Business, the basics, round 3: We all want a better life, but only some want to be a business owner or work all day, every day. The wonder of 2024 is that  you can choose!   There are plenty of options when it comes to achieving wealth. So, as promised, let’s explore the Lean Startup Method and the New Rich Lifestyle in more detail. The Lean Startup Method - Steering Stage: Like a rocket, you need to be constantly  steering  after the launch, or you will get lost, crash, and burn!  When you launch the first MVP, you test your business's  leap-of-faith assumptions , which everything depends on:  The  value  hypothesis  (the actual value you give to people)  and the  growth  hypothesis  (the sustainability of the business growth) . After, you will start the Feedback Loop, forever! -> Have you passed these tests with the first MVP?  You can only advance if you do... No skipping steps! Build-Measure-Learn Ideas-Build -> Product-Measure -> Data-Learn This is the feedback loop. You will constantly use it to steer your business to success and sustainability. In the  Ideas-Build  stage, you create new and improved MPVs. In the  Product-Measure  stage, you present the MPVs to the audience/clients for testing. In the  Data-Learn  stage, you compile and collect the test results to learn if there’s real progress. You repeat this loop with every improvement or alteration you make to the product or service. In the end, before you repeat the loop, you make a decision:  Do you  preserve  your strategy because it’s working, or do you need to  pivot  because the business is not sustainable? ->Measuring is the major step in this loop, but don’t be vain!  Your measures need to be actionable, accessible, and auditable. Main Strategy Pivots: Zoom-in Pivot:  where one feature of a product becomes the complete product. Zoom-out Pivot:  where a product becomes one feature of a much larger product. Customer Segment Pivot:  where the hypothesis is partially confirmed, you are solving a problem, but for a different audience than you initially assumed. Customer Need Pivot:  where the hypothesis is partially confirmed, the target audience has a problem you can solve, just not the one you initially assumed.  Platform Pivot:  where you change from an application  to a platform or vice versa. Business Architecture Pivot:  where you switch between the 2 architectures: a complex systems model (high margin, low volume) or a volume operations model (low margin, high volume). Engine of Growth Pivot:  where you switch between the 3 major engines (viral, sticky, or paid growth) to seek faster or more profitable growth. Channel Pivot:  where you change the product delivery mechanism for your customers. Technology Pivot:  where you find a new technology for better performance and cost efficiency. -> All entrepreneurs need to confront the business results and a need to pivot it’s not a failed business.  Courage and pivot as many times as you need to! New Rich - New Rules 1.Retirement is Worst-Case-Scenario Insurance. Treat retirement money like a reservoir of capital to survive. 2.Interest and Energy are Cyclical. You need to alternate periods of activity and rest to survive, let alone thrive. 3.Less is Not Laziness. Focus on being productive, not busy. 4.The Timing is Never Right. Just do it and correct the course along the way. 5.Ask for Forgiveness, Not Permission. Most people try to stop you before you start, but they will not get in the way if you’re already moving. 6.Emphasize Strengths, Don’t Fix Weaknesses. Focus on using your best weapons, not on repairing your weaknesses. 7.Things in Excess became their Opposite. It is possible to have too much of a good thing. 8.Money Alone is Not the Solution. Life problems are more than money, not having it is not an excuse not to solve them. 9.Relative Income is More Important than Absolute Income. You work 80 hours a week, I work 10 hours, and we both make 50k a year. Who dies richer? – Me. 10.Distress is Bad, Eustress is Good. Distress is harmful and makes you weaker. Eustress is euphoria and makes you push your limits. -> Can you implement these new rules for your new life? This is how you beat the game, not just play it. Last thoughts: Wealth is available for both the business-working soul and the freedom-searching soul. The paths are just different. Something common for both is fear, fear of even trying, etc, and that’s normal. To  conquer your fears , you just need to  define  them. Answer these: What are you putting off because of fear?  What is the worst that can happen if you go for it?  Can you repair the potential damage?  How? Define the steps. What would be the outcome? Would it cost you more to do it or not do it? What are you waiting for? I can’t give you a surefire formula for success, but I can give you a formula for failure: try to please everybody all the time.  – Herbert Bayard Swope ->Things are always a lot worse in our heads than in real life. There’s no problem our mind can’t solve if we need to. See you in a week. Your Zine.

