Okay, so…

Continuing from part 1, part 2 and part 3 of Young, Financial and Pissed, here’s more of the story behind why I wanna help people in the financial sector.

Money Myth Exploded

In 1936, the middle of the great depression, a man name Louis Even published a brochure, now called "Money Myth Exploded", in he which explains our current debt-based & debt-generating economy.

Basically it`s like this:

A banker, Oliver, on a small island community, introduces a money system for the people that does two things.

1. It made the little island community sink into debt as they entrusted their money to the banker.

2. It allowed the people to enrich the island, by work, so that ‘life’ materially… became better – production was up.

2b. …but never enough to ever get out of debt.

This is exactly what happens in our ‘civilized’ system today, right?

We have credit, interest, banks, etc. – that allow us to go into debt, and also to exchange goods and services.

But our collective national debt, even with everyone working super hard, is large and growing.

… what?

For example…

We’re richer, but poorer.

Canada today is definitely richer in "real, tangible wealth" than it was 100 years ago.

But compare our nations total debt 100 years ago — back then there was like… minimal debt.

Our money-system gained us tangible, material wealth in our country and society, but we’ve also gained debt.

But wait a sec…

Canadians themselves produced an enriched, real-wealth nation by their own labour and creativity and innovation.

Ah, the questions.

Better yet, why are most ‘civilized nations’ in more debt, even as they generate more and more value for the world?

Even if we somtimes had to get stuff from other countries, we still send goods abroad in response.

Seriously… how do human beings "Building New Shit" result in massive debt, over and over and over?

To ‘create something’ that helps the economy, a "Creative Canadian" may be asked to pay 2-3 times the production cost in interest over the years.

Who is he paying for the priveledge of elevating the community and economy through his innovation?

If our Creative Canadian is creating something that helps the economy, that we didn’t have before — why are they being heavily in-debted to produce it?

Could it be because our entire system is riddled with, and founded on… greed, control, manipulation, fear, shame, guilt, interest, false records and more?

Might there be a more equitable, win-win system available?

After all, we changed our bartering system for this current ‘money system’. So logically, it could transform again, yeah?

Interesting questions, and trying to answer them can take you to all sorts of research and revelations — or they can take you to excuses and dismissals.

It doesn’t matter.

I share these questions here, mostly to stir up emotion – because emotion is beautiful, important, and unlocks people who are sitting around not doing anything or breaking their comfort zones.

It gets people buzzing and sharing, and I wanna bring the roots of our money system out of the dark into the light.

Surprise surprise, the roots of our money-system is taboo. Just like the true beauty of sex, not supposed to talk about it, just go about your business.

But we’re changing that right now, together.

We’re taking a deeper looking at money, value, and the economy (and we’ve looked at sex here and here).

Strap in

I’ve met Marta Nowinska a few times.

If you don’t know, Marta Nowinska is a Toronto chick who left a career in banking, where ‘moolah’ reins supreme, for a social entrepeneurial bartering community.

That’s quite a change.

Could you do it?

Imagine what it`s like to work in the financial sector. Banking or whatever.

Everyone makes decent salaries, yourself included, and because of the decent salaries, you feel like you’ve got "life under control".

And say you don’t have any debt personally, in fact, you have savings.

But the work you do… is it fulfilling?

Or is part of an outmoded system that no longer serves humanity, and is actually harming us in a way.

Imagine you’re a smart, creative person and you go to work everyday and spend your moments pouring energy into a system that sucks hard.

Now take a look at the poor, ignored, unsupport enterpreneur with the new idea, out there on the edge trying to breathe life into his dream.

Are you contributing to the economy as much as the in-debt entrepreneur, creating a new technology that’ll change our lives?

Well, it`s hard to compare, but basically, you know deep down if you`re doing what you`re meant to. Rich people and poor, all can tell if they are ‘feeling fulfilled’ in their life choices.

So maybe you have more creativity and potential and value that’s being unused as you grind away at paperwork. Maybe you’re like Marta, and you see opportunities to make the city, the economy, the world better, but it’s very easy to get comfortable and "stuck" in banking.

And there you are, planted firmly in the financial sector, for whatever reason.

Would you have the courage to chuck it, step out, and create something new, that was not only an anti-banking bartering system, but one that clearly draws on the roots of primitive economies.

Would you have the courage to HELP the economic system in clear ways, rather than participate in one that’s not exactly ‘pure’?

If you did, that’d be considered…

Bold.

Think about it.

So now I’ve raised some ideas about the roots of our current money-system.

And I’ve given Marta some props for her trying a new way.

Next I’m gonna tell you why even all that doesn’t matter.

It’s cause we’re free.

As individuals, we’re free.

There’s no magic force stopping us from accessing resources or wealth.

Even if it looks that way.

There was a kid in Africa who managed to transform garbage into a resource.

In a system that made it seem impossible for him to ryze up, he did with his own desire, belief, and creative expectations.

‘Cause even in this ‘flawed’ system and horrible ‘oppression’, there are always people who "come from nothing" and end up thriving during all the economic ups and downs. They somehow have everything consistently working to their advantage, gaining help and resources from odd places and in creative ways.

Some people always ryze.

Almost like magic.

And almost all of them learned their money lessons on the streets.

We don’t have a whole lot of deep-level, roots-examing education about money and finance.

We have tons of shallow, "this is how you make compound interest" education, but almost no "human energy + creativity is the heart and soul of our economy, and mastering that, lets you thrive."

We have lots of "handouts" and "hoop-jumping", but how much of it is sustainable, impactful, long-lasting help?

Are we "giving man a fish", or "teaching him to fish?"

Most of our money talk, money education, and money innovation is weak sauce and band-aid solutions, empowering and educating minimally.

But it`s not the only way.

Some peeps choose differently.

Rags to riches, yo.

Some are not as scared, and timid, and they boldly go "outside" our system/society, to learn about money from the hustle.

They learn from the drug game, being homeless, bankruptcy, in heavy debt, evicted, jailed, and being reduced to almost nothing.

Why?

Because in for what is a ‘short time’ in most people’s lifespans, this is valuable money-wisdom experience.

And it compels someone to learn really powerful lessons about their own resourcefulness… fast.

And the people who do it?

Well….

The ‘rags’ in ‘rags to riches’ is currently our ‘best’ teacher of financial mastery. It teaches deeper and faster and charges you no tuition (besides being ballsy. )

There are other ways to learn. There’s more preferred ways to learn, like maybe… reading a blog post from someone who "gets things".

But how often do we see that?

A lot, actually.

But…

…most of us are too busy gossiping about their extreme wealth or bold (and often misguided) self-expression though, to actually look into their life story, their rags to riches journey.

Nope most of our society just envies the riches, instead of examining these people "broke free" of a seemingly broken, oppressive economic system.

There’s countless rags to riches examples. It’s really not hard to notice a pattern and infer that something about being deeply poor injects a person with the qualities, ideas, and lessons needed to hold and channel massive wealth.

If you lined up a bunch of materially successful celebs and average blue-collar workers, and told the kids that the more patterns they find, the more treats and allowance they get…

… they’d very quickly discover the "rags to riches" pattern, that the blue-collar workers are so hell-bent on avoiding the lows, that they never really "do much" with the highs, but the celebs went all out and saw the "lows" as a challenge and believed in their own inner-selves and resources to get through them.

"Entrepreneurship is living a few years of your life like most people won’t so you can spend the rest of your life like most people can’t." – A Warren G. Tracy student.

It seems almost as if hitting that low point is a blessing in disguise, and plants the seeds of financial mastery that blows people’s minds.

Examples:

1. Joe Vitale – Homeless to Law Of Attraction legend.
2. Chris Gardner – Homeless with a child, before hitting it big with his movie Pursuit Of Happyness.
3. Jay-Z – On a path to jail and close to death many times, living in the projects, Jay-Z left the lucrative drug money behind, and decided to make even more through legal distribution of his music and expanding his empire.
4. Elvis Presley – "Go back to drivin’ truck, son."
5. Halle Berry – Homeless in 20s. "It taught me how to take care of myself and that I could live through any situation, even if it meant going to a shelter for a small stint, or living within my means, which were meager. I became a person who knows that I will always make my own way."
6. Louis Armstrong – No dad, hooker mom, arrested young, married a prostitute.
7. Napoleon Hill – I can’t even describe the relationship, family, and business ups and downs hill went through before revolutionizing riches for millions and millions of people through his works.
8. Henry Ford – 5x a broke failed entrepreneur.
9. R.H. Macy – 7x failed businesses.
10. Micahel Jordan – Cut from school team. Failed many times. “I have missed more than 9,000 shots in my career. I have lost almost 300 games. On 26 occasions I have been entrusted to take the game winning shot, and I missed. I have failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.”
11. Soichiro Honda – Rejected, jobless and broke for ages as he made home-made scooters.
12. Sony – First product: Faulty rice-cooker, 100 units sold… now… multi-billion dollar company.
13. Edison – 10,000+ failures.
14. P. Diddy –  Born in a public housing project in Harlem, New York. Currently… wise business mogul and richest rapper… ever. Richer than even Jay-Z, at least on paper. Diddy ain’t go no Beyonce Empire at his side…
15. Daniel Craig – Now James Bond… critically-acclaimed – used to sleep on park benches as a struggling actor.
    
