The richest man in Babylon city was called Arkad, he was famed for his great wealth, liberality and generosity. One day, his poor friends who had the same masters and played together when they were young came to his house and asked him the SECRET of becoming rich.

His poor friends could not understand why they all worked hard, but Arkand turned out to be the richest man in Babylon enjoying many luxuries, while they were barely able to make ends meet. Arkad replied that they had failed to learn the laws that govern the building of wealth or else they did not observe them. Arkad agreed to tell them the secret of wealth and started with the following story…

Like most people and as with his poor friends, when he started out Arkad was a broken young man. He was a labourer who worked hard to carve clay tablets to make a living. However when he was young he realised the power of wealth and all the good things, happiness and possibilities that wealth could bring to him. So he declared to himself that he would claim his share of the good things of life, rather than stand by and enviously watching others enjoy.

This strong DESIRE for great wealth separated him from his poor friends. If you have Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill, you know that desire is the first and one of the thirteen steps to riches. In real life the main reason many people never become rich is that they never seek and desire wealth in the first place.

As Arkad desired wealth, when opportunity arrived he grabbed it immediately. One day the rich money lender came to the shop and asked Arkad to complete his task within two days. However it was a lot of work and he could not finish it on time. When the rich money lender came back he was angry, however Arkad asked him the secret of becoming rich in return for a quick completion, the next day. So they made a deal; when the rich money lender came back again the next day the task was completed as Arkad worked hard over night.

Arkad was quite disappointed when the rich money lender told him the secret. Because he only said A PART OF ALL YOU EARN IS YOURS TO KEEP!

He asked Arkad to pay himself first no matter how little he earns and it should not be less than one tenth of his income. Your expenses are other people’s income and it is foolish to pay others first and leave yourself with nothing.

In another word is Pay Yourself at Least 10% of All Your Earnings First!

The rich money lender also advised Arkad what you save also must earn for you in order to acquire great abundance. This is the idea of save and invest; if you just save and do not invest your money wisely, you are unlikely to become rich. This is the wealth philosophy of money making money.

After the rich money lender became Arkad’s mentor, he worked hard, resisted the temptation of spending and paid himself 10% of all his earnings. Then he gave his saved money to a bricker to buy jewellery from overseas so he could sell these for higher price in Babylon. A year later, when the rich money lender came to the shop he enquired about Arkad’s progress. Arkad told him the story, but his mentor said to him his savings would be gone.

Arkad was told that he should not trust the knowledge of a brick maker about jewels, but instead should have gone to a jewellery merchant. You must invest your money with someone who is competent and experienced in their field in order to make your money multiply. It happened exactly as the rich money lender said, the brick maker was sold coloured glass instead of jewels and Arkad lost all his savings. However he did not give up, as his mentor had taught, he planted another wealth seed.

When the rich money lender returned a year later, Arkad was doing quite well, he lent his saved money to a trusted shield maker and got regular rental fees. However, he then spent this money on fine wine, food and clothes, his mentor said, he should acquire a army of golden slaves first, and then he can enjoy many rich banquets without regret.

Two years later when the rich money lender returned, he was satisfied with Arkad’s progress. Arkad followed his instructions to learn to live on less money, then sought advice from wise men who were competent through their own experience and learned to make gold work for him. The rich money lender told Arkad that he was competent and fit for a responsible position and asked him to look after his lands as his sons were only think of spending. The rich money lender made Arkad his parter and as Arkad mastered the three laws of handling wealth he prospered. When his mentor died Arkad inherited shares he left for him.

Arkad’s poor friends were puzzled and asked if the secret was that simple and all men did it, how would there be enough wealth to go around. Arkad replied “Wealth grows wherever men exert energy” “wealth grows in magical ways, no man can ever predict its limits”. He advised his poor friends to say themselves everyday A PART OF ALL YOU EARN IS YOURS TO KEEP!

When the king of Babylon realised that most of the city’s wealth was concentrated with just a few wealthy people and most of his citizens were poor he invited The Richest Man in Babylon
– Arkad, to teach his secret of acquiring wealth to all his citizens. Generous Arkad was happy to teach his secret and he taught his knowledge to a school of teachers, so that they could teach to the rest of the citizens. The following are the SEVEN REMEDIES FOR A LEAN PURSE that he taught to the people of Babylon:

Remedy 1: Start fattening your purse.

Remedy 2: Control your expenditures.

Remedy 3: Make your gold multiply.

Remedy 4: Guard your treasures from loss

Remedy 5: Make your home a profitable investment

Remedy 6: Ensure a future income.

