It’s time for another edition of Music Lessons.

Today, we’re going to talk about a song we’re sure you know. You’ve probably sung along to it.

It’s a fun song. But it makes a serious point.

Listen to this post! Click a player to hear George & Mary-Lynn on The Bigg Success Show Podcast!


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It reminds us of the old saying, “Be careful what you wish for; you just might get it.”

And the subject of this song has a lot of fame and fortune. At the risk of sounding more like John Lennon than Joe Walsh:

Imagine owning a mansion. But along with that mansion, you have so much money that its price was completely insignificant.

That’s kind of fun. But then the conspicuous consumption kicks in. You’ve never even seen this mansion. Other people tell you how nice it is.

Imagine owning a Maserati. You know – a super hot, super fast sports car. It would be nice.

Unless you can’t drive it because you’ve lost your license.

Imagine being driven around all the time in a BIGG limo.

Wouldn’t that be cool? It would.

But not if you have to lock the doors because you may be attacked by a mob of fans.

Yeah, but imagine those fans writing you letters all the time. Imagine constantly being told how great you are.

That would be fantastic. But…

…you could have all the gold records on the wall you want,
…you could achieve BIGG things,
…you could have people all around you,
…all the images of success,
…the material possessions,
…the adulation,
…and still feel loneliness.

More loneliness in fact than you’ve ever felt before. You may drown it in alcohol or drugs or some other vice.

You may come to believe that everybody else has changed. You may realize that you have too many adoring fans but too few admirable friends.

People who love you for you. And that’s it. Because that’s enough.

Preparing for fortune and fame

BIGG success is life on your own terms. For some people, that means fame and fortune. There’s nothing wrong with that.

As long as you’re prepared for it.

But BIGG success comes from serving others. As the entrepreneur of your life, you create value for yourself by adding value in the lives of other people.

And it’s not about fame and fortune. Those may come.

If you’re grounded properly, you’ll be able to handle it. If not, you’ll be like the subject of this song.

You’ll keep on going – keep trying to gain more fame and more fortune.

More, more, more. You won’t know why. But you will feel empty.

There’s little fulfillment in fame and fortune for fame and fortune’s sake.

That’s why many people choose to build a fortune without the fame. They’re the millionaire next door.

Fame without the fortune can be especially brutal. Few people can successfully navigate those rough waters.

So how can you prepare yourself for fame and fortune?

Focus first on friendship and fellowship. Let fame and fortune follow.

That’s BIGG success!

Direct link to The Bigg Success Show audio file | podcast:
http://traffic.libsyn.com/biggsuccess/00762-121511.mp3

We caught an interesting piece on CBS Sunday Morning a few weeks ago. Not surprisingly, a lot of yacht owners have given up the boat as a result of the Great Recession.

Image in this post by wilksailor

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But then the reality kicks in.

Research shows that we tend to quickly spend our new found cash. It also shows that new material possessions make us happier for a very short period of time.

More importantly, we make an incorrect assumption about what it takes to make more money. We often have to spend more time working and commuting. So we actually have less leisure time.

We end up in the rat race.

We work more to make more money. Then we spend more money so we have to work more to make yet more money. Then we spend more so we have to work more and on and on.

There are two lessons here for us:

• Be careful how you define bigg success. If it means more money, understand that there is a price. You’ll almost certainly have to invest more time.

• Our definition for bigg success is life on your own terms. For you, that may mean more money. But it may not. We focus so much in our society on money. It’s important to remember that money is the means to an end, not the end itself.

The funny thing is that you often end up with more money when it’s not the center of your focus. Here are four ways to make your money multiply magically:

Focus on your whole life.

Find work that you love. Take up a hobby if you don’t have one already. Build strong relationships personally and professionally. You’ll find that it often doesn’t take much money to spend your time doing the things you love with the people you love.

So your money will multiply magically!

Spend less than you make.

Sounds pretty simple, doesn’t it? But we all know that it isn’t. It isn’t simple but it is necessary.

Don’t fall into the trap of thinking life would suddenly be much better if you just made more money. Make the best of the money you make now and your money will magically multiply.

