Archive for December, 2010
Time to take stock!
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Well 2010 finally bites the dust.
So as we look back over the last 12 months I guess my overriding thoughts about 2010 are that this has been the year when peoples true colours have appeared and, sadly, financial stress has brought out the worst in people all over the country and around the world.
I would never have believed that something as relatively unimportant and temporal as money would cause families to break up, friends to take each other to court, businesses to indulge in deliberate fraud and create such a negative shift in the social fabric of so many nations.
I don’t wish to sound maudlin as I am not saying 2010 was all bad by any means, but as an observer of human behavior I certainly have never seen so much grief and dishonesty emerge in our society at one time. It is interesting reading about the great depression that the best in people came out then. It shows how far we have degraded as a society that this time round it is the opposite.
So I see this as a challenge to us all to be better people. The only things that shifts a culture is when enough people decide they won’t follow the crowd and start to take enough other people with them.
Whilst I have been a bit negative about the state of our economy I refuse to get negative about life. I have sought this year to encourage and inspire people to keep looking to the stars, keep setting goals, keep finding answers and most importantly keep loving the things that are really important.
And it must have an impact on many of you because I am now being inundated with emails complaining that I am not blogging or on Facebook so frequently 
.
(For the record I will be back to regular blogging on the 7th Jan, right now I have to drive for 10 minutes to get coverage to post this blog!)
We all need encouragement and inspiration. That is how we were designed.
So you my friend have to decide what you put into your mind as that will dictate what comes out.
Can I suggest that over the next week you take stock of:
- Email newsletters you receive regularly. Unsubscribe form any that insult your intelligence and/or try to get you to focus on what is wrong in the world.
- Reading. Whether it is newspapers/magazines or online choose to stop exposing your eyes to anything that insults your soul
- Television. Number one destroyer of positivity and energy. Throw it away or at least set yourself a limit of 1 hour per day. If you can last a week you will be amazed at how much more energy you, how much more positive you feel and you will have started developing some good new habits like talking to your kids, enjoying music or spending time with God.
This has been the weirdest year I have lived through with so many challenges and so many of my friends and clients struggling. Let’s turn 2011 around together and start executing our lives with more passion, focus and self belief.
In closing I must thank a few people who kept me sane this year.
First and foremost my amazing wife Raewyn, she is not only gorgeous and loving but the mainstay of our businesses and an ongoing model of incredible integrity.
Secondly to my kids, I have just spent a week with them and am so thankful for the joy they bring me and the wonderful human beings they are!
To Zharna, my favourite eldest daughter and PA. I am sure it is weird to work for your father, even one as wonderful as I am J. I love having you around and appreciate the fact that you so often do the jobs you hate when I ask you to. We’ll sort out your deliverance form your tattoos once I get back from Asia .
To Ben Magrill, my friend and IT guru. My business wouldn’t exist online without your ongoing help and uncomplaining attention to my late nite “HELP” pleas over the year.
To Matthew Gilligan, as a friend and associate your wisdom and friendship have often helped me make the decision to keep going and continue to make a difference in the lives of others.
To Matt Archer, my best friend and a wonderful source of laughter/counsel and genuine friendship. I don’t care what everybody else says about you Matt, I reckon you’re OK
To Paul Hewitt, my good friend and favourite success story. You inspire me to never, ever, ever give up. I love watching you succeed and grow and always keep “turning stones”.
To so many of my clients and students who are now friends and peers. I truly enjoy getting your emails and questions and phone calls just to say hi or ask for advice. You remind me what is good about staying in these shark infested wealth creation waters.
And lastly to my Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. I entered the wealth creation world as a means to serve Him more effectively in Fiji and His empowering is the only reason I am still here today. It has been an incredible honour to see so many people find hope and faith through connecting with me and to be able to stand on stages all over the world and share His love while I talk about property is a gift I still cannot take in. I get many things wrong in my life and make lots of mistakes. Securing my place in heaven for all eternity is the one thing I am so glad I did correctly!!
I pray that you find what you looking for in 2011 and can say of yourself that your heart is truly at rest.
Thank you once again for your kindness, love and challenges this year, looking forward to racking up more successes in 2011.
Stay inspired and Stay Safe ~ Dean Letfus
We will die how we live, scary aye?
Posted by: | CommentsI attended a funeral last week that was one of the most touching events of my life.
I didn’t know the deceased well, I had met them maybe 4 times in my life, yet I had loved them, if that makes sense. The impact they had made on my life was considerable.
