Day 36: 5 Lessons I've Learned on How to Win

What have you found that works with winning competitions? Here's what I have

Tonight was the conclusion of my fifth business competition, and as I stood up on stage I realized a few things that may be helpful in your pursuit of paying for college either through competitions or through scholarships . These are the five lessons I have been learning about the science of winning:

1. Know the criteria, hit the criteria: In every competition I am aware of there are certain benchmarks that the judges are looking for, if you hit them they can't help but to give you a high score. 
2. Speak close to your heart: Other people want to feel passion and intensity, it gives them confidence that something can happen. When you present your idea, use only stories, quotes and thoughts that are closest to your heart, where the passion is. 
3. Sign up: By the mere action of signing up for a competition will benefit you, if you lose you have developed and refined new skills, made new connections and experienced life more (and often there is a free dinner involved.) If you win, there are all kinds of new options that open up to you. 
4. Realize there is probably someone working harder than you: This advice comes from my sister's basketball coach, she tells them to imagine their opponent in the gym working their hearts out more hours then them. I have realized that the person who wins a competition is not random, it is almost always a direct relationship to how much work they put in. 
5.  Preparation proceeds power: There is some quote out there that says, "The will to win is nothing compared to the will to prepare." To add on to the thought of working harder, is working smarter, you need to prepare to differentiate yourself, and to recognize what your unique value proposition is. Power comes from preparation, that "winging it" just cannot produce. 
6. (ok here is a bonus sixth one) Partner with people that are better than you: Any victory is a team sport, get the best people you know to help you and to bounce off ideas with. You are not and don't need to be the best at everything, just get to know the people that are. 

Tonights competition that I was just apart of was exceptional, every competitor was very good in what they did and are wonderful people. It was neat to see that everyone that made it to the final round made money, something unexpected to all of us. It just goes back to the lesson that has been a constant on this quest to making $5,000, and that is 

Try. 

-Bruce 

What have you found that works with winning competitions? Comment bellow. 

Day 29: The Best Financial Advice I Have Ever Received

At a particularly hard moment this past week, I felt really frustrated with finances. It is really painful to look at another zeroed out bank account and realizing you don't even have money to drive back home, again, let alone knowing your going to have to make due with living off spaghetti for another week. On top of that the automatic payment of my tuition dipped into my savings account bringing me $200 in debt in tithing. And all this while I have been struggling for over a year to just get some breathing room in my bank account, Have you ever felt like that?

So I got on a phone call with my dad and poured out my frustration to him, expecting sympathy and receiving some of the best financial advice of my life, he told me to...

"Relax."

"These things just happen as God wants them to, you just got to enjoy life as it comes, some blessings come now, some come later, I had to wait until I was fourty-two in order to win a basketball tournament but it was better because all my kids could be there."

What a profound thought! Just to give some added validity to his thoughts on money, you need to realize that my dad has been semi-retired since his thirties, he has not been bad off. It seems very counter intuitive just to relax and let life bring you the opportunities and the money you need. It is definitely against all the loud voices of self help books, motivational speakers and business coaches who constantly promote your own ability to change your circumstances.

But consider the thought with me for a moment, what if there are things that are simply just beyond our control? Even with finances? If so, what we can't change, we could just come to peace with. It's kinda like a Lilly I have been considering, they grow by just opening themselves to the sunlight that surrounds them, and they are beautiful.

A lily doesn't worry about anything, it just grows naturally. Similarly, I have been converted to the belief that our finances and careers are like that, we just have to grow into what we are designed to be. If we just follow the simple, daily things that bring light to us, that warm us and that help us to grow in all aspects of life, and if we wait patiently we will have the beautiful career, spouse and the things that we ultimately desire.

 Money is really nothing, despite what we tell ourselves sometimes, we already have every thing to make us happy around us, if we have all those things then, happiness is now. So until we can afford big bricks of cheese, and a car made in this decade, and that ridiculously over sized iPhone 6, there are some things we can do,  we can enjoy life, our college friends, great professors, dances, football games, deep conversations, old cars, sodium filled foods, growing up, sunrises, smelly apartments, geeky roommates, late late nights, early early morning  and blue skies so wide sometimes we don't know what to do with it.

That's why the best financial advice I have ever received is,

Relax.

What is some of the best advice you have received?

Please feel free to leave your comments below.

P.S.- In the coming weeks I will be getting some recipes on video and guest posts on eating healthy on a college budget it will be very useful and practical, you will not want to miss it, subscribe or follow the blog to ensure you get these must have recipes and tips!

See you!

Day 18: Interview With Jake Giles on How to Have College Pay You

In this interview with Jake Giles I learned a lot. Jake is a student who is actually having the college financial system work for him instead of working for it. He shares how he found a way to not have to pay for rent, have his tuition covered and make more than $1,000 off of doing it using the financial aid available to him, all while having a high school GPA of 3.7 and a 22 A.C.T. Score. Check it out.

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address in the top right corner. Leave a comment and tell me what you think of this interview. Thanks! 