Remedy 7: Increase your ability to earn.

At the end Arkad encouraged his students that there is more gold in Babylon, than they can dream of and there is abundance for all and encouraged them to take action to acquire them. Action will lead you forward to the success you desire and men of action are favoured by good luck.

The Five Laws of Gold

1. Gold comes gladly and in increasing quantity to any man who will put by not less than one-tenth of his earnings to create an estate for his future and that of his family.

2. Gold labours diligently and contentedly for the wise owner who finds profitable employment for it, multiplying as the flocks of the field.

3. Gold clings to the protection of the cautious owner who invests it under the advice of men wise in its handling.

4. Gold slips away from the man who invests it in businesses or purposes with which he is not familiar or which are not approved by those skilled in its keep.

5. Gold flees the man who would force it to impossible earnings or who follows the alluring advice of tricksters and schemes or who trusts it to his own inexperience and romantic desire in investment.

After reading this book, it reminded me of Rich Dad, Robert Kiyosaki, I have read most of the Rich Dad book series and realised he followed and mastered the laws of handling wealth. In one of the books from his Rich Dad, he recommended us to read The Richest Man in Babylonand asked us to Pay Yourself First!

Robert Kiyosaki also followed Arkad’s Seven Remedies for a Lean Purse. When he was broke, he still paid himself first and used his savings invested in property and own businesses. He also advised us to control our expenses and advised us not to buy DooDads. He also advised us that savers are the losers and we must turn our earned income into passive or portfolio income, let your gold multiply.

In his book Rich Dad’s Increase Your Financial IQ he wrote we should focus on making more money and on increasing our financial IQ to increase our earning abilities and ensure future passive income; he also wrote about how we can protect our money.

Robert Kiyosaki knows about the Five Laws of Gold as he advised us that we must take advice from wise and competent experts rather than listening to hot tips and free advice from family, friends and relatives. He uses competent stock brokers who make him rich, but not poor. I still remember his “Bentley Account”, how he bought his Bentley car without reducing a single cent from his bank account.

Robert Kiyosaki also advised us to invest to win, not lose or break even or be obsessed with get rich quick schemes. Like Arkad, the Richest Man in Babylon, Rich Dad, Robert Kiyosaki is a great example of someone who has mastered the law of wealth and the golden rules of becoming rich!

I really enjoyed reading this book, and I rated it five stars at Amazon. I’m personally following the recommendations made by The Richest Man in Babylon – pay myself first and invest my savings so that my money works hard for me and I always keep in mind the Five Laws of Gold.

After reading the Rich Dad’s Series, I have decided to make Rich Dad, Robert Kiyosaki my mentor, (a wise man who is competent in his field for helping you to become rich) because his books have changed my mindset and have been a tremendous influence in my life.

I strongly recommend you to read The Richest Man in Babylon the book that can change your life and you will find out the laws of wealth and gold to find a richer and more fulfilling life.

3. Spray: If the leaves become yellow and full of holes, you need to buy some spray to kill the bugs and other insects. Yellow bugs loves lilies and they love to make lots of holes on your lily’s leaves.

4.I use various treatments to kill slugs, snails and ants: Sprinkle some slug pellets or ant-killing tablets or power around your plant to keep them away from your flowers and plants. Slugs especially like Dahlia type plants and ants love Peony buds. Ant also like to farm Aphids, keeping away the bugs predators and helping them to spread.

5.Take off any dead flowers and leaves: when the flowers are finished, cut them off, this helps new buds to come out and saves the nutrition for new ones.

6.For Peonies and lilies: In late autumn cut off all the leaves when they are dry and dying and only leave the roots. It will help the roots come back strongly next spring.

7. Flower baskets and pots: they need more care than garden plants, as the nutrition from the basket soil is limited. You need to water them at least once a day and need to take off the dead buds regularly. In very hot weather you must increase the watering to stop them drying out. You can buy special soils that better at retaining moisture.

8.Lawns: To have a green, thick and weed-free lawn, you need to buy Lawn Feeder that kills weeds and gives the lawn the nutrition it needs to grow.

1.Spread evenly out just before any rain, so it can be very well soaked with rain. Repeat this 4- 5 times a year from spring to summer and you will have a fabulous and lovely lawn.

2.Make sure you buy quite good quality, once we bought both a cheap one and an expensive one from B&Q, we tested the cheap product on one half of the lawn and the expensive one on the other half, and interestingly we had very different results. Where the expensive lawn feeder was spread had longer,thicker grass and a healthier looking lawn compared to the patchy and shorter lawn where the cheap product was spread.

