Speech During Combined Grade 10 and 12 Graduation - Hagen Park Secondary School, WHP

This is a motivational speech I will be presenting during the combined Grade 10 & 12 Graduation of the Hagen Park Secondary School where I have been invited as Guest of Honour. The special event is scheduled for Thursday 4th December 2009 in the city of Mount Hagen.

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1. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

2. INTRODUCTION
It is a real privilege for me to speak on this very important occasion that marks the end of one chapter and the beginning of another in the lives of Grade 10 students and Grade 12 students graduating today.

I thank the 2009 Graduation Organising Committee for inviting me as Guest Speaker.

Life is full of opportunities, especially in this country. I have found that what people of all walks of life need is inspiration more than anything else, to get them to believe in themselves and on the road to success in life.

So I hope that what I say today will be an inspiration not only to the graduating students but all students in this school, young people in general, and every one of us witnessing the graduation today.

The title of my speech is, “FLY LIKE AN EAGLE; DON’T SRCATCH THE GROUND LIKE A CHICKEN!”

3. THE CHICKEN-EAGLE
I have a collection of stories on file which I use in my writings, speeches and sermons in the church. One such story, which I would like to relate to you today, is that of the chicken-eagle. I hope that you will not forget this story.

Once upon a time, there was a large mountainside, where an eagle’s nest rested. The eagle’s nest contained four large eagle eggs. One day an earthquake rocked the mountain causing one of the eggs to roll down the mountain, to a chicken farm, located in the valley below. The chickens knew that they must protect and care for the eagle’s egg, so an old hen volunteered to nurture and raise the large egg.

One day, the egg hatched and a beautiful eagle was born. Sadly, however, the eagle was raised to be a chicken. Soon, the eagle believed he was nothing more than a chicken. The eagle loved his home and family, but his spirit cried out for more. While playing a game on the farm one day, the eagle looked to the skies above and noticed a mighty eagle soaring in the skies. "Oh," the chicken-eagle cried, "I wish I could soar like that bird."

The chickens roared with laughter, "You cannot fly with that bird. You are a chicken, and chickens do not fly, they scratch."

The eagle continued staring, at his real family member up above, dreaming that he could fly. Each time the eagle would let his dreams be known, he was told it couldn’t be done.

Soon the eagle came to believe that he was a chicken. He stopped dreaming about flying and continued to live his life like a chicken. After a long life as a chicken, the eagle passed away.

The moral of the story is this: YOU BECOME WHAT YOU BELIEVE YOU ARE. Many people are supposed to fly like eagles but they live like chickens because they think like chickens. Many eagle-people don’t fly because they allow chicken-people to influence and convince them that they cannot do it. Soon they begin to think like chickens and so live in a yard scratching for worms all their lives, and die like chickens even though they were engineered to fly like eagles. SO WATCH WHO YOU ASSOCIATE WITH. If you mingle with chickens, you will think, live and die like a chicken.

4. TEN QUALITIES OF THE EAGLE AND LESSONS FOR EAGLE-PEOPLE
Let me share with you ten (10) qualities of the bald eagle (not the vulture). I will relate these qualities to the habits and behaviours of eagle-people.

Firstly, the eagle does not flock like other birds. It flies alone. It does not do what other birds do in flocks.

Eagle-people do not do what everybody else does. They do not go around in groups. They do not bring themselves to live under peer pressure. They think, talk and walk differently from the majority of people. They don’t waste their time taking spins in town or playing cards and darts because that is what other people are doing. They seek out other eagle-people to associate with. That is the main reason they succeed in life, while the majority of the people fail because they do what everybody else does.

Secondly, the eagle makes it home high up in rocky cliffs, higher than where all other birds make their nests.

Eagle-people set very high standards for themselves and live by those high standards. They set goals and are purposeful in all that they do. They are honest, hard working, and punctual, refuse to be bribed, enticed, etc. They don’t get involved in tribal fights or supply guns and bullets to their tribal members. They do things that are the opposite of what the majority does.

Thirdly, the female eagle tests the would-be male partner before agreeing to become his life-long mate. She takes a stick high up into the sky and drops it and challenges the male who is courting her to catch the stick before it lands on the ground. She does this several times, flying lower and lower until she is a few metres from the ground. This is the hardest test yet, and only the male who swoops in and catches the stick at that very low level gets to become her life partner.