Day 15: Getting Down to the Numbers

Mountain Dew Challenge complete! I sold my final Mountain Dew last night at around 9 pm and it was a big relief to realize that I would not have to drink it after all. After that glowing feeling of success wore off though, I came to the realization of my total net profit from that investment, an incredible, $1.57... not quite going to put enough points on the board to get me to go to BYUI in January.

So tonight I started taking a harder look at what it is really going to take to make this thing happen and crunched some real numbers. I realized with standard expenses from my life right now it would by necessity suck out around 570 dollars a month right now (last month's expenses exceeding 670 dollars.) That is a major hole that I have left unaccounted for in my earlier estimations.  That will add up to be around $1,300 before I leave for college. So really when I was shooting for $5,000, what I really am needing is somewhere closer to $6,300 plus what taxes is going to take out.

That is a whole lot more money!! So I'm going back to the drawing board knowing what got me here won't get me there. I am going to focus instead of on little items like Mountain Dew, I am going to focus on major items that can move me up at around a $100 a time. So instead of whatever the outragous number of cans I would have to sell, it moves it down to a bit more realistic, however still crazy number of 63 sales between now and January.

It's not easy making green!

-Bruce

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Day 14: Just Because Your in College, Doesn't Mean You Have to Be Broke!

According to the Urbandictionary.com (which we all know to be a reliable resource) a starving student is,  among other things, "A college student who lacks disposable income because he does not have a job.." it continues on to say that, "The stereotype is that this student must resort to eating Top Ramen to survive."

BUT IS THAT TRUE? That is what I want to know. Every time I say that I am broke, it is followed by "well you are in college," it is said almost as religiously as a Christian puts an "amen" at the close of a prayer. I don't want to believe that that is my or your fate in college. I don't want to believe that we must scrimp by on sodium enriched food and caffeinated drinks, and  bank accounts with lots of zeros in all the wrong places and worried about when the next check is coming and I don't think I have to! 

Everything so far about this 97 day challenge has showed me how much we really are in control of our finances. As soon as I committed to making a conscious effort to changing my financial situation, opportunities opened up that I never thought were possible. Last week I made something like 30 more dollars than I usually would have selling things online, and I also got a person to agree to something that I get an 85$ dollar referral bonus. That's $115 that I would have just let slip by had I not been conscious of it, that's a lot of money over the course of months and years. Plus that is just a beginning. 

(Your bank account no more!) 

Which leads me to today's tip which comes from someone in my class who over heard me complaining about the odds of getting a scholarship,

Day 14 Tip: Try

He told me to just go for it, and that is exactly what I have been learning, just find a way and go for it and learn as you go. 

To help you and I as we achieve our goals,  I  have decided to interview someone each week who is actually making it, who is a thriving student as opposed to the "Starving Student." I am going to give you their secrets and the answers to questions like, Where are the rich students? (the ones who aren't riding high on mommy and daddy's money) What do they think like? What do they act like? What do they do? How can they afford cheese?! Why couldn't you and I be one of them? 

So stick around for Wednesday when I interview Jake Giles who is a student who is making money off of going to college! Now that is what I am talking about! 

I would love to hear your thoughts, what do you think? Do we have to be starving students in college or is their some way out? What questions would you like to have answered about thriving instead of starving in college? 

(By the way I only have one can left of Mountain Dew to sell, yeeehaaa!) 

STOP STARVING STUDENTS!

-Bruce 

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Day 8: The Ultamate Mountain Dew Challenge (one more way to earn money for school)

Yesterday night I got with the members of my mastermind group (a group of people who hold each other accountable for their goals) and they wouldn't buy my excuse that my Mountain Dew wasn't selling. So Daren (the bearded man in the video) gave me a challenge, which I couldn't refuse and will regret if I don't complete...check it out....

I am happy to note that I have sold two more Dew's today, and fully plan not to drink any Mountain Dew...ever! If you do not have a mastermind group you should get one or join ours, we meet in person and via google hang outs every Wednesday night at 8:15. It is a great way to get yourself to go out and get things done.

Talk to you tomorrow!
-Bruce

PS- If your interested in joining our mastermind (absolutely free, in fact more than free) shoot me an email at brucegreggorypeck@gmail.com.

Day 7: Lessons on Procrastination and Paying for College

Late last night I waited nervously in front of the computer. I was waiting for the very last part of my application to go through, knowing at 12 am the deadline closed. The trouble was is that last part was a reccomendation sent by someone else....who was having trouble with the internet. So 11:30 came and wemt , then 11:45, then 11:50.... And finally 12 o'clock....nothing.... It was closed, my dreams of going to BYUI in January were shot. Lesson learned. 

Or so I thought. However as I woke up this morning I saw that it had been submitted and I looked again at the website and it said that ic ould be all day on October 1st. I was relieved, but, when I called the school a man at the main office told me it was due by  last night but the application department may understand so I am calling them tommorow...lesson... DON'T PROCRASTINATE YOUR COLLEGE APPLICATION!!! 

Also this morning I had one success, I found this note: 

You can make extra money on the side! 

Hey if you like what you see, feel free to subscribe to the blog by entering your email on the side bar. 

And I would love to hear your thoughts in the comments below. 

Only you can stop starving students! See you tommorow! 

-Bruce Peck