So I am a former subscriber of Business 2.0, the best magazine EVAR!!1 However, the owners gave it an unceremonious end, and all subscribers got Fortune Magazine instead. Well, an article in the last issue sort of caught my attention. Since I have been learning Mandarin for the last few months, it seems that, perhaps, more people might look into it. Here is the article in its entirety. - Travis

By Geoff Colvin, senior editor at large

Back in 2001 when the International Olympic Committee chose Beijing as the site of this summer’s games, the event was meant to mark China’s debut as a player on the global economic stage. But a recent study by the economist Angus Maddison projects that China will become the world’s dominant economic superpower much sooner than expected - not in 2050, but in 2015.

While short-term investors are already cashing in on China’s growth by playing the global commodities boom, smart long-term thinkers are contemplating what happens when China matures from an exporter of cheap goods to a competitor in sectors where the U.S. is dominant - technology, brand building, finance. China has almost wiped U.S. makers of low-value items like toys and socks, but by 2015 it may threaten Apple (AAPL, Fortune 500), J.P. Morgan Chase (JPM, Fortune 500), and Procter & Gamble (PG, Fortune 500). It will increasingly influence the S&P 500 and the mutual funds in our 401(k)s. So it’s worth looking at how that will happen, what it means, and what anyone can do in the seven years before the baton is passed.

Just using the exchange rate to convert China’s GDP into dollars isn’t helpful in comparing the two economies, because China controls its exchange rate; by that method, China’s economy might not pass America’s for decades. Exchange rates apply only to tradable products and services; they aren’t very useful in valuing nontradable goods in a country like China that is much poorer than the United States. So we need some way to compare the real value of China’s economic output with America’s, and economists have developed one. It is called purchasing power parity.

For example, Chinese construction workers earn a whole lot less than Americans do, yet they can still build top-quality buildings. If we used the exchange rate, the value of a new skyscraper in Shanghai would count much less toward China’s GDP than an identical building in Chicago would count toward America’s, which makes no sense. Purchasing power parity corrects the problem.
Will China take the crown?
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Everyone wishes they could go back in time knowing what they know now. Since that’s not possible, the next best thing is to listen to advice from those that already know. Here is some important advice and tips to live by. And of course, always wear sunscreen.

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This article here comes from Paul Piotrowski at Inspired Money Maker.com. I firmly believe that you truly need to do what you enjoy, as that is where the passion lies. If you are passionate about something and truly enjoy doing that in which you are passionate, then there is no way that you can fail. You will prevail! Without further adieu, here is Paul’s list.

1. Cut Out TV Time – Instead of watching other people doing what they love (actors, athletes, etc.) while you sit on the couch, why not invest the time into becoming an Inspired Money Maker. The average US home has the TV on for over 3,000 hours per year. A 40 hour/week job is only 2,000 hours per year.
2. Read “Think and Grow Rich”
3. Have a Sense of Humor
4. Be Yourself
5. Don’t Hide Yourself – Be Accessible
6. Visualize Your Goals Daily
7. Have an Opinion
8. Compliment People
9. Stop Letting Fancy Sounding Coffee Steal Your Dreams – $5.50 coffee and snacks each day cost you $2,000/year. That could be invested into your Inspired money Maker dreams instead. Use the money to start a business, purchase equipment, take courses, go to a seminars, etc.
10. Learn to Listen
11. Be a Simplifier, Not a Complicator
12. Learn From Your Mistakes, But Don’t Be Afraid to Make Them
13. Be Humble
14. Read “The Science of Getting Rich” by Wallace Wattles
15. Get Excited
16. Be Original. Be Grateful. Be courageous.
    