Eagle-people test other people to find out how committed they are before they form trusting, life-long relationships with them. They know that the people they associate with can make or break them, so they deliberately pick and choose the people they associate with. Eagle-girls do not go around with any man who offers her money; they test men to see how really committed they are before they reciprocate. They know that life is short and fragile, so they do not mess around with married men.

Fourthly, the female eagle teaches young eaglets to fly by carrying them on her wings high into the sky, then dropping them, or pushing them off their nest in the cliff face. The mother feeds and loves them when they are babies, but when it is time to fly, it is rough on them.

Life teaches us likewise. Don’t expect life to be easy on you. Many of you graduating today will be dropped by the system. Your dreams will crash. If we go by national statistics, less than half of Grade 10s graduating today will not continue on to Grade 11; and only 30% of Grade 12s will not get places in tertiary institutions. Even if you make it to college or university, it is highly likely that you might not get a paid job.

When this happens, don’t get disappointed and give up. Take it as life dropping you because it wants to teach you to fly. Don’t cry over it; let it strengthen and motivate you to find your purpose in life. Remember that you don’t need a university degree to succeed in life.

Fifthly, the eagle has very powerful eye sight with which he can spot his prey from far above the sky. Because the eagle flies high, it can see up to 11 kilometres from where it is. It has long vision.

One of the benefits of education is that it transfers information and new ideas which open the minds of people. As educated people, eagle-people can see better than others who have not had the benefit of getting educated. Eagle-people are visionaries. When their minds expand, their eyes open for them to see far and wide, and they walk in the reality of what they perceive. They can see where they are going. Where chicken-people see problems, eagle-people see great opportunities. They do not allow people with closed minds to influence, manipulate and dictate to them.

Another aspect of being an eagle-person is because they have better sight, they are able to think before they act. They can see the consequences of their actions before they take any action, so they act with more wisdom unlike chicken-people who cannot see that far. For instance, they don’t act out of anger. They think first and do not allow anger to drive them. Chicken-people demonstrate their anger quickly because they cannot think and see far.

Sixthly, the eagle loves storms. When all other birds run and hide from an impending storm, the eagle gets really excited and it flies straight at the eye of the storm. He then spreads his wings and allows the wind to carry him high into the sky. He leverages the storm to fly higher than he could by using his own strength.

Eagle-people do not run and hide when the storms of life confront them. Instead they look at those storms as opportunities and stepping-stones for advancement, not threats and problems to hide from. When they are faced with obstacles, they look for ways around instead of giving up in despair and hopelessness.

Seventhly, the eagle flies higher than all other birds. In fact, it flies higher than jet planes. Many pilots have reported sighting eagles flying above their planes!

Eagle-people fly higher than chicken-people. They succeed no matter how uneducated they are, or how poor their background is.

Eighthly, eagles do not feed on dead flesh; they only eat fresh flesh. Vultures like the meat of dead animals; eagles hate it. They have higher dietary standards.

Eagle-people do not drink alcohol, smoke, chew betel nuts, or take drugs. They consider themselves too good for these unhealthy stuff. They don’t watch pornographic DVDs or engage in premarital or extramarital sex just because everybody around them is doing it. They feed their minds by reading good books or do their homework instead of wasting time playing computer games on their mobile phones or watching TV. They don’t gamble with their money or demand and accept bribes. They live by very high ethical standards.

Ninthly, when the male eagle feels that his feathers have become worn out, he goes to a place far from where eagles normally live. He then plucks out all the old feathers and waits until his feathers grow again, then he gets back into life with new vigour and zeal.

Eagle-people are honest with themselves about their habits and attitudes. They don’t defend their weaknesses, but rather they confess and expose them. They shed bad, limiting habits, attitudes and mind-sets, before they begin to engage with the world.

Finally, the eagle outlives all other birds. Its average life-span is 70 years.

Eagle-people live long, and they enjoy life. Their lives are fruitful because of the standards they live by. They are assets to society, not liabilities. They are a blessing and not a curse to have around.

