The american millionares have spoken - short version by Petra Škarja Osebni Profil

The SHORT VERSION

Been there, asked, listened and written it all down for you:

Petra Ĺ karja The author of What We've not Been Taught in School

The American Millionaires Have Spoken Priceless knowledge, directly from the successful millionaires!

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The American Millionaires Have Spoken (SHORT VERSION)

California, 2014

Choose to be a winner!

Every person, every country, every environment and every nation can teach you plenty of things, but only if you are prepared to learn.

What can Americans teach us? Definitely how to be more entrepreneur-like!

Find out how they think, what they advise us Europeans, what they think our advantages and disadvantages are, learn how Steve Jobs and Bill Gates acted and much more. The book will change the way you think about entrepreneurship. It will help you become more entrepreneurlike in your everyday life and take you even higher.

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CONTENT LOVE your country ______________________________________ 7 The Ability to Fail _______________________________________ 9 Have Your VISION and Work for FREEDOM _________________ 13 K.I.S.S. _______________________________________________ 15 You Hate Successful Entrepreneurs ________________________ 17 Take Care of Yourself ___________________________________ 19 First Take Care of Your Company, Not Your Employees ________ 21 Paid Education ________________________________________ 23 WORK With Positive Connotation _________________________ 25 I Would Do Anything But Sell _____________________________ 27 Don't Limit Your Work Day With Hours_____________________ 29 I Don't Care How Hard You Try And How Long You Work ______ 31 Let Them Motivate Themselves ___________________________ 33 You Don't Know What Persistence Is _______________________ 35 Be Unique ____________________________________________ 39 Don't Think Too Much, Just Work _________________________ 41 No Limits _____________________________________________ 43 Time Is Money ________________________________________ 45 Knowledge of the American Millionaires In Practice __________ 47

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LOVE your country I strongly believe, and the numbers confirm it, that if anything, the Americans can teach us entrepreneurial mindset, which helps them achieve outstanding global entrepreneurial results. Do I promote the States? Not really. I strongly believe that if you want to be happy and successful in the country you live in, you have to love it. Europe is wonderful and Slovenia is the heaven on Earth. Can you say that for your country? If not, try to find things that you DO like and love and focus on that. If you keep focusing on what is wrong and bad in your country I personally think that you cannot be truly happy, if you decide to stay and live there. Maybe I am wrong, I donâ&#x20AC;&#x;t know, that is just my personal belief. Think about it and form your own opinion about it. So, what have I learned in the States? It is your responsibility to look for useful information and not be 'a typical European' and say things like: "Oh, no, this is not true, I know one example where...â&#x20AC;?

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8 Be in a state of genuine desire to learn, be open to different opinions and think about them. Lower your defensive system of generally accepted beliefs the environment around you created. We are here to learn, not to consciously look for evidence to oppose, because we cannot learn anything new from that. Do you agree? Yes, we live in different environment from the States, but it is our responsibility to take out the stuff that can help us become better, happier and more successful â&#x20AC;&#x201C; you, me and each and every one of us! Here we go.

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The Ability to Fail We ask one of the American entrepreneurs: “What is the recipe for success and what is different in the States, comparing to Europe?” And he said this: “You know what the main difference between us Americans and you Europeans is? The ability to fail! In the States, if you try hard, risk all you have and fail – it's okay. If you try again and risk everything, succeed just a little bit, but in the end fail again – you deserve applause. If you try once more and again succeed just a little bit, but fail in the end – you are a hero. If you start all over again, risk everything, succeed, but fail after all – you are a king. Finally, when you try one more time, risk everything and succeed – you are a god. We eternalize these stories and talk about them, which is why

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10 failures of world famous geniuses are so well known. Let me mention just a few of them: Colonel Sanders: His famous recipe for roast chicken has been rejected more than a thousand times before one restaurant bought it and made a huge success. This is how Colonel's empire began. Henry Ford: His first two companies went bankrupt. Then he established the famous Ford Motor Company and became one of the three richest and most famous people of his time. Walt Disney: He was fired on the grounds of lacking original ideas and imagination. Richard Branson: Not everything he did became a success. He tried to establish Virgin Cola and Virgin Vodka, but they were just failed attempts. Thomas Edison: Teachers told him he was too stupid to understand anything. He made more than 9000 attempts before he invented a light bulb. Later on, he said that none of them was a failed attempt, only steps towards success. Marilyn Monroe: She was fired from 20th Century Fox because the producer claimed she didn't know how to act and was not attractive. Albert Einstein: When he was little, people thought he had an intellectual disability. His grades were so bad, teachers told him to give up school. Michael Jordan: He was not able to join high school basketball team. He went home, locked himself up in his room and cried. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I have missed more than 9000 shots, I have lost 300 matches and missed 26 decisive shots in my career. I have missed and I have lost over and over again, but these are also the reasons for my success. What about you, Europeans? If you try once, risk everything you have and fail, you are a fool. And not just that, you suddenly become a criminal, they send you to jail or at least accuse you of something. And that's not the worst! Your

