Growing Inequality?

Posted by Brian Tracy on Aug 30, 2007

“The rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer.�?

As we enter into the political “silly season” the claims and counter claims of the candidates vying for the presidency are becoming louder and more questionable with each new headline.

One of the most popular whipping boys for America, continually broadcast by the “blame America first” crowd, is that there is growing inequality in America because “The rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer.”

Nobel Prize-winning economist Gary Becker has studied this claim in depth. In a recent article he demonstrates that the “inequality gap” is really a “skills gap.”

In a free society like ours, everyone earns their income by serving other people in some way. The truth is that your rewards will always be equal to the quality and quantity of services that you render to others. If you want to increase your rewards, you must increase the value of your services in some way.

In the 21st Century, knowledge and skill are the keys to your financial future. As you learn and grow on the inside, and increase your ability to render valuable services to other people, you increase the amount that you earn.

One of the most important qualities of a free market is that all exchanges are voluntary. This means that no one has to buy your product or service, or anyone else’s. If people buy something from you, it is only because they are convinced that your product or service is a better choice for them, at this time, than anything else that is available.

To close your “skills gap” with other people, you must be continually upgrading your knowledge and skill. If you are not getting better, you are getting worse. If you are not learning how to do your job better and better, you are actually falling behind.

The 80/20 rule says that the top 20% of people in our society earn 80% of the money. This means that the bottom 20% must be content to fight for the crumbs that fall off the table after the top 20% have dined.

But everyone starts off at the same starting line. No one is smarter than you and no one is better than you. The reason that some people are in the top 20% is because they have invested more time and energy learning how to do their jobs better. The reason that the majority is in the bottom 80% is because they do not invest in themselves to upgrade their skills and their ability to serve others in some way.

When I discovered the miracle of continuous learning, it changed my life forever. I had always been a reader. But when I discovered audio learning, combined with regular seminar attendance, I was never the same again.

I went from rags to riches. I went from living in a single room in a boarding house to a beautiful home on a golf course in Southern California. When I heard those wonderful words, “To earn more, you must learn more.” I knew I had discovered the key to the future. And it is your key as well.

Whenever you hear people talk about the “inequality gap,” you should know that it is pure political nonsense, and the recommendations to solve this so-called inequality gap are always to raise taxes on the most productive, and punish the most successful.

Here is a great question that I learned from Earl Nightingale many years ago, “How can I increase the value of my service to my customers today?”

Everyday, when you get up and start work, you should look around yourself and seek ways to increase the value of your services. Learn new skills, and put them into action. Look for ways to serve your boss and your customers faster, better, cheaper and easier.

Resolve today to join the top 20% of income earners, and to remain in that group for the rest of your career.

I’ll talk to you again soon.

Brian Tracy

Tags: Brian's Words of Wisdom

Summertime and the pace is hectic.

Posted by Brian Tracy on Aug 3, 2007

As adults, we keep trying to go back to those lazy days of summer.

When we were children, we looked forward to the summer because we had two full months of vacation. We played with our friends, went swimming, and hung out with no responsibilities and little to do.

As adults, we keep trying to go back to those lazy days of summer. As we approach the end of June, most people slow down and begin working at half speed. Unfortunately, they were probably working at half speed before the end of June so it is even worse for them.

This has been a busy summer for me. At the end of May, I was in the Gulf, speaking in Iran, Kuwait and Dubai. In June I was speaking in New Zealand, in Christ Church, Auckland and Wellington.

When I was not speaking overseas, I was traveling all over the United States and Canada giving talks and seminars on sales, management and personal success. At the same time, I was writing my 300-page book, “The Way to Wealth – Blueprints for Success” which contains more than eighty exercises that a business owner can use to make better business decisions, and increase sales and profitability.

In June, I wrote my new book, “Speak to Win,” which summarizes the best lessons I have learned about speaking for large and small groups in the last twenty-five years. The book will be out in January, 2008 with Amacom. It also includes powerful, practical ideas that you can use to be more influential at meetings, make better sales presentations, negotiate more effectively on your own behalf, and generally use your power of speech to get more and better results, faster and easier than you ever thought possible.

On July 31, I finished my book “Flight Plan – The Real Secret of Success.” This has the potential of being a best selling book. In twelve chapters, I explain that there are three keys to success: First, be absolutely clear about your goal or destination. Second, take the first step. Move out in faith. Be willing to face failure and temporary setbacks. But never be afraid to try in the first place.

Third, just as every airplane must make continual course corrections on the way to its destination, each person must make continual course corrections to achieve any kind of success.

The most important qualities for success, as I explain in Flight Plan, are vision, courage and persistence. When you develop these qualities to a high level, you can accomplish almost anything.

This month, I am working on my next book, “The Miracle of Self Discipline – The Key to Personal Greatness.” Each of these books has already been sold to a major publisher and will be distributed both nationwide and worldwide when they come out. The subject of self-discipline is really important to each of us. Success is tons of discipline. The more discipline and self-control you have, the more it is that you can make yourself do whatever you need to do to achieve your goals.

Persistence is self-discipline in action. The more you persist, making continual course corrections toward your goal, the greater discipline you develop, and the more successful you become. This is the real secret of success.

Brian Tracy University continues to grow in enrollments, doubling its size each month. We are developing joint ventures and strategic alliances with individuals and organizations throughout the United States, Canada and several other countries to deliver BTU courses. If you have not yet visited BrianTracyU.com to check out ouradvanced learning programs on sales, sales management, leadership and personal effectiveness, you should visit today.

One of the most important things I learned, as a young man coming up with no high school education and no money, was that, “To earn more, you must learn more.” This revelation changed my life, and it can change yours as well.

The fact is that you cannot go any further ahead in your life than you are today except by learning and practicing something new. To achieve something you’ve never achieved before, you must become someone you’ve never been before. You must learn and practice skills that you’ve never had before. And there is no other way.

We are living at the most prosperous time in all of human history. More people are making more money, in more different ways, worldwide, than has even been dreamed of in the history of man on earth. Your job is to get your fair share. “The more you learn, the more you earn.” I’ll talk to you again soon.

Best regards,

Brian Tracy

Tags: Brian's Words of Wisdom