith comes from understanding. Faith comes first from an expectation, which becomes a belief after repeated and consistent expectation. Belief becomes faith after repeatedly finding evidence and understanding to believe.

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Wealth matters Now you have an understanding that when you feel worry and doubt at the conscious level, you need not sweat. It is truly a time to CELEBRATE, because your new IDEA/GOAL has successfully moved from a wish and dream the realm of the Subconscious Mind. Remember that the Subconscious can only say “yes” to whatever you give the most emotional energy to. Faith and doubt cannot exist at the same time any more than night and day can. You will feel worry and doubt because your y-type idea will be battling with your x-type conditioning and trying to replace it. The uncomfortable part is not in wanting the y-type idea. It is when you have to step forward in faith, believing in the physically unseen because you have an understanding that everything “is” moving from “thought” (spiritual equivalent) into “thing” (physical) form through the power of the mind. When you focus on faith in “y” then the worry and doubt will not vibrate as FEAR, and you will step through the Terror Barrier into FREEDOM! Once you have successfully replaced the OLD “x” with the NEW “y” then your spirit will seek expression and fuller expansion again, and your “y” will become the new “x.” That is the cycle of our spirit unfolding, and is the miracle of life! T E R R O R

Y Y

FAITH B A R R I E R

Y

R

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FREEDOM!

Remember that Emerson said, “Whatever you give energy to, grows!” Now you understand why you will feel thoughts of worry and doubt and how to step forward with increased faith, because you understand that your dreams are finally trying to move “through” your Subconscious Mind into

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CHRIS J. SNOOK & MuzafeR NaJfI the vibration of the body to attract the necessary items to manifest your dream in its physical and observable equivalent!

CHET’S WISDOM “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.” FDR – March 4, 1933

We can become paralyzed by fear, or we can work through it and gain strength on the other side of it. I am fearful of flying. I think it is a control issue. If only the pilot crew would let me handle the controls for a while, I would probably like it better. My mind goes through all kinds of scenarios, and you can imagine what they are. The fact remains; however, that studies consistently show it is the safest way to travel, and it certainly has allowed me to explore areas of this wondrous world I never dreamed of. I remember my first flight in 1974. My wife and I were going to Hawaii from Philadelphia via Chicago. I was pretty nervous, which was obvious to the business traveler sitting next to me. As we took off I heard this unusual sound, and I physically reacted. The businessman said, “It’s okay, it’s just the flaps re- entering the wings. They have to be in the right position for take-off. There is no need to worry - these are beautiful planes.” “What kind of plane is this?” I asked. “DC-10. I fly them all the time, and I love them.” I remarked, “Didn’t two of them just go down recently with engine problems?” “Yes,” he answered, “but they have checked them all thoroughly, and I believe they are probably the safest planes in the air as we speak.” We then prepared to land in L.A. before going on to Hawaii, and we circled LAX about 17 times before we landed. It turned out, someone had just set a bomb off in one of the airport lockers at LAX while we were in the air, and many people perished. We circled all those times because we had the most

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WealtH MatteRS fuel of the other airplanes in the LAX airspace that were scheduled for similar arrival times from other areas in the country. We were able to land and make our departure physically unaffected by this act of terrorism, but it left an impression in my mind. We flew on to Oahu and everything was fine, but you can guess how this, my very first flight experience, impacted my view of airline travel. I have flown many times each year since that first flight, nationally as well as internationally, and I still don’t like it, but the point is it hasn’t frozen me to the ground. Intellectually, I know that statistically I am traveling the safest possible way–I’m just shaky emotionally until I feel the plane stop at the tarmac, and I’m walking off into the corridor. Fear is a powerful enemy to serene living. Faith is its opposite, and faith assures us that things will work out the way they are supposed to. We cannot be fearful and faithful at the same time, so the decision is ours. Besides, courage is not ever being afraid. Courage is feeling the fear and going forward anyway. How would our lives be if Columbus gave up when he couldn’t get the funds to go on a little trip? What would our medical people use if Pasteur didn’t want to experiment with that mold growing on the side of his Petri dish? How would our relationships be affected if The Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. didn’t risk speaking in front of the Lincoln Memorial? How about Susan B. Anthony and Rosa Parks? Don’t you believe they were afraid? And yet their example changed our lives. There are literally thousands of examples of men and women who felt fear but moved on anyway. Being afraid of some things is natural, and we should acknowledge our instincts for they can be trusted. The fact is, however, that some fears are irrational and stifling, and they should be looked at honestly and with audacity. I pray that when fear comes into your life you will, indeed, “face everything and recover” and continue to turn to those whose strength can be counted on as sources of empowerment. There is a reason why our windshields are 40 times bigger than our rearview mirrors. It is because while we do need to look back periodically to see what is approaching us, the real way to safe travel is to look forward with excitement and possibility.

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Muzafer’s 3rd Law Use FEAR as Fuel! Fear is a funny thing. The reason I say that it’s funny is because whatever emotion you latch onto and give energy towards your body produces and it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. A simple trick I like to play on my brain is whenever I have that feeling of fear in my body I tell myself that I am REALLY EXCITED! You see, fear and excitement release the same chemicals in the mind yet one emotion tells us to step back and the other motivates us into action. Try it for yourself the next time you are anxious, nervous, or afraid. Your mind-body connection is the same as mine and will respond the same way. It’s the words we use that anchor us in emotions and words are what trigger us to feel FEAR. False Evaluations Appearing Real is the acronym that you will hear the majority of people in personal development use, but I believe that we should all change it to what Chris says...Feeling Excited And Ready! CHANGE THE WAY YOU THINK! Escape from the herd! As an example of fear being a funny thing, think about a quarterback who says things like “I hope I don’t throw an interception- I can’t throw an interception-I don’t want to throw an interception.” All his body is hearing and feeling is “interception, interception, interception.” What do you think happens on the next passing play a high percentage of the time? Have you ever had someone say “I hope I don’t get a speeding ticket, I hope I don’t get a speeding ticket” and they get a speeding ticket? Give

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Wealth matters energy only to the emotion and outcome you want. Give zero energy to the outcome and don’t let fear stop you. Now write down five goals or accomplishments that you want to which you will give all your energy. Then practice saying I WILL have “this”, I WILL accomplish “this”; Getting “this” is fun because…Life is better now that I have finished “this”; I am so happy because “this” happened. When you feel fear or anxious about going and talking to some prospects about your business or product and you are worried about what they may think, or if you are prepared just change the words. Instead of saying to yourself, “They’re gonna laugh at me,” you need to change the words and say, “Man they’re gonna be excited when I talk to them about this and love it! I’m the best,” or “They’re gonna love my product line! Man they are gonna want to do this! This is going to be awesome!” As you are saying this to yourself and pumping yourself up the Fear will disappear because you are creating a focus away from fear and onto something else and as you learned in the last law you can’t focus on two ideas simultaneously. You will be surprised at what your body does for you when you need it, by using the right words you will overcome and conquer fear every time.

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CHAPTER FOUR The Universal Laws Universal Laws: adj, noun:(yoo-nuh-vur-suh I; loz) The body of rules and principles governing the order of the universe.

“The laws of the universe are so precise that we don’t have any difficulty timing the landing of a space ship on the moon with the precision of a fraction of a second... These laws have been set by someone.” DR. WERNHER VON BRauN, Strategic Planning Director for NaSa

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want you to think of an oak tree. An oak tree is the manifestation of the pattern plan unfolded from within a single acorn seed. When an acorn seed is planted into fertile soil, the laws governing this universe work in perfect order to allow that acorn to attract and transform its pattern plan of DNA pattern from acorn into the mighty oak. Time and time again, if you were to plant an acorn in fertile soil you would get a consistent and repeatable RESULT that we refer to as “oak tree.” The laws governing all creation are so precise that we can know exactly how many years it will take for the oak tree to manifest. Likewise, if you were to take that same acorn seed and leave it in unfertile soil or in the corner of your living room for an extended period of time then the laws of the universe would dictate that it would disintegrate into dust if unable to unfold its pattern plan of an oak tree. This chapter will give you a complete introduction to the seven major laws that govern this universe and everything in it. As you open your awareness and understanding of them, I leave you with the following caveat to raise the relevancy of studying and understanding how to work with the laws in all areas of your life to create true WEALTH in the years ahead. I want you to think of the last time that you drove on the freeway. Chances are that you violated the posted speed limit at some point, and more than likely this is a common occurrence in your life. However, you probably have not gotten a ticket every time you have driven faster than the posted speed limit. The point is that you can break a man-made law without paying any negative consequences as long as you don’t get caught. However, you can never break a Universal Law without getting caught. If

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Wealth matters you doubt this, try to walk off the roof of your office building or house and not get caught by the Law of Gravity. The challenge for most of us is that we break the Universal Laws all the time, but since we don’t know what they are we can’t abide by them, yet we still pay the consequence in our RESULTS. Now it is time to learn them so you can begin living your life and doing things in the “certain way” that Wattles wrote about in The Science of Getting Rich. The main Law of the Universe that sets the order for the remaining Seven Laws is that Energy “is” or God “is.” Science and Theology agree that they are talking about the same notion but calling it different things. I choose to call the “energy” God, but you can relate to it however you wish. This law states that which “is” is equally present in all places at all times. It is just as much in front of you as in back of you, just as much to your left as it is to your right, and just as much in you, me, or Donald Trump. It cannot be created or destroyed, it can only transmute from one form in to another. It is the “substance” of everything visible and invisible in our universe and can be molded by our THOUGHTS.

UNDERSTANDING THE SEVEN UNIVERSAL LAWS Perpetual Transmutation: adj, noun:(per-pech-oo-uh l trans-myoo-tey-shuh n) ceaseless and continual change into another nature, substance, form, or condition. The Universal Law of Perpetual Transmutation states that energy is always moving into form and out of form. This is the law that governs the fact that “thoughts become things.” There is a formless substance that is abundant with potential energy that we form impressions on with our “thought” and by doing so we create dynamic movement of that “substance” into form that is the physical equivalent of that impression.

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CHRIS J. SNOOK & Muzafer Najfi Because of the law of Perpetual Transmutation, everything is ALWAYS moving into form or out of form. If you are focused on what you don’t want, then your thoughts are directed in that direction and you will manifest their physical equivalent in your reality, because of this law, even though you don’t want to!

Gender: noun: (jen-der) the law relating to the period of development; gestation; or incubation. The sub-law of Gender dictates the period of time between when a seed (mental or physical) manifests into its pattern plan or physical form. For example: a carrot seed becomes a carrot in 70 days. A baby manifests in 280 days. Your goal or dreams will all have a gestation period, but you will not know how long they will take. You will know the time to SOW. Remember, though, that these laws tell you that if you SOW then you will REAP! Keep sowing!

Gravity: noun: (grav-i-tee)the force of attraction by which terrestrial bodies tend to fall toward the center of the earth. The Universal Law of Gravity is usually the one law that most people can name when asked if they know what the Seven Laws of the Universe are. This is because every minute of our life on earth we are unconsciously and consciously aware of this law, unless we go on a trip into space. The key to remember is that as obvious as it is to our nature to not break this law we need to raise our awareness to the same level in relation to the detriment of breaking any of the other six laws!

Vibration: noun: (vahy-brey-shuh n) the constant movement and oscillation of all things material and ethereal.

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Attraction: noun: (uh-trak-shuh n) the electric or magnetic force tending to draw things together of similar vibration Whether you were a fan or critic of the DVD movie The Secret these two laws exist. They are working for you and potentially against you depending on what or where you are focusing your dominant thought energy. Everything in this universe is in a constant state of vibration, according to this law. Even your hand, which may appear solid to you, is vibrating at a high speed. If you were to place your hand under a highpowered microscope, you would see a bunch of electrons flying around a nucleus. Your body vibrates off and eliminates over 50,000 cells per second. Parts of your body are regenerated every day, while your entire body is regenerated with new cells every seven years. The Law of Vibration is what makes this so. The Law of Vibration also dictates what you resonate with and attract! The Law of Attraction is a sub-law of the Law of Vibration, and what we attract is completely dictated by the state of our predominant vibration. Thought is the highest form of vibration, and therefore the laws of Vibration and Attraction work hand-in-hand with The Law of Perpetual Transmutation to bring IDEA into PHYSICAL FORM or its equivalent.

Polarity: noun: (poh-lar-i-tee) the presence of two opposite or contrasting principles or tendencies. This is the law of opposites. This law is what guarantees that you and I will always be able to find what we are looking for. For instance, if you want to find what is great about this book then you can find it. However, in order for something to be great about this book then The Law of Polarity states that there must be equally something bad about this book. You couldn’t possibly have one without the simultaneous coexistence of the other. You can’t have an inside of your house, without the outside. You can’t have a left without a right, an up without a down, debt without prosperity, scarcity without abundance, right without wrong. If you remove one, you remove the whole pair.

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CHRIS J. SNOOK & Muzafer Najfi You want to use this law when you are feeling “low” to raise your awareness to the “high” that is simultaneously surrounding you. Remember that what you focus on expands! The law of Polarity ennervates Vibration (Attraction) and Perpetual Transmutation and moves whichever of the two opposites we look for, or focus on, into form by providing evidence of their existence in our conscious awareness. This is why if you want to find out what is wrong with something you will always be able to, if there is something right about it. Every problem or adversity contains within it the seed of an equivalent victory or triumph!

Relativity: noun: (rel-uh-tiv-i-tee) the dependence of a mental state or process upon the nature of the human mind. This is the law that makes meaning in our consciousness out of the formless substance which “is.” If I say I will pay you $20,000 per month, what is $20,000 per month? Some of you just got excited because you have always dreamt of earning that kind of money. Simultaneously, some of you just rejected my offer because it would represent a terrible pay-cut. The point is that $20,000 per month is $20,000 per month…or $20,000 per month just “is.” It is not good or bad until you invoke The Law of Relativity and compare it to something else—like your current income. Our paradigms and conditioning are what make us break this law by relying on feedback from our five senses as to our circumstance to put meaning or size on things, dreams, or goals. The point is that the universe has no concept of size. It does not have to strain to grow, and it does not have to strain to bless you and me with goodness and wealth any more than it has to strain to let the sunrise. It is we who strain mentally with things that we relate to as big or hard to achieve.

Rhythm: noun: (rith -uh m) the metrical and patterned occurrence of strong and weak accents, or highs and lows.

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Wealth matters The Law of Rhythm is what allows everything in nature to grow. I moved to sunny San Diego because I am not a big fan of rain. However, any farmer will tell you that the most beautiful sunny day in the world is not enough for his crops to grow. Likewise, although crops and plants need water to grow, rain alone is not sufficient for a successful garden to reach harvest. The crops grow only when they get the proper mixture of sun and rain. You and I are no different. Your business is no different. Your relationships are no different. Nothing in the universe escapes this law. The high tide in the ocean is no less valuable to the universe than the low tide. There is an ebb and flow (rhythm) to life that breathes life and growth into everything! If you are like me and you don’t like rain, then hopefully you can still find gratitude in knowing that without it the sun wouldn’t be so enjoyable!

Cause & Effect: adj: (kawz-uh nd-i-fekt) noting a relationship between actions or events such that one or more are the result of the other or others. Emerson once called The Law of Cause and Effect “the law of laws.” For many years I thought I understood The Law of Cause and Effect, but I now realize that I had it wrong. I comprehended the basic tenets of “the more you put into something, the more you get out;” however, I thought that the actions I took were the Cause and the results I got were my Effect. I now understand that I was mistaken, and I will use The Stickperson once more to illustrate what I have learned about this law. The Cause is at the level of THOUGHT. The Effect is at the level of Vibration—paradigms and conditioning of the Subconscious Mind—and the Vibration is what dictates the action taken, which produces the RESULTS we can see and observe in our visual reality! This is why merely changing the action (i.e. working out regularly) without changing the root cause (thinking) typically leaves a person frustrated, with more of the same RESULTS (a body they still don’t like) and thinking that this universe is letting them down. Now you can see that this is not true. The Law of Cause and Effect is illustrated with The

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CHRIS J. SNOOK & Muzafer Najfi Stickperson on the following page. Get it and go to work on setting the Causes you want to manifest the Effect that will give you new RESULTS!

Cause Effect

Vibration!! ACT ION S

R

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CHAPTER FIVE The Seven Levels of Awareness Awareness–noun: (uh-wair-nis) Having knowledge or cognizance of a thing.

“The solution to every conceivable problem facing mankind today is located just outside of our current awareness!” cHRIS J. SNOOk

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FIVE

ENTER

GATEWAY

http://bit.ly/pNcARH

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hen you analyze your life as it relates to awareness you want to look at the graphic on the following page as a guide and treat it like a sliding scale. You will notice that the higher you rise in awareness the wider your universe becomes. You will also notice that below the diagram you see Simple Consciousness in a box, while at the top of the drawing you see Cosmic/Divine Consciousness with no border and infinite in all directions.

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Wealth matters Simple Consciousness is what animals, like my dogs Chyna and Jazz, have. Animals have zero ability to expand their awareness (thus the box). They also have zero ability to look within. They only have the ability to look without. What this means is that Chyna knows that she is on a walk, but she doesn’t “know” that she knows. Jazz knows that he likes the treat that we give him when he is a “good boy,” but he doesn’t “know” that he knows he likes the treat. The Creator has blessed mankind with the most significant gift of all: FREE WILL. Our ability to reason inductively, or look within, and deductively observe the world without is what separates us from all other living organisms on planet Earth. Our level of awareness sets the boundaries in any given moment of what we will be able to “think” on or about. Below are the seven levels of awareness that we can experience on our understanding and journey to the Cosmic/Divine awareness, which is when we realize our oneness with the infinite source of supply that flows through us and all things. As you gain an understanding of these seven levels, I suggest you take an inventory of your six areas of wealth and analyze which level of awareness you are operating at in each area. This will begin to give you power and hope that you can change freely anything that you truly to desire to change by opening up your awareness and allowing new THOUGHTS and possibilities to come into your consciousness!

Animalistic: adj. (an-uh-muh-list ik )

This is the lowest level of conscious awareness, and is just a step above the true animal’s simple consciousness. This is a person who has the ability to look within and reason but who ignores this gift and operates from a purely “fight or flight” response in an area of their life. When you see a homeless person on the street who, day in and day out, is on the same corner begging for money, you may be quick to assume that he is in some way disabled, retarded, or just stupid. However, if you did any significant research that many people who live this lifestyle are not stupid by society’s definition.

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CHRIS J. SNOOK & Muzafer Najfi You could go into any city and find homeless people who have achieved advanced degrees in the law, medicine, mathematics, and the like. Their level of education is not their “awareness.” Awareness at the Animalistic level is purely reactionary and survival-based, and those operating from here are consciously or unconsciously choosing to stay at this basal level of responsibility and humanity in all of their interactions.

Mass Consciousness: adj. noun (mas kon-shuh s-nis)

This level of awareness represents the majority of people in our society who operate and stay hidden in the herd. “Group think” is a term coined to describe this mentality, where the idea of “normal,” or “norms,” is of paramount importance. When we grow up there is a point in our lives where we reach the “age of reason” and begin to notice and invoke our perception and The Law of Relativity to make sense out of our world. This leads us to develop an understanding of the concept of “normal.” Once people understand what it is to be normal, many flock together for comfort and fear of ridicule. People who operate at the Mass Conscious level of awareness care more about what others think than what they think themselves, and somewhere along the line they were conditioned to behave and think that way. If you currently operate from this level then you have to realize that “people think what they think already, they just don’t tell you.” When you live your life from this level of awareness you are completely manipulated and under the control of your external influences and environment, and although you actually “think,” unlike at the Animalistic level you “think” in line with the overwhelming majority and not for yourself. Now is the time to build the self-image and self-esteem that you have long been wanting so that you can transcend the herd and begin to live the life that YOU WANT, without fear of criticism from the herd.

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Aspiration: noun: (as-puh-rey-shuh n)

This level represents a beginning departure from the herd on a mental level, but not yet in the physical. Aspiration represents the first inkling in your Conscious Mind that you have allowed your spirit to begin to express and impress its desires for expansion. You begin to realize that you want to BE, DO, and HAVE more than you currently experience. When you meet someone at the Aspiration level in your business or client base, be careful with how much initial energy you pour into him or her. This is a person who still acts according to the “herd” but who wants to think like an “individual.” What this means is that at this stage in the game people are “all talk and no walk.” You will pick up on someone who is at this level because they will say things like, “I want to do/buy/have that, but I will start next month,” or “I will be back; can you hold a spot for me?” “Honey, I know I said I would be there for Jonny’s game tonight, but I will make the next one. Can you cover for me?” At the Aspiration level the cost of the new thing that you say you want is still not less than the benefit of not yet having it. Typically this relates directly to our existing comfort zones and unwillingness to stretch them and our existing paradigms and conditioning that support our comfort zone. These people will drive you crazy if you let them, and just remember that nothing you can do will make them change until they are ready. Let them continue to ride the “rollercoaster” alone, but don’t get on it with them unless you want to cause yourself unnecessary frustration and stress.

Individual: adj. (in-duh-vij-oo-uh l)

Finally, a break through! At the Individual level you begin to realize for the first time that there has never been nor will there ever be another human

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CHRIS J. SNOOK & Muzafer Najfi being as unique as you. You are truly one of a kind, and you finally allow your spirit to express its uniqueness openly in your thoughts and actions! This is when you can finally begin to answer the question “What do you want?” with clarity, integrity, and distinction. It is in your new ability to be true to yourself that the universe begins to open up and the potential you have had inside you all along begins to unfold and manifest into a physical reality.

Discipline: noun. (dis-uh-plin)

The Discipline level of awareness is not when you begin to play “Catholic-school nun” on yourself by beating yourself over the head with a switch when you make mistakes. Discipline merely refers to your ability to give yourself a command or order and to follow through on that order or command in the time frame that you set for yourself to do it. Discipline is the skill that makes your individuality and progress in achieving any dreams you desire repeatable. It is what helps you stay at the Individual level and higher in that area of your human potential. Practice giving yourself commands or tasks with definite timelines, and create consequences to keep you accountable, and you can begin to foster a strong level of discipline in your awareness.

Experience: noun. (ik-speer-ee-uh ns)

Experience comes from performing at the Individual and Disciplined levels of awareness over longer periods of time, and through bigger and better milestones or goals. For instance, if you give yourself the goal of earning $100,000 and have the Discipline to ignore the masses, honor your plan, etc, that gives you the awareness and experience that you can use to build on to earn $250,000 per year.

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Wealth matters Remember that spirit will never be quenched. The purpose of goals is not to achieve an end result that we will consider to be ENOUGH! The purpose of setting goals is to expand our awareness so that we can reach Mastery in our life!

Mastery: noun, plural (mas-tuh-ree)

Malcolm Gladwell’s book Outliers showed scientific research that the mastery of any skill or habit takes a minimum of 10,000 hours on average. When you have reached a Mastery level of awareness in your life you create and control your environment through your ability to proactively respond versus react without thinking. Mastery is the goal for all people who want to truly be WEALTHY, because it provides you with access to complete peace and fulfillment in spite of circumstances. It will give you the ability to do what Wallace Wattles recommends in The Science of Getting Rich when he tells us to “Focus on truth regardless of appearances.”

“Successful people do what unsuccessful people won’t do even when they don’t want to do it!” Muzafer Najfi

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CHAPTER SIX Spiritual Wealth Inspired—verb: (in-spahyuhrd)-to be guided or controlled by divine influence; in spirit.

“If you are waiting for someone else to define you, then it will always be their definition.” cEcIl STEPPE

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any Sunday mornings Brianne and I start our day with a walk, coffee, and Joel Osteen on the television. One Sunday morning he was talking about “Living in VICTORY and ABUNDANCE,” and I thought it perfect timing as I would be sitting down to write this chapter later in the day. Joel began telling a story of his son, Jonathon, coming into the house from a day at elementary school and running into the kitchen to raid the snack cabinet and refrigerator. He went on to discuss how the child didn’t ask to take the food or drink or even to go over to the television set to turn it on and watch it while snacking and lounging on the couch. Joel was explaining that in “his house” his children have clear and unconscious knowledge now that it and the contents within it are “theirs.” Not in a spoiled or cocky-unappreciative way but in a comfortable and respectful way because they are “part of the family.” Joel then drew the analogy that we are all part of the Creator’s family and that, when we acknowledge that fact, He wants us to boldly take the abundance that He provides and use it to live our lives filled with the VICTORY which is His and which He lovingly shares with us. Joel explained that it is God’s gift to all of us, and that the abundance He has for us is not something we could have ever earned or deserved but that has been given as a loving gift! Ask yourself the last time you saw a sunset over the ocean, and imagine screaming out to God that you were satisfied with the sun’s brightness after watching for one minute and had ENOUGH. Imagine telling God that you think it is ridiculous that the beauty continue on for the full descent when he could save some for tomorrow’s sunset.

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Wealth matters Everything that manifests in the physical world that we can experience using our five-senses has existed first at the spiritual/ethereal level as a thought or idea and is already “here” whether we can physically experience it or not. For an illustration of this fact, I want you to consider that right now wherever you are reading this text that country music is playing. Now if you are in a country music bar or concert while reading this you will say, “That is true.” If you are not then you may be quick to dismiss that idea and say, “That is not true.” However, consider that just because you can’t hear it this second doesn’t mean it isn’t there. If you were to turn on a radio in the room you are sitting in and tune it to a country music station then you would hear country music. Where did it come from? It is already in the ether around you in your current environment. Until you “tuned in” you could not hear it, but that doesn’t mean it wasn’t playing. If you changed the channel to a hip-hop station then you would notice that hip- hop has been playing around you at the same time as the country music was. When you go back to the country station the song that was on may be over, or just further ahead, which shows you that it is happening and existing whether your awareness is tuned in or not. Well, I am here to tell you that the MILLIONS you desire are around you right now as well, but you have to learn to tune in. The relationship you want is already here, in simultaneous existence with that which you don’t want. If you don’t want to hear country music, you would never turn to the country music station and yell at the radio for making you listen to country music. You would just make sure you never tuned into that station. Well, the same power is available for you to focus only on what you WANT in your financial, vocational, relational, physical, emotional, and spiritual life. If you have a lawn you will notice that in the morning there is a light mist of water bubbles called dew on the blades of grass. However, if you go out in a few hours you will notice that the blades of grass are now completely dry in the sun’s light. Where did the water go? You will then say to yourself that it evaporated in the heat of the sun. You will be correct, but have you ever thought that even though the water went from its physical vibration to its astral and ethereal vibrations (steam to air), it never once stopped being connected to its various forms? You see the ethereal/spiritual form of water exists long before you ever see the dew on the grass. The spiritual nature of all living things exists eternally and cannot be created or destroyed; it

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CHRIS J. SNOOK & Muzafer Najfi can merely change into and out of form. When you and I die, our physical bodies will continue to vibrate, but without our spirit inside them they will no longer grow in life and will eventually turn into dust. Spirit is what brings life and growth to all things, because by its very nature it is ALWAYS expressing and seeking expansion! Spirit is who you are. You are unique. You are special. You are the divine’s inspired thought and creation. You are here to be an outlet to the stream of the infinite intelligence and to be co-creator in this physical world we call REALITY. When asked who they are most people will answer with their names. You are not your name. You are not your body. You are a one-of-a-kind creation, blessed with an intellect and constantly creating your physical body and results. Your level of spiritual wealth and fulfillment in life will be directly proportional to your knowledge and acceptance of and your gratitude for that simple fact! Life is truly what YOU make it, in all areas of your being. It is because of the law that all physical riches begin and have their end in the level of your spiritual wealth. Wealth and Poverty are mindsets and spiritual equivalents of their physical counterparts “rich” and “broke.” You cannot manifest physical, financial, spiritual, vocational, emotional, or relational “riches” in the physical if you are not first wealthy in those areas. Likewise, if you are physically, financially, spiritually, vocationally, emotionally, or relationally “broke” right now it is because you have a poverty or scarcity mindset in that area. Lastly, if you have physical “riches” in any or all of the six areas but have no clue that you are a spiritual being and a vehicle for abundant creation then no amount of physical riches in any area of your life will ever make (or keep) you fulfilled, and you will always be searching for what’s missing. We are all spiritual beings, gifted with an intellect that we can develop to help us live in our physical world with abundance. Our spiritual nature does not refer to religion. Religions study spirit. Theologians refer to us as spirit, and Scientists will call it an “energy field” living within a larger “energy field.” They are referring to the same thing. Spirit/energy is always here. It cannot be created or destroyed; it can merely change from one form into another. Spirit is for expression and fuller expansion always! It does

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Wealth matters not have or require any limitations, and that is why there is no such thing as ENOUGH when it is concerning your spirit. The concept of “enough” is man-made and deals with a scarcity mindset and not an abundant one. As a spiritual being you have been given the six human needs that must be met and kept in a fluid balance if you are to achieve true wealth and abundance in life. According to the great teacher Tony Robbins, the six human needs are: 1. Certainty 2. Uncertainty 3. Significance 4. Love/Acceptance 5. Growth 6. Contribution

Certainty This represents our need for stability, consistency, and comfort. It is the things that we know that we know. It is our routine. It represents a layer of life that we can say we count on. Certainty is the foundation that we can stand on as our spirit seeks to evolve or develop new avenues of expression and growth.

Uncertainty: This represents our need for adventure or “drama.” This need must be met and met in a controlled and decisive manner; otherwise it can be our worst saboteur to living the life that we want. Uncertainty is the need of our spirit to express and seek expansion, and it cannot do that inside of a set routine if nothing new comes in to our life. The negative ways this can manifest are most apparent in people who don’t understand the Terror Barrier and who live in their “comfort zones” and let worry and doubt creep in whenever they dare to dream. You may take notice of people you work

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CHRIS J. SNOOK & Muzafer Najfi with who never make decisions and who always agonize over what they want to do but don’t have the courage to do. They will typically be found on the weekends partying heavily in the bars or continuously running up their credit cards with stuff they can’t afford. They may even be having an office fling with someone’s spouse or significant other and feeling guilty but excited about it. These people aren’t aware that all of us have a “dramahook” need for uncertainty that must be met and that they are merely feeding it with destructive behaviors. They could easily be pouring that energy into something that is more calculated and in line with their dreams, but they have never been told or shown how. The key with uncertainty is that like all the needs it must be continually fed and kept in balance or it will create issues. If you have too much uncertainty that is just as bad as having too much certainty. Find something constructive, like a hobby, sport, or business that feeds your need for uncertainty without destroying your life or someone else’s. If you have ever lived your passion and chased a goal in either your work or play then you have noticed that your need to party, sleep around, or be financially irresponsible tends to fade, because you get enough excitement from the ever-changing landscape and day-today challenges of your business or goal.

Significance Much like uncertainty, this need can fuel abundance or gratitude or be the seed of destruction if it is not met. Lack of significance in my opinion, is the number one contributor that can cause people to go on shooting sprees and kill innocent strangers or cheat their business partner or spouse. We all have a need to be validated, appreciated, respected, and significant. Some of us need higher degrees of significance than others, but we all have an innate desire to know that the who that “we” are “matters.” Spiritual Wealth Matters for this very reason. The only way to consistently get anything in this universe is to give first what you want to receive. As it relates to significance, make sure that every day you compliment someone and let him know that you noticed him. The laws of energy/spirit dictate that “energy will always return to its source of origination.” If you want or need to feel more significant then make sure you spend a lot of your time genuinely noticing the significance that others play in your life… and tell them!

