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8 Steps to Happiness & Prosperity

by Ken Honda

Preface As I flip through the English translation of this booklet, I can’t help but reflect on the 15 years that have passed since its original publication in Japanese. The very first edition of “8 Steps to Happiness & Prosperity” was printed in 2001. When I first began writing, at most I thought that only about 15 friends would want to read it (if I got lucky). They gave me the courage to share that message with others, so I promised in the booklet that I would give it away for free to anyone who wants a copy. Before I realized it, I was beginning to send free copies all over the world. (This was back in the “old days,” before digitalization made it easier to share information online.) After I had distributed about 100,000 copies, a publisher called me up, and the rest is history. You see, during my years of “semi-retirement” when I took some time off to focus on being a dad, I had a lot of time to think about what I really wanted to do with the rest of my life. They say what you give out comes back to you tenfold, and I knew this to be true, so I decided to turn my life into an experiment in giving. When I first published “8 Steps” I had never written anything longer than a book report. At the time of this writing I have now published more than 110 books in Japan. In the last 12 years have taught countless seminars on finding your gifts, doing what you love, and finding financial wealth without sacrificing happiness and joy. I am surrounded by a community of sincere, courageous people who also do what they love and give freely from the heart. I feel blessed beyond my wildest dreams, and I think it’s safe to say that my original investment in giving out this booklet for free has come back to me much, much more than tenfold. Until now, my career has been mainly confined to the Japanese language, but in the last few years I have been preparing to make the big leap and begin writing and teaching in English as well. “8 Steps to Happiness & Prosperity” is one of my very first writings to be translated into English, but it won’t be the last. I’m also working on several original books in the English language, so I hope you will enjoy reading my work as much as I have enjoyed writing it. And, if you like, you can give back by doing what you love, living your dreams, and giving your gifts to the world knowing that it will come back to you in incredible ways. Ken Honda

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Table of Contents Introduction Chapter 1: Why Is It That Some People Get Rich and Others Don’t?

1-A: Seven Reasons Why People Don’t Get Rich 1-B: Six Signs of Financial Stress in Your Daily Life

Chapter 2: What is the Definition of a “Happy, Prosperous Person?” 2-A: Who Exactly Are Happy, Prosperous People?

2-B: Eight Characteristics of Happy, Prosperous People Chapter 3: Eight Steps to Happiness and Prosperity

3-1: Make Your Passions Work for You 3-2: Understand How Society Works and Get with the Times

3-3: Earn Money from Your Lifework 3-4: Increase your Money IQ 3-5: Increase your Money EQ 3-6: Mastering the Various Aspects of Business 3-7: Understanding the Human Heart 3-8: Share your Gifts and Abundance

Chapter 4: 5 Daily Steps

4-1: Find Something You Love to Do, and Try Doing It a Little Each Day 4-2: Find a Friend or Mentor Who Can Guide You

4-3: Learn from Successful People and Develop Good Habits 4-4: Take On Challenges and Make Courageous Decisions 4-5: Enjoy Things along the Way

Conclusion

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Introduction “My life would be so much better if I had more money.” I’m sure this thought has crossed everyone’s mind at one point or another. Unfortunately, the truth is that a lot of people spend their entire life struggling with money. Everybody wants to get rich but very few manage to do it. Why is this? And why is it that with all those ‘get rich’ books out there, you never find one that offers concrete solutions? You end up feeling more lost than when you started. I wrote this booklet to find clear answers to these financial mysteries. My father was a successful tax accountant, so I learned a lot from him and became interested in money from an early age. I grew up watching the financial successes and failures of others, and wondered why some people become rich while others fail. As a boy I read biographies of successful people. In high school I read books on venture businesses. In college I personally interviewed politicians, entrepreneurs, and artists to find the secrets to their success. When I was 20 years old, I went on a lecture tour to America. There I was lucky enough to meet the mentor who would ultimately change my life: a successful Jewish businessman who taught me the 17 investment secrets that I would someday share in my first major bestselling book in Japan, “The Millionaire’s Philosophy for a Happy Life”. This booklet is the culmination of hundreds of personal interviews with successful people, thousands of books, my own experiences, and the stories of my friends. The practical skills found in these pages also comes from my experience consulting hundreds of people, helping them go from zero to millions in terms of annual income. These are the same tools I used for my own success: since my 20s I have owned and run several successful companies, including an accounting business, a consulting firm, and a venture capital firm. When my daughter was born in 1998, I followed John Lennon’s example and went into semi-retirement. I withdrew from the business frontline and started leading a quiet family life. For several years, I began doing personal consultation for people who heard about me and came looking for advice. People even started coming from outside of Japan to speak with me privately. As I listened to each person’s story, it occurred to me that one of the main reasons everyone has difficulty achieving their goals is a lack of concrete, first-hand knowledge about finance and success. That’s when I hit upon the idea that I could write down all the professional experienced I’ve learned through my personal perspective. It made me very excited to think that the knowledge that has helped me and my friends might also help others. The details began forming in my mind one piece at a time; a sudden inspiration would appear while I was on a plane or while I was playing with my

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daughter in the park. Every night as I watched her sleep, the ideas began to solidify and I began to write. One year later, the culmination of that effort is being held in your hands. Some people might notice my odd choice of words for the title, “Happiness & Prosperity.” A direct translation of the Japanese title would be something like “8 Steps to Being a Happy, Moderately Wealthy Person.” I would like to explain my word choice: I have met many wealthy people. Some of them were happy; some of them were not. If you want to be rich, wouldn’t you rather be rich AND happy? So the topic of this booklet is having “happiness & prosperity” as opposed to being “rich but miserable.” Very wealthy people often tend to focus on making money at the expense of their spouses, families, friends, and even their own time. Great wealth is not a prerequisite for leading a happier life; in fact, it is often an obstacle. Happy, prosperous people find success through the work they love. They cherish their partners, families, friends, time, and peace of mind. They understand that money is simply a step toward finding happiness. The ideas in this book are the real deal. My friends and I have used them to find unbelievable amounts of happiness and prosperity. Nothing would make me happier than if this booklet could affect the way you think about money, work, and life, and become an inspiration for you to lead an even happier life.