16. Jim Carrey – Lived out of a van on his sister’s lawn. Carrey said it was during these tough financial times growing up when he developed a sense of humor.
17. Col. Sanders – Start KFC at 50+, 1009 rejections.
18. Einstein – Stunted child-hood write-off, mute til 4, illiterate until 7. Expelled. Refused school admittance. Took him longer than most, but he caught on pretty well… eh?
19. Wright Brothers – Tons of failed flying machines, eventual success.
20. Ella Fitzgerald – Homeless, abused, mafia-tied in younger years.
21. Steve Jobs – Fired by his own company, eventually bought it back and became a wealthy legend.
22. Eminem – Poor, trailer-trash life, and massive ‘race-related’ blocks for success in his field. Now? Some say greatest rapper of all time, making paper, yo.
23. J.K. Rowling – Was nearly penniless, severely depressed, divorced, trying to raise a child on her own while attending school and writing a novel. Rowling went from depending on welfare to survive to being one of the richest women in the world in a span of only five years.
24. Van Gogh – Absolutely destitute his entire life. Mostly leeched or lived off charity, starving often to complete his pieces – which now gross some of the highest value of any paintings anywhere.
25. Kelly Clarkson – Poor Texas upbringing, apartment burned down, lived out of car. Now worth 25mil.
26. Spielberg – Refused entrance to films school 3x. Eventually attended elsewhere, dropped out. Rocked life. Hard.
27. Stephen King – 30 rejections of his first novel Carrie. The entire industry hating on giving him a chance.
28. Frank O’Dea – Founder of Second Cup Coffee Chain, was panhandling in his 20s.
29. Donald Trump – Teetered on the edge of bankruptcy 4x before he nailed down his rock-solid empire.
30. Tony Robbins – Lived in car, estranged from fam.
31. Oprah – Went from wearing potato-sack dresses, to media mogul.
32. Jewel – “I ended up homeless because my boss propositioned me and when I wouldn’t sleep with him he didn’t give me my paycheck,” she said.

“I got kicked out of where I was living and my rent was due that next day.

“I thought ‘Well, I’ll live in my car for a minute… get back on my feet,’ but I had bad kidneys and I never could hold down another job because I got sick so often. I didn’t have insurance and ended up almost dying in the parking lot of an emergency room because they wouldn’t admit me because I didn’t have insurance." – Jewel

And it’s only scratching the surface.

So what am I saying…? We all need to hit rock-bottom to achieve our dreams?

Not exactly.

I believe we can all agree that there are More Preferred Ways of understanding money and learning how to attract it and generate it…

… but until someone takes the lead and changes the school system, and books like Think And Grow Rich are instilled in us as early as we learn to play sports, then maybe we can at least…

…embrace these Rags To Riches examples in some way?

Y’know?

Maybe there’s something worth examining there.

Maybe everyone who’s sitting comfortable and is too scared to dip into the depths, might wanna consider that they’re actually holding themselves back from the True Path To Riches?

Because I know one thing — the people who learned the hard early lessons, have never looked back, no matter what the economy’s doing or what the ‘system’ says.

Food for thought.

"And what it all comes down to my friends
Is that everything’s just fine fine fine
‘Cause I’ve got one hand in my pocket
and the other one is hailing a taxi cab." – Alanis Morrissette, Hand In My Pocket

The end

So what about you? Did you realize all these famous celebrities followed a similar pattern of rejection, being hated, ignored, discouraged, and unsupported by education/finance/family institutions… literally following the Rags To Riches pattern? How do you feel about what I’ve shared here?

Resources:

Charles Eisenstein
Mark Boyle
Marta Nowinska
Desteni

Okay, so…

Continuing from parts 1 and 2 of Young, Financial and Pissed, here’s more of the story behind why I wanna help people in the financial sector.

Real Money Wisdom

Lots of people say to imitate successful people. Some say you gotta do you and imitating successful people won’t work. Others say you gotta be you first, and imitate second. Others suggest the other way around. Picasso says all art is stolen, the best artists are good at hiding their sources. And what if "being you" happens to be "imitating others well." – there do exist people like that.

Because what they think, say, and do naturally is what led them to lead their natural life.

These people who’ve succeeded usually do stuff from the gut. They aren’t great teachers, they aren’t able to explain the real wisdom that helped them.

They may give you advice or actions they took that they *think* is what unlocked things for them, but the truth is usually way deeper.

Evan Carmichael always says Model The Masters — and he’s right!

I’d like to add that if you’re gonna model the masters, be real careful ‘doing what they say’, and pay much closer attention to what they did, especially in the early phases. And even better, look for patterns across many ‘masters’.

So with that in mind…

Let’s take a look at what people who’ve, as much as we can tell, have succeeded and accomplished a lot in their lives, and see what they naturally say about money, whtether it makes sense and feels like they know what they’re talking about, or whether it’s b.s., to be ignored.

I’m talking about celebrities, star players and oh so flagrant demonstrators of external riches.

People that most people write off as shallow, lucky, or unintelligent. (I used to do this all the time, now I love celebs and am eager to coach them.)

Let’s try putting any judgments aside and see if they speak any wise truths.

50 Quotes From Celebrities On Money & Wealth:

1. There are people who have money and people who are rich. – Coco Chanel
2. I have no money, no resources, no hopes. I am the happiest man alive. – Henry Miller
3. We go to school to learn to work hard for money. I write books and create products that teach people how to have money work hard for them. – Robert Kiyosaki
4. I’d like to live as a poor man with lots of money. – Pablo Picasso
5. A wise man should have money in his head, but not in his heart. – Jonathan Swift
6. If saving money is wrong, I don’t want to be right! – William Shatner
7. I believe in the universe, when the time is right and you know, the mood is right. – Jay-Z
8. Money is better than poverty, if only for financial reasons. – Woody Allen
9. I am happy to make money. I want to make more money, make more music, eat Big Macs and drink Budweisers. – Kid Rock
10. Do what you love and the money will follow. – Marsha Sinetar
11. Liking money like I like it, is nothing less than mysticism. Money is a glory. – Salvador Dali
12. Wealth flows from energy and ideas. – William Feather
13. If you make a living, if you earn your own money, you’re free – however free one can be on this planet. – Theodore White
14. My goal wasn’t to make a ton of money. It was to build good computers. – Steve Wozniak
15. All money means to me is a pride in accomplishment. – Ray Kroc
16. My mind shines even when my thoughts dark. – Lil Wayne
17. I work very hard and I’m worth every cent! – Naomi Campbell
18. Too many people spend money they haven’t earned, to buy things they don’t want, to impress people they don’t like. – Will Smith
19. I don’t think the money people in Hollywood have ever thought I was normal, but I am dedicated to my work and that’s what counts. – Angelina Jolie
20. I can live without money, but I cannot live without love. – Judy Garland
21. Started off local but thanks to all the haters / I know G4 pilots on a first name basis – Drake
22. Money was never a big motivation for me, except as a way to keep score. The real excitement is playing the game. – Donald Trump
23. I never completed high school and I am very rich and very successful. – Tre Cool
24. Man, there ain’t no ego in gettin’ this paper, you feel me… let me tell y’all about one of the secrets to my success: I don’t worry about what nobodies doin’ – so all y’all that’s out there on the internet, that worry about what people’s doin’, your wastin’ your time, time you could be puttin‘ towards yourself – positive attracts positive, negative attracts negative. – P. Diddy
25. Somebody said to me, ‘But the Beatles were anti-materialistic.’ That’s a huge myth. John and I literally used to sit down and say, ‘Now, let’s write a swimming pool. – Paul McCartney
26. Life is very interesting… in the end, some of your greatest pains, become your greatest strengths. – Drew Barrymore
27. It’s never too late – never too late to start over, never too late to be happy – Jane Fonda
    