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For example Brianne has stopped me in the middle of a frenzied day of deals, masterminds, etc. and kneeled down by my desk to say, “Thank you for all that you do. You have made my life amazing and I believe in you!” She continually inspires me to be the best that I can be in all areas of my life and to never get complacent because she lets me know that I matter to her. As of the writing of this book, one of the best professional compliments I have ever received came from Lisa Ballard of Intero Real Estate in San Diego. She called my voicemail and profusely thanked Brianne and me for attending and contributing to the STAR PAL luncheon and then said that she believed that “God meticulously brought me and our coaching into their lives and business at exactly the right time,” and that she and the team were “extremely grateful to Him for that.” I have made as much as $237,500 in one day and lost close to $3 million in learning lessons or failed attempts over the last 12 years as of the writing of this book, but a voicemail message like that outranks any paycheck I could ever receive and makes the losses miniscule. It is humbling and gratifying to know that I could have an impact like that on someone like Lisa Ballard. My suggestion to you is to let people know that you are grateful. Make them feel significant and, like me, you will notice that it will come back to you tenfold and fill you with a wealth that no amount of money can buy.

Love/Acceptance This is the need that gives life to the spirit. To know that we are “okay” in the eyes of the infinite, “forgiven” in the eyes of our God, and “accepted” in the eyes of our family and peers for who we are. With all of our imperfections, inequities, talents, ambitions, habits (good and bad), mannerisms, and dreams, to know we are “loved” is an essential craving that we all have. You know you truly love someone when you don’t ask her or need her to change for your love to continue. You know someone loves you when the same is true. Finding that is not always easy, but as with all the

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CHRIS J. SNOOK & Muzafer Najfi needs it starts with us. Loving yourself unconditionally is a prerequisite to receiving the love that others have and want to bless you with.

Growth Spirit is for EXPRESSION AND FULLER EXPANSION. Therefore, our need for continual growth, like the rest of our needs, is not our decision. It is the law of the universe that anything which is not growing is in a state of decay. Growth is fed by what you and I give our energy to. If you are “broke” in an area of your life then begin to give energy to thoughts of prosperity in that area, you will begin to grow in that area. Like a farmer who plants a garden, you must “pull the weeds” in order to make sure that your garden is full of the crops you desire. If you do not pull them then they will kill your crops (dreams). If you refuse to ACCEPT this fact then that is your God- given right, but by staying in your comfort zone you are today all that you will ever be, and you have today all that you will ever have.

Contribution Our need to give comes from the Law of Reciprocity, which tells us that what you give out must and will return to you tenfold. We all have a need to contribute, but too many times, in ignorance; we try to give to others before giving to ourselves out of fear or conditioning that we are being selfish. There are two types of people who live in this world and contribute. There are pipes and there are bowls. A pipe has an opening on one end and an opening on the other end. Every time something “good” goes into the top end it immediately flows out of the bottom end. Therefore a pipe gives all that it has but remains empty. A bowl will receive “goodness” and fill up until it is full. Once it is full, as it continues to receive “goodness” it will overflow and give from abundance. It will always be able to give but will never be empty. Live your life like a bowl. Remember, you cannot give that which you do not have! It is not noble to deny yourself riches but wish them upon others. It is our God-given right and obligation to be wealthy because drowning people cannot save drowning people! Neither can a floating person with no buoy to spare.

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Wealth matters When it comes to CONTRIBUTION there is an organization and individual that I must acknowledge. From June 2001 to 2008, Cecil Steppe served as President and CEO of the San Diego Urban League. Prior to his post-retirement duties as the Urban League CEO, Cecil Steppe worked for over 35 years as the Director of Community Initiatives at the San Diego County Health and Human Services Agency, where he personally managed a $900 million dollar budget and a staff of 3,800 people. When Brianne and I first took Cecil Steppe and Maurice Wilson to lunch in 2006 to discuss their purpose, vision, and goals for Urban League of San Diego and how our companies could assist and contribute, I was impressed most by this powerful man’s spirit and relaxed intensity. Brianne and I contributed frequently with both time and money while Cecil Steppe and Maurice Wilson ran the Urban League, and it was extremely rewarding to be around them and their spirit, and has a positive impact that I have taken with me to this day. Cecil is a true servant leader, and I am honored to call him and Maurice Wilson my friends. I recently sat down with Cecil to interview him on the subjects of wealth, contribution, and success. I decided to include the transcript of that conversation below because I found it too valuable to paraphrase. CJS: Cecil, what do you feel has been the foundation for your success over the years? Cecil: When I grew up I was raised by my mother; my father was not around. I was brought up to learn and live as a ‘servant leader’ and was raised in a community that stepped up to care and provide for one another wherever there was a need. It had a big impact on me at an early age. CJS: What is a key lesson you think the youth of today and adults alike need to learn to find true inner peace or wealth? Cecil: Don’t allow anyone to define you. Learn to define yourself by being true to yourself and your spirit. Be honest and clear with where you want to GO, and where you want to GROW.

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CHRIS J. SNOOK & Muzafer Najfi CJS: What is the best way to work with people or enroll them in your vision? Cecil: Be quick to LISTEN and slow to speak. I believe there is a definite distinction between hearing and understanding, but you must hear first. Most people are listening in preparation for a retort, and when you listen that way you cannot hear what the person is saying. Therefore, understanding will always fall short. CJS: You have gone through several cycles of evolution in race relations, diversity, and even participated in the Civil Rights movement in the 1960s. What is the biggest lesson you have learned from that experience that would apply to anyone of any race? Cecil: As a black man, I have had to learn to focus on keeping my power for me. When someone has called or calls me something other than ‘who’ I see myself to be, I have learned NOT to get angry but to be introspective. I have learned that when words have hurt me, and I am introspective, it simply means that I have not clearly defined myself. If you wait for someone else to define you, who YOU are will always be their definition and not your own. CJS: So what is your secret to staying calm and introspective? Cecil: There is only one major thing I can control and that is my ATTITUDE. Nobody can take my power unless I give it to them. God and I represent a majority. You see, I have learned that there is a God and, likewise, there is evil. Satan works overtime and is tricky. He only works with you, though, when you do things his way. Whereas my Lord works full-time, and He will work with me regardless of how many times I turn my back or travel down a destructive path. I have gotten angry in the past, but anger ALWAYS makes you stupid and makes you do stupid things that you can’t take back. Without forgiveness we are all lost. I thank God for the gift of forgiveness, and that helps to keep me calm.

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Wealth matters CJS: [laughing] How many times will you retire? Cecil: I am retired. I just happen to still be very busy… I have a button on my desk (picks up a huge button) that says, ‘Enjoy Life. This is not a dress rehearsal.’ CJS: What have you learned about success? Cecil: As you start toward success you need to take time and enjoy while en route. When you get to the last passage, if you are totally identified by your work then ask, “WHO ARE YOU?” Who you become in the journey is equally as valuable as what you achieve, if not more. CJS: What do you think is the best catalyst for change? Cecil: I don’t try to change anybody. I focus on creating the environment where change can occur. Negative environments, confrontation, and force negate. At Urban League of San Diego we focus on opening the door to wisdom and allow people to choose freely if they are ready or willing to walk through. CJS: Cecil, it has been a pleasure spending some time with you, and I appreciate you sharing with me and the readers of Wealth Matters your pearls of wisdom on living a wealthy and successful life. Cecil: I appreciate your interest, but before you go I have a question for you. CJS: O.K… Cecil: I have often asked myself, ‘what do rich people dream about? ’I know what poor people dream about…BEING RICH! But, what do rich people dream about? Any thoughts? CJS: My answer to that would be that some of us dream about more “stuff” because we live purely in the physical. However,

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CHRIS J. SNOOK & Muzafer Najfi almost every “rich” person that I know and still hang around, and that has kept their financial wealth for any length of time while simultaneously living wealthy in the other areas of their life, has dreamt of making a difference. You see, most humans when asked about what they think is important are going to say they want to make a difference somewhere; whether it is in their community, globally, the environment, etc. However, the reality is that you can’t do anything good if most of your energy is focused upon making enough money to pay your bills and keep food on the table. We all desire ‘stuff,’ rich or poor, and ‘stuff’ is fun. Stuff should be a reward that allows us to enjoy life because it is not a dress rehearsal. However, most wealthy people in my network will tell you that ‘stuff’ makes you comfortable, but ‘stuff’ will not fulfill you. I can tell you that this rich man dreams about spreading the message of Wealth Matters to wealthy and not-so-wealthy people alike, so that all can learn to live more abundantly in all areas. I also dream about every individual finding a way to develop, cultivate, and share their talents with the world in a way that enlightens it and provides them with an abundance of income and financial freedom to MAKE A DIFFERENCE where they see fit. Cecil: Thank you. CJS: Likewise.

Note to the Reader. Cecil is now finally retired but Maurice Wilson is currently with REBOOT which eases the burden of local service members and their families face as a result of ongoing military engagements overseas. Visit www.nvtsi.org

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Chet’s WISDOM Certainty – uncertainty Certainty brings stability to our lives. Those things we are certain about are things we can count on, both in times of accomplishment and in times of need. Uncertainty brings excitement into our lives. Some of us who operate out of fear become paralyzed by uncertainty because we are afraid of change and only think of the negative possibilities. Those who embrace uncertainty are those who view life through a spiritual lens, and their vision is one of hope and faith that what lies ahead can only enhance their well-being. As in all aspects of life, a balance must be struck. We do not want to manage our life with only certainty, for while it may be stable it will also be stagnant. A pond with no flowing water is stable for the life forms it supports. However, if it is never refreshed with new water coming in and with overflowing water leaving its shores, it becomes filled with green bacteria, and death looms for those dependent upon it for sustenance. Our lives are like that pond – we need vibrant change or the occasional unexpected occurrence to enliven our existence. Otherwise we become complacent. Even if we are on the right track, if we are not moving then eventually we are going to get run over. We also do not want to have only uncertainty in our lives, for excitement can quickly become apprehension and anxiety. We need to have some areas where we know there is stability. Relationships are where this is critically important. My wife and I used to have one of those little Hallmark statues that read, ‘There is nothing we can’t handle, as long as we face it together!’ Having a significant person in our life that is honest, trustworthy, compassionate, and accepting of all that we are is, in my mind, the greatest certainty we can possess. There is no greater experience than love to bring this element into our lives. These are a few things I am absolutely certain of: • I am loved by my God, and His affection for me is everlasting. • Evil exists in our world, but it is ALWAYS overcome by the goodness in people.

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CHRIS J. SNOOK & MuzafeR NaJfI • I feel the most alive when I do something unexpected for others without them knowing it. Remember the movement 20 years ago called, ‘Random acts of kindness, and senseless acts of beauty?’ The kindness we can give often is senseless, but it is life-giving and never goes unnoticed by our Higher Power. Nowhere is this more important than in our family. From there we can ‘ripple it out’ to the shores of other unsuspecting souls. • I am here for a reason, and then I will be gone. I believe my call is to love the best I can and to keep growing in this area of God’s plan for me. • I am 100 percent responsible for the direction of my life and am purely a product of my choices. His gift of free will (choice) is one of our greatest, and we should use it responsibly and in contributing ways. The rest is pretty much a realm of uncertainty for me, and I have learned to embrace it much better than I used to. Being open to new possibility thrills me more than it scares me, and I have the love of my life to thank for that. Ginny has been a great partner on this journey, and I am grateful for all that I have learned, and will continue to discover through her guidance.

significance, Love, and acceptance “When love beckons you, follow him, though his ways are hard and steep And when his wings enfold you yield to him, Though the sword hidden among his pinions may wound you, And when he speaks to you believe in him, though his voice may shatter your dreams as the north wind lays waste the garden… But if in your fear you would seek only love’s peace and love’s pleasure, then it is better for you that you cover your nakedness and pass out of love’s threshing-floor.

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Into the seasonless world where you shall laugh, but not all of your laughter, and weep, but not all of your tears. Love gives naught of itself and takes naught but from itself. Love possesses not nor would it be possessed; For love is sufficient unto love… love has no other desire but to fulfill itself.” NOTE TO READER: Full version available in The Prophet – Kahlil Gibran 1923

tHeRe aRe tHRee KINDS Of lOVe: I love you because… I’ll love you if… I love you. The first two, as is pretty obvious, set conditions upon our love for another. I love you because you provide for me. I love you because you are beautiful. I love you because you are rich and can give me whatever material things I want. I love you because you are popular. I’ll love you if you run that errand for me. I’ll love you if you get me that white mink coat. I’ll love you if you have sex with me. The list can go on and on. The third form of love has no such parameters. It is a misnomer to say the term “unconditional love,” for true love is unconditional by its very nature. Eugene Kennedy published a little book in 1975 titled, If You Really Knew Me, Would You Still Love Me? Loving someone, everything about that person, is what true love is about. Accepting their “personhood” and realizing that person will accept yours in return creates fertile soil where the seeds of love can thrive. Love is much more than a feeling; it is not a noun or an adjective, but rather a verb. It demands action. If you want to feel love then you have to act with love, and amazingly the feeling will follow.

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CHRIS J. SNOOK & MuzafeR NaJfI A man goes to his therapist and states, “I don’t think I love my wife anymore.” The counsel from the therapist is, “Just love her.” “You don’t understand; I just told you, I don’t love her anymore.” The therapist responds again, “Just love her.” “Are you listening to me at all—I don’t love her!” The therapist is persistent. “Just love her— with your actions. Call her in the middle of the day to just say you were thinking of her. Leave your work at the workplace–don’t bring it through the doors of your home. Make a hot bubble bath for her when she gets home from her long day. Don’t try to just feel the love; act with love. I’ll see you again in two weeks for our next session.” The man returns in two weeks, and before he sits down, he says, “I did those things you suggested, and actually came up with a couple of my own. I saw my wife in a different light. I began to see life from her perspective, and I have to admit, I am beginning to fall in love with her all over again.” Love shakes us “by the roots,” and when we act with love we grow in dimensions we didn’t even know existed. There will be pain from too much tenderness, but oh, is it ever worth it. The old saying, “It is better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all” is true, for giving love to another enriches our lives like nothing else we humanly know. While there will be heartache for sure, the joy we feel when we love makes us soar to unimaginable heights. We do, as Gibran states, enter the heart of God, and He is well pleased. I wish you all this incredible gift: the third form of love. Go to those in your life who are important to you—God, family, and friends-and simply say, “I love you!”

Contribution As Dr. Phil once stated, “We are either contributing or we are contaminating.” Our bounty to give is immeasurable. And this begins with the knowledge of how important it is to develop ourselves before we ever consider the makeup of another; for we cannot giveaway what we do not possess. Some years ago I was caught in the middle of the “sandwich generation,” trying to contribute to our home as well as to the health

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WealtH MatteRS needs of aging parents and a diabetic brother. In short, I was trying to be the perfect husband, the perfect father, the perfect son, and the perfect brother, while at the same time working 60-70 hours a week so that I could be the perfect provider. You know the result – I was so diminished that I brought little, actually very little, to any of those relationships because I was stretched so thin. I had two wake-up calls that brought me back. First, I had to schedule my own doctors’ appointments between all the others because this craziness for perfection was taking its toll on my own health. Secondly, the most important person in my life told me she wasn’t sure how much longer she could watch this happening to me. You can imagine my ability to contribute to anything or anyone. Zero!!! I began to reorganize my responsibilities, and it started with my getting back to taking care of myself first. I got back to working out, sought out some counseling, and I let my extended family know the boundaries of my support. Life changed dramatically for the good, and I now could contribute in creative ways that enlivened me rather than diminished me. Those who give, especially from their need rather than their abundance, are believers in life. And we truly give when we give of ourselves without worry of fame or recognition. I marvel at those who gift under the heading “Anonymous” for they contribute solely to enrich lives in some way, and they want no part of being acknowledged by anyone. There are countless ways for us to contribute. Trust your creativity and begin today!

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Muzafer’s 4th Law Know Thyself When’s the last time you meditated? A lot of people they have a hard time meditating or get worried that they have to become a Priest or Monk to do it properly. Some people say that meditation is prayers, and some people have different spiritual beliefs and activities that are forms of meditation, but the question that matters most is that “What do I believe I am?” How much time have you spent getting to know your inner self? What is your type of spirituality and how often do you nurture it on a weekly or daily basis by getting rid of the world around you temporarily and looking within yourself for answers, clarity, and insight? How often do you hit the ‘pause’ button on the brain traffic and spend time in peaceful inner quiet? Some people jog on the beach or treadmill, some pray, some meditate or take a power nap. I pray five times a day. My belief in a higher power is God. In the Arabic language God is pronounced ALLAH. Don’t confuse language with religion. Remember to be open but careful not let anyone impose their beliefs into you. Find a way to take time out and be grateful and thankful to a higher power. In your daily schedule set a time or multiple times to stop and pray or meditate. STOP READING THIS AND GRAB YOUR APPONITMENT BOOK and if you do not have one STOP READING and GO TO THE STORE AND BUY ONE! Please do not run your business or multiple businesses without one. NOW OPEN YOUR APPOINTMENT BOOK TO THIS WEEK AND FILL IN THE DAILY SECTION WITH YOUR PRAYER AND/ OR MEDITATION TIMES. NOW FILL IT IN FOR THE REST OF THE WEEK AND MONTH! NOW BACK TO READING. Don’t let the hustle of life stop you from becoming the best you. You have to “sharpen your tools” in order to get the most efficient use of them. Spirituality is so important for your mental and physical health.

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Wealth matters Whatever your favorite mode of turning inward, make sure you do it consistently. Have you ever heard the saying “stop and smell the roses?” It’s funny because a lot of my friends have thought it literally means to just stop and smell the roses. Obviously most of you realize it is a reminder to stop and look inward. Are you happy? I encourage you to close your eyes and take out a pen and paper and answer this question. Don’t worry; your mental muscle memory will allow you to write legibly on a pad of paper even with your eyes shut. This is a great and simple exercise where you will meditate and write down or recall the gratitude you have for the things that you have been through in your life. A lot of people have a hard time reflecting, and they have a hard time saying thank you for even bad things that have happened in their past. But I will make you a promise that bad things help you as much as the good things. Nobody hopes for bad things to happen, but everything that has happened to us has led us to where we are at today. Spending time doing this inward reflection will cleanse you and will help take you to another level in all six areas of wealth.

“What people see, is what people see… Who you are is what YOU believe.” Muzafer Najfi

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Father and son at the “Ewing High School Hall of Fame Scholarship Dinner” that Chet started in 2001.

SPIRITUAL WEALTH starts with a foundation of “self ” that allows you to Swing from Your Sweet Spot.™ The following lesson was taught by my father, Chet Snook, for 23 years in his Health Education classes, and he has updated it as a chapter insert for the readers of Wealth Matters…

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SWING FROM YOUR SWEET SPOT Chet Snook

“This above all: To thine own self be true!” WIllIaM SHakESPEaRE

I believe we are made up of three selves: the ideal self, the public self, and the real self. The ideal self is that which we feel we should be; the public self is what we portray to those around us, whether they be total strangers or those intimately close to us; and the real self is who we actually are. Some people refer to this as the authentic self. If these were in the form of circles, they might look like something shown below.

A – Ideal Self B – Public Self C – Real Self

Where we find the most inner peace, the most serenity, the most tranquility, is where the three converge—the shaded area where all three come together. The larger that area becomes, the more authentic the self becomes because the person we are alone, the person we believe we should be, and the person we manifest to others is closer to being one and the same. If those three circles are separate entities with no congruence at all, then we are living a fraudulent life, and we are not only miserable but we will also eventually make those around us miserable as well.

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The ideal self Where does the ideal self come from, or how does it develop? The society in which we live certainly plays a part, as does our family nurturance. Freud cited the cause and effect of the id, super ego, and the ego, with the id being the uninhibited drive that must be satisfied without concern for others; the super ego tells us right from wrong; and the ego balances the drives of the id within the restraints of the super ego. The ideal selfish heavily directed by the super ego and is based on cultural and social mores, the direction from family values, and the impact our peers have upon our path, even if that pressure is imagined and/or self-imposed. We live in a society ‘conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men (and women) are created equal.’ We value freedom of choice, and of expression, and we are guaranteed those rights by the foundation of our laws. In fact, freedom to choose is one of our Creator’s greatest gifts, and we cherish that gift for all, at least in our spiritual, political, and foundational belief systems. Dr. John Charlton walks into his Foundations of Education class on the first day of the semester at Trenton State College in 1971, and tells all of his students to take out a piece of paper and a writing instrument. They are instructed to write the numbers one through twenty in the left hand margin. He then says, “This is a test of the 20 most important things in your life. Anyone who gets a 90% or higher will receive an ‘A’ for the semester and will not have to show up for any other classes.” You can imagine the excitement, and truth fully some of the arrogance, as the students prepare for the upcoming test. The professor then asks, “What are the Ten Commandments, and the first Ten Amendments to the Constitution, better known as the Bill of Rights?” No one can do it at the 90th percentile. As matter of fact, few can achieve a grade of 60%. And this from some of the brightest and most accomplished students on campus. WOW! These are where some of the parameters originate for the ideal self. They come from our spiritual journey and from the process of becoming a contributing citizen in our extraordinary country. The ideal self may even be influenced by simple osmosis of living where we live–by the silent forces of our faith, family, government and peer leaders. The

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WealtH MatteRS following is a list of questions to measure the impact of the ideal self on our decision making processes: 1. am I motivated to please or win the approval of others who are in a position of authority? 2. Do I do what others tell me to do, even if I’m not okay with it, for fear of disapproval? 3. When making decisions, do I still hear my parents’ judgment? 4. Does my faith life direct me with hope and joy or with guilt and shame? 5. Do I ponder past decisions and wish I had made different ones? 6. Do I look at my present life and wonder, “How did I get here?” You may come up with your own questions. The bottom line is, the ideal self does govern our behavior, and it should, but not at the cost of an unhappy or unfulfilling direction. We are destined for better than that, and our Creator’s plan was for us to find our purpose in life, not based on adherence to rules or laws (other than the twenty mentioned earlier) but rather on contribution to our human society. This should shake you up a little if you are honest and willing to reflect on whether you are being true to yourself.

The Public self This is the self we portray to others, and oh the masks we wear! We all know of the couple who shocked us with news of their separation when they had always seemed so happy; or the most popular high school senior who seemed to have life by the tail only to be so miserable he decided to take his own life. Again, the Public Self is an important contributor to who we are, and it has its own governing body as to how we behave in the presence of others. It, too, however,

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CHRIS J. SNOOK & MuzafeR NaJfI should not be so powerful that we deny the drives and passions that fulfill us intrinsically. We are all social beings. Some of us are more comfortable than others in public, but the truth is we need each other for full self-expression. The ability to love and to contribute to our relationships fuels us with tremendous joy, and there are few things that have more impact upon our lives. I have always thought it is more important to ask oneself, ‘What do I bring to this?’ rather than, ‘What can I get out of this?’ It should be noted at this point that there is a major difference between contribution and living our lives to simply please another. Contribution uses our unique gifts, our individual skills, and even our shortcomings, to make our world a better place. Notice I said, “Our world.” We sometimes believe our purpose is to “change the world,” but we cannot do this without first touching those people and those things within our immediate grasp. Again, truth be told, the most important work we do is in our home. As a child we all remember throwing a rock into a pond, and we were amazed at how the ripples would eventually reach the shore. Working in loving ways in our home is like the pond when the rock first hits, and eventually those waves hit the shores of our lives, and we begin to see the effect in our workplace, our avocations, and our serendipitous meetings—in short in every aspect of our existence. Our private lives should be as congruent to our public lives as we can make them if we are to achieve our quest with serenity and authentic living. We, by nature and creation, have shortcomings, weaknesses if you will, and the authentic person both acknowledges and accepts that as part of our make-up. When we truthfully think about it, the strength of others makes our weaknesses irrelevant, and I know from many of my personal journeys that the times I became the strongest were when I realized and admitted that I could not do it alone. The strength of others literally picked me up, and I began to soar again when my own attempts to figure it all out grounded me with selfdenial and paralysis. This public versus private (real) self has us finally come to the realization that who we are is more important than who we appear to be, and that the greatest champion of all is he (or she) who conquers himself (or herself ) rather than others. Here are some questions to ponder regarding the public versus real conflict: 1. Is my standard of conduct lower when I’m alone than when I am with others?

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WealtH MatteRS 2. am I motivated by intrinsic values rather than extrinsic rewards? 3. Realizing that our number one fear is rejection, do I govern my life always searching for approval? 4. Do I view new acquaintances as possible future friends, or are they a threat to my existence? 5. knowing that life is about love, how important are the relationships in my life, and am I giving them the “best me?” 6. Do I “walk my talk,” having my actions follow my words? Loving our neighbor as ourselves is one of the two greatest commandments, so it is important to constantly seek a path of balance between who we are as an individual and how that relates to others in symbiotic ways. In this process the life of each is enriched by the presence of the other. We are not responsible to make another happy – that is their responsibility. Ours is to make ourselves the best possible contributor to that relationship, and that can only occur when we are authentic, accepting, and humbly confident in our unique talents, values, and dreams. This struggle is a worthwhile battle with the victor being you and all those whose lives you touch.

The real self “Real isn’t how you are made,” said the Skin Horse. “It’s a thing that happens to you. When a child loves you for a long, long time, not just to play with but REALLY loves you, then you become real.” “Does it hurt?” “Sometimes,” said the Skin Horse, for he was always truthful. “When you are real you don’t mind being hurt.” “Does it happen all at once,” he asked, “or bit by bit?” “It doesn’t happen all at once,” said the Skin Horse. “You become. It takes a long time. That’s why it doesn’t happen to people who break

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CHRIS J. SNOOK & MuzafeR NaJfI easily or have sharp edges or who have to be carefully kept. Generally, by the time you are real, most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out, and you get loose in the joints and very shabby. But those things don’t matter at all; once you are real, you can’t be ugly except to people who don’t understand.’ From The Velveteen Rabbit by Margery Williams The Real Self is not what we do, or how we look, or what kind of car we drive – it is who we are. It is made up of our unique gifts, our skills and abilities, our dreams, the core values we hold dear, our interests and passions, our desires, and our short comings, to mention a few. It is that intrinsic being that only we and our God truly know. Therefore this section begins with its own question: Do you view yourself as a spiritual being on a temporary human journey, or are you a human being on a temporary spiritual journey? And if, in either case, we identify with the term “human being” then we need to discriminate between that and “human doing,” for many of us, especially men, identify ourselves with our chosen career and how we make a living and/or provide for our families. Earlier it was stated that one of our Creator’s greatest gifts to us was the freedom to choose. That is true, for we are products of our choices, not our heredity or our surroundings. Life throws many opportunities and obstacles along our path. How we respond to those stimuli—what we choose to do in response—dictates the direction our life takes. The real self accepts that responsibility and doesn’t put the onus on anyone else, either with blame or credit. The other great gift is time. That is why it is called “the present.” If you really want to discover what is important to a person, just watch how they CHOOSE to spend their time. When we make an honest and searching inventory of ourselves, the choices we have made and how we have spent our time are the best indicators of what we value. The Real Self shows up in those decisions! Matthew Kelly tells us in The Seven Levels of Intimacy that: “Another of the monumental myths propagated by our modern culture is that understanding is the key to having a great relationship. We spend endless amounts of emotional energy trying to figure ourselves

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WealtH MatteRS out, and equal amounts of energy trying to figure other people out. Too often we make understanding a condition of our acceptance. We take the following position: I don’t understand you; therefore I don’t accept you and I don’t love you. If we are to nurture genuine intimacy, the approach that is needed is radically more proactive and positive: I love you and I accept you, even though I don’t understand you. “Are you able to say, ‘I love myself and accept myself, even though I don’t understand myself?’ The more we are able to accept ourselves, the more we will be able to accept others. Acceptance of others is impossible if we are not able to accept ourselves.” I couldn’t agree more. Self-acceptance is the key to our self-worth. I remember visiting friends in Ocean City, New Jersey, one summer evening, and we were all walking on the boardwalk just catching up with each other. I noticed a young couple walking in the opposite direction holding hands, and one of them was wearing a t-shirt that read, “I may not be perfect, but parts of me are EXCELLENT!” Now there is self-acceptance! Show me someone always striving to be perfect and I will show you someone hooked by the ideal and/or the public self. It is like the parent who never loses his/her temper, and then all of a sudden the anger steams over like the proverbial teapot, and everyone gets scalded in his/her path. It is like the co-worker who bottles up all of the emotions during the day and then displaces that wrath on the innocent bystanders at home. How about the driver who takes it out on fellow travelers with “road rage” and just seems out of control, endangering all those within his/her path? We seem to live in an angry culture, and I believe it is partly due to our lack of self-acceptance and the way we beat ourselves up. Hurt people hurt people, and until we learn to accept ourselves and heal our self-inflicted wounds we will lash out at others. Francois La Rochefoucauld told us in 1678 that, “We would rather speak ill of ourselves than not talk about ourselves at all.” Unlike the t-shirt wearer in Ocean City, we have difficulty accepting our imperfections, especially when we are ‘out in the open,’ because there is the risk we will be judged and may be rejected. Yet, by human design we will stumble or fall on occasion, and we should accept that fact and come to the belief that “parts of us are EXCELLENT.”

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CHRIS J. SNOOK & MuzafeR NaJfI Ah, the Real Self – imperfect, yet authentic. As mentioned earlier it is the true us, the one whom only we and our Creator totally know and love. I believe we are those spiritual beings just traveling this human journey temporarily, and His guidance is for us to love each other as He loves us, imperfections and all. A few questions to contemplate for the real you: 1. Realizing I control my destiny and no one else, what life circumstance would I most like to change? 2. Do I exhibit negative or positive self-talk, and do I believe what I say? 3. am I willing to accept the consequences of my personal behavior and see the connection between the two? 4. am I in good company when I am alone, or am I my own worst enemy? 5. am I happy most often with the choices I make? 6. am I hopeful for the future, content with the present, or are the best days behind me? 7. Do I view the mistakes I’ve made as lessons rather than failures? So, there we have it – three selves, one person. How much do your separate circles overlap? Are they getting closer to being the same, or are they continually drifting around as three separate entities? Only you-only we-have control over which direction they move. Embrace the journey for it is too short, and we are destined for great love – love for ourselves and love for others! I leave you with one of my very favorite quotes. While being verbally attacked for his Presidential direction and policy, Abraham Lincoln responded with:

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“I do the very best I know how – the very best I can; and I mean to keep doing so until the end. If the end brings me out all right, what is said against me won’t amount to anything. If the end brings me out wrong, ten angels swearing I was right would make no difference.” I wish you the best; DO yOuR BEST, and in the end it will be all right, because that is what our God has in store for all of us!

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CHAPTER SEVEN Intellectual Wealth Intellectual Wealth–noun: (in-tl-ek-choo-uh l welth) a person’s level of engagement in mental labor.