Avoid consumer debt.

If you have it now, pay it off aggressively. Get used to paying for purchases with cash. This is a timeless principle that applies to all economies and all people. We’ve recently relearned this lesson.

Here’s a question to ask anytime you’re tempted to buys something with borrowed money:

“If I can’t afford it today, what makes me think I can afford it, with interest, tomorrow?”

Many people assume they will make more money in the future. They don’t factor in that their costs will likely be higher in the future. That’s how they end up in the rat race and debt just compounds it.

Note that we didn’t say avoid all debt. It may make sense to borrow money for a legitimate investment. You have to prove out the opportunity, but a lot of people have made their money multiply magically by using leverage.

Invest wisely.

As we learned last year, stocks don’t go up forever. As we’re seeing this year, they don’t go down forever either. So invest in a diversified portfolio of assets. One of the best ways to do this is through no-load mutual funds as part of a qualified retirement plan.

Don’t let your money control you. Control your money and watch it multiply magically! That’s bigg success!

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Thank you so much for checking in with us today. Please join us next time when we’ll look at the first win entrepreneurs must achieve. Until then, here’s to your bigg success!

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Direct link to The Bigg Success Show audio file:
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[cref 1920]

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We said “freedom of” are those freedoms we have as a result of living in a free society. It’s something we shouldn’t take for granted because plenty of people aren’t so fortunate. Today we want to move to the second level of freedom: freedom from.

Self-created obstacles

Now let’s move to the second level of freedom – freedom from. As we strive for bigg success, we face many obstacles. In many cases, these obstacles are self-created. Now unfortunately, these self-created obstacles are often tougher to get through than obstacles that fate or whatever else may throw our way.

That’s because these obstacles are internal. So we have to re-program our own minds to get beyond them. And that’s often harder than finding a way to go past an obstacle that was put in our path by some external event.

Freedom from is a massive topic. Today we’ll focus on three categories of dependence:

Dependence on others

When we’re young, we’re dependent on others to take care of us. Then we grow up and get out on our own.

Now we seem to be independent, but in some cases we’re still carrying some dependent behavior with us. For example, we may never outgrow worrying what other people think.

Dependence on things

The most obvious things we can become dependent on are drugs or alcohol. However, we can also become dependent – even addicted – to material possessions, fame, money, and even success. Anything that takes control away from you is an obstacle to your bigg success.

Dependence on limiting thoughts

Limiting thoughts can become a security blanket. It’s the place we go when things don’t work out. We tell ourselves that we don’t deserve any more. That we’ll never have any more. That’s how we explain the world.

So our future becomes intertwined with our past. Because we can’t – or won’t – move beyond these limiting thoughts so we never experience the bigg success we were born to live.

Freedom from: Moving from dependence to independence

Dependence is the opposite of freedom from. We want to move from dependence to independence. Let’s tackle the three categories of dependence one at a time.

• Freedom from dependence on others.

We’re not talking about dependence in the sense that they support you. We’re talking about caring too much about what other people think.

Bigg success is life on your own terms. Many people never truly live their lives on their own terms. But you’re a bigg goal-getter. You will. You must take control away from anyone else that keeps you from reaching your goals. Stop worrying about what they say – go out and be a bigg success. Then see what they say!

• Freedom from dependence on things.

We won’t discuss dependence on drugs or alcohol. That’s for the professionals.

We do want to talk about other things. For example, we’re coming out of a time when many people became so dependent on accumulating the hottest this or the newest that. They became imprisoned by their own spending.

Take control of your life. Freedom from means not being driven by outside forces. It means substantive rather than superficial. It means seeing the end, not just the means. It means knowing what you truly want and going for that instead of worrying what your neighbor has or what your classmate from college just achieved.

• Freedom from dependence on limiting thoughts.

Appreciate how special you are. You are truly one-of-a-kind. There never has been, or ever will be, another person with your unique DNA, experiences and perceptions.

Talk to yourself with respect. We say things to ourselves that we would never say to someone else. Talk to yourself like you’re your best friend. You should be your best friend anyway!