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11 community excludes you because they see something negative in you. Something like: “Who does he think he is, exposing himself like that? He's hungry for money, which is why he had it coming! If he had been happy with what he had, this wouldn't have happened to him!” At the same time, your children are labeled as bad because they come from such a family. It is necessary for you to find a mistake in the way the business is run. And mistakes are always there, even if you don't want them. You publicly expose those mistakes and shame the person who did them. It's like you are not allowed to fail. That is the reason why you don't dare as much, you are wimpy and in the end, you achieve less. Even I wouldn't dare risk everything in an environment like that!” When I had come back to Slovenia, I read an interview with the Young Entrepreneur of the year 2011 (Admir Latić), who said: “In Slovenia, you have to be an average Joe. The society can't stand either positive or negative extremes. If you are successful, you are soon called a tycoon and if you fail, they call you a crook.

If you fall once – It's OK. If you fall twice – you get the APPLAUSE. If you fall three times – you are a HERO. If you fall four times – you are a KING. If you fall five times – you are a GOD. In Slovenia, if you fall once – you are THE WORST. It never comes to the second attempt.

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Have Your VISION and Work for FREEDOM The American says we have to find the right reasons to work. Status symbol is never the right reason. It's limited and doesn't give enough inner strength to achieve extremely good results. Americans say, we should work for FREEDOM and make sure our VISIONS come true. Bill Gates had a vision of bringing personal computers into every household. Steve Jobs had a vision of completely changing ways of communication. Well, Apple still has some work to do to achieve that, but they are close. Walt Disney had a vision of building an amusement park like it has never been seen before, where children and parents could travel to the fairy-tale world and have fun together. Kirk Kerkorian had a vision of building a magnificent city in the middle of a desert, where entrepreneurs from all over the world would have fun. Las Vegas was built and it still grows and expands. VISION is what the majority of people find unimaginable, but there are people, who strongly believe in something and decide to do or achieve that. They are ready to devote their lives to it and make their visions come true. When you really feel something, when you feel it in your heart, motivation is not questionable anymore.

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14 The other is FREEDOM. Americans say that we all should work for freedom. If you are financially strong, you are less dependent on others, on country and everyone around you. You don't have to adjust as much, you can express your opinion out loud, you don't have to be afraid what others might say, you have the freedom of changing your schedule and location however you like, you can do whatever you like and taste life with the big spoon. This is how you can LIVE your life to the fullest. Don't just survive your life, LIVE it. You can only do it once. Is that not what we all deeply desire? Is that not what can save us from impacts of the society, the government and enables us to listen to our heart and live our life however we want to. If you are financially dependent on others, you cannot afford to do that.

Don't hunt the status symbol. Hunt freedom and make your vision come true.

This is why they say we should work for FREEDOM and make our VISIONS come true and not to display status symbols.

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K.I.S.S. Europeans like to make things complicated in every way possible. My partner wrote an e-mail for American companies, following the rules his mentor set for him. He told them he would like to work with them in 15 sentences – it was a short letter. When he showed the letter to his mentor, the mentor said: “You complicated Europeans! After every sentence that you write, ask yourself: 'So, what? What does that mean to them?' and if the answer is: 'Nothing.' delete that sentence. You are writing all those sentences to make yourself feel better and look important. This is your ego and it will not bring you business.” The mentor shortened his message into 5 sentences! In Europe, we wouldn't dare send that to the biggest companies in the world. The American also said we should always stick to the K.I.S.S. technique – Keep It Simple, Stupid. Everything should be simplified. When we think we've made it simple enough, we should simplify once more. We make our lives in general over complicated by thinking about unimportant things. Life, in its essence, is quite simple. We should train ourselves to use K.I.S.S. technique in our everyday lives, not just in business. Never forget the best technique I've ever heard of: K.I.S.S. – Keep It Simple, Stupid!