28. You’re only human. You live once and life is wonderful, so eat the damned red velvet cupcake. – Emma Stone
29. Sometimes you can have the smallest role in the smallest production and still have a big impact. – Neil Patrick Harris
30. Talk like a winner, my chest to that sun. – Flo Rida
31. The genuine truth, and I do think about this a lot, is that I’m one of the least competitive people you’ll ever meet. Except with myself. – Daniel Craig
32. Respect your efforts, respect yourself. Self-respect leads to self-discipline. When you have both firmly under your belt, that’s real power. – Clint Eastwood
33. You pray for rain, you gotta deal with the mud too. – Denzel Washington
34. I believe there’s an inner power that makes winners or losers. And the winners are the ones who really listen to the truth of their hearts. – Sylvester Stallone
35. A lot of people give up just before they’re about to make it. You know you never know when that next obstacle is going to be the last one. – Chuck Norris
36. As a young man I prayed for success. Now I just pray to be worthy of it. – Brendan Fraser
37. “I believe you make your day. You make your life. So much of it is all perception, and this is the form that I built for myself. I have to accept it and work within those compounds, and it’s up to me. – Brad Pitt
38. A man must love a thing very much if he not only practices it without any hope of fame and money, but even… without any hope of doing it well. – Oliver Herford
39. see i dont live for glamour,and I dont care for fame / im in this for the love of the game / funny how things can change / they didnt believe in me / then they calling my name / now look who cashed in. – Jay Sean
40. It is not the man who has too little, but the man who craves more, that is poor. – Seneca
41. Money is like love; it kills slowly and painfully the one who withholds it, and enlivens the other who turns it on his fellow man. – Khalil Gibran
42. Capital as such is not evil; it is its wrong use that is evil. Capital in some form or other will always be needed. – Gandhi
43. Whether you broke or rich you gotta get biz / Having’ money’s not everything, not having it is – Kanye West
44. On the way we shed some tears / Every day we sacrifice / So we can be standing here / Oh what a hell of a life – Rick Ross
45. Told ‘em, who’s in control is the one thats above us / I walk where money talks and love stutters – Common
46. I’m very very grateful that I’ve been allowed, and people have come to films and I’ve been given jobs… – Angelina Jolie
47.  I don’t understand this person, so they’re crazy. That’s bullshit. [Celebrities] are not crazy, they’re strong people, maybe their environment… is a little sick. – Dave Chappelle
48. The thing that makes it possible for a person to be in the right place at the right time to create the things that they create — It has to do with a really complex structure of the mind and the soul and- and- and- the nervous system and everything and all these unknown things that are taking place in the subconscious… – John Frusciante
49. Time you enjoy wasting, was not wasted. – John Lennon
50. You can’t put a limit on anything. The more you dream, the farther you get. – Michael Phelps

So there’s 50 quotes from interviews, songs, movies, video clips, etc. from celebrities who have made an impact and created value for many. These are people who clearly jumptart the flow of dollars in an economy. These are people with empires swirling around them.

Notice any patterns?

All of the above people:

• a) persisted through hard early lives, and made their own way
• b) learned to be grateful for the smallest things during their dark times
• c) love money and have no ego involved in it
• d) are spiritual, whether the public realizes it or not.

So…

Most hollywood celebs have risen to the peak of their field through hard work, sacrifice and dedication, earning a little wisdom along the way.

People always say "copy the successful", and they usually mean go out and "do what they did", but the real way to "copy the successful" isn’t even about "doing" or "action."

Truth is your own actions and your own path could very well be different.

I’ll tell you what you can copy that won’t be different though:

Their attitudes.

Copy the successful doesn’t mean go out and sleep under a stage because Al Pacino did it, it means adopt his attitude.

It means "persist through your own hard early days."

It doesn’t mean get lots of riches and then learn to be grateful.

It means love money and realize you’re worthy and part of god and meant to have it. Realize that the more dollars flowing around, the better the economy.

Realize that creating value and relieving suffering and entertaining and educating others are fantastic paths to riches.

These guys know the real way to creating a life of material wealth, but they don’t know how to teach it. You’ve gotta pay real close attention and study the patterns.

Stalking Success

Many people are on the hunt, the prowl, for external success. Money, girls, possessions, vacations, etc.

But they weren’t always like that.

They didn’t pop out the womb fiendin’ for external stuff.

And for their early – and usually most fun – years, they didn’t have a single thought about chasing external things in order to feel happy.

In fact, as kids we kinda did the opposite: we’d tend to wake up reasonably happy, carry that throughout the day, and even if we had ups and downs… good stuff would come to us.

People like being around our happy selves, and they like giving attention and resources to our happy selves.

And that hasn’t changed.

…but how many of us can really say we are in-tune, in touch, and totally being ourselves, like we were when we were children?

Too few I’d say.

There’s stalking success, by looking for it outside ourselves, or in the future, and there’s a different kind of stalking success.

The kind we used when we were kids.

The kind where we smile big, look around at the world and take joy in the awesomeness.

Got free air today. free sunshine? Sweet! Let’s go for a walk.

Got internet and tons of information just a Google away? Sweet! Let’s surf the net.

Whatever crap is going on in your life, is truly nothing compared to the amount of abundant, fantastic, mind-blowing awesomeness going on around you, that you didn’t have to work for or pay for.

Got a chance to talk with another human being? Count yourself lucky, that person’s cells and DNA came from years of NATURE. That person didn’t have to EARN life and you didn’t have to EARN the chance to talk to them.

The real way to stalk success is to notice this stuff. Appreciate it. Write it down. Look for more of it. ‘Cause whatever you put your attention on GROWS.

Let’s Talk Focus

Here’s something else that’s a pattern in all success-stories and celeb-achievements.

Focus.

These people figured out a way to dedicate themselves and happily focus on one area of life, intensely.

• Michael Phelps & Swimming.
• Bruce Lee & Martial Arts.
• Samuel L. Jackson & Badass-roles.

Did they do it by copying someone else?

Not really.

They experimented and failed and tried different things and some they let go or quit and some they found inspiring enough to keep up.

Some of these things had a lot of meaning to them.

Some things they wouldn’t give up, no matter what.

And those are the things they get known for, and paid well for.

All I’m saying is, if you’re hungry for lots of money, and you wanna follow the footsteps of someone who’s already done it, look deeper and follow their real footsteps.

Focus, and if you can’t or won’t or don’t focus yet, then promise yourself you’ll figure out how, asap.

Stalk success, but dont do it by looking at others, do it by finding it in the harshest conditions, and start a habit of finding it everywhere.

And get some real money wisdom. Stop listening to people telling you to use this system, or that system, and follow the people who’ve done it. And look for the natural, habitual, subconscious ways they did it. Notice the patterns of the world’s successful.

For the most part, they did what they wanted, and aimed to create positive feelings for others while they were at it. For the most part, they had a lot of trust, faith, and persistence. For the most part they did things for deeper reasons than money, even Donald Trump.

How about you? What feels like the proper role of money in your life?

Okay, so…

Continuing from part 1 of Young, Financial and Pissed, here’s more of the story behind why I wanna help people in the financial sector

There’s 3 main reasons I’m psyched to serve young, creative, ambitious peeps in the financial sector.

It feels like they’re lost, and it feels like there’s no one around clearly showing ‘em a good way

1. S*** Flows Downstream

When standards ryze at the top it creates a self-filling vaccuum below.

And I don`t mean shit in a negative way, I mean that ‘stuff’, good or bad, flows from the top down to the bottom, and in that way it has a powerful effect on everyone.

Let’s imagine a situation to see it better:

Say you have 3 athletes, Jose, Veronica, and Austin.

Let’s say Jose holds the gold trophy, Veronica the silver, and Austin the bronze.

And let’s say they all keep them in their single, central trophy case in their home, shining proud and speaking of their accomplishments.

Now…

Let’s say you create a Platinum Trophy, and without even holding a contest, you give it to the guy at the top, Jose.

You tell him he really, totally rocked and he deserves this platinum trophy, but you didn’t have it to give him earlier.

The rare, new, and ‘more valuable’ plat trophy tickles Jose’s fancy in a big way. He’s thrilled!

But Jose realizes that he needs to make room for the plat trophy, so he takes the gold out of its case, and either

a) Out of the good of human nature, passes it to Veronica, ’cause she deserves it.

b) He tries to make a little money so he offers Veronica a chance to upgrade.

c) He makes some shady deal and gives it to Austin.

In any of the above cases, by creating more success and value and a better life for the "well-off winner" Jose, we have automatically created a cascading, trickle-down flow of gold-trophy-goodness to the others.

The same thing goes for me helping the financial sector.

They don’t look like the ‘problem’. It looks more ‘noble’ if I’m working to rehabilitate criminals with my success-coaching. But I see myself as creating a platinum trophy for society, if I’m able to help any power player improve their lives.