If you’re afraid of doing something, do it afraid. Conquer your fears one day at a time, one fear at a time.

Understand that bigg success comes in baby steps. Change a little at a time so you reach the bigg success you deserve!

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Thank you so much for reading our post today. Please join us next time when we’ll discuss the third level of freedom – freedom to. Until then, here’s to your bigg success.

Subscribe to The Bigg Success Show in iTunes. 

Subscribe to the Bigg Success feed.

Direct link to The Bigg Success Show audio file:
http://media.libsyn.com/media/biggsuccess/00427-063009.mp3

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(Image in today's post by svilen001)

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Bigg success is life on your own terms.

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I just love that because it is so empowering. Who else can tell us how to live our lives?

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It’s not about money or material possessions. Or it can be. It’s not judgmental. If it works for you, it works!

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Your terms, not others

We don’t always live our lives on our own terms. We live by the terms set by others.

Our families and friends, with all good intentions, have their thoughts about how we should live.

Society sets expectations of us. Hollywood and Madison Avenue paint a picture of how our lives should look. Teachers, bosses and others guide us to the life they want us to live.

Sometimes we even place demands upon ourselves that aren’t congruent with what we really want.

Taking charge

Enough is enough. We must take our lives back. We must claim the most precious gifts that we have been given.

To choose who we are and who we become.

To live the life we dream of living.

To find our path to happiness without regard for what others think.

To feel in control no matter what situation we face.

When we feel that we have power over our own lives, we can relish in every moment even if things aren’t going exactly as planned.

Not a selfish endeavor

Life on your own terms sounds selfish, but it’s not. In fact, it’s quite the opposite.

It means figuring out how to get from where you are now to where you want to be for the benefit of yourself and the people you care about.

How we’re doing it

We understand this definition well because we’re living it.

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I worked in the corporate world. I had outgrown the place where I was working and I didn’t want to move for two reasons: I was engaged to George and the industry I worked in was experiencing troubles so I thought a move would be risky.

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I’ve been a passionate business owner for years and teach entrepreneurship at our local University. I saw the internet as a great place for learning and a way to combine those two passions. I also have a passion for a certain young lady named Mary-Lynn and working together seemed like a slam dunk!

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So we created an opportunity for ourselves – Bigg Success – to be partners both personally and professionally. It works for us, but it doesn’t work for everyone. It’s how we’re living life on our own terms.

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People in transformation

We’ve designed Bigg Success to be the place for goal-gettin’ go-getters … bigg goal-getters as we like to call you. That’s the reason for the second “g” in Bigg!

Bigg goal-getters don’t just talk the talk. We also walk the walk. Because we’re positive thinking, fun-loving people.

We’re people in transformation. Usually happy, but never content. Always striving to grow. Always looking to expand. Always in search of our next bigg opportunity.

So from two bigg goal-getter to another, welcome to Bigg Success! We look forward to getting to know you better. To growing together. To seeing you reach your bigg goals while we attain ours.

Reach bigg success in your life even faster

Bigg success is, and always will be, a developing concept. That’s the nature of bigg success!

It’s still about personal and professional development. We think by defining bigg success the way we have, we can have a richer conversation.

We will discover new things which we’ll share with you. We hope you will share your knowledge with us and the entire Bigg Success community.

Because all of us know more than any of us.

Start by telling us what life on your own terms means to you.

You can share that with a comment below, by calling us at 888.455.BIGG or by e-mailing us at bigginfo@biggsuccess.com

When you share, whether by writing it or speaking it, you get the ideas out of your head. So you learn and so will everyone else in the community.

By all of us sharing, we learn from each other so we all reach bigg success in our own lives even faster!

Thanks so much for reading our post today.

You’ve probably heard of Brand You. You may have heard that you’re the CEO of your own life. We don’t think either one is correct. Join us next time as we dive deeper into the definition of bigg success to find out why.

Until then, here’s to your bigg success!

Subscribe to The Bigg Success Show in iTunes. 

Subscribe to the Bigg Success feed.

Direct link to The Bigg Success Show audio file:
http://media.libsyn.com/media/biggsuccess/00356-032309.mp3

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