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You Hate Successful Entrepreneurs “You expect the government will take care of you, but you hate successful people, successful entrepreneurs. That makes no sense!” The American added: “Do you even know what government is and where it gets the money? Do you really not know the basics of its operation? Without companies and entrepreneurs, everyone would be unemployed. Has government ever taken care of you? In reality, it hasn't. Companies took care of you. Government has very little money of its own and the majority of funds comes from entrepreneurs – yes, also from their employees, but these people work in the COMPANIES owned by successful entrepreneurs. If we simplify this – instead of supporting those who want and are capable of creating new jobs and grow successful companies, you HATE them! Why? Because of your stupid socialist-communist history!”

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18 He also explained that socialism basically works on the principle 'the same for everyone'. Those who are very successful or achieve results above average have just a little more than those who come to work to sit for 8 hours. This is socialism; you build the pile together and split it equally. This political current was implanted into people and they unintentionally hated everybody who had more than they had. Why? Because they consciously or subconsciously saw them as traitors, who didn‟t stick to the simple system 'the same for everyone'. This mindset is still very strong.

In Slovenia, people who above average are often labeled as evil, superior and bad. This limits the progress of the country.

“You treat successful entrepreneurs like criminals. You try to find their mistakes, and who seeks, he shall find. Everybody makes mistakes. You look for them, spread them and then publicly punish the person who made them.

Others are than unintentionally afraid of being successful, they prefer staying somewhere in the middle. Nonsense! These are the consequences of socialism. You live in capitalism, but socialist values and mindset are still rooted deep inside you. And then you ask yourself, why you are stuck in economic crisis. You subconsciously hate money and successful people. Don't think that writing 'success stories' means that you are supporting entrepreneurs and entrepreneurship. That's far, far from it,” the American added.

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Take Care of Yourself When we asked the American, what Slovenians should do to improve the state the country is in as soon as possible (not in decades or generations, but as soon as possible), he said: You have to learn to take care of yourself. Don't expect government to do that. We, Americans, definitely know how to take care of ourselves and this is our major advantage. This is why we often see the Americans as egoistic, self-centered and greedy people who only know how to accumulate wealth. It's because they know they have to take care of themselves. The American we talked to about that said they give millions to charity for those in need â&#x20AC;&#x201C; victims of war, for example. Taking care of yourself first does not mean not caring for others. It just means that you take care of yourself FIRST. Only when you are able to take care of yourself will you be able to take care of others. In Slovenia, we are ready to help, we support charity work very much, but in most cases, we are barely able to take care of ourselves.

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First, learn to take care of yourselves and only then rant about politics and government. How can people help their country, if they cannot take care of themselves?

â&#x20AC;&#x153;This is the only way possible and by doing so, you can help more people in the end! Think what you are told to do on the plane. Help YOURSELF first; only then will you be able to help others.

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First Take Care of Your Company, Not Your Employees What did he want to say with this? From our socialistic point of view it comes natural to us and seems right to take care of our employees all the time. We have trade unions, riots, the media reports only on how employers neglect their staff, how people cannot get a job or how they lost it, how low their salaries are, what is their lunch break like, how far do they have to drive each morning etc. Everything focuses on the employee making a black sheep out of the employer â&#x20AC;&#x201C; they are here to be taken advantage of so the employees are content and happy. The American said we should think about helping our country, to encourage entrepreneurship and take care of the companies. If they become bigger, better and more successful, the logical consequence is that there will be more jobs and better conditions. â&#x20AC;&#x153;You address some issues from completely wrong side. Just turn

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22 everything you know for 180 degrees. In the States, if we hear about workers resistance, we don‟t‟ sympathize with employees, like you do, but we blame the employer for being too socialist to let that happen. Fire them all!” “You are convinced that employer depends on you, the employees, and he can do nothing without you. I cannot find the words to tell you how stupid somebody has to be to believe that,” he continued. “Employer has never been dependent on the employee. He GAVE him the job! He created him. It‟s true that you have to keep the key workers in your company, otherwise it can make work difficult for a while, but that does not mean the company will close because of that. Always remember, despite the circumstances in the company: EVERYBODY is replaceable, only the owner isn’t. The employees should be aware of that and the owner has to be aware of that too! If people were aware of that, they would work differently and they would have a different attitude towards the company. The company would stand more firmly and would generate more revenue, the owner would be able to expand the company, create new jobs and there would be more funds for improvement of working conditions and rewards for employees. We cannot understand that you don‟t understand that!” he added. Well, something to think about …