• I say if you want to help the poor, a very high-leverage move is to find the rich and powerful, and improve their lives and ways of living.
• I say if you want to help the economy, you don’t run around trying to band-aid patch starving artists, you unlock the power of people in the financial sector, celebrities, legal sector, real estate, etc.
• I say you expand humanity’s legacy, and push boundaries at the ‘top’ and watch everyone else have a fantastically new standard of living.

And I say that doing that is far more effective than staring right at the middle-class, the starving artist, the poor-man-turned-criminal and trying to "fix" them.

F*** fixing, release obstacles and pain and resistance at the top, and watch good things flow.

This is NOT a normal view.

Society looks at people in the world of finance and thinks "oh, they’re fine." They have their decent condo, a planned out career path, and they can buy nice things.

Society judges finance people for their desires & ambitions. Society judges them for what they’ve acquired and their standard of living.

Society sends the subtle message saying that financial people don’t need help. They’re not as worthy of help as the start-up entrepreneur or the non-profit organization.

When’s the last time you saw anything in the media addressing the grinding, self-sacrificing, de-humanizing life of many in the financial sector?

And people in fin-sec think almost the same way!

Most don’t even know any better!

They think — "Well, I do okay for myself, I just have to put up with X, or tolerate Y politics, or settle for Z, no one cares about my real hopes, dreams, and feelings anyway."

So what we have is a huge chunk of the population with capital and cashflow, who thinks there’s no one interested in helping them, and the rest of society churning on ’cause they’re all blind to the problem.

And this situation hurts all of us.

Whaddo I mean? I mean think about it… miserable people in the finance sector won’t affect how quickly, easily, and precisely cash flows? Of course it will.

Think of all the people with green or grassroots movements, or those that wanna help the poor, but they can’t seem to "find the dollars".

Could it be because everyone who handles the dollars is too lethargic, emotionally trampled, or small-thinking to help the dollars flow where they’re needed?

And could HELPING the financial sector and treating them like they’re human beings actually FREE UP dollars for other causes?

Damn straight it is.

And I have a very, very special gift and it’s meant to help people, and even though it’s a bit of a scary new thing for me, I wanna step up and reach the financial & legal sectors. Industries that are filled with powerful people, ripe for change, and destined to Ryze together.

2. Life’s For Living

Stepping out of comfort zones makes us feel alive.

Does it bring a smile to people’s faces when another human being grinds away behind a desk for hours at a job that’s not satisfying?

Is it truly productive when people get into a profession ‘mainly for the money’ and ‘works really hard until they cant stand it’?

How many kids are raised on finance, live-and-breathe finance, and are uniquely blessed and gifted to be in finance?

"Then the victim was asked to quietly collect their personal items – the rest would be sent by post – and come up to a particular room. So we would sit there, and hear the PA’s phone ring. One time I collected my things beforehand, just in case, because I had had a really bad argument with my line manager a few weeks prior. That time the PA headed straight for me. I started getting up when she put her hand on my shoulder: ‘You’re cool.’ Part of me was hoping it would be me. As if I needed someone else to unchain me." – Anonymous Investment Banker, Guardian.co.uk.

For the people who *are* that blessed and passionate, I wanna help them ryze up and unleash their awesome passion to help transform the financial sector, and for all the one’s who aren’t meant to do that, I wanna help them click into their true calling.

And I understand, lord, do I understand.

When you’ve spent chunks of your life homeless, alone, and scared ‘safety’ and ‘security’ are verrrry appealing.

But that’s never a reason to get too attached to ‘em, and never a reason to ‘stop living’.

I, more than most, should be clinging to safety and security, but I understand that our world moves forward and our economies, cities, and families all thrive when people step up and step out of their comfort zones.

We`re meant to grow, and that includes finance peeps.

And I`m here to help.

Life’s for living, and that means stepping out of comfort zones.

And I say it’s easy to step out of comfort zones, but most people are so habitual, so trained, so repetitive at playing safe & thinking small, that they actually have trouble changing.

But it’s cool…

I’ll help.

3. Clueless On Survival

I don’t mean survival as in making sure your cells keep replicating and heart keeps beating. Survival is more than that.

I don`t mean ‘survival’ as in hollowly grinding away on a steady paycheck til you’re 70 and die of <insert chronic, non–infectious disease that probably could’ve been avoided>.

I mean ‘survival’ as in being generally happy. Creature comforts, friends, family, a place and a purpose. Meaningful contribution. Self-esteem and self-confidence. The new human basics of survival

And how do we get that?

Back in the day, the most precious gift was food, shelter, clothing.

`Finding` or ‘harvesting’ food sources was what consumed an individuals time.

Now, that is not so much what an individual in our cities is concerned with.

In western citiess food/shelter/clothing is literally all around us, we are swimming in it, but weird emotional or social obstacles prevent us from acquiring it, and those same emotional and social obstacles can really weigh on even the best of us.

That’s why I give a very special gift, the gift of New Survival. New Survival isnèt teaching people how to get their own food from the land, and it’s not teaching them how to ‘secure’ a job (job security is kind of a joke in this economy).

"I saw many people cry. One time, a very popular guy on our team was let go. It took everyone by surprise because this dude was not only very nice, professional and dedicated but he actually made a lot of money for the team. His eyes welled up and I’m sure he broke out in tears when he left the floor. Moments after his departure, his desk was cleared and the head of our team got up to say something to the effect: "He was a great guy but business is business and let’s get back to work and make some money." – Anonymous Investment Banker, Guardian.co.uk

No, the new survival skills are far more vital than those.

They’re insanely important, using them well is what let’s us not only survive, but THRIVE. It’s how we truly ‘reach’ for what we want in life.

And sadly they’re not taught by parents, schools, or MBA programs.

It’s well known in the finance industry that "continuing education" is important, but how powerful are the skills being taught in the average financial education program. They’ll help you learn financial modeling, but will they help you learn how to handle the ups and downs of office politics and the almost certain ‘mistaks’ and ‘failures’ that will be experienced by any human in their lifetime?

They are taught by me though, ridiculously hard to come by, and game-changingly powerful, they`re things like like Replacing Negatives With Positives and Focusing Through Chaos.

I like my reasons.

I like my reasons for my interest in helping fin-sec peeps, and I’m not here to paint a bleak picture of finance.

The quotes I’ve used here are emotional and intense… and are also heavily biased as they come from one of the most ruthless branches of finance, investment banking.

I didn’t intend to specifically focus on bankers. Undervalued back-office staff deserve love too, as do analysts, traders, etc.

I just quoted what I liked. I liked that these bankers had such powerful things to say about their experience in the world of finance.

The feeling I’m getting is that investment bankers, for the most part, are true warriros, ready to do whatever it takes to succeed, but no one’s taken them aside, treated them like a person, and made it clear that *there are other ways to live the life they want.*

Anyway, it makes for good reading, a good story, and a good point, and I hope you’re feelin’ it.

And like I said, I’m not here to hate on finance. I love finance Finance rocks It’s got a lot going for it. Society’s created a finance sector to help us evolve past a bartering system and to really expand our civilization.

It could use some TLC though, and I’d love to work with people in that world, and make lives better… together.

Like any industry it has people who love what they’re doing and people who are there for the wrong reasons. I’ve coached tons of artists, musicians, middle-class workers, housewives, etc., but I’ve neglected the financial arena, and it’s time for change.

I wanna help finance ryze up, and I wanna reach people who have been working around numbers so long they may have forgotten a lot of what makes people human and what makes life worth living. And even more, I want the rest of the world to see them as valuable parts of society, not "those well-off finance guys."

Assumptions challenged.

On their part, it takes openness, transparency and trust. It takes passion and cmomittment. On my part, it takes the J-Ryze magic, my ability to zero on deep, root problems, and to quickly replace that with a positive solution.

I need people who are ready to challenge their own assumptions.

I need peeps who stop assuming that "the industry" is holding them down. I need peeps who stop assuming that "politics" are *hard* to beat. I need peeps who stop assuming that everything is the way they were taught, and that success has to come through their 10 year plan.

If these peeps and I get together we can unlock so many doors and achieve so much together.

We can do it, so I say, let’s connect.

P.S. What do you think about all this? Have you had much experience with analysts, traders, bankers and brokers? Are they happy people? Are they scared of risk? Are they too comfortable? Or are they super-passionate and impacting the world

And I didn’t realize it until recently, (after an insightful chat with Evan Carmichael,) but some of the most ambitious people in the world, end up in the financial or legal sector.

That’s right.

