Make Money and Have Fun

Bridge the Gap Between Your Passion and Prosperity

Fred Posimo

• Publisher: Morgan James Publishing
• Year: 2021
• ISBN:
  9781631955136
• Topic: Personal Development
• Subtopic: Personal Success

Make Money Have Fun is the bridge between passion and prosperity.

Think about it, everyone knows someone who is making a ton of money but miserable as can be; conversely, everyone may also know folks who are happy as can be but can't ever seem to find a spare dollar. Make Money Have Fun is the solution to both of those situations. People no longer need to forego their happiness in order to make a decent living. By utilizing the strategies inside Make Money Have Fun, aspiring entrepreneurs learn how they can go from Broke and Miserable to Rich and Happy. Here's the best part, it's not as hard as one might think. Anyone can do this, no matter their background. Are you ready to change your life?

SECTION 1

Mindset Makeover

Chapter 1

ROUND PEGS, SQUARE PEGS

Are you a Round Peg or a Square Peg? Not sure? Your answer could hold the key to your success. An easy way to discover which type you are is by looking at your track record in school.

My dad and I often enjoy lively discussions about the modern school system. Somehow, we started using round pegs and square pegs to describe two types of students:

1. Round Pegs: Are Students who excel in school and often show proficiency in their classwork, homework, tests and assignments. In the classroom, they are well behaved, have high GPAs and generally seem right at home. Round Pegs never seem overwhelmed nor stressed and they don’t tend to struggle, whether their task is big or small. They fit perfectly into a round hole (a.k.a. the school system).
2. Square Pegs: Are students who struggle in school and perform poorly on classwork, homework, tests and assignments. School often feels tedious and/or frustrating to them and, they’re distracted, bored, disruptive and talkative. In short, these students generally either shut down or misbehave all day long and they often appear withdrawn or overwhelmed, frustrated and out of place. They don’t fit into the round hole (the school system) at all.

“They don’t fit into the round hole (the school system) at all.“

The reality is the structured rigidity of the classic American school system sets up many students for failure, and it has left far too many believing they are failures. The problem is not whether a student is a “Round Peg” or a “Square Peg”; the problem is the school’s response to them. Most schools only teach to one type of students: the Round pegs . They seem to assume that anyone who doesn’t fit perfectly into their Round Hole system must be “broken” or have something wrong with them. Before a Square Peg student leaves their institution, the system will work relentlessly to force them into conforming with the Round Holes, to chip off the corners and “fix them” so they will fit like everybody else.

Me, I’m a Square Peg. I remember in grade school feeling like an outcast and an oddball. On nearly a daily basis I was ostracized and bullied by fellow classmates. As the grades progressed these feelings never dissipated. At first I thought “What’s wrong with me? Why can’t this just come naturally to me, why can’t I “fit in” like everybody else?” Around the start of high school, I began to look at my “shortcomings” as superpowers! The question changed to: “What if this obstacle is my greatest opportunity, what if I am the way I am for a reason?” It was also around this time I began noticing parallels outside of the classroom as well. For instance, I was never a sports person, but I love martial arts, instead of going out on the weekends I stayed in and studied personal development and money. Generally, as a human I often made uncommon, unique, and “off the beaten path” choices throughout my life. When I finally embraced being a square peg my life began to change. My obstacles transformed into opportunities, the moments that made me feel like a misfit or out of place seemed to disappear. I fully stepped into my power and realized who I was as a human being and most importantly what I had to give, that is one of the reasons why you hold this book in your hands right now.

When young children struggle to fit in at school, this often leads to a progressively negative domino effect throughout their life. Their personal perception of self-worth diminishes and can even disappear entirely. This likely could have been my reality had I not stepped into my full potential as a young teenager.