The thing about this funeral was that a husband and wife had died within 4 days of each other so were buried together.
I really hope Raewyn and I can go out the same way, but that isn’t what I want to talk about here. What was amazing were the testimonies of those family/friends/neighbours, in fact you name it who did know them well.
This couple had been married for 50 plus years and seemed to keep every friend they had ever met. They were known/loved and appreciated by people in multiple countries over 60 or more years and had helped and impacted people positively where ever they lived, worked or worshipped.
It is not easy to really relate the impact of this in a blog but we all came away wondering whether we would be so lucky as to be so loved and missed when our turn came.
So I guess the message I wanted to share was to imagine you were somehow able to attend your own funeral.
Would you be humbled or humiliated?
Stay Inspired and Stay safe ~ Dean Letfus
PS: Hope you are having a deserved break if you celebrate Christmas and preparing for a fulfilling year
State of the Nation
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Hi everybody. We had a complete server meltdown yesterday so this is yesterday’s blog!
I hope to keep blogging over the break but I am away with my girls after today so may be out of cyberspace range at times so thought I would do my “State of the Nation” Christmas Blog .
2010 turned out to be worse than 2009, which I am sad? to say I accurately predicted. And 2011 looks like more of the same in terms of general economic situation.
I think people are finally realizing they can’t sit and “wait out” a global depression, rather they must find a way to prosper in that depression.
For me personally the last 12 months, (in fact 2 years now), have been relative hell in many ways as I dealt with buyers who reneged on deals, a finance market that disappeared overnight and an incredibly negative shift in optimism making every transaction and every negotiation hard work. And don’t get me started on the banks…..
On top of that I have spent countless hours trying to keep myself, friends and clients afloat and have learned the intricacies of dealing with banks administration departments, bankruptcy and litigation to a level I never wanted to know and hope to never need again.
This may sound a bit maudlin, which is not my intention, but the fact is life has been shall we say “hard” in many ways. And some of this is going to continue for another year or three I believe.
I always endeavor to be transparent in my business dealings and whilst some have rolled their eyes at my level of honesty I have found most people appreciated knowing what goes wrong and have been actually encouraged by knowing that we are “all in this together”.
In fact one of the highlights of my speaking recently was my “Things that have gone seriously wrong for me” presentation at Property Pulse. I was inundated with: “I feel so much better knowing how hard things have been for you” comments
I have had some financial commitments I couldn’t meet when due and am working through those but I am thankful that unlike many of my peers, I am still going!
In fact this week I heard of four people you and I know fairly well who have gone under, not to mention the many developers etc. who haven’t survived.
On the flip side of course I have engaged my “quick adoption” ability and engaged it with more wisdom than I might have when I was younger and sought out solutions to my situation and that of others that will work in these troubled times.
I am excited to say I have students doing very well in the current market making serious money in spite of it all.
I have learned an enormous amount about taking businesses online and this industry is flourishing as people look to reduce costs by “buying off the internet”.
And more recently I have taken the time to really understand the international property market and found a “genuine” cash flow solution for many people in the USA.
I am more excited about this than anything I have ever been involved in business wise because it is so straight forward and such an amazing product that I never knew about before. The numbers stand up to all scrutiny and there is nothing to “sell”. It is just a great way to solve the cash-flow problem.
In addition this year I have ben greatly thankful for and humbled by the incredible support of so many of my clients who regularly write encouraging me and always support my events, whether my own or those of associates.
I thank you all from the bottom of my heart.
And finally my love affair with Fiji remains unabated and whilst I have spent very little time there this year we continue to do what we can to help those far les fortunate than we are. Sadly I have had to take this work largely “underground” as the political situation and the level of corruption in certain parts of the “system” there have made it impossible to discuss what we are doing publicly as we used to do. So I apologise to those of you who like to hear of what is happening there. I can tell you our work continues and will grow.
We, with your help, make a huge difference in many, many lives there.
I pray that you and those you love are able to enjoy this Christmas season regardless of your circumstances and that you take some time to love deeply, pray seriously and laugh loudly
If I am offline some days over the next 2 weeks please forgive me and remember to…..
Stay Inspired and Stay Safe ~ Dean
PS: Final Reminder that if you want to join us in the USA next year you must book NOW at http://www.retirefromproperty.com. Zharna will be processing things next week but then it is simply too late. There is a rush of foreclosures over CHristmas and Craig has some AMAZING property secured at massive discounts, don’t miss out!!