Financial and legal are at peace with their desire for new products, luxury experiences, and fantastic lives. They don’t sit around wondering where these desires came from, they simply want them, and they go for ‘em, the best way they know how. Which is usually through an MBA.

These guys and I share some common ground. (Besides the fact that we LOVE money.)

I see life as a continual cylces of expansion, elevation, and stability. I believe inner-wealth and outer-wealth are both related and wonderful.

I want to see these finance guys get the models & bottles they’re after

Oh and I know it’s taboo to admit we want nice things, wealthy freedom, and beautiful women – but at Ryze we make a point of making the taboo safe to talk about.

"A lot of (most?) bankers are actually in the job for this very reason, but it’s not acceptable to admit it or suggest that’s why you’re interested in the field. Yes, investment banking salaries legendary, but it’s taboo to discuss that." – MergersAndInquisitions.com

Point is…

…I love seeing people succeed however they define it.

Yes, that includes CFAs and IBs.

"I’m on a boat and, it’s goin fast and
I got a nautical themed pashmina afghan
I’m the king of the world, on a boat like Leo
If you’re on the shore, then you’re sho’ not me-oh" – Lonely Island, On A Boat

I feel like a totally great fit to help these people out, if they’ll get creative and come to me open-minded, passionate, and committed.

And more importantly, if I can attract them and reach them

But there’s a giant problem.

The people I’m born to help the most don’t even know I exist.

I was on MeetUp.com recently, looking for Toronto groups I might be able to serve, and I noticed a trend. Most of the meetups were named invitingly like "walk in the park", "singles dance", etc.

Toronto Finance was the only group I came across that had a group for pissed off people, it was called Disgruntled Toronto Finance Professionals, lol.

Thing is… financial peeps end up working crazy hours for "moderately more money than average", but are rarely fulfilled and rarely making major progress towards their true desires.

And they’re kinda pissed at the dream they were sold and the industry they’re in.

‘Finance’ and ‘legal’ are so numbers-driven, heuristic, traditional industries that anyone moving towards them from a younger generation, are likely to feel some serious friction.

These areas have huge rates of disastisfaction.

Yes, they average anywhere from $80,000-$200,000 a year starting salaries, but dissatisfied people can a) only keep that up so long, and b) rarely shine bright enough to ryze to a truly rich life.

So maybe they count on tenure, sticking it out, slogging through, and moving up in a firm. Years go by, and they can get more like $150k-$300k. A select few (usually those that "practically kill themselves" for the job) will make VP, Partner, or Director, raking in $500k to a million.

"I work alteast 65-70 hours a week or even more. I see directors or senior managers work even a lot more. I’m currently at the manager level and I feel even being in private industry it is very difficult to sustain a work life balance. I see womans who are pregnant working until early hours of morning and I’m not sure if I want to do that. " – CA_Girl, businessweek forums.

A million? For years of grinding away in a miserable, broken system?

And that’s assuming you didn’t start in accounting and switch, or debatably… get an "elite" MBA.

"But a new analysis by BloombergBusinessweek, published yesterday (Jan. 6), may give some pause. The return-on-investment study claims that it can take a Harvard or Stanford MBA ten or so years to fully recoup his or her investment in the degree." – PoetsAndQuants.com

Not my idea of fun, and hopefully if you’re reading this — not yours either.

But what if there were ways to shortcut this path, a) like accessing new levels of confidence or focus, b) making it more fun and energizing, instead of draining, or c) using other people’s emotions to get them deciding in your favor?

What if there were killer life-skills that the entire finance industry is ignorant to, but are high-leverage and generate life-changing results?

Or what if these sure, proud, smart finance people were really lost, confused, and not 100% clear on what they want, and "ended up" in finance, instead of passionately aiming for it?

For example, a common phrase among finance people is this:

"My goal is to get into IB or HF." – LifeOnTheBuySide.com

These career paths are so different, that it might be compared to saying "I wanna get into lawyering OR be an olympic athlete."

It’s kind of a foolish thing to say, they both require totally different life-paths and the real meaning behind it is "I wanna make a lot of money."

Who’s helping MBAs, FAs, CAs?

Who’s considering these questions?

Who’s teaching MBAs powerful life-hacks to change the way they handle workloads, office politics, pitching ideas and more?

"A typical misconception is that you have to be a finance or business major to get an investment banking job.  This is completely false.  When I was an iBanker, my analyst class was divided between 60% business majors and 40% non-business majors… most have never even heard of the term DCF Model in their life! The banks know this and prepare for this. Each investment banking class starts with a 2 month, intensive training program that levels the playing field, making it possible for non business majors to enter the field." – StreetOfWalls.com

And what if there were fun, fulfilling, lucrative careers outside of finance, and most people have tons of potential and don’t belong stuck in back-office positions anyway?

What if whether you were buy-side or sell-side, back-office or front-office…

There’s seeds of a solution.

So I help people ryze fast and ryze far. I help them unblock their lives, live the way they want, and unleash their true power.

I help ‘em rock their ambitions smoother and sexier.

It seems a perfect fit for ambitious financial peeps, from a younger generation, dissatisfied with their field.

But in the past, I’ve mainly helped creative artists, writers, bloggers, musicians, gamers, etc. (most of who`s greatest ambition is to `have a decent career.`)

I love creativity and quantum leap solutions. I love changing perspectives and gaining all kinds of leverage. I love tapping into timeless wisdom that is responsible for tons of humanity`s greatest triumphs.

I have deep awareness, rock-solid positivity, and off-the-charts ambition. And I really feel there’s a lot of room for me to share it with some people who could really use it.

And I offer it all with charisma and style, just the right amount of "vegas", they say.

All this is the seeds of a solution. All this is stuff that screams "J-Ryze, you can help the finance peeps."

Yes I know I can help them, but it’s not just ‘ambitious’ finance peeps I’m interested in.

I wanna work with creative ones.

People who are looking for fresh ways to get what they want. People who dream of changing their industry or making an impact in or out of finance and legal.

I wanna work with people who didn’t come to finance & legal mainly for the money, but because they truly dream, deep down of shining in this area or something related.

(Or those who are willing to admit their finance/law background is helpful and great, but not 100% what they intend to do with their lives, and they’re ready to expand past it.)

Peeps in these fields have a lot of power at their fingertips. They have their foot in the door of our economic house. They have really, really powerful skills like Excel Mastery, Number Wizardry and an the art of Valuation. They have tools like HP-12Cs OR TI BA 2s, and are ready to break ‘em out at a moments notice

They can literally move mountains with their resources and connections and the arena they play in.

But most don’t.

Most finance people waste their potential.

That sucks.

Wouldn`t it be nice if they used their power?

Wouldn’t it be nice if they revived some of their youthful idealism and simply aimed higher, and aimed for the life they want — NOW — instead of years of post MBA grinding… eventually?

It’s easy to see the dilemma — when I worked with artists and musicians, they needed discipline, assertiveness and quantifiable systems.

Pragmatism.

If they had that, if an artist had their art-experience & creativity, and they added even a bit of pragmatism — they`d rocket forward.

And the flipside applies to finance peeps. What do they need?

Idealism.

If they could breathe life into their dreams and break the frustrating molds of their industry — they’d ryze up, big time.

They already have financial connections, a solid foundation for cashflow management, capital-building, risk-assessment and more.

They could do so much, and live so well.

Imagine a new legal system that wasn’t filled with stuffy old men, out of touch with reality, motivated by quotas and golf while harassed by harpy-wives who’ve lost touch with their humanity and replaced it with shoe fetishes.

• Imagine a 5 year career-path to fun riches, instead of a 20-year one to quiet desperation.
• Imagine making a difference in law, running a firm that does things differently.
• Imagine filling a role that uses all your skills, interests, and personality.
• Imagine a new finance system, not based funnelling economic dollars unfairly to the financial sector, shallow comparison, or forgetting about the human energy backing every economic dollar.
• Imagine finding meaning and impact through the poetic shufflin’ of numbers and handling of trades, or even better revolutionizing a seriously-on-the-rocks money-system.
• Imagine not just grinding away, but actively, creatively innovating in finance.
• Imagine a better work/life balance

Imagine a better life.

Growth is great; change is scary.

Many miserable people are addicted to cash flow and are loaded with committments like family, mortgage, etc. – so any kind of life-change seems "impossible" to them.

I’m convinced there are people in these areas who know deep down, they’re meant to grow, and they know that that growth requires ‘ballsy risks’.

"People in finance are ready for the world to melt down and are trying to collect enough food before it happens. I don’t know which is more accurate but it’s definitely more fun to be around optimists. Young people get old quickly in finance." – Mathbabe.