This “Round Peg, Square Peg” Philosophy carries over into other areas of life beyond just school. There are round pegs and Square pegs everywhere on this planet. The round pegs typically follow the beaten path, they do as they’re told, follow the rules, and generally live a predictable routine. Square pegs will typically be more adventurous, spontaneous, and mavericks who chart their own course and make their own way. In short, their life is more spontaneous and less predictable. When these square pegs step into their superpower and accept who they are, like I did in high school, they’ll find their place in this world. Unfortunately, school performance often remains the defining factor of how most people see themselves, and it can influence all of their other experiences throughout life. Poor grades can deter future business owners, derail aspiring artists, and unravel a soon-to-be investors potential. These individuals often begin doubting whether they are capable or worthy in this world, because they aren’t excelling in what has been told is the most critical thing for them: the school system.

As the host of my weekly mastermind I discovered that most of my successful entrepreneur members are Square Pegs who have been shamed, blamed and disrespected at the most vulnerable time in their lives—when they were growing up. To become successful, they had to overcome their setbacks, change their mindset and understand their value to the world, separate from traditional measures like grades and test scores.

“Most successful entrepreneurs I know are Square Pegs.”

Wrestling vs. Jiu-Jitsu

The world subscribes to one of two principles found in a philosophy which I call wrestling vs. jiu-jitsu. As a practitioner of both (wrestling in high school and about 5 years of jiu-jitsu) I found very subtle yet distinct similarities and differences between them relating to mindset.

The wrestling philosophy says, “Pick a move, and if that move doesn’t work, keep doing it harder until it does.” Jiu-jitsu says, “Pick a move, and if that move doesn’t work, keep trying others until you find the best approach.” From the standpoint of watching a match, the two approaches look the same, yet this subtle difference causes a massive change in your results.

Applying this to the school system, one could say the school system’s philosophy is, “If you are a Square Peg, we’ll chisel you down until you conform and become a Round Peg. We’ll keep hitting you harder until we force you to become round by the time you leave.” They build a wall around your life and punish you for trying to climb it. School systems subscribe to a wrestling philosophy. In everyday life we might often subscribe to a similar “grin and bear it” mentality where we are a poor fit but we work hard and relentlessly to force ourselves to succeed. I’m not saying that hard work isn’t crucial to success, but there is a better approach than pushing yourself into it. The jiu-jitsu approach will deliver far better outcomes for far more students.

“They build a wall around your life and punish you for trying to climb it.”

I find it interesting that colleges sort through their applicants looking for Round Pegs. They aren’t interested in Square Pegs. If a Square Peg does slip through their sorting office— known as admissions—the institution immediately goes into the chipping process. Once again, the Square Peg is presented with the message that they aren’t good enough as they are, so they will either conform, fail or leave. This goes beyond college with beliefs like: “work harder,” “fake it til you make it,” and “push yourself!” I’m here to challenge these beliefs. Make Money and Have Fun is about creating alignment between your prosperity and your passion so you can live financially fulfilled and truly bridge that gap without needing to force yourself to do so!

“We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.”

~Albert Einstein

We’ve all heard of Bill Gates and Steve Jobs leaving college to pursue their dreams. They slipped through the sorting machine and got accepted, but Steven Spielberg didn’t get that far. He was turned down twice for a film course at the University of Southern California and instead attended community college. He got his start by landing an unpaid position in the editing department at Universal Studios. While there, he wrote and directed a short film that won several awards. At that point, an executive noticed Spielberg’s talent and signed him to a seven-year directing contract making him the youngest director to land a long-term contract with a major studio.

Forbes’ Most Influential Celebrities in 2014 listed Spielberg as the most influential celebrity in America. His net worth is about 3.7 Billion.

Some might say, “What a shame that Spielberg wasn’t admitted to film school,” but I would reply, “What a close call.”

Joan Crawford starred in The Twilight Zone episode that marked Spielberg’s debut as a studio director when he was twenty-one years old. In her biography, Not the Girl Next Door, Crawford said,

It was immediately obvious to me, and probably everyone else, that here was a young genius. I thought maybe more experience was important, but then I thought of all of those experienced directors who didn’t have Steven’s intuitive inspiration and who just kept repeating the same old routine performances. That was called “experience.¹

Is it possible that film-school training might have chipped off Spielberg’s square edges, and he would have ended up in mediocrity? Who can say for sure?