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ntellectual Wealth is the tool by which we can learn to create physical realities from our innermost desires and thoughts. Our level of wealth in physical reality is proportionate to our development on the intellectual level and is a kin to athletes’ ability to be strong and fast on the field because of the effort they put into developing their skeletal muscles in the weight room. The Six Intellectual Faculties (Reason, Intuition, Perception, Will, Imagination, and Memory) are our “mental muscles.” Our Creator has given us an intellect far beyond our ability to understand. We have been blessed with far more potential than we could ever possibly hope to manifest in our short time on earth, and our gift back to the Creator is to develop and manifest as much of that potential as we can while we are living here, using our intellect to unfold it from within. There is no world out there for us to “get.” Everything that we desire is already within us and is merely seeking outward expression. Our ability to move our spirit in the direction of our dreams and unfold the possibility and physical rewards and desires is the job of our intellect. “Never stop learning” is a mantra that I must have read or heard from every mentor I have had to date, starting with my parents. We have been told that “knowledge is power,” but that is only partly true. Knowledge without action will still appear as ignorance. There is a lie in our society, that there is power in the hands of the learned or educated. Moore’s Law came about at the start of the Information Age and told us that the rate of processing information and the capacity and efficiency of technology to store it would double every 18 months. Well, that idea is itself obsolete and has been adjusted to reflect our new reality which states that “doubling” occurs approximately every six months. Estimates from numerous futurists

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Wealth matters state that within ten years of the printing of this book’s first edition, the rate information doubles will be every 90 seconds! What this means in reality is that what you “knew” about your job, your finances, your skill sets, etc. last year has been made obsolete twice over in the last 12 months! Theoretically that would mean that the first year of a four-year college education today will be obsolete eight times over by the time the student graduates. The learners are the ones who will have the power in the present and in the future while the learned will be frustrated by their ability to thrive only in a world that no longer exists! There is a universe inside of our current awareness that allows us to know the things that we “know.” At the same time, in that universe of our current awareness we know the things that we “don’t know.” There is an entire and infinite universe, however, that exists outside of our current awareness of things we “don’t know that we don’t know.” It is there that all new possibility exists, and we can only get to it by setting goals that require us to stretch and expand our awareness. You and I learn everything the same way and through the same four stages. The four stages are: 1) Unconscious Incompetence, 2) Conscious Incompetence, 3) Conscious Competence, and 4) Unconscious Competence. I will use an analogy below to illustrate the learning process for all things in life. When you were a new born baby, your parents brought you home from the hospital in a car. You were placed in a car seat or its equivalent and driven home. As a baby you were Unconsciously Incompetent as it related to driving. In other words, you “didn’t know what you didn’t know.” You didn’t know what driving was, a car was, etc. and did not know that you did not know these things. As you grew up and began to walk and talk as a toddler your parents would continue to drive you places, and there came a point where you understood what a car was and that cars were driven. You became Consciously Incompetent about driving at this point. You “knew” that you “didn’t know” how to drive. When you hit the teenage years of legal driving age, you were probably given some form of formal driver’s education and a learner’s permit. If you

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CHRIS J. SNOOK & Muzafer Najfi learned to drive on a “manual transmission” you became acutely aware of your Conscious Competence about driving because you had to consciously “think” and focus on what you were doing to shift, or look in the mirrors, etc. You “know” how to drive, but you have to “think about it” to do it properly and not stall the car. You held your hands at “10 and 2” or “9 and 3” so that you never risked losing control of the wheel, always buckled your seatbelt, and could parallel park like a champion if you got three tries. Well, it’s fair for me to assume that when you drove today that you probably didn’t have both hands on the wheel. More than likely you were driving with your “knees” while you gobbled down breakfast with one hand and talked on your cell phone with the other on your way to work. You also have had experiences where you have left somewhere and driven home, and as you pulled into your driveway realized that you had no idea how you got home. This is when you hit Unconscious Competence. You have now learned something and integrated it solidly into your subconscious programming and can perform it effectively without conscious thought. Everything you have in your life related to RESULTS, WEALTH, or lack thereof is a result of the habits that you have developed into an Unconscious Competence. Money-making and wealth creation is a skill that can be learned, but you must go through all four learning stages before it becomes automatic and repeatable! My personal path to and through the last three stages of learning as it relates to Wealth creation began in my early 20s. When I first went to college I was Consciously Incompetent with riches. I “knew” that I “didn’t know how to get wealthy;” and, even worse, my paradigms around wealth were, “Money doesn’t grow on trees. Money is the root of all evil. Rich people aren’t happy, work too hard, and are selfish. ”Even though I had no clue how to get wealth without being miserable, my spirit STILL WANTED IT, so I began to study. Like many of you, I had bought into the idea that the key to success was to get an education and find a career that I loved that would pay me well. Being an athlete, I decided that whenever my professional athletic career ended I would want to be around sports, so I decided to learn about Exercise Physiology. I also found out that Physical Therapists could make between $60,000-$75,000 a year at the time (more money than we grew up

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Wealth matters with), and so I decided to be a Physical Therapist. Fast forward through two degrees (a B.S. in Pre-Physical Therapy, and M.S. in Exercise Physiology), and I was still only receiving “real” job offers for approximately $30,000 per year while working as a Personal Trainer. I decided that I still didn’t have enough college education and that getting an MBA in business would make me more marketable in the job force. I was living in California by then, and after 18 units in the MSBA program for Entrepreneurship at San Diego State University I decided the only way to really learn about making money and starting a business was to “start” one. I took an unofficial leave of absence and started a business after reading Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill, and Rich Dad Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki. At this time I was earning $37,200 per year working full-time for S.D.S.U. and an extra $7,000 per year part-time as a bouncer in a local bar. I only had about $20,000 in student loans and great credit. I began to raise capital for my business. (I didn’t know what the business was yet, but I was excited, and a few of my friends and family decided to back me.) I also tapped into the wonderful world of Citi Bank, Capital One, MBNA, American Express, etc. A week into my entrepreneurial journey I got a call from my new business “coach” who told me about a seminar I must attend that cost $2,400 for two and a half days that coming weekend. “WHATTTT?!” I said, “2,400 DOLLARS for three days?!” I decided that it’s not “what you know, but who you know” and figured that anybody who would drop that much dough on a weekend had a lot of it, and I wanted to know their phone numbers if nothing else. I put the ticket on Citi Bank. During that weekend in 2001, I met a few people including a bestselling author who had sold several million books, two legendary Network Marketing professionals, and the founder of a $70 million per year debtnegotiation company. There were about fifty people at the event, and at the end of it I had a few numbers but even more motivation. The program was called “Money and You” and gave me a lot of information on business and money-making inside of a four-inch binder that I took home and put on my bookshelf. Over the next 12 months I learned of more seminars I could attend, about how to write business plans, raise capital, etc., and within 18 months I was a “wealth of knowledge” and had two corporations, several investors and partners, and a business plan. The problem was I had NO REVENUE! I ’d left my job because I couldn’t stay there and work

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CHRIS J. SNOOK & Muzafer Najfi on my business full-time, because I was Consciously Competent about business and money now, and I “knew” that I was only a few days away from raising enough money to get my business launched and revenuegenerating. Well, a few days turned into a year, and I found myself in February 2002 almost 90 days behind on my mortgage, 60 days behind on my Ford Escort car payment, living on ramen noodles and peanut butter. I was sick, miserable, and broke, trying to hold onto my dream. On a Friday afternoon in February I got word that a deal I had been working on for three months with my partners, Keevin Gillespie and Eric Jacobs, which would bring in 800,000 customers for a company I was marketing, was being “killed” by the CEO because they didn’t have the infrastructure to support it but never told us. My override income on that deal would have been 50 cents/user/month. Meanwhile, I had nothing left in my pipeline because all of my energy had been focused on closing that deal. I owed $7,000 by the coming Monday just to stay in my house and avoid losing my “beater” of a car. I was, in total, $500,000 in debt, and $154,000 of that was overdue and owed to family and friends that were running out of patience. I receive a call from my direct sale mentor at the time, and he told me to buy a ticket from California to his home in Michigan. I asked him why, because he had a huge company event at his house that weekend and I wasn’t sure why he wasn’t going to be there. He said, “No silly, it’s for you.” I told him, “I owe $7,000 by Monday, I don’t have any gas in my car to even get to the airport, I am overdrawn $39.46 across all my bank accounts, and we just lost the Philippines’ deal.” He said, “I didn’t know it was that bad. Do whatever you think is best for you. Think it over and call me back. The offer is there if you want some help, and you can stay with me at my house.” I decided to call my father, Chet, and ask him for advice. I didn’t trust myself anymore to make decisions and was completely broke both spiritually and financially. I was scared to death, but I still believed in the dream. I remember crying over the phone to him and saying “Dad, I can’t stay here this weekend and go crazy in these four walls, and I need to make $7,000 from nothing! I don’t see how going to Michigan and playing sports with my mentor and his company all weekend will help.”

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Wealth matters My Dad said, “If you lose it all then maybe you were supposed to. I don’t know how you handle all this stress. Are you okay?” I said, “Yes. Dad, I honestly don’t know what else I would do. As crazy as this may sound, I hate the results I am getting but I know this is the life I am supposed to lead.” Dad said, “Then go, and maybe something will show up.” I called my mentor back and told him I was coming. I got in my car and headed north on I-5 to Long Beach Airport to catch my flight to Chicago Midway connecting through Dallas-Fort Worth. Seven miles from the Long Beach airport I ran out of gas and had to park my car in a neighborhood while I waited for my dear friend, Keevin Gillespie, who lived in Orange County, to pick me up and drop me off. When I finished the call, Sprint PCS shut off my phone service because I hadn’t paid that bill either. Keevin got to me, and I said to him, “I must be crazy, bro. Maybe you should just drive me to a gas station so I can go back home.” Keevin said, “You have come this far, man. You already know what is going to happen if you stay here. Why not roll the dice and see if anything changes when you are out there?” He has been one of my most trusted and valued friends over the years because of wisdom and support like that. I got out of the car and boarded my plane. When I arrived in DFW airport I went to my connecting gate and found out that bad weather in Chicago Midway had caused my flight to Midway to be cancelled. Midway was an hour from where my mentor’s house was, and I had no way of contacting him or the bus company that they had bought me a ticket onto let them know I needed a new ride. I reached into my pants pocket hoping for that “miracle $20 bill” to buy something to drink and make a call on the pay phone. I had a “nickel” so that plan got canned. My flight was postponed five hours and re-routed through O’Hare, and I was stranded in Dallas, 2,000 miles from the house I was about to lose and the car with no gas. I went to sleep by the terminal gate like a homeless person sleeping on my duffle bag.

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CHRIS J. SNOOK & Muzafer Najfi I remember waking up and looking up to God. I remember asking for forgiveness. I remember feeling like I had lost myself in mimicking everyone else who had the success I admired. I remember asking Him for help. I remember feeling like a fool. I remember feeling broken. I remember wondering how and where I messed up, and I don’t remember much else, including how I got in touch with one of our team members, Jake, who drove out to O’Hare International Airport to pick me up at 9:30 that night and then drove me to the bowling alley in the middle of nowhere, Michigan, where everyone else was. When I arrived I put on the “smiley face” because the other 90 people in the sales team looked up to me and thought I was making $20,000 a month and was about to add $400,000 a month in residuals to that number. I felt like a fraud, but I didn’t know how else to act, so I put on the face of success. My mentor came over to me and gave me a welcoming high-five and handshake, and I noticed he had a wad of money in his hand. Nobody saw the transaction, but he quietly gave me money without disrupting or alerting anybody. When the greetings subsided I went to the bathroom to look at the amount. He had handed me $40, and I thought, “Here is my gas money.” I began to sob quietly in the bathroom and felt hopeful for the first time in a few days. I will always be grateful to him for that moment, because even though it was in the best interest of the “morale” for his organization that I be there, it was also a very gracious and giving act of kindness that he and his wife let me stay in their house and remember what it was like to live abundantly. That weekend I realized that what I really admired about my mentors was not “the life or things they had” or “how they got it,” but that they got the life that they wanted. I realized that I needed to start going for the life I wanted and let that be enough. I realized that I didn’t need for everyone to understand why I wanted it, and that judgment would always be there if I went looking for it. I realized that they had been in my life to give me those lessons, and until the day I die I will be grateful to each of them for that. I stayed for the weekend, had fun, got my mind off of the negative for a while (playing football and meeting Muzafer Najfi for the first time in 2002), and did make it home on Sunday night. In a last ditch effort to save my house I gave Phil Gogue (the owner of the $70 million debt negotiation company) a call to see if he had any advice on where I could earn more than $7,000 in a day with no leads and little energy. I asked him if I should just

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Wealth matters let the house go and focus on starting over. I never asked him for money, but he stepped up and made me a 30-day offer to pay my mortgage back payments in exchange for interest and a “Quit Claim” deed if I did not pay him back in full within 30 days. He told me not to worry, and that he wouldn’t let the bank take my house. He structured it so that if I defaulted on our deal he would get the house, and rent it to me through accruals until I could buy it back from him with all the back payments. He believed in me when few did, and that was a gift. Phil shared with me that God was pruning all the stuff off of me that was not of a divine nature so that I could get the abundance He had in store for me the right way. Phil also gave me a few leads for deals that he didn’t have the time to follow up with and said if I could make anything out of them the money was mine. I took the leads and they became a launch pad for me to start climbing out. I paid Phil back early and found a spiritual life that I had needed for a long time. Twelve months later I had earned over $145,000 in the first 60 days of 2003 between January and March. I was writing checks and negotiating with creditors and investors daily, but I was now only $240,000 in debt. I never lost the house and, as a matter of fact, in March of 2004 sold it for a large profit and bought another one that ended up making me over $80,000 net profit in the transaction. I found myself talking to my God more often during that period and actually treating God like my closest friend and confidant. I had been dating Brianne for a little over a month, and I began sharing my gratitude and joys with God as much as I shared my needs and fears. I found inspiration and new life with Brianne and cut all ties with a previous business that had been dead for years. Within six months from cutting those ties to my old business (and 36 months after my day in DFW), I had eradicated $500,000 in debt, married the woman of my dreams, restored my integrity with my family and friends who invested in me, brought my FICO score from a 526 back over 675 and reconnected with the best-selling author, who published my first book with Brianne, Personal Trainers Burnout: How to Transform Frustration to Fortune in 2005. It was God humbling my ego, my mentors and family giving me opportunities and support, and my “never-quit determination and faith” that allowed me to achieve an Unconscious Competence in the areas of personal and financial wealth creation.

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CHRIS J. SNOOK & MuzafeR NaJfI I have included my personal story in an effort to give you hope, encouragement, and a lesson. I am grateful for the people in my life who believed in me when my own belief waned. I am grateful for those who coached me and loved me regardless. I am grateful to my wife for being the best reward a man could ever receive. I am grateful for a loving God whose abundant universe and gift of forgiveness I will never fully understand but will go to my grave learning about.

CHet’S WISDOM INtelleCtual WealtH IS tHe fOuNDatION Of leaDeRSHIp Managers do things right. Leaders do the right things. Being a leader means communicating to those around us their worth, goodness, and potential with such clarity that they begin to believe it themselves. Nowhere is this more important than in our families. This is an area where I fell short. The bald eagle teaches her eagles to fly in the following manner. She grabs each one out of the nest, soars up to a predetermined height, and lets it go. She circles around above and watches. If she sees definite struggle with the concept of flying, she swoops down, grabs them again, and repeats the process. This goes on until they can fly on their own. One of the shortcomings of my past was that I rescued my children too early and didn’t give them the chance to really fly and choose their own path without my concerned critique. They were arrows from my bow, but quite often I had a string attached so I could reel them back in. As I grow older I’m getting better at letting them use their wings while still providing some roots from which they can still get nourishment–I have great hopes for them, and I believe in their abilities. This is one of those times when the rearview mirror sneaks up on me, and I need to remember that I did the best I knew how to do at the time. The road ahead is filled with untapped potential.

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WealtH MatteRS Leadership in the workplace is similar. We must treat our coworkers with respect and believe they have what it takes to get the job done competently and confidently. The key, as stated earlier, is to have them absolutely convinced of their ability to perform well; speak with them so clearly that they begin to believe in themselves as major contributors to the company’s mission. The way one can tell if this is achieved is to have a trusted individual state how the company performed while the “boss” was a way. If it functioned at a high rate of efficiency, and a performance of excellence was apparent, then the leadership is noteworthy. Trust cannot be faked, and leadership is built upon trust. Doing the right thing for clients and employees, operating with integrity and service at all times is what we are all called to do, and I believe those two attributes are hallmarks of leadership.

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CHRIS J. SNOOK & MuzafeR NaJfI

CHAPTER EIGHT Relational wealth Relational Wealth–noun: (rĭ-lā’shə-nəl welth) the level and quality of social connection.

“In order to lead one must first learn how and who to follow. That discernment is what separates successful converted leaders from the unsuccessful ones!” MuzaFER NaJFI

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here is a commonly used statement in the professional world that says, “It’s not personal, it’s just business.” I have a pretty well-established ability to compartmentalize areas of my life, but what I have found is that my business is personal, and I tend to like it that way. I don’t argue that the former statement will work for some people, and I don’t judge those who operate that way, but I have found that most of the people and companies that have gotten my business on a recurring basis treat me as more than a transaction or vendor. I also walked away from lucrative contracts because of this simple difference in attitude, because I have learned that there is always another deal; and when I am happy and can sleep at night, I tend to attract more money and better deals. My business is personal. It is belly-to-belly. It is about people! My mentors used to tell me that “I was in the people-building business” with regard to sales and recruiting, and I believe they were right. Kandi Miller, my vice president of operations, helps run the publishing division of our empire, and when we created the operating procedures, hiring plans, and marketing strategy, it was people-centric throughout. I have found that you don’t have to ask people for loyalty when you treat them with loyalty. I have found that you don’t have to ask people to play like a team when you set up your organization and hiring practices to focus on leveraging people’s strengths and then give them clear roles. It is also crucial to have them understand why those roles matter. Football taught me most of what I know about recruiting customers and winning as a team. Every team needs a quarterback, linemen, running backs, etc., but you don’t need more than one quarterback on the field at the same time. Likewise, even though the quarterback, or CEO, is the one who gets the press coverage, etc., a pass never gets thrown without the

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Wealth matters linemen blocking. It never gets caught if you have no receivers. And if those people don’t feel important, clear, or respected for what they bring to the game then you will have trouble scoring, and your career will be very short. Relational wealth deals with the quality of your interactions with yourself and others, and your level of satisfaction, stability, and support system. I would have never made it to this point without people who I invested time in, and who equally invested time and energy in me. You saw evidence of this throughout the last chapter in my personal success story. The saying “People don’t care how much you know, until they know how much you care” may be a cliché, but it states the truth; to have a wellrounded feeling of abundance in your personal life and business dealings. I will describe them below and give you personal analogies of each.

Family The concept of family is as diverse as ever in today’s society, and I think that is both a positive and a negative. Family does not have to be mom, dad, sister, and brother. Family is whatever unit you draw the utmost strength, stability, and love from, and family is something that your spirit will always crave. Family can be negative if it is in the form of a gang or cult, etc. Likewise, family can come from your closest relatives, your team, etc., and your family is not limited to bloodline. The breakdown of the traditional American family does concern me, however. The rate of divorce, unwed couples living together, single parents, and the tolerance, or worse, the promotion of these practices as okay, is setting up our society for a major downfall. The idea that it’s okay and logical to “try someone out” until things get rough or one gets tired or old, and then “trade them in for an upgrade” is permeating our TV, media, and programming. Young kids are searching for the stability that family provides and often end up in unhealthy environments because of it. We must acknowledge that there has been a breakdown in the fabric of our society before we could ever hope to improve it. You cannot change something that you do not acknowledge. Well, now that I have acknowledged the problem, I will focus on the positive side and the potential solutions. First, I think that the diversity of our cultures and ethnic backgrounds is making the world a beautiful

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CHRIS J. SNOOK & Muzafer Najfi place. I think that the increased awareness that comes from learning about our own and other people’s different cultures and traditions is a wonderful way to increase awareness and relish God’s glorified creation of humanity. I think that the first solution to healing the family in this country is in healing ourselves using The Stickperson and other tools to gain a true understanding and healthy acceptance of who “we” are and that we are “okay.” Family is built like any other monument, one brick at a time, and the cornerstone brick is us. I come from a family whose love and support I believe every child born into this planet deserves to experience. It is not perfect, never has been, and never will be, but it is “perfect” in dealing with our imperfections because of the willingness to grow that my parents have modeled for us. Family has always been and will always be the most important asset I have, and as Brianne and I build our own in the coming years I will cherish the lessons and life experiences that we have been able to share and struggle through together.

Marriage Brianne and I have done our best on a daily basis to give to ourselves and each other as best we can. The first 18 months of our marriage was shockingly difficult, and there were times where we both felt lost and confused. There was never a lack of LOVE, but we didn’t realize that we each brought in a truckload of “should-be’s.” I “should be,” or she “should be,” or we “should be,” that “should be,” etc. We learned that the four stages of learning exist in all things, especially marriage, and that the things you swear you “would never do or tolerate” end up sometimes being the things you “do” and have to humble yourself the most for, to ask for forgiveness. Forgiveness is most important at the level of “self.” James Ray said that we can relate to forgiveness by framing it the following way: “Thank you forgiving me that experience.” I love that my marriage has been the biggest blessing in my entire life, and Brianne is truly the most precious human being I have on this planet. Our marriage has given me an opportunity to grow as a man more than any business dealing, friendship, or goal. I have not always enjoyed the growing process, and I have definitely not enjoyed the multitude of times where I have reacted poorly and regrettably, but I am becoming the man I am capable of being, and a more Godly man, because of her presence and love.

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Wealth matters Marriage gives us something that no other relationship can. It gives us the lesson of true interdependence, which means that, “I don’t want you in my life because I need you; I need you in my life because I want you.” It teaches us how to walk side by side, carry our partner when he is too weak to go on, and to let him carry us when we are weak. It is humbling, and truly it is God’s greatest teaching lesson as it pertains to relationship. Divorce cannot be an option if you plan on being happily married, and you have to be willing to forgive and forget at a level of zero-ego to make it work. Those lessons will serve you in all your other relationships and dealings if you are open and accepting of them. Remember that the laws of the universe govern everything in life, and the more you put into marriage, or any other relationship, the more you will get out. Brianne and I have given each other a whole new life that we could have never accomplished by ourselves. I am grateful to her for that gift and to God for blessing me with her presence in my life.

Friendship Be the friend that you desire. As with everything else described regarding wealth in this book, you will receive what you give. If you are lacking solid friends and/or want new ones, then go be the one you want to someone else. I have found that in my 20s I had a large circle of “friends” or “acquaintances.” Most of them were easy to get along with and comfortable, but few were deep. I have found that as I began to grow and study this information, my friends diminished in number. Some of that was me actively weeding people out, and some of it was fallout from those who didn’t want or understand my new direction. I spent many of the early years trying to drag people along my ride and judging them because I felt they judged me. I have come to realize that you don’t need that many friends, but you definitely need a few GREAT ONES. I have also found that like all things in life there is a life-cycle to all relationships. I rarely speak to some of the people that were my closest friends and confidants in high school and college. This is not because I don’t value them, but relationships are an activity, not a possession. The law of Perpetual Transmutation creates the doctrine that whatever is not growing is dying. Relationships can be outgrown. Many of us want to resist that fact by pretending that we still have stuff in common with people from our

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CHRIS J. SNOOK & Muzafer Najfi past when we really don’t. There is no honor or integrity in that. People are supposed to grow and evolve, and if we are doing that then the need for certain people to be in our inner circle of influence may and will change. The friends that I speak to less now than I did in the 1990s still matter to me. I still love them and want the best for them, but I am a different guy now. My needs have changed, as have theirs. This is a good thing. I love it when I get a call from them or get a chance to catch up, but when you are living the life of abundance and growth that we recommend you will change more in 90 days than most people change in their entire lives. You will continue to evolve at that rate, and to try and “catch someone up” who speaks to you once a year on all that you have done is not possible or necessary. Don’t judge people who stay behind, and don’t compare yourself to those who evolve faster. Just love them and be grateful for the positive times you had together, and be open to the new relationships you will develop as you go. Two of my closest personal friends today are Keevin Gillespie and Adam Contreras. Keevin is someone who I absolutely cherish because he is a student of life, a successful business person, a man committed to the idea of marriage, a good husband to his wife Anna, and a “stand” for Brianne and me in our relationship and business. Keevin and I have worked on multimillion dollar deals together, coached each other through tough times in our finances, marriages, etc., laughed together, and grown together. I will continue to invest time and energy in my relationship with him and am grateful that he does the same. Adam Contreras is one of the most successful 27-year-old men I know and is light years ahead of me at that same age. You will end up reading about him in the future for something BIG, I promise you. I met him when he was 18, and he joined my sales team. The night that he came down to a company overview and recruiting event, I had been offered tickets to go to Bon Jovi’s (one of my favorite singers and entrepreneurs) concert and hang out with him backstage. The kid who invited him had been in my sales team for less than two days, and I had promised him (prior to getting the tickets) that if he brought five guys in I would be there just for him to help “close them.” Right after I got the invitation to Bon Jovi this guy called me up and told me he had five friends coming in to the office at 7:30 P.M., so I reluctantly honored my word and didn’t go to see and meet Bon Jovi. That is the best concert I never went to because I met Adam that night, and he became a mentee and dear friend of mine. At 27 he thinks and acts

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Wealth matters with a maturity and presence that I didn’t achieve until I was almost 32. His hunger to continue to grow into a “Servant Leader” is evidenced by his honor-roll grades and academic achievements at Pittsburg State where he is also a scholarship football player and President of the SIFE (Students in Free Enterprise) organization on campus. His goal to be an investment banker and any other goal this young man sets will be achieved because he has a drive, spirit, and heart that inspire me and others. I have drawn an immense amount of satisfaction from our friendship and from his willingness to let me mentor and coach him. I have over five-hundred names and numbers in my cell phone, but when I am in need of a friend outside of my wife, Keevin and Adam are the first two numbers I dial. I encourage you to find your two or three names, and continue to establish new relationships through the investment of your time and energy.

Business Partners I have worked in many deals through the years and had different levels of partners in joint-ventures, corporations, etc. I have found that good people are hard to find, but you can find them if you set the intention and have patience. What I look for is someone who balances out my skill sets, aligns with my vision, brings passion and purpose to the table, is coachable, and is someone from whom I can learn something. I have learned from experience that finding someone who is “just like me,” or too much like me, is a mistake and always leads to frustration and burnout. It has been said that “if two people always agree, then one of them is not necessary.” David Turner, Susie Schade and Frederick Gaston have brought a whole new dimension to our company in recent years because of their work ethic, organization, leadership, specialized knowledge and ability to manage systems fairly and consistently. Our company will continue to catapult into a new atmosphere because of their presence, and we have become good friends with a healthy and mutual respect for one another.

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CHRIS J. SNOOK & Muzafer Najfi Many of my business partners and I have both personal and business relationships, but we each have an equal ability to not take “things” personally, and if on a rare occasion we do take it personally we have had great success in dropping it and leaving it behind us. Don’t let people or partners slow you down! If you are on fire then stay on fire, and stay calm— but speed up! Find people who will run with you or faster, and don’t drag or carry anybody up the mountain or you will never get there. Keep your ego in check by remembering that no man or woman ever accomplishes anything worthwhile in isolation! Treat your partners with the same respect you expect, and create a culture of mutual accountability to prevent you from getting complacent. Be slow to hire and quick to fire in all your business dealings. If your intuition tells you something isn’t right then LISTEN to it, and don’t sign the deal or begin work with that person. Create a solid Buy/ Sell agreement (business prenup) and pay an attorney to do it right, because if all goes well then it will create an equitable exit strategy, and if all goes wrong then you will have a much cleaner and safer dissolution. Business partners should be chosen with the same care as you choose a spouse, and you must look at all angles of benefit and cost of working with someone. I chose Muzafer Najfi as a writing partner for this second edition after 10 years of witnessing the work he did and the way he did it. I am honored to share my legacy with him in this text and count him among my esteemed circle of business partners. That concludes my thoughts on Relational Wealth, and, since I am proud of the success that my parents have had in their 38 years of marriage, I thought it fitting to have my father share with you his lessons on marriage. Enjoy!

“The first secret to a long and happy marriage is… Go Straight Home!” Chet Snook

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Chet’s WISDOM A commonly held belief is that marriage is two people becoming one. Most biblical references and present rituals convey that message. I hold a different belief, and that is that marriage is one person becoming two. I am awe struck with how being married to an incredible woman has expanded my world and my view of life. I have visited places I never would have traveled to without her “grab the bull by the horns” attitude. I have become a better communicator than I was when I was younger (still some work to be done there!), because she insists on honesty in relationship. I have become more creative in my ability to show love because in all honesty nothing makes me feel more empowered. I have stretched my understanding of our Higher Power because of our shared faith journey and her constant example of a searching and fearless quest for God’s purpose for each of us, individually and as a couple. I have learned that marriage doesn’t concern itself with reciprocity—it cares simply for the joy of giving without concern for what might come back. I have learned that I am rich beyond words because I can share all of me—my greatest triumphs and my worst tragedies—and yet somehow, no matter where I am on the roller coaster of life, I am still loved. I have been encouraged to use gifts I didn’t even know I possessed and to use them in service to others. I have learned how to turn to others in time of need or weakness, and it doesn’t always have to be her, because she holds dear the value of friendship. I have learned in that process that I, too, cannot always fulfill her needs, and that’s okay. My favorite book of all time is The Prophet, written in 1923 by Kahlil Gibran, and he responds to the question of marriage with the following clip that I would like to share with you. This is only part of his chapter on marriage:

love one another, but make not a bond of love: let it rather be a moving sea between the shores of your souls… Give your hearts, but not into each other’s keeping.

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For only the hand of life can contain your hearts. and stand together, yet not too near together: For the pillars of the temple stand apart, and the oak tree and the cypress grow not in each other’s shadow. (P15-16) My marriage has taught me to stand together in love but not to overshadow the other, and I am just amazed how my life has been enriched by this sacrament. It must be said that I have been united with an incredible woman, and that is not always the case where the two people have built a healthy relationship. In that case it may not be held in the highest regard. I can only speak of my experience, both as a child raised in an incredibly nurturing and loving home and as an adult who is committed to trying to pay it forward in the same light. I just know that my viewpoint has expanded tremendously—I wasn’t one that held a “scarcity thinking” process necessarily, but marriage has taken my perception of the world and transformed it into one of incredible abundance. I have become two people, and it has been magical to see our world not only through my eyes but hers as well! I believe in marriage and pray that each of you will find a life partner who expands your world beyond your wildest imagination.