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Paid Education We know that Universities are very expensive in the States, especially the best ones. The question is, is it okay that education has to be paid or not? Well, the American said this: â&#x20AC;&#x153;Do you know what our students learn? They have to save money for many years to go to university; some also have to work while on college to pay their tuition fees. This automatically teaches them that they have to give something to the university (the tuition fee) to get education. They have to make an effort to achieve certain results to be able to stay at the university and finish their degree. When these students get their jobs, they are already aware that they have to BRING something to the company (the job has to be done in certain period) to keep their jobs and get paid. What about you? Education is free and you think it's logical that the government will take care of you. The government does that. It pays for your education: teachers, materials, facilities etc. Don't think it really is FREE! This is why students grow up thinking that the government HAS TO pay for it and enable them to get educated, just because they are the citizens of the county. If they get the degree the government has to congratulate them, but it's not necessary for them to graduate. When these students get their jobs, they are convinced that the

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24 company HAS TO take care of all expenses connected to what they do, it has to make sure they can work and they deserve all that just because they are there for 8 hours a day. If they get the job done, the company has to congratulate them, but it's not necessary to reach all objectives. When the government says it won't pay for education anymore, because there are not enough funds for it and that students should pay to get the chance to get education, your students protest. And when the company says it cannot pay for all expenses and that it doesn't have enough funds and you should help by reaching the set goals, employees protest because of the intolerable working conditions and that they deserve to be paid just because they are there 8 hours a day. Do you understand?â&#x20AC;? A very good point! Read carefully once more and think about the connections.

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WORK With Positive Connotation Some of the Americans we talked to are already retired, but they still work all the time. We wanted to know why. “What does retirement even mean? The end of operation and creation or just the end of the REQUIRED money making? The majority of entrepreneurs my age have long been retired, but I don't know why they should stop working. We are made for working, creating, expressing ourselves, achieving goals. If I stop working, I can just die.” He said he enjoys work, that it fulfills him and after some time, we figured out that in Slovenia, work carries a negative connotation. The majority of Slovene people wishes they would never have to work again and that that would make them happy. I often remember a Slovene ad that goes like this: “La, la, la, oh, and I would sleep all day.” Complete nonsense. A woman lies on an exotic beach, sings that to herself and puts a hat on her head. I don't know what is being advertised, but I often remember the chorus.

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26 The ad shows that the ideal life includes lying on the beach, doing nothing and sleeping. Now be realistic and imagine yourself doing that all day, every day. Would you really enjoy it? Of course not! Instead of waiting for those days from you dream to come, when you don't have to work anymore, we should adjust our WORK and make it interesting and PLEASURABLE. Let work be creative process that fulfills you, not just something you must do. The majority of Americans we talked to were older men, but they looked great – full of energy and sparkles in their eyes. Their work fulfills them and gives them vital energy because they love to do what they do. Many of them said to us: “Love what you do!” We all want to progress. This is what Mother Nature gave to us so we would be able to survive and evolve through generations. Abandon the thought of just laying down and doing nothing. If you focus on that, you will probably achieve it, but you will never be happy. Focus rather on what you can change to ENJOY what you do and work because you WANT to, not because you MUST. This is how you will find happiness and success.

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I Would Do Anything But Sell The Americas says that selling is as vitally important as eating drinking and sleeping. It's part of our lives. Everything we achieve in our lives, we achieve it through sales. They really live for that. What about our place? A Major resistance towards sales. What is more, you are immediately labeled as a 'crook' if you work in sales, especially if you do your job well. It's a disaster. Because of low sales, many companies go bankrupt. An American told us he had a very wealthy neighbor on the Cook island. He has so much property and wealth, more than one generation after him won't have to work. Anyway, his children are the ones who often sell lemonade to tourists. Can you believe that? Children of the billionaire sell lemonade on the street! Why? He answered this: â&#x20AC;&#x153;Even if my children won't have to work to survive, they have to learn the basics and SELLING is one of them.

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28 If they know how to sell, they are well off.” He told us one more thing. He said that we are very passive. We wait until somebody spots us and comes to us because we believe (even if it's not entirely true, ego helps us believe it) that we have the best product in the world. The ones who are a bit more active write a mail or two and the most active even call. If there's no feedback, we try to figure out what the problem could be.