17. Be Unreasonable
18. Stop Being Negative – Stop justifying that you’re just being realistic. See things as they really are, not worse than they are. Then, take it a step further and see things better than they are.
19. Take Action
20. Be Nice to People
21. Create Your Own Luck
22. Stop Pretending to be a Victim
23. Don’t Worry What Others Think, That’s Their Business
24. Learn to Master Your Habits
25. Do Something New
26. Use Affirmations Daily
27. Beat the Odds – When you encounter an obstacle, realize that each obstacle you get through with your determination also eliminates 80% of your competition. Keep going, don’t give up and your odds will improve every step of the way.
28. Just Do It
29. Believe in Yourself – Nobody else is going to do it for you. Start now, in this moment.
30. Don’t be Good, Don’t be Great, Be Outstanding
31. Never Stop Growing
32. Give to Get
33. Plant Your Flag, Commit to the Inspired Money Maker Path
34. Connect With Your Spirit Guides
35. Don’t Talk Small About Yourself
36. Avoid Bureaucracy
37. Focus Your Energy
38. Read Books
39. Invest in the Tools You’ll Need – Stop being cheap and invest in the tools you may need to succeed.
40. Have Integrity
41. Always Be Creating Your Story
42. Start an Idea Journal, Capture Everything
43. Pay Attention to Your Dreams
44. Assume You Won’t Live Forever, The Time To Do This is NOW
45. Don’t Gossip, Network – Cut out wasted time gossiping on the phone with your friends. Instead, get your friends into making money doing what they love and then each hour you spend on the phone will be networking towards both of you growing your Inspired Money Maker ventures.
46. Aim to Improve the Universe. Think Big
47. Don’t Give Up
48. Get a Psychic Reading
49. Make it Fun
50. Trust Your Gut – When it comes to logic vs intuition. Go with your gut, then justify it with logic later.
51. Believe in Others
52. Skip the Party, Work on Your Dreams Instead
53. Challenge the Status Quo
54. Learn a Positive Word Every Day
55. Get Help Where Needed – Don’t try doing everything yourself. If you need web-design, hire a web designer. If you need logo design, hire a logo designer. If you need accounting done, hire an accountant. Try not to do too much yourself. Focus on what you love doing and find a way to monetize it.
56. Instill Confidence in Others
57. Email a Stranger, Propose a Win / Win Relationship
58. Take Time to Relax
59. Start a Blog and Document Your Journey
60. Digg, Stumble, Bookmark this Post and Get 9,639 Universal Karma Points
61. Model Successful People – Read biographies, books, Blogs. Study successful people. Find someone who’s already accomplished what you want to accomplish and model their beliefs, their behaviors etc.
62. Replace Your Bathroom Reader with a Self-Help Book
63. Take Two Weeks Off Work, Stay Home and Work on Your Inspired Money Maker Plans. Tell Everyone Else You’re Out of the Country.
64. Repeat Your Affirmations In Your Head Until You Fall Asleep at Night
65. Choose Financial Abundance, Stop Believing that Money is a Dirty Word
66. Compete With Yourself, Not Others
67. Smile and Make People Laugh
68. Make and Carry Your Personal Business Cards
69. Be Polite, But Don’t Be Afraid to Express Yourself Either
70. Don’t Waste Time on Stupid Crap – Does your desk really need to be cleaned again this week? Do your books really need to be alphabetically arranged?
71. Watch What People Do, Not What they Say They Do
72. Help Someone Out
73. Think “How Do I Increase My Income by $10,000” not “How Do I Cut Expenses by $100”
74. Be Nice to Yourself
75. Get Rid of Stinkin Thinkin – Stop the endless negative chatter in your mind. Re-focus your internal questions on the positive.
76. Enjoy the Journey
77. Network with People You Feel Comfortable With
78. Don’t Use Your Kids as an Excuse
79. Learn to Forgive – Stop wasting energy holding grudges. Forgiving someone is not the same as condoning whatever they did. It is simply letting go of the pent up negative energy inside you because it doesn’t serve you anymore. Let it go.
80. Try Immersion Learning
81. Find a Mentor / Coach, Don’t Let Lack of Money Be Your Excuse
82. Give Referrals, Ask for Referrals
83. Don’t Complain. Put the Violin Away. Nobody Wants to Hear It
84. Stop Looking for Shortcuts. Steady Wins the Race.
85. Share Your Success with Others
86. Don’t Hang Around Negative People. Hang Out With Other Inspired Money Makers
87. Buy Wrinkle Free Dress Pants – Saves you time on having to iron them
88. Don’t Believe Your Excuses
89. Write in a Journal
90. Don’t Underestimate the Fear of Success
91. Be Decisive
    
92. Meditate
93. Convert Your Car Into a Personal Development University – Turn off the Radio and Listen to Audio Courses and Seminars in the Car
94. Hire Someone to Mow the Lawn, Work On Your Dreams Instead
95. Sleep When You’re Dead – Stop sleeping 8-12 hours a day. Try 6 hours / night for 30 days and see how you feel. Most people sleep so much because they’re depressed about their life. Work on being an Inspired Money Maker and you won’t want to sleep.
96. Use Law of Attraction
97. Send Gifts to People
98. Ask for What You Want – Erase the fantasy from your head that others should know what you want. Ask for what you want, always. Stop talking about what you didn’t get, and focus on what you want.
99. Work on Your Communications Skills
100. Have Patience – Everything won’t come all at once. Have the patience to trust that everything will come at it’s perfect time.
101. Seek Answers Within
     

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by Henrik Edberg

“It’s no wonder that truth is stranger than fiction. Fiction has to make sense.”

“Let us live so that when we come to die even the undertaker will be sorry.”

“When your friends begin to flatter you on how young you look, it’s a sure sign you’re getting old.”

You may know Mark Twain for some of his very popular books like Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. He was a writer and also a humorist, satirist and lecturer.

Twain is known for his many – and often funny – quotes. Here are a few of my favourite tips from him.

1. Approve of yourself.

“A man cannot be comfortable without his own approval.”

If you don’t approve of yourself, of your behaviour and actions then you’ll probably walk around most of the day with a sort of uncomfortable feeling. If you, on the other hand, approve of yourself then you tend to become relaxed and gain inner freedom to do more of what you really want.

This can, in a related way, be a big obstacle in personal growth. You may have all the right tools to grow in some way but you feel an inner resistance. You can’t get there.

What you may be bumping into there are success barriers. You are putting up barriers in your own mind of what you may or may not deserve. Or barriers that tell you what you are capable of. They might tell you that you aren’t really that kind of person that could this thing that you’re attempting.

Or if you make some headway in the direction you want to go you may start to sabotage for yourself. To keep yourself in a place that is familiar for you.
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