5. CONCLUSION
Students and young people, let me tie all that I have said by saying to each one of you individually: YOU ARE AN EAGLE. YOU ARE NOT A CHICKEN. YOU ARE CREATED TO FLY LIKE THE EAGLE, SO BE THE EAGLE YOU ARE, AND DON’T SCRATCH THE GROUND LIKE CHICKEN DO.

I have come to the end of my speech. We are going to end it together. Repeat after me: “I AM AN EAGLE, NOT A CHICKEN. I AM GOING TO LOOK UP, NOT DOWN. I AM GOING TO FLY, NOT SCRATCH THE GROUND. I AM GOING TO SUCCEED IN LIFE, NOT FAIL.”

Believe it, and live it!

To graduating students, CONGRATULATIONS! To everyone, A MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR! God bless you!

This Is The Introductory Chapter To My Book "Young Money"

ACADEMIC EXCELLENCE AND PROFESSIONAL SUCCESS DOES NOT GUARANTEE FINANCIAL SUCCESS
This book has been written for one simple reason: the education system does not prepare students for financial success after graduation.

People do not learn anything about personal finance, budgeting, saving, investing, stock markets, real estate, debt, interest rates, inflation, taxation, rates of return and other financial formulas and ratios. Even students studying economics, accounting and business do not learn anything about how the various concepts they learn in the classroom apply to their personal finances, or how they can use them to succeed financially.

People go to school with the hope of getting jobs which will provide them with income in the form of salaries and wages. All the decisions they will make every day after school will be determined by the amount of money they have. What they eat, what they wear, where they go, and where they live, will all depend on the amount of money they earn or have, and what they do with it.

It is therefore really unfortunate that school is silent on this vital area of life. It educates by providing students with information with which they will hopefully get salaried jobs, but does not empower them with the information and skills they need to succeed financially. The result is that young people leave the school system academically literate and qualified but financially illiterate.

Academically bright people therefore become so messed up in their financial lives, spending more than they earn, living in habitual debt, chasing fast money through all forms of gambling, and hanging onto their jobs as the only source of life, slaving for others all their productive lives.

We used to live in a duplex in one of Port Moresby’s suburbs in the late 1980s. In the next flat lived a financial controller with a major oil company and his family. The man was highly educated and highly paid, but was obviously having financial problems. Most of the afternoons he would come home drunk. His wife would sell ice blocks and betel nuts to raise money for their daily food. We witnessed him complaining about the food, beating the wife and chasing her and the children out of the house on a regular basis.

Here was a highly educated person who knew how to look after his employer’s money as he had learnt in school, but could not even manage his own finances. Could the reason for this be that he never learnt anything about personal finance in school?
The main premise of this book is that academic excellence and professional success does not automatically guarantee financial success.

Most people think otherwise. They assume that bright students will do well in life. Students think that because they do well in school, they will get high-paying jobs and earn high salaries, and therefore succeed financially. This may be true in some instances, but not in most cases.

Most students who do well academically find that the world is different from the classroom. In the classroom, bright students may be held in high esteem by their teachers and other students who are not so bright. They may have an advantage over others in getting jobs too. But getting jobs and succeeding financially are completely different matters altogether.

The sad fact is that many people who did well in school are not necessarily successful later in life. The story of the financial controller related above is probably typical of many highly educated people all over the world. They are academically bright and smart in their professions, but fail miserably when it comes to managing their own finances and succeeding. They know how to manage other peoples’ money but not their own. They are academic and professional successes, but financial failures.

The contrary is true as well. Many people who did not do well in school are more successful than their mates who were bright and academically more qualified. I know of several of my school mates who dropped out of high school who today are successful businessmen, earning more than most working class people and employing those who are more educated than themselves.

Some people have even never been to high school but are wealthy and financially successful. I can think of 2 men in my town who dropped out of primary school who are now millionaires in their own right. One owns several coffee plantations, two hotels and many properties which he rents out, while the other owns a chain of retail shops, a hotel, several lodges and even an airline. I have also heard rumours that they have properties in Australia.

Most people also think that people who are successful in their professions are financially successful as well. They think that if a person is successful in their job, they must know how to manage their money, and therefore they have a lot of money.