SIX

ENTER

GATEWAY

http://bit.ly/pbvOXf

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Muzafer’s 5th Law Pick the Right Coach When it comes to your circle of relationships a critical asset will be the person coaching you. Learning from the right coach is so instrumental in your success it’s unbelievable how little of a priority people put on specialized knowledge. Directly or indirectly you have had coaches your whole life. From the time you were born your parents told you what to do and after that your teachers told you what to do and then you got around other kids and peer pressure told you what to do and then your professors in college and sports team coaches told you what to do and then you got into a job and now your boss tells you what to do. Then you try and start your own business and try to do it all without a coach or tested game plan. It is likely on your road to success this time around that you will have and work with a variety of specialized knowledge experts, advisors, and a coach, because it is silly and foolish not to. The best leaders at one time were followers and typically still have someone or some group of highly respected people whom they follow to maximize their performance. I have a coach to this day and when I was in San Diego completing this manuscript section with Chris I noticed he had to jump out for a regular meeting he has with his coach. It should not be a question in your mind of do I need a coach, but rather, WHO should my coach be? This is the decision that you have to make. Don’t get caught up with hype, and don’t choose your coach because someone showed you their fancy cars or fancy homes because there are a lot of people that have made money and are miserable or inauthentic. There are a lot of people that don’t have a good life. I’ve seen it. One thing I’ve learned in my 16+ years in the network marketing industry is that I’ve gotten a lesson out of almost every single moment of my career, whether I was learning what to do or what not to do. I was laughing with Chris one day about how I learned from past people that I worked with in a couple companies how not to be a sponsor, how not to be a coach, how not to speak, how not to be a husband, etc. I learned all the things not to do and I’m so grateful for that. Even though I would never want to meet those

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CHRIS J. SNOOK & Muzafer Najfi individuals again because I think I have learned my fair share of what not to do from them, I’ll tell you that I am grateful for that experience today. Having the right coach is more important to me than anything else. One major reason that I readily accepted this opportunity to CoAuthor a 2nd edition of Wealth Matters with Chris was based upon how I felt when I looked at Chris Snook and saw how he is as a person, as a husband and father, friend and business partner. We now have each gained another valuable coach and teacher in each other with our different and complementary experiences and I will tell you that picking and finding the right coach (or coaches) for you will be phenomenal. In addition to my relationship with Chris, I got lucky enough in recent years to meet another individual who I consider a mentor. His name is Bo Short. He is a phenomenal father, loving husband and powerful speaker and he’s become like a big brother to me. He is an incredible coach as well and a well-balanced individual who I deeply respect. How do you pick the right Coach? Step 1: What I do when I look for a new coach is I write down exactly what I want from my life at that moment looking forward. If you haven’t done this then start your search by getting clear on what you want. Step 2: I have always said to find someone that has what you want and if you do what they do you’ll get what they got. So if your goal is so have a residual income then find someone that has built their residual income. If your goal is to have time freedom, find someone that has had time freedom. If your goal is to have great health, then find someone that has great health. If you don’t know what you really want it’s going to be hard to find a coach. Most people find it easier to write down what they don’t want… Well if that is you, then start there and then reverse it and you will have the thing you want. For instance if you find yourself saying, “I don’t wanna be broke” then your desired want would be something like, “I live comfortably on half of my monthly cash flow and get richer every day”. When your coach sits you down they’re going to want to know what you want. If they have been to that destination and you are clear you want to go there, then they can help you get there if you do what they say.

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Wealth matters The key thing is become a good follower and listener and pick someone you can trust has your best interest at heart. Make the right decision on whom to follow. HOMEWORK: LIST OUT YOUR Mentors and/or Coaches under the categories below: 1. Business Coaches—Are you finding business partners that have the success you want in the specific industries you are looking at going into? My father started a business and failed three times because he had no business coach. Ninety-five percent of all business fail every year. These people have desire but most of them lack a business coach. Chris and I have coached people for years in our specific fields and continue to coach because it is a need that continues to provide value. 2. Friendship Coaches—As silly as this sounds, most people need a coach to discern the difference between good influences and bad. Though most of us learned the difference between right from wrong as children, as adults, we allow our emotions and comfort zone to cloud our better judgement. We tend to keep friendships based on time we have known someone versus what is good for us and the direction we are now heading. Remember you have one shot at life and there are no do-overs as far as I know! 3. Marriage Coaches—Please do not follow coaches that have written books about marriage if they have been divorced eight times and are now single. You would not read this book if we kept failing and were not successful. Remember find a coach that has what you want and seek counsel because knowledge is only power if there is right action attached to it. 4. Spiritual Coaches—This is based on individual preference. Remember you have to find your path and then seek someone that is on your path at the level that you WANT to be and then be coached by them.

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CHRIS J. SNOOK & Muzafer Najfi 5. Family Coaches—We all wish that this could be passed down from generation to generation but unfortunately that is not the case. Remember it is ok if the family you have is not what you want for your future family. Find a family life that is ideal for you and be mentored by them. At this point you know what you want to do and what you don’t want to do for your future family because of your experiences. Find a mentor to model and follow your instincts because they are typically correct. 6. Physical Coaches—This is as simple as getting a workout partner, but can be more complicated when you begin to look into hiring a personal trainer or nutritionist. There are a lot of people that look physically strong and lean but remember looks can be deceiving and sometimes the methods used to acquire them are just as detrimental as eating poorly. Investigate and cross reference the information on physical health and nutritional guidance information. There is a whole section in this book and a QR code video about recent groundbreaking research to guide you, so make sure you read it. 7. Mental Coaches—This could be books and CDs or multiple forms of information on areas that increase your ability to process information. Masterminding with like-minded people can truly help you nurture your awareness and raise your consciousness to new heights of empowered and enlightened thinking.

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Muzafer’s 6th Law Honor All of Your Relationships Having good relationships whether it’s in life or in business is a critical component to long-term wealth and success. They all kind of fit together, and I’ve always been taught that people will buy from people that they like and trust. If they like and or trust you they will buy from you. Think about a time when you have gone into a store and you wanted to buy something but you did not like the salesperson or counter attendant, so you left even though you wanted to buy something. Then there are other times that you went into a store to just browse and you didn’t want to buy something but you liked the salesperson and ended up making a purchase. Building relationships and working diligently to not burn bridges even when you cease to work or communicate with people does not mean to allow yourself to be mistreated. The first relationship to honor and attend to is the one with yourself and your self-worth. It goes back to loving yourself so that you can let your light shine and be absorbed in those around you both in and out of the office. The first secret to building powerful relationships with people is to LISTEN! Learn to develop your listening channel, be attentive and genuinely interested and look for commonalities (like bridges) to establish a mutual rapport. Use their name often and on purpose. People love to hear their own name but most people who meet them don’t remember their name so you will instantly stand out in their mind. The sweetest sound to someone is hearing their own name. Get their name right and if you don’t hear it the first or second time or can’t pronounce it, ask them to repeat it or help you pronounce it properly. They will appreciate the effort. Remember things about them. Remember things that they say, eat, like to do, etc. and you’ll increase your relationship with that person. Most importantly do this from a place of sincerity and not just as a manipulation. If you truly don’t want wealthy interpersonal relationships with people in life and business then this book is probably not for you.

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CHRIS J. SNOOK & Muzafer Najfi Start being somebody that you want to meet for yourself. Remember we attract who we are not who we want! Start being the person for others that you want to be for yourself and you will be shocked by how strong your relationships become. The stronger your relationships are the more of a fulfilled life you will live; because as things come into your life both good and bad, you will have relationships to help you celebrate the success and weather the storms. At the end of the day a wealthy life is really all about relationships.

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The BEST DECISION I ever made! Here we are sharing a kiss on the pier of Coco Reef in Tobago, West Indies after our vows.

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A priceless and WEALTHY moment that cannot be replaced.

Brianne the day after our wedding enjoying a sunset in Tobago.

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Competing in The Fittest Couple Contest with Brianne in 2006.

Brianne making me a proud husband at the Fitness Universe competition in Miami, Florida.

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Brianne and I in Trump Tower after meeting “The Donald” on her first ever trip to NYC!

Turning Brianne into a Cowboy’s fan at her first ever NFL game (Cowboys won!)

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Happy six-month anniversary Brianne! Its fun buying luxury gifts for those you love…

And a matching one for me in black!

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Finding out we prefer five-star hotels at the 11,000-feet camp site on John Muir Trail.

A Thanksgiving family photo tradition no matter how far we all live from one another.

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The best in-laws in the world Mike and Karen Sorg with my Mom in Tobago.

My Parents Chet and Ginny Snook in France 2007.

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Doing a coaching session at the 24-hour fitness (where Brianne and I met 3 years earlier).

Giving Back with San Diego Charger Kassim Osgood at the STAR PAL® Charity Luncheon.

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In Maui with Keevin Gillespie (his wedding day) and Eric Clemons.

Adam made us proud again by winning the “Outstanding Student Achievement” Scholarship for the School of Business at Pitt State. I didn’t dress that sharp in college!

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Brianne at the Pearl Harbor memorial in Oahu. “Freedom ain’t free”!

Hanging out with Steve Forbes (one of my business idols) in NYC.

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Brianne the day we found her modeling picture on the BOSU Fitness box at Target®.

My Personal Request for all of you: “Pay this information forward and let’s heal the world together one individual at a time!”

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My family and “My Why”. They are the ones that motivate me and push me to becoming better.

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Family fun! Enjoy your life and celebrate every moment you have.

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The fruits of our labor.

My two of three heartbeats!!! Naseera and Malaika are my beautiful daughters who changed my life from the day they were born.

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My girls and I.

Mid-afternoon playdate.

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Fozia is...MY STRENGTH!

Getting my daughter ready for “Life’s Ride.”

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This is what motivates me EVERYDAY of my LIFE!!!

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With my eldest daughter Naseera.

Having fun before bedtime.

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Malaika and I.

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Playtime with my 5 month old, Malaika.

Hangin out with my 2 year old, Naseera.

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Boat ride from Bora Bora airport to Four Seasons Resort.

Chillin’ on the patio in Bora Bora.

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Waking up to a beautiful day in Bora Bora and taking it all in. AAAHHH!

My family after breakfast on the beach.

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Fozia and I having lunch on the island.

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CHAPTER NINE Physical Wealth Physical Wealth–noun: (fiz-i-kuh l welth) the fitness level and health of and pertaining to the body.

“People spend more money the last three days of their life trying to stay alive then they do their whole life PREVENTING health challenges from happening!” uNkNOWN

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O

ur Physical Wealth plays the role of day-to-day operations in our life. We have something like 11 million kilowatt hours of energy in our bodies, which means that each of us could light up any city in the world for nearly a week with the potential energy stored up and flowing inside of us. The ancient oriental cultures refer to this energy as “chi.” You may want to consider that even though we could literally provide adequate power for New York City or Las Vegas for over a week with what is running through us right now some people need seven cans of Red Bull to make it through the day! I visit a chiropractor, in Oceanside, CA a minimum of once a week to have my spinal alignment adjusted and maintained because the spine contains the conduit for our energy flow. I work out with resistance three days a week and usually do some for more high-intensity cardiovascular training two to three days a week. Brianne and I love to eat out but typically do so no more than two to three times a week. She loves to cook and is phenomenal at it, so Café de la Brianne is where most of my meals come from, and they are fresh, balanced and eaten together. We splurge one to two times per week and eat whatever we feel like to keep our sanity and have some fun. We both ingest a few all natural antioxidant compounds three times per day that have both been clinically tested for decreased risk of cellular inflammation, which is the number one cause of almost all the major auto-immune diseases. Brianne and I both invest time and money in manicures, pedicures, facials, laser treatments for our skin and to prevent skin damage on a monthly basis. Why do I share all of this with you? Your physical health is paramount to your longevity and ability to work and play hard. True lifestyle enhancement is kick-started by your

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Wealth matters physical health. Your physical appearance is the major cause of whether most of you have a positive or negative self-image. Maxwell Maltz tells us that nobody can ever out perform their current self-image, but more importantly if you are injured, sick, or dead, you can’t live abundantly! We showed you in Chapter 2 on the mind, that the body is merely a manifestation of the mind’s activity. If you have the mental self-image off at, sick, or ugly, then your body will always reflect your conditioned thoughts. I will show you a workout plan for all levels at the end of this chapter, but the first and most important workout will be you gaining an understanding of The Stickperson and how to use it to alter your selfimage to one of Physical Wealth and confidence, because WITHOUT CHANGING YOUR THOUGHTS, NO WORKOUT PLAN WILL MAKE A DIFFERENCE! I am not obsessed about working out the way I was when I was a football player or competitive athlete. Like many of you, I have to work hard to fit it in to a hectic schedule. If I don’t get someone to do it with me, then I tend to fall off the wagon. There are many days when, despite my habit of doing it consistently most of my life, I find myself tempted to sleep in or do it tomorrow. I find myself, from time to time, wanting to postpone or cancel the chiropractic or spa appointments because I feel good that week. I find myself craving the chicken nachos at the local sports bar on a non-cheat day or conveniently forgetting my packed lunch and wanting to eat out when I am at the office. I fight the same mental struggles as the rest of you, but my self-image is “I am healthy and love my body.” When I begin to lapse at the level of my Conscious Mind, my self-image (in my Subconscious Mind) won’t let me! I will call up my banker and offer to train him for free if he works out with me so that I can’t miss any more sessions at 6 am. I let my memory bring up the time I got an ambulance ride to the hospital at 2 am. because my back went into a spasm after not going to the chiropractor for six months. I put on my 32-inch suit pants and get motivated when they fit “tight.” I let my self-image of Physical Wealth redirect my course because, like you, I am human. Your fitness level is paramount to living and experiencing an abundant life. If you neglect it for financial wealth, etc. you will often lack the energy required to really win and/or end up burning up all those financial

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CHRIS J. SNOOK & Muzafer Najfi resources in medical bills and hospice care in the glory years of your life when you should be enjoying a healthy retirement. I spent years getting frustrated with my old personal training clients who wouldn’t do what I asked them to, and it wasn’t until I understood The Stickperson and read Psycho-Cybernetics by Maxwell Maltz that I realized it wasn’t me who was failing them. Most people (including you) know more than enough information on how to work out and get in shape. All you have to do is walk into the grocery store and pick up one of the fifteen fitness or health-related magazines to get some advice. More “how” is not what people need. Whether they are aware of it or not, 67% of our population is not categorized as overweight or obese due to lack of information on “HOW” to be thinner. If you really don’t know “how” then I highly recommend you go to my good friend David Weck’s website www. bosufitness.com, and watch some of his “fit tips” videos. For a cheat sheet to get in a routine fast please see my recommendations below: 1. Study Chapter 2 and begin to use the Stickperson to help you create a Winning self-image. 2. Read Psycho-Cybernetics by Maxwell Maltz to help you understand the power of yourself-image and how to leverage it to get the RESULTS you want. 3. Check with your Doctor before beginning any exercise regimen (including my forthcoming recommendations). 4. Drink 64-120 oz of water per day 5. Invest $60-$130 per month in an all natural and clinically tested antioxidant like (that are the equivalent of eating 9-12 servings of fruits and vegetables daily, which nobody does!) Consider a 6-10 day juice fast every three to six months to reset your system and detoxify your organs. Brianne and I have done both “The Master Cleanse” and the “Reboot” fast and had tremendous results. (www.themastercleanse.org, www. fatsickandnearlydead.com and www.jointhereboot.com)

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Wealth matters 6. Read the packages on food and look at the “ingredients” section. The fewer “ingredients” listed the more “natural” the food is. 7. Buy Organic food preferably from local growers, and stay away from all processed foods and fast food limiting yourself to no more than one “cheat day” per week. A great way to purchase truly organic and nutrient rich vegetables and meats is to join a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) organization in your local area. Community Supported Agriculture has become a popular way for consumers to buy local, seasonal food directly from a farmer. Here are the basics: a farmer offers a certain number of “shares” to the public. Typically the share consists of a box of vegetables, but other farm products may be included. Interested consumers purchase a share (aka a “membership” or a “subscription”) and in return receive a box (bag, basket) of seasonal produce each week throughout the farming season. This arrangement creates several rewards for both the farmer and the consumer. In brief... Advantages for farmers: • Get to spend time marketing the food early in the year, before their 16-hour days in the field begin. • Receive payment early in the season, which helps with the farm’s cash flow. • Have an opportunity to get to know the people who eat the food they grow. Advantages for consumers: • Eat ultra-fresh food, with all the flavor and vitamin benefits. • Get exposed to new vegetables and new ways of cooking. • Usually get to visit the farm at least once a season.

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CHRIS J. SNOOK & Muzafer Najfi • Find that kids typically favor food from “their” farm – even veggies they’ve never been known to eat. • Develop a relationship with the farmer who grows their food and learn more about how food is grown. To find out more information on your local CSA visit localharvest.org/csa/ 8.

Cardio recommendations:

• STOP doing slow, long-duration, and low intensity cardio. It is a waste of time! (see exception below) • Unless you have had a heart attack or other medical issue and your MD prevents you from doing anything else, don’t do low-intensity walking or cardio. Look around your neighborhood at the people who work out by walking and I guarantee you that most don’t have the body you aspire to have, and they probably don’t look any different than they did a year ago when they started. • START doing interval training for 20-30 minutes. It is all you need to be a fat-burning furnace all day long. (2-3 days per week) FYI, people typically have heart attacks when they do something that creates a sudden spike in heart rate. Interval training is a way of training specifically to condition the body to adapt to those types of spikes effectively. • DOING Resistance Training for 30 minutes on alternate days from your cardio (three days per week) is essential to improve metabolism, maintain bone density, and burn fat! • Flexibility: Stretch your legs, back, and shoulders at least 5-10 minutes daily in the morning shower or before bed. • Remember that none of my recommended plans will matter if you don’t work on developing a picture of a healthier and sexier you in your MIND FIRST.

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Use the following schedule as a guide for Interval Cardio intensities: 1min-2min= Warm up Pace 2min-3min= High Intensity Pace/HIP (you can maintain this pace for at least 1 minute, but definitely not 2) 3min-4min= Recovery Pace/RP (this should be 80% of your high intensity pace; i.e. If HIP was 5mph then RP would be 4mph) 4min-5min= HIP 5min-6min= RP 6min-7min= HIP 7min-8min= RP 8min-9min= HIP 9min-10min= RP (and you keep alternating until you hit 20 minutes) 20min-22min= COOL DOWN (just keep moving until you have your breath again!)

Home-based resistance program recommendations: • I recommend you focus on functional training movements that incorporate multiple joints at the same time. Don’t follow a bodybuilder workout unless you want to be a bodybuilder. • Check out my friend Kwasa Khepera’s YouTube channel at www.bodyculinarytv.com for tips on fast, fun, natural food preparation and home based workout ideas however, if you work out at home then I suggest you invest in one of the following four options: 1. Total Gym/GTS machine and programming by EFI Sports medicine (www.efisportsmedicine.com) Contact Jesse

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CHRIS J. SNOOK & Muzafer Najfi Campanaro and tell him I said to take care of you and treat you right! 2. BOSU Ballast Ball® and Balance Trainer® and programming developed by David Weck. (www.bosufitness.com, www.bosu.com) 3. TRX® by Fitness Anywhere (www.fitnessanywhere.com) 4. Inspiring Video and programming with my good friend Todd Durkin (Head of Under Armour’s Performance Training Council) www.todddurkin.com 9.

TAKE CARE OF YOUR LARGEST ORGAN EVERY DAY!

The largest organ in our physical body is not internal like the heart, lungs, or brain. We actually wear it! It is our skin. The average sized adult has 8 pounds and 22 square feet of skin on their body. Contrary to what is obvious about skin it is designed to do a whole lot more than make us look presentable to the outside world. As an matter of fact without skin we would literally evaporate! Skin is an organ that we must take care of from the inside (through proper nutrition, nourishment, and supplementation) as well as from the outside (sunscreen, lotions, and using non-toxic cleaning supplies in our day-to-day life). Skin waterproofs and insulates us from the extremes of temperature, damaging sunlight, and harmful chemicals. It helps manufacture vitamin D for converting calcium into healthy bones, and even produces antibacterial substances that help prevent harmful toxins from entering the body. Skin is an amazingly versatile and resilient organ that provides us with flexibility and is also packed with millions of nerve sensors that allow us to ‘feel’ the world around us, and experience pain and pleasure. To protect it please eat clean, avoid chemically-laden lotions, shampoos, and cleaning products, and treat it with respect. It is truly what holds you all together in the physical world and is a critical component to your overall health and longevity.

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WealtH MatteRS Remember that God gave you the body he wanted your spirit to work with and create with while you are here, and your MIND is the master power that dictates its health and your level of achievable fitness. Be blessed and stay active and fit!

“until THOuGHT is linked with purpose, there is no intelligent accomplishment. Even if you fail again and again, to accomplish this purpose (as you necessarily must until weakness is overcome), the Strength of character gained will be the measure of your TRuE SuccESS! This will form a new starting-point for future power and triumph!” JaMES allEN, As a Man Thinketh

Chet’s WISDOM I remember walking into one of my first classes as a Health and Physical Education major in the fall of 1969, and the professor said, “Throughout your education here, you will discover that the central theme of all our courses will be the development of a sound mind in a sound body.” I have never forgotten that. I believe physical wealth is doing just that: continually working on our emotional and mental wellbeing within the temple of a sound body. I say “temple” because I have realized over the years that this is done only by the fuel of a sound spirit. One of my philosophies of life is, “If you don’t use it you’ll lose it!” In order to be of sound mind in a sound body, ignited by a sound spirit, we have to use it optimally and continually. And we can only do that by challenging it, pushing it, and then giving it time to heal and repair it. The human body is the only machine that the more we demand of it (within reason), the stronger it becomes. Can you imagine if our

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CHRIS J. SNOOK & MuzafeR NaJfI cars did that? What if the more we drove them the better they became? It is not going to be the case. The human body, however, responds in unbelievable ways through exercise. Therefore, to be physically wealthy we need to stretch our minds, our hearts, our physical being, and our spirits. We do this by perpetual learning, first about ourselves and then how we relate to others. Isn’t it easier to “work out” with a partner? Someone who pushes you, someone who challenges you to stretch, and go beyond your self-imposed limits? Of course it is! We do one more repetition with their encouragement; we run just a little farther because they are going more distance; we dig deeper into our honest introspection because they demand it; and we become more grateful to our God because of their presence in our life. Like all other aspects of life, balance is the key to our wealth here as well. My physical body cannot do what it once did, but my mind is keener to learning than it ever was, and my spirit is stronger because I have decided to pray more with thankfulness than petition.

“a SOuND MIND IN a SOuND BODy, DRIVEN By a SOuND SPIRIT —THaT IS My WISH FOR yOu!” cHET SNOOk

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Muzafer’s 7th Law Health is Your Primary Asset Sadly many people don’t realize how important their health really is until they are struggling to regain it. Many people who strive for financial success end up losing the balance of maintaining their health and vitality which are the very things that allow for them to work so vigorously. Dying early with a lot of money is not any better than dying early without it. Health has to be your primary asset if you wish to enjoy the fruits of your labor. It is the one thing that we take for granted because our bodies are so beautifully resilient to the toxins around us. Make no mistake however that with a 67% obesity rate in America alone and more prescriptions sold annually than any other single product that even our wonderfully resilient bodies have a breaking point. Your body makes everything happen in your physical world and it all stems from your mind. We talked in a previous chapter about making sure that you are feeding your brain the right information. Well that is of the same importance as feeding proper nutrition into your body. Some of us have worked out before then when you get into a routine and you’re gonna get sore. But that’s the truth with anything in life. When you start a new job not knowing everything it’s like being worked out for the first time in a long while. Doing anything in life for the first time, like going on your first date, or first sales call is awkward and even somewhat painful. These universal truths run parallel in your physical fitness. However, like all things the more consistently you do it, the more you physically adjust and grow from the stimulus and pretty soon you are on a workout high that rivals any synthetic drug on the market. Your body starts working better, Organs start functioning better, the blood starts circulating better and you have more energy. So the better you are at staying healthy, the better you will feel, the harder and longer you will be able to work, and longer you will live to enjoy the windfalls of your dedicated efforts! When you are healthy every part of your life is better.

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Scan Here for some incredible nutritional research summarized by Muzafer in Video:

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CHAPTER TEN Vocational Wealth VocationalWealth–noun: (voh-key-shuh-nl welth) the satisfaction related to one’s occupation, profession, or chosen career.

“all achievements, whether in the business, intellectual, or spiritual world, are the result of definitely directed thought, are governed by the same law and method; the only difference lies in the object of attainment!” JaMES allEN

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was leading a mastermind session for the sales agents at Intero Real Estate Services in San Miguel Ranch in 2008 and our discussion ventured down the road of Vocational Wealth and the notion of “doing what you love” versus “doing what pays the bills.” I asked the group to consider that their conditioning is no different than that of most Americans these days. You see, as a child all of us can remember our parents, or other adults, asking us “What are you going to be when you grow up?” We would excitedly answer with things like an astronaut, a pro football player, a princess, etc. I remember telling my dad that I was going to be a “ditch digger” because I was infatuated with the Backhoe® and Tonka Toy™ machines. My sister, Corrie, loved McDonald’s French fries and milkshakes, so of course she wanted to be a “McDonald’s worker.” As a child we had no regard for the salaries or benefits packages of these vocations. We were only interested in what possibilities they would open for us to experience through working in them. We were more concerned with the benefits of loving what we did than the features. I shared with the Intero group that, without our realizing it, we have conditioned our culture to change that question of “What do you want to BE?” and accept the seemingly more mature question, “What are you going to DO?” “When are you going to get a REAL JOB?” Most people who go to college and major in a subject don’t end up working in that line of work after they graduate, yet we are taught from

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Wealth matters the time we enter school that the key to success is to go to college and get a degree. The key to SUCCESS is what Earl Nightingale said it was over 50 years ago: “Success is the progressive realization of a worthy ideal.” Do you consider your profession to be your worthy ideal? Do you know the definition of worthy ideal? It simply means that it is something that you would lay your life down to achieve or do. Would you trade your life for the opportunity to work where you currently work right now? If you didn’t answer “yes” to that question then I am going to wake you up by telling you that YOU ALREADY ARE whether you would choose to or not. Of all the commodities that humans have access to on earth, our most precious and valuable commodity is our time! Time is the only thing we can’t get more of. If you are unhappy and unfulfilled in your current line of work and are only there because you don’t know how else to make money then, whether you want to admit it or not, money is more important than your time to you. WHOA…Some of you just got a major slap in the PARADIGM. Most people you and I meet who are struggling or getting by financially (which is 97% of our population) will tell you that “money isn’t everything.” “Money isn’t important,” or “I don’t need a lot of money” etc., and that is precisely why they don’t have any. However, if they are not working in a vocation that is a vehicle to achieve their worthy ideal, or that “is” their worthy ideal, then their actions are contradicting their supposed beliefs, because they are placing the activity of earning money above their passion and as more valuable than their time on earth, which they can never get more of. It saddens me when I look at the state of ignorance as it relates to earning a living in the United States, which was founded on the ideas of political freedom and “free market” capitalism. I had a booth at a local charity’s employment career fair a few weeks ago, and the majority of people who came over couldn’t even answer the simplest question when I asked, “What are you looking for today?” Most people answered with desperation and huffed, “I need a JOB!” I said to many of them, in a tone matching whatever they answered the question with, “You can be flipping burgers tomorrow if you just want a job. What type of career do you really want?”

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CHRIS J. SNOOK & Muzafer Najfi Out of the thousands that came by, only two could come up with an answer to my retort. It left me wondering, “What the heck are we teaching in our school systems and colleges today?” It doesn’t matter if you want to be a billionaire or work with the Peace Corps. If we aren’t producing “thinking” people who can focus on more than meeting the rent or the bills then we face major challenges in the global market place in the coming years. Consider the notion that the people who earn millions of dollars in this world for any length of time are doing what they love to do. That doesn’t mean that they don’t have rough days or adversity, but it means that, like me, they have realized that it is because they would do it for FREE. The universe pays them far more than they ever could have imagined. I would trade my life for everything that I do in my business today that most people would refer to as “work.” My business is hardly ever “work” to me. It drives people crazy sometimes because they want to categorize people who are living their worthy ideal as “workaholics,” but that is just O.P.O. and lack of awareness to what a joy it is to be blessed by what you get to call your profession. Vocational Wealth is about gaining an understanding that Work is a horrible way to make money, and that you should work for satisfaction. Learn to provide services of value in exchange for money. You must learn about leverage! You must learn, understand, and apply the Law of Compensation, below, so that you can start to focus your time on activities and contributions that are aligned with your Spirit’s purpose and desire.

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The Law of Compensation your income will be directly proportional to and driven by the following three things: 1. THE NEED in the marketplace for the service or product you provide 2. yOuR aBIlITy and skill at delivering that need or product 3. HOW DIFFIculT IT IS TO REPlacE yOu!

Do you know anybody personally who is a baby-boomer who has been downsized in the last few years? If it hasn’t been you, then I am willing to bet you know more than one person. Look at the above law and you will soon see why. If there was a strong need for what they did at that company and they were good at it, were they better than what their salary-range required? Probably YES, which is why they were fired-to make way for a young kid who would work for a percentage of their salary and have the energy and focus to learn new things faster to fill the ever-changing need. Now is that right? Is that fair? It doesn’t matter! Everything “is.” The only thing that “is fair and just” is the LAW because it doesn’t change. Whether you think it’s fair or unfair is your perception and your attempt to negotiate with the LAW, which will never work anymore than your trying to negotiate with the Law of Gravity to not pull you tumbling toward the ground if you walked off a building. Globalization is just as much an opportunity as it is a threat. The Law of Polarity states that you can’t have something without simultaneously having its opposite. You will always find the evidence that you are looking for in this universe, whether it is what you want or don’t want.

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CHRIS J. SNOOK & Muzafer Najfi Understanding the Law of Compensation will give you FREEDOM and EMPOWERMENT, because you can hedge yourself against being “obsolete,” whether it is in your own business or working for someone else. You must be willing to continually grow and learn about your craft, about market shifts and trends, so that you can fill the customer or business NEED better than anyone else and keep your eye on opportunities to make yourself IRREPLACABLE. If you want to continue to follow the herd in this country expecting entitlements then you will always be a slave to money, market shifts, downsizing, and fearful of losing a JOB that you don’t even like. The choice is yours. Welcome to the new economy! The best news about the new economy is there has never been an easier and more efficient time or multitude of ways to make and create income streams than there is today. You can quickly assess and learn to provide services that people need and are willing to pay for, that fill your spirit and allow you to express your individuality. However, you must be willing to trust and want your dream more than you want to be comfortable. The Creator has given us the ability to work so that we can manifest our innermost desires and provide valuable service and fulfillment to ourselves and our neighbors. Each of you could very easily turn your current annual income into your monthly income within the next 12 months if you study the information in this book and the sources throughout. I know because it happened to me! The question is not ARE YOU ABLE? The question is ARE YOU WILLING? Are you willing to let go of the old paradigms you have about work and earning money to get the life you deserve and have always dreamt of? Only you can answer that question, but know that, if and when you do, you are more than able to achieve any dream that reaches your mind! That is the universe that we live in! You will spend more than half of your life “working.” If there is any area of your life that it is high-time you became fulfilled, joyful, and abundant in, it is your vocation. Remember that the quality of your life will be directly proportional to the quality of the questions you ask. Start asking yourself questions like, “What do I want to BE in this life?” And stop asking “What am I going to DO for living?” Once you know what you want to BE, then make as much damn money as you can doing it!

