Some thoughts from Michael Yardney
Last weekend at a workshop I was conducting I had the good fortune to have conversations with a number of our Wealth Retreat graduates. I was talking with them about their experiences since attending our 5 day workshop, what they had learned, what they were doing differently and how they were leveraging the relationships they had built at Wealth Retreat.
Some interesting comments came out which I’ll share with you in a moment, but first I want to ask you a question:
What has been the single greatest obstacle stopping you becoming financially free?
Speaking to these Wealth Retreat graduates, here were the three main hurdles I’ve seen them face. As you read on, see which of these three gets in your way. (Maybe you’re facing more than one of them!)
Obstacle #1: Isolation: It’s hard to build wealth on your own
Without question one of the biggest things I consistently hear from the Wealth Retreat graduates is that before they joined us at our 5 day retreat they were isolated in their wealth building.
They didn’t have a Mastermind group of like minded investors or business people with whom they could share their challenges, brainstorm ideas, leverage contacts or celebrate their successes.
Many said they were looking for a group of ambitious, positive, like-minded, supportive doers to help them succeed.
You see…alone you are vulnerable. You will never reach your fullest potential. But when you connect with the right people, a whole new set of options you never dreamed possible opens up to you.
In fact, the one of the main reasons people attend Wealth Retreat is to have an instant peer group of movers and shakers. In today’s changing financial environment it’s even more important than ever to have a supportive mastermind group around you.
Can you imagine how must faster you’d reach your goals and how much more fun you would have along the way if you were a part of a community of elite wealth builders who could support you?
Obstacle #2: Fear
One of the greatest obstacles to building financial freedom is fear. And with all the mixed messages in the press at the moment and the concern about the economy overseas and its implications here, the challenges with obtaining finance and the talk of a property bubble, many of us are more fearful than ever.
This fear can be taken many forms, but the big 4 fears I come across are:
- Fear of failure – this is especially prevalent in our changing economic climate.
- Fear of debt – most of us have been taught that debt is bad and not to take on more debt. Over the years I have come to realise that debt in itself is not necessarily bad, rather it’s not being able to repay your debts that’s a problem.?
- Fear of success – Interestingly, some beginning investors put off their investment decisions because they are haunted by a fear of success. While this may initially seem strange, this fear generally stems from a feeling of unworthiness, where people convince themselves that they are undeserving of wealth or wanting to accumulate wealth makes them a bad person.
- Fear of the unknown - Who wants to go into a dark room? Who wants to go to a party where you don’t know anyone? Who is not nervous about buying their first investment property? Whenever the outcome is uncertain, fear rears its ugly head.
Another fear I have commonly seen is the fear to follow your passion. Many seminar attendees I see spend 40 or more hours a week doing a job they don’t enjoy and can only dream of following their passions.
Interestingly 20% of the attendees who attended Wealth Retreat in the past moved up and left their jobs. Stuart, a plumber sold his business to take up property full time. Justin gave up his job in hospitality to run an Internet business. Julie gave up the security of her IT job to work for a property developer.
The shift in their mindset that they (and all the other attendees at Wealth Retreat) achieved allowed them to give up the ‘security’ of their day jobs and instead focus on the financial freedom they really wanted.
So what’s the fear that’s stopping you?
In today’s economic climate where debt is a dirty word, many people are scared of borrowing more.
Maybe you’re like Romair, a two time Wealth Retreat grad. Before Romair joined us at Wealth Retreat one of his biggest fears was that he wouldn’t be able to borrow the money required to fund his property portfolio and allow him to keep doing deals. He had given up his job and had no income in the traditional sense.
Well, since attending Wealth Retreat, Romair has bought several more properties and when I saw him last week he told me he has sufficient financial buffers to see him through for 5 years.
I know Romair could not imagine he would have given up his job, let alone build and live off his property empire when he first came to Wealth Retreat.
Here is the key that has made all the difference for Romair and every other Wealth Retreat graduate: when you have a peer group of high achievers and big thinkers pushing and stretching you, anything becomes possible.
How about you?
What are you doing to take advantage of the new economic cycle? This is a time when fortunes will be made. This is a time when the rich will become richer.
So what are you going to do? Are you going to stop playing? Are you going to take your bat and ball and go home? If you do there is no way you can thrive in the years ahead.
Or are you going to acknowledge your fears, and then step up and take action anyway?
What would you do if you were not afraid? What one dream would you dare to dream and go after if you knew you could not fail?
You will get no better chance at life than this moment!