This is a mistaken belief. My experience is that most seemingly successful employees actually struggle financially. They are highly indebted to banks, finance companies and informal money lenders. They do not have their own houses. They cannot afford to buy their own vehicles and so depend on public transport all their working lives. Most do not have any savings. And most are one or two fortnights away from bankruptcy.

BANKS CARE LESS ABOUT YOUR ACADEMIC AND PROFESSIONAL ACHIEVEMENTS
To be academically qualified and professionally successful does not equate to financial success. This fact really comes to light when people approach their banks for financial assistance. Banks do not ask to see peoples’ academic transcripts, for instance. They do not care whether you possess a degree, diploma or a certificate, which educational institution you attended, and what position you hold in an organisation. They do not even want to know whether you are educated at all.

The first thing that banks want to establish is how much you earn, what you spend your money on, and what assets and liabilities you have. In other words, your personal financial statement and net worth are what the bank wants to know, not your academic qualifications or professional standing. Your credit worthiness is what the bank wants to establish. You might have been a straight “A” student in school and a high-flyer in your profession, but an “F” person as far as your finances is concerned.

WHAT THE BOOK COVERS
The book is set out as follows. Chapter 1 discusses your salary and other terms and conditions of employment, and the impact of income tax and other deductions on how much you take home on a fortnightly basis. The chapter highlights the fact that personal income tax is one of the largest single expenses faced by workers in the country. It alerts you not to be fooled by the seemingly attractive employment packages which employers offer. What matters is what you take home at the end of each fortnight, and whether you succeed or fail financially depends on what you do with that money.

Chapters 2 and 3 focus on budgeting and cashflow management. Most people do not make budgets and so end up spending their money anyhow. These chapters encourage you to make budgeting a habit, so that you can control the flow of money coming in and going out of your life. Budgeting is about having a plan for your money. If you don’t, your money will fall into other peoples’ plans. Cashflow management is about taking control of the money that falls into your hands and applying it purposefully.

Chapter 4 discusses your personal financial statement. The important point on the discussion is that whereas grades are important in school and when it comes to getting jobs, they are not even considered when it comes to determining how financially successful you are. Your financial statement is really your report card after school, and this is what banks look at when assessing your creditworthiness.

Chapter 5 should be read closely, because it discusses the differences between needs and wants, and assets and liabilities. Most people fail financially because they fail to distinguish between these four things. Therefore they buy wants instead of needs, and liabilities thinking they are assets. The inability to distinguish between needs, wants, assets and liabilities has been identified as the main reason the majority of working people fail financially all over the world.

Three ways of living are discussed in Chapter 6: living above, below and within your means. Readers are urged to form the habit of living below their means if they want to succeed financially.

Most working people fail financially not because they do not earn enough, but because they have bad money habits. Six of the most common bad spending habits are discussed in Chapter 7. If you want to succeed financially, you must avoid these habits.

The importance of saving is discussed in Chapter 8. You are introduced to the concept of “paying yourself first.” You are urged to make saving a habit in life, and to save for investment purposes, not for consumption. You also read about two important concepts in finance: the time value of money and the power of compound interest.

In Chapter 9, the book discusses the 4 different types of income people earn: earned income, passive income, portfolio income and residual income. You are encouraged to invest your take-home pay or earned income so that you can earn passive and portfolio income, which require little if any physical effort. Investing is presented as a way of taming or harnessing money and making it become your servant or employee.

Most people tend to think that in order to succeed financially, they must hold back as much as possible. This is not so. According to the law of sowing and reaping, giving is in fact one of the most powerful ways to experience financial success. So in Chapter 10 you are encouraged to give, but with discretion.

The next chapter discusses lending, and how you can operate like a bank and lend to banks, the government, businesses and other people. It is another way of making money become your employee. What you lend goes out and returns to you with more money.
Chapter 12 looks at the issue of debt, and the difference between good debt and bad debt. The point is that contrary to popular thinking, not all debt is bad. It discusses the causes and effects of bad debt, and encourages readers to use good debt to get ahead financially.

Gambling is covered in Chapter 13. This is an important chapter, because Papua New Guineans spend at least K100 million every year on poker machines alone, not taking into account lottery tickets, horse racing and other forms of gambling. It also discusses fast money scams, and encourages you to avoid gambling as if you would avoid a plague.