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Chet’s WISDOM “Then a ploughman said, Speak to us of Work. and he answered, saying: you work that you may keep pace with the earth and the soul of the earth. always you have been told that work is a curse and labour a misfortune. But I say to you that when you work you fulfill a part of earth’s furthest dream, assigned to you when that dream was born, and in keeping yourself with labour you are in truth loving life, and when you work with love you bind yourself to yourself, and to one another, and to God. Work is love made visible.” ~paraphrased from The Prophet, kahlil Gibran 1923 Webster tells us that vocation is, “a regular occupation or profession, especially one in which one is especially suited or qualified.” Vocational wealth, then, is doing that which we love, and something that suits our dreams assigned to us by our Higher Power even before we were born. Some will say “doing that which fulfills us,” and that is true. It is having a profession that we are passionate about so that we wake up each “workday” and we are excited and grateful that we are doing a job that not only empowers us but which also contributes to others. A group of highly skilled and affluent people were in a counseling session together trying to figure out why, with all the material advantages they and their families possessed, they still seemed unfulfilled, and in some cases quite miserable. A custodian walked in by accident and, not realizing they were still is session, he said, “Good morning. I am sorry for the interruption. I will only be a minute; I just have to empty the garbage can.” He did so with a bounce in his

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CHRIS J. SNOOK & MuzafeR NaJfI step and a whistle on his lips. One of the highly regarded professionals said to him, “Why are you so happy doing this menial job – you are nothing more than a janitor! What is your secret? ”He replied, “Every day above ground is a good day. And honestly, in my home country, my friends who are still there can’t find work anywhere. Besides, have you seen a cleaner room than this one? I am responsible for this room and others, and I take a lot of pride in my work, making sure it is spotless and comfortable for those who enter, like you!” He then left the room with the same bounce in his step and a different tune in his whistle. The “counselees” got one of the most important views of work they had seen in a very long time, and they left the session with a whole different perspective. Stephen Covey tells us that some of us work our entire careers trying to get higher on the ladder only to discover that when we get to the top it was leaning against the wrong wall. Vocational wealth, then, is not about social or professional status, the size of our paycheck, and how many hours we put in trying to provide for ourselves or our families. It is about identifying with our core, our soul if you will, that which we are meant to be and then doing it with commitment, care, and contribution. Stan Dale says he operates as if everyone is a plot to enhance his well-being. What a great attitude to have when relating to others, especially new acquaintances. I take it a step further and add that my life is God’s plot to enhance the well-being of others. Vocational wealth for me was the opportunity to work with young people for over three decades and to share life’s journey with them to the best of my ability. It also gave me the opportunity to have time with those I loved the most, my family, and I can’t believe how quickly that time went. I am eternally grateful to have been vocationally wealthy in my first career, and I plan on continuing that trend as I travel down new paths of vocational fulfillment. Every career is important, and none is more important than another. The custodian who accidentally walked into a group of professionals manifested that beautifully. It is about finding that for which we are “specially suited or qualified” and then doing it with integrity and trustworthiness.

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WealtH MatteRS “Often I have heard you say, He who works in marble, and finds the shape of his own soul in the stone, is nobler than he who ploughs the soil. But I say, not in sleep but in the over wakefulness of noon tide, that the wind speaks not more sweetly to the giant oaks than to the least of all the blades of grass.”

“I PRay THaT EacH OF yOu WIll FIND VOcaTIONal WEalTH IN yOuR cHOSEN caREER!” cHET SNOOk

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Muzafer’s 8th Law Love is Rocket Fuel! Love is that crazy feeling, that all-encompassing emotion that leads to actions that you can’t even explain that are unbelievable. Love is Rocket Fuel! When you’re in love it’s indescribable and extremely motivating. Do you have love in your life at home, at work, in your community? Do you LOVE what you do for a living? Do you Love to compete with yourself? If you’re truly passionate and love what you do, do you know that your success is inevitable because you will intoxicate everyone around you and cause a massive wake of positive attention and momentum? When you love what you are doing you will automatically exude a positive vibration and feeling onto others around you. Your aura is contagious and intoxifying. People will say that something about you is different and they will want to know what it is. When you are out of love with what you are doing and you are simply going through the motions and the people around you will know. They will sense desperation from you and you will start to repel all the positive goodness that could be around you. When you are out of love tasks seem tedious, and results seem miniscule, and become less important because you’re not in love anymore. When you’re in love with something you pay attention to every detail. When you’re in love everything looks awesome. When you’re in love even when you have an adversity strike or get in an argument it’s awesome because underneath there is raw and powerfully positive emotion. How long can you stay in love with what you do? How fast can you get in love with what you do for a living? If you find a new business, if you get involved in a network how fast can you fall in love with it? How fast you can fall in love will increase your amount of success, because you will attract people to your enthusiasm like a contagious love virus.

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Wealth matters To optimize your vibration I want you to STOP READING for a moment and write out 10 things you LOVE about your business. This can be what the outcome of a successful business will bring you if you are just getting started. This can be things inside the business you enjoy. This can be what it will be like when_______. There are no walls or ceilings to what you can love about it. Start now and Get “IN LOVE!” I absolutely LOVE my life, my business, my family, my friends, my associates and everything I do! I can’t imagine living another way. I know for a fact that Chris LOVES what he does. Isn’t it time you tapped into the things you LOVE for energy and inspiration so that you can put your makeover on the LOVE cocktail and rebuild and restore your life of victory?

“If you do what you love then what you are doing is not called working it is called PLAYING!” Muzafer Najfi

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CHAPTER ELEVEN Financial Wealth Financial Wealth–noun: (fi-nan-shuh | welth) the quantity of monetary currencies, instruments, investments, and equivalents in one’s possession and control.

I aM MONEy’S MaGNET I am a magnet to money; Money is attracted to me. all that is good, that comes from money WIll come to me. aNONyMOuS

Dishonest money dwindles away, but he who gathers money little by little makes it grow. PROVERBS 13:11

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“I bargained with Life for a penny, And Life would pay no more, However I begged at evening, When I counted my scanty store. For Life is a just employer, He gives you what you ask, but once you have set the wages, Why, you must bear the task. I worked for a menial’s hire, Only to learn dismayed, that any wage I had asked of Life, Life would have willingly paid.” UNKNOWN

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apoleon Hill wrote in his classic book Think and Grow Rich, “You may as well know, right here, that you can never have riches in great quantities unless you work yourself into a white heat of desire for money, and actually believe you will possess it.” I have saved the chapter on Financial Wealth for last because it is the reason that most of you picked up this copy of Wealth Matters: Makeover Edition, whether you would admit that in public or not. You see, MONEY is the last taboo in our great society. You can openly share or ask somebody today about their religious beliefs and they will tell you. You can openly discuss sexual preference. As a matter of fact, whether you want to or not, you are going to be bombarded with more information than you would ever care to know about people’s sexual habits on your television, radio, the Internet and in print media today. Political leanings and debates are welcomed at every local Starbucks or coffee shop. Reality TV has all but eradicated any last vestige of self-respect as something of importance in the public eye, and yet the subject of money is still one that creates more “puckered butts” in a group of people than any other topic you could offer up for discussion. If you doubt this, go up to a stranger at the coffee shop and ask him how much he makes or what his net worth is. Before we dive too deeply into this chapter on Financial Wealth I want to lay a few ground rules that will help you out as you read through the material and subject matter of this chapter. 1. If lack of money is what made you want to read this book or this chapter, then I encourage you to leave any of YOUR IDEAS about money and how to create massive amounts of

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Wealth matters it coming to you in the past where they belong and read this material with a “clean slate,” as if you were being educated on the subject of money for the first time. There is a saying among my circle of friends and mentors, and it goes something like this: “You can be RIGHT, or you can be RICH. Which one do you want to choose?” Holding on to your OLD IDEAS and rejecting these new ones because you don’t understand them will make you RIGHT but keep you broke! 2. You really must consider the notion that “If your IDEAS about making money, etc., are what have produced your current RESULTS, and you don’t like your current RESULTS, then why would you bring your IDEAS with you when somebody who has the RESULTS you want has different IDEAS and is willing to share them with you?” 3. Also consider that the sources of your current attitudes and IDEAS around the subject of money came from people who meant well but didn’t have any money either. They could not give you knowledge that they did not have any more than you can give something you don’t have to somebody else. 4. If you find yourself wanting to vehemently object or REJECT something that I share with you about how to attract financial ABUNDANCE into your life then temporarily substitute the word “money or riches” in the sentence with “my spouse, or my family.” You will see why when you get there. 5. Before you go any further, I now encourage you to re-read the sentence at the top of this chapter from Napoleon Hill and make the decision that you will get yourself into a white heat about desiring riches, financial security, and abundance! I love to start off my conversation about financial wealth with folks by drawing parallels to the other areas of wealth we have already discussed in previous chapters to shatter the power of the paradigms that most of us have had at some point around the subject of money. For instance, we have all heard the phrase “Money doesn’t make you happy.” That is true, so what is the point? Poverty doesn’t make you happy either. Have you ever seen a

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CHRIS J. SNOOK & Muzafer Najfi homeless person “clicking their heels” with joy? Just because money won’t make you happy doesn’t mean that money is bad or that you shouldn’t have it. It is merely a statement of fact, just like, “Your spouse won’t make you happy.” Only your spirit being able to express and expand itself by gaining new awareness on a continuous basis while unfolding your inner most desires and potential in the direction of your dreams will make you happy! You probably have also heard people who live month-to-month or paycheck-to-paycheck tell you that “money isn’t important, money doesn’t matter, money isn’t everything.” Or, when they are scared or frustrated by their lack of money, maybe they have even said, “I HATE MONEY!” Take my advice from suggestion number four on the previous page and substitute your spouse’s name or a dear friend’s name into all of those paradigms above where “money” is. For instance, imagine saying to your spouse, “You’re not important,” “You don’t matter,” “You aren’t everything,” or “I HATE YOU.” How long do you think your spouse or friend would remain in your presence if you constantly repeated those things? Money is no different! Money cannot talk, but it can hear loud and clear. It will come when you call it, but it will sure enough stay away if you repel it. Maybe, like me, you have had struggles spiritually with scriptures like Timothy 6:10 which say, “The love of money is the root of all evil,” and misinterpreted that to mean that God doesn’t want you to be RICH, or that being RICH is a sin. Well, I am here to save you a decade of frustration that I cost myself letting that paradigm rule my life. If you LOVE people and USE money, then you can LOVE money for what it allows you to do. If you LOVE money in an idol-worship type of way then it can represent EVIL to you in your life because you are no longer the Master with money playing the Servant. You are now the Servant, and money is your Master. As long as you keep your relationship with money and riches as one where you are the master then it is your birthright and duty to be abundantly RICH so you can serve the Kingdom! If you are sick and tired of being broke every month, then consider that God is sick and tired of watching you struggle unnecessarily. If you are scared about your retirement, medical bills, or long-term care costs for your aging parents then understand that the Creator does not want you to be

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Wealth matters distracted by FEAR and DOUBT and WORRY ANYMORE! Free yourself from these old paradigms and false conditioning around money and your ability or right to have boatloads of it! Step into the abundance that is yours by writing down this affirmation on a three by five index card that you carry with you and read it multiple times each day: I am so grateful that I live in an abundant universe and that I am a magnet to ridiculous sums of money and wealth. I love that I am a trustworthy steward of the riches best owed up on me to provide a full life for my family and myself while having the capacity and desire to spread goodness and abundance throughout the world, all the days of my life! When you are financially wealthy, then you are one less person that the rest of us need to worry about providing for. It all starts in your Conscious Mind with an IDEA. Riches are not governed by a different set of laws than the rest of your six areas of potential wealth. The same laws that govern high tide and low tide, sunrise and sunset, govern your level of wealth. You already learned the Law of Compensation in the previous chapter, so now we have to work on your mindset and give you a wake-up call as to why it is mandatory for our society and for your well-being that you get RICH!

“THERE ARE NO LIMITATIONS TO THE MIND EXCEPT THOSE WE ACKNOWLEDGE BOTH POVERTY AND RICHES ARE THE OFFSPRING OF THOUGHT” Napoleon Hill If financial wealth and riches are your driving need or purpose right now, I strongly suggest that you pick up a copy of Napoleon Hill’s Think and Grow Rich and join our nationwide Mastermind and No Limit Loop™ by going to www.wealthmattersmakeover.com and filling out your information on the “contact us” page. Request placement into an upcoming book study facilitated by one of our Wealth Matters Makeover facilitators. The cost of the Mastermind and No Limit Loop™

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CHRIS J. SNOOK & Muzafer Najfi smartphone app is absolutely FREE, and it will keep you sharp in the months and years to come. Hill spent over twenty years researching over 500 of the wealthiest people at the time and looking for what commonalities they all shared that the “broke masses” did not. He met and studied with the likes of Andrew Carnegie, F.W. Woolworth, Henry Ford, Alexander Graham Bell, and Thomas Edison, to name a few. After exhaustive research and study he found thirteen characteristics that they all shared. Each one of those characteristics represents a chapter in the book. I have included an excerpt below that illustrates Hill’s findings on transmuting DESIRE into RICHES because I have a personal lesson to share with you about it. I have read Think and Grow Rich fifteen times since I first picked up a used copy of it at a bookstore in the Kensington suburb of San Diego, CA, in 1999. When I had my moment in DFW airport in 2002, I had read the book and the subsequent excerpt at least five times through. Now you may be asking, “Well then, Chris, why are you so hot on this book if after reading it five times you were $500,000 in debt and stuck in Texas?” Your question brings me to the lesson. You and I have been conditioned to read and memorize information and call that “knowledge” and “knowhow.” We are conditioned to believe that having that “knowledge” is power and the key to our success. That is only partly true. I had read the following excerpt and could regurgitate it to you in a moment’s notice, but I did not understand it. The difference between knowing and understanding is most critical as it relates to RESULTS. Knowing something is not enough. You will only do what you understand, and you can only understand something after you do it. Understanding something is when you have integrated it into the fiber of your being and can teach the concept to someone else, and he, too, integrates it into the fiber of his being (i.e. understands it). It will be part of your human nature and the resistance patterns of your existing paradigm store and the following excerpt and put your “own flavor or brand” on it. During those first few years I read the six steps listed below and put my own little spice on how to carry them out. Understand this! If you put your little “spice” on these six steps you will change the RESULT that they guarantee if you follow them to the letter. That guaranteed RESULT didn’t work only once or twice but in over 500 individual cases of people studied by Hill who had nothing else in common (backgrounds,

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Wealth matters upbringing, etc.) that was statistically significant other than these six steps and the thirteen characteristics that made the book! Here is where you will be tested to leave your IDEAS about how to get wealthy, and the mindset and action required, at the door. I have included the transcript of these six steps for turning desire into riches verbatim because I have since utilized them in my own life and business without my personal edit and found that the RESULTS they guarantee are spot on. Please do yourself a favor and heed my advice to carry these out to the letter as the original author so wisely advised.

Napoleon Hill reading his book, Think & Grow Rich

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CHRIS J. SNOOK & Muzafer Najfi The following is an excerpt from page 62-63 in the original restored version of Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill© 1937 and is reprinted here with permission from the Napoleon Hill Foundation:

SIX WAYS TO TURN DESIRE INTO GOLD The method by which desire for riches can be transmuted into its financial equivalent consists of six definite, practical steps: 1. Fix in your mind the exact amount of money you desire. It is not sufficient merely to say, “I want plenty of money.” Be definite as to the amount. (There is a psychological reason for definiteness, which will be described in a subsequent chapter.) 2. Determine exactly what you intend to give in return for the money you desire. (There is no such reality as “something for nothing.”) 3. Establish a definite date when you intend to possess the money you desire. 4. Create a definite plan for carrying out your desire, and begin at once, whether you are ready or not, to put this plan into action. 5. Write out a clear, concise statement of the amount of money you intend to acquire, name the time limit for its acquisition, state what you intend to give in return for the money, and describe clearly the plan through which you intend to accumulate it. 6. Read your written statement a loud, twice daily, once just before retiring at night, and once after arising the morning. As you read— see and feel and believe yourself already in possession of the money.

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Wealth matters Now, I will tell you that before you read the rest of this chapter you should re-read those six steps as many times as necessary for you to actually do them. Do not read another word after these instructions until you have crystallized the exact amount of money you desire, the date you want it by, what you are willing to give in exchange, and you have written it down on a three by five goal card using “present tense.” (i.e. “I am so happy now that I consistently earn $XXXXXX on a monthly basis, providing service in the career of my dreams.”) Then begin at once to read it at least twice daily as it instructs. If you ignored my last paragraph and thought I was only talking to the other million people who are reading this book, but not to you, then STOP READING, DROP THE EGO, and do what Napoleon Hill says, otherwise you will likely continue to be frustrated financially. I heard someone once say that “you have to do something until you want to do it, and then you don’t have to do it anymore!” Congratulations! Now that you have your written statement for riches and have begun reading it twice daily, you are well on your way to achieving them, if you stay the course. Wealth and poverty are mindsets, nothing more. Riches and “broke” are RESULTS of your dominating mindset and the thoughts you focus on. One of my favorite American entrepreneurs is “The Donald,” Donald Trump. I have made some of my best deals after being inspired by the stories he shared in his books The Art of the Deal and Think like a Billionaire. However, my favorite book of his is hard to find and is called The Art of the Comeback. What I love about “The Donald” is that he knows, like he knows, like he knows…that he is and always has been WEALTHY. If you didn’t follow his career prior to The Apprentice then you may not understand the significance of my last statement. In the 1980s Donald was the hottest young real estate developer in the country and definitely in New York City, and everything he touched seemed to turn to the gold that lined his bathroom sinks and personal penthouse elevator. He was on top of the world financially until the retro-active Tax Reform Act of 1987 left him completely upside down and over-leveraged in the early 1990s and personally on the hook for $975 million in debt! In the Art of the Comeback you get to see that, although he actually admits feeling a moment of vulnerability during that time and acknowledges his own

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CHRIS J. SNOOK & Muzafer Najfi complacency and feeling of invincibility near the top of that financial high, his only reaction and focus was to get back to work and make things happen. He shares a story about walking down Fifth Avenue from Trump Tower with Marla Maples when she noticed a homeless person and made a compassionate comment, and “The Donald” agreed but said “That man has $975 million more than I do right now, but he doesn’t know it.” That comment illustrates that WEALTH is a mindset and an IDEA, not the amount of your current NET WORTH. Donald Trump is a billionaire because he thought and acted like one long before he became one, got very clear with what he was willing to give in exchange for the desires and dreams he had, created a plan, never quit, and took action on that plan without waiting for all the pieces to be on the board first. The only difference between you, me, and Donald Trump is the difference you think there is. Good for you Donald! Thank you for showing the rest of us that you (and we) are Wealthy or Poor regardless of how much money we currently owe or have in the bank! There is another book and program that I strongly encourage you to study if you truly desire to achieve some sense of financial security, freedom, or wealth. In 1903, Wallace Wattles wrote a book titled The Science of Getting Rich. In the early part of the book he states clearly that the purpose of the book is to provide the reader with the scientifically proven methods of acquiring riches, and that it is a practical book devoid of the underlying data and reference materials that create the justification of this scientific method of getting rich. He explains that if you are really concerned with learning all of the referenced material you will have no problem finding it but that he wrote the book for people who are willing to get rich first and figure out “why” it worked after they have acquired the money, not before. One of the key and opening tenets in The Science of Getting Rich is this statement: “People don’t get rich doing certain things. They get rich doing things in a certain way.” Wattles also says, “If the people have the Advancing Mind, have the Faith that they can become rich, and move forward with the fixed purpose to become rich, nothing can possibly keep them in poverty.” When Rhonda Byrne was given Wattle’s book at the lowest point of her personal depression, she found the magic of The Law of Attraction and used

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Wealth matters it to create the best-selling DVD ever called The Secret, which many of you have probably watched by now. If you are looking for a tremendous intellectual resource on your Android or iPhone I recommend you “Get in the Loop” with us. You can learn more by scanning below.

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If you are still looking for a compelling reason, other than your own personal desire, to seek and acquire financial wealth and abundance, I will help to motivate you by giving you some facts that are alarming about the coming years as it relates to your, my, and America’s financial future. I mentioned Donald Trump’s books earlier, but arguably his most profound and beneficial book was his worst-selling book. The America We Deserve is a “must read” for every American who hopes to be financially aware and secure in the coming years. One of my other favorite personal finance mentors, and, in my opinion, one of the best teachers of financial education to the masses, is Robert Kiyosaki, the best-selling author of the Rich Dad, Poor Dad book series, which includes The Cash Flow Quadrant, and Rich Dad’s Guide to Investing, as well as about ten others including his recent best seller The Conspiracy of the Rich. Like Donald Trump, his best book in my opinion was also his worst seller and was titled Prophecy. Both The America We Deserve and Prophecy discuss the financial crisis that we will face in the coming years due to the faulty legislation

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CHRIS J. SNOOK & Muzafer Najfi and financial deficits of Medicare, Social Security, and the forced sell-off impact the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) will have on the stock market when the first group of 77 million baby-boomers hits retirement age. Donald Trump and Robert Kiyosaki finally decided to collaborate and co-author a book that is getting the readership it deserves when they re- tackled these issues in their most recent book titled Why We Want You to Be Rich. When you finish reading Wealth Matters you should get the audio or book version of that title and add it to your library as a means of helping you understand how to develop a well-rounded strategy and plan to build your financial fortress in the coming years. This is the stark reality that we live in that nobody in Congress can afford to tell you because, like Peter O’Neill, they will not be re-elected. If this doesn’t scare you into gaining a wealthy mindset, and following Napoleon Hill’s Six Steps, and losing your old paradigms about money for the new ones offered in this text, then you don’t have a pulse. I promise to give you the facts in layman’s terms so that you get the message without being overly confused, but it is your job to grow your awareness of anything that you don’t understand, because ignorance is no excuse and will only leave you and your family miserable, broke, and financial roadkill in the coming years. As of 1992, Medicare has been a Net Claimant on the Treasury of the United States, which means that it has cost more on an annual basis to operate than it brings in revenue. In other words, if it was a privately held business it would have been forced to file bankruptcy every year since 1992! The current off-balance sheet obligations of Medicare total $63 trillion, as reported by Wharton Business School professor and economist Kent Smetters and his research partner Jagadeesh Gokhale at their Congressional testimony in February 2005. Let me put $63 trillion dollars in its proper perspective before I tell you what “off-balance sheet” obligations means. $63,000,000,000,000 is what it looks like if you were to “scratch the check.” Most people think that one million dollars is a lot of money. Well, one billion dollars is one thousand million. Therefore, one trillion dollars is one thousand billion, or equal to one million-million! So Medicare is and has been bankrupt since 1992, and the off-balance sheet

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Wealth matters (money that we are going to have to spend in the coming years, but that we have not yet accounted for in our national debt) obligations are equal to $63 million-million dollars ($63T)! Well, I have got some good news (that’s still bad news) when it comes to Social Security. Economists estimate that Social Security will not reach Net Claimant status on the U.S. Treasury until the year 2013! The current off-balance sheet obligations of the Social Security Fund are $10 trillion ($10 million-million, or $10,000,000,000,000)! In his position paper Social Security and Medicare: The Twin Disasters That Will “Break the Bank,” Gary North writes, “The combined programs of Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid consume more than 50% of the United States’ entire operating budget. There is no statistical escape from bankruptcy, but congress won’t acknowledge it because the congressman who tells the ‘truth’ won’t be re-elected.” On November 15, 2005, the Comptroller General of the United States, who monitors sour government’s books, said that the current situation is “worse than advertised.” Trump and Kiyosaki remind us that “the $73 trillion in off-balance sheet obligations of Medicare and Social Security represent more money than is in all of the stock and bond markets in the world combined!” For those of you who are baby-boomers with aging parents and who thought you would spend your retirement on a boat sailing around the world, consider this harsh reality about the cost and availability of longterm care. Only one percent of people own Long-Term Care Insurance in this country because many are expecting to be able to rely on Medicaid for assistance. Oops! Here is how Medicaid is set up to work, as of the printing of this book, for those of you who don’t know. After a short initial contribution, Medicaid assistance drops off and completely out of the picture until all of the patient’s assets are liquidated to the poverty level. This can create a lack of ideal options for families with little to no net worth, which is 87% of the population that reaches age 65, and you begin to base the future health of your loved ones on what you can afford, not what they need.

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CHRIS J. SNOOK & Muzafer Najfi The statistics on long-term care are that one in two elderly Americans will need it, but only one in four can afford it. In 1999 dollars, the average annual cost of long-term care was $41,000/year. The average salaried worker in this country only earns approximately $35,000/year. This is nothing new. As of 1955, the Social Security system was known to be “unsound” but nothing was done about it, and the burden was pushed forward to the next administration, and soon. We have hit a point where our entire status as an economic world power is on the brink of destruction if we don’t make drastic changes at the individual level and begin to focus on wealth creation and acquiring the exquisite knowledge and skill sets to acquire wealth at the household level. There is a website, budget.house.gov that shows you an up-to-date running tally on the individual portion of the national deficit that each of us needs to factor into our consciousness as a contributing member of this society. In April 2005, your and my personal share of the national deficit was $29,228.45. As of the printing of this book post 2008 crisis that share has jumped to -$46,157.37 and the total National debt has increased $3.83 billion per day since September 28. 2007 according to www.brillig.com/debt_clock/. After you read this, I don’t recommend that you give your focus to the national debt or your personal debt because giving your focus and energy to debt will just attract more of it. I share this data with you to wake you up and motivate you to create a white heat desire and focus for prosperity and riches so that you will attract them in major quantities, which will subsequently lessen the debt-load on you and this country. Former Dean of the School of Law at the University of Notre Dame, Clarence Manion, tells us the truth about the workings of the Federal Social Security Act: “The promoters of the Federal Social Security Act never advertised it as a slick, easily collectible form of constantly increasing taxation. When it passed in 1937, it was validated by the Supreme Court merely as an exercise of the Constitutional Taxing Power of Congress for the benefit of the General Fund of the United States Treasury. In other words, if it needs money, it allows Congress to tax employers and employees the same as it would tax whiskey and other goods. “

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Wealth matters Congress also has the right under this act to continue to collect these so called Social Security payroll taxes even if it discontinues Social Security benefit payments. This is because the Supreme Court has said that Congress has no constitutional power to establish a connection between the collection of payroll tax and payment of Social Security benefits. For this reason, the so-called Federal Old-Age and Survivors Insurance Reserve Fund has actually been non-existent since 1955. READ THAT AGAIN! That means that when they stop paying out your paltry Social Security benefits and run out of money, they will still be charging the rest of us the Social Security tax. In 2000, then-Chairman of the Federal Reserve Alan Greenspan noted that it would take a 200% increase in long term GDP productivity in our country to eliminate the long-term Social Security deficit. Economists consider a healthy economy to be one that grows at 3% per year, which makes 200% growth highly unlikely. In 2001, Sheldon Richman explained that every cent in FICA payroll taxes, what your Social Security contributions show up as on your paystubs, that is collected is immediately spent on these programs’ debt service, and there is no reserve trust fund. People think that each of us actually has a Social Security account with our name on it, but that is simply not true. All that is there is the promise that when you retire and stop paying payroll tax, the government will tax someone else and give their money to you! Gokhale lays out the harsh action plans that our government will be forced to choose from if it doesn’t cut the Social Security and Medicare programs completely, and they include: • Boosting individual and corporate tax rates 69% • Raising payroll taxes 95% • Cutting non-Social Security and non-Medicare spending by 56% • Eliminating ALL other Federal Government Spending (like defense) • Or some combination of these four…

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CHRIS J. SNOOK & Muzafer Najfi So what can you and I do about it, now that it is abundantly clear that nothing is truer today, than the title of this book…WEALTH MATTERS? Robert Kiyosaki says, “The best way to solve the problem is to change your thoughts. Start thinking like a rich person instead of a poor person, and DROP THE ENTITLEMENT MENTALITY!” Donald Trump’s response was, “If we don’t stop expecting the government to take care of us, we will continue to be pawns in this game. People who are capable of thinking for themselves will never be subject to the herd mentality.” We must get busy and productive at the individual level if America will remain the economic world power that it has been because China and India are educating, innovating, and growing at a rapid pace. Let this book and The Stickperson be a launch pad for your own personal empowerment as it relates to your ability to become a creator of wealth on the financial plane of your life, and give the rest of us one less person to worry about! May God bless you, and remember that you cannot change something you don’t acknowledge. Every step in the right direction is one step further away from the destructive path, so thank you for joining us in the quest for personal wealth and for becoming part of the solution! America is still the Land of Opportunity, and it is high time that we remembered that and began acting like it!

The Parable of the Talents MATHEW 25:14-28

(this explains how the Creator views entitlements) Again, it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his property to them. To one he gave five talents of money, to another two talents, and to another one talent, each according to his ability. Then he went on his journey. The man who had received the five talents went at once and put his money to work and gained five more. So also, the one with the two talents gained two more. But the man who had received the one talent went off, dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money.

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Wealth matters After a long time the master of those servants returned and settled accounts with them. The man who had received the five talents brought the other five. “Master,” he said, “you entrusted me with five talents. See, I have gained five more.” His master replied, “Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!” The man with the two talents also came. “Master,” he said, “you entrusted me with two talents; see, I have gained two more.” His master replied, “Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!” Then the man who had received the one talent came. “Master,” he said, “I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed. So I was afraid and went out and hid your talent in the ground. See, here is what belongs to you.” His master replied, “You wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed? Well then, you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have received it back with interest. “Take the talent from him and give it to the one who has the ten talents. For everyone who has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him. And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

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Chet’s WISDOM

I WOulD Say GOD BlESS yOu, BuT IN TRuTH, HE alREaDy HaS!

My first teaching salary was $8,200 a year, and I was thrilled to be able to contribute to our new marriage. Like the custodian in the vocational wealth section, I was one of four people to land a teaching job out of a graduation class of close to 50, and I felt incredibly blessed to be in the profession for which I was built. I would work summer jobs to keep a steady income until I got back to school in September. Often those jobs were working behind a black top machine or shoveling any number of different materials. I would circle the first day of school on the calendar and couldn’t wait to get back. Fellow teachers who had the luxury of a summer off thought my first day enthusiasm was nuts, and they couldn’t understand why I was so elated about returning to another school year. In seven years my salary jumped to $12,500, and I was becoming concerned about my ability to provide adequately for my growing family. That was coupled with two classes out of five that were extremely difficult, and I began to question whether teaching was really where I was supposed to be. We were living paycheck to paycheck, and it seemed as though we were not really getting ahead. At the time I got caught up with comparing myself to others who were, or at least seemed to be, better off financially, and I began to interview for different career paths. God had a plan, though, and it worked out to our benefit. I wasn’t suited for those other careers, and He decided I was where I was supposed to be. Looking back on those times, I didn’t realize that I was in a position of financial wealth, albeit it a small one, because I equated it all with a dollar sign and not with lifestyle and sustainability. We were not in very deep debt; we were able to take great family vacations; we were able

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to contribute to those things important in our lives, and we had time together as a family because my wife and I didn’t have to work in extra shifts to provide for each other and our children. There is no question that more money can make things easier, but sometimes easier isn’t necessarily the best thing. Our struggles were minor compared to many, and I lost sight of that when I was in my pity mode. Financial wealth, in my opinion, is the ability to do what you love, meet your needs and the needs of those around you, and still contribute monetarily and behaviorally to those who are less fortunate. In all honesty, I have to admit that my contributions to others almost always have come from surplus rather than necessity, so I question the full value of those gifts. I will say that there have been times when I have given of myself, and that should not be minimized. If it is difficult to give financially, give of yourself. In many ways that is a more precious gift anyway! Toward the end of my career I was making as much per month as I had in my entire first year, but my sense of being more financially wealthy wasn’t truly present. So, it seems financial wealth has little to do with the size of our paycheck. It seems to have more to do with the fulfillment we receive about our career choices, whether we provide special moments for those we love, and how we contribute financially and otherwise to others. God truly does provide tenfold what we gift – to ourselves and to those we care about. Take stock of your financial wealth within your own value system, and don’t do what I did early on by comparing it to other people. What they think of you and your contribution is none of your business anyway. That is theirs, and it shouldn’t influence what is at the core of your “gifting soul.” Only you know the true depth of your giving.