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Chapter 1 Why Is It That Some People Get Rich and Others Don’t? Every tax season, a strange thought occurs to me. My clients are often the same age and have similar jobs, yet the difference in their income is huge. They have the same type of educational background and their parents were often businessmen and housewives. At first glance, there doesn’t appear to be any great difference in ability or skill, but I noticed several small but important differences when I looked carefully. After listening to a great number of clients and people who attend my seminars, I began to understand why most people don’t become wealthy. This is where I would like to start: Why don’t more people live in happy prosperity? 1-A Seven Reasons Why People Don’t Get Rich There are seven big differences between people who get rich and people who struggle with money. People who become wealthy have a particular way of thinking and live their lives with certain specific habits. If you are not happy and prosperous, you might want to consider if some of the following reasons might apply to you: 1-A-1 Not Thinking Seriously about Money Have you ever really sat down and thought seriously about money? From my observation, one big reason most people don’t get rich is that they have not given the importance of money any serious thought. Most people just think about how much money they need to live. As long as a big crisis doesn’t come along, they don’t think much about it. As a client of mine put it when I asked her why she hadn’t really thought about money: “It’s just a hassle, you know? Thinking about money is a bit lame.” I think many people feel the same way. 1-A-2 Not Doing What You Love This is another a major obstacle to gaining wealth. If you are not doing what you really love, you are wasting a great deal of your life. First of all, your working hours aren’t ‘fun,’ and that takes up the biggest part of your day. That’s a significant loss of your precious time and energy. Also, if you don’t really like what you’re doing, your heart won’t be in it, and that affects how much money you make, too.

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Successful people, without exception, do exactly what they love to do. Ask them and they’ll all say the same thing: “I can’t imagine anybody doing something they don’t like all day long for the rest of their lives.” This is the second reason why most people don’t manage to live in happiness and prosperity. 1-A-3 Not Believing You Can Do It The biggest obstacle toward happiness and prosperity is the belief that you aren’t even capable. It doesn’t matter how badly off you are; you can achieve your goals as long as you never give up. The average person is usually inclined to give up. Like Henry Ford once said, “There are people who believe they will succeed and there are people who believe they will fail. Both of them are right.” Give yourself a chance to know that you, too, are perfectly capable of becoming happy and successful. 1-A-4 Not Having the Right Knowledge and Habits There is a lot of real-world, practical information you need to know in order to become prosperous: things like finance, tax, and business knowledge, to name a few. You’ve probably never had the opportunity to learn any of these skills in a systematic kind of way. It isn’t possible to gather most of what you need to know in one place anyway, and yet without it, it’s very difficult to find true success. Most successful people have had a mentor to teach them, and they integrated the wisdom they received into their lives. In Japan, for example, the children of Osaka’s traditional shipbuilding families have been passing down those specific skills for generations. Most people aren’t even aware of what they need to know in order to make money. On the off chance that they do get the opportunity to hear that essential advice, they regard it suspiciously. Not learning about money in a positive, systematic way is the fourth reason most people don’t get rich. 1-A-5 Lack of Courage, Motivation and Decision-Making Ability It takes courage to become rich. This is because you have to change. Many people lack the courage and motivation to change, and end up leading ‘ordinary’ lives. Regardless of who or where you are in life, we are all surrounded by chances and opportunities.

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Whether you decide to get on that bus called chance or just sit and watch it go by determines whether you become an ordinary person or someone wildly successful who lives each day in happy prosperity. The ability to make decisions is also a key factor that determines your wealth and happiness. The Japanese kanji for ‘decision’ contains a character that also means to ‘cut’ or ‘sever.’ By choosing one thing, you are cutting off something else. If you decide never to get married, you abandon the chance to be with a potentially great partner. Business chances work in much the same fashion. This is an important point to remember: Most people who play it ‘safe’ by not making a big decision are making a big decision. They think that by not deciding at all, they can avoid making mistakes or taking risks, but they don’t realize the biggest risk of all is to ‘not decide on anything.’ Do you really think that someone on their deathbed would say, “Ah, I’m glad I lived my whole life avoiding mistakes”? 1-A-6 Procrastination and Putting Things Off Are you the type of person who quickly accomplishes what you think you should do? Or are you like me and most other people where things don’t often go the way we intended. We eat things we know will make us fat. We buy things even though we know we’ll be broke by the end of the month. The money we planned to put into savings always gets puts off to next month. Things pile up and we develop a pattern of staying poor. Let’s take the example of the savings account. It is essential for leading a wealthier life, but there is a long list of excuses for not putting money into it: “There were too many things I had to do this month,” “I really needed that vacation,” and the list goes on and on while the stability of your future keeps getting put off. When this kind of person gets married, their house and kids eat up all the money (another excuse), and so life goes on without building up any significant savings. 1-A-7 No Teachers or Mentors to Guide You From the moment we are born, most people never have a real chance to learn about money. It’s not taught in school, and it’s usually taboo at home. Who taught you about money? Was it a happy, prosperous person? If the answer is no, then your relationship with money is probably not a very good one. Robert Kiyosaki says in his book “Rich Dad, Poor Dad” that in order to become wealthy, it is very important to have a mentor. Looking at my own experiences and those of my friends, I heartily agree with that statement.

