Where Are the Shortcuts to Prosperity?No Shortcuts Sign 1

Do you need a faster path to success? Are you sick and tired of waiting?

If so, you might make one of these two mistakes.

Mistake #1: You Focus Mainly on Money

You think, “I need to get money, get money, get money.”

You give money to companies that use headlines like these:

  • “As soon as I signed up for their classes, I became a millionaire!”
  • “I used the secrets in his $5000 book and got $10,000 extra cash within hours!”
  • “I learned how billionaires pull strings to get rich. Learn how you can too, at my free webinar!”

You borrow as much money as you can from anyone who might trust you. You sell services or goods that you can’t deliver. You gamble with high-risk investments.

You try to prosper without working for it.

Mistake #2: You Focus Mainly on Delivery

You think, “I need to produce, produce, produce. Deliver, deliver, deliver.”

Even if you create a great product, or provide an excellent service, you have problems.

No one knows about your good work because you do not promote yourself. No one gives you the money you deserve because you do not ask for it. As a result, you have no money to keep producing and delivering.

For example, a dentist loves making people’s smiles look perfect, but he hates asking for money. So he works hard fixing people’s teeth, but only gets half of his fees. He does not focus enough on money and so he has problems.

The Path to Prosperity: Focus on Both

At first, you may think this path to prosperity is obvious. You say, “Of course, doesn’t everyone know this?” However, look closer. Every failed business, and every person’s inability to prosper, boils down to this  simple, astonishing answer.

“When either money or production get out of balance, one has trouble. All production and no money is as bad as all money and no production.

“Well-paid delivery, in high quality, is the correct answer.”

“There are no shortcuts to honest prosperity.” — L. Ron Hubbard

The Prosperity ChartProsperity Chart 1

This chart has four squares or “quadrants.” Everyone and every group or business can be placed or “plotted” at some point in this chart. (Click the image to see a larger size.)

On the left side is a vertical scale of 1-10. The better your delivery, the higher you are on this scale.

On the bottom is a horizontal scale of 1-10. The better your income or money, the farther to the right is your number.

When you score 8, 9 or 10 in both scales, you enjoy long-term success.

Once you figure out your score for both scales, plot a point on the chart where they intersect.

See the white star in the top right quadrant as an example. In this case, your delivery is good with a score of 6, and your income is good because you like to sell things, or an 8. The white star shows the resulting location of both scores.

To prosper, you need STAY in the top right quadrant.

Five Examples

1. Fred’s Real Estate Disaster

Fred thinks he’s found a shortcut to prosperity with real estate. He believes “Lots of people are getting rich from buying houses and then selling a few months later for a big profit.”

Fred also learns he can borrow a great deal of money, even though he doesn’t have a job. “If I just buy this big house with this big loan, I’ll sell it in a few months and make a big pile of money, just like everyone else.”

Fred gets the big loan and buys the big house. He is thrilled! His money score is 8. However, his Delivery score is 1 because he produces nothing of value. You can see him in the bottom right corner of the Prosperity Chart.

Of course, Fred falls behind in his payments. He tries to sell it, but can’t find a buyer. He is forced to give the house to the loan company. His financial life is ruined (the loan company eventually makes a tidy profit).

2. Farmer John’s Hemp Crop

Farmer John learns his neighbor, Farmer Pete, was paid $1 million for just one truckload of hemp. The hemp is sold to make cloth, insulation, food products and more.

“I’m a better farmer than Pete,” John thinks.”I can switch this corn field to hemp and finally get rich!”

Farmer John plows up the corn, buys the hemp seed and new planting equipment. He works extremely hard for several months. He is delighted. “It grows really well, like growing a weed!”

Unfortunately, 80 other local farmers did the same thing as Farmer John. There are no buyers for this huge amount of hemp.

In the Prosperity Chart, Farmer John scores 8 on the left side for terrific production, but because he cannot get paid, he scores a 1 or 2 on the bottom scale. You can plot him in the top left corner quadrant.