People, the basics, round 3: Remember that emotions create habits and triggers. But why is this so important in life and business?  Because it helps you to properly  serve people  and  profit  at the same time. Again, always look out for win-win situations! How people think: To properly serve people, you need to  know the people you serve  and how well you serve them.  You can’t profit from a bad service or product, at least not for long… You will never grow wealth this way in this free, competitive capitalist system. How people think is correlated to our wants  (desires and needs). Main concepts: Despite our modern software, our paleolithic hardware (our body/brain) still runs on the same 2 old main missions:  keep you safe and spare energy , keeping you alive.  These days, this translates to “commodities.” People want to be comfortable and do less. “The fundamental principle of human action is that men seek to gratify their desires with the least exertion.”  – Henry George. ->Keep this in mind no matter what you’re selling!  Even if you don’t have a business, you are serving someone in some way… Emotions need logic! Serving in business is mainly about selling, and for selling, you need  logic to justify the actions  of the person you are interacting with. You need to serve people somehow. You can solve their problems, make their tasks easier, or add comfort to an action. Emotion gets the fire started, but logic makes the buy. And you need these 2, in this order.  Without emotion, you can be interesting, but no fire, no action. Without logic, the buy does not have a reason/justification to happen. Always start the fire first and then justify it. This is how you make people act on something. “Action comes about if and only if we find a discrepancy between what we are experiencing and what we want to experience.”  – Philip J. Runkel. -> With this knowledge comes the responsibility of NOT to manipulate people.  Aim to help people truly, and you can’t fail! What do you think? Are you training your brain with intention?  What you think about the world, your life, and yourself matters. Going back to beliefs, they don’t change in a day. You need to keep reminding your brain of your new belief and catch yourself when an old one pops up. To help with that, train your speech. A piece of advice from the Mindset coach Jon Gabb, founder of the Brotherhood: Correct your speech  about yourself and your life, even in the small things. You can say you are a picky eater or a refined eater. Which one sounds best? Everything with a negative connotation needs to go. Through intentional change, forgiveness, or acceptance. “I saw the angel in the marble and carved until I set him free.”  – Michelangelo. -> Do you have a positive mindset? With a strong positive mindset, everything is possible! Last thoughts: Remember, people only truly know what they want or need when they experience it, and you will not reach everyone. No matter how much feedback you get or how much you study the market, you need to experiment and find out the truth. It's the same with personal relations, by the way.  Do not assume anything. People can surprise you, and most people’s problems are based on assumptions and judgments, dismissing communication…. “Our doubts are tractors, and make us lose the good we often might win, by fearing to attempt.”  – William Shakespeare. -> We all need to train our brains. Mindset is 90% of any “battle.” See you in a week. Your Zine.

Knowledge, the basics, round 3: Now that we have addressed the fact that general knowledge is not enough to succeed in life, let’s learn what moves the needle forward. The best part? You can learn everything by yourself. No need for a university or a fancy diploma from a business school.  And if you think you don’t have the time for it, just stay with the ProfitZine, and all the knowledge you need will reach you. You don’t need to know it all: You will not acquire all the knowledge even if you want to try. As you learn, remember you don’t need to know it all. You need to understand the core principles  of a subject. After that, you progress through action and keep building knowledge through experiences. If you experience and test, you will know for sure. Core principles: (business example) How businesses actually work; How to start a new business; How to improve an existing business; and How to use business-related skills to accomplish your personal goals. – From this, you go to action! As to methods, there may be a million and then some, but principles are few. The man who grasps principles can successfully select his methods. The man who tries methods, ignoring principles, is sure to have trouble. – Harrington Emerson -> No matter what they tell you, you don’t need an MBA (Master of Business Administration). Combining books and trying stuff will take you far ahead in the business game. Knowledge is power: The single most powerful asset we all have is our mind. If it is trained well, it can create enormous wealth. The ones in power have always controlled knowledge. Since the era of kings, the ones on top have had different educations than the ones on the bottom. They didn’t even eat the same foods… Only the priests knew how to read the Bible until the Bible was translated into English because peasants were never taught Latin. Today, it’s financial literacy, that’s how they enslave us! But there’s no limit to what you can learn now. No subject is out of reach; some just require more time and effort. After learning, don´t forget to be bold. Knowing it’s not enough… -> You can have excellent knowledge and be intelligent. But you also need to be bold because they are the ones who usually win. Books and Living Testaments: The importance of books:  We live in a society of uneducated, unskilled individuals.  