Slovenians subconsciously hate sales and money. You expect the government to take care of you and this mindset increases poverty.

“YOU should get to others, that is what being pervasive means. Get to those you want to cooperate with or sell your product to at any cost. Take charge; don't wait others to come to you because they won't. There's too much competition,” said the American.

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Don't Limit Your Work Day With Hours The American said that own of the first rules for success is that workday is never limited with hours. It's finished when your work is done; sometimes at noon and sometimes at midnight. The reality is that you won't have the same amount of work, customers or energy to work the same amount of time every day. We talked to a few Google employees and they all told us the same story. We all know that work conditions are wonderful and it's true that they have a pool, playgrounds, parks and running paths. Everything is as heavenly as shown in the movies, but this is only one side of the story. What is the other part? The truth is, they expect a lot from their employees and everything has to be done in the set time periods. Employees say that they have to work as hard as anywhere else. Everything that we see in the movies enables the employees to do quality work all day long because they can relax on the playgrounds or in the pool. All that the company cares is that the work is done in time. They

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30 don't care if you work for 3 or for 12 hours a day, you just have to do it.

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I Don't Care How Hard You Try And How Long You Work A generation or two before me were taught to physically WORK all the time. Good people are those who work all the time. We grew up thinking we have to work all the time so people will see that and think good of us. Firstly, it's important that people say we are diligent (mistake number one), and secondly, it's important that we work the whole day (mistake number two). I often see my neighbor who stacks wood over and over again, just to do something. Watch them. We think it's important that we WORK all the time and that we TRY HARD. What's wrong with that? We should focus more on the RESULTS. Those who work the whole

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32 day are the diligent ones, not those who have the best results. A big mistake! This is why the employees think they deserve their wages just because they've been at work for eight hours. Some say they tried very hard and that is an extra reason why they should get paid. “We don't care who long you work and how hard you try. Just tell me what you DID, show me the RESULTS. They are all that counts,” said the American. The other American told me a similar story: “The problem of European companies is that they don't focus enough on the profit. You talk about the work climate, happy employees, the media image, status symbols, who you cooperate with, what is the education of your employees, but you forget about the first priority – the PROFIT. I've believed in that for a long time, but it's nice to hear that people agree with you. We attribute too much importance to TIME and EFFORT instead of RESULTS. “Nobody cares who you are, how smart you are, how well you’re educated and what you promise. The only thing that matters is 'will you or will you not get the job done', so the RESULT.”

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Let Them Motivate Themselves We asked: “How does Google motivate its employees?” We can say that this is a classical question for our companies. We constantly deal with employee motivation. He said: “Well, actually they don‟t motivate us. I now that might not be the answer you were expecting, but that's really not something they talk about or work on. It's logical that you have to motivate yourself.” The company is actually not wasting time and money to motivate its employees. I don't know about you, but I hear it many times, how much time and money entrepreneurs spend to motivate their employees with prizes, penalties, team buildings etc. We asked the same thing at Google, Facebook and Apple and they all gave us the same answers. We couldn't understand that because we all know that the bestknown motivator is an American Anthony Robbins. So they do care about motivation!

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34 When we asked the American entrepreneur, he said: â&#x20AC;&#x153;Entrepreneurs constantly look for motivation, go for motivational seminars, buy books and look for MOTIATION as if it was a magic pill. We don't deal with that because it doesn't bring profit. We prefer to work and sell instead. Tony Robbins is our last resort, when we really don't know what to do anymore. Otherwise we look for an internal motivation; we know what we want to achieve and we evaluate work differently and think differently about success. I should motivate my employees? Oh, come on! They have to motivate themselves, otherwise I will find those who are.â&#x20AC;?

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You Don't Know What Persistence Is My partner got a contact from the highest professional in his field of work, or at least that is what the American who provided his contact information had said. My partner sent him an e-mail. No answer. Sent it again. Still no answer. He called him. An automatic responder answered his call. No response. He sent another e-mail. No answer. He called him five times more and still got no answer. You have to take into account the fact that he called and wrote messages in an innovative way because he really knows how to sell. There was no answer. He asked his mentor, the American who had given him the contact information, how come there was no answer and what had to be done do differently (a common question, right?). The mentor said: â&#x20AC;&#x153;A good salesman never asks that.â&#x20AC;? He hurt his ego a bit. How could he say that to a master of sales?