3. IndiaChic by Kiara

Kiara’s passion for beautiful clothing, and her brilliant computer skills, is path to potential success.

“I can create an artificial reality app to show buyers how they will look in beautiful, inexpensive clothes from India. I think everyone will like this!” She calls her new company “IndiChic.”Prosperity Chart

She works hard to produce the app. She lines up the best clothing manufacturers in India. She lines up investors to give her money AFTER IndiChic proves it will succeed. As you can see on the Prosperity Chart, IndiChic scores an 8 for both delivery and money.

IndiChic is a big success. She accepts the investments, builds her new company and everyone connected to Kiara is happy with her brilliance. She stays in the top right quadrant.

4. Jane’s Super Computer Con Job

Jane starts a new computer company called “Jane’s Super Computers” and focuses on money. She thinks, “Any geek with a screwdriver can make a super computer. I’ll use my charm to just sell, sell, sell!”

Because Jane is so charismatic, several big investors give her millions of dollars. She buys a beautiful office building, hires excellent salespeople, huge ad campaigns and a jet for herself. Thanks to her charm and one fake “super” computer, she sells thousands of computers . . . that are never built.

Jane scores a 10 for money and a 1 for delivery.

However, because Jane is a criminal, her fantastic reputation turns into ruins. The news media and justice system go after her. She loses all of her money, closes the company and ends up in jail.

Jane’s score is 1 and 1.

5. Jacob, the Brilliant Accountant

Jacob works as an accountant at a big bank in New York City. Because he is very smart and quite motivated, Jacob produces more work than any other accountant in the bank. He scores a 9 for delivery

Jacob thinks, “I’m sure my bosses will see how much work I do and give me bonuses.”

However, Jacob is too shy to say anything. His bosses do not notice him. He never asks for a raise, a bonus or a promotion. He scores a 1 for money.

Despite his awesome value, Jacob is stuck in the top left corner of the chart and does not prosper.

ExerciseYour Prosperity Chart

Use the Prosperity Chart to plot your operation.

  1. On a scale of 1-10 with 1 being very poor delivery and 10 being excellent delivery, how good is your delivery?
  2. Mark this level on the left vertical line.
  3. On a scale of 1-10 with 1 being very little money and 10 showing great with income, how do you score with money along the bottom?
  4. Mark this level on the bottom horizontal line.
  5. Plot yourself on the Prosperity Chart to show the intersection of your delivery and income.
  6. If you are not in the top right quadrant, create an Action Plan to raise your weak score.

Ideas to Increase Scores

1. Zola owns a catering company for events like weddings, parties and grand openings.

She sits in the middle of the chart with income at 5 and delivery at 5. Her company is barely surviving. She needs to increase both scores.

Ideas of how she can increase her company’s income to 8-10:
Create an amazing, beautiful website that generates new contacts
Hire a sales person to get referrals, give quotes and write contracts
Get current customers to buy more-expensive gourmet food

Ideas of how she can increase her company’s delivery to 8-10:
Give better-than-expected food and drink
Train the catering staff to provide the best service in the industry
Provide a clean-up crew to maintain a spotless event

2. Sandy works at a car factory.

He is an average worker earning average pay. Unless he does better, he will never own a home or retire in comfort.

Ideas of how he can increase his income score to 8-10:
Renegotiate his contract
Propose bonus plans and earn every bonus possible
Do extra work on the side

Ideas of how he can increase his delivery score to 8-10:
Get more done per hour
Increase the quality of his work
Find more-efficient methods of doing his job

Action Step Recommendations

  1. List all the ways you have increased your delivery/product score and your income/money score in the past.
  2. Strengthen the actions that work for you. Do not replace them.
  3. List all the ways you can increase your weakest score.
  4. Pick the actions you can take that you know will work. If you do not know which actions will work, test the ideas first.
  5. Get into action! Implement the ideas.
  6. Check both of your scores every month until you move into the top right quadrant.

To your prosperity!