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1-B Six Signs of Financial Stress in Your Daily Life A client of mine once said “I could live my entire life without having to worry about money.” Wealthy people have learned how much their quality of life improves by mastering the art of money. Most people haven’t thought much about money and don’t realize just how much it stresses them out. Let’s look at six major signs of money stress: 1-B-1 Working for Money If you don’t master money, money will become the master of you. You’ll spend your whole life working for it at some company or selling something you don’t even care about. That kind of work usually ends up stressing you out. 1-B-2 A Life With No Freedom The real tragedy of working for money is that it devours your freedom. For the average young person just entering the job market, ‘getting a job’ means forgetting about the things you love. Signing an employment contract is like entering into slavery – signing away the right to go to places you enjoy and how you spend your time. A two-week vacation, a basic feature of most economically advanced countries, is actually hard to get in Japan. The right to have dinner with your family on weekdays is a constant sacrifice. Not all workers think this is the way it should be, but when you really think about it, it is quite a sad situation. It’s not just time and freedom that get lost. The wonderful freedom to do what you really love gets lost as well. 1-B-3 Money Problems Cause Family Problems No matter what survey you read, the number one reason for divorce always involves money. It’s a much bigger reason than personality differences and all the other “irreconcilable” issues. This is because money directly impacts everything in our lives. Your income is never enough for the things you wish you had. The way we spend money differs from person to person, and changes depending on our lifestyles. When a married couple is living out of the same purse, it is

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impossible to expect things will always go well. I have done a lot of financial consulting for couples, and I have made a rather interesting discovery. With most couples, the roles are pretty well defined: one makes the money, the other uses it like water (at least from viewpoint of the one who makes the money). Traditionally, it is often the husband who makes the money and the wife who spends it all, and the husband can’t understand why his wife wastes his hard earned money on “useless” things. With newlyweds this isn’t much of a problem, but give it a few years and the gap will start to grow. The real problem is communication, but it manifests as a money problem because in today’s society there is an endless variety of things to spend money on: clothes, cars, food, travel, entertainment, and so forth. If a couple doesn’t sit down and communicate responsibly about money, the stress between them starts to build, and the husband will start nagging his wife about her spending habits. The wife will counterattack by questioning her husband’s earning ability. Even if there was more than enough money, it wouldn’t solve the communication problem, but the lack of money magnifies it and creates a lot of unnecessary stress. 1-B-4 Distant, Awkward Relationships with Family and Friends Your poor relationship with money has a negative effect on your family, your relationships, and your friendships. I have come across this situation countless times in my counseling sessions. For instance, there was a man whose daughter made the big decision to attend a music school. Instead of congratulating her on her career choice, he yelled at her, saying “How much do you think that will cost? You are so selfish. Do you think we have that kind of money? You’re not even that talented, and never stuck with your piano lessons…” If you have an unhealthy relationship with money, it’s impossible to maintain a healthy form of communication with your family. Your other relationships are also affected by your relationship with money. If you have a healthy financial relationship, money will never come between you and your friends. I’m sure everyone has had the unpleasant experience of being cheated out of a few bucks, or has bought a cheap present for a friend when we really wanted to give them something better. Have you ever conveniently ‘forgotten’ to repay a debt? But you never forget the money you lend, right? 1-B-5 An Empty Life Without Dreams

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When you work for a living, you start losing the things that make you ‘you.’ The passion for life leaks out and you feel like you are slowly being buried in sand. A life without dreams is a boring life indeed. Watch out when you start using words like ‘It can’t be helped,’ ‘There’s nothing I can do about it,’ and ‘That’s life’ on a regular basis. Having dreams is one of life’s great joys, but many people turn their backs on such things in the name of ‘working for a living’. After a while, it feels like you are just going through the motions instead of truly living. A sure sign of money stress is when you feel you are just ‘working for money.’ 1-B-6 Money Worries in Everyday Life and Retirement Age Until you master money, your worries about money will become a big problem. From the time we get up until we go to bed, most people think a lot about money. Most of it is negative. When you go to a restaurant, you pick menu items within your budget. Every day you think of ways to save money. At the end of the month, loan payments and rent put you on edge. You worry that the recent economic downturn will affect your paycheck. If your boss is in a bad mood, your heart skips a beat when he or she calls your name. In big and small ways, money places limits on your life: it determines the place you live, the food you eat, the way you get around, your hobbies, and your clothes. Without any conscious thinking on your part, all the items that surround you have been ranked according to your financial circumstances. Many people worry about life after retirement. The current generation of retirees in Japan have been saving money since their youth. They have decent pensions, government or otherwise, so they don’t have much to worry about. The real problem will begin with the ‘post-bubble’ generation who are now in their 40’s and 50’s. They aren’t expecting much from their pensions. According to one article, a comfortable retirement requires nearly 800,000 US dollars. If you are 40 now, you have 20 years to save that much. Even if you had $80,000 in the bank now, you would still need another $720,000. That means you have to save at least $36,000 each year. Throw in taxes and you’ll have to earn $60,000 on top of your current yearly income just to make the minimum amount of savings you need to retire comfortably. You can see how rough the situation is just by looking at the figures alone. End of Chapter Summary

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After looking at the major signs of financial stress, how do you feel? Is there more stress in your life than you initially thought? If you don’t feel so great, that is a good sign. Now you have the chance to face the problem and make things better. After all, how can you improve your situation if you don’t know how much financial stress there is in your life to begin with? These are all symptoms that happy, wealthy people do not suffer from. In the next chapter, we will take a deeper look at how happy and prosperous people live.