Books are important because they give you information.  They are not necessary, but they are great tools for learning and taking guided action, especially when you understand the author's essence and choose books with intention. The importance of living testaments: By living testaments, I mean people like Luke Belmar, Codie Sanchez, and Iman Gadzhi. Real-life and real-time proof that whatever you want to accomplish is possible. All share their journey so far, and you know what that is for us?  Their 10%. The core principles  to follow because their testament is our blueprint for success. To educate educators! But the first ones must educate themselves! And for these, I write. – Friedrich Nietzsche -> Despite the web being a great source of information, you should read a book occasionally. If you want to learn, you need to study, and books work even when electricity goes down. Last thoughts: For anyone looking to start a business or wondering about the whats and the hows, with no experience, whatever being an entrepreneur, Josh has got you, To pretty much replace business school and debt altogether, you can read “The Personal MBA” by Josh Kaufman. The primary purpose of this book is to teach everyone what a couple of Ivy League colleges do and more. Students might get the best connections initially, but this book comes with real-life experience. It gives you mental models of the key subjects for commercial success, from value creation, marketing, sales, teamwork, systems, and finances. -> Don’t like to read books? Find your way.  But life is not just about doing what we like… See you in a week. Your Zine.

Money, the basics, round 3: By now, if you made it through round 2, you should know your current situation: poor, just above, or wealthy. If you're currently poor, but you're not going to stay poor… you are just broke! — and there are infinite solutions for that! Being poor is a mentality. Being broke is a temporary situation. High-paid Skills .  Have you gotten yours yet? You should know your goals and who you need to be  to accomplish them. But remember to look at who you are first.  Maybe you have high-paid skills but have yet to find a profitable way to use them… How many homemakers just share how they take care of the house and the kids on social media and profit from it? Of course, there is some extra work, like adding a camera and explaining her takes. Still, it's her everyday routine, so it is a tiny extra effort for great compensation. Here are some current high-paid skills to help you travel the millions of choices to embark on your new life venture: Data analysis | Cloud computing | Web Design/Development | UX/UI Design | Sales | Trading | Digital Marketing & SEO | Copywriting | Video/Audio production | Robotics | Augmented reality | Programming and coding | 3D printing And more, so if none of these sparks curiosity or interest, don't worry— just go wild on Google. -> Find your high-paid skill! Workshops are the fastest and least expensive way to experiment with what intrigues you.   Money working for you. Fact: Money, by itself, is worthless. It can't feed you or make you warm. It's just a coin or a rectangular piece of paper with fun colors in some countries. That, or a number on a screen… Money is merely a means to an end ; It is never the end goal.  Also, money is devaluing  as we speak—it has been for a while—and every time new bills are printed, money devalues more and more, and the same old dollar buys less and less. The point is, don't save too much! Live unforeseen events, a bit for fun, and that's it. You need your money working for you. Portfolio  is the keyword! You need to diversify your money. You can diversify your money by having money in different currencies. Here are the 10 strongest currencies: Kuwaiti dinar (KWD) | Bahraini dinar (BHD) | Omani rial (OMR) | Jordanian dinar (JOD) | British pound (GBP) | (Tie) Gibraltar pound (GIP) | Cayman Islands dollar (KYD) | Swiss franc (CHF) | Euro (EUR) | US dollar (USD) The ProfitZine way is to spread your money through diversified asset classes . From bonds to Nfts: Cash =  Liquidity and Buying Power Examples: Liquid funds and savings accounts. Equity =  Ownership of Business Examples: Funds and stocks. Fixed Income =  Lending someone money  Examples: Bonds and dividends. Real State =  Ownership of Space  Example: Properties. Commodities =  Goods with Use  Examples: Gold and silver. Alternative investments =  Digital Ownership  Examples: Cryptocurrencies and NFTs. -> How many of these assets do you have or could have? Please create your diverse wealth portfolio. Start small, but start! Last thoughts: Whatever your situation is, no matter how you start, you will make mistakes and lose money. Just remember: you are getting one more mistake out of the way.  But don't ruin your life. Never bet everything you have, but also, don't be so afraid that you don't invest at all and have all your money continuously devaluing. Find your high-paid skills, build your portfolio, and work on yourself. The world belongs to the ones who dare. -> What will you dare to do? See you in a week. Your Zine.

