In this interview, I sit down with success. Yes you heard it right, SUCCESS. I took Success out to dinner in order to pick its mind about a few things and I'm glad to share our interaction with you below:

1. Why are you elusive to many?
   • Whatever you move towards, automatically moves towards you.
   • Whatever you've done to this point in your life is either working for you or against you.
   • Relationship with failure.
   • The story of King Solomon achieving wisdom.
     • You have not because you ask not. James 4: 2-3
     • Faith without works is dead. James 2: 14-26
2. This journey that we're taking, will it be easy?
   • If it was easy, everybody would do it.
   • It might not be easy but it's simple.
   • "Habits are too light to be felt until they're too heavy to be broken." Warren Buffett
3. How do we approach challenging situations or new ideas that scare us?
   • Just do it. 
   • Jeff Bezos brief history.
4. Where can we find you?
   • I'm always around. In your hearts, in your actions, in your omissions and in your commissions. Seek me and I will seek you. When you find me, don't let go of me.
5. What further advise would you give us?
   • "You can have more than you got because you can become more than you are." Jim Rohn
   • Humans are gifted.
   • The flea analogy.

If it's Monday you already know it's motivational Mondays. Today's episode is just a reminder that you should keep going even when faced with adversity. Do not conform to what society expects, challenge the status quo. The hardest part was starting and you've already done that. Keep moving in pursuit of your goals & dreams.

This episode is inspired by the film Cool Hand Luke which is a 1967 American prison drama film starring Paul Newman.

In this episode I interview Julius Vaughan who is a mental health advocate and founder of the mental health empowerment clothing brand "Mentally Wealthy". You can find him on instagram  @_mentalhealthiswealth. Below are the questions we went through:

1. Introduce yourself and let us know a little about what you do.
2. What drove you to get into mental health empowerment?
3. How has social media influenced mental health?
4. What do you think about the influence of general divides towards mental health? For example how our parents or grandparents approach mental health in comparison to us.
5. May was the mental health awareness month, tell us some of the things you were able to do.
6. What challenges did you/are you running into for your clothing brand and how did you/are you overcoming them?
7. How can people reach/follow you?

In this episode we go over Strategic shift:

• Consciously choosing to do things differently for the potential reward of achieving our goals and dreams.

In this episode we go over the progress and growth thus far. We look into:

1. Word of the episode "Growth".
2. Who/what have you become?
   • Write down some things you're grateful for.
   • Write down 3 things you've learnt from this podcast.
3. What have I learnt/become?
   • "Imagination is the preview to life's coming attractions." Albert Einstein.
4. My relationship with success.
   • Story of Ruth and Naomi. Ruth said to Naomi, "Don't urge me to leave you or turn back from me. Where you go I will go and where you stay I will stay. Your people shall be my people and your God, my God."
5. Why not you?
   • In a 2010 interview, Derrick Rose (NBA player) was asked what kind of expectation did he have for himself going forward. He said, "It's high, the way I look at it within myself, why can't I be the MVP (Most Valuable Player) of the league? Why can't I be the best player of the league? I don't see why. I think I work hard. I think I dedicate myself to the game and sacrifice a lot of things at a young age & I know if I continue to do good, what I can get out of it!! If that means me going out and doing it, I'll do it because I know in the long run it's gonna help me."
   • In the next year on May 3rd, 2011, Derrick Rose became the youngest player in the NBA history to be named the MVP.

This is the third episode of the triple constraint of saving frequently, investing prudently and spending wisely. In this episode we go over:

1. What is spending wisely?
   • Making objective and informed decisions on the necessity of the goods and/or services we pay for.
2. Parable of the prodigal son.
   • A son asked his father to give him his share of the inheritance. He went on to squander it in far away lands and came back home impoverished and seeking to be helped.
   • No matter how much money one may have, if they lack financial discipline/literacy, they will not be able to manage that money and will almost end up impoverished.
   • Second chances present themselves with new learning opportunities. With a second chance which each one of us can create, we can start over but this time with experience from past mistakes.
3. Budgeting.
   • Providing a sum of money for a particular purpose.
   • Write down your budget in order to see how your money is used. 
   • Fixed expenses versus variable expenses.
4. Opportunity cost.
   • Loss of the benefit from other alternatives when another alternative is chosen.
     • Opportunity cost of taking a vacation instead of spending the money on a new car is not getting the car.
5. The Richest Man in Babylon by George S. Clason.
   • Control thy expenditures; Don't spend more than you need.
   • What each person calls their "necessary expense" will always grow to match their income unless they resist the urge. Don't confuse necessary expenses with desires.
6.  Rich Dad, Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki.
   • Mentality.
     • "Live below your means"- Poor Dad Versus "Expand your means"- Rich Dad.
     • What are your expenses and how are they contributing to achieving your goals?

