The 10 Things You Need To Overcome To Be Successful

By Preston Waters

Everyone wants to be successful. Everyone dreams of it, and no one wants to get stuck in the average lifestyle that this country flaunts as the American dream. The truth about success is that it is something that only a small group of privileged people manages to experience. The 1% as this country calls it.

Being successful in life and living a life worthy of the name includes hardships and challenges that the average person can’t handle — which is why they end up average. The peasant mindset makes people believe that when you become successful and make lots of money that all your issues are solved and you are living an easy-breezy life. Unfortunately life isn’t a movie, and when success comes, things get hard.

But until then, to even attain any type of success in life, there is a journey that people must embark on. Some take that road and keep going, others get afraid and run back to the safety of lifestyle that keeps them feeling comfortable. There are hardships you need to overcome if you ever want to be successful and it is better to know about them beforehand so you know what to expect rather than to get blindsided by them on your journey.

Here are the 10 things you are going to have to overcome if you ever want to be successful. Best of luck to you, the odds are stacked against you, but the only one who can change that is you.

10. Procrastination

We live in a world where we love to procrastinate. It seems as if ADD has clawed its nimble fingers into all of us and we will do anything to delay something that we need to get done. Stop wasting your time with nonsense. We procrastinate because we are lazy or we fear a specific task because we are unsure of its outcome.

If you fear it, it is something that you need to get done for yourself and for your journey. It is essential for your growth to throw away the procrastination pigment, which is inside of you, and discipline yourself to get what you need done.

9. Limiting beliefs

When you venture out to do something or have any kind of dream, there will always be some internalized limitations. You are going to have some self doubt and feel like things are getting too hard or that they might not work, but if you succumb to these weak thoughts, they will actually become your reality.

Remember, if everyone listened to the negative advice of others, no one and nothing would really progress in this world. Block out all of the negativity that is around you and make the only limits there are in the world are the ones you set for yourself.

8. Bad environment

As the good old saying goes, you are who you surround yourself with. As Jim Rohn once said “You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with.” Don’t be hesitant to limit time to or to cut off those who continually drag you down. Surround yourself with people who will push you and help you rather than those who will hold you down.

7. Lack of Motivation

If money is your end game, and that is all you are basing your journey around, you will fail because it’s not good enough motivation for you to get through. There has to be more than that, there has to be a meaning, a purpose and a sort of passion that will keep you up at night thinking about work.

Motivation is everything, and pushing yourself to achieve what you once thought was impossible is what makes it all worth it. And no money can ever buy that feeling.

6. Part-time dedication

Many people mistakenly believe that you can be successful by just half-assing it or by working on something in your free time. Unfortunately it’s not that simple and it doesn’t work that way. To be successful you have to constantly be working toward your goals. And not when it’s convenient for you, but all the time, 24 hours a day and 7 days a week. It’s not a job, it’s a lifestyle.

5. Time is limited

You don’t have all the time in the world and opportunity rarely strikes twice. Every minute wasted is another missed chance to move closer to your dream. Time is not on your side and it is always working against you. Take advantage of every second you have because you will never get it back. Manage yourself and manage your time and you will be successful.

4. Lack of specific goals

The funny thing about life is that there really are no lazy people out there, there are just people who are lacking goals, and we decide to call them lazy. A goal, a dream, a future is what gives you a purpose to work toward something and get off your ass.

When you love what you do, and you progress with it, even through baby steps, that is when you begin exceling. Life is about fulfillment and progression, but with no goals you can’t have any of those. Have specific goals and know exactly what you want out of them. Have short-term goals and long-term ones too.

3. Settling for less

People love to be content, they love settling for what is in front of them and feeling somewhat accomplished. Why do you think you don’t deserve the best and the most out of life? You do. And to get it, you just need to want it.

How much is enough? It’s never enough. Never settle; there will always be a new bar to set, a higher bar and once you have gotten there — keep going. Life is too short to take a break or to think that you are accomplished; there is always something else to conquer.

2. Lack of persistence

The most successful people are the ones that never give up and persist in reaching their goals and dreams. It’s about knocking on 7 doors, getting rejected, but not giving up and succeeding at the 8th door. It’s about constantly trying and never stopping. Some of the most successful people in the world are the greatest failures, but what separated them is that they never stopped trying.