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Muzafer’s 9th Law Poverty is the Root of all Evil What is poverty? It is a disease of the mind. It is contagious and it is the true root of all evil. It makes people vulnerable, scarce minded, and reactionary. It is something that spreads throughout the mind and body like a disease of consciousness that can spread easily into other people through their subconscious mind. It is a mindset that literally stops people from becoming successful. Poverty is a way of thinking whereas Broke is a temporary condition. Poverty is a permanent state of consciousness that blocks a wealthy consciousness from taking root in someone’s mind. Poverty is the opposite of Wealth and its most vicious enemy. As people witness poverty consciousness they witness a myriad of emotions including empathy, sympathy, guilt, anger, resentment and many more. Often times these emotions mask our ability to see Poverty for what it really is which is a cancerous cell of inhumanity. Poverty isn’t fixed by money, or charity and altruism. Those are noble pursuits, but poverty is only cured by substituting one’s awareness with a wealth consciousness and the tools to think, feel and act abundantly. The worst thing about poverty is like the worst thing about losing— it’s a habit! The more one experiences poverty and scarcity in their physical reality, the more they reinforce the negative thoughts that lead to a scarcity mindset in their mind. This feedback loop perpetuates reactionary, animalistic tendencies which yield a victim-based entitlement-type mentality. You are not a victim. Nobody is unless they allow themselves to be. Whatever situation you may have gotten yourself into financially past or may be currently dealing with in the present, does not have to determine your future. You hold the keys to success in your very own mind right now. Unlocking those tools of prosperity so that you can realize them in your life starts with adopting a wealthy and abundant mindset and letting go of a poverty conscious one. I suggest that as you start your new makeover that you set a goal to read this book cover to cover a minimum of seven times and follow every exercise to the letter. Find yourself a business coach to guide you into the right state

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Wealth matters of mind and business activity as your year progresses and plans adapt! Be prepared for FINANCIAL WEALTH because YOU DESERVE IT!

“Money is a means to multiple ends!” Muzafer Najfi

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CHAPTER TWELVE Your Circle of Influence Circle of Influence–adj noun: (sur-kuh l; ov; infloo-uh ns) the capacity or power of persons or things to be a compelling force on or produce effects on the actions, behavior, opinions, etc., of others. as iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another. PROVERBS 27:17

He who walks with the wise grows wise, but a companion of fools suffers harm. PROVERBS 13:20

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O

ne factor that is critical to your success in achieving wealth in any area of your life is your Center of Influence (COI). What is your COI? It is the five to ten people whom you associate with most, at home, work, or play. Your COI is often made up of your close friends and family. Your COI has the power to single-handedly determine where you end up, your level of wealth or poverty, your health, and the quality of your relationships. It is one of the most important factors in the quality and fulfillment of your life, and one of the few factors you can control! From a financial standpoint, it has been proven that you will have an income within 10% of the average income of the five people you hang out with most.

For example: If your best friends earn an average income of $50,000 per year, then it is almost certain your income will be somewhere between $45,000 and $55,000 per year. It is also likely that if you want a successful marriage and most of your friends are single or divorced, it will be harder for you to achieve a successful marriage. If your friends and family have to have the latest and greatest gadgets and cars, whether they can afford them or not, then you will tend to feel the need to keep up and end up making poorer financial decisions because of it. If your friends and family believe in God then it is more likely that you will believe in God. If you want to give up drugs or alcohol then you don’t

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Wealth matters want to hang around your old drinking buddies. If you want to settle down with one mate then don’t hang around your single friends who are going out to the club every weekend looking to hook-up. What is the point of this? If you are not happy with one or all of these aspects in your life then you will need to find new friends and move them closer to your COI. It may also mean that you have to take some of your existing friends and family and move them to an outer circle of your COI. This doesn’t mean that you neglect long-term friendships or family, but if you don’t regulate who is in your COI carefully then you cannot act surprised if your results fall short of your expectations. As my mentor and friend says, “You learn to not stay as long, and go less often.” Something to remember as you take on your own personal development and mindset development with passion and purpose, is…

KEY POINT! People don’t resist CHANGE. People resist BEING CHANGED!

You will more than likely face some of your strongest opposition during this process. You will also find out where your true friends are during this process and how unconditional the love your family has for you is. This is a stumbling block for most people because it is a major stretch of the comfort zone. The skill comes in your ability to not fully eliminate important people from your life but to relegate your interaction with them according to the degree to which their life is following a similar path to yours. I have had to continually move people in and out of my COI that were once in the middle of my daily life but who were hindering progress in an area that I was looking to improve. It is not always easy. The key question to remember is, “Who am I living to please?” I believe in the idea that the God I serve and I represent a majority. In my experience the answer

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CHRIS J. SNOOK & Muzafer Najfi to this question started with pleasing him, and then went on to pleasing myself. It stopped there. I am not living a life to please anyone but God and myself. How about you? Are you living your life to please your friends or your family? Are you living your life to prove someone wrong? If so, why? Have you asked yourself that question? Do you think that whoever you may be living your life for really cares about your feelings or your fulfillment? Maybe they do and maybe they don’t. Who cares? It is not a productive use of your life. You will never please someone else, and even if you do you will be empty because of it. Start living for an audience of one. Your Creator has given you certain gifts and wants you to use them in His honor. When you alter your COI for your benefit, your true friends will understand. If they choose to stay put while you grab for greater things then they will respect your decision and look forward to sharing whatever piece of your life you can share with them. If they don’t judge you for moving on then be careful to not judge them for staying behind. If your friends or family don’t understand then they are too focused on themselves to be valuable support sources for you at this time anyway, and at least now you know. You can love them for who they are, and who they are not, but you don’t have to hang around who they are not. Two of my mentors in direct sales and speaking early on were the Network Marketing legends and it was through them that I met the Master Coach Muzafer Najfi. I was taught early on that everyone you and I meet falls into one of four categories in approximately the following percentages. This information below has helped me tremendously when I have faced resistance in altering my COI and also in my understanding of the paradigms that hold people back.

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THE FOUR TYPES OF PEOPLE YOU AND I KNOW:

Are you a Motivator? Are you Self-Motivated? Maybe you are a Motivatable? I can eliminate the last category, because an Un-Motivatable would never be this deep into any book, let alone a personal development/ personal finance text. I will give you some parameters of each type below, and you can use them to analyze yourself and your existing COI to see what it’s primary makeup is as well as where you fall in your roll within your current COI.

Motivators They represent three percent or less of the population. The number one characteristic of Motivators is that they truly create their environment wherever they are and wherever they go. They have achieved a Mastery level of awareness in one or more aspects of their lives and gravitate

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CHRIS J. SNOOK & Muzafer Najfi naturally to a leadership position in any environment they are in. They have spent effort and energy in relentless pursuit of Intellectual Wealth, and their influence is the fruit of that labor. They are magnetic, inspiring, and have mastered the skill of enrollment. It could be argued that they are “born;” however, in most cases they have systematically developed their leadership ability from the understanding and development of their minds and intellectual faculties. These people are the ones leading your COI who not only tell you that you can achieve any dream you set your sights on, but they also assure you that you are capable and deserving! If within your current COI you are the Motivator then you must find a new COI where you are not the smartest and most intelligent if you plan on achieving new and better results!

Self-Motivated Many of the people who read this book will fall into this category that represents roughly 10% of the population. These individuals are always on the go either in a mental capacity (active thinking/dreaming) or physically (working hard, maximizing their output, etc.). They typically walk fast and talk fast and have no challenge making DECISIONS. They may often achieve great feats but have challenges replicating results, because they are not yet aware of the primary cause of their results and have yet to achieve a Mastery level of awareness that gives them power, control, and understanding of the results. They will often be in relentless pursuit of this missing puzzle piece, and often in business or work they are in the “wrong vehicle” to produce the level of income of which they intuitively know they are capable. By hanging around mentors and Motivators they can quickly and efficiently develop Mastery level of awareness and achieve their goal of being one of the three percent. These are the people in your COI who are ready to run full-speed in the game of life alongside you. They have reached the Individual level of awareness and are working their way toward Mastery. They will be your training partners and you will share a mutual motivation for one another as you both pursue your passion. Stick close to these people and collectively seek relevant Motivators/ Mentors.

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Motivatables This group represents the MAJORITY of people you will meet. Roughly 60% of the people in your current COI are Motivatable. Simply put, they are created by their environments. Everyone reading this book has a friend who can mingle at a country club black-tie affair on Monday night and hangout with the environmentalists on Tuesday morning decked out in Birkenstocks. Tuesday afternoon they can fit in at a hip-hop concert, and Thursday they can fake their way through a political debate at the Starbucks in the center of town. They are like chameleons. They can match almost any situation, are great dates to a party, and typically the most likeable people you know. However, they are also the most inauthentic people you know. They have no idea who they truly are because they are more concerned with pleasing others and have been conditioned to do so. They operate primarily at the Mass Conscious and Aspiration levels of awareness and relish the status quo or norm. If a Motivatable hangs around a group of Self-Motivated people or a Motivator then they will be motivated. However, if they have a group of un-Motivatables in their COI, they will allow them to drag them back down from Aspiration level to Mass Conscious “group think” before they can make it up to the action level of Individual. You will know these people when they speak because they make decisions slowly and sit on the fence forever, and once they jump into something, they often question it daily as if they were riding on a roller coaster. Realize that if they choose to listen to an un-Motivatable, you can’t help them. Just continue to lead by example, and keep them away from their un-Motivatable friends if you want them to come along with you on your ride!

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UN-Motivatables If you gave these people a $1 million dollar gold bullion brick, they would drop it on their own foot, and then sue you for damages! These people operate primarily at the Animalistic (reactionary) or Mass-Conscious level of awareness and are truly dream stealers. They lack any passion or courage to follow their own dreams, so they spend all of their energy shooting down yours. You can love them, but don’t hang out with them, don’t listen to them, and don’t ask them for their opinion or advice. They are typically the most miserable, sick, and broke bunch in your COI, and they will be destined to stay there and bring you down with them because misery loves company. Sometimes this is your immediate family, spouse, or long-time friends. If they love you unconditionally then they will let you change, but understand that as you change you are forcing them to relate to the NEW YOU, and that requires them to change. They resist this on all levels but are unconscious of this fact, so if they took a lie-detector test they would pass with flying colors when asked if they want you to be happy. However, that is no excuse, and you must guard yourself around them and limit your time if you want to be wealthy and successful at achieving your innermost dreams and desires. Lastly, if you can constantly work to improve your COI you will be amazed at your growth as a person, a friend, a businessperson, and a human being. You will reap results directly proportionate to how well you handle this obstacle! Good luck.

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SOMETHING TO REMEMBER My friends and family love me. They want the best for me. They want to support me, even if they don’t know how. Sometimes they will doubt me. I cannot take this personally. It is because they love me and want the best for me. However, unless I want their life and their results, I must choose my own destiny even if it means going against the grain. I will often be misunderstood. I will often make mistakes. If I treat these mistakes as learning lessons, I will succeed with each passing day. Nobody else pays my bills, raises my children, or lives my life but me. If they do, then I need to strike out for independence. I live in the land of opportunity. Do I act like it? Nobody ever made a statue of a critic, yet every success story faced the uphill battle of doubt. Most of the doubt came from the people they loved the most. In the end will I have lived without regret? That is really all my family and friends want for me anyway!

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Muzafer’s 10th Law You Are Who You Hang Around “Choose your life and your future, do not let your friends write the story or the ending to your book!” Muzafer Najfi Have you ever heard you become who you hang around, or have you ever been in a bad situation because of GBA (Guilt by Association)? Your circle of influence is with whom you spend the most time. I heard from one of my first mentors that if you want to know what your financial future holds, bring the five people that you spend the most amount of time with and I will tell you your financial success. Statistically we will earn within 10% of the average of those five people’s incomes. It’s a pretty simple law to abide by. If you don’t wanna become a smoker, hang out with people who don’t smoke. If you want to be happily married, don’t go out with your single friends to bars on the weekends. If you want to be a good parent than spend time with couples whose parenting skills you respect. If you want to be rich then hang out with people who are rich and who are actively trying to get richer. If you want to stay in shape and not get fat, then get a few friends who value clean eating, make time for workouts, etc. This is not rocket science but you have got to make choices and stop trying to keep everyone in your inner circle because you have known each other since high school or college, etc. You can love them and respect them and send them birthday cards, but if they aren’t on the same path as you with their goals and dreams and aspirations then you need to move them to a different circle and prioritize your time and interactions accordingly. Don’t kid yourself into thinking that they will all want to come along the same ride of discomfort you are on, and don’t hold the train waiting for them to see the light and hop on. Your intentions are noble but experience will teach you that you have to move on. I like what Chris says that we have three types of friends in life 1) Friends for a Season, 2) Friends for a Reason, and 3) Friends for a Lifetime.

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Wealth matters If you want to add us to your Circle of Influence, you just have by reading this book and can also Get in the Loop with me and Chris and several other Thought Leaders and big thinkers in the No Limit Publishing family by scanning the QR code below for either Android or iPhone/iPad to download the FREE “No Limit Loop” to your smartphone and stay in touch with our ideas, thoughts, blogs, and earn rewards from the publisher just for hitting “Like It” and posting your favorite insights.

ANDROID

iPHONE

“If you go through life with ignorance then your bliss will always be limited!” Muzafer Najfi

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CHapteR tHIRteeN FOUR DECISIONS TO FUEL YOUR FORTUNE! Decision–noun/verb: (dih-sizh-uh n)- the act of or need for making up one’s mind.

“If you don’t aSk, you don’t GET!” BRIaNNE SNOOk

“No need to wait in line when there truly is a SHORTcuT with hard work as an attachment!” MuzaFER NaJFI

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he word DECISION comes from the Latin root dēcīsiō, which literally means: a cutting off. When you and I make a decision to do something we are cutting off any alternative option from manifesting accept for our stated direction and goal. The challenge in our lives comes from making these decisions lightly (conscious mind acceptance only) instead of making our decision firmly (with subconscious alignment, or as you read in the Terror Barrier chapter, choosing the Y over the X). Decisions are thrust upon us every minute of every day and in varying degrees of importance. For instance: What do I eat for dinner tonight? Do I answer this caller or send them to voicemail? Do I sign this contract, start this business, make this investment, marry this person, etc? In this moment you are about to learn about a few more decisions you need to make in order to become successful and rebuild your life. As we come to the end of this book and the beginning of your journey to a Wealth Matters Makeover there are FOUR simple, but imperative decisions you need to make to fuel your fortune.

DECISION 1 Get Started and Committed The best time to Get Started is NOW! The physiological release of your kinetic energy is caused by movement and the direct amount of movement

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Wealth matters in a forward direction net of your conservation of energy is your kinetic potential. In other words, the amount of massive action you take in a short period of time (i.e. rapid movement) dictates how much potential you release and how fast it comes back to you in the form of results! Don’t be a part of the procrastination nation one minute longer. Time waits for nobody and time doesn’t care how rich or poor you are, it levels an even hand on all of us and since the most precious commodity on planet earth is time, and none of us know how much time we have left, there is no time like the present to get started on your Wealth Matters Makeover plan. The second part of this first all-important decision is to get committed. Commitment is best define as follows: “Doing what you said you would do, long after the excitement has worn off during the time you made the decision to do it!” Get committed, or if you have gotten distracted or lazy, re-commit to living an abundant and wealthy life today!

DECISION 2 GET A COACH Muzafer and I are both lifelong learners before either of us would consider calling ourselves businessmen or any other descriptive adjective. Each of us has maintained and sought coaches and mentors throughout our careers and actively has coaches today. To be truly great and world class (top 1%) of any industry you must have someone with specialized knowledge watching and guiding you. Think about your favorite athlete, Olympian, musician or singer, and they each and all have coaches. Some have multiple coaches to work on specific aspects of their game or profession (i.e. Acting Coach, Vocal Coach, Swing Coach, Life Coach, Business Coach). Mentors and coaches can be the same person, but often times can be separate people with different degrees of involvement in your career or activity. For instance my business coach currently is a gentleman named Bob McRann who ran Cox Cable as CEO for 13 years during the 1990s when it was the

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CHRIS J. SNOOK & Muzafer Najfi world’s largest media/cable company. He has been my coach since 2009 when we shifted TLEC’s investment focus to modern media, publishing, and technology. Since we are attempting to build and manage a billion dollar media holding company over the next decade as our chief goal, it required me hiring someone who has successfully done that in the past and who can dive into everything from the investment or acquisition strategy, financial reports, industry trends and who truly knows where the dead bodies lie. I have several mentors as well in different areas of my business or personal life. My father and mother and my father-in-law and motherin-law are mentors for me in how to live and work to achieve a long-lasting and loving (not miserable but still together) marriage, since both sets have been married for 38 and 37 years respectfully and are still growing strong. Coaches I pay for to give me specific insight, guidance, and help for specific desired outcomes, mentors I attract and mastermind with or study from afar to learn lessons and gain experience that may serve me in the future. As an interesting side note, I was not working with a coach in 2006-2008 when I was invested and partnered in define and it was the only time, in my career where that was the case and as you have already learned in the FOREWORD of this book, it cost me BIG TIME! When it comes to coaches who know how to build residual income in highly leveraged, low overhead businesses, there are none better than Muzafer Najfi and I have met dozens of financially successful home-based, internet, or network marketing leaders throughout my travels. He is the only one I have met who is still doing what he coaches people to do, and who has actually retained and built his wealth over time and has a group of people in his inner circle who he has helped also achieve that feat. In other words people he has worked with personally on a full time basis still work with him after 16 years! That might be a record, and I have spent a lot of time around business owners, coaches, and authors and very few have that kind of long term value with their clients. He is one recent addition to my intimate and personal coaching and mentorship circle. I am so excited that, for a handful of readers who are dedicated and serious and make the interview cut, he will be part of the Wealth Matters Makeover Coaching Faculty. The decision you have to make is not whether or not you should get a coach, but rather, which coach (or coaches) you need to interview with,

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Wealth matters attract, and hire this week to move your dream and current goal into fruition faster with lower risk of failure.

DECISION 3 GET CAPITALIZED Money/Capital is fuel! The best innovative idea, business, product, compensation plan, investment vehicle, etc. is just a vehicle without fuel if you are under-capitalized! If you think about something like The Indy 500 race or are familiar with it, you may have realized when watching it that the true key to victory and taking the checkered flag is not the car’s performance, driver’s skill, courage, aerodynamics, or even luck. All of those variables play critical roles, but most of the losers who have lost the lead in the final few laps only to come in 2nd or 3rd place at the final flag, did so because they mismanaged their form of capital (fuel and tires). Failing to structure the pit stops at the proper time and execute their plan in the early part of the race, set them up to fall just shy of victory when it mattered and lose the glory to the one who prepared and executed proper fuel management. Wealth building and business will be no different and now that you have made the decision to get wealthy and found the right coach and mentors to guide you as you execute your plan, you need to line up your sources and capital stack. My friends in the venture capital or investment community like to call this “dry powder”, referencing the analogy to ammo in a battle. When I started rebuilding our wealth in September of 2008 after we liquidated all of our assets I had less than $1,000 of dry powder and had to get super creative. What I didn’t lose was my creativity or my intellect and experience. Remember that no matter how much net worth or money you may have had before and lost, the one thing nobody can take from you is your creative genius! Your first step to getting capitalized is to realize that you need capital and that you will need it over and over again as you grow and that your

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CHRIS J. SNOOK & Muzafer Najfi ability to manage a sensible reinvestment strategy of those free cash flows will dictate whether you grow sustainably or grow broke. Your second step is to take inventory of your tangible and intangible assets immediately because you can’t build a plan to end up wealthy if you haven’t defined for yourself where wealthy is and from where your journey is beginning. It’s no different than booking a vacation to Maui. The first question the travel agent or website asks is “where are you departing from” and “where do you want to go.” In order to book your one-way ticket from broke to wealthy you must know exactly where you are starting from and exactly where your first destination in the land of wealth is. The third step is to make sacrifices that serve your new direction and let go of your old. Personal examples to inspire you include: Back in 2006, I sold a Rolex it took me five years to save up for to make payroll for one of my companies and keep staff working. I sold my Gold Bullion in 2007 to start another business. My wife and I sold one BMW in 2010 while living downtown for nine months to decrease our personal overhead and help fund the growth and hiring of one of our portfolio companies. SACRIFICE is not giving up what you love…It is the act of trading something of a lower value for something of a higher value. Cars, jewelry, homes, real estate (even if at a loss, but to cut monthly overhead), art, dinners out on the town every week, bad habits like smoking or drinking too much, are all great ways to create some immediate liquidity to capitalize your new journey. Michael Dell lived out of a dorm room and started Dell computer with $1,000 but spent millions more and sacrificed lifestyle for years to build Dell Computer. Mark Zuckerberg, currently worth an estimated $16 billion, lived in an average house in Silicon Valley where Facebook first started as a homebased business, until he finally purchased his mansion in 2011. Do you value your current possessions more than your future? Are you willing to trade the life and things you live today for a life of greater value and better things in 5-10 years? Only you can make this decision, but you want to do everything you can to free up or gain access (via credit cards, personal loans, etc) to a few thousand dollars of working capital to fuel your business and realize that you will need to refuel it as it grows if you want to make it to victory lane!

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DECISION 4 PICK THE RIGHT VEHICLE Nobody would set the goal to win the Indy 500 race and show up in a Honda Civic sedan expecting to win. Picking the right vehicle for the track you are on and the race you are in is paramount to achieving success. Since many of you reading this might have been attracted to the title because you recently took a hit in your financial liquidity (job loss, investment loss, business failure, etc.) you also need to find a vehicle with minimal barrier to entry (under $1,000 to get started) and low maintenance costs (monthly overhead and capital reinvestment) so that you can get back in the wealth race quickly and with as little risk exposure as possible. You also want something with strong leverage (the ability to do more work and produce more income with the same level of effort) that can grow quickly without requiring an incremental and increasing capital reinvestment to sustain that growth. You want something that is not linked to a dying trend, with unique products that are used by large volumes of people and require a consistent and frequent re-purchasing pattern. Lastly, and most importantly, you want something that will appreciate in enterprise value for creating ongoing residual income and return on investment. Here are a few tips on where to start as you begin your Wealth Matters Makeover vehicle selection. As you begin wealth building, realize that it is by its essence in all forms an entrepreneurial activity and that in my experience there are two major categories of entrepreneurial types. Innovators focus on inventing a new world. They are people who experience failure as the main ingredient to breakthrough success and are willing to risk most of all the normal societal creature comforts indefinitely at the chance to change the world with one idea. They have extremely resourceful, persistent, stubborn, aggressive, idealistic personalities, and courage that borders along the lines of crazy. They are willing to be responsible for not only their own life and results but accept the responsibility for steward the lives of others as well and have a high tolerance for failure as a breeding ground for future breakthrough success. Thomas Edison and Walt

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CHRIS J. SNOOK & Muzafer Najfi Disney were innovator entrepreneurs. If you are this type of entrepreneur you must realize that wealth building will likely take you a lot longer, cost you a lot more money, and come after many years of sacrifice, effort, and frustration. You may even have your greatest success long after you are dead, and it will be experience by you from the afterlife as a lasting legacy. There are other books on the market that specialize in teaching you the best way to approach the innovator entrepreneur path to wealth. Since this book is primarily focused upon getting you back to a wealthy existence in all six areas of life, where you are no longer distracted or handcuffed by the evils of living paycheck to paycheck and having zero retirement, we will encourage those of you who are innovators to use the other tools in this book to build out the mindset it will take for you to excel in this capacity, and advise you to find a local business incubator in your area, or move to an area where there is one that can support you with mentorship, business planning, capital raising, etc. As a percentage of those involved in successful entrepreneurial pursuits the Innovator represents a minority percentage of probably less than 5%. Operators focus on changing the world by first changing their world! You may have heard the phrase that drowning people cannot save drowning people. No entrepreneur and no idea that isn’t well funded, well conceived, and well executed can change a thing! Operators understand this and tend to have pragmatic, logical, results-oriented, opportunistic, more conservative (compared to Innovators), realist personality types and look for ways to position themselves in front of already existing good ideas that are well structured vehicles that just need a committed driver. Whereas the Innovator may try to design a new type of Indy car without rubber wheels, the Operator looks for an existing race team with an empty vehicle that has been tuned up and needs a driver who is willing and capable of winning! One of the most famous Operators in history is Ray Kroc of McDonald’s who stopped selling the milkshake machines to the McDonald’s brothers and instead bought the company from them and implemented and executed one of the most efficient expansion and operations plans in business history. Today, Kroc’s operation has provided ownership opportunities, jobs, hamburgers, fries, and shakes to billions of people worldwide and over $9 billion in net worth for his estate. Operators represent the majority of successful entrepreneurs at an approximated percentage of 95.

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Steps to selecting the right vehicle: 1. Decide what type of entrepreneur type you are: Innovator or Operator 2. Pick a business that you can create massive leverage in to amplify your earning potential beyond your own efforts. 3. Find a business or investment vehicle that has a healthy Return on Capital, low ongoing fixed overhead and strong potential for residual income. Invest into a business that is riding a long term trend upward, has a strong track record, strong leadership, thorough training systems and support, and untapped market potential, with unique and differentiated products that millions of people need and will buy over and over again because they run out often. Note: Return on Invested Capital (ROIC) is how well a business or investment returns cash flow related to the amount of capital invested from all sources including long term liabilities, equity and debt. For instance if you invested $30,000 into you business to get it started, get coached, and operate it for an entire year and it returned you $60,000 in after tax cash flow then your ROIC would be 200%. If it returned you $3,000 in cash flow in that time period the ROIC would be 10%. The formula for calculating this is below: ROIC=Net Operating Profit-Adjusted Taxes /Invested Capital Example: $100,000 in Net Operating Profit–$40,000 in Taxes/ $30,000 total Capital invested=200% Return on Invested Capital is an important formula for anyone building wealth because everything you do will have an ROIC percentage and typically the higher the return the higher the risk, with a handful of exceptions. For instance putting $30,000 into a low risk FDIC insured savings account with after tax money may yield you a 2% interest return per year and be readily liquid and available for emergencies, but you will have to pay

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CHRIS J. SNOOK & Muzafer Najfi tax on that interest income and with inflation of 4% you would actually have a negative ROIC when you factor in the future value of money. The first principle in wealth building is to realize that there are only two ways to make money and you need to employ them both efficiently at the most optimal return-versus-risk ratio and analyze opportunities on an equal footing with some idea of your projected ROIC. Time is spent in all endeavors and can never be regained, so invest your time and money wisely at the highest and safest most likely returns to get wealthy fast and stay wealthy forever.

The two ways to earn money: 1. You at Work 2. Your Money at Work

Okay, since we are focused on rebuilding and restoring your life and getting you back to financial abundance as quickly as possible, we are going to focus on Operators with our recommendations from here on through the end of the book. Innovators should also build Operator type business models in their portfolio as a hedge against their more risky businesses to round out their portfolio, so I encourage you to follow this plan as well as build at least one strong and stable cash-cow business with an Operator mindset in the coming year. It will serve you well as you chase down glory and endeavor to invent a new world for the rest of us. In the world of opportunities for Operator type entrepreneurs there are essentially three categories that you will assess for investments of your time and newly created seed capital from Decision 3. Let’s discuss them all briefly and one in depth since it has the highest potential ROIC with lowest risk. 1. Franchise

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Wealth matters 2. Direct Sales (Real Estate, Insurance, Internet Retailing, Infomarketing, etc.) 3. Network Marketing

Franchising Franchising is a great business model that is well established and responsible for all kinds of consumer consumption on a daily basis from coffee to hamburgers, maid service to auto-glass repair, health clubs to medical spas and massage. The pros of Franchising are numerous and well documented so let’s just look at the financial aspects so that you can analyze the potential ROIC quotient and scalability. According to Entrepreneur Magazine the Top 10 Franchises for 2011 had a range of startup investment between $3,000 to $145,000. www. entrepreneur.com/franchises/lowcost/index.html That takes care of the first cost associated with launching a franchise which is typically called the Initial Franchise Fee, but there are other costs to consider. Legal: It is not recommended to sign a UFOC (Uniform Franchise Offering Circular) without having an attorney review it since they are lengthy and required by law for all legitimate franchise offers. This will cost on average between $1,500-$3,000. Buildout Costs: This is impossible to average since not all franchises required tenant improvements; however, even vehicle based or homebased franchise opportunities will have costs associated with equipment or software costs to get launched. Inventory: Retail oriented franchises will often have a minimum startup inventory purchase requirement of between $20,000-$50,000 in the UFOC to insure that you are properly stocked for the day you open up for business. Supplies: This can include things like plastic silverware and napkins for a food service franchise, to printer ink, paper, signs, etc. for real estate or service-based businesses.

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CHRIS J. SNOOK & Muzafer Najfi Working Capital: This is the available day to day cash reserves to operate the business, buy more inventory, make payroll and payroll tax payments, rent payments, buy gas (if it’s a mobile franchise) and the franchisor will typically provide an average recommendation on a case by case basis that could range from two months of operating capital to several years in reserves. Royalty Payments: Depending on the franchise it is standard to see fees up to 6-7% of gross revenue due monthly to the Franchisor in the form of royalty payments and many franchises on the lower startup cost side, have converted to fixed monthly royalty payments of between $495$995 per month instead of taking a percentage of gross sales.