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Chapter 2 What is the Definition of a “Happy, Prosperous Person?” According to Forbes Magazine, a wealthy person is defined as somebody who has an annual income of at least $1 million dollars. In ‘Rich Dad, Poor Dad,’ Robert Kiyozaki defines ‘rich’ as having $10 million in assets and $1 million in annual income. Needless to say, these are very difficult goals to reach. My definition of a happy, prosperous person is as follows: assets of $1 million dollars and an annual income of $300,000 doing the work that you love. If you can earn $200,000 a year from your business and another $40,000 from investments, you can focus on what you really want to do and not worry about money. In my experience, $300,000 a year seems to be the emotional boundary line where you don’t have to worry about money at all. Let’s look at the characteristics of happy, prosperous people. 2-A Is it possible to identify a happy, prosperous person? There are quite a few around me: basically they live life doing what they really want to do. They have plenty of income from their business and other investments. They do what they like, when they like, and enjoy life to the fullest. If their family is young and growing, they are focused on education. If they like golf, they go out on the green every day. They have good people running their business so they don’t necessarily have to be there. None of them started out as particularly ‘lucky’ people. Most of them started out as white-collar workers or housewives. The only difference is that they really know who they are. Even in difficult and challenging circumstances they have a knack for finding and using their talents and gifts to the fullest. Here are 8 of the characteristics I find that happy, prosperous people have in common. 2-B Eight Characteristics of Happy, Prosperous People 2-B-1 Doing What You Love Every single happy, successful person I have ever met has one thing in common: they are full of joy. You can feel it soon as you meet them. It is hard to put into words but there is always an atmosphere of real excitement. Of course there is – they are doing exactly what they love. The more you talk with them, the more their excitement spreads to you.

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Their philosophy is simple: ‘Do what you love’. I know from my own experience the more you do things you don’t like doing, the less you enjoy your life. Doing what you love is not necessarily common sense. In Japan, people often call you selfish when you start doing what you like. That’s just part of the culture. However, happy, prosperous people know doing something you dislike isn’t good for you, and your unhappiness will inevitably spread to those around you. 2-B-2 Living Simply Most people imagine rich people living extravagantly. The happy, prosperous people I have met don’t live that way. In fact they live more simply and frugally than most ordinary people. When I once spent some time living with a rich American family, they’d always complain that I was using too much hot water and soap to wash the dishes. “What a bunch of penny-pinchers” I thought. Now I understand what they were saying. Living simply and frugally is a fundamental part of their lives. They have more money than they can spend but they don’t waste a single penny. This attitude helped them get rich. 2-B-3 Clear Perspective and Life Goals If you sit down and have a long talk with a happy, prosperous person, you will see they have a clear philosophy in life. Some take a religious view on life. They are always thinking about the meaning of life and the God they believe in. If you ask them, they could explain their views on life more clearly than most priests or religious leaders could. They firmly believe in living life by using their innate gifts to the fullest. They share these gifts with family and friends to live in peace and harmony. When you really think about the meaning of life and how you want to live it, it takes you there naturally. They kept asking those important questions, and the answer came in the form of success. The most important thing in life for them, is ‘finding your gifts and sharing them with those around you.’ This helps everybody, and is its own reward. From time to time, happy, prosperous people stop and take a moment to examine their goals and where they are going in life. They’re always looking to see what their partners, family, and friends really want and where they are headed. They look at how their work fits in with life’s bigger patterns. 2-B-4

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Loving Money and Business Most of the happy, prosperous people I have met really enjoy money and business. They find interesting things in the ordinary, and always have a lot of fresh ideas to please their customers or make life easier. However, it is not to say the rich are simply obsessed with money. To them, it is more like a game they play from the heart. They are always devising new ways to channel their money and gifts, creating surprising new things that please everyone around them. 2-B-5 Balanced Emotions A balanced state of mind is an important quality if you desire a happy life. Successful people meet with many problems along the way, but they don’t let the little things get to them. They know unbalanced emotions can destroy businesses and homes, so they don’t allow those emotions to run their lives. Many people spend money as a way to amuse themselves. Happy, prosperous people amuse themselves without flushing money down the drain buying big, fashionable toys. They know who they are and don't take financial risks on questionable, get-rich-quick investment schemes. They keep their ambitions in check and don’t risk the stability of their business by expanding too fast. They know from experience that emotionally-charged decisions lead to failure. I have found that happy, wealthy people have a true sense of who they are. They keep their greed, sexual desires, and individuality in balance. 2-B-6 Acting Decisively One characteristic of highly successful people is their decisiveness: they make decisions very quickly. Once time I went to a restaurant with a rich person and noticed how quickly he ordered his meal. I asked him about it and he told me he already knew what he wanted before he even entered the restaurant. Acting decisively is your ability to act and do whatever it is you decided on. We are all born with this ability, but seem to lose it as we grow up. Many talented people never start their own business simply because they don’t take action. I have met many budding entrepreneurs who stopped short of the finish line. Most of them are bright and have good business sense – all of which are key traits for success. The bottom line is that most of them just dream away while slaving away at their office jobs. The reason? They don’t act decisively. It doesn't matter how wonderful your idea is – if you do nothing, nothing will happen. It is beaten into us from childhood that we have to be ‘right’ and we grow

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afraid of failure and mistakes. In life, especially the life of an entrepreneur, there is no ‘right’ way of doing things, just the choice of doing what you want or not. If you are always afraid of mistakes, nothing will ever happen. 2-B-7 Loving Your Work (Lifework) or Business Happy, prosperous people love the work they do. It might be sales; it might be running a restaurant. Whatever it is, they are crazy about it. Their life has a purpose, and they express that purpose through the work that they choose. A friend of mine runs a restaurant. He pours all of his passion and energy into creating delicious things for his family and friends. All of the ingredients are organic. He recently created a non-smoking section, and is always thinking of new ideas to put into action. Because of this, people will line up around the block just to eat there. He has good employees who can take care of his business, but for him, seeing happy customers is far better than a game of golf, so he is always at his restaurant. He has more than enough money to retire, but doesn’t plan to anytime soon. If forced to, he’d probably get sick – anytime he feels a cold coming on, he goes to the restaurant and immediately feels better once he starts working. For him, work is not work; it’s an expression of love. It’s a place where anybody can just come in and have a good time. That is his real business. It is a part of him, and his joy infects the staff as well. There is no way a place like that could have trouble making money, and with the many restaurants he now owns, there is no way he will ever be poor. 2-B-8 A Loving Partnership and Happy Home Visit a happy, prosperous home and you will find it full of laughter. Everybody is having a good time. A guest feels like part of the family. Another characteristic is the good relationship they have with their partner. It never feels like only one person is doing all the work. Even if the husband works and the wife stays at home, it really feels like both of them are working toward the same goals. Even in America where the divorce rate is about 50%, I once met a rich, successful couple who had been married 30 years at the time and were still enjoying their life together. When I asked them about their relationship, they said “We have been together 30 years, yet we always discover something new about each other every year. Our life together just keeps getting better and better.”