3.Make sure you cut your grass regularly to have a thicker lawn. When it’s a hot summer’s day make sure not to cut it too short, unless you have a water feeder, otherwise the roots will get burnt. Make sure not to cut it too short during the winter time, in case frost kills the roots.

It sounds like a lot of work, but it will spread out over the year and you won’t feel that it’s very much work when you see the results of your labour. If you love gardening it’s an enjoyment to work in the garden admiring your beautiful flowers and breathing fresh air. Remember with your care and attention you will be rewarded with a longer lasting, more glamorous garden that helps you to improve your living environment, health and quality of life.

If you are interested in organic vegetable gardening please Click Here!

Check My YouTube Video Shannon’s Beautiful Garden

The end.

I may have grown up to be a beautiful swan (Sorry, for not being modest!) compared to an ugly duck, however, maybe because of my name, Yanhua, I have fallen in love with flowers and I feel that I have a special connection with flowers. Whether they are indoor plants in my house or in the front and back gardens, they tend to do very well. Of course the main reason is that I pay special attention and care to them and I feel they can feel it too. As a reward, my flowers tend to blossom longer, are bigger with more flowers and are healthier; all of that provides me with a beautiful garden and green living space.

Flowers and plants are just like any relationships in your life; if you pay special attention, care and put efforts to them they will reward you handsomely, but if you ignore them they tend to die or do poorly. The following tips are from many years of my own experience that worked well in my gardening:

1.Roses: I have 22 different types of roses in my garden, they are absolutely beautiful and it’s one of my favourites. They flower many times from May to late autumn and I love its variety, fragrances and different styles. I have Silver Jubilee, Paul’s Scarlet, the climbing rose, Special Anniversary, Twist, Arthur Bell, Remember Me, Jackie Carter, David Austin and many more…

1).You can prune your roses in late autumn after flowering is over, but I have found March to be the best month for pruning roses. Make sure you cut the rose bush down to 6- 8 inches from the rose union. If the bush is too tall, the nutrition tends not to go up high and therefore the plant will produce less flowers. It also looks ugly as a tall bush with just a few flowers on top of it. Make sure that you cut off branches from the inner side of the bush, so air can circulate. Also cut off any suckers that do not produce any buds.

2).Feed plant food regularly (follow the instructions on the fertiliser container) to keep up nutrition from spring to late summer. This helps your roses flower bigger, longer and produce more buds.

3).Rose Clear: roses attract lots of greenfly and the leaves can get spots and fungus. Rose Clear (an insecticide and fungicide) is an excellent solution to all of these problems and it works really well.

4).After the flower’s are finished, make sure you cut them off regularly, known as dead-heading, this will help new buds coming up and the nutrition won’t be wasted on producing seeds. This is very important to keep a long lasting rose garden.

If you are interested in organic vegetable gardening please Click Here!

Check My YouTube Video Shannon’s Beautiful Garden

To be continued.

When we drove there, there were already thousands of people enjoying the show. The fair is an annual charitable event to raise money to support Essex Air Ambulance and therefore the cost of the tickets and a percentage of anything bought within the event is then contributed to our local Air Ambulance service.

There were 26 events and shows as well as many stands of local people who were selling home made stuff. There is a big lake within the venue and people were enjoying some sailing and taking steam boat trips . There was a stall selling roast hog in a bun, sheepdog display, Newfoundland dog demo, Olde English Battle re-enactment, Falconry Demonstrations, Clydesdales horses and much more. The sheepdogs were even used to round up ducks and turkeys!!

Owls: for as little as 50p I was able to hold an Owl on my arm for a few minutes and was able to stroke her.

Archery: We also tried archery, shooting a swine flu rubber pig with a white mask on. There was also a large rubber dinosaur to shoot at but the pig looked more dangerous!!! I didn’t get to try to the clay pigeon shooting as the queue was too big.

It was a really fun day, and a great day out for a family. We could see there were lots of children and both adults and children enjoyed the day. I also felt happy as all the money we were spending helped contribute to our local community for a better life.

When we drove there, there were already thousands of people enjoying the show. The fair is an annual charitable event to raise money to support Essex Air Ambulance and therefore the cost of the tickets and a percentage of anything bought within the event is then contributed to our local Air Ambulance service.

There were 26 events and shows as well as many stands of local people who were selling home made stuff. There is a big lake within the venue and people were enjoying some sailing and taking steam boat trips . There was a stall selling roast hog in a bun, sheepdog display, Newfoundland dog demo, Olde English Battle re-enactment, Falconry Demonstrations, Clydesdales horses and much more. The sheepdogs were even used to round up ducks and turkeys!!

