Chip Wilson's Blog

Consider the idea of “Personal Economy.”

What does this term mean to you?

Many would jump to the conclusion that it revolves around being your own boss, bringing in huge sums of money per month, etc.  I’m not going to discount that kind of thinking entirely, but there is a lot more that goes along with it, which I’ll address in a second.

Personally, I’m a firm believer in the fact that each of our experiences points us down the road we were destined to travel.  For instance, my undergraduate experience at Dartmouth allowed me to meet my amazing wife.  In turn, it was she who openly supported my decision to further my education in the form of obtaining my MBA from the Harvard Business School.  From there, I moved into working for Bank of America Securities, where I spent time working on mergers and acquisitions as well as corporate finance.  During my time, I raised over $4 billion in financing…

While I could go on and on about my past, the bottom line with all of this is that I was highly educated, extremely successful and where I always envisioned myself to be.

Sound pretty good?  Not so fast…

Well, the problem is that I just was not happy.  My job forced me to be apart from my family for extended periods of time, and I swear I’ve never felt so empty.  I tried to use money as a proxy for my time, buying my family trinkets and trips in which I could never fully participate.  None of this could fill the void.

Realizing I needed to make a change for the sake of my family and my own personal well being, I forced myself to get out of banking and into a new chapter of my life.  This was a bumpy road at first.  You see I changed my vocation, but had not changed my mindset.  I was still living from an “Institutional Economy” mentality.  Several limiting beliefs contributed to some poor decision-making and things got worse – pretty scary, actually.

It was during this scary period that I first looked to the Internet for possibilities.  At first, I only viewed it as a tool for revitalizing a struggling franchise business.  As I struggled with self-education, I had the good fortune to meet and make some great friends as well as mentors.  They introduced me to the incredible power of leverage and automation that ANYONE can use to create an income and design a lifestyle that many people cannot even dream of.

The truth is that Internet gives individuals, even rank amateurs, access to all the tools necessary to create businesses FOR THEMSELVES that could only have been built previously by well-capitalized institutions.  By doing so, people like you and me can capture a greater part of the value chain – MBA speak for “grab and keep more of the cash”.  At the same time, these businesses can sell virtually any product to anyone in the world 24/7/365, no matter where you choose to operate yours.  Furthermore, many of the tasks can be automated and/or outsourced   That means that operating 24/7 may only require a few focused hours of your time each week.

This is where you come in.

Having a vibrant Personal Economy is not only critical to your financial freedom and well being, but also to the preservation of your personal liberty.  As long as any institution has control of your cash flow – large corporations, financial advisory firms, governments or their agencies, unions, lobbying groups, etc – they have the ability to limit your freedom.

For the last year, I’ve expended the bulk of my efforts to working with online entrepreneurs, coaching, mentoring, and teaching them to create their own “Personal Economies” which they, and they alone, control. My vision of Personal Economy involves three main principals:

The first aspect shouldn’t be anything new to you:

• Develop a financial offense which you alone control and which generates significant cash flow, enabling you to lead the lifestyle of your choosing.

Of course, everyone also knows that the best offense is in fact a good defense:

• Successful “Personal Economies” are grounded in knowledge of personal economic principles and understanding how to apply them to your unique situation.  The goal is for you to accumulate and shelter wealth, ultimately creating your own secure legacy from which your family will benefit for years to come.

Lastly, though, the value afforded by a high-powered offense and brick wall defense are diminished if they are not also used to create value for others:

• You need to be proactive with your efforts and once you experience success, share both your knowledge and resources in ways that can help others through the same obstacles you encountered.  Think of it as planting seeds for others to harvest instead of storing all the grain for yourself.

The Problem With The Institutional Economy Mindset

Over time, I can’t tell you how many people I’ve witnessed make a ton of money, only to lose it all just as quickly.  The “Have It Today, Live Life On A Payment” philosophy espoused by financiers, corporations and even our federal government fosters the outcome.  We’re talking about highly educated, successful professionals here – doctors, attorneys, executives, & bankers.  And when they are in that position, they have relinquished 100% of their individual liberties to these Institutions.  It’s disheartening.

The end result is that too many end up with nothing to show for years of hard work and sacrifice.  What’s worse is that they are apprehensive and anxious about giving their children financial advice, which will inevitably lead them to making the same poor decisions when it comes to handling wealth.

To counter, I’ve dedicated a lot of time to building and publishing a special report titled “Securing Your Child’s Financial Legacy,” which relates to raising financially savvy and independent children. The themes in this report go hand in hand with the idea of your “Personal Economy.”  If you are going to build an empire, your heir must know how to handle it, or else it will undoubtedly crumble to the ground; it happens more than you realize.

On the flip side, there are those who have made flawless decisions on their way to building and securing a prosperous life for themselves and their family.  They’ve succeeded at accumulating a good amount of grain.  However, their efforts are fixated on their personal circle and they are keeping seeds in their pockets.  Instead, they should be spreading the word to anyone who is willing to listen.  They should be planting seeds for others; not just friends and family.  I’m not talking about boasting and flaunting in an effort to put your name in lights out in the general public.  Rather, I’m saying you should be eager to help other entrepreneurs realize what you’ve been fortunate enough to achieve because it’s the right thing to do.  We all deserve a chance to be truly free.

The purpose of this site is to share information that you can use to create the perfect Personal Economy for YOU.  This is the lifeblood of my efforts and the reason I spend my time working with up and coming entrepreneurs.  The pit falls of personal business are abundant, and they revolve around so much more than whether or not you’re filling your pockets. They have to do with building wealth, protecting wealth, educating your children and passing success forward so we can all be more content, prosperous and free.

Anyway, with all of this, please, if nothing else, keep your eye on what makes you happy, what is important to you, and what will better the lives of those living around you.  And if there is ever anything I can do to help, please just ask.

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