1. Failure

Last but not least, one of the biggest things you are going to have to overcome is failure and this is where most people let go of their dreams. Most people will fail once, get discouraged and walk away, whereas others will treat it as a stepping stone and view it as a lesson to keep building upon — and that is what separates those who make it from those who don’t.

If you ever thought being successful is something easy, then you have another thing coming to you. Treat all failures as lessons, they are just stepping stones you must pass on your journey toward success!

Preston Waters | Elite.

Understanding Accounting Methods

By www.dummies.com

Officially, there are two types of accounting methods, which dictate how the company’s transactions are recorded in the company’s financial books: cash-basis accounting and accrual accounting. The key difference between the two types is how the company records cash coming into and going out of the business. Within that simple difference lies a lot of room for error — or manipulation. In fact, many of the major corporations involved in financial scandals have gotten in trouble because they played games with the nuts and bolts of their accounting method.

Cash-basis accounting

In cash-basis accounting, companies record expenses in financial accounts when the cash is actually laid out, and they book revenue when they actually hold the cash in their hot little hands or, more likely, in a bank account. For example, if a painter completed a project on December 30, 2003, but doesn’t get paid for it until the owner inspects it on January 10, 2004, the painter reports those cash earnings on her 2004 tax report. In cash-basis accounting, cash earnings include checks, credit-card receipts, or any other form of revenue from customers.

Smaller companies that haven’t formally incorporated and most sole proprietors use cash-basis accounting because the system is easier for them to use on their own, meaning they don’t have to hire a large accounting staff.

Accrual accounting

If a company uses accrual accounting, it records revenue when the actual transaction is completed (such as the completion of work specified in a contract agreement between the company and its customer), not when it receives the cash. That is, the company records revenue when it earns it, even if the customer hasn’t paid yet. For example, a carpentry contractor who uses accrual accounting records the revenue earned when he completes the job, even if the customer hasn’t paid the final bill yet.

Expenses are handled in the same way. The company records any expenses when they’re incurred, even if it hasn’t paid for the supplies yet. For example, when a carpenter buys lumber for a job, he may very likely do so on account and not actually lay out the cash for the lumber until a month or so later when he gets the bill.

Remember: All incorporated companies must use accrual accounting according to the generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP). If you’re reading a corporation’s financial reports, what you see is based on accrual accounting.

Why method matters

The accounting method a business uses can have a major impact on the total revenue the business reports as well as on the expenses that it subtracts from the revenue to get the bottom line. Here’s how:

• Cash-basis accounting: Expenses and revenues aren’t carefully matched on a month-to-month basis. Expenses aren’t recognized until the money is actually paid out, even if the expenses are incurred in previous months, and revenues earned in previous months aren’t recognized until the cash is actually received. However, cash-basis accounting excels in tracking the actual cash available.

• Accrual accounting: Expenses and revenue are matched, providing a company with a better idea of how much it’s spending to operate each month and how much profit it’s making. Expenses are recorded (or accrued) in the month incurred, even if the cash isn’t paid out until the next month. Revenues are recorded in the month the project is complete or the product is shipped, even if the company hasn’t yet received the cash from the customer.

The way a company records payment of payroll taxes, for example, differs with these two methods. In accrual accounting, each month a company sets aside the amount it expects to pay toward its quarterly tax bills for employee taxes using an accrual (paper transaction in which no money changes hands, which is called an accrual). The entry goes into a tax liability account (an account for tracking tax payments that have been made or must still be made). If the company incurs $1,000 of tax liabilities in March, that amount is entered in the tax liability account even if it hasn’t yet paid out the cash. That way, the expense is matched to the month it is incurred.

In cash accounting, the company doesn’t record the liability until it actually pays the government the cash. Although the company incurs tax expenses each month, the company using cash accounting shows a higher profit during two months every quarter and possibly even shows a loss in the third month when the taxes are paid.

To see how these two methods can result in totally different financial statements, imagine that a carpenter contracts a job with a total cost to the customer of $2,000. The carpenter’s expected expenses for the supplies, labor, and other necessities are $1,200, so his expected profit is $800. He contracts the work on December 23, 2004, and completes the job on December 31, 2004. But he isn’t paid until January 3, 2005. The contractor takes no cash upfront and instead agrees to be paid in full at completion.