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In tough times they work together to overcome obstacles, which leads to a stronger partnership. According to a survey of wealthy people, it was found that their divorce rate is much lower than the average. Summary This covers the 8 characteristics that happy, prosperous people tend to have in common. Do you want the kind of freedom that they enjoy? If you live an ordinary life, you might feel that wishing such freedom is just a silly dream. Let me assure you: that reality is not as far away as you might think. In the next chapter, I’ll discuss in detail the 8 steps you will need to take to live in happy prosperity, too.

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Chapter 3 Eight Steps to Happiness and Prosperity 3-1 Make Your Passions Work for You Doing what you love as an occupation is the first step to becoming happy and independently wealthy. Without exception, happy, successful people are doing exactly what they love. They know their natural gifts, and they enjoy using them. The more they do, the happier and more successful they become. There are lots of reasons to do what you love. One is that you find more passion in life by doing what you love. Even people without any passion will find some when they do something they like. The joy and satisfaction that comes from doing what you love stimulates your genius and gives you lots of new ideas. This alone gives you greater chance for success than being stuck doing something you don’t like. 3-2 Understand How Society Works and Get with the Times A bright young person who wants to succeed today doesn’t buy a cow and put it to pasture, or build a factory and start making steel. Those ideas belong in past centuries. To succeed you have to know what is happening with the flow of money, material goods and services. It is the same with society: What is it people want and what kinds of services will benefit them? You have to study the strengths and weaknesses of society as well. Children of wealthy families usually have a broader experience with society than most. How much you understand about today’s society determines whether you will become rich and successful or slave away for a paycheck at some job you don’t even like. 3-3 Earn Money from Your Lifework Finding your lifework is only half the battle. Making it into your livelihood is the other half. If somebody who loves making bread just bakes all day long, they won’t automatically get rich. Earning wealth requires a ‘receiving system’ – a business model, in other words. A good business model may include developing marketing skills, finding new ways to please customers, or taking advantage of the Internet to reach a wider population. 3-4 Increase your Money IQ

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Money is a kind of measurement. When I was a boy, I learned about money from my father. Later on I had other teachers: Wealthy people from Osaka, a successful Jewish businessman, successful families from Europe and India. I learned a lot from my mentors. The interesting thing was that despite their different cultural backgrounds they all used the same system. There are lots of 'get rich' books out there, but none of them are very systematic and I think they just end up confusing most readers. Robert Kiyosaki’s “Rich Dad, Poor Dad” is one recent book that finally presents the situation in a systematic way, but even there, especially from the viewpoint of a happy, prosperous person, it’s only half the story. There are 2 basic sets of knowledge you need to achieve success and happiness. The first is Money IQ: your practical knowledge of money. The second one is Money EQ: a barometer of your emotional health regarding money. Robert Kiyosaki’s ‘Rich Dad, Poor Dad’ is about Money IQ and the mechanics of getting rich: investment, taxes, and corporate legal knowledge. It was the kind of advice I used to give my clients. After observing many rich people who had trouble spending money on themselves or were frozen with the fear of losing it, I came to the conclusion that Money IQ was, by itself, not enough to lead a happy, successful life. I then conducted various researches on money and emotions. I found that if you don’t have an emotionally healthy relationship with money you cannot receive abundance (money, success, etc.) in your life. The systemized results of this work are ‘Money EQ’. There is enough material to write several books on the subject so I will present a simple summary later in this chapter. Money IQ As stated above, Money IQ is your money intelligence. The more you know about making money, the higher you IQ. There are four types of Money IQ. Money IQ #1 Earning Money This, of course, is the most obvious. If you don’t make lots of money, you won’t get rich; any school kid knows that. However, many people say they don’t know how to make lots of money, so here is my moneymaking equation: Service Rendered = Received Reward To make a lot of money, you have to give a lot of service. The amount you earn depends on the quality and volume of what you give. For example, the Beatles

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gave the world their music, which gave us great pleasure. The result is that even decades after the Beatles split up, their music still generates tremendous income. A basic example is a company employee who earns the company a lot of money and therefore gets a raise. Another example is a local dry cleaner who offers better service and quality than the competition, therefore earning more income than his competitors. In what way do you express your ‘service’? That service will determine your income. If you perform a regular job, you will earn a regular income. If you want to earn more than the average person, you have to provide more service than the average person. It’s that simple. Money IQ #2 Saving Money The second type of Money IQ is saving money. Making lots of money doesn’t automatically make you rich. This is because quite often the more you make, the bigger your expenses become. Being rich is more about how much you keep than how much you make. Wealthy people tend to be really good at saving money, and everyone else tends to be pretty bad at it. There are only 2 things you can do with money: spend it or invest it. If you have $100 dollars in your hand and buy some clothes, you are spending it. If you buy some stock, you are investing it. Money IQ #3 Protecting Money This is all about keeping what you have. I’m sure you have all heard about some big star or famous athlete who went broke overnight. The reason is not because they spent too much. Usually it’s because they were not good at protecting what they earned. They put their money in some high-risk investment or signed on to guarantee some business venture and lost it all. When you earn lots of money and spend wisely, what’s left over can escape in many ways: every money making genius has a husband or wife who is a genius at spending it. Then there are friends, family members, tax collectors, consultants, investment schemes, and charities who are all after your money. If you can’t meet these challenges, your quest to become happy and prosperous will end here. As one famous financial consultant Brian Tracy put it: “There are many difficult things about money except one, it’s easy to lose.” Money IQ #4 Increasing Money

