TAKE A STAND

Stand up for what you believe in, says Louise Bedford.

FIGURE 1: WEEKLY CHART W TAKE ASTAND

e’re already one quarter of the way through 2012. What have you stood for and against so far this year? Have you decided what you’ll tolerate and what you’ll fight against? Because if you do not stand for something, you’ll never be an achiever. Here is what I believe.

Most people think they’re busy, but they’re not This is the age of overload. We end up overwhelmed, hooked up intravenously to emails, mobile phones and Facebook, pressing send/ receive like some demented rat awaiting a pellet, convinced that our lives will dissolve if we step away from our desks. If you really analyse how you spend your time, you might be surprised at how little ‘peak productivity’ you achieve throughout your day. Unplug. Get some time to yourself. Solitude without interruptions is precious.

Everyone needs some down time I’m a big believer in positive thinking, but I understand that people can’t be up all the time. Believing you can is plain self-delusion. We all have days when we shelter under the doona and wait for the storm to pass. Give yourself permission to recover when life throws something unpleasant at you. However, if you’re still under your doona after a few weeks, you’ve got a problem. If you need professional help, seek it.

You can be a trader It’s clear that I believe in some members of our Mentor Program more than they believe in themselves. I can see the seeds of greatness that are shiningly apparent. If you don’t believe in yourself, run on my belief

My best ideas come to me on a Tuesday morning, when I sit basking in buttery dappled light in my serviced office (where I escape from my kids and husband for one day a week). As the dawn breaks, my ideas flow. Find yourself a quiet place – your feelings of being overwhelmed will melt away.

People need to pay their own way and take responsibility Welfare is for the aged and for mentally or physically disabled folks. It might also be a short-term fix for other people, but if they rely on welfare for the medium or long term, they need to wake them. Welfare is not for ablebodied, able-minded people who are held back only by their own level of incompetence, laziness or lack of inspiration.

One of my acquaintances from school still lives with her parents for Pete’s sake! What is that all about? She still doesn’t even have her driver’s licence – so her 72-year-old Mum dutifully picks her up after late-night parties! I’m not sure who the biggest imbecile is – her, or her parents for tolerating this situation. The jury’s out.

Anybody who has a poor work ethic should be ashamed of themselves. Working to earn your keep and being independent is the only honourable way to live. If you choose to make your life all about artistic pursuits, having 15 children, or living off the land, that’s fine, as long as you can afford to do that without sticking your hand into my pocket to fund your habit. If you pay your own way, you get to do as you please. If I have to pay your way, you do as I please. He or she who owns the gold makes the rules.

Don’t blame those around you for your situation. You are in life exactly where you decided to be. Don’t like it? Change it.

that everyone can be a trader. There are people making money in the markets right now who are dumber, less good looking, and with fewer brain cells than you. If you could see the future that I can envisage for you, you’d do everything you could, right now, to make it a reality.

You have control over your future. Reach out and grab it Here’s a little trick I learned from a top bloke called John Carlton. Write yourself a letter, dated one year from now. Write out all the goals that you met in 2012. This is called ‘future pacing’. Zig Ziglar fans call it ‘the truth in advance’. Make your goals mega-ambitious. Big is good.

In years gone by, I‘d repeatedly kick myself for not reaching a goal. Now, I write down massive goals and I don’t expect to reach even half of them. I‘m happy with that. Because my goals make me look like Wonder Woman, or one of those sexy characters who have it all in a Sidney Sheldon novel, I know that if I achieve even half of what I write down, I‘ll be doing well. Reality can come later. Begin by letting your passions

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YOURTRADINGEDGE UK

MAR/APR 2012