Owls: for as little as 50p I was able to hold an Owl on my arm for a few minutes and was able to stroke her.

Archery: We also tried archery, shooting a swine flu rubber pig with a white mask on. There was also a large rubber dinosaur to shoot at but the pig looked more dangerous!!! I didn’t get to try to the clay pigeon shooting as the queue was too big.

It was a really fun day, and a great day out for a family. We could see there were lots of children and both adults and children enjoyed the day. I also felt happy as all the money we were spending helped contribute to our local community for a better life.

I have found one thing in common among them, they all work from home, but most of them have become multi -millionaires. Despite the recession the internet market is still growing massively. Our world is changing rapidly, the traditional way of doing business is no longer as competitive as on-line business due to higher costs.

If you want to work from the comfort of your own home then mastering the internet is the way to go. It does not matter what industry you are in, understanding and mastering the internet will give you the edge for your business as the internet marketing is the unbeatable future growth trend. The truth is that the internet has produced more millionaires and billionaires than any other industries.

Most of the speakers were quite good, but I have found the following courses  are suitable for my on-line business. I decided to sign up with their courses to learn and leverage their expertise.

Armand Morin (USA): He is one of the most successful internet marketing gurus in the world; he started his internet business in 1996 and has made more than $76million so far. Last year he made more than $20million in earnings comfortably beating many of the hot Hollywood stars. Many internet gurus go to his seminars to learn from him. Even though he is earning this massive revenue, he is still working from home and only has seven employees who are also all working from home.

Alex Goad (Canada) and Brian Johnson (USA): Five years ago he was broke and deeply in debt. He used to live in a small flat, he started his home-run internet business in his run down kitchen with just a computer and an internet connection. He created the Sniper Method for quick cash hits and as a passive income generator.

The course was sold by Alex Goad, but all the training was done by his friend Brian Johnson. I am very impresses with Brian’s knowledge on the internet marketing and online business.  He has been a great trainer and coach. Through his webinars, I have learned a lot about Search Engine Optimizations and about using Word Press features to your advantage, the course is quite productive.

Ewen Chia (Singapore): I singed up with his course a few days later at the Success Resources seminar. He is regarded world’s no.1 super affiliate. I liked his presentation, he emphasized his step by step system and simplicity. His software can generate you instant websites as many as you want.

It cost me a small fortune to sign up with their courses, however as Robert Kiyosaki said, my brain is my most important asset and investing in myself is the best investment I can ever make. This is because I am the only person that can change my life and my financial future.

Arkad, “The Richest Man In Babylon” had Five Laws of Gold, one of them is that in order to increase your gold you must take advice of men wise and competent in its handling.  All of them also attended seminars and read books to gain the necessary skills and knowledge and it’s a great idea to leverage their experience to my advantage. I’m really exited about this new opportunity to learn from the world’s top experts in their field.

How about businesses? Microsoft was started during a recession and has become one of the most successful companies to date. Facebook was valued at $10billion in 2009 compared to $3.8 billion in 2008, an increase in value of 263%, compare this to the industrial giants, two of the “Big Three”- Chrysler and General Motors recently filed for bankruptcy. So it is entirely up to you to decide whether you want to see opportunities or disaster.

I also found discipline and self belief are very important to keep my goals and visions alive in this global recession and to keep my spirit up when we have all the negative media coverage. I can honestly say this recession has slowed me down and I have encountered obstacles and problems on the way. However it is too naïve to expect everything to go smoothly, just as you expected and planned. It’s also helpful to read inspirational books and go to seminars to keep your spirit up.

Along the way I have also read books from the following people who have inspired me and gave me valuable knowledge. Brian Tracy, Anthony Robbins, Robert Allen, Napoleon Hill, George Clason and many more. Their wisdom, knowledge and courage often inspires me towards my goals and dreams. Life is not a bed of roses and these books act like torches to brighten my road.

It’s also a good idea to attend seminars to meet like minded people. I love to attend wealth creation, personal development and business seminars, as this helps me to learn how to leverage other people’s money, experience and knowledge. In addition to property seminars, I have also attended many other paid and free seminars and met and listened to millionaires from all different backgrounds many of whom started with nothing or were deeply in debt. Their stories are inspiring and I have also gained the necessary skills and knowledge that will benefit my personal development.