Chapters 14 and 15 are very important. While Chapter 14 encourages you to act daily with your financial destiny in the long term in mind, Chapter 15 encourages you to put into practice the principles and ideas contained in this book if you want to succeed financially. Reading and knowing is one thing. Actually doing what you know is another. The point is that knowledge only has potential power; utilised knowledge is powerful.

HOW THE RICH BECAME RICH
Here are 6 main ways people have become rich throughout the ages all over the world:

• By inheriting wealth and riches from parents or other benefactors;
• By getting married to rich people;
• By gambling and becoming lucky;
• By getting compensated for misfortune or the acquisition of their possessions for public purposes;
• By stealing through corruption, bribery, white collar crime, drug trafficking, money laundering, extortion, etc; and
• By working hard, saving and investing.

Which way do you think the majority of people followed to become rich? If you said they worked hard, saved consistently and invested their money, you would be right. That is the way you too can become financially successful, wealthy and rich. The basics of what you need to know and do to become successful are contained in this book.

PERSONAL EXPERIENCE
In case you think I have written this book based on things I have read, I want to assure you that I have seen the power of using the information in the book in my own life. Several years ago I was a struggling working class person like most others in the country. I struggled to make ends meet, lived beyond my means, and got into debt regularly. I do not drink, smoke and gamble, but even then I struggled from fortnight to fortnight.

If you have read Success After Graduation, my first book, you would know that I was unemployed for 8 months after I left my last job. It was during this period that I regretted having misused all the money I had received over the years when I was employed. I wished I could find a job again, and if I did, this time I would save my money and invest it instead of squandering it. After unsuccessfully searching for jobs, I decided to become self-employed and work for myself. Having felt what it is like to be without a job and regular pay, I have come to appreciate the importance of saving and investing.
They say that old habits die hard, and that is so true when it comes to money habits. I still struggle with the bad habits I developed when I had salaried jobs, but I have made several attempts to save and invest what I have made from what I do as a self-employed person. I am glad, but not afraid or ashamed, to tell you that even though I am not rich and wealthy yet, I am financially independent today. In other words, I do not need a salaried job to live. I can survive without a job.

In fact, my mentality and attitude to paid jobs has completely changed. To me, a job is a waste of time. I am not saying you should leave your job. But I am saying that for me personally, I can earn more working for myself than waiting for an employer’s fortnightly pay. I can earn more in a day than most people earn in a fortnight.

I am now more imaginative and creative as a self-employed person. I have already written 2 books over the past 12 months, and several more are on their way. I can combine some of these books with seminars and have several streams of income. I would not do these things if I were working for a salary. I would be too busy looking after my employer’s business.
Recently I purchased a house with a big yard in one of the prime residential areas of the town I live in. I know that I would not have been able to buy the house if I had continued my old habits of using money anyhow. I also know that I would definitely not have bought the house if I were working for a fortnightly salary.

When I recall back, I remember that I worked for a fortnightly salary for 12 years and I could not afford to buy a house. I could not even come up with the equity contribution required by the bank. But I could buy the house after only 6 years of being self-employed. This personal story holds lessons which I cover in detail in Be Your Own Boss!, my third book, which is on the subject of self-employment.

Having seen the power of making money work for me through prudent management, saving and investing, my outlook on the future is very positive. My mind is more open than it was before when my only source of livelihood was the employer’s pay cheque. Today I can see many ways of making money. In fact, I see so many of them that sometimes I run out of breath just thinking about the possibilities. It is like living in a different world.

MY HOPE FOR YOU THE READER
It is my sincere hope that students, young people and even working people reading this book will take the message of this book to heart, and use the information contained in it to become financially successful in life.

As I have stated above, people go to school to get jobs and earn a living. But the school system does not equip them with the knowledge they need to succeed financially. The result is that the majority of people may have been academic successes but are failures as far as their financial lives are concerned.

I hope that this book helps an increasing number of people in Papua New Guinea as well as other parts of the world to become financially successful. It is my prayer that many people who have read this book will testify in future that their lives and destinies changed after they read the book and applied the ideas contained in it.