Profit, the basics, round 2: Everything that ProfitZine covers will lead you to Profit s . Notice the bolded “ s ”? Not a typo. Profit can have a plural of meanings... The Dictionary Definition: A financial gain (especially the difference between the amount earned and the amount spent in buying, operating, or producing something) ; Obtain a financial advantage or benefit. That will always be true, but did you notice the word “ gain ” right at the beginning? Gain  is the core of the dictionary definition. And if you think about gain instead of profit?   Your mind opens infinite possibilities for what you could mean by that, not just money. Then, you choose, prioritize, and act on these possibilities. This is how profit can be a state of mind and reflect your life. -> Please stop here for a minute and do this quick exercise:  Paper or app, write everything that comes to your mind, first thinking profit , after thinking gain . The ProfitZine Definition: A win-win  exchange, action, change, or situation. Sure, you’ve heard of win-win  stories, and that’s it. Outside of money transactions, the meaning is quite vast and also personal. We are all different, so we see gains personally based on our interests. Money is just the obvious gain that people think about. Besides that, my infinite possibilities will be different from yours. But the foundation holds, no matter what, is a win-win gain . General Possibilities: Win-win Exchange When 2 people make an exchange, and the outcome is the best possible situation for both of them. Basic Examples:  Proper monetary exchanges around a product/service; Neighbors exchange food products they are in need of. Win-win Action When a person takes an action, and the outcome is positive for them and the people around them. Basic Examples:   Outreach to a company to discover they need exactly what you are offering, and they hired you;  Going to the gym is good for you and inspiring for the people around you. Win-win Change When a person shifts something, and the outcome improves them, their life, and anyone involved. Basic Examples:   When you change careers and improve your income and your family's life;  When you stop buying bad foods, your health and your family's health will improve. Win-win situations When a person faces a situation and is able to resolve it in the best possible way, and results for all involved. Basic Examples:   When your friend's carpenter needs money, and you decide that it’s time to fix the closet that has been broken for months, you give him the job.  And the best part?    These are all connected to monetary gains in the long run! But let’s save something for later... Profit is all around us and in everything we do. -> After reading these possibilities for gains, answer this:  What’s on your mind? Are you conscious of your win-win possibilities?… Last thoughts: In the next round, you’ll see how profit/gain in all areas relates back to monetary gains as well. And don’t worry, we will reach the financial profit strategies edition along the way. But first, we need to open our minds. Doing something that ends up generating money is different from doing something for money, and both are needed. -> Just a reminder that “fast money” is not wealth.   Neither does it build it. See you in a week. Your Zine.

Business, the basics, round 2: Are you in business yet?  If so, you’re doing better than most!  If not, ProfitZine got you to! The Lean Startup Method: This method, by Eric Ries, is simple and can be applied to any business, no matter how big or small.  First, we need to understand some concepts, and as always, let’s start from the basics:  Vision + Strategy + Product (the product can be a service) Vision  The true north, the destination in your mind. Generally, creating a thriving business. Strategy  The business model + product road map + point of view on partners and competitors  + ideas on the potential customers. Product The result of the strategy. Regardless of your business's stage, the vision holds , the strategy can  pivot , and the product  will be optimized  (several times). How do you know when and if we need to pivot or what optimization to implement at what time?  Experiment as soon as possible! -> Detail your vision from the vision to the product. The more detailed, the better, “neighbor and micro niches” included. Think Big, Start Small: Many businesses fail because they spend a long time building and perfecting their strategy and products without testing them .  After all that effort and dedication, nobody wants to buy it. Wouldn’t this be the biggest nightmare? It’s almost the same as buying an office and equipment before the business starts and is even presented to the world. This situation is 100% preventable using an MVP .  A Minimum Viable Product  is an early product version. You can call it a beta version that you present only to a small group of consumers.  (Early adopters would be the best type of consumers). Experiment! With your MVP , you test the strategy  and discover which parts are brilliant, and you don’t touch what is working  but also which parts are not delivering as you anticipated. To start something, you need to form assumptions sure, but accurate data  about customer demand comes from observing real customer behavior . Assume only what and when you need to, and don’t rely only on asking hypothetical questions to the consumers. Most consumers, like most people, don’t know exactly what they want or need until they experience it . So, run trials before too much exposure and expansion.  This is step 1 for any business launch. -> What is or would be this MVP to you? Think foundation, function, and accessibility.. Not in business yet?  