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36 “How many times did you try to contact him?” “At least ten times in ten different ways.” “And after only ten failed attempts you are asking me, what you should do? If you tried a thousand times, you could ask me that, but no sooner than that.” The American later told us how we don't even know what persistence means. We think we are persistent, but that's only the minimum of the minimum of what they call persistence. We like to say how Colonel Sanders had 1000 failed attempts before he managed to sell his recipe for roast chicken to a restaurant. We also like to say how Thomas Edison tried 9000 times before he invented the light bulb. For a short while, I was in charge of a call center. We were selling marketing services for companies through phone calls. At that time, I accepted anyone who applied for the job because I knew that selection would happen on its own. The only condition to be allowed to come to work the next day was to get one customer (just to give you the feeling – I got 4 customers in 3 hours, so it wasn't too hard). I know that the majority came to work the next day, that was not unusual, but the shocking information is this.

The difference between a winner and a loser is one: Winner never gives up. (Walt Disney)

I observed how many times they have to hear NO before they give up ON THEIR OWN and say: “This is not for me, I don't want to do it.” What do you think? 3.7 times on average! This is not just bad it's DISASTROUS!

It's true that I was unable to tell who is better for the job on the basis

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37 of their applications, but still. The result shouldn't be as bad even if I walked down the street and tried out random people! To make it even clearer â&#x20AC;&#x201C; if 95 people said no and 1 would say yes, they would keep their job.

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Be Unique “Socialism can be felt in the fact that you are all very much alike. You think alike, dress alike and consequently act alike. The result of that are similar businesses. Every company covers a small piece of the market and this way it's difficult to make another 'Apple' or something similar. " Everybody is unique. If the environment hadn't shaped us into 'normal', we would have stayed and acted unique. This would have been great because we would express our creativity and use our talents.

It's great to be interesting and different. You become one of the few people recognize in the crowd. It's even better to be unique. You are one and only.

Now the system made us what we are. It made us LEARN how to behave properly, how to dress properly and what to think to be 'normal'. So what should we do to be who we really are and not follow the set rules and trends? “Do what comes to your mind first. Just do it.”

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Don't Think Too Much, Just Work We proudly tell the American that we have thought of making connections with foreign countries, especially the States. He soon breaks us off and asks us: “What have you done to achieve that?” Umm, nothing. “Then it's waste of your time.” Americans say that Europeans naturally think more before going into action. Think about what is the thing that you want to make happen? Who do you want to make connection with? How long have you been thinking about it and making a plan for the action to be perfect? This is the part Americans are unfamiliar with. “You have to make a long business plan, a huge market research, think of how to approach your target audience and consult a few professionals before making it really happen. There might be a whole lot of other things that you do that I don't know about. While doing that, you forget that you've lost half a year. Even if you lost only a week, it would be too much. Time runs you over and you cannot be the best. If you've seen something in the media yesterday and would like to implement or use in your business, you are already ten years late to succeed with it. In short – YOU ARE TOO SLOW! You think and analyze too much. I

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42 don't know what you think about, if you haven't tried it yet! Only when you act, do you see what you need and what you should work on.â&#x20AC;?

Be forever young and stupid. Do what comes first to your mind.

This is often the best advice.

I cannot say it differently: Pick your ass up and do it! Stop acquiring knowledge, looking for the right contacts, stop thinking and looking for information. 95 % of people has enough of that. Act now! JUST DO IT!

When? RIGHT NOW, this VERY MOMENT!

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No Limits The American advised us to ALWAYS think globally. While we were talking, I had a computer in front of me. ”May I?”, he asks me. Sure. He types something into Google and turns the computer towards us. This is the picture he showed us:

“Show me the German border,” he said. Umm, I thought for a few seconds and showed him the approximate line. “There's no line. It's only in your heads! Look again. The picture of the Earth from the satellite shows you there are no borders. They

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44 are just illusions that have been shown to you. And you believe that, you believe that story, but in fact it's not natural. There are no borders. They are an illusion. Act the way Mother Nature acts â&#x20AC;&#x201C; without borders! The picture you see is your neighborhood where you can start your company.â&#x20AC;?