Rich Or Poor Is A Mindset

I read a book titled The Science of Getting Rich by Wallace D. Wattles, first published in 1910. Chapter 3 is titled “Is Opportunity Monopolised?” The author answers the question by arguing that opportunity is not monopolized and that everybody has the chance to become rich, no matter who or where they are. What really matters is how people think and how they act.

King Solomon made a similar statement in Ecclesiastes 9:11, when he wrote:

“I have seen something else under the sun: The race is not to the swift or the battle to the strong, nor does food come to the wise or wealth to the brilliant or favour to the learned; but time and chance (or opportunity) happen to them all.”

What Solomon said firstly is that everyone has an equal amount of time – 24 hours a day. Secondly, everyone has opportunity knocking on their lives every day. But what makes the difference is what people do with their time, and how they react to the opportunities life presents to them.

Slow people can win just as well as the swift; weak people can be victorious just as well as the strong; wise people can starve and brilliant people can be poor; and both the uneducated and the educated can enjoy favour. What is important is how people react to what life throws at them.
Consider this:

• In every poor country there are rich people, and in every rich country there are poor people.

• There are educated people that are poor, and there are uneducated people that are rich.

• There are employed people that are poor, and there are unemployed people that are rich.

• The majority of the working class people are highly indebted and struggles to make ends meet, while the majority of self-employed people are financially free. In developed countries a large number of working class people are becoming poor, even though they are highly educated and highly paid.

• There are women that are rich, and there are men that are poor.

• There are young people that are rich, and there are elderly people that are poor. An increasing number of high school kids are multimillionaires.

• There are very rich people in developing countries, and there are very poor people in developed countries. For example, I read recently that 20% of people in the city of New York live below the poverty line.

• There are godless people that are very rich, and there are godly people that are very poor.

• There are many cases of people becoming very wealthy despite being born into poor families, and there are many cases of people born into rich families losing their inheritance within the space of just one generation.

When I pondered this, I realised that this world is full of contradictions. You would think that the key to getting out of poverty is education, a high-paying job, living in a developed country, being male, being a Christian, and so on, but this is not necessarily the case. Who you are does not matter. Where you are also doesn’t matter. What family background you come from doesn’t matter.

RICH OR POOR IS A MINDSET

The conclusion I have drawn is this: Rich or poor is a mind-set or way of thinking and looking at the world. People who become rich think ‘rich’ thoughts, and therefore exhibit ‘rich’ habits and attitudes, which lead them to becoming rich, while poor people think thoughts of poverty and scarcity, and thereby exhibit attitudes and livelihoods that are consistent with their mind-sets.

This is what the Bible has been saying for centuries: “As a man thinks, so he becomes” (Proverbs 23:7). I have heard people in the health sector say, “You are what you eat.” This is true. If you eat healthy food, you stay healthy; if the food you eat is unhygienic, you become sick and weak. I have also heard preachers say, “You are what you say you are.” This is also true. But what you eat or say are just outward expressions of the thoughts that are going through your mind. What is truly true is this: You are what you think you are.

IF YOU THINK YOU CAN…

Henry Ford, founder of Ford Motor Company, was not highly educated. In fact, he left school at 15 years of age. But he went on to build cars. He is credited with being the first to think up the idea of reducing costs through the assembly line and mass production of cars. He wanted to see every American household own a car, and succeeded in seeing his dream being fulfilled. This man made a very profound statement which has become one of my favourties. He said,

“If you think you can, you can;
If you think you can’t, you can’t;
Either way you are right.”

Ford is said to have made the above statement in response to people who asked him how he could build motor cars despite not going to engineering school. His response was that it was not important whether he had been to school or not; what was important is whether he thought he could build cars or not. He thought he could build cars, so he did. If he thought he couldn’t, he would not.

Another of his sayings is, “Thinking is the hardest work there is, that is why not many people engage in it.” This guy was obviously a positive thinker and believer. He thought in terms of possibilities or what he could accomplish. He did not focus on problems and seemingly difficult circumstances.

UNCONVENTIONAL THINKING

Most of us are bound by convention and tradition. We repeat what we have heard as to what can be done or happen and what cannot be done. The result is that we end up like every body else.

The Wright Brothers thought and believed that man could fly, despite the popular thinking at the time. Even their uncle Lord Wright, a bishop in the church, believed otherwise. He told them, “Only angels were meant to fly.” But thank God Orville and Wilbur persisted with their dream. Imagine what the world would be like if these men did not risk being excommunicated from the church for their very radical belief that man can fly.