It’s possible to argue all day long about what’s a risk, what isn’t, what’s an appropriate risk, what isn’t, etc., etc., etc.

When it comes down to it though there is no reward without risk, so the truly ambitious among us can’t play small very long, they can’t avoid leaps of faith, they have to step up and put the risk-averse, pro/con analysis aside and follow their heart eventually.

And personally, I think they should do it with me, ’cause I make ‘risk’ look like a joke, either through the life I’ve lived on the leading edge, or through my ability to spin any negative, fear, or down-side into a positive.

Finance professions believe mostly, that the older you get, the more respect you have. That means you can stay in a firm for another five or ten years (or more!) and eventually build up what some people might call experience — but still be left largely unqualified to provide ballin’ investment advice.

It’s like a giant wall, built slowly over the years, brick by brick, until most back-office, and even front-office peeps realize walls don’t move.

They’re going nowhere.

But it doesn’t have to be that way.

What they need is a broader view and extra awareness

What they need is a creative coach to reach their goals and ryze up.

So that’s my bit to say on finance.

At least for now.

I was at a talk on Sacred Economics yesterday given by Charles Eisenstein, and while I didn’t fully agree with all of his ideas, what he had to say was by far the freshest, most interesting stuff I’ve heard on current and future finances in a long time.

I’m sure I’ll have more to say soon.

In the meantime, if you care about people in your life, and they’re in the finance sector, send them to this post. Let them read it for themselves and really feel what’s going on. And hey, it’s possible they’re one of the truly passionate, truly fulfilled people in the field, and that’s great… but chances are slim.

And even better, I plan on debuting a coaching service just for ambitious creatives in the world of finance who wanna unblock their lives, live how they wanna, and unleash their power.

If any of them wanna talk to me about it, they’ll have a chance to get in on the ground floor at a heavy discount, since it’s new, because I don’t even have the sales page up yet Stay tuned.

P.S. What do you think about all this? Have you had much experience with analysts, traders, bankers and brokers? Are they happy people? Are they scared of risk? Are they too comfortable? Or are they super-passionate and impacting the world?

"We are in the business of making mistakes. The only difference between the winners and the losers is that the winners make small mistakes, while the losers make big mistakes."
-Ned Davis

Note: This is entry for The Letter ‘Z’, and is Ryze’s contribution to The A-Z Blogging Challenge.

I’m probably about to introduce you to a whole new world, one of my absolute favorite hobbies.

The title may not may a lot of sense to you unless you’re one of about 40,000,000 registered users of League Of Legends, the most popular game (read: eSport) in the world.

This game does so much right, I can’t even begin to tell you.

Like many more ‘official’ sports, it’s team-building and friendly-competition aspects are huge.

The Legaue Of Legends community is legion. They have new songs and art and tributes made to league all the time. They have cosplayers dressing up in costumes and one-upping each other. They have coaches and trainers and lessons. They have team recruitment, contest, tournaments, prizes and more.

People devote tons of time and energy to write guides on how to play better, or game psychology, etc.

I should know, I’ve written more than eight guides called Solo Q Secrets.

People love League Of Legends.

Many players, when they’re not playing League Of Legends (affectionately: LoL), they’re watching shoutcasters (commentators) narrate a pro-match blow by blow (heh.)

League of Legends has it all.

Oh, did I mention it’s free to play, and technically you don’t ever to purchase anything if you really don’t want to?

And the game has over 100 characters to play when you go to start a game. It sounds overwhelming, but it’s really not. It’s more like many flavors of vanilla ice cream. There’s creamy vanilla, organic vanilla, french vanilla, vanilla swirl, etc.

Basically, as long as you get some flavor of vanilla and enter your match, you’re gonna be okay.

And ultimately you get to experiment and find the champ (or champs) that suit you best.

So now that you have a little background, I’m gonna help the post title make more sense, because it references characters from league of legends and get you prepped for the a surprise ending.

Character 1: Zed

Zed is a relatively new champ, ho happens to be named after a letter of the alphabet.

He’s a "living shadow" and is absolutely lethal. (and kinda annoying to play against.)

Lately I’ve been thinking about playing him.

Zed is the first ninja in 200 years to unlock the ancient, forbidden ways. He defied his clan and master, casting off the balance and discipline that had shackled him all his life. Zed now offers power to those who embrace knowledge of the shadows, and slays those who cling to ignorance.

Oooh. League Of Legends has such great stories behind their champs.

Anyway, Zed is the inspiration for my #AtoZChallenge ‘Z’ post, mainly ’cause it’s his namesake, and thinking about it led me to all the other coolness between my favorite brand (Ryze) and my favorite video game (League Of Legends.)

Now, on to the second character mentioned in the title.

Character 2: Vayne

A sexy killer, Vayne the vampire huntress makes Buffy look timid. I love to play her, but I find she’s kinda dependant on having a decent team, so unless I’m playing with friends, she’s off-limits.

She’s what’s known as a "hyper-carry", meaning she’ll carry the rest of the time due to her astounding power, if only she can get some support and a little jumpstart from the rest of her team early game, and they all survive the match until she can "scale" and grow and "level up."

She’s mainly an "Attack Damage" hyper-carry, which means she uses her weapon, not spells to really deal damage.

If you can handle her really lame early game, go mid/top, or you get a ‘good matchup’, she’s super fun.

Character 3: Ryze

Yep, Ryze. In an amazing synchronicity, one of League Of Legends original characters has the same name as yours truly… Ryze.

My summoner name in game is "ryzeonline", and often people assume I’m called "ryzeonline" because I love to play Ryze, when the truth is, I’d played almost every other champ *except* Ryze.

Sometimes people assume I "copied" the name of their character and used it for my brand, which isn’t the case, though I wouldn’t mind if it was. It’s a huge compliment, in my view.

What’s really interesting is that in the game, Ryze is a spell-caster who uses ‘Magic’ to win. (He carries a giant scroll of wisdom and power on his back.)

Not only that but Ryze, like Vayne, is a "hyper-carry", but he’s a "magic damage", "ability-power" (AP) hyper-carry.

Doesn’t that just take the cake?

Some people say Ryze’s life-coaching feels like magic Many report that its super-powerful, and has literally transformed their lives, and they’ll remember it forever and passionately spread the word.

The similarities between the champ League Of Legends designed, and between what Ryze is about is cool.

And on top of all that he’s has a ripped, ‘tanky’, Bruce Lee type build, physically… just like me

So you’d think I’d actually play him as my main champ in game… right?

Well…

I don’t.

Or rather, I didn`t. I’ve started to recently, and ever since I have I’ve one game after game after game.

Almost like it was ‘meant to be’.

Oohhh, ahhhh.

Anyway…

To wrap it all up, you can see that League Of Legends has a character called Ryze, and hopefully you know that "Ryze" is also the name of my company– and as founder of Ryze, when I get in game, with my summoner name "ryzeonline", I select Riot Games’ fantastically designed champion… ‘Ryze’ as my champ. Then I head into the game, and dominate.

And I think that’s pretty freakin’ cool.

Also, I highly, highly, highly recommend you play League Of Legends… can me and 40 million other people be wrong?

Besides… couldn’t you use some easy, fun, and (very) challenging to play that connects you with new friends and groups all over the world?

P.S. Here’s a T-Shirt I designed for one of the pro League Of Legends players (his main champ is Akali, the assassin.)

Looking forward to hearing from you!

Note: This is entry for The Letter ‘Y’, and is Ryze’s contribution to The A-Z Blogging Challenge.

The number one rule of improv is always say ‘yes’.

The number one rule of Law Of Attraction is there exists only ‘yes.’

The number one rule of gettin’ into my bed is always say ‘yes.’

I joke around, but the truth is…

‘Yes’ matters. A lot.

Have you seen the movie ‘yes man’ starring Jim Carrey? (a very spiritual guy if you check him out…)

Here’s a trailer if you haven’t seen it:

Now, the most of the movie shows Jim’s ups-and-downs as he says yes more often, but ultimately, saying yes leads him down incredible paths, introduces him to life-changing people and opportunities, and is overall… way more fun.

And that’s no lie.

You deserve to say ‘yes’ more.

A lot of cool opportunities float in and out of your experience, and you deserve to say yes.

Just this month I:

• a) Went to my first mosque
• b) Met a famous entrepreneur for a 5-hour chat
• c) Started researching laywers, financial analysts, and the economy.
• d) Joined eLance (a site I thought I’d never join)
• e) Reconnected with an old friend
• f) Changed Ryze’s homepage
• g) Tried to go salsa dancing
• h) Watched a new japanese anime
• i) Recorded demos from a bunch of free coaching clients
• j) Spoke with a ‘money empowerment’ coach
• k) Pitched investors

…and tons more.