Let me tell you about the New Rich… No, you don’t need to quit or hate your job. You don’t have to be a single twenty-something. Not even be born rich or have an Ivy League degree. Oh, and Retirement is not the goal… Here are the differences between the New Rich (NR) and Retirement focused person (R): R:  Work for yourself. NR:  Have others work for you. R:  Work when you want to. NR:  Prevent work for work’s sake. R:  Retire early or young. NR:  Have work periods and adventure periods. R:  Buy everything you want. NR:  Do and be all the things you want. R:  Not be an employee. NR: Be the owner. R:  Make a ton of money. NR:  Chase dreams. R:  Have more. NR: Have quality. R:  Reach the big pay-off. NR:  Have cash flow. R:  Freedom from doing what you dislike. NR:  Freedom to do what you like. -> What are your goals? Who are you? A Retirement  focused person or a New Rich ?  You need to know because the paths are not the same… Last thoughts: The New Rich is a concept that a discover in the book “The 4-Hour Work Week” by Timothy Ferriss.  (The expanded & updated version) This is where the search starts for those not in business yet and where any business owner can get the inspiration and tools for a new way of life in business. We will get more details on the Lean Start-Up Method and the New Rich Life in the next round on Business. Until then, keep up the amazing work! -> I ask you to reflect on this New Rich Lifestyle.  And please, have the courage to dream! Always up to the Stars. See you in a week. Your Zine.

People, the basics, round 2: As we all know, humans are creatures of habit, but not all of our habits serve us in a positive way. Some work against us. I hope you have listed your habits and discovered the 1 that needs to go because, without conscience, there’s no active and positive change. ProfitZine is all about change and evolution.  Today, we look over what habits are and how we can change them. -> If you haven’t yet, please make a list of your daily habits. This list is where you pick what to change! The definition of a habit: A routine or practice performed regularly;  An automatic response to a specific situation. So, a behavior that you have repeated enough times and becomes automatic. Example : When the alarm rings, you shut it down but don’t need to think about it. You just do it. Our habits also make us who we are. Your habits shape your identity, so make sure to shape your habits.   -> After listing your daily habits, divide them into good, neutral, and bad. Are most of your daily actions working in your favor or against you? The Why of Habits: Habits are behaviors. – Why do we do what we do? Our actions can be for identity  purposes (who you are), process optimization  on tasks (how you do things), or a specific desired outcome  (what you want). When it comes to habits, building identity is key. You can change for a desired outcome or to ease your way of doing something, but these are not long-term commitment goals, and the results will follow and will not last. To successfully change a habit, you must start from your core, your identity. Change is in you, and it begins in you. “The goal is not to read a book. The goal is to become a reader.”   -> When you change, your actions follow, and even your automated brain helps! It is time to review your beliefs related to the habits you want to change. How to change our habits: Atomic Habits by James Clear is the materialization of this how. It demonstrates, step by step, how to change your habits in straightforward and practical ways. Today, I’ll share the key points of behavior and habit change. Your job: 1. Decide the type of person you want to be; 2. Prove it to yourself with small wins. -> Please write about the person you want to be and the actions that this person takes. Read it aloud daily, it will help keep you on track. The Habit loop:   Cue - Craving - Response - Reward. This is how habits occur. To change them, we need to address each one of these steps.  But it is a lot easier than you might think…   How to Create a Good Habit:   Make it obvious  (cue), make it attractive  (craving), make it easy  (response), and make it satisfying  (reward). Example : If you want to drink more water, fill up a few water bottles each morning and place them in common locations around the house ( obvious  and easy ). If you dislike drinking water, pour it into a nice bottle and add some flavor or bubbles ( attractive  and satisfying ). How to Break a Bad Habit: Make it invisible  (cue), make it unattractive  (craving), make it difficult  (response), and make it unsatisfying  (reward). Example : If you’re wasting too much time watching television, move the TV out of the bedroom (invisible, unattractive, difficult, and at least less satisfying). -> I want to challenge you to create a new habit and change an old one. Start small, keep it simple, and don’t forget to celebrate after! Last thoughts: You might wonder how long it takes to build a new habit… but that’s not the right question. You should ask how often you must repeat an action until it becomes an automatic response. It is not about how much time you spend doing something.  It is about how many times you have done it. There's no exact number, but you will know when the action becomes a habit. I cannot stress enough how Atomic Habits by James Clear is the way to change habits.  All the guidance that you may need is there.  “Walk Slowly, but Never Backward” -> Please read Atomic Habits, it is not an audiobook, it is a to-do book. If you commit, implement the advice, and do the exercises, you cannot fail! See you in a week. Your Zine.

