the richest man in atherstone

This series of articles was inspired by a wealth-building strategy created by Stuart Goldsmith. It is called 'Double Your way to a Million' and you can sign up for your free copy on this webpage.

It has been quiet on the Doubling Front just lately due to other personal commitments and I was beginning to wonder if I'd ever reach the next step. And that's just when fellow Doubler, Rachel came to the rescue.

Rachel made a post at The Doubler's Den requesting advice about changing the layout of her website. I had a quick look at her source code and emailed her with the modifications she required and in return, she gave me $5.83, which works out as £2.89GBP after going through the PayPal converter.

This makes a total of £6.22 but the rules state that anything that overshoots the target should be taken out of the project, so I have removed £1.22. I think I might buy the wife and kids (and me) some chocolate with it

Thanks, Rachel!

Step 10 Complete.
Cumulative Cash: £5

My friend and fellow Doubler, Xinfinitum (DTAMP) has come up with a fantastic and unique idea for a new website. It is called My One Million Friends.

Xinfinitum's aim is to make one million friends and he plans to put each and every one of them on his website. You can see me on there, currently occupying the number 2 position.

If you're interested in becoming a friend of X (like I have), pop along to his website.

You can find full details on his FAQ page and be sure to read the highly amusing disclaimer

Having seen many of my blogger friends join social-networking website, myLot, I've decided to register myself and contribute to the community over there.

myLot is an online community that connects people from all over the world and provides the functionality for members to take part in discussions of topics that are of interest to them.

Furthermore, myLot pays members for their contributions to discussions and for referring people to the website.

I don't know the exact earnings model that myLot uses, but I don't expect to earn very much from my contributions. My motive for joining up is to enjoy reading and taking part in the interesting discussions as well as generating a bit of traffic to my journal.

If you want to be my friend (how sad does that sound!), my myLot profile is ArkadTRMIA.

I think it was Rachel at Turn One Pound Into A Million that first directed me to this website, so thanks for that Rachel!

Apologies for the lack of posts of late. My time is very limited at present due to preparing for an imminent house move and the birth of my third child (born last week but currently in Hospital due to premature birth and other complications).

At the end of February, I made the snap decision to buy some shares in Lloyds TSB. I'm not usually one to impulse buy, but I had a few hundred quid kicking about in my stockbroking account (Hoodless Brennan - £7 per trade) and, because I didn't like the thought of the money 'not working for me', I bought 65 shares of Lloyds TSB at £6.15 each.

I chose Lloyds TSB for several reasons (although my research and due diligence was very lacking). Firstly, I wanted to buy into a company for the long term (around 20 years). It's safe to presume banks will pretty much always be around and Lloyds TSB is a large corporation with many subsidiaries and a stable dividend. The dividend has remained at just over 34p per share for the last 5 years which works out around 5.5% at the price I paid for them. Not amazing but not bad either.

Lloyds TSB is also the bank that holds my primary accounts and, as a customer, I have experienced some very positive interactions with them just lately. Security has improved and although their products are not necessarily the best, they're not poor and come with marvelous customer service.

The share price today is £5.48, so I regret not holding off my purchase for a little while longer but I'm not overly concerned about this because, as I said earlier, I'm in for the long haul.

Only time will tell if my gut instinct was correct. Right or not, it will be a very stable stock for my portfolio.

Stuart Goldsmith's Midas Method is an e-book of over 100 pages that claims to teach its reader the secrets of the rich and successful.

I first came across the book around 6 month's ago and was deeply sceptical of this claim but having recently read a report by the same author (Double Your Way to a Million) and experiencing the 'magic' (for want of a better word) of the system described therein, I decided to give The Midas Method a serious try. What follows is my review of the book.

Firstly, this book does not describe a specific money-making strategy. Instead it focuses on obtaining the correct mindset for becoming successful whether financial, emotional, physical or spiritual. Ultimately, this book is about belief - belief in yourself and your abilities. Within it's pages, Goldsmith explains a proven method that can help you achieve whatever it is that you want, from money to happiness.

Establishing exactly what is required to make your dreams a reality is only a very small portion of the text. The rest of the book makes a great effort to convince you of these facts, and I think this is what separates The Midas Method from other books of a similar vein. Most of us are sceptical by nature and Goldsmith understands that simply saying something will not make others believe it.

Whereas other self-improvement publications might ask you to take certain ideas on blind faith, Goldsmith gives reasoned explanations behind his conclusions, backed up with his own personal experiences of using and developing his system.

Also included are several practical methods (again with thorough explanations) for developing the mindset that will enable you to achieve whatever your heart desires.

Conclusion
I've been using the system for a little over two moths. I'm not a millionaire yet but I feel this book has taken me a long way towards achieving my goals. So far, the system has worked great for me. I feel happier in myself and my relationships and have found that I get a lot more done and deal with difficult situations better. I've set myself a number of goals (some I considered very difficult to achieve) and have hit the target every time. The power behind the techniques is almost magical!

I have read a number of self-development books (some of them bestsellers), most of which I found dull, useless or simply unbelievable. My favourite of this genre is Napolean Hill's Think and Grow Rich. I have never written a review of Hill's book because I never fully grasped it's full power, although I did realise that I was missing the point somewhat. Having now read The Midas Method, many of the important principles of Think and Grow Rich are now much clearer to me.

Think and Grow Rich is still top of my list in this genre (expect a book review soon now I understand it). The Midas Method is a close second.

Stuart Goldsmith's Midas Method costs $19.99 from my affiliate partner and comes with a full money-back guarantee if you're not completely satisfied. I will receive $8 for each copy purchased via this link.