And I don’t even think about it. Saying yes to this stuff is pretty natural to me.

At it’s basic level ‘yes’ simply means positive attention, or positive affirmation.

If someone goes to kiss you, you can say ‘yes’ with your heart, mind, and body, or you can say no with your heart, mind, and body… all without words, the intention is clear.

‘Yes’ is an attitude, a way of life.

Saying ‘yes’ is the foundation of receiving.

If you don’t "get" a lot of coolness in your life, it might be you have trouble saying ‘yes’, and could use some practice.

Think about it.

To receive a cheque? Same deal.

Or if you’re like me, you could hang around people who are habitual "no-ers", and their strong vibes will drag you down and ‘taint’ your ‘yes’s'… don’t believe me? Just try it. Try hanging around a bunch of negative nay-sayers, who’re always putting down ideas, opportunities, and people.

Hang around them and show me how well you create and ryze up.

It can be done, but it’s insane hard and mostly not worth it.

So get good at saying ‘yes’ and hang around others who can say it.

It’s a super-high-leverage move in life, and you start to get in the habit of receiving solutions and opportunities from areas most people miss.

With ‘yes’, life gets lighter.

Capiche?

Just don’t take it as far as Jim did in the movie unless you’re ready for it, eh?

Looking forward to hearing from you!

Note: This is entry for The Letter ‘X’, and is Ryze’s contribution to The A-Z Blogging Challenge.

What portion of the population grows to what they know is their potential?

Are peeps more often holding back, playing small, and settling for frustrating, mundane growth, or are they stepping up, blazing trailers, and feeling on-their-game in life?

If you picked the second, you’re not alone.

We don`t need to take surveys to see the tense shoulders and lethargic sighs at the end of people`s days.

Most people believe they either have to trade their passions and dreams for a secure cash-flow and chances at making more, or they believe they can claim their passionate freedom but it won`t be lucrative.

Few imagine they can have it all.

And fewer still even try.

And even fewer still coach others on how to ryze.

And there’s a reason for it.

All the things that truly trigger deep, impactful, long-lasting growth in life are ‘xxx-rated’.

No I don’t mean they’re all about sex (though can play a big part).

I mean they’re ‘taboo’.

Let’s take a client I helped recently, named Rachel. (Well, she helped herself, but I played my role as coach.)

Rachel’s main blocks in her life, were things that:

a) she felt she couldn’t get help on

b) anytime she’d tried to get help on anything similar, she was labelled & judged

c) are things society frowns on.

Anal; suicide.

The first thing holding Rachel back was thoughts of suicide. Eventually she found Ryze, and learned that Ryze helps people grow with Fresh Views On Taboos – so she shared, and we transformed those feelings together.

Guess what… the media, our schools, peers, friends, and family all make it clear that "no one wants to deal with such intense feelings" – even though those intense feelings are the key to massive growth and creating off-the-charts ryzing stars.

After hanging around Ryze and feeling how safe, reliable and calmly we handle taboos here, she felt comfy sharing some anal play she was sort of… ‘pushed’ into.

Guess what, kids alllll over the world have alllll kinds of experiences, that affect them very deeply, and push them off track from their lives… and the unresolved issue keeps them trapped and stuck for years.

And even though it should be society’s job to help kids make mistakes and move on, like we all do, instead we make it impossible for ‘em to grow.

Xxx-rated, taboo ideas can’t be off the table.

Those can’t stay hidden in the dark, if we expect that person to flourish.

It just slows growth down, big time.

People deserve to be happy, and real growth is sexy.

Real growth isn’t some 5-step system. Real growth isn’t taking another course. That stuff might help, sure…

What do I mean by real growth is sexy?

I mean that real growth deals with bigger issues.

Real growth is rare.

Love, sex, birth, death, purpose, calling, money, fame, and all kinds of chats on topics you kinda… need… but no one around you provides safely.

And real growth is available to you, right now.

You’re there, right now, reading this post, and you have insane potential for health, wealth, love. You can take steps towards whatever you want. Luxury-living, a supportive tribe, a clearer life-purpose, whatever it is you want… you can totally ryze up on it.

Now… you don’t *need* someone else, if you really put your mind to it, there are forums all over the net that will talk about these things, but will they do it positively, focused, and well?

Straight up, it helps a ton if you have a 1-on-1 human interaction with a coach, who’s rock-solid on taboo topics.

It helps if your coach can handle your real potential and ryze with ya.

Looking forward to hearing from you!

Note: This is entry for The Letter ‘W’, and is Ryze’s contribution to The A-Z Blogging Challenge.

And it’s important that everyone knows why.

For some reason, people find it really important to know why you do what you do.

Let’s say you’re a singer. Do people care that you sing? Maybe. But once they find you`re a shy hesitant singer, who for 10 years, lived on the street, sleeping on stairs with no schooling, and it was the only way you could express yourself was by singing… well then everybody pays attention.

So as for me… what do I do?

I coach people.

But you guessed it… no one would really care

Until I tell them why.

So why do I coach people?

There’s 3 major factors in why I coach others.

Basically… I love coaching.

I love ‘giving my 2 cents’ worth of wisdom (or $2M), and watching people’s faces, bodies, minds and attitudes ryze. Often times they 180 completely, turning a negative into something they’re so proud of they can’t shut up about it.

There are tons of coaches in the world, but very few with my deep, powerful stories for why I do what I do.

Who would you rather learn from?

P.S. Wanna know how you can play with your why? Improve it, re-arrange it, make if more front-and-center? Or maybe you wanna talk about having people care, and being noticed? Connect with me for a Ryzing Star Coaching Session.

Believe it.

Looking forward to hearing from you!

Note: This is entry for The Letter ‘U’, and is Ryze’s contribution to The A-Z Blogging Challenge.

My ‘V’ post is short-and-sweet… I hope you like it

I’ve been told that I make everything “just the right amount of Vegas.”

Heh.

I’m not sure I get it.

Lights so bright your eyes adapt new receptors for ‘em. Weddings for people who don’t care about weddings. People pissing money away in casinos round the clock.

Are they saying the Ryze flavor blinds people with fake, gambling-based weddings?

Nah.

They’re saying I ‘sexify’ anything I touch. Or better yet, I ‘ryze-ify’ it. Whether it’s a human beings personality through my life coaching, or whether it’s someone’s writing in a blog, or whether it’s a logo or brand I help refine for the occasional Ryze Media customer.

Vegas is seen as a sort of exotic, pleasure-filled, place of frivolous fun and play. Especially ‘adult’ play, with everything extra-appealing.

Vegas itself is “too much” for most people.

But to be “just the right amount of” vegas?

Meaning adding the right amount of fun, play, and sexiness…

…now that’s pretty awesome.

I’ll take it.

Note: This is entry for The Letter ‘U’, and is Ryze’s contribution to The A-Z Blogging Challenge.

An awesome example of true understanding is…

…Socrates.

I discovered socrates when I was young, and I really connected with his stories.

I inhaled Plato’s works, moved on to Aristotle, but realized I enjoyed stories about Socrates the most.

Ign’ance.

Socrates practiced a special kind of ignorance, assuming nothing, and examing himself and life to come up with the truth. Very much like a child does with their constant "why", "why", "why"s.

This is different than a close-minded ignorance, which just aims to be right and shut out others opinions for ego.

Socrates was an example of true wisdom, because true wisdom laughs at claimed ‘knowledge’.

Socrates met men who were brilliant experts in their fields, but who spoke as if they understood all fields.

Socrates on the other hand, was very aware of himself, his own knowledge, and his own understanding.

Rappers know how to rap, but that doesn’t mean they know design; that is what a designer knows. Same goes for singers & singing, generals & war, and mechanics & machines. Doctor’s heal, businessmen know how to make money, and scientists how to discover and invent things.

All these pros are prey to the ’foolishness of artisans’.

The foolishness of artisans, is basically being really good at one thing, and gaining fame/fortune/reputation, and then acting as if you’re great at all things… great at LIFE.

That’s why philosophy seeks & needs humility (or self-knowledge).

Socrates always questioned and dug deep in himself before questioning others, and I operate in a similar way.

Know ‘nothing’ to start.

I’m a success-coach (or a ‘life’-coach), and I chose this career (or it chose me) because I understand ‘more than average’ about life, and I’m able to quickly and easily guide others.

It doesn’t mean I know everything, but I’m very in-tune with what I do and don’t know.

I’ve failed and been burned over and over in life, putting my knowledge to the test.

A true trial by fire.

Anyway, I was saying… I operate very much like Socrates did. I have since I was little. First when I was really tiny, it was a hungry curiosity for life. I wanted to know it all.