In addition to property investment, I’m also developing my online business and business management skills. I love and am passionate about what I do and I know these are also important success factors whatever you do. I’m also still proud of my MBA, because it has given me so much confidence and the knowledge that I gained from this course has given me an edge that will be very useful for running my businesses.

The good news is that we can operate in several cash flow quadrants at the same time to generate multiple streams of income. As Rich Dad said, every one one of us has the potential to become rich. You do not need money to become rich, but your brain, your most important asset, can make you rich. It is not how much resources you have, it is your resourcefulness that makes all the difference.

Since the time that I wrote down my goals to become financially free and become a millionaire, I also wrote down my financial plan, as without a plan my goals would be destined to fail. Opportunities are everywhere and our determination to succeed is the most important factor. I will never give up my dream, I will continuously take action and learn more by attending seminars and by reading books that increase my financial IQ and effectiveness. Persistence and positive attitude are other important character traits and I believe the law of attraction.

The end

I’m interested in sharing your stories of Rich Dad and perhaps any of your life stories… Shannon

Personally, I believe Robert Kiyosaki is the best financial educator in the world, Robert and his books have inspired and influenced millions of people around the globe and helped them become rich. I decided to make him my mentor, despite the fact I have never met or spoke to him in my life. They say if you want to be rich, just copy the formula used by rich people, so I decided to copy his formula for my journey. All his books are written based on his own experience of building his multimillion fortune, he went broke several times, once even ending up homeless, but he never gave up and went on to build his own businesses, invested in real estate and other businesses.

So what else have I learned from him? Well, just read what he said,
“Your house is a liability to you not an asset”,
“Investing is not risky, being uneducated (referring to financial education) is risky”,
Poor Dad said: “Go to school, get a degree, find a good job and save for retirement” Rich Dad said: “Build your assets and invest wisely, the most important words in business are cash flow and leverage; your brain is your most important asset”,
“It does not take money to make money”,
“People who want to become millionaires go to seminars and people who want to become good employees go to universities”,
“JOB stands for Just Over Broke”,
“Mind your own business, people stay poor or in the middle class because they mind other people’s business rather than minding their own”,
The importance of cash flow quadrants and which quadrants you want to generate your cash from and a lot more…

I know it takes time to build wealth, as Robert and his wife took almost 9 years to retire financially free, but I believe this can be a lot shorter due to advances in internet, technology and because you can learn and leverage other people’s success, experience and knowledge to your advantage. I knew just reading his books would not be enough and I needed to take action as this is the dividing line between winners and losers. I have taken my important first step by reading his books and I have also attended paid seminars to educate myself. I decided to invest in property and purchased my first investment property in late 2007; I am buying more properties this year. I love the Chinese saying “A journey of a thousand miles starts with the first step.”

For some people it sounds crazy, my God! The average property price has dropped more than 20% since the peak price in 2007! For some people this is a great opportunity, for other people this is a disaster. Remember the Chinese word crisis is comprised of danger (危) and opportunity( 机), winners see the opportunities while losers see disaster. Rich dad said recession is a window of opportunity to increase your property portfolio and his fortunes were made because of this. We may all have the experience where something happened to you that you at first thought was a disaster but as time went by actually later turned out be one of the luckiest thing ever happened to you in your life.

The truth is that the professional property investors never purchase properties at market value, but below market value of between 10%- 40% or even more. In property you make money when you buy, not when you sell. Rich dad taught me that we should purchase an investment property for monthly positive cash flow, but not rely on capital growth. Any capital growth should be treated as a bonus. This will help you to do well regardless of up and down markets. I listened to his advice and it has paid off, one of my buy to let properties has a monthly rental income that covers 675% of my mortgage, the lender only requires 125%, the current recession has helped me to generate bigger cash flow as the Bank of England base rate has decreased to a record low of 0.5%

While amateurs and financially uneducated property investors go bust or get into deep trouble in the current down-turn, the true property investors thrive and are quietly increasing their property portfolio. Most of these amateurs either bought properties at market or over-market values or with negative cash flow each month as they expected the market to continue to go up for capital growth. Warren Buffet, the most successful billionaire investor once said, “when the tide goes out, you will find out who has been swimming naked.”

Everything has a cycle, a boom won’t last forever and neither does a bust, the key is to understand the cycle and use this to your advantage. When the vast majority of the public wake up and are trying to jump in to buy properties, the professionals are already way ahead of the game. So how do we spot opportunities and see the future? History repeats itself and we all can learn from history, others and our own previous experience by financially educating ourselves.

To be continued…
I’m interested in sharing your stories of Rich Dad and perhaps any of your life stories… Shannon