Prepare For Wealth Building By Reading Educational Material

Over the years I have learned the value of seeking wise counsel from various coaches, mentors and others who have achieved the things in life I want to accomplish. One of the resources I actively pursue for knowledge is reading books. This has served me well many times in the past and even today.

The one example that comes to mind was during the time when I used to run races. There always seemed to be a race going on somewhere for one thing or another. Some were to raise money for charities, different causes, social organizations and many other charitable events. These races were 5k, 10k, 4miles, 3k and a variety of other distances.

I would register and show up and run. It was great fun after the races talking with the many competitors. After you have gone to a number of races you start to see the same faces. I remember this one couple that always showed up at the races and every race they would beat me by at least a mile. I tried different strategies but nothing seemed to help me increase my speed. I tried starting out slower hoping to pick up speed as I went but that put me to far behind the other competitors to catch up. Another strategy was to start out fast and give it all I had and hope I could finish that did not work because more times than not I ended up walking a vast majority of the race due to expending too much energy in the beginning.

Now this couple that always beat me they were about 10 to 12 years younger than I was. In my mind this was not an excuse. Also during these races I would always start at the back of the pack or somewhere in the middle of the pack, never in the front because some of the better runners would end up pushing past me to run their race because they were faster.

I finally went to the bookstore and purchased a book called, "Running for Dummies". Quickly looking through the table of contests I came across the chapter I was looking for, speed training. I read the chapter several times but none of it made sense. Let me explain I understand every word and I understood what they were telling me to do, but to me it did not make sense.

This book suggested interval training. You go to a 400 meter track and run around the track at a speed of about 10 seconds faster than your normal race speed then you run around the track at a leisurely jog pace.

Then another faster pace at 10 seconds faster than your normal race speed. You alternate these repetitions until you have completed 8 to 10 laps.

Well how in the world were these short bursts of speed supposed to help me in longer races like a 5k which is 3.2 miles? Nevertheless I performed these training measures over a period of two months. In between the training sometime during the week I would slip in a race or two but my speed was not increasing substantially. I was thinking this is not working.

One particular race I remember showing up to run as usual and there was Virgil and Holly as usual and for no reason that I can explain I remember walking to the front of the pack where all the faster runners normally start, the place that I had always avoided so I could stay out of everyone's way. I stood there for a few moments thinking what in the world am I doing up here? Why am I am the front of the pack? As I stood there the strangest thing happen. I felt a charge of energy and it just felt like someone suddenly downloaded a bolt of lightening into me and I remember thinking wow what was that? I looked down at me feet and quickly scanned the rest of my body thinking I might see this energy or whatever it was coursing through my body.


The race official sounded the gun for the start of the race and I took off like somebody had shot me out of a cannon and somehow I was able to maintain that speed for the entire race. I did not win that race because there were hundreds of competitors but I ended up posting my best time ever and beat Virgil and Holly in the process by a distance of about 500 feet. Now I did not beat them by as much as they beat me by but I overcame the deficit they were beating me by which was about one mile and beat them by 500 feet. What an accomplishment. How strange that my mind and body knew when I was ready to compete at a higher level. The subconscious mind actually guided me to the front of the pack without me even thinking about it.

What does that have to do with wealth building? If there is a particular strategy that you are looking to utilize then you should seek out someone that has accomplished that feat. Look for mentors, and coaches got to seminars and read books on your subject or the area that you are trying to increase your knowledge. There are some many avenues that you can pursue for wealth building. One way to build wealth is to start saving 10% of your money and put it into some type of vehicle that accumulates interest and over the course of time you will begin to see the magic of compound interest. Albert Einstein called compound interest the eighth wonder of the world because of it's amazing properties.

What if you want to pay down credit card debt? Here is a strategy. First list all of your debts on paper starting with the lowest balance first and next to the balance you list the monthly payment. When you get all the debts written down then you add up the balances and the monthly payments. This part just allows you to see where you are in the process.

Next as soon as possible pay off the lowest balance on your list first. Why? When you pay off a balance you receive a feeling of accomplishment. Your subconscious mind begins to store a success that you have experienced. The feeling here is that you are on your way and that this can be accomplished. The small victories give you motivation, inspiration and a feeling of success, along the way to fulfilling your larger victories or goals.

Once you have your smallest balance paid off whatever monthly payment you were paying to that balance you begin to pay that amount towards the next smallest balance in addition to what you were already paying towards that balance. Keep this process going until you are completely debt free. I once used this exact same method and it worked like a charm.

So whatever goal you are attempting or whatever race you are running read books about it, talk to coaches and mentors and put together a game plan that will get you from A to Z.

To Your Great Success

Mel Richardson