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The fourth type of Money IQ is increasing money. Put simply, this is about investing. Here, too, there is a lot of information that you need to know. One interesting rule of money is that it is like water; it moves and flows. It tends to collect in one place until there is too much, and then it flows somewhere else. Ten years ago a lot of money collected in Japan, which created the bubble economy. At the time, many Japanese people believed the bubble would go on forever. In 2000, a similar situation was happening in America. We all know how those stories ended. Unless you know what you are doing, investing successfully is difficult. 10 Levels of Money IQ Before trying to raise your Money IQ, you need to know where you are now. Here is a simple list to check yourself. You can find a more detailed explanation in my correspondence course if you need it. After checking your level, set a goal for your next step.

1) I’m always stuck in debt. 2) I’m a gambler. 3) I’m always blowing my money on something. 4) I stuff everything in a savings account. 5) I act like I’m not interested in investing and leave it to others (but secretly I

want to try). a. I employ blue blood financial advisors b. I do anything my stock broker tells me to do c. I’m a sucker for get-rich-quick schemes

6) I trade stocks a. I act like I’m a successful trader b. I’m a successful trader

7) I’m the quiet millionaire next door (the successful long-term investor). 8) I make money in whatever I do 9) I’m a professional investor (‘Rich Dad’ a la ‘Rich Dad, Poor Dad’) 10) I’m a financial genius.

3-5 Increase your Money EQ After studying the 4 Types of Money IQ, you are all set to get rich, right? Not quite. Popular belief holds that life gets better as long as you have money, but it doesn’t work that simply. There are plenty of incredibly unhappy rich people. Many of them are in and out of divorce with broken families. As a consultant I have met many unhappy, wealthy people so I can say with confidence that Money IQ isn’t enough to make you prosperous AND happy. After many years of research, I discovered that it is equally important to raise your Money EQ as well. Money EQ

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Money EQ is a barometer of your emotional health in dealing with money: in other words, your relationship with money. As I said earlier, I have met a lot of rich people with high Money IQ leading unhappy lives. One wealthy person who had more money that he could spend in a lifetime was absolutely paralyzed by his fear of losing it. Another wealthy man was endlessly fighting with his wife over money. Unless they can find a healthier emotional way of dealing with money, they will never be happy. Basically, Money EQ measures how peaceful you feel about money. The higher your EQ, the less money drama you will have in your life. The more emotionally mature you are with money, the more neutral money becomes. If simply thinking of money sways your emotions, you have some work to do. Let’s take a look at the 4 basic types of Money EQ and learn how deal with money in an emotionally healthy way: Money EQ #1 Receiving Money The principle of heartfelt receiving applies not only to money but to every area in life; the ability to receive openly is one of life’s most important skills. Just as it is difficult to receive bad things in life, it can be just as difficult to receive good things too. This is one of the reasons why people who suddenly become rich by winning the lottery or receiving big inheritances often end up losing it all. True, heartfelt receiving is a skill, and it is also the first type of Money EQ. Just thinking ‘I want to receive’ is not enough. True receiving only can only be experienced once you tackle deep, often sub-conscious beliefs of unworthiness and poor self-image you’ve been carrying since childhood. Our imperfect upbringing, which includes basically all of us, affects our ability to give and receive openly. Receiving sounds very simple but the true quality of it is very deep. Our inability to receive openly from the heart creates emotionally distant relationships with friends and family that block our success. Money EQ #2 Appreciating Money The second type of Money EQ is expressing heartfelt gratitude and appreciation for the things you receive. This is also more difficult than you might think. Have you ever known someone who likes giving gifts but feels awkward receiving them? This kind of person will probably have a return gift ready and delivered the very next day. While this is not a problem when the giving comes from the heart, most of that person’s feelings likely comes from a place of guilt and

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embarrassment. If you receive more than you need, do you feel heartfelt gratitude or do you feel guilty? One of life’s rules is that the more you enjoy life, the more joy comes to you. If you can truly appreciate money, you will find that money comes to you. Money EQ #3 Trusting in the Flow of Money Trusting in the flow of money is probably the most challenging type of Money EQ. Basically, trusting money means trusting in the abundance and flow of life. I believe that on a fundamental level all people are capable live abundant lives, but our childhood upbringing and experiences in society leave us believing we are somehow just not good enough. We end up thinking that if we don’t work hard enough, something bad will happen to us. For example, many people believe if you quit your job, you’ll become homeless. When we allow the feelings of poverty and insecurity in ourselves that we have a tendency to carry from childhood to be healed, we gain the ability to trust in our own power and abundance of heart. This same ability to trust also affects our relationships and lifework, and it is just as challenging. We have to learn to let go of our limiting beliefs of scarcity and fear and trust in life. If we take an honest look at how much we attempt to control our own lives, we find the truth of the matter. Learning to trust in the flow life and let go carries us directly into the flow of life’s abundance. Money EQ #4 Sharing Money In ancient biblical times it was written that for every ten things you receive, you should give one away. In more recent times, Rockefeller, Carnegie, and other tycoons have followed in that example. The two richest men in America today, Bill Gates and Warren Buffett, have announced they will give most of their fortunes to charities and established trusts. When this subject comes up in conversation, there are always people who say they will give to charities when they get rich. This is a big mistake. If you read Rockefeller’s biography, you will find that he gave to charities even when he was young and poor. The openness with which you share with others is an important gauge that shows how much you feel you are living in abundance. Giving and sharing strengthen your higher mind, which is the part of your sub-conscious that represents the very best you.

