IT Help Wanted: [itroundtable] Road to Personal Wealth Conference Notes

Thursday, November 5, 2009

[itroundtable] Road to Personal Wealth Conference Notes - Part 2 of 2

Wally Amos founded the Famous Amos brand of chocolate chip cookies many years ago. He gave the final keynote presentation at the Road to Personal Wealth financial conference that I attended at Rutgers University on Saturday, October 31. I thought some of his thoughts and principles were interesting and that they would be worthwhile sharing with you.

Wally Amos articulated his person beliefs in relation to his life and vision for his life. He likes watermelons and so he calls his personal belief system the Watermelon Credo. Each letter in the word Watermelon represents a core belief he holds and governs how he lives his life.

W – Whatever you believe becomes your reality. To create the life you want to have requires practice and dedication every day of your life and what you believe is real determines how your life is.

A – Attitude is the defining word. He strives to be positive regardless of what is going on in his life. He focuses on the answers and solutions instead of the problems.

T – Together Everyone Achieves More. (as in the word Team). As an individual, he believes he can not do anything alone and he strives to surround himself with good people who help him achieve his goals.

E – Enthusiasm is the wellspring of life.

R – Respect yourself and you will respect others. You can not respect other people unless you respect yourself first.

M – Make commitments, not excuses. Say "Yes, I will". It will become your reality and miracles can happen as a result. Don't say "I'll try". As Yoda in Star Wars says "There is no try, there is do or don't do".

E – Every day can be a fun day

L – Love is the answer. It is the force which binds the universe together and it really is all we have.

O – One Day At a Time. Live for today. Tomorrow is not here yet and yesterday is gone. Live in the present moment.

N – Never Give Up or allow yourself to become a victim. Don't let other people's beliefs influence who you are or who you can become.

Wally said some other things from his life and career but the Watermelon credo was the main focus of his presentation. He is developing this into a book. I thought it was one of the best motivational speeches I'd ever heard.

Peter