Inner Peace
Posted by: | CommentsPinched this from Facebook today, classic!!
“Some doctor on the radio said the way to inner peace is to finish all the things you have started.
So I looked around my house to see things I’d started and hadn’t finished and,
before leaving this morning, I finished off
a bottle of Merlot,
a bottle of Chardonnay,
a bodle of Baileys,
a butle of wum,
a pockage of Prunglies,
n the res of the Chesescke.
Yu haf no idr how orsumlee guod I feel rite now wiv innr paece.
Stay Inspired and Stay Safe ~ Dean Letfus
Sticks and Stones
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It was with much sadness yesterday that I saw the news report on the suicide of Bernie Madoff’s son.
Some people may rub their hands in glee at his apparent admission of guilt through this action but I can think of few things more tragic than feeling so much despair you end it all.
Nothing is worth risking eternity for or destroying yourself. Sadly many people can’t see any alternative or find any way to deal with their (justified or unjustified) shame.
But there is always a way, there are always solutions, even if that solution is to find help to sit in ones shame and rebuild again with a better life purpose and ethic.
So remember this “festive season”, things may be grim, but there is always hope, always.
Christmas is about the hope expressed to us all in the person of Jesus Christ and He is living proof that anything, even death, can be overcome with some help from Dad!
Stay Inspired and Stay Safe ~ Dean Letfus
PS: We managed to add 5 seats to the flight booking so you can still join us on the cashflow research tour HERE
New Years Resolutions, NO NO NO!
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As we get close to Christmas and the end of the year most of us will inevitably face the pressure of “reviewing” the year and setting “goals” or “resolutions” for 2011.
Now I am all for goal setting, it is a necessary part of success. However we should have already set short and long term goals and be executing them, so if we are only reviewing the year and making new resolutions because it is Christmas we are doing something very wrong. I have goals for the next 2,5 and ten years and I review them monthly so Christmas is entirely incidental to that process.
It should be a time to relax, (if we have holidays), and do what we want to do. It should NOT be a time for navel gazing and looking to get control of our lives again if that makes sense.
I hate goal setting and planning, but I have seen its value in my life so I do it.
The only thing I hate more than goal setting is having to do it every year because society says I should do it again. It presupposes that I have failed to keep last years doesn’t it?
So do your life a favour and drag those goals out of your desk/head/wastebasket and actually start to integrate them into your daily life and execute them. Never again have to “take complete stock” and decide what needs to change next year.
Then you can really enjoy this season without any personal development pressure
Stay Inspired and Stay Safe ~ Dean Letfus
PS: We have 2 seats left only for our USA tour, more info HERE
Say What?
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I do appreciate how hard it must be to navigate an entire economy and I also appreciate that sometimes no matter what you do or say history will make you look foolish, BUT I do find some of the recent economic statements from the government more than a little amusing.
Not so very long ago when the government decided, erroneously, to attack property investment and bring the evil capitalistic, non productive house owners to their knees, they were warned from all sectors that the unique tax benefits were not unique and that housing was very productive in terms of keeping the economy going.
No, no, no cried the pollies, you are evil, lazy and must be punished.
So roll forward to December 2010. A lot of evil property investors have left the market and gone to ground or gone offshore, taking their lazy capitalistic money and mortgages with them.
So now the Reserve Bank is “surprised” that our economy is so slow and having to downgrade everything in sight because NZ has tanked.
Wow, what a surprise. Nobody is getting loans even though lending is relaxing because the government has stuffed up big time in the property sector.
Why would you buy an IP here now when you can go offshore and get better yields and depreciation.
And given the way the banks have behaved historically why would anybody leverage up and hand their private parts to a bank again when the benefits of investment have diminished here.
So this strategy has backfired big time and they never saw it coming even though it was obvious to so many?
So in summary:
Kill the capitalists to slow the economy down, then wonder why the country dies 2 years later.
It is going to be a long road out of this because the government will have to do a 180, apologise for getting things wrong and unpick a lot of this crap legislation to get things going again.
And to do this they will need a new villain. My pick is it will be farmers. Their incomes are getting so high now it must put them on to the “evil sectors to attack to make sure we get re elected” list.
They are the one sector doing well even with a high dollar so they are going to become evil lazy fat cats any week now.
Politicians, can’t live with them, can’t shoot em
Stay Inspired and Stay Safe ~ Dean Letfus
PS: We are nearly full but there’s a couple of slots left for next years tour, check it out HERE