Another important thing to consider: CREDIT SCORE: Many franchises will screen potential owners based upon their credit worthiness and ability to access capital for purchasing necessary equipment, vehicles, lease guarantees, etc. Individuals with poor credit will need a co-signor or partner in many cases and may not qualify. LOCATION: You cannot earn money outside of your designated area without purchasing another franchise in a new area, so if you face any economic volatility in your consumer market you will have less flexibility to improve your sales or prevent a devastating impact to your financial pro forma. What is the upside? Well for a simple example let’s use a middle of the road example that you open up a franchise location in a highly profitable area. Let’s imagine that you invest $150,000 in total in the first year of business on all the things listed above and that after taxes you earn a free cash flow of $100,000. That would be an ROIC in year 1 of 67% and if you were able to continue to operate that business in year 2-5 for $100k per year since you no longer have the initial start up fees and one-time investments then your ROIC for each year from year 2-5 would be 100%. That is why people buy franchises. They control their own destiny in their own business, leverage the brand and exposure of the franchisor

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Wealth matters who has established the current and future need of those products in the marketplace, and earn a high 2 to 3 digit return on their invested capital each and every year. However, I would like to tell you why I am not recommending you start or invest in a franchise as part of your Wealth Matters Makeover plan. Here is my biggest issue other than the higher cost of capital and location centric nature which opens up some unpredictable vulnerability to your future income if the market shifts around you. The main reason I don’t recommend it is because every time you want to double your money, you will have to plunk down another $150,000 in this case. This business model requires that you double your output every time you wish to double your input. It isn’t wrong but it is costly and not the most efficient way to create residual passive income and long term liquidity. Franchises may have a place in your portfolio in the future, but if you haven’t run a portfolio of them before, they have a steep learning curve when you look to scale up and I fear it is one that few Operators without prior success in the industry can afford when there are lower risk, higher return options out there.

Direct Sales/Info-Marketing Another option to assess would be under the category of direct selling businesses which can be loosely defined as businesses by which you serve as an intermediary between buyer and seller and typically have a percentage of income derived from your personal direct sales and an override or commission from the agents you develop directly below you. Real Estate and Insurance or Mortgage Brokerages fall into this category if they are not a franchised operation. They typically operate in Broker and Agent type model where the Broker splits a commission with each Agent that generates a transaction and earns the full percentage split on any personal volume. Other and more recent opportunities that have exploded in the internet and social-media-crazed marketplace we now live in are direct sales businesses that operate from a home-base and are web based either via an eBay or Amazon Marketplace, or affiliate websites where the bulk of the effort is spent redirecting search queries from Google, Bing, and other search portals to your landing page or website where a conversion or sale can take place. Other more artsy people have started craft stores on www.etsy.com to sell their crafts, paintings and fashion designs. Many people who opt for this route start an inexpensive blog site for under $1,000 that functions

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CHRIS J. SNOOK & Muzafer Najfi as a website on wordpress.org, tumblr.com, or blogger.com and link drive traffic through craigslist.org and those who provide contracting services like plumbing, construction, or handyman work use angieslist.com or yelp.com to drive local reviews and leads to either a Facebook fan page enabled with an F-Commerce store provided free through an app like www.payvment. com. The successful people in this vehicle realize the value of video as well in search and typically build and record frequent youtube posts that are entertaining, educational, and informative and host a branded YouTube channel that they drive traffic and subscribers to through all of their offline and online marketing efforts. The keys to making a direct sale business work are building out a valuable, relevant, and easy to find communication engine online and promote it through any and all of their offline marketing channels and promotions. You need to position yourself as an expert and authority in the area of your offering, attend local networking events, stay consistent and active in social media, run pay per click (PPC) and SEO (search engine optimization) campaigns and figure out an inexpensive merchant solution to process credit cards. I like Google Checkout or PayPal and my favorite new solution is Square™ which turns your mobile smartphone into a credit card machine. Visit, paypal.com, googlecheckout.com, and squareup.com for more information and go to usps.gov for some inexpensive shipping solutions. You can start a direct sales or info-based business for under $1,000 and operate it with anywhere from $500-$2,500 per month depending on how much PPC and SEO advertising, inventory, supplies you need to purchase. I suggest that everyone opens up an internet focused business in an area that you are passionate hobbyist as one of your Wealth Matters Makeover streams of income (you want multiple sources of income), but realize that it will take you time to build an audience, following, and that although you can turn your unpaid hobby into a profitable one without a tremendous amount of time and effort, seeing it materialize into a wealth machine will take a long time and require you to work diligently and consistently at it. As a percentage of your ROIC on a well designed direct sale business should be higher than in franchising but the dollar amount of cash flow will likely grow slower to six-figures. For instance, let’s assume that you invest $12,000 this year into your direct sales internet-based business and after taxes earn

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Wealth matters $36,000. That would be a 300% ROIC which is AWESOME and you have no location risk because you can sell anywhere in the world with low total overhead and almost zero fixed overhead. You also begin to brand the most important thing you can in today’s world…YOURSELF. However, you are losing the awareness advantage that comes from buying into a franchise that is already well know and spends millions of dollars marketing to the general public for you. The bottom line with this vehicle is to start one immediately and turn your hobby or passion from an expense into a profit generating source of cash flow. However, think of it with a long-term view and expectation. If you give it time it always works and has very low risk of losing your investment.

Network Marketing Rounding out our trifecta of potential vehicles is Network Marketing. The industry has been in existence since 1954 and statistically has created more millionaires than any other industry in its relatively short existence. You can no doubt name a half-dozen friends, family, or annoying neighbors who have gotten involved once or twice in network marketing and who aren’t millionaires. Before you close the book or turn the page, I want to give you my perspective on this industry and more importantly turn you over to Muzafer who has over 16 years of personal and full-time experience helping people navigate this highly leveraged, brilliant, but often misunderstood and abused business model. Let’s start with the conceptual merits behind Network Marketing as it relates to Franchising and Direct Sales/Info-Marketing vehicles and the ROIC calculation, before diving into the pros and cons and differences between a legitimate and viable network marketing company and the illegal pyramid and Ponzi schemes that also exist. Network Marketing is a brilliant blend of both of the other vehicles that leverages the brand equity, infrastructure, major capital investment, unique product lines, and earning plans of a large company with the low overhead, high return, and word of mouth marketing power of social networks. It also incorporates the mobile and computer based Internet to move product and services all over the world and pay out tiered commissions to the distributor networks that operate independently as business owners.

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CHRIS J. SNOOK & Muzafer Najfi Network Marketing distributors can open up a business in seconds that comes equipped with everything from replicated websites and shopping carts to just-in-time drop ship inventory for between $0-$500 one-time initiation and usually an initial personal inventory purchase for sampling, etc. for as little as $100-$500. Every customer you enroll or sell product to has the potential option to upgrade into a distributorship as well but is not required to own a store. Getting trained, keeping your minimum volume for check qualification as a customer, and running your website and back office will typically run you as little as $150-$1,000 per month depending on how actively you are traveling to other cities to build your distribution team. To me the most important distinction between this business model and the franchise model is the leveraged scalability and flexibility to sell your product without territorial restriction. Here is what I mean from an ROIC standpoint by leveraged scalability. You will recall from the section about franchising that in order to double your income once you are successful by opening another storefront you have to double your investment expenditure. In Network Marketing to double your income you don’t have to double your one-time or fixed overhead at all. Every single distributor that you enroll or that is enrolled in your organization represents the opening of another storefront location that you earn income from. The difference is they make the investment to open the store and keep up with the monthly overhead, not you! For instance if the franchise owner in the example earlier wanted to have 1,000 potential locations that could provide her with income she would have to spend $150,000 (in the example) 1,000 times!!! That would mean an investment of $150,000,000 to potentially earn $100,000,000 per year. However, if you don’t have $150,000,000 laying around, but want to have 1000 potential storefronts that you earn money from each month, then in Network Marketing you would simply have to invest in the $500-$1000 to open and launch your business and keep up with the $150-$1000 per month overhead and introduce a few people who introduce a few people who understand the power of the last paragraph and you could have 1,000 storefronts driving revenue each month for the price of maintaining your own. Using the same smart low-cost methods of the Internet marketing/ direct sale vehicle with the branding power, infrastructure, training, and support of the franchise model, Network Marketing is by far the most simple and powerfully explosive income machine ever invented.

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Wealth matters BUT!!!!!! Like many great business models with a philosophy of creating mutually profitable relationships between the manufacturer, distributor, and end user, Network Marketing has been both blessed and cursed by its low barriers to entry and equal opportunity mission. The blessing is that Network Marketing has created more multi-millionaires than any other industry in the world, and its curse is it has also been a feeding ground for evil doers, scam artists, charlatans, and unethical people who have used it as a way to defraud eager people who weren’t empowered to discern the difference between a good opportunity and a scam. The Internet has proliferated the number of fly-by-night, get-rich-quick peddlers, yet there still remains to the properly discerning and educated business person a group of solidly built and fantastically run organizations that are the light of the industry. It is very easy sometimes in life and business to throw the baby out with the dirty bath water, and I promise you that you can’t afford to do that with Network Marketing by dismissing it as a valuable part of your income portfolio and a foundational entry point to your journey back to the top of Success Mountain. In recent years Network Marketing hasn’t been alone in its struggle to defend its valuable and ethical company’s from the barrage of public opinion generated by the hype of its failures. Look at the energy market, insurance world, or financial services and banking sectors and you will notice that they too have been making efforts to feature their legacy institutions that have done business properly and ethically to revitalize their image on the heels of every Enron, AIG, Goldman Sachs, Lehman Brothers, and Countrywide Mortgage. If you still deposit your money into a bank, pay your insurance premium, or invest in your 401k or Roth IRA then please remain open to finding the right Network Marketing company, because there are a handful of really solid ones still out there, run by phenomenal people who truly want to get wealthy helping their distributors get wealthy too. My last word of advice before turning you over to Muzafer to tell you exactly everything you need to know to evaluate a viable Network Marketing opportunity and then succeed in achieving a six-figure residual income will be to download a FREE copy of a Masters Thesis that I did for the San Diego State MBA program back in 2005 that analyzed 15 years worth of

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CHRIS J. SNOOK & Muzafer Najfi case law titled MLM vs Pyramid: A Layperson’s Guide to Evaluating this often Misunderstood Business Model. Scan below for my whitepaper report: GATEWAY

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Remember that the difference between the great champions in life that win gold medals, Oscars and Emmys, Nobel Laureates, and reach the top heights of their profession is not twice or three times as much talent, luck, or effort. It is often milliseconds and millimeters (or fingernails in the case of Michael Phelps in 2008), that separate the results and rewards of the world-class elite from the rest of the world. If you sign up in any business or investment with the idea that you will not have to work hard, work consistently, and manage it with a keen eye and attention to detail, then I am afraid you are living on a different planet than earth. Mastering a new skill or craft and being the best at what you do, and WINNING is the most FUN thing in the world. Fall in love with the idea of getting wealthy on all levels of your life, and don’t treat Network Marketing any differently than you would a franchise you invested $150,000 into. Pay special attention to my friend Muzafer in these last two chapters and watch what happens to your income in 12 months! This guy made his first six figure residual income in Network Marketing in 1998 and has never looked back. His tips and advice will work in any Network Company and also help you assess and find one that suits you and your needs best. I have known and watched him from afar since I first met him through a mutual acquaintance in 2001 and I have firsthand experience that he truly knows the difference between a good opportunity and a bad one and how to help a person maximize the compensation plan. Like any professional in their field he has made some investments of his time, energy, and talent into Network Marketing companies that unraveled, lost their way, or flat out disappeared in the dead

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Wealth matters of night, yet he has always been able to take his team and the lessons they learned to find a better vehicle to drive. As an introduction from him on the reason WHY he has spent the last 16 years of his professional life in the Network Marketing field full-time, scan the QR below and watch a quick 90-second video: WHY NETWORK MARKETING? GATEWAY

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“Find someone who has what you want and if you do what they do then you will get what they got!” Muzafer Najfi

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Muzafer’s 11th Law Pick the Right Vehicle Chris is accurate with his intro. I have spent 16 years since I left college full-time within the Network Marketing industry. As a matter of fact, I have never had a W2 from another employer in my adult life. I am currently 37 years old and have made millions of dollars, retired my parents, provided for my family, purchased multiple homes and cars for my family and loved ones all because of this industry! I have helped my best friends, and some outright strangers (who later became friends) earn six and seven figure annual incomes in this industry and absolutely still LOVE the energy of a new person when I watch them get started and go for their dream. It pains me that so many people who have tried this industry before have failed because they didn’t know how to assess a good opportunity from a bad one, or didn’t have a sponsor and training program that could nurture them through the early stages and teach them how to build a world-class sales team and organization of fellow distributors. As Chris stated earlier in the chapter, if you took the most talented and hard-working race car driver in the world and put her into the Honda Civic on race day, the wrong vehicle will make the deciding difference in the results they achieve and the lack of belief they may have about the sport of racing. I have been in the wrong vehicle before in this industry. Sometimes it was because early on I didn’t know what the difference was, and other times it is because I got outright lied to by the people in charge. I have far more experience than I ever imagined I would need and have learned that 98% of the opportunities and companies that start up in Network Marketing unfortunately are doomed to fail their distributors for some reason or another. Two percent are what make the industry proud and are responsible for the sustainable residual incomes for millions of people worldwide who love the industry and speak about it with pride like I do. I will teach you how to find a two percent opportunity and more importantly what you need to do the minute you get involved to maximize your chance at a first year six-figure income that becomes residual and grows in year two and beyond.

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Wealth matters In 16 years I have probably been on stage in front of more than one million distributors and what’s interesting to note is that when asked a simple question as to what the catalyst to get started in the opportunity was, the response has always been approximately 2/3 of the people joined because they saw an exciting way to make money and 1/3 of the people joined their chosen company because it had a great product that they fell in love with and found out later that they could market and distribute it as a source of income. I share this with you because these statistics have been the same whether I was on stage in front of a service oriented company or product based company. The takeaway point is that two out of three people join any Network Marketing company because they are looking for an affordable business that they have a chance at earning extra or full-time income with, and justify that decision based upon being in harmony with the product line that company sells to some varying degree. Therefore, since I know after over one million test cases that 67% of you will make your decision on the financial side, I need to give you a quick education on the Pros and Cons of the various types of compensation plans (comp plans) you will run into as you evaluate or get pitched an opportunity. Remember this:

ALL COMPENSATION PLANS ARE NOT CREATED EQUAL!

Chris talked earlier about ROIC. My version of that analysis is simply I don’t like to exert the same amount of effort and earn less money! Therefore I advise you not to either. Here is a quick study in the more popular compensation models employed by Network Marketing companies so that you can understand the difference and choose wisely. When you look at Network Marketing one of the biggest flaws is that at large EVERY company says that they have the most lucrative or best compensation plan, and the truth is that 98% of them have a major flaw somewhere that ultimately unravels the incentive chain that would usually and otherwise keep good organizations and good leaders around. This is

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CHRIS J. SNOOK & Muzafer Najfi what often gets the industry all of the negative press and “Pyramid” rhetoric. To be clear a Pyramid or Ponzi scheme is illegal and is nothing more than a money game (i.e. Bernie Madoff) where the only real thing being transacted is the opportunity and the product has no real intrinsic market value. Illegal Pyramids don’t make up more than a minority percentage of the total companies, but in Network Marketing even a legitimate company with a flawed pay plan that allows for something called “breakage” can function unfairly and appear to the individual distributors the same as an illegal Pyramid scam. The problem with ineffective or flawed pay plans is rampant and they do exist. The result is always a ton of people at the bottom of the company working hard and making very little money and a handful of people and owners at the top making all of the money as it floats up through some form of breakage or another. This is because very few new or even some experienced network marketers don’t know what breakage is. As a new rule of thumb, when you are looking for a home in Network Marketing and evaluating the opportunity you are going to join and hear someone tell you that they have absolutely the best pay plan, please immediately ask them “What’s the worst?” If they can’t answer you then they honestly don’t know and can’t be sure since they are just repeating the marketing message they were trained to. You will find that many people trying to recruit you may not even know the names of the other types of pay plans out there (you won’t be one of them after reading and studying the chart below) in the market today and have nothing to compare their company’s pay plan to but hope and prayers. HOPE is not a business strategy. Here is your quick dissertation in common Network Marketing plans starting with the worst. This first plan type is not only the worst, but also the slowest and the oldest pay plan (think 8-Track player) in the industry. It is called a Stairstep Breakaway. The biggest issue with a Stairstep Breakaway plan is that when people in your team get to the same level as you in the comp plan you actually earn less money, so the incentive to help your people win is trumped by the need to keep them down in order to maximize your income. This makes zero sense, which is why it has been used less and less in recent years by companies. The positive thing about the Stairstep Breakaway is that it

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Wealth matters is what started the industry and also established Network Marketing as a legitimate business model in the courts during the early days and therefore has done the entire industry a great service in that regard. The problem is it is a tough pay plan to get wealthy in and it has become out of date, as technology, the law, and business models have evolved at a greater pace and allowed for evolution in the industry. The second pay plan type that has taken off in popularity in the last 15 years has been hot because of the instant gratification society that we live in. As our individual expectations have moved to an impatience that is unprecedented in history with instant lotto, instant coffee, instant boyfriend/girlfriend, instant TV and movies and entertainment, and instant 24/7 news, and instant lunch or dinner, we have as a society moved into one drawn by the idea of getting rich quickly. The Binary play plans can be one of the fastest pay plans with regards to earning potential in the early stages and are also known as 2x2s. However in Binary plans there are lots of little nuances that most people aren’t aware of that can dramatically affect your residual income or bonus pay with indirect forms of Breakage. The first nuance in Binary plans is that they often pay the commission off of the smallest leg. The excitement around a 2x2 model is based on the idea that your upline is building one of your legs for you and you only have to build out the other one. Because this seems like less work, people like it. However in almost every Binary the average distributor has close to 3-5x more people in the large leg than the small leg, and you can’t earn money on the deeper layers of the large leg, until the small leg catches up, so there remains a high potential for breakage. That “Breakage” in the large leg and its associated commission rolls up to the upline above or the company itself, so the size of the organization and sales volume in your team can be nothing but numbers on paper since you are ‘unqualified’ to earn the associated commissions. Some companies pay only on the small leg, or “cycle” off of the small team, and some companies “income match.” However this is typically always off of the small leg, so make sure you understand and have a plan that will allow you to build your small leg consistently and don’t buy into the hype that you can get rich being lazy. The positive part in a Binary is that it creates fast growth in your team which tends to lead to increased belief and motivation in the new person. There is also a very strong “fear of loss” factor that can be used to enroll people more efficiently since they are potentially losing immediate team members

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CHRIS J. SNOOK & Muzafer Najfi from the power leg spillover. Most people, 67%, are motivated to move because of what they stand to lose, whereas 33% of people are motivated to move because of the potential for gain. This is why Binary’s work well for sparking growth and excitement in a Network Marketing organization and these benefits do have merit, but don’t make up for the risk of breakage in my opinion. The third type of compensation plan is a Matrix or Forced Matrix. These plans caught favor in the earlier part of the 2000s as an alternative to Binary plans with some of the same fast start promises. The most popular was a 3x8 matrix but other forms exist as well. The features such as check matching and bonuses were an exciting lure for many, but the problem with these pay plans lies in the fact that they limit how deep you can earn income and force you to go deep since they are fixed in width. They can create stability because of this depth, and you can earn back some of your lost breakage if the plan has check matching by placing a new directly sponsored person deep in a non-performing leg. The other thing to look for is a thing called Dynamic Compression which compresses unqualified levels as inactive during those pay periods so that active levels end up in your pay line. Forced Matrixes or Matrix plans without check matching or dynamic compression are wrought with Breakage and should be avoided, and unfortunately, even plans with those features fail to incentivize all three types of builders in your organization fairly, which can lead to people jumping ship to ‘greener grass’ after you have spent tons of time, effort, and money building your organization. The fourth compensation plan type is also in my opinion the fairest compensation plan. It has the base of what is called a Uni-Level and a mixture of other comp plan highlights. It is called a Hybrid Uni-Level. Now, a regular Uni-Level is still fair but is riddled with flaws that cause breakage or disincentivize some of the people at certain levels of accomplishment because it doesn’t build income fast enough for the new person or part-timer which is the thrust of all Network Marketing distributorships. This is why a Hybrid Uni-Level is the fairest and best compensation plan on the market, because it combines the stability of a Uni-Level with enhanced bonuses, car allowances, 90-day cash and trip bonuses, and check matching features that incentivize not only the new person in need of immediate momentum and income, but also the long-time steady part time builder, without discouraging the big hitter and full-time person from working with

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Wealth matters all members of the team to help max out their compensation. It allows you to place wide and deep in your organization to build wealth and stability. It allows you to reward the people who got started with you early, as well as the producers who join later, and you can positively ‘trap’ your people into earning high incomes that are tough to walk away from. I have been all around this industry and in every type of plan you can imagine in 16 years and it took me a long time to find one that had the power, stability, and potential I wanted for me and my people to build a long term business that could actually be willed to the next generation. The good companies and good plans do exist and now that you are more educated you will know what type of things to look for to find a 2% company and avoid getting drained by one of the 98%.

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CHAPTER FOURTEEN YOU AT WORK – YOUR MONEY AT WORK “It is ok to sleep but money does not have to!” MuzaFER NaJFI

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s was stated in the previous chapter, there are only two ways to earn more money. The first one is YOU at work and the second is YOUR MONEY at work. A detailed analysis of investment strategies, financial and tax planning techniques, investment vehicles and asset protection structures is well beyond the scope that can be adequately covered in this chapter. Therefore, since the primary focus and goal of this text is to thoroughly detail how you can adopt, nurture, and develop a wealthy mindset and then tactically begin creating some highly leveraged, lower risk and immediate streams of income to stimulate your personal financial reality, we will spend this chapter highlighting a few high-level concepts that you should consider and research as you look to put your newly found money to work alongside of you in the coming year. Before we jump into some of the places where you can put your extra money to work I want to briefly reiterate and emphasize the need to create extra income in a leveraged fashion by touching on the interplay between time and money. Most of the stress that you face in your life today and will face in the future will come down to a tug of war between the two resources of time and money. Time will be traded to create money no matter how you configure your strategy, but since time cannot be recreated and is our most valuable and finite resource with unknown remaining supplies you really need to use your time wisely starting today and after you complete your Wealth Matters Makeover. Trading time for money in a job or highly skilled profession is a 1:1 ratio of effort and reward and should be avoided in high percentages by any person seeking to gain financial wealth and more time freedom. It is impossible to get wealthy by yourself!!!!!! I am not telling a salaried person

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Wealth matters or successful doctor or lawyer to quit their day job today, but I am telling everyone reading this that you need to create multiple sources of income from multiple avenues and that a good goal would be to strive for no more than 50% of your total income this year to come from work that requires you to show up in order to be compensated. This is why I love the concept of Network Marketing for those in need of a catalyst to their income statement that is highly leveraged and residual in nature. What Muzafer teaches shows you how to take your limited time and leverage the efforts of your organization’s collective time to get wealthy as a team! If you only have 10 hours per week outside of your existing commitments to start an investment strategy and business, then Network Marketing allows you to use that 10 hours per week to find, nurture, and develop a team of 100, 1000, or 10,000 people who have the same or more time each week to work on expanding their incomes. Think about that for a minute. In each of those examples you would increase your work capacity by 100x, 1,000x, or 10,000x on a weekly basis. If you take the middle of the road and only built an organization that collectively had 1,000 people working 10 hours per week (50 weeks per year) that is an extra 500,000 hours each year you are earning money! Most of the world’s mental conditioning around money tells them to go get another part-time job with those 10 hours per week. If you or a spouse went to your local retail store for a part-time job and got paid $8 per hour (slightly higher than the minimum wage in 2011) you would only earn a $100 per week (before taxes) trading time for money. If invested that same amount of time in the Network Marketing world with the right company, and after 12 months had incrementally earned your way to an organization of 1,000 people actively working 10 hours per week distributing products or services that gave you the equivalent override of $8 per month per distributor (20 cents per hour per person) you would be earning an $8,000 per month ($96,000 per year) residual income on top of whatever your personal production produced. Alright, so whether it is through an Internet marketing based business, network marketing vehicle or combination of the two, you have now created extra income with a residual basis. YOU have been at work. Now you have to simultaneously put YOUR MONEY to work. Albert Einstein called compound interest the 8th Wonder of the World. Look at

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CHRIS J. SNOOK & Muzafer Najfi the example below of what happens to a single penny when doubled every day for 31 days.

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Wealth matters WOW! The impact of compound interest at the later stages of momentum has over a $5 million dollar swing between the 30th and 31st day in this example. Now that is YOUR MONEY working well!!!!! Since the penny example is purely for illustrating the power of compounding and not suggesting that you need to, or will find, a low risk investment that doubles your money annually (let alone daily), it is important to have a simple and effective way to understand how long it will take you to double your money at various rates of return and what the impact of compounding inflation will have on that money, so that you can project and plan your future and retirement and lifestyle needs. Introducing the rules of 72, 70, and 69: (Use these to help analyze your investment strategies and build your plan)

The Rule of 72 The Rule of 72 is the most common quick calculation used to estimate how long it will take for you to double your principle investment at various interest rates of returns in most common interest calculations (CDs, Savings instruments, Annuities, etc.) For all of these examples we will use the residual income generated above of $96,000 per year in the part-time Network Marketing example as the principal invested. You can arrive at the length (in years) to double your money by simply dividing 72 by the Interest Rate of Return. Example: If you invested that $96,000 into a long-term low risk investment vehicle and the Interest Rate was 3%… Then 72/3=24 years to have double ($192,000) If the CD paid 5% then it would double your $96,000 in… 72/5= 14.4 years to $192,000

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CHRIS J. SNOOK & Muzafer Najfi That extra 2% annual increase in return got you a double on your money in 40% faster!!!! If you were able to get 7.5% interest then you would have $192,000 in… 72/7.5= 9.6 years (or 60% faster than in the 3% example)

The Rule of 70 The rule of 70 is used for you to determine the time for your money’s buying power to be halved by inflation. This is imperative to understand since your money today will not buy you the same amount of goods and services in 10 years, 20 years, or beyond due to the hidden tax we all pay of inflation due to our FIAT currency and central banking system. Note to the reader: For more information on how money is created and manipulated globally and its impacts on your prosperity you MUST read The Creature From Jekyll Island by G. Edward Griffin. The rule works the same way so you simply divide the estimated or current inflation rate or Consumer Price Index (CPI) into 70. Example: If inflation is at 4% per annum then your buying power will be cut in half in… 70/4=17.5 years If you blend these two calculations together you will realize that if you had your $96,000 invested into a 5% income account and doubled it by 14.4 years and inflation was averaging 4% per year, that you have preserved your buying power of the original $96,000 and outpaced the wealth erosion caused by inflation by (17.5-14.4=) 3.1 years. On the contrary, had you saved that $96,000 in a 3% account and doubled it in 24 years you would have been outpaced by the rate of wealth erosion caused by inflation by 6.5 years.

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The Rule of 69 The Rule of 69 (or 69.3) is best used when you want to calculate a more accurate timetable in continuous (daily) compounding type investment vehicles, or where the interest rate is a derivative in basis points or fractions of a percent, since it is more accurate than 72. The Rule of 72 is most often used because it provides an accurate ballpark figure and is more easily divisible on a napkin or sheet of paper when you want a quick analysis. If you wanted to know the doubling time of an investment that was a fractional percent you would simply divide 69.3 by the percentage. Note the accuracy difference between 72 and 69.3 in this example of a savings account paying .35% per year. 69.3/.35=198 years vs 72/.35=205.7 years Another note worth mentioning is that you when comparing apples to apples in your choice of investments (i.e. Option investment account vs Option B investment account) use the Rule of 72 to estimate the impact of additional fees and financial administrative policies that are inherent in many Universal Variable Life Policies or Mutual Fund investments. For instance, if the total annual fees are 3% above any underlying portfolio investment costs (i.e. trading commissions, etc) then… 72/3=24 years before the impact of that fee has halved your nest egg’s value. Pulling this all together in a real world example using a modest but healthy interest rate 9% and an inflation rate of 4% and a Fee of 3% you will see that your $96,000 would have a Net (Interest earned of 9% minus fees of 3%) annual compounding rate of return equaling 6% and therefore would… • Double to $192,000 in 12 years • Outpace the rate of inflation by 5.5 years (preserving your buying power with a slight increase from today) The best thing about putting your money to work for you is that YOUR MONEY will never call in sick, complain, or get tired. You have heard the

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CHRIS J. SNOOK & Muzafer Najfi famous quote by Michael Douglas in the movie Wall Street that “money never sleeps”, but if you don’t put yours to work, your wealth is eroding faster and faster every single day. Now for a word about Financial Advisors, Stock Brokers, Real Estate and Insurance Agents, and the dizzying blur of our 24/7 financial news cycle and commentary. I love studying money, business, and the like. You may or may not. It’s okay if you don’t, but I want to caution you on being passive with your investment strategy. None of us are looking for more tasks to do in our day, and many of you are probably already wondering how you will fit in the needed study and activity time related to your Wealth Matters Makeover plan. Here is my simple advice: 1. TURN OFF YOUR CABLE (or at least let the other people in your family watch it for you for the next six months.) You need to FAST on television and television news for at least this long to create your new habit and unplug yourself from the ‘herd’ mentality. 2. Study your craft, attend trainings and conferences in your industry, read books, and work with your coach and mentors to build your business! 3. Become a hungry and student of wealth and financial related performance. Start spending the majority of time with those in your circle who are equally or more dedicated to getting wealthy and spend less time with those happy to just survive and shop at Target, Walmart, and Costco on the weekends. 4. Read the books recommended in the Appendix of this book over the coming year in any order you wish after you read the first two (the two most important books I have read in 20 years). Trade the activities in your life that are sapping you of energy and time (lower value) with the activities above and remember you are doing this for your family!

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Wealth matters Some critical concepts that you will definitely want to research, consider, and analyze as your wealth begins to build over the coming years and you look for more and more efficient ways to put your money to work and protect your estate.

THE BASICS YOU NEED TO PRESERVE YOUR WEALTH Getting properly insured. Health Just so you know, I HATE paying for healthcare, but I HATE losing money even more!!!! No matter how fortunate you are thus far with your health, every one of us is only one accident or cancer cell away from being in a world of financial trouble. Healthcare reform is not going to be your saving grace in my opinion since it is likely to only become more expensive and less personal in the years to come. If you are one of the fortunate few currently insured by an employer than I encourage you to keep that job, but build your business on the side and plan for the day when those benefits get cut and you will have to self-insure or subsidize that employer plan. The new rules that go into effect will make it even harder for corporations to pay for expanded health care benefits, so you are likely to see more and more responsibility shift to you in the coming years. The good news is that since you are now self-employed in your Network Marketing and/or Internet business or franchise, I advise you to talk to your attorney to set up an LLC or Sub-Chapter S-Corp in your state of residence and then set up payroll through a company like Paychex or ADP for you and your spouse as the two owner-employees. Then find a healthcare provider or insurance company in your market that provides Small Group benefit plans that start with as little as two employees and pick a plan that suits your needs and budget. Once you have the premium set you can run the expense through your payroll company as a ‘shareholder’ distribution, and it becomes a write-off to

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CHRIS J. SNOOK & Muzafer Najfi your taxes* (*obviously I am not an accountant and these rules change often, so please consult your CPA and attorney before implementing this advice). Term Life If you are under the age of 55 and in reasonable health you want to start with at least a Term Life Insurance policy that allows you essentially ‘rent’ the death benefit; this is extremely affordable. A 20-year term policy would cover your estate and pay the death benefit if you were to die early and allow your family to pay off any debts, mortgages, etc. and not have to stress about how they would continue to live their current lifestyle while they have the emotional stress of losing you. A reasonable amount to insure is your current net worth (or level of debt) plus 10x your annual household income. For instance if you have $500,000 in net worth today and earn $100,000 a year then you would want at least $1.5 million in death benefit. Term Life is a fast way to buy an instant estate plan that will be there in case something happens to you while you are building it. Infinite Banking/Privatized Banking Concepts A gentleman named Nelson Nash coined the concept “Infinite Banking” during his long tenure in the Life Insurance industry since the 1960s. In essence it is a strategy that uses dividends paying whole life insurance policies to allow for an individual to invest, lend, and borrow from their own portfolio instead of a finance company or bank at tax advantaged rates thus optimizing their rate of return, control, and freedom. This complex strategy of private banking is used by many wealthy people and family offices to maximize the control, return, and tax planning of their estate and you will want to spend some time thoroughly researching and interviewing people who offer these types of services before adding it to your wealth plan. This is a strategy you may want to consider as part of your long term savings and investment strategy, so as you pick your team of experts with specialized knowledge find an insurance agent that is one of the 5% who has been licensed in this strategy.