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Time Is Money We haven't talked about that much, but the American put it so well I have to write it down for you. When we talked, the American tried my partner with a few fun questions. He tried to find out whether he would admit he doesn't know something or will bluff it. We only learnt that at the end and yes, he passed.  In the end the American said: “You're honest, I like you. See, this is how I choose people I work with.” Love what you do and love the people you work with. Pick them according to their personality traits, values and beliefs; other things don't matter as much. You know, I'm 60 years old. This means I have only 15 to 20 years left. I have no time to waste with heartless idiots without personality.

Life is too short to waste it with heartless idiots. I only work with genuinely good people

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Knowledge of the American Millionaires In Practice My favorite motto, my favorite brand of sports equipment and my favorite female name – NIKE, the goddess of victory. I thought I lived that motto quite well – Just do it! In the States, I trained approaching people. Oh, by the way, sitting and listening to what others say doesn't help much. Reading books doesn't help either. All this leads you, gives you a new perspective and makes you think out of the box, but to really grow, you have to PRACTISE – do the exercises and try the new knowledge. This is why I practiced in the States what we've been told. One of the things was saying what comes to your mind first. A girl complimented my dress (it was the design of my good friend Nives Danculovic – ND Design), I stepped up to her and said: “Hi, you complimented my dress. You know, my good friend Ines from

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48 Slovenia, a fashion designer, made it. Could you tell to the camera that you like her dress so I can show her the recording? It will make her very happy!” In the store, I heard two men talking in Serbian. I turned around and said: “Hi, neighbors, how are you? It's nice to hear somebody from our part of the world.” I wanted to know what a young man in a business suit was working on. He had everyday meetings in Starbucks. I stepped up to him and asked him: “Hi, what are you working on? I see you here every day.” Then we decided to visit one of the villas in the Hollywood Hills area. How to do that? When we saw the sign 'Open house', which means it's for sale, we stopped and stepped inside pretending to be the buyers of the house. They treated us to snack, showed us around the villa, while we also had a chance to meet new successful people. There are many stories like this. It sound simple, but it wasn't. It was HORRIBLY, HORRIBLY hard! My heart has never pounded so hard. Or maybe when Tina Maze was going for a medal.  I cannot express it with words, but believe me it was HORRIBLY, HORRIBLY hard to just step up to a stranger and comment on something. Just like that. It was a tough lesson to learn, especially because I'm a loner, I like being alone in the nature with my dog. Before I stepped up to anyone, I had to talk to myself: “Go, step up to him! What can you lose? You know you will be proud of yourself in the end! In the worst case, he will shout at you for stealing his time or something like that. That's nothing and nobody knows you here. Go and be amazed.” How triumphant I was in the end!  At the end of our trip, it was incomparably easier. And what has this training brought to me? At first sight – nothing. I have a video for Nives, a few interesting

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49 stories to tell and I'm a bit more proud of myself. But to tell you the truth, this training has brought much more and I hope I will be able to keep this state of mind for as long as possible and not get 'infected' with the mindset of my home country. This is the first time I have spoken about the most important thing about this educational trip. A week after I returned home, my world shattered. Literally. It was the day when you think you're going to die. To some, it might not be like that, but to me it was because FAMILY means a lot to me. My partner and me broke up after a long relationship. Overnight I had nothing left. I had 200 Euros in my wallet and a dog in my car. I left behind a half built villa with 600 square meters of living space; I put all my heart, my creativity, hours of work and making arrangements into it (we were building it on our own which means I held each and every brick). The villa is located on the most heavenly location I have ever seen â&#x20AC;&#x201C; in the nature, just under the highest peak of Lower Carniola, with the view all the way to Karavanke Mountains and Novo Mesto valley. We picked the location after more than a hundred visits of different locations. I left the apartment we built, furnished and decorated 4 years ago. I picked every piece of furniture and all details. We also had a rental apartment in Ljubljana. I left behind all my effort I put into my partner's company, public relations and other work. I left behind all planned trips, dreams, plans for the future and planning a family. Last and not least, I left behind a person I loved dearly, almost painfully. I didn't have my personal account and I didn't have my company because everything I did was through my partner's company, even selling my books.