Knowledge, the basics, round 2: General knowledge is acquired through school, life circumstances, and social interactions. But is it enough? It depends on the person you want to be and the life you want to live. For us, ProfitZiners, it is definitely not enough! The most important message: You must educate yourself outside society's common knowledge , and there's no way around it. School does not teach you about law, money, taxes, marketing, sales, human relationships, or how to become an entrepreneur and build your own company. So, nothing that can truly help your wealth and well-being.   An important concept:  Knowledge is the vastest word in the world, everything, and I mean everything, is knowledge or… the lack of it.  And to profit in business and life, you need knowledge. -> You are already educating yourself outside of the general knowledge.   Keep it up! School is the opposite of success: What do we really learn in our at least 12 years of growing up as a student?  Besides specific content… We learn that we are not supposed to make mistakes and must do what we are told to do by others above us.   When we take tests, we need to handle them by ourselves, we can't cooperate to overcome challenges together. So, you need to do everything on your own, and there's only one correct answer. It's the opposite of entrepreneurship. If you're doing math, well, yes, there is just one correct result. But for real-life problems, there are infinite solutions! ->What about you?   How much knowledge you have gained so far, and why? You wanted to explore, or you had to learn?  You need to find the knowledge you desire. Knowledge itself is infinite, so it can be unclear where to start or what you need to learn. Here are 3 simple questions to help you: What interests you? Use curiosity, it tells you what you want to find out more about and what intrigues you. What do you want to do? Use imagination, it tells you what your dreams are and what you desire to experience. What excites you? Be conscious, it allows you to identify what gives you energy and that feeling of passion.  To keep in mind:  Knowledge solves problems. The lack of it creates chaos. ->If you are already self-educating yourself on what you want and need, congratulations, and keep it up!  If not, please answer these questions, and they will jump-start you on your self-education path. The meaning of knowledge:  Beliefs by themselves are not knowledge.  A belief is only what you believe (for some reason), and that reason might not always be true.  Knowledge is a justified , accurate belief. How do we justify our beliefs?  There is no better way than to experience them!  But let's be honest, we can't experience all the knowledge in action in one lifetime, so we need to help each other. Most of our knowledge comes from somebody else, and it's easy to confirm its accuracy. Experts are among the right places to seek information, but what are experts these days where everyone and their AI has an opinion?  They can be one of 2: someone who spends their life observing, studying, experimenting , and reporting, or someone who lives and embodies with proof the knowledge they have and live by, showing that it is true. -> We all have our personal beliefs and share many of them as a global community.   Let's make sure our beliefs are justified and accurate so we can evolve. Last thoughts: Beliefs also make us who we are, and we all have beliefs (usually in the form of thoughts) that don't serve us. Knowledge always serves us, we just need to choose consciously how to use it positively. Because knowledge is useless if you don't use it, so you need to put it into action, and you will start seeing the results. -> Analyzing your beliefs does not mean discrediting them. It's a revision of what you believe, how accurate it is, and how it's serving you.  Please change what pulls you down, including things you think you can't accomplish. See you in a week. Your Zine.