Obstacle #3: Uncertainty
The third major obstacle I’ve observed our Wealth Retreat graduates had to overcome was confusion. They had heard so much conflicting financial advice over the years that they quite simply didn’t know which direction to move in.
Can you relate to this feeling of overwhelm?
One of the most valuable benefits of Wealth Retreat for attendees was that it simplified the complex world of wealth building and business planning, so that they had a crystal clear, specifically defined plan of action to pursue their personal wealth building.
For five full days and nights they had access to top tax lawyers, accountants, financial planners, finance strategists and property advisors.
Take the example of Laurie, a two-time Wealth Retreat graduate. He had been a builder and property developer for years, but he was still on a treadmill, working longer hours than ever. I clearly remember how on day 4 he had an “ah-hah” moment when it all fell into place and he said in that 10 minutes, he learned something that would make him half a million dollars. When he returned the next year, he learned a time management skill that he was sure would make him 100% more productive.
Julie joined us, but was concerned that she could not contribute to the Wealth Retreat community. Well, she was wrong and came back a second time and is now working in her field of passion – property development.
If you’re committed to step up and play with the big boys you must learn what they know because what you don’t know can get you into trouble
So there you have the three biggest obstacles that I’ve watched our Wealth Retreat graduates overcome. Are any of the three a factor in your own personal wealth building?
The real meaning of wealth
With all this talk of making money I want to make sure we step back for a moment and look at the bigger picture.
We all know that money is only one layer of real wealth and certainly not the most important. Sure money is important in those areas of life where money is important, but it is not important in those areas where it is not important.
To be truly wealthy you need much more than money. Wealthy people have time, freedom, relationships, health, spirituality and they contribute a lasting legacy.
Right now we are preparing for Wealth Retreat 2012 and have a limited number of spaces available for this exclusive event. And maybe, just maybe, you’ll be exactly who we’re looking for.
But first I want to be totally clear that this event is NOT for most people who are reading this email. In fact, the rest of this document won’t apply to 99 out of a 100 people reading this email, because they simply aren’t ready for this at this point in their investing. And that is perfectly okay.
If you think you might be the type of person who would not only benefit by being with us for a whole week at Wealth Retreat, but more importantly are totally committed to taking your wealth-building to much higher levels over the next few years, then by all means, please keep reading.
One of the reasons I am so excited about Wealth Retreat is because this is going to be a chance for our very top clients to mix and mingle with each other and a group of leading experts in investment, property, tax, economics and finance.
Forgetting the 5 days actual teaching time we’ll spend, can you imagine what you could learn by being around the other participants and advisors, getting their one to one input on your wealth building efforts?
As in previous years, we have strictly limited the places, so participants get the most out of their time with us. While we have many return attendees, we still have a few remaining spaces for this soon-to-be sold-out event.
Here are the three bottom line facts about Wealth Retreat:
Number 1: it is an exclusive annual 5 day event that is only available to a select handful of investors, business people and entrepreneurs and their partners. And once these few remaining spaces are gone-and that will be very soon-then your window of opportunity will be gone.
Number 2: the week isn’t cheap, but if you are the type of person who is going to attend this won’t put you off. This way we know that all of the people at the event are 100% committed to playing at the highest levels.
Number 3: Wealth Retreat is only for real doers who are committed to building something special out of their wealth building. It’s not going to be a “seminar”. It will be an intensive networking and masterminding event where we will actually be focusing on large breakthroughs.
Why are we limiting it to so few people?
Because we realise that an event like this will be a huge success and produce incredible results if we bring together a small and highly select group of high achievers who have plenty of one on one time with the experts and networking time with the other attendees.
Let Julia Gillard subsidise your attendance – my accountant tells me that joining us at Wealth Retreat 2012 could be tax deductible for most attendees.
Just like last year, I will personally interview every attendee for Wealth Retreat to make sure we carefully select the best blend for the event. To be fair, I’ll do the interview on a first come, first serve basis. Once the remaining spaces are gone, that’s it.
Who Are We Looking For?
We are looking for experienced investors, business people and entrepreneurs who are willing to take on these challenging times and are committed to taking their investing and business to the highest levels.
We are also looking for people who will be a positive presence to the group and are committed to making an impact on the world.
If you are interested in joining us this year and take one of the remaining spots, or want to find out a little more I urge you to call my assistant Jo Fitt on 03 9591 8888 or
She will send you more details and if appropriate set up a time to have a chat with me.
Please contact us now because these few remaining spaces will go fast.
Now is the time for you to step up and seize the opportunity our current financial climate is offering us.
Have a great week – make it a great week