Likewise, Christopher Columbus thought that the world was round, when the whole world accepted that it was flat. All the scientists and geographers went against Columbus when he announced that the world was round. He was persecuted for his beliefs. But because he was bold enough to think differently, the world is a much better place today.

Whether we can or can’t depends not on our abilities or disabilities, whether real or imagined, but on what we think. If you think you can do something or become someone, you are right – you can. But if you think you cannot become somebody or do something, you are right also – you cannot. What is important is not what other people say; it is what you think.

WE ARE BORN RICH BUT BECOME POOR

I have also concluded that everybody is born rich, but most of us become poor, because we develop a poverty mind-set as we grow up. Have you noticed that children are careless and wasteful – even extravagant? They open the tap and let the water run. They switch the light on and don’t put it off. They eat a plate of ice cream, and they are not satisfied. Have you noticed how we adults scold them every time we find them being wasteful? It’s a clash of mind-sets. Children naturally think in terms of abundance, while we adults think and make decisions with a world of scarcity as our mental backdrop.

Children do not know of a world of scarcity or trouble. They look around them and see abundance and peace. They think it is fun to open the tap and let the water just flow down the drain, or play hockey in a war-torn city or crime-infested suburb. They are carefree and careless. They believe anything you tell them, even if it is unbelievable. It is only when we grown ups tell them that they begin to see a world of lack and limitation.

We need to have a shift in mind-set from poverty and scarcity to abundance, if we are to become the prosperous people God has created us to be. Without such a major shift in thinking, we will continue to struggle despite the fact that God desires for us to prosper. Poverty will then be self-imposed, not God-designed.

YOUR LOT IN LIFE IS REALLY DETERMINED BY YOUR MIND-SET

As I was preparing for one of my talks on radio, these thoughts came to me, which were a revelation to me:

• Poor people with rich mind-sets become rich.

• Rich people with poor mind-sets become poor.

• Poor people with poor mind-sets remain poor.

• Rich people with rich mind-sets remain rich.

If you really think about it, there is a lot of truth in these statements. Take the first statement, for instance. I believe it explains why some people go from rags to riches. They start with nothing – little or no education and little or no money - and become multimillionaires. These are the self-made millionaires of the world. Their positive mind-sets attract wealth and riches.

The second statement reminds us of people who come into a lot of money through inheritance, winning lotteries, getting compensation, getting termination or retirement payouts, or even robbing others – but lose everything almost immediately. I am sure you can think of at least one such person right now. Their poor mind-set cannot accommodate their rich status, so wealth flows out of their lives and they are back to where they were. They cannot become rich because their minds repel wealth.

Recently I read that in the city of New York, the financial centre of the world, there are millions of poor people. These people live in one of the most developed cities with all the amenities, yet millions of them from all racial backgrounds live below the poverty line.

The third statement is the saddest of all, because we do have a lot of such people all over the world: People who are born into poor circumstances who think that they cannot become rich, as a result of which they live in poverty all their lives. They look around and blame other people, the weather, the terrain, the political situation, etc for their station in life. But the fact is that there are other people in the same location born into similar circumstances who are rich. The problem is that a ‘poor’ mind-set interferes with them seeing this. The forgone conclusion they have formed that they are condemned to poverty by their circumstances so there is no way out for them, makes them live in self-imposed poverty.

This may also be reflective of a large proportion of people all over the world. They come from disadvantaged backgrounds, or are uneducated or unemployed, because of which they lack material things. This makes them think that they cannot come out of their lack and poverty, so they remain in that state till the day they die. They believe that they were created to be poor. Even as success breeds success, poverty breeds poverty.

I guess the million dollar question then is, “How do I develop a rich mind-set?” To answer that question, let me share with you some of the major characteristics of rich and poor mindsets.

CHARACTERISTICS OF RICH MINDSET

Abundance: There is enough for everyone, such that what I acquire is not at someone else’s expense.

Generosity: What I give comes back to me multiplied, not only material things but also knowledge, ideas and time. So I must give every chance I get.

Selflessness: I will give other people priority and let them get as much as they desire. If there is nothing left for me, it is fine.