Math, the basics, round 2: Now, after you track your money, you need to understand the flow of it and maybe make some changes...  Some Crucial Questions:   How much is your  income , and what are your bills?  How much are you spending on  necessities , and how much are you spending on  luxuries ?  How much are you  saving , and how much are you  investing ?  Some Guidance for Comparison:   A good guide for a prosperous life is spending at most 50% of your income on necessities, 25% on savings, 15% on investing, and the  last 10% on luxuries, if you can!   -> Please answer all these questions and do the math to figure out exactly how much money is going where.  How close are you to this guide? Can you change the flow of your money? Talking savings...  How much money do you need to cover 6 (minimum) to 12 months of your current expenses?  You need to save that money!  Why? Unforeseen events are part of everyone's life.    You must save for the occasional extra expenses with the house, appliances, car, or that extra seasonal hefty tax, and there's more…  Yeees more,  because the examples above are things that you know you will have to deal with at some point, but there are many more unforeseen events in our lives. Something will appear along the way, from employment to health issues, and you must count on these future bad situations in your money-math plan to  prepare  for them. I can’t give you an exact number to guide your savings. That depends on the cost of life in the country you live in, but let’s put it this way: For a European (in general), a good start would be to save around 1-2k for expected occasional extra expenses and around 10k (minimum) to be prepared when unforeseen events hit. -> Make a savings plan if you haven’t yet, and commit to saving the same amount every month.  If you don’t want to be vulnerable, you need to have some money to “lean on.” The hard truth...  When you complete your savings and have your mattress to fall on, you don’t touch that money!  If you want to have some money set apart for luxuries, you start saving from 0 because the savings we just discussed are for specific problems, not money you can go and pick up whenever you want to spoil yourself. You need to live your life as that money does not exist. The BEST true...  You are in control of your money, and you vote with your money.  (but let’s focus on the control for now). After you track your money, an action that is generally done at the end of the month, after you have spent your money, you can evaluate your situation and what you should change. -> This may sound impossible to do, but it is not.  Are you going to be in charge of your money habits or going to let expenses take over your life? Telling your money where to go: You should plan where you want your money to go before the new month starts. Dave Ramsey, host of the Ramsey Show, talks extensively about this.  To sum it up, this is what you should do: You take a look at your expenses, and first, you list your necessities  and cover them. After all necessities, you should have a small amount for stuff you forgot about, because we all forget something that’s going to happen or that  we need to do next month. If, and only if, you have money left (hopefully you do).  You divide it into savings, investments, and luxuries in that order, yes, luxuries are always last.   That’s how millionaires do it! You do this every month, adjusting accordingly to your needs. But please, everything outside, house, food, transportation, and health are luxuries, don’t confuse your Netflix subscription with your needs… -> This is how you start to take complete control of your life, you need to control your money ahead of time. This is how you define the flow of your money.  You don’t want to be wondering where did your money go . Last thoughts: This was not a fun talk, but necessary if you want to prosper in life and have a bright future. It is not complicated, the hardest part is the confrontation we experience between how we spend and how we should be spending. Not an easy step, but a simple one. The foundational habit to be in charge of your life and your future. When you accomplish your “non-existing savings,” you start saving money for investing.  If you can do both at the same time,  perfection! -> For this step, you’ll need to pay close attention to how well you are meeting your spending goals.  If you don’t match your goals perfectly, don’t give up, adjust and keep going.   See you in a week. Your Zine.

Money, the basics, round 2: I hope you have reflected on how money directly correlates to your future , and if you are not happy with what you foresee… let’s change that. First, you need to figure out how much money your goals imply.  An excellent way to measure it is to decide what kind of life you want to live in your golden years. Some Crucial Facts:   Money is abundant.  There’s so much money in this world that no one can pinpoint precisely how much. Money is depending on value.   The amount of money you make depends on the value you provide to others. That’s it. Money can work for you.   Everyone starts working for money, sure, but when you look at millionaires, they don’t work for money. Money is abundant:  You just need to take ownership of it. Politics aside, you need to live like a capitalist.  Capitalism is a system that governments can facilitate, but it is also an actionable guide for each of us to manage money.  Yes, it takes hard work, and a big part of making money is boring, but 5 minutes of fame on TikTok will not build you wealth, ownership and contracts will. You can follow a million directions in a capitalist journey. Hence, you must explore what is out there and choose what you want to pursue. Also, you will need a strong why  to keep you moving through the hard times in your pursuit of a better life. -> After figuring out what you want your life and your golden years to be like, ask yourself: Why do I want this life? What do you want to accomplish? Money is depending on value.  