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Wealth matters Debt If you are currently hampered by mounting consumer debt, medical debt, IRS debt, or business debt, the first rule of thumb is to STOP THE BLEEDING. It is beyond the scope of this book to go into each strategy you can use to get your debt from spiraling out of control, so I will merely make you aware of several concepts and terms that you should plug into your search engine for further research and provide you some warning signs as well.

Warning #1: Avoid Debt Consolidation companies…

You got yourself into this debt without their help and whether you realize it or not YOU can (and should) get yourself out of it with your creditors. Even the non-profits in this sector make tons of money off your deposit and merely put you into a longer spin cycle with lower credit score. Do it yourself.

Warning #2: Avoid Loan Modification companies…

Deal with the bank directly and find a specialized attorney to help you file the paperwork you need to avoid being moved out or foreclosed on until they prove that they own the house or note.

Warning #3: Don’t ignore the IRS or State Tax Board.

Of all the debts you may have the only ones that can’t be written off in a Chapter 7 bankruptcy are Government Tax debt and Student Loans.

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CHRIS J. SNOOK & Muzafer Najfi Everyone else needs to be in the back of the line to these delinquencies since these will stay with you until they are resolved. You can find a place to rent, rebuild your credit, and get a different car later, but wage garnishments will kill you!!! GATEWAY

ENTER

FOURTEEN http://bit.ly/qQ7Zx3

Strategy #1: Create a Debt Domino Plan

There are several online resources “free debt acceleration planning” and I suggest you pick one and use it. The concept is simply that you take all of your monthly debts and rank them by which ones are the most expensive and quickest to pay off. You then manipulate your cash flows to pay an extra amount towards principal on the top ranked debt until it is gone, and then re-apply that no longer needed monthly expense to debt number two until it is gone and then debt three. It is reverse compounding and accelerating the time to living debt free. By freeing up as little as $100-$200 per month you can make major headway into your debt reduction and stop wasting money on interest fees and payments.

Strategy #2: Create a Just-in-Case Savings Fund

The first step in being self-sufficient is to create an Emergency fund that will grow until it equals at least six months of your lifestyle needs, and will replace your use of credit cards for this purpose. Credit cards should

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Wealth matters primarily be used to fund temporary gaps in cash flow and to earn reward points for free purchases, NOT to fund your lifestyle.

Strategy #3: Build a stable source of residual income… and then build another…and then another!

Think of the analogy of the carnival plate spinner, and remember that is how you should approach your sources of income. Get one source of income going really well (plate #1), and then let the inertia of that carry it for a short period while you get a second one off the ground. Then step back into maintenance of the first one and keep it spinning at speed, while tending to the second and then start a third. Repeat this on and on, but never try to get three spinning from the beginning at the same time. Remember you can manage more than you can do!

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Muzafer’s 12th Law Live on 50% of your income! As Chris clearly stated in this chapter, if you don’t have any free cash flow to invest and use credit cards to fund the gap in your lifestyle, you are living above your means! What that really means is that you can’t afford the lifestyle you currently have, let alone the one you want! Wealthy people don’t get wealthy doing what broke people do. You will never meet a truly wealthy person (not flashy and financed to the hilt fake wealthy wannabe) who lives their daily life and lifestyle on anywhere close to 100% of their income. My law in this regard is to live (immediately if not sooner), according to the following breakdowns of your financial portfolio as a starting point for your Wealth Matters Makeover. Your Expense Ratios as a Percent of Income: • 50% Living Expense (includes housing, food, clothes, insurance, entertainment, etc) • 10% Charity • 10% Emergency Savings • 10% Investment/Retirement Account • 20% Taxes If you are looking at that breakdown and thinking “Yeah right, Muzafer,” then stop and listen. You can only do one of three things to get within that range. 1) You can try to cut expenses, lifestyle, etc. to fit into the 50% framework, or 2) You can maintain your current expenses and increase your income to get everything aligned, or 3) You can combine smart cuts with increased income. Too many people try to make their lifestyle fit their income instead of making their income fit their lifestyle. This is probably because we were never taught about money anywhere in our K-12 education or beyond and

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Wealth matters just accepted what was messaged to us as ‘normal.’ Well as I stated earlier the majority rules and the majority is broke. If you want to be in the minority who have time and money freedom you need to control expenses, and raise your income so that you can actually afford and enjoy your dream life!

You will get lost without a ROADMAP! Be SPECIFIC!

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CHAPTER FIFTEEN YOUR 90-DAY BLUEPRINT It is time to begin your Wealth Matters Makeover with a 90-Day all-out BLITZ! Your action steps and guidelines are detailed below.

Day 1 Decide, Define, and Rank your WEALTH Score in all six areas using the following Chart as a guide: Scoring (1=Poor, 2=Unfulfilled, 3=Getting By, 4=Gaining Momentum, 5=Abundantly Blessed)

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Wealth matters Any area in your scorecard that is a 3 or less needs immediate attention and strategic planning to work in supportive and foundational activities into your daily schedule. Any area that is a 4 or 5 needs to be leveraged for mental energy, momentum, and resources to kick start your impoverished categories. For instance if you are a 5 in Financial and Vocation and a 1 in Physical, then you need to leverage your extra capital and invest in time off to get into see a Doctor, Personal Trainer, Nutritionist etc. and begin focusing the next 90 days on detoxifying your body and mind and get back on the road to healthy living so you will be around to invest and spend that hard earned money. Or, if you were a 5 in Spiritual and 4 in Physical but a 1 in Financial, then you need to use your connection and belief in a loving and generous universe and the energy and vitality of your physical body to invest time and effort into learning how to build your business and residual income and reconcile your birthright of abundance across all domains!

Days 2-7 Research, evaluate, interview, and find the right Circle of Influence, Coach and Mentors, and vehicle for you to join, adjust your existing schedule to accommodate, capitalize your starting point, and jump in with both feet! Since the majority of people reading this book right now don’t have $5 million sitting in an annuity throwing off a dividend of 5% per year ($250,000) whether you get out of bed or not, and that is the number that represents the minimum line to live a life in the coming years with minimum compromise, then the remainder of this will be focused on Muzafer’s recommendation on how you set yourself up to create a six figure residual income in Network Marketing over the next 12 months as a major catalyst to your cash flow.

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Muzafer’s 13th Law 90-Day Blueprint For a Six-Figure Income in Network Marketing In any type of sales oriented business you want an initial 90-day game plan that creates massive momentum! A key thing to remember is that you are always 90 days away from your income. This means that the work and effort you generate over the next 90 days will set the tone for the income you can expect to create in that business this year. It is obvious that in business the more sales you complete the more money you make. I hope you are involved in an industry where as you make sales today you earn a commission every month after! If not I encourage you to find a company in the Network Marketing industry with a powerful compensation plan that creates big upfront and stable residual income. The activities you do in the first 90 days of your makeover will create a habit for the rest of your career which will also bring you a larger residual benefit on all levels. When you begin you need a contagious belief which will convert itself into visible passion! People think that they need passion first and I believe that waiting to have passion first extends the amount of time in which your success will take to occur. So in the first 90 days you must have immediate belief that you are on the right road and that passion will follow, and then follow up that belief with PURE ENTHUSIASM! You must be “FIRED UP” inside that you are finally doing something about this wealth thing, and that you will let nothing stop you. FIRED UP is excitement on steroids. However, you must remain NORMAL on the outside which leads to the important term and skill of Relaxed INTENSITY! Think of the difference between someone who is genuinely attractive to you as a professional and genuinely annoying and overly self-involved and unaware. You want to aim for the first one and avoid being the second at all times.

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Wealth matters When it comes to belief, you must look at whatever you are selling (whether it is a product or an opportunity) and you must believe that what someone is paying for has far more value to them, than what you are selling it for! You must develop this belief in your product and company before you start and use it as a catalyst to get extremely active in the first 90 days. I believe that in network marketing when the “RIGHT” company is found by the RIGHT person, it is the greatest industry ever created and that you will get more out than what you put in. For example people signup for around $500 and spend around $100/month and the return can be a six-figure income for many and even a seven-figure income for those who really do well. BELIEF in providing someone with more in VALUE than you receive in commission is easy when the numbers are this skewed in a positive direction. If it costs only $1,600 to $2,000 in overhead and initial investment annually to get started and run a Network Marketing business than even someone who earns only $2,001 is profitable for the year. THAT IS A GREAT BUSINESS, which is why I love promoting it. Get involved in the “right” company, follow this game plan and buckle up to earn a six figure additional income in the coming year! Having belief and enthusiasm is great but you need to put in work! People always want an exact number to success in Network Marketing. There are formulas that if you follow you will have great results. Outside of the formula and completing the numbers someone must be consistent and follow the full program all the way through! Having a 90-day game plan in Network Marketing is simple but people almost stop when they see this game plan because of the first hurdle which is people. People have this ridiculous FEAR of running out of people to talk to about their business. If you are willing to work your business and work on yourself, you will NEVER run out of people. Think about it. Do you think that in today’s economy there are more people than ever in need of an opportunity that doesn’t cost a lot of money to start or maintain but that can yield a potentially high cash flow year after year? HELLO? 95% of the population in this country alone just fit the

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CHRIS J. SNOOK & Muzafer Najfi bill. If you think about that and eliminate the Unmotivatables from your list you are talking about close to 200 million people, and you only need a handful of committed team members running parallel to you in Network Marketing to build an organization in the tens of Thousands. If you have half-heartedly tried this before, or gave it your all but were in one of the BAD companies and have a membership in the NFL (No Friends Left) league, there are many ways to meet and find new people. In today’s time we have social media which allows us access to unlimited people and professionals for free. They even organize themselves into “Groups” on sites like LinkedIn, Facebook and Google+ to identify what hobbies and things they are interested in. If you sell nutritional products, search and get involved in the discussions around healthy living, weight loss, and look to build relationships and rapport and provide value to the group. Over time you will earn the opportunity to ‘present’ them with your opportunity. The question isn’t “Are there enough people?” The real question is “Are you willing to increase your ability to communicate with people in different media channels in order to build a relationship which will then allow you to expose that individual to an opportunity?” If you are willing to personally develop yourself and schedule your business into your life you will exceed and create wealth beyond your wildest dreams! Wealth Matters and so does Desire + Belief + Enthusiasm + Commitment + Consistent Work + Communication/closing skills + Follow-up! ARE YOU READY? OK…Let’s do the work to make a Six Figure Income this year in Network Marketing! Before you look at these numbers I want you to imagine that somebody came to you and said that all you had to do was talk to the number of people listed below in this game plan and present the opportunity as best you could or invite them to watch someone better than you present it, and if you did that work and documented the effort consistently they would pay you $75,000 this year. What is so funny to me is that most people would do that all day long for someone else for a paltry guarantee, but if you did that for yourself in this business you would make close to $250,000. Stop thinking like a PAWN and start acting like a KING or QUEEN. Here we go!!!!

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Month 1 Having 20 personal signups is mandatory! You need to show 100 people the full presentation. You must speak with 300 people. This means that you have called and reached out to 500 people and let them know you have something important and exciting to show them, that won’t take more than 10 minutes of their time!

Month 2 Of the 20 people you enrolled in month one, help five of the most serious ones do month one’s activity! You need to consistently sign up five new people every month after your first month for two years straight! That is slightly more than one per week. If you owned a Subway franchise wouldn’t you want to sell more than one sandwich per week? To sign up five people you must have shown it to 20 people which means you spoke with 60 people which means you called 100 people! Can you call 100 people a month? Absolutely! That’s four people per day if you take the weekend off, or 12 people per day if you use the weekend for your Network Marketing business.

Month 3 Help five more do month one’s activity and 10 people outside the first five do month two’s activity. You must also get five new signups and spend time helping to mentor your new team members get better at presenting, follow up, and personal development by plugging them into training calls with your upline and company. If you make your first 90 days a “MUST” instead of a “SHOULD” your life will change and be “MADE OVER” forever! Remember “Musts” always get done and “Shoulds” never do! I have helped school teachers and stay at home Moms and laid-off Dads to use this system part-time and earn $8,000-$15,000 in their first 90 days without ever looking back. If you work for it, it will work for you! Whether you can start part-time or fulltime, the numbers make all the difference. Stop making excuses and hiding your greatness and go get yours! We look forward to your life changing today! 274

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he most important reason to set goals is to increase awareness. The most important reason to strive for wealth is to enjoy life in its full abundance while you are here. The spirit inside of you will always ring with this truth, though your present circumstances may not. Trust the spirit inside, for it is your direct link to the Infinite Intelligence that has created all. Continue to learn about it and you and your life will exceed any expectation you could have ever imagined! We consider this book a start to a long and mutually prosperous relationship with you. Therefore, we want you to benefit from our ongoing insights, commentary and discussion on the matters of wealth, as well as help you discover the inner knowledge and ideas of many other amazingly brilliant Thought Leaders in the world today. Get in the Loop with us and be connected to the world’s news and inner commentary on all things wealth by downloading the No Limit Loop™ from your Appstore or Android Market to your smartphone or tablet computer. This is the most efficient way to stay connected with Muzafer and I and the rest of today’s leading Thought Leaders and visionaries to keep your awareness ever expanding. When you read, share and “Like” your favorites inside the app you will earn Loyalty rewards points from No Limit Publishing that allow you to gain special discounts, V.I.P. rewards, free products, and exclusive interactions with myself, Muzafer, and all of our fellow leading business luminaries in the loop! Congratulations! You have completed your initial journey and begun your Wealth Matters Makeover, and we are proud of you and humbled that you have allowed us to enter your lives and share the wisdom or our own journeys in an effort to make your path to prosperity an easier one. We appreciate you and look forward to hearing from you as your make progress toward your dreams in the months and years to come. God Bless! 277

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AFTERWORD In closing this book, we felt compelled to drive home the importance of the art of DECISION in your life. None of the material and techniques or knowledge gained over the last couple of hundred pages will do you one bit of good if you don’t make a DECISION to go for what you want, in spite of your current or feared circumstances. Therefore, we felt it fitting to include one of our favorite articles by personal development legend Bob Proctor on the subject of DECISION as the closing piece of this book. Enjoy it, but more importantly take our advice and his and stop looking to the “left” or the “right,” and begin to look “within,” to the very core of your SPIRIT, and DECIDE to begin living the life of your dreams, and remember that the life you seek has always been seeking you in return.

“Rejoice! You are dealing with an abundant universe and merciful God that is both infinite and accessible at the same time.” Chris J. Snook

“YOU CHOOSE TO RELINQUISH CONTROL OVER YOUR FUTURE WITH EVERY MINUTE OF INDECISION! TAKE ACTION TODAY AND KNOW WE BELIEVE IN YOU.” Chris J. Snook and Muzafer Najfi

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DECISION by Bob Proctor

There is a single mental move you can make which, in a millisecond, will solve enormous problems for you. It has the potential to improve almost any personal or business situation you will ever encounter ... and it could literally propel you down the path to incredible success. We have a name for this magic mental activity ... it is called DECISION. Decisions or the lack of them are responsible for the breaking or making of many a career. Individuals who have become very proficient at making decisions, without being influenced by the opinions of others, are the same people whose annual incomes fall in to the six and seven figure category. However, it’s not just your income that is affected by decisions; your whole life is dominated by this power. The health of your mind and body, the well-being of your family, your social life, the type of relationships you develop…all are dependent upon your ability to make sound decisions.

“Decision making” is not a class you can take You would think anything as important as decision-making, when it has such far-reaching power would be taught in every school, but it is not. To compound the problem, not only is decision-making missing from the curriculum of our educational institutions, up until recently, it’s also been absent from most of the corporate training and human resource programs available. So, how is a person expected to develop this mental ability? Quite simply, you must do it on your own. However, I think it’s important to understand that it’s not difficult to learn how to make wise decisions. Armed with the proper information and by subjecting yourself to certain disciplines, you can become a very effective decision maker. You can virtually eliminate conflict and confusion in your life by becoming proficient at making decisions. Decision-making brings order to your mind, and of course, this order is then reflected in your objective world ... your results. James Allen may have been thinking of decisions when he wrote, “We think in secret and it comes to pass. Environment is but our looking glass.”

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Wealth matters No one can see you making decisions but they will almost always see the results of your decisions. The person who fails to develop their ability to make decisions is doomed because indecision sets up internal conflicts that can, without warning, escalate into all out mental and emotional wars. Psychiatrists have a name to describe these internal wars: it is ambivalence. My Oxford Dictionary tells me that ambivalence is the co-existence in one person of opposite feelings toward the same objective.

What happens when decisions are not made? You do not require a doctorate degree in psychiatry to understand that you are going to have difficulty in your life by permitting your mind to remain in an ambivalent state for any period of time. The person who does permit it to exist will become very despondent and virtually incapable of any type of productive activity. It is obvious that anyone who finds themselves in such a mental state is not living; at best, they merely exist. A decision or a series of decisions would change everything. A very basic law of the universe is “create or disintegrate”. Indecision causes disintegration. How often have you heard a person say, “I don’t know what to do.” How often have you heard yourself say, “What should I do?” Think about some of the indecisive feelings you and virtually everyone on this planet experience from time to time. LOVE THEM—LEAVE THEM QUIT—STAY DO IT—DON’T DO IT GO BANKRUPT—NO DON’T GO TO WORK—WATCH TV BUY IT—DON’T BUY IT SAY IT—DON’T SAY IT TELL THEM—DON’T TELL THEM

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CHRIS J. SNOOK & Muzafer Najfi Everyone, on occasion, has experienced these feelings of ambivalence. If it happens to you frequently, decide right now to stop it. The cause of ambivalence is indecision, but we must keep in mind that the truth is not always in the appearance of things. Indecision is a cause of ambivalence, however it is a secondary cause; it is not the primary cause.

Here’s what all decision makers have in common I have been studying the behavior of people who have become very proficient at making decisions for over a quarter century. They all have one thing in common. They have a very strong self-image, a high degree of self-esteem. They may be as different as night is to day in numerous other respects, but they certainly possess confidence. Low self-esteem or a lack of confidence is the real culprit here. Decision makers are not afraid of making an error. If and when they make an error in their decision, or fail at something, they have the ability to shrug it off. They learn from the experience but they will never submit to the failure. Every decision maker was either fortunate enough to have been raised in an environment where decision-making was a part of their upbringing, or they developed the ability themselves at a later date. They are aware of something that everyone, who hopes to live a full life, must understand: Decision making is something you cannot avoid. That is the cardinal principle of decision making. DECIDE RIGHT WHERE YOU ARE WITH WHATEVER YOU’VE GOT. This is precisely why most people never master this important aspect of life. They permit their resources to dictate if and when a decision will or can be made. When John Kennedy asked Werner Von Braun what it would take to build a rocket that would carry a man to the moon and return him safely to earth, his answer was simple and direct—“The will to do it.” President Kennedy never asked if it was possible. He never asked if they could afford it or any one of a thousand other questions, all of which would have...at that time...been valid questions. President Kennedy made a decision... he said, we will put a man on the moon and return him safely to earth before the end of the decade. The fact that it had never been done before in all the hundreds of thousands of years of human history was not even a consideration. He DECIDED where he was with what he had. The objective was accomplished in his mind the second he made the decision. It was only a matter of time...

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Wealth matters which is governed by natural law before the goal was manifested in form for the whole world to see.

Here’s what happens once you make the decision I was—just hours ago—in an office with three people. We were discussing the purchase of shares in a company. I was selling, they were buying. After a reasonable amount of time, one of the partners asked me when I wanted a decision. I replied, “Right now.” I said, “You already know what you want to do.” There was some discussion about money. I pointed out that money had nothing to do with it. Once you make the decision you will find the money... every time. If that is the only benefit you receive from this particular message on decision-making, burn it into your mind. It will change your life. I explained to two of these people that I never let money enter my mind when I am deciding whether I will or will not do something. Whether I can afford it or not is never a consideration. Whether I want to or not is the only consideration. You can afford anything; there is an infinite supply of money. All of the money in the world is available to you, when the decision is firmly made. If you need money, you will attract it. I am well aware there is any number of people who will say that is absurd. You can’t just decide to do something if you do not have the necessary resources. And that’s fine if that is the way they choose to think. I see that as a very limiting way of thinking. In truth, it probably is not thinking at all...it is very likely an opinion being expressed that was inherited from another older member of their family who did not think either. Thinking is very important. Decision makers are great thinkers. Do you ever give much consideration to your thoughts and how they affect the various aspects of your life? Although this should be one of our most serious considerations, for many people it is not. There is a very small select few who make any attempt to control or govern their thoughts. Anyone who has made a study of the great thinkers, the great decision makers, the achievers of history, will know they very rarely agreed on anything when it came to the study of human life. However, there was one point on which they were incomplete and unanimous agreement and that was, “We become what we think about.” What do YOU think about? You and I must realize that our thoughts ultimately control every decision we make. You are the sum total of your

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CHRIS J. SNOOK & Muzafer Najfi thoughts. By taking charge this very minute, you can guarantee yourself a good day. Refuse to let unhappy, negative people or circumstances affect you.

Why circumstance gets in the way The greatest stumbling block you will encounter when making important decisions in your life is circumstance. We let circumstance get us off the hook when we should be giving it everything we’ve got. More dreams are shattered and goals lost because of circumstance than any other single factor. How often have you caught yourself saying, “I would like to do or have this but I can’t because...” Whatever follows “because” is the circumstance. Circumstances may cause a detour in your life but you should never permit them to stop you from making important decisions. Napoleon said, “Circumstances … I make them.” The next time you hear someone say they would like to vacation in Paris, or purchase a particular automobile but they can’t because they have no money, explain they don’t need the money until they make a decision to go to Paris or purchase the car. When the decision is made, they will figure out a way to get the amount needed. They always do.

What happens if you make the wrong decision? Many misguided individuals try something once or twice and if they do not hit the bull’s eye, they feel they are a failure. Failing does not make anyone a failure, but quitting most certainly does and quitting is a decision. By following that form of reasoning, you would have to say when you make a decision to quit; you make a decision to fail. Every day in America, you hear about a baseball player signing a contract that will pay him a few million dollars a year. You should try to keep in mind...that same player misses the ball more often than he hits it when he steps up to the plate. Everyone remembers Babe Ruth for the 714 home runs he hit and they rarely mention that he struck out 1,330 times. Charles F. Kettering said, and I quote, “When you’re inventing, if you flunk 999 times and succeed once, you’re in.”

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Wealth matters That is true of just about any activity you can name, but the world will soon forget your failures in light of your achievements. Don’t worry about failing, it will toughen you up and get you ready for your big win. Winning is a decision. Many years ago Helen Keller was asked if she thought there was anything worse than being blind. She quickly replied that there was something much worse. She said, “The most pathetic person in the world is a person who has their sight but no vision.” I agree with Helen Keller. At 91, J.C. Penny was asked how his eyesight was. He replied that his sight was failing but his vision had never been better. That is really great, isn’t it? Don’t worry about how it’s all supposed to turn out when a person has no vision of a better way of life, they automatically shut themselves in a prison; they limit themselves to a life without hope. This frequently happens when a person has seriously tried, on a number of occasions, to win, only to meet with failure time after time. Repeated failures can damage a person’s self-image and cause them to lose sight of their potential. They, therefore make a decision to give up and resign themselves to their fate. Take the first step in predicting your own prosperous future. Build a mental picture of exactly how you would like to live. Make a firm decision to hold on to that vision and positive ways to improve everything will begin to flow into your mind. Many people get a beautiful vision of how they would like to live but because they cannot see how they are going to make it all happen, they let the vision go. If they knew how they were going to get it or do it, they would have a plan not a vision. There is no inspiration in a plan but there sure is in a vision. When you get the vision, freeze frame it with a decision and don’t worry about how you will do it or where there sources will come from. Charge your decision with enthusiasm ... that is important. Refuse to worry about how it will happen.

A course on Advanced Decision Making We make advanced bookings when we fly somewhere, and that is quite common. We make advanced reservations to eliminate any confusion or problems when the time arrives for the journey. We do the same with renting a car, for the same reason. Think of the problems you will eliminate

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CHRIS J. SNOOK & Muzafer Najfi by making many of the decisions you must make ... well in advance. I’ll give you an excellent example. As I am preparing this message it is Ramadan, a time where all practicing Muslims fast. I was in an office in Kuala Lumpur and was asked if I would like a cup of tea or coffee. I replied that I would appreciate a cup of tea. The lady next to me was then asked if she would like a cup and she replied...“No, I’m fasting.” When she was asked, she did not have to decide whether she wanted anything or not. Whether she was thirsty or not was not a consideration. A decision had previously been made and her Advanced Decision was well tempered with discipline. The exact same concept works with a person when they are on a diet to release weight. Their decisions are made in advance. If they are offered a big slice of chocolate cake, they don’t have to say, “Gee, that looks good...I wonder if I should.” The decision is made in advance. I made a decision a long time ago that I would not participate in discussions of why something cannot be done. The only compensation you will ever receive for participating in or giving energy to that type of discussion, is something you do not want. I always find it amazing at the number of seemingly intelligent people who persist in dragging you into these negative brainstorming sessions. In one breath these people tell you they seriously want to accomplish a particular objective. And, in the next breath, they begin talking about why they can’t. Think of how much more of life they would enjoy by making a decision that they will no longer participate in that type of negative energy.

Other habits practiced by advanced decision makers . . . The humanistic psychologist Dr. Abraham Maslow, who devoted his life to studying self-actualized people, stated very clearly that we should follow our inner guide and not be swayed by the opinions of others or outside circumstances. Maslow’s research showed that the decision makers in life had a number of things in common; most importantly, they did work they felt was worthwhile and important. They found work a pleasure, and there was little distinction between work and play. Dr. Maslow said, to be self-actualized you must not only be doing work you consider to be important, you must do it well and enjoy it.

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Wealth matters Dr. Maslow recorded that these superior performers had values, those qualities in their personalities they considered to be worthwhile and important. Their values were not imposed by society, parents or other people in their lives. They did make their own decisions. Like their work, they chose and developed their values themselves. Your life is important and, at its best, life is short. You have the potential to do anything you choose, and to do it well. But, you must make decisions and when the time for a decision arrives, you must make your decision where you are with what you’ve got. Let me leave you with the words of two great decision makers, William James and Thomas Edison. William James suggested that, compared to what we ought to be, we are making use of only a small part of our physical and mental resources. Stating this concept broadly, the human individual thus lives far within his limits. He possesses powers of various sorts, which he habitually fails to use. Years later, Thomas Edison said, and I quote, “If we all did the things we are capable of doing, we would literally astound ourselves.” By making a simple decision, the greatest minds of the past are available to you. You can literally learn how to turn your wildest dreams into reality. Put this valuable information to use and recognize the greatness that exists within you. You have limitless resources of potential and ability waiting to be developed. Start today—there’s never any time better than the present. Be all that you are capable of being!

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Appendix A

Recommended Reading List

The Watchman’s Rattle: Rebecca Costa The Fourth Turning: William Strauss and Neil Howe ConsumerShift: Andy Hines Radical Leap Re-Energized: Steve Farber How To Fame: Richard Laermer Your Money is Everything: Thomas Jandt The Naked Contract: Frederick Gaston I Work With Crabby Crappy People: Wendy Komac Level Headed: Doug Pruitt and Richard Condit Atlas Shrugged: Ayn Rand The Creature From Jekyll Island: G. Edward Griffin The Master Key System: Charles Haanel Think and Grow Rich: Napoleon Hill

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Wealth matters Working with the Law: Raymond Holliwell How to win Friends and Influence People: Dale Carnegie Blink: Malcolm Gladwell Psycho-Cybernetics: Maxwell Maltz The Power of Your Subconscious Mind: Joseph Murphy You Were Born Rich: Bob Proctor Working with the Law: Raymond Holliwell The Art of the Deal: Donald J Trump The Art of the Comeback: Donald J Trump The America We Deserve: Donald J Trump Rich Dad’s Prophecy: Robert Kiyosaki Rich Dad Poor Dad: Robert Kiyosaki Cashflow Quadrant: Robert Kiyosaki Rich Kid Smart Kid: Robert Kiyosaki Why We Want You to Be Rich: Robert Kiyosaki and Donald J Trump As a Man Thinketh: James Allen The Science of Getting Rich: Wallace D Wattles Acres of Diamonds: Russell H. Conwell Good to Great: Jim Collins

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ABOUT THE AUTHORS Chris J. Snook is an international best-selling author, award-winning entrepreneur, and self-described venture catalyst. He is the Managing Partner of TLEC Ventures, a modern media holding company that currently owns equity stakes in The No Limit Publishing Group, Parallel 6, Vivify Media, and Action Potentials. Chris holds an MSBA in Entrepreneurship from San Diego State University, as well as an undergraduate degree and graduate specialty in Exercise Physiology from both West Chester University and San Diego State. He is happily married to his equally successful author/model/ entrepreneur-wife Brianne, and resides in sunny San Diego. Chet Snook is Chris’ original mentor, father, and “main man,” and spent more than two decades as a Health and Physical Education Teacher prior to spending more than 10 years as Athletic Director for Ewing High School in New Jersey. Chet is an accomplished athlete, four-time Hall of Fame inductee and loving husband to Ginny, his wife since 1973. Muzafer Najfi is a 16-year professional Networker with passion, conviction and unique experiences that have impacted many lives. He has built numerous organizations exceeding fifteen thousand people, both domestically and internationally. Muzafer has developed an expertise coaching and mentoring people, helping them achieve their personal goals. He has been featured in numerous publications including Success from Home & Your Business at Home Magazines. As well, he has been recognized in numerous categories including, “Top Income Earner” and “The Outstanding Leadership Award”. Muzafer is a graduate from the University of Minnesota, holding two degrees. He is happily married to his best friend Fozia and loves playing with his two daughters, Naseera and Malaika. They call Minneapolis, Minnesota home.

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Bring Chris And Muzafer to your Organization Their speeches and workshops are always deeply thoughtprovoking and eminently practical, as well as inspiring and entertaining—a combination of qualities that are a must for any successful conference or meeting. Email: [email protected]

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