Being Skint Doesn’t have to get in the way of succeeding

As a young entrepreneur seeking his fortune there will be inevitable times when you are, to give the situation it’s technical name, skint. This situation however, does not have to mean that you need not invest in the tools of your future success and thus I have highlighted 5 excellent purchases that even an incredibly skint young entrepreneur could afford. First step – theses 5 purchases, next step – Ferrari (possibly with a few more steps in between)

Highlighter

The humble highlighter – a crazy, fluorescent vessel of vivid, translucent color just waiting to be released onto any and all unsuspecting paper like surfaces. If you have never got into the habit of using a highlighter then prepare to make way for a new best friend.

As many of us are human we are therefore not especially adept at remembering large amounts of data and as this is 2010 we are subjected to an insane amount of it. The highlighter is your pathfinder to carving out the most relevant and important informations in the crashing waves of information overflow.

In my house, you will know if I have read a book as they will be covered in highlighter and penned notes. I like not just to read but to devour words as I believe it is essential for true comprehension. The highlighter will help you in this. It will also save you time as you come back to review old books and works already read by taking you straight to the juicy bits.

Get yourself a stash of highlighters and start getting busy, even downright naughty in your quest for knowledge and understanding though keep it out of the bedroom environment and be careful not to start getting addicted to the toxin induced high.

Post It Notes

The thing I love most about post-it notes, apart from their crazy, crazy color schemes is their size. The frankly tiny foot print of the standard 3 inch post-it note dramatically reduces the amount of words you can fit on each one – and it is for this sole reason that I so passionately recommend them for planning.

The post-it note forces you to focus only on what is most important and to be precise, there is no room for anything else. I use post-its to plan each day using my 7 Life System, to make notes on phone conversations, to plan projects, write love letters, write shopping lists and sketch design ideas. Ok, I am joking about the love letters.

Chewing Gum

Gum is an excellent success tool for two reasons.

1. It ensures that you have a fresh minty breath escaping your vocal region whenever you come into contact with one of the most important assets for success: other people.
2. It always gives you a natural “in” for almost any situation.

No matter how attractive, talented, loaded or creative you are if it smells like a trawler of dead fish has just been dumped nearby on a hot summers day then people are going to rightfully do their best to avoid you. For the sake of a few cent don’t make this costly mistake.

Offering gum is a great icebreaker in any situation. I always carry a pack with me as a guaranteed fall back to social interaction if no other “in” presents itself. Though $1000 courses on successful human interaction may pay dividends a pack of chewing gum will give you instant returns and costs next to nothing.

Chocolate

Sometimes life throws you a curveball. If you are a budding entrepreneur then more often than not it can seem like you are in a batting cage facing a ball pitching machine set on full swing.

Chocolate helps. For real. A small amount of good quality chocolate has over 300 chemicals that have numerous and varied effect on the brain including releasing endorphins which make you happier. Its naturally low melting point and creamy texture also help promote a feeling of calm.

Life won’t always go your way, but for under a dollar you can take the edge of and get back to focussing on success more quickly.

An Elastic Band

This is an old trick and I am not sure who get the credit for coming up with it but a simple elastic band around the wrist can be one of the greatest tools in the world for habit change.

The basic principle of changing  habit is to reinforce a new behavior in place of the old one, NOT as many people think by simply stopping the old behavior. Thus the elastic band round the wrist comes into play.

Every time you find yourself falling into the old, unwanted habit, say negative thought, you need to break the thinking pattern for you subconscious. This is done with a quick sharp snap of the elastic band on your wrist. It hurts, trust me I know, and that is the point. Negative thinking, in this instant, starts to be associated with pain and positive thinking with a noticeable absence of pain and thus your subconscious naturally starts to lean towards more positive thinking. Basic Pavlovian theory in action, we can condition our thinking for less than a dollar.