You just need to have high-paid skills. College education no longer guarantees you a job. Your salary is not safe anymore, much less a good retirement. It’s not fair, but it’s the reality, and the list of high-paid skills is constantly evolving and changing, so we need to adapt. What is guaranteed is learning new skills. Suppose you think you are wasting your previous experience and skills by taking a completely different path with different skills. In that case, you are already wasting the rest of your life. Reward usually hangs out on the other side of sacrifice. -> Don’t have a high-paid skill? Just choose one! What skills allow you to attain your goals? Which ones do you want to pursue? Money can work for you. You just need to make it happen. How? Money comes from skills, but wealth comes from assets. After generating a good income with your high-paying skills, you use that money to buy assets, then you use the assets that you own to  generate money for you in your sleep. You need to understand the difference between assets and liabilities. Assets bring you money, liabilities take away your money. Study the law and the tax system in your country,  without this knowledge, you will not get the best results possible and may be on your way to unnecessary troubles… And remember, it’s not how much money you make  it’s how much money you keep , and no, I don’t mean a savings account, I mean profit, what you have left after you pay all expenses. Wealth, at its core, is not how much money you have. If you earn to cover all your expenses and more, you are wealthy. -> Please list your assets, liabilities, and the money you have at your disposal and find out: Where are you? Poor, just above, or wealthy?  Last thoughts: You will lose money on your way to making money, so get comfortable with that idea. Risk is always there, and no one hits the bullseye every time. We all start small but never dream small! If you want the clouds, you don’t aim at the sky, you aim at the stars! If you want to be financially free, aim to be a millionaire. P.S. You are very likely to get to be both at the end. -> I suggest reading Rich Dad Poor Dad  by Robert T. Kiyosaki if you have not yet. It compares with notable highlights of the life of a government employee and an entrepreneur. See you in a week. Your Zine.

Why the Zine? The mission of this Zine is to help you improve your life. How? Financially, because no, money does not buy you happiness, but it does take away most of your daily problems, to start… That said, we need to start from the basics, and yes, some of you may already know this information. But it’s good to remind yourself of the foundations to keep you focused on what matters on your way to success. Here we go! Money, the basics: The starting point: You need to care about money , you just do. Long gone are the trading potatoes for carrots days. So, if you don’t care about money, savings, or investments... Your future you is already losing  to inflation. This world is never going to be cheaper to live in,  never!  ->  Please reflect on this and think about what your future looks like. Math, the basics: There is no  √  or m3 to calculate, just simple math implemented in our lives and with intention. You need to know how much money you have, how much comes in, how much goes out, and where it goes. Then, you start telling your money where to go!  You are in control. Your choices today dictate your future. ->   Spread-sheet or white paper, please keep track of your money. Knowledge, the basics: Not necessarily books, although it would help, and I can recommend some, such as: Rich Dad Poor Dad by Robert T. Kiyosaki; Anything You Want by Derek Sivers. You have the  world at the tip of your fingers . For 30 years, we have had access to the web, just double-check the info, and you are good to learn. Curious fact:  Almost all millionaires read many books, particularly self-help books.   Hum, wonder if knowledge and money are related… ->   They are, never stop learning! People, the basics: It does not get any more basic than this, we need each other. We live in a community, we interact directly or indirectly every day. So, you need to understand people, others, and yourself included. How people think and how habits form. Habits and triggers are created by emotions. Triggers and bad habits get in your way. Discipline and action are your weapons for change and success. Study people and yourself.  – You will evolve! ->   We all have at least 1 habit we should be changing, make a list and discover yours. Business, the basics: Money itself is a business, you can’t escape the business side of the world. You can only  choose your own moves  or let others play for you and then deal with the outcome. And no, the government is not the answer, it never was, and it never will.  A life of hard work? Hard  work, yes, but for you,  not someone else.  Big difference in action and outcome! Do you work for yourself?   ->  If not, can you find a way to? Profit, the basics: This will be our main topic of exploration. Everybody knows the word profit means a monetary gain derived from a transaction. But how can you profit to the full extent of the word? Can you profit in other areas of your life? You can, and many people understand. How to profit can be a state of mind. The glory is when 2 people make a transaction, monetary or not, and the outcome is the best possible situation for both.  – This is authentic profit!   ->  Can you imagine an exchange like this in your life? Last thoughts: These are the 6 topics ProfitZine will go over in a  more detailed approach in February. This content was meant to help you review the pillars of the foundation  for a better future and sparked some initiative.  Because  change and evolution can only happen through action. Please take these “doing” suggestions at the end of each topic,  they are simple enough for you to  start now! See you in a week. Your Zine.