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When you say you’ll only give when you become rich, you are feeding the feeling of scarcity in yourself, which manifests as scarcity in your life. Seven Money EQ Personality Types In the following section I’d like to describe several of the most basic patterns of relationships people have with money. Part of this explanation incorporates the work of the American psychoanalyst Olivia Mellon. All of us fall into these categories to a certain degree. See what personality (or mix of personalities) best applies to you and the important people in your life, such as parents, siblings, and close friends.

1) The Penny Pincher The purpose in life for this personality type is to save everything they earn. Using money for ANYTHING other than absolute basic necessities is a sin. Others see this personality type as a tightwad. 2) The Big Spender This person’s relationship with money is simple: spend it! For this personality type, spending money is often one way to avoid dealing with negative emotions. 3) The Monk This type of person acts like they want to give up all their worldly possessions and live in poverty like a monk in a monastery. Deep down they believe that money is bad, and spend life avoiding it as much as possible. 4) The Financially Indifferent This personality type acts as if money doesn’t even exist and has no effect on their lives, which can be a kind of blessing. However, it can be a disaster if somebody else isn’t around to take care of the money. 5) The Compulsive Money Maker The object of this person’s life it to make as much money as possible. But no matter how much of it they get, it’s never enough. 6) The Worrier This person worries constantly about money, whether they have a lot or a little. They attempt to control life by just worrying about money. 7) The Gambler This personality type loves taking big risks with money, which results in an endless cycle of big booms and busts. Their life is always full of drama.

3-6 Mastering the Various Aspects of Business

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Having your own successful business is the shortest route to becoming happy and prosperous. If you can connect the dots between working and doing what you love, the rest is simply a matter of time. To succeed in business you’ll need a lot of business knowledge. You will also need to become a pro in your particular chosen field. I have summarized a simple list of essential business skills below. Master these, and you’ll greatly increase your chances of success. If you would like to read more details, check out the correspondence course listed at the end of the book. 3-6-1 Choose a type of work that really suits you 3-6-2 Design a business model 3-6-3 Have a vision for your business 3-6-4 Have clear positioning 3-6-5 Become a marketing genius 3-6-6 Become a good salesman 3-6-7 Create a profit-making structure 3-6-8 Become a team leader 3-6-9 Have access to good financial and legal experts 3-6-10 Know your cash flow 3-7 Understanding the Human Heart Over ten years ago, I asked my mentor the secret to success. His answer was to “know about people.” “What should I know about them?” I asked. He replied, “Become gifted at reading a persons’ character.” The psychology you need to know to become happy and prosperous is that of understanding human emotions. This is because emotions are the key to understanding the reason behind people’s behavior. Most people don’t pay much attention to their feelings, but if you are not emotionally balanced, it is virtually impossible to become happy and successful. Take shopping, for example. Most people think they are making decisions, choosing what to buy, and acting entirely of their own free will. However, most research shows that our shopping decisions are almost always 100% based on emotion. Developing an understanding of marketing and behavioral sciences allows you to understand the reasons why people buy what they buy and behave as they do. Similarly, if you really want to have a happy relationship, you need to study the psychology of relationships. It is not just a case of ‘listening’ to your partner, but

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it’s about learning how to engage in adult, responsible, respectful, conscious communication. 3-8 Share your Gifts and Abundance Although I have met many successful people, each and every happy, successful person had one thing in common: they share and give freely. Happy, prosperous people share their natural gifts and talents with society with no regrets, and their work provides a huge service to many people. Their reward is the wealth they receive from the society they serve. It is not a matter of being rewarded for their ‘being special.’ They believe the reward for sharing their gifts is the trust they receive from society.

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Chapter 4 5 Daily Steps 4-1 Find Something You Love to Do, and Try Doing It a Little Each Day If you are like most people nowadays, you feel tired pretty often and have no idea what you truly love doing. Many people who come to my seminars tell me “I’m so busy and tired every single day. By the time I get home, I’m so exhausted I don’t feel like doing anything at all.” They think that doing what you love to become happy and prosperous is just a fantasy. All the happy successful people I have advised over the years started out as ‘ordinary people.’ They had no confidence in their natural gifts or talents, and they were trapped in the rat race of working for money. The only difference was that they overwhelmingly felt that continuing down the current path was out of the question, and they began to use trial and error to earnestly search for what they love to do. Their life didn’t change overnight, but the important first step was taken: they broke out of the pattern that was keeping their daily life in check. Don’t let every day pass you by in a dreamy, unfocused state. Decide how you want things to change. Most people find this hard to keep up. As a first step, try doing something you like for at least a few minutes every day. If you liked painting as a child, buy some brushes and play around 5 minutes a day. The important thing here is not to think about making a living or what a tough world it is out there – just do it for the sheer enjoyment. Most people don’t try to truly enjoy life. My suggestion here is to set aside some time just for fun. You don’t have to believe you can become a painter, but by taking some time to really enjoy yourself, you will feel completely different. The creative genius sleeping inside you will awaken, and you’ll gradually start to feel more excited by life. That’s a start – enjoying life and feeling more passionate. It can be the first domino that sets off a chain reaction inside you, eventually leading to happiness and prosperity. Big things can come from small actions, and life can change drastically before you even know it. That is something that all the happy, successful people I have interviewed have experienced. People who find what they love to do also have great luck in their relationships. That’s because doing what you love brings out your true character and charisma. You become more at ease with yourself and others. Which would you choose, somebody who is happy and doing what they love or somebody who is miserable and hates their job? 4-2