In this episode I analyze three things we can learn from the life on eagle:

1. Find your battleground (what/where you're good at) and use it to your advantage. Don't lessen yourself to situations where you're bound to lose.
2. Success is a long and painful process. You must decide to either live as you've been living or make a commitment to change in order to become your best self.
3. Attitude determines altitude. Look around you and see who/what surrounds you. To be better, you have to do better.

This episode builds upon Episode 4 (The Philosophy of Money: Income) and Episode 6 (The Philosophy of Money: Saving Frequently). These episodes are to spark an internal dialogue within you to evaluate your current philosophy of money and how it's working out for you.

In this episode we go over:

1. What is an investment?
   • According to Benjamin Graham, "An investment operation is one which, upon thorough analysis, promises safety of principal and an adequate return. Operations not meeting these requirements are speculative."
2. Parable of the talents.
   • To those who are faithful with a few things; they will be put in charge of many things.
   • Whoever has will be given more and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even the little they have will be taken away and given to those with abundance.
3. From the book "The Richest Man in Babylon" by George S. Clason.
   • Make thy gold multiple; invest wisely/prudently.
   • Guard thy treasures from loss; avoid investments that sound too good to be true.
4. Stock market.
   • Dividends- profits/earning distributed by companies to shareholders.
   • Capital gains- appreciation in value of investments.
   • Re-investing profits.
     • Compound interest- earn interest/value for both the capital and subsequent interest earned.  “Compound interest is the 8th wonder of the world.  He who understands it, earns it; he who doesn’t, pays it.” Albert Einstein.
5. Real estate.
   • Once you own real estate you let other people go to work for you as rent and mortgages are the highest bills for most people.
   • REITs. Real Estate Investment Trusts. They are real estate products listed in the stock market in which for most cases are required to pay at least 80% of their profits out to investors.
6. Invest in yourself and start now.
   • The best investment you can ever make is in yourself. Do what you love, do it for free if you have to. Eventually you will find a way to get paid for it.
   • Start today with what you have and learn as you go. 
7.  Find a mentor.
   • Tap into the knowledge of someone who's already accomplished what you want.
   • Almost every successful person has a mentor. Success leaves clues so never shy away from asking for direction.

In this episode I cover:

• In your journey of accomplishing your goals and dreams, how do you deal with "character building days" otherwise commonly referred to as "bad days". What will you call on when you're down? What will keep you going? What is your why?
• “I don't count my sit-ups; I only start counting when it starts hurting because they're the only ones that count.” ― Muhammad Ali.

This episode begins the discussion of the triple constraint (saving frequently, spending wisely & investing prudently) towards financial independence. We cover:

1. What saving is. Setting aside a portion of income to meet an objective ie. emergency fund, purchase, investment etc
2. Story of Noah. Noah built the Ark for about 65 years while others around him continued to eat, drink and make merry. They didn't see Noah's vision of making hay while the sun still shone.
   • Don't be derailed by the pleasures of today which may sacrifice tomorrow's success.
   • Over time, small contributions often lead to growth of a much larger bounty.
3. From the book "The Richest Man in Babylon", start thy purse to fattening.
   • Commit a tenth of your income to saving.
   • Under current circumstances, if possible, the percentage needs to be between 35% -45% of your income.
   • Only adjust the saving percentage upwards. If uncomfortable, focus on adjusting your income and expenditure. How can you earn more income? How can you reduce your expenditure?
4. Spend what's left after saving. Saving should always come before spending.
5. The earlier you start the saving journey/the younger you are the better over time. Today is the the oldest you've ever been but also the youngest you'll ever be again. 
6. Saving alone isn't enough. Due to inflation (rise in price levels of an economy over time), saving without investing leads to loss of purchasing power of money saved.