Then in my teens, I actually became a ‘know-it-all’, because I loved ‘being right’ and I was kinda ‘superior’ and ‘conceited’.

But I grew out of that, and what was left behind was still that deep curiosity, and still that ability to dig deep within myself, and something else…

…the desire to help others dig deep into their own selves.

I wanted to help others discover themselves, their lives, and all their potential.

I wanted to share.

I love to share true knowledge and wisdom.

And so I make no assumptions, and start from the scratch with every coaching session…

In a 1-to-1 Ryzing Star Coaching Session… it’s just me and a partner, aiming for powerful truth.

I use question & answers, but I immediately zero in on the first bit of knowledge my partner and I agree on.

The reason Socrates was able to use his method of question & answers so well was that, before he asked others something, Socrates had already asked himself the same question. He’d already examined himself to see what he really knew.

Same goes for me, I’ve spent a life-time on it.

Know thyself.

It’s been said that to connect and love others, we must seek to understand them.

But no one tells you there’s a powerful trick to it.

What trick, you ask?

It’s this:

Know yourself really, really well, and understand yourself really, really well, and then it’s easy to understand others.

You can become great at understanding things, with a bit of practice.

I’ve had a lot of practice.

Everyone thinks about different things, and spends their time, energy, and focus on different things.

Some become masters at dance, others at business.

I’ve spent my life, much like Socrates…

…asking questions of myself on the topics he did. I stuck with these questions for many years, as he did. Especially of how a person should live their life.

And it gets twisted, because everyone`s life is unique, true, but at the same time humanity has strong common ground: freedom, growth, joy, etc.

We can all increase our wisdom, and it usually takes balls to face our own self-knowledge, and admit what we don’t know.

I f***ing love wisdom…

I love wisdom & knowledge & sharing those things (ideally with spirit, sex, and style.)

I`m super-hungry to seek out things I don’t know… and know them.

This has led me on a pretty intense ‘life of failure’ as I aimed to discover life’s hidden lessons. The stuff so few learn, teach, or share.

No matter what, I love learning (and then sharing what I’ve learned), and so I pursued wisdom through all the ups-and-downs of life, no matter how painfully I was ‘rejected’ or how often my love went ‘unrequited.’

The only real wisdom is…

Knowing what you know, & don’t.

Throughout my writings and interviews you’ll see me claim that I’m "smart" or "blessed with wisdom", and in one sense, I am.

When a person lives their life focused on a specific area, they become an ‘expert’ at it, you can’t help it

Dedicate your life to pop music and expressing moods, like the Beatles, and bam. Dedicate your life to body-expression & martial arts like Bruce Lee, and bam.

And I’ve dedicated my life to understanding life & helping people ryze up.

At the same time, I know that life is a mystery, there are always things and secrets I won’t know, or if I learn them, more will open up, and so… there’s always this ghost hanging over me that says: "you might not know x… be careful… check yourself."

My #1 focus when I communicate with others is sharing self-knowledge and only what I’ve discovered to be true in myself, that I’ve discovered through deep personal questioning and insight.

To me, that’s real understanding, and it’s not taught often, but my Mom raised me to be compassionate and loving and to be in-tune with my heart and others, and my Dad raised me to have clear, high-integrity and to ‘own up’ to my mistakes or lack of knowledge, and so… here I am:

J-Ryze the success-coach, who loves sharing true understanding.

And that sums it up.

Question authority.

"Think for yourself, question authority. Think for yourself, question authority." – Tool

Okay, so we’re not quite done, it’s confession time:

I’m human. I have feelings. (oooh)

It’s important to question and not take things at face value, because their might be something deeper, and the only way to ‘know’ something is to ‘test’ it through your own experience.

And speaking of experience, I’d like to wrap up this post with a weird lil story that happened to me recently.

A story about a baker.

I was walking along the street with my ballin’-banker-friend Alex, and a beautiful woman (she’s a baker) ran out of Holt Renfrew on Bloor street and excitedly into my arms.

It was definitely a satisfying experience.

I felt like a) a celebrity, b) a baller, c) a long-lost friend and d) really happy.

And I also felt a slight bit of awkwardness, hesitation, or annoyance.

As always, I ask myself ‘why’ almost immediately, barely being able to focus on Alex’s conversation for a few minutes as I was deep in thought.

I love understanding life. I love understanding why I bumped into a girl I’ve known 16 years. We were intimately close for a while, when she eagerly asked for my wisdom. Eventually, I felt used for my gifts, and I spoke up. She she stopped keeping meetings, having time for me, reading my blog, asking deeper questions, or being at all vulnerable and open with me.

She has all the potential in the world, but for whatever reason she pursued small-thinkers and bit-players and a life stuck perpetually in our education system.

Oh sure, she’d still flirt every 6 months or so — once she even called me on my birthday, (without actually remembering it was my birthday) — but she’d never pursue anything deeper.

And it hurt.

And I wanted to understand why it hurt.

Did I want a relationship with this chick? Was I attached? Why the emotions? What beliefs did I hold about this?

The reason I can zero in on other people’s issues and power-solutions for them, is because I naturally examine myself, in hyper-detailed virgo-fashion… all the time.

How many people do this in life?

Anyway… I was considering my inner and outer responses to my sexy-baker-friend, and…

And I came to a solid conclusion for myself…

My conclusion was this:

I don’t enjoy attracting people from my past who demonstrate little growth to me, and who don’t seem interested in my blazingly awesome insight.

If she’d come back into my life, taking full responsibility for all the flaky, skipped meetings. For taking my incredible creativity and wisdom for granted. For putting me on the shelf and using me whenever she felt like it. For putting her school, her career, her hometown friends continually above our own interactions. If she gave some heartfelt expression as to why she moved to my city and avoided me for years.

Basically anytime I aimed to interact with her, I felt burned. It didn’t really feel like a healthy relationship.

Or even skipping all that, if she just asked *WHY* I started withdrawing my uber-friendliness, if she skipped the small-talk and flirting for once, and got more real about her life and feelings… or asked if there was anything she could do to help…

…Things would definitely go smoother.

She even said she often wondered why I did things, but for years chose not to simply ask ‘why’, person to person.

Well… I believe in asking why when we don’t ‘get’ something. I believe in sharing honest feelings. I believe in vulnerability. I believe in win-win solutions. I believe in reciprocation. She chose none of those.

She chose different, and that’s cool. I encourage whatever makes sense and feels good to her.

For me… hanging around peeps in that phase or on that path, is like an actor hanging around someone who believes movies are useless fluff with no value.

It’s painful.

And I’ve been burned a lot, I admit it. I’m not just gonna open the door to my awesomeness for anyone who pops by, because my experience has been that human beings simply don’t value freely open doors to incredibly uplifting human beings… unless they have to work for it.

They walk all over you if you’re a ‘constant-forgiver’.

Sometimes the best gift is to call people out & show ‘em ‘tough love’, but everyone wants to be ‘extra-nice’.

I realized that peeps who aren’t interested in going deeper in life, and understanding themselves more, are like… The Anti-Ryze.

Me + shallow people = pain.

No sugar-coating it…

I`m super ambitious, I believe there`s more to life, for all of us, and we can all ryze together through love and understanding, and I focus on hanging around peeps that agree with that premise.

I love hanging around reasonably like-minds, other young, ambitious creatives on the ryze.

We can disagree on all sorts of other stuff, I adore fresh views and interesting chats — but I’m really not interested in debating that particular belief.

…

…

…

Now, baker-girl may have her own ideas and beliefs and challenges. She may be a totally different person, and I’m super eager for that. Perhaps we’re on a path totally destined to reunite in this lifetime, and not just bump into each other on a street. It’s happened to me more than once, people always find their way back to me, and there’s nothing I’d love more.

I’m open to it.

But how did I come up with all this?

How’d I get such a clear understanding of my feelings, my beliefs, and the most solid way for me to move forward?

How’d I end up sharing this personal, intimate moment of my life, and my own ‘confusion’ and hunger to understand?

Because unlike most people, when I have strong emotion reaction to something, I desperately want to know myself, and know why I felt the way I felt, or at least, how I can feel better.

Just like Socrates.

Aaaaaaaanyway…

Baker-girl stopped reading my blog along time ago as far as I know, but if she still stalks my blog and ends up reading this…

Baker-girl… I have two questions for ya…

…"Do Ya Understand?"

…"Do ya even wanna?"

"… I tell you that no greater good can happen to a man than to discuss human excellence every day and the other matters about which you have heard me arguing and examining myself and others, and that an unexamined life is not worth living …" – Socrates