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Find a Friend or Mentor Who Can Guide You This is one of the most important factors. The successful people I have interviewed all had a teacher or mentor to guide them. A mentor is somebody who points the way when you feel lost. The reason is simple. Imagine of a mountain guide. He knows which routes are dangerous and which ones are safe. He also knows which equipment is essential in an emergency. He can you what to do if the weather suddenly changes. He can tell you what to do because he has been on this road before. The guide, with all of his experience, won’t panic when something unexpected happens. If you tried to go mountain climbing up a dangerous path all by yourself, you probably wouldn’t make it very far by winging it. The business and financial worlds can also be dangerous for the inexperienced. Making money requires courage, creativity, ideas and decisiveness. Losing it requires nothing. 4-3 Learn from Successful People and Develop Good Habits Look for somebody in your life or someone you know who is happy and prosperous. You might think that person doesn’t exist, but if you broaden your horizons a little, you might be surprised. Ask around: company clients, relatives, old friends, etc. Getting to know somebody successful and observing their lifestyle is a very important step. If you try everything and still can’t find anyone, try reading biographies or essays, going to lectures, or even watching movies about successful people. Try anything. Once you let just a little energy of a happy successful person into your life, you’ll find that little changes naturally start happening. Nothing drastic at first, but every day will be just a little bit more fun. From seemingly out of nowhere, an opportunity will present itself. A friend might call inviting you to an interesting lecture. If you decide to go along, you might suddenly find exactly the information that you need or you may meet someone who will impact your life in big ways. 4-4 Take On Challenges and Make Courageous Decisions Being a courageous decision maker is important for success not only in business, but also in our relationships and lifework. I’m talking about courage, decision, and action. Fear is something we all share – even happy successful people. The difference is that even when they feel afraid, they decide to take the chance and jump anyway. Even when it comes to relationships, many people might feel interested in someone, but are too scared to take the chance to ask them out. Another example is when people feel too embarrassed to admit they were wrong

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and apologize to a friend, so the chance to mend things up passes by and the friendship fades away. When I was 20, I spent some time living at a Florida rest home where many rich, successful people were staying. Everyone I met said the same thing: “Life is short, so do what you love. Don’t be afraid to take risks!” The older generation in Japan would never say anything like that. It was quite an experience. What they meant was that when you get old, you will regret not having taken a risk at all much more than having taken a risk and failed. That risk might be missing the chance to tell someone you loved them, never telling your parents how much you appreciated them. It could even be that trip with your friends that you decided not to go on. Back then, I planned on returning to Japan to start some kind of business, but I could never really decide what I wanted to do. The lessons I learned from those happy, successful people at the rest home really changed my life. Their advice gave me the courage to go for it as soon as I got back home. As a result, I have never been on anybody else’s payroll for my entire life, and years later I’m still happy and successful. They really gave me a beautiful, priceless gift. 4-5 Enjoy Things along the Way In our hectic daily lives, we can forget that the detours in life can be fun. When we were young we may have taken a different route home from school just for the fun of it. Unfortunately, as we grow older we forget how to have fun on the side roads of life and just stick to the main road. People who want to become rich and successful often fix their eyes on the goal at the expense of everything else. Happy, prosperous people remember to enjoy the journey. Theirs is a journey of self-discovery: of healing the past as well as the relationships with their parents and family. They enjoy the journey and are thankful for the people and adventures along the way that ultimately are the stuff abundance is made of. Some people who come to my seminars or counseling sessions say “I’m really going to work hard to become happy and prosperous!” When I hear that, I know my message hasn’t gotten through to them. You can’t get there by ‘working hard’ or through sheer effort. It’s about finding yourself and your natural gifts and letting go of what is not truly you (expectations, false appearances, limiting beliefs, etc...) Giving up the struggle and learning to enjoy what you love and what comes naturally to you is the first step on the road to happiness and success. It’s an

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exciting path to walk, and it’s fun to meet the other people who are walking it, too. You’ll meet many unique individuals along the way. It is a path where the flowers of both friendship and romance bloom freely.

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In Closing Thank you for reading this all the way to the end. I originally wrote it for my friends and clients. I had been busy raising my daughter for 4 years, but as she got older and more independent (Go away Daddy!) I had more time on my hands. I decided to collect the experience and knowledge I had gained from others over the years and write it down. I have a dream that someday everyone will enjoy life doing exactly what they love, building a society of mutual respect. If children can see adults having fun, maybe they will be excited to have fun when they become adults, too. It would be a great education on how to be a happy adult. Seeing all the tragic news on television makes me want to see this future all the more. When my daughter is all grown up, I wonder what kind of society she will live in. Many of society’s problems happen, I believe, because people aren’t living a life that is true to who they are. They try to be somebody they are not, end up hating themselves, and their unhappiness then spreads to their family and friends. How different and wonderful things would be if that person were doing what they really loved and received heartfelt, mutual support from their loved ones. Moving forward, I want to share what I have learned about prosperity and happiness by writing books, teaching seminars, and eventually spread this message online. For those who want to learn more about the 8 steps explained in this book, there is a correspondence course that covers everything in detail. It comes in 3 parts:

1) How to become Happy and Prosperous. 2) Increasing your Money IQ 3) Increasing you Money EQ

The correspondence course comes with a one-year guarantee. If you don’t feel satisfied 1 year after taking it, you get your money back. I believe it takes time to change your way of thinking. That’s why the money back guarantee is important – it gives you peace of mind. Think of it like buying new clothes. Imagine you were told “Try wearing this for a year and see. If it doesn’t fit perfectly you can get your money back.” Pretty good don’t you think? For me, the correspondence course and seminars are sort of like a hobby that I enjoy. I’ve been so fortunate to have met so many wonderful teachers and mentors in my life. Now it is my turn to give that wisdom back to society. I feel it is my ‘lifework.’ Just imagining that somebody might read the knowledge here and discover what they love makes me very happy. This booklet is free. If you’d like to give copies to your friends just send them a link to www.kenhonda.tokyo.

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In a sense, by reading this to the end you have become part of my lifework. Thank you. I hope that someday our paths can cross. If you have any questions or comments please e-mail me at info@kenhonda.tokyo If you don’t get a direct answer, you can find what you are looking for on my homepage, www.kenhonda.tokyo. This brings us to the end of my booklet, but I sincerely wish you a happy and prosperous life.