If he uses the cash-basis accounting method, because no cash changes hands, the carpenter doesn’t have to report any revenues from this transaction in 2004. But say he lays out the cash for his expenses in 2004. In this case, his bottom line is $1,200 less with no revenue to offset it, and his net profit (the amount of money the company earned, minus its expenses) for the business in 2004 is lower. This scenario may not necessarily be a bad thing if he’s trying to reduce his tax hit for 2004.

Tip: If you’re a small-business owner looking to manage your tax bill and you use cash-basis accounting, you can ask vendors to hold off payments until the beginning of the next year to reduce your net income, if you want to lower your tax payments for the year.

If the same carpenter uses accrual accounting, his bottom line is different. In this case, he books his expenses when they’re actually incurred. He also records the income when he completes the job on December 31, 2004, even though he doesn’t get the cash payment until 2005. His net income is increased by this job, and so is his tax hit.

An epidemic outbreak

By Francis Kong

There’s an epidemic breaking out in the country. No need to be alarmed – it’s not really a health threat. This outbreak deals with reality issues.

A few years ago, while waiting for my turn to speak in a college-sponsored career-orientation conference, the speaker before me told the wide-eyed graduating students these words: “Listen guys, I graduated from this school. Never accept a job offer lower than P75,000, because if you do, then you’re insulting those who have graduated from this school.”

The auditorium full of graduating students broke out with shouts and applause. The speaker was an instant hit. He became their hero.

I must’ve dampened their spirits when it was my turn to speak, because I told them, “That challenge is a fantasy that only someone from Neverland and who’s as immature as Peter Pan could promise. As a business owner, I would fire anyone in my company who would hire an inexperienced fresh grad and pay him or her that amount of money – even if the applicant graduated from Harvard or Stanford! You go to school and pay tuition to learn. Why not work for free, learn, get some experience, and then start charging high? Duh?!”

That was more than 10 years ago. Those graduates are now in the marketplace. I don’t know if they realize today that what they heard then was a fantasy, not reality.

We were having dinner at an awards ceremony recently. The CEO and the marketing manager of this huge and respected food company told me that they’ve actually heard a university dean tell his students that, if they graduated from his school, they should expect to become vice presidents in their places of employment within five years. What’s the matter with these bozos making stupid promises and encouraging unrealistic expectations among the young? They may think they’re motivating them, but what they’re doing is setting them up for future failure! Where are the classic, age-old lectures on hard work, persistence, patience and sacrifice that are the true ingredients of success?

We have an epidemic in our midst – the emergence of young workers in business organizations today who are impatient, jumping from one company to another, and who are outspoken and articulate but low on substance, mouthing clichés without understanding them and driving HR practitioners crazy.

I’ve had at least seven HR heads from our top business corporations telling me that attrition is high among the young entrants to the workplace. These young people’s work ethics suck, and their work values suck even more. Push them a little, and they whine and whimper. Stretch them a little, and they moan and groan. Correct and reprimand them a little, and they quit right there and then. Mentor them a little, and they think they know more than their mentors.

Fifteen years from now, these young people would probably cover a 10-mile wide industry range and possess a two-inch deep pool of useful expertise and skills. It’s scary to imagine what kind of life they’ll have then.

Is this the fruit of a generation of parents who have been told, cajoled and persuaded by Western literature not to discipline their kids, but to just “encourage” and “reason” with them so they won’t be traumatized?

Is this the product of half-witted speakers who set false expectations and promise the young that they can succeed within the shortest possible time with the least possible work and sacrifice, and who teach them that, when they don’t get promoted to become vice presidents within five years, they should blame the company and not themselves?

I have a couple of suggestions. Provide values training for the young people. Make them understand the difference between fantasy and reality. Make them realize that they need to read more intelligent books. (Books on vampire, love stories aren’t part of the recommended readings.) Train them in the area of developing personal excellence, and teach them the right values for living.

The youth is the hope of the future, but I wouldn’t trust my future to a bunch of young people who don’t even know how to live in the present. Let’s teach these kids discipline and work values, and let’s teach them now. Tomorrow may be too late. There’s an epidemic remember?

Source: philstar.com