One of the keys to making money is having the ability to step back, and gain some perspective from all that is going on around us. Let's face it, you are constantly bombarded with information, some true, some false.
I am a firm believer that the quality of the life we live is often dictated by the quality of the choices we make.
For example, the Christmas season is my favorite time of year. From Thanksgiving to Christmas we see constant reminders that the human spirit is kind, gentle, and basically good.
To get that good ole Christmas feeling again, tune into the Hallmark Channel or watch re-runs of "It's a Wonderful Life". By all means, don't watch the mainstream networks.
The wonderful motivational guru, Zig Ziglar, author of "See You at the Top", has been a blessing to millions of once not so successful people worldwide. One is Zig's famous quotes is;
"You are where you are because of what's gone into your mind. You can change who you are, you can change where you are, by changing what goes into your mind".
Are there reasons why the masses make so many mistakes when it comes to money? Sure. Are there reason’s why so many people make mistakes when it comes to their lives? Sure.
I believe people are products of their environment. Our environments are often a result of the choices we make.
Remember, you make money in the stock market based on what people do. A stock rises or falls based on what people buy or don’t buy. The spending habits, work ethic, and education of people determine our economic future. Our professions often define us as who we are, our morals determine what we are.
I have often been told that Wall Street is not a very moral place. Look what happened to a former CNBC guest host in September.
I think this tragic situation goes back to what I said before; our environments are often a result of the choices we make.
Our TV sets may be the most destructive influences we have in our homes. What people see on TV shapes and molds their hearts, minds, and souls. To attract advertisers, TV networks must attract viewers. To attract viewers, TV has turned to promoting humanity in its lowest form, and has influenced an entire generation that greed in all its forms is good.
As a result, recently we have seen financial tragedies occur in nightmare proportions. This morning the Mortgage Bankers Association said that home foreclosures hit an all-time high.
If you believe that the stock market and the economy is going to plug along normally without repurcussions of what society is doing, you are living in a dream world.
To show the impact of TV on the masses, all you have to do is look at the popular reality show,"The Apprentice", starring Donald Trump.
Given its huge popularity, and Trumps cult like following, don't you find in coincidential that "The Apprentice" first aired in 2003, and the real estate market peaked in 2005?
By all means I am not blaming Trump. He just trying to make a buck. I know there is no way to get accurate satistics, but how many people do you think jumped into the real estate market between 2003-2005 because they wanted to be like the "Donald"?
In 2005, while the sheep were buying real estate, Donald Trump was taking profits.
Get my drift?
The TV Set is Dangerous
Anyone who has walked through a mall in America can see negative impact that TV has had by promoting Hip Hop to the masses. Obviously this was done for financial gain, but by promoting "Gangsta Rap” into society, they have mainstreamed a culture that glorifies drugs, sex, killing and violence. As a result, parents are having trouble controlling their kids, and no one can figure out why.
If TV is promoting filth to kids for 3 hours a day, and they go to school with kids who have done the same, what kind of chance do you think a parent has when they say that what you see on TV, and what you’re pals at school are doing is wrong?
Yesterday's tragic murders at an Omaha shopping Mall was a 19 year old who had a drinking problem, and was an occasional marijuana user. He also enjoyed music (what kind was not mentioned) and video games, which was said to be- "normal teenager stuff."
Oh, really? Define normal.
We can’t blame the rappers for the problems in society. Without a distribution network, rappers would have no impact at all. Heck, even corporate America has gotten into the act with fashion advertisements, and video games while companies like Coca-Cola and Burger King use the rap beat in their commercials.
I’ve told my wife several times that paying for cable TV has to be the most insane proposition known to man. We are paying cable companies and TV networks to distribute “content” that is destructive to the family. We are allowing these crooks to steal our kids and our spouses by allowing them to shape the minds, hearts, souls, and morals of our families.
It seems that people were better human beings when we only had 3-4 channels to choose from, and they were all free.