Soichiro Honda grew up in a village in Japan. He hated school and eventually dropped out. As a result, he had no formal education. He left home at age fifteen and went to Tokyo where he worked as an apprentice in an auto repair garage. Six years later, he returned to his village and started his own garage. He was twenty-two years old.

Then, he began tinkering with motorized bicycles. He designed and mass-produced an engine and then his own motorized bicycle. In 1949 he produced his first motorcycle and opened his first U.S. dealership in 1959. Honda Motorcycles became a billion-dollar global company that also developed the cars we recognize today. In 1989, he was inducted into the Automotive Hall of Fame.

Malcolm Gladwell talks of “outliers,” who are basically the Square Pegs described in this chapter. Gladwell agrees that the Square Pegs are the change-makers who forge a path to a new and better future!

“Square Pegs are the change-makers
who forge a path to a new and better future!”

School isn’t the only institution that tries to force people to fit in. The military, some religions, certain athletic or sports programs—and even individuals such as overbearing parents, mentors, employers or coaches—can prescribe to the forcing route, demanding conformity, which usually creates limiting beliefs and negative mindsets in a young person. Without help to break free from these negative mindsets, they can last a life-time. My philosophy: “If you’re a Square Peg, here’s a garden of square holes. Let’s figure out where you fit best and train you to succeed there.” Think of this book as your roadmap to alignment. Put into practice the methods and techniques in this book and you’ll find yourself financially fulfilled in no time! My journey started this way. At 18 years old I went on a reading escapade and read over a dozen books on personal development and self-improvement. Because of that, today I own and run multiple businesses, I’ve become friends with multi-millionaires and wake up everyday making money and having fun, now it’s your turn!

“If you’re a Square Peg, here’s a garden of square holes.”

When I share this ideology with my mastermind, members often think “kids need discipline,” or “there’s only one way students learn.” I agree that we need to keep everyone safe and show kids right from wrong. How about if we do it in a way that resonates with the individual instead of making school a place to chip away some of the best parts of a person’s unique identity, and for no good purpose but to fit in to standardized measurements and scoring rubrics?

Force is never the answer. Motivation and inspiration will always supersede. Even the most interesting classroom subject will fall flat unless a person is motivated to learn it. Like I wrote in my first book: “Motivation precedes education.” I found this fact astonishing when I looked back on my reading escapade at 18 years old. More on this journey later in the book but in short, I found myself with an insatiable hunger to read nonstop for nearly 2 years straight. I studied some of the most prolific entrepreneurs and investors. When I was in school, I couldn’t even get through a chapter. What made the difference in my performance? My own motivation, when I wanted to read, it happened, when it was forced it didn’t.

“Motivation precedes education.”

That brings us to the most important question in your life: What are you motivated by? What lifts your spirits and has you whistling over your morning coffee? What energizes you and makes you smile?

Plug into that feeling, and you’ll start becoming fully aligned and have the drive to:

1. Sustain through things that take time and effort.
2. Overcome tough times without quitting.
3. Never feel bored again.
4. Make money and have fun.

Make Money and Have Fun is not just some mantra or chant, it’s a way of life. I haven’t always been fully aligned, like everyone it took time to build a lifestyle by design. Many sleepless nights and early mornings were part of the journey. Today I am often referred to as a “Lifestyle Architect” or “Financial Fulfillment Expert” because of my ability to help others curate a particular lifestyle where they too can make money and have fun! This is why I started the “Make Money & Have Fun Mastermind”. I wanted t...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title
• Copyright
• Contents
• Acknowledgments
• Foreword
• Introduction
• Section 1: Mindset Makeover
• Section 2: Make Money
• Section 3: Have Fun
• Section 4: Bridge the Gap
• A Note From the Author
• About the Author
• Additional Resources