Honest hard work: I will not take short cuts to get what I want. I will put in an honest day’s work even when the boss is not around.

Hospitality: I will accommodate other peoples’ needs, because I am only a channel in God’s hands to bless others. When I bless others, I will be blessed.

Opportunity: Everything that happens to me is for my good, so I will look for opportunities in the seemingly adverse circumstances I am faced with.

Optimism – Even though my past and present have not been good, the future is promising for me. Something good is in store for me if I persist.

CHARACTERISTICS OF POOR MINDSET

Scarcity: There is not enough for every one to have a share to their satisfaction.

Greed: I must get as much as I can while I have the opportunity.

Selfishness: I must think about myself and my family before I think about others.

Fear: If I give to others, I will be left with less or nothing for myself. What if I invest my savings and I lose everything?

Hoarding: I must keep this and not give it away or sell it now.

Negativity: The way things are going, there is no hope of me getting promoted or succeeding in business.

Bribery: I must demand additional fees for my services because I am not paid enough.

Laziness: Why work when other people are there to help me when I have needs?

Crime: It is easy to steal and get away with it without anyone noticing.

Fraud – The system is so inefficient the authorities will not notice. In any case, others who are part of the network will cover our tracks.

Prostitution: There is just no way for me and my family to survive if I don’t do this.

Robbery – Working is a waste of time when I can rob other people, even though it is risky.

Gambling: What I lose is little compared with what I can win. Why waste time saving and investing when I can get-rich-quick.

Victim mindset: I would be better off if it were not for other people who have robbed me of opportunities.

Trickery: I’ll take advantage of them now while I have the opportunity. I can always explain myself tomorrow.

Exorbitant pricing: I will make the most from this transaction.

Entitlement mentality: I don’t earn enough to save and invest. My superannuation savings and retirement benefits fund will look after me in old age.

Handout mentality: I will ask the Member of Parliament, a donor agency, my relatives etc when I am faced with financial needs.

Employment: I cannot succeed because I am not educated and don’t have a job.

Problems: There are so many problems that I cannot see any way out of my situation.

Can you see what goes on in peoples’ minds? Can you see the differences in thinking? Can you see the kind of thoughts you are used to entertaining? Are they thoughts of the rich or the poor?

My Schedule for the Rest of 2009

I have several engagements coming up during the remaining weeks of the year. My schedule is currently as follows:

November 21 & 22 - "Financial Freedom Seminar" with the Investment Promotion Authority in Port Moresby.

December 3 - Attend combined Grade 10 & 12 Graduation at Hagen Park Secondary School as Guest of Honour.

December 8 - Conduct Motivational Seminar at Kagamuga, WHP, for Western Highlands Lutheran Students Association. Speak on the topic of self-employment/small business.

December 22 - Conduct a meeting with young people from the Hagen Central/Mul Districts of WHP outlining the economic opportunities available as spin-offs from the resource developments taking place in the country (LNG, nickel, gold, etc).

Financial Freedom Seminars

I conducted two rounds of "Financial Freedom Seminars" at the Barrick Kainantu Gold Mine during the past 2 weeks. The program involved classroom motivational lectures and one-on-one discussions. The impact has been immediate, with many positive stories coming out of these seminars. I will relate some testimonies in one of my future articles. The management has been so impressed with the positive outcome that they are considering arranging for me to conduct the seminar at Porgera Gold Mine in 2010.

The next one is with the Investment Promotion Authority (IPA) in Port Moresby. I have been advised that about 60 people have registered to participate in the seminar. I am looking forward to it.

PNG Power Limited has approached me for the possibility of me conducting the seminar for its employees. I trust that this will go ahead in 2010.

Latest Books

I have completed writing 3 books this year. I was hoping that at least one of them would get printed before the end of the year but it looks like this won't be possible. The titles are:

1) Be Your Own Boss Volume 2 (10 More Reasons Why You Need To Consider Becoming Self-Employed And Minding Your Own Boss)
2) Why Study Hard? (12 Reasons Why Papua New Guinean Students Need To Work Hard At School);
3) You Cannot Serve God And Money (But You Can Make Money Work For You While You Serve God).

These books are set to come onto the market in 2010.