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50 I had a few thousand Euros of debt because I was not aware of the changes in the legislation for student small businesses. It was pointed out to me after 6 years of owning a student small business and now I have to pay almost all contributions for those years. I talked about that with my partner when I found out, but we decided that all finance should be saved for the house and that we would pay that debt eventually. I had all my belongings packed into my car, I was sitting in the bar, drinking green tea with milk, but I was in complete hypnosis. I don't know who was there, what was happening, nothing. The only thing I knew was that before nightfall, I have to find a place to stay for my dog and me. I called a few landlords and luckily found a man, who was ready to rent the apartment in an hour. This was the worst day of my life. I thought I was going to need at least a year to be able to socialize and work. Not to mention the debts and living costs I had to face. I cried so much I threw up in a few hours, then fainted and finally fell asleep. I woke up the next morning. I had a bad headache, but water can heal almost any headache (I'm against painkillers and pills, unless they are necessary). I took my dog for a walk and then fired up my computer. Okay, what do I have and what can I do with it? I have my book. I can lecture, write, I have extensive knowledge of entrepreneurship, psychology and sales (of course, I lived with one of the best Slovene young entrepreneurs for many years). What can I do this month to earn money and pay debts? I had many ideas. What do I need to do it?

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51 First of all – either start freelancing or find an employment. Now! Then open a personal bank account and start paying off debts. Are there any subsidies available? None. What can I do without them? Who can I do it with? Again many ideas. When should I do it? NOW! … For the first time in my life I felt like I was alive and living my motto – Just do it! I'm living the life the States have taught me to live and I‟m using what I've learnt before going there. Now it's Friday morning. This happened on Sunday, so 5 days ago. I have written a new book – „The American Millionaires Have Spoken’, which is going into print today evening. I'm waiting for the CIP number, which is why I had the chance to add this chapter. I have my own freelance company and have paid half of my debt. On Monday, I have a meeting with newspaper company Dnevnik (Eng.: The Daily Newspaper), to arrange the publishing of my books with their Saturday newspaper supplement. I have a similar meeting on Tuesday with a new magazine Ženski svet (Eng.: Female World) and have also arranged a few meetings with some online stores. In four days, I have sold 60 books „What We've Not Been Taught in School’, I have arranged marketing my book through one of the greatest Slovene experts in web marketing and SEO. I have also arranged that I would work for them for a few days and learn from them. At the end of the next week, I have a meeting with the American Embassy in Ljubljana, to see if we can find a way of selling this very book and I have another meeting in Zagreb to try and find ways of

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52 penetrating foreign markets with this book. I have made a reservation of a place for my 'How to Make Your Own Website' workshop where I expect 13 participants. I have no applications yet, but I'm sure they will come. I have an arrangement with a web portal Mladi podjetnik (Eng.: A Young Entrepreneur) to write articles for them for my own PR and promotion. The same goes for the Podjetnik (Eng.: Entrepreneur) magazine. I have also arranged my participation on the 'Weeks of Entrepreneurship' of the VEM točka (Eng.: All In One Place – service for entrepreneurs). On Monday, I'm the guest on the week of learning in Trzin where I'm going to present my books. I have managed to arrange the promotion of my book in the media and arranged an entire distribution (the only thing that bothers me is the official 72-hour period to get CIP code, otherwise my book would already be available). Next week, I have exactly 16 meetings (some to arrange cooperation, some for promotion, some to chat about ideas), I've been invited to 3 seminars to lecture and I've set the dates for 3 major seminars to help me promote my new book. I have written 170 pages of my new book „The Freedom in the Jail’. Today I'm going climbing (childhood dream), tomorrow I'm going to the mountains, I run or hike in the nature every day etc. All this in just five days. Today, four months after the event, the book The American Millionaires Have Spoken is already translated in English, Croatia and even China. I had a speech even in Shanghai (China) in front of 3000 people. And this is just a beginning …  I guarantee you this is all because I use the knowledge I've acquired in the States! I cannot tell you how differently I ACT now, comparing to how I acted before. Before, I would think for months, what to do and how to do it. Before, I was focused on selling one book at a time, now I think how to sell thousands of books at once. This all comes naturally to me.

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53 Before, I was worried what others would say, now I don't. Of course it's nice to hear positive things and not so nice to hear the negative, but it's important that what I do doesn't depend on the environment. Before, I was thinking of how to cooperate with everyone who will show interest, now I only think how to get to the biggest. I'm not saying it wasn't hard. I get rejected and I experience many unpleasant surprises, but the important thing is that I act differently. Reactions and decisions of others are not something I can affect directly. APPREACIATE what youâ&#x20AC;&#x;ve read and try to LIVE it. It really is PRICELESS!

More about the original